Chapter 2: Sang Ling and Lin Jinxu

Dead silence.

Lin Jinxu’s head snapped up. She almost thought she’d misheard.

Her gambling-addicted, cruel, money-grubbing Alpha sister-in-law—what did she just say?

“I’m not signing.”

The Beta enforcers in the room were as stunned as she was; for a moment, no one could produce a single word.

Perhaps sensing their shock, the Alpha on the sofa good-naturedly repeated herself. “I said I’m not signing. I’m not selling her.”

She seemed entirely unaware of what a bombshell she had just dropped, curiously reaching up to touch the wound on her forehead and coming away with fingers slicked in sticky blood.

Just now, finally, Sang Ling had pushed through the headache and sorted out the original plot and her present situation in her head.

The moment the headache eased slightly, she made her decision not to sign.

Selling a frail widowed sister-in-law and an adorable four-year-old niece? Warm-hearted citizen Sang Ling could not do such a thing.

Little Yao’s eyes went round as a startled hamster’s, her face still streaked with tears as she stared unblinkingly at Sang Ling, unable to understand what had just happened—how had the bad auntie suddenly stopped selling Mommy?

The Beta burly man, meanwhile, watched Sang Ling casually pull out a tissue and begin wiping the blood from her hand, unhurried, one knuckle at a time. Her movements were leisurely, and though she wore a bloodstained military cadet’s white shirt, she sat straight-backed on that crude sofa like an aristocrat condescending to grace them with her presence.

In that instant, the Beta burly man nearly fell into an illusion. Was this still that good-for-nothing, that scum Alpha so worthless she’d sell her own sister-in-law and niece? It was as if she’d become a different person.

Lin Jinxu felt the same.

Lin Jinxu wasn’t close to Sang Ling. Back then she had schemed deliberately to marry Sang Ling’s older sister, Sang Chi, because as an Omega, her excessive beauty was her original sin—she needed a nominal Alpha to shield her, even slightly, from those malicious gazes.

Over these two years, Sang Chi had been busy with Military Headquarters affairs, while Sang Ling, as a military cadet, lived at school during term and spent every holiday gambling herself into a stupor at the casino, only occasionally coming home to sleep one night after her money ran out and the casino threw her out—then stealing more money from the household the next day to go gamble again.

She knew perfectly well that Sang Ling was scum who would never say no to money placed in her palm.

Yet she had said it. Casually, lightly—”I’m not selling”—as if giving it up cost no more than a three-cent candy.

Wiping her hands, Sang Ling politely instructed the Beta burly man, “Please pass a message to Miss Jiang for me: I’m not selling the person.”

“The money, I will repay her after the term starts.”

Lin Jinxu listened quietly to Sang Ling’s words, her fingers twitching slightly, the doubt that had been coiling in her heart since moments ago growing larger and larger.

Has Sang Ling gone mad? Does she know what offending Miss Jiang means?

The Jiang Family was a four-hundred-year-old aristocratic clan that, beyond military power, controlled a vast portfolio of biotech companies and pharmaceutical institutions. As the only Alpha of the younger generation, Miss Jiang was the heir apparent, set in stone.

Sang Ling’s older sister Sang Chi had, before her death, become the youngest Captain in Military Headquarters—yet Lin Jinxu had personally seen the famously untamable Sang Chi rein in her temper before a mere branch-family young master of the Jiang Family, refusing to give offense. And that was only a branch line.

If Sang Ling could latch onto Miss Jiang’s coattails—even as a servile lackey—her prospects in Military Headquarters would be far better. For a people where every Alpha was a soldier, that was the best possible path.

Yet Sang Ling was now choosing to offend her, openly and glaringly.

Lin Jinxu lowered her curled lashes, veiling the deep thought in her eyes. She can’t understand why I would—no. Why would Sang Ling offend such a terrifying figure for my sake?

Like Lin Jinxu, the Beta burly man knew very well the terrifying power behind Miss Jiang. He gave two short scoffs, and when he spoke again, though he still addressed her as “Your Excellency” per social convention, the contempt could no longer be hidden.

“Your Excellency, Miss Jiang is currently in special training with Military Headquarters and will return to Capital Star when the term starts. You have two months, and your debt is five million.”

“If you had the ability to earn five million in two months, how would you have fallen to the point of selling your widowed sister-in-law?”

He was clearly experienced; he had seen plenty of people who balked at the last moment, burdened by moral qualms about selling Omega family members. He gestured to his men to take Lin Jinxu and Little Yao away.

