ALSACW – Chapter 137

No one cares about losers.

Yun Xuan thought.

Just as he had no desire to deal with the people around him right now. Fine, he’d been captured. It seemed his cooperation with the Howard family could no longer continue.

But he never intended to help the Howards with all his heart from the start. Dynamite just needed to explode; it didn’t need upkeep.

After Emile frantically rejected his request for death, Yun Xuan fell silent.

He was bound just like Yun Chuji, but unlike her, his damned omega constitution actually managed to draw a sliver of security from the restraints.

It calmed his restless heart, which was so eager for an alpha’s comfort.

Yun Xuan stared at Clarence and asked again, “Are you going to kill me?”

Clarence gagged him.

He used the same scrap of cloth as before. Thanks to his military life on Golden Phoenix Star, his obsession with cleanliness had been thoroughly cured.

In the room—or more accurately, the bathroom—Tang Jianxi held her alpha, tears streaming down her face.

If not for the rut alarm built into every S-rank alpha’s body—a device designed to prevent them from causing major public safety incidents or harming themselves by immediately sending their location and status to their partner the moment their agitation levels exceeded the limit—she would have been left helplessly waiting for what felt like hopeless news.

She was still alive, and that was enough.

But the suppressed fear and anxiety still poured out in the form of tears.

A rainstorm fell upon Yun Chuji’s head.

After she regained a bit of her senses, she lifted her hand, then let it fall—it was a battered hand.

She said, a little embarrassed, “I’m fine.”

This was probably the most wretched rut she had ever endured—after all, picking a fight with a robot was the kind of stupid thing only an alpha in rut would do.

But she really wasn’t clever enough. She had thought for a long time but couldn’t come up with a truly foolproof plan.

Was there any way to find out what Yun Xuan was doing and still be able to escape afterward?

The only way was to use her rut.

She could have had other devices implanted in her body, but those surgeries carried the risk of discovery, and she couldn’t guarantee they would work.

Only the internal rut detector. Because of the Empire’s favoritism toward S-rank alphas, this device was extremely advanced and very discreet.

At the same time, only S-rank alphas knew about it. And given Yun Xuan’s hatred for alphas, it was highly unlikely he would ever bother to learn what kind of privileges and protections a top-tier alpha possessed.

Besides, she had already thought it through. Even if the device failed to work, once she was deep in her agitated state, she would have definitely smashed everything in sight. The noise should have been enough to attract the attention of the Empire’s crisis inspection system.

However, thinking of the information she had gathered, Yun Chuji couldn’t be bothered to hide her messy face and said urgently, “We have to stop the Howard family!”

Tang Jianxi noticed the change in Yun Chuji’s tone. She stopped crying, grabbed a nearby towel to wipe her face, and asked, “Are they the family that was working with Yun Xuan?”

“Yes. They want to…”

“Poison someone?”

“No. It’s treason.”

Tang Jianxi sucked in a sharp breath.

“There’s a severe animal virus outbreak on Qinglan Star. Many members of the Howard family have rushed over there.”

But this matter hadn’t attracted much attention. After all, there was far more explosive news—the Third Princess had been murdered by her own omega, who then vanished along with the Empire’s renowned representative of A-Virtue. The Yun family had been turned upside down by the search across the entire Capital Star.

Some imaginative people claimed it was a scandalous, world-shaking affair.

Others speculated it was an imperial conspiracy against A-Virtue, since the A-Virtue faction had lost two of its poster alphas.

In comparison, the fire in the Howard family’s own backyard, with half a planet’s population groaning in complaint, couldn’t stir the slightest interest from the people of the Capital Star.

Yun Chuji instantly understood what Yun Xuan had meant when he said it couldn’t be stopped. It really couldn’t.

She buried her head again and took a deep breath of Tang Jianxi’s pheromones.

Then, holding Tang Jianxi like a bolster pillow, she walked out, only to retreat back inside.

Ah, why are there other people here?

And an alpha.

In her current state, she’d start a fight the moment she saw another alpha.

And an omega would be even more dangerous, since Clarence wasn’t pregnant like Yun Xuan.

Tang Jianxi was completely powerless against these actions, but she had gotten used to it.

An alpha in rut was just that impulsive.

Yun Chuji buried her face in Tang Jianxi’s shoulder, her voice sweet and clingy, yet incongruously speaking of serious matters. “We have to get Yun Xuan to persuade them. If he can’t, then Her Majesty the Empress will have to intervene.”

“It’s best to avoid war.”

“Alright, I’ll have my brother handle it. You get some rest now, be good.”

After saying that, Tang Jianxi first ruffled Yun Chuji’s hair, then opened her comm and called Tang Jianshen, who was waiting outside.

No one could find a trace of Yun Chuji, simply because Yun Xuan hadn’t gone far at all.

He had dug a hole in a tunnel a few kilometers from home. The hovercar carrying them had flown off into the distance on the surveillance footage, but in reality, they had already dropped through an opening in the bottom of the vehicle into this underground hideout.

The signal here was almost completely blocked. Yun Xuan had only communicated with the outside world twice, using the primitive method of carrier pigeon.

Of course, it wasn’t entirely primitive. At least the pigeon was mechanical, and receiving the message required a password.

“Brother, something’s happened. The Howard family is planning treason. Right now, Yun Xuan is probably the only one who can negotiate with them. Come on in, and bring plenty of guards.”

“…Have they lost their minds?”

Tang Jianxi struggled to speak while dealing with the nuzzling alpha. “Ah, probably. There are no bombs here, and Yun Xuan is under control. He has antisocial tendencies, so be careful.”

Tang Jianshen detected something off in her tone. He couldn’t imagine Tang Jianxi would be indulging in sweet nothings at a time like this, but if it was Tang Jianxi, it didn’t seem impossible.

“You’re not…?”

Stunned by the disbelief in his voice, Tang Jianxi rolled her eyes. She carefully soothed the alpha who was trying to turn off her comm and said through gritted teeth, “Have you forgotten? Her rut is here.”

“…Oh. Then I’m hanging up.”

Tang Jianxi let out a long sigh.

She picked up the towel beside her and began to gently clean the bloodstains from Yun Chuji’s face.

“I’ll scold you properly when you’re lucid again,” Tang Jianxi said slowly.

However, maintaining that brief period of clarity had been the limit for the alpha before her. Right now, her mind was filled with only one thought: cuddle.

Outside the door.

As the two princes stared at each other in dismay, Tang Jianshen arrived in a hurry.

Emile couldn’t stand the dreadful atmosphere. Especially when Yun Chuji had appeared for that moment—the wave of S-rank alpha pheromones had made his legs go weak, and the weakness was followed by shame and anger.

But his own brother seemed completely unaffected.

Ah, he was an S-rank too.

So annoying.

Tang Jianshen walked past the two highnesses and had an AI pull the cloth from Yun Xuan’s mouth.

“State your terms, Mr. Yun.”

A low chuckle escaped Yun Xuan’s throat. Then he said, “Can you make the war start a day earlier?”

Tang Jianshen narrowed his eyes, sitting down on what was left of the sofa after Yun Chuji had been through with it.

“Then there’s nothing to discuss.”

“However, Mr. Yun, what is the purpose of all this? Jianxi said you’re antisocial, but you can’t possibly believe you can overthrow this society with a single war, can you?”

“It’s just the Howard family, after all.”

Yun Xuan showed no awareness of being a prisoner. He even summoned his remaining AI to bring him a glass of water.

After rinsing his mouth, Yun Xuan lifted his head, his smooth chin gleaming under the chandelier. “Mr. Tang, you know better than I do whether it is just the Howard family.”

Listening to their cryptic conversation, Emile couldn’t take it anymore and blurted out, “Wait, are you talking about a real war?”

Yun Xuan replied with a smile, “Of course, Your Highness. This is no time for you to be playing house.”

Emile’s eyebrows shot up, and he was about to teach this arrogant omega a lesson when Clarence stopped him.

He looked at Tang Jianshen. “Tell Her Majesty.”

Tang Jianshen glanced at Yun Xuan again, then nodded.

The Imperial Palace.

The Empress had thought everything was resolved. After all, she had made so many concessions, all for the sake of balance.

But she never expected that it was all a scheme from behind the scenes.

A scheme by someone she trusted.

She quickly pieced it all together and said thoughtfully, “In that case, you were the one who leaked the Howard family’s true lineage to Little Six, weren’t you?”

Hearing this, Clarence’s expression turned cold.

Yun Xuan, however, nodded nonchalantly. “I did indeed provide him with some clues.”

No wonder. So that was how it was discovered so quickly. Clarence gave a bitter smile and glanced at Tang Jianshen.

Well, now the lines were well and truly drawn.

“If I were to tell the Howard family that you were the one who led them to war…”

Yun Xuan cut her off. “It’s useless, Your Majesty. You already know, and I’ve already told them that you know.”

When this hideout was discovered, the last pigeon flew out of the air vent.

It was intercepted.

But a fly also flew out.

It was not intercepted.

“That is enough to shatter all balance. War is now inevitable, Your Majesty.”

The Empress looked at him deeply. Suddenly, with a strange sense of regret, she said, “I had originally intended to make you regent.”

Emile’s face paled in shock.

Clarence was completely resigned.

As for Yun Xuan himself, faced with this great honor, he simply smiled and said, “A pity that our paths diverge. We cannot work together.”