“Allow me to help you relieve your troubles instead.”

His manner was insolent, brushing against the bottom line of most Alphas—but the Beta burly man had seen too many people. His eye was venomous, and he knew perfectly well that a worthless Alpha fallen this low would not fight back.

Just as he expected, Sang Ling, hearing this, did not explode like an ordinary Alpha. She only tilted her head slightly, as if still processing.

The Beta burly man’s contempt deepened. A gutless, cowardly Alpha—how was such a thing fit to be called “Your Excellency”?

Lin Jinxu saw Sang Ling’s reaction and thought, just as expected. A worthless Alpha. That “I’m not selling” just now was nothing but a deathbed flash of conscience, to make herself feel better.

She lowered her eyes, lashes fluttering, and stopped struggling.

It has come to this; I no longer dare hope for rescue. I only hope Little Yao will not suffer the same fate.

Before she was forced into marriage, Lin Jinxu had been a biology student, specializing in biochemistry. She had been trapped in the identity of “Omega” for so long that she had nearly forgotten she had once been a proud biologist.

Now, Lin Jinxu curled her fingers, nails pressing deep into her palms until they drew blood, silently reciting chemical formulas in her mind, one after another, replaying pharmaceutical processes over and over.

She resolved to swallow every ounce of her pride. Once taken to the casino, she would find a way to obtain the materials she needed—even if she had to drag everyone in that casino down to hell with her, she would get Little Yao out.

She stopped struggling, and the enforcers were relieved. A tall Beta reached out to grab Little Yao.

It seemed everyone had forgotten there was still an Alpha on the scene—or rather, they had collectively written off that cowardly, useless person.

Until—

Knock. Knock. Knock.

A dull, rhythmic sound rang out, interrupting everyone. They turned to look.

Sang Ling had finally finished wiping her hands. She straightened her bloodstained white shirt, crooked her index finger, leaned forward, and rapped unhurriedly on the wooden table.

Seeing that she had everyone’s attention, she said with a smile, “You’re just going to ignore my opinion like that?”

Sang Ling faced the Beta burly man directly. Facing the leader of these enforcers, she slowly withdrew her smile.

In that instant, the Beta burly man felt the gambling-addicted waste of an Alpha across from him undergo a complete shift in aura, an astonishing pressure blooming from her.

Sang Ling’s face was expressionless. Her features were bold and sharp, and her whole person was like a blade forged from ice, sweeping all before it.

The Alpha lifted her eyelids and said, unhurried, “First: you should be addressing me with the honorific ‘you.’ Show me that disrespect one more time and I’ll nail your tongue to my family’s front door. For warding off evil.”

Though the Alpha was looking straight ahead, head not even turned, she called the tall enforcer’s movement precisely.

“Second: tell your people to keep their hands clean. One more move and you’ll find out why the Federal Government mandates honorifics for Alphas.”

The tall enforcer who’d been named froze mid-motion. Before him, Little Yao was hugging her teddy bear in terror, backing away step by step.

The lead Beta burly man gave no order, so after a pause, the tall enforcer decided to proceed anyway. His black tactical gloves carried an electric shock function; blue-violet arcs flickered—one touch would knock Little Yao unconscious.

He reached out. Little Yao was too frightened to make a sound, her mouth opening in a soundless scream.

At that exact moment—

A white figure, like a bolt of lightning, flashed through the corner of his vision. Before the enforcer could see what it was, the world abruptly spun.

The next second, his field of view was the filthy, low ceiling. He hadn’t even registered what happened until the pain in the back of his skull arrived—then he understood: he had just been attacked.

The enforcer instinctively began to cry out, but a black boot pressed down on his face.

The newcomer ground his face down, forcing it flat against the floor, deformed between floor and boot, and said shortly, “Don’t scream.”

The newcomer was Sang Ling, in her bloodstained white shirt, black combat trousers, and wide-soled military boots, her hair loosely gathered into a wolf-tail at the back of her head. She was utterly composed, yet radiated crushing pressure.

Earlier, when the burly man had proposed “relieving her troubles” and grabbed at people without authorization, Sang Ling had begun quietly testing this body’s strength and physical condition.

The results satisfied her immensely. Though the original host’s Mental Power was only C-rank, her physiological gifts were exceptional.

So she had decisively taken down the tall enforcer, flipping and pinning him with ease.

Sang Ling smiled, increasing the pressure of her foot to tell the tall enforcer to behave, while saying to the frightened Little Yao, “Be good, Little Yao. Listen to Auntie. Cover your eyes for a bit, okay?”

Little Yao, timid before this suddenly violent bad auntie, didn’t dare say a word and squeezed her eyes tightly shut.

“Good girl, Little Yao.”

Sang Ling kicked the tall enforcer in the throat, finally releasing him, and started walking back toward the sofa and the Beta burly man.

Her military boots rang crisp, rhythmic notes on the old wooden floor as she strolled leisurely up to the burly man and curved her eyes in a smile. “You’ve been working as an enforcer in the underground casino for years, haven’t you? Worked your way up to crew leader.”

The Beta burly man watched her warily, not understanding the point of the remark.

Sang Ling: “Over the years, you’ve beaten plenty of people half to death—killed some too, I’d wager. Omegas who tried to run, gamblers in debt. Does the way they wail and beg under your boot make you feel very strong?”

“Little by little, you decided that’s just how strong you are. What’s so great about Alphas anyway? You’re a Beta and you can fight just fine. Why should you have to call one ‘Your Excellency’?”

“That’s what you think, isn’t it?”

The Beta burly man was silent for a moment. That was, in fact, exactly what he thought. He looked down on trash Alphas like Sang Ling, believing they’d done nothing but coast on their gender.

But before he could speak, an immense force clamped his head and drove it straight toward the corner of the coffee table!

Sang Ling had attacked—without warning, without possibility of refusal!

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Short, muffled impacts rang out without pause. The room was so quiet that was the only sound; everyone held their breath, able only to watch the slender young Alpha seize the head of the burly man weighing over a hundred kilograms and slam it into the table corner again and again, as effortlessly as dribbling a basketball.

The Beta burly man’s struggles meant nothing to her—less than nothing; they only made her hit harder!

Blood sprayed, splattering Sang Ling’s clothes and the yellowed walls of the old living room.

After who knows how many blows, Sang Ling lifted the burly man’s head by the hair and, gazing at his bloodied, mangled forehead, instructed him in a cheerful mood.

“Why does the Federal Government require you to address me as ‘Your Excellency’? To preserve our pitiful Alpha pride, perhaps?”

“It’s because Alphas are all mad dogs. The Federation does it so that, out of respect for your pretty words, an Alpha might spare your life.”

“Now then,” Sang Ling said, eyes curving, diction impeccable, “will you deliver my message to Miss Jiang for me?”

The Beta burly man had one breath left, hanging by a thread at his heart’s mouth. He nodded, faint as a whisper.

Sang Ling straightened up and let him slide to the floor. The other enforcers quickly crowded in and carried him off.

Not one of them said another word. Not daring to provoke Sang Ling further, they left quietly and swiftly.

Sang Ling leaned against the front door, watching the black-suited enforcers pile into their vehicle and leave the district, making sure they weren’t coming back.

The next second, she let out a long breath and yowled through gritted teeth, “Ow, ow, ow—”

During the fight she’d moved too big, and the wound on her forehead had torn open again; it was gushing blood now.

She could no longer maintain that proud, violent Alpha front. Her true nature exposed itself instantly, her features scrunching up in pain, whimpering like a puppy—yet she still turned back to say to the two badly shaken Omegas inside,

“They shouldn’t come back anymor—”

Sang Ling took in the scene before her and paused before producing the final syllable, “…e.”

A frail, deathly pale Omega who looked as though a gust of wind could carry her off, beautiful as a vengeful ghost, was at this moment gripping a sharp fruit knife in both hands, trembling but resolute, the point aimed at Sang Ling.

Lin Jinxu had Little Yao shielded behind her. She was gripping that knife with every ounce of strength she had, sweat beading in her palms, terrified this violent Alpha might suddenly lash out.

Just now, Little Yao had covered her eyes, but Lin Jinxu had not. She had watched, wide-eyed, as that immensely powerful Beta burly man was toyed with and beaten by this female Alpha. That bloody, violent scene had, once again, rewritten everything she understood.

So this is what Alphas are. Such terrifying creatures.

She had to protect herself and Little Yao.

Sang Ling looked at Lin Jinxu—shaking all over, yet stubborn as a wolf, refusing to let go—and sighed, about to say something.

But the world abruptly began to spin, darkness closing in from the edges, her legs going soft beneath her.

Sang Ling could no longer hold on to consciousness and sank into a faint. The last thing she saw was Lin Jinxu’s trembling, snow-white, razor-sharp knife point.