Chapter 50: The Secretary’s Lion

Luo Ran was having a dream.

It was very dark — he seemed to be in a spacious but not especially well-lit place.

Where… is this?

Then, he saw a light source in the distance, which was particularly obvious in the darkness.

He was irresistibly drawn to that silvery light mixed with dazzling scarlet.

Following this light, Luo Ran came to a cave where the walls were covered with countless glowing stones with red lines.

These had been named UNK because they were an ‘unknown’ type of ore.

This was a cave filled with UNK.

UNK from both Luobing and M4 were hidden deep within mines and needed intense digging to find, completely different from this cave where UNK lay around like common gravel.

Luo Ran reached out to stroke the stone, only to feel a shudder go through his body. Then his eyes opened and he woke up.

“Secretary Luo.”

The first thing Luo Ran saw was Shen Xiluo, standing nearby and holding a file in his hands. Shen Xiluo’s features were originally stern, and now they were even more solemn.

After all, Xia Zhi had also been injured in the blast, but Shen Xiluo couldn’t accompany him due to work responsibilities.

It wasn’t only Shen Xiluo there. Also present were various research institute staff, the first and second princes, as well as several Council members.

Luo Ran looked around and found that he was currently in a VIP room of the Capital Hospital, which was Shen Xiluo’s territory.

He felt both surprised and confused.

What happened?

He tried to move his body, then sat up and leaned against the headboard.

There was pain emanating from all over his body, presumably from the fall, and he was definitely affected by the explosion, but it was mostly just some superficial scrapes and burns. The most seriously injured part was his left leg, which was in a thick plaster cast. It must have fractured.

Somewhat impatiently, Shi Xiuqi said, “Secretary Luo is awake, we can start the experiment now!”

He instructed someone to bring a tray over, on which was placed a piece of unrefined UNK.

Having just woken up, Luo Ran’s mind whirled as he tried to understand.

Just what is happening?

“Secretary Luo, when you fell, you coincidentally fell on a bag of UNK, which melted upon contact,” Shen Xiluo said.

“…!”

Luo Ran’s heart skipped a beat.

Then his omega identity…

“This is a major discovery, a great leap forward!” Shi Xiuqi’s entire face was flushed with excitement as he said tremblingly, “If a beta can refine UNK with only their bodies instead of with spiritual power, then all our problems are solved!”

“Yes,” the first prince smiled, “and the number of beta is much higher than alpha and omega. If beta can refine UNK, then there wouldn’t be the current issues with spiritual collapse either.”

Luo Ran paused, then calmly put away all his words and expressions.

It seemed that Shen Xiluo was the one who treated him and Xia Zhi when they fell unconscious and he didn’t allow anyone else to interfere while he himself didn’t say anything, so his omega status was still hidden.

Luo Ran glanced at Shen Xiluo, who looked as professional as ever.

The UNK ore was placed in front of Luo Ran, as were everyone’s gazes.

Luo Ran still leaned against the headboard, a little hesitant.

“You don’t need to worry, Secretary Luo,” Shen Xiluo pointed out, “Just do it.”

After a few seconds, Luo Ran gently laid his hand on the ore.

Then, a miracle happened.

No one in the room could help being amazed.

They saw the silver stone began to crack starting from the place under Luo Ran’s hand, then it slowly turned into a thick liquid substance until the entire outer layer of the UNK disappeared, leaving behind a tiny piece of essence.

Luo Ran himself was also stunned.

…What is this?

“Oh Heavens, you’re clearly not an omega but how can you still…!” Shi Xiuqi’s eyes shone. “Secretary Luo, after you recover, please be sure to participate in the experiments!”

“Director,” Shen Xiluo interrupted in a steady voice, “Secretary Luo can only resonate with the UNK like this because his body was changed by the electromagnetic fields induced by the explosion. However, this resonance will not last long — it will disappear in two days at most.”

Shen Xiluo’s serious demeanour, paired with his figures and data as well as his well-known familiarity with spiritual power, ensured that no one doubted his words.

Then he opened a report to explain his points one by one.

“Betas have no spiritual power, so they are especially vulnerable to UNK radiation. This is especially true for the incident at the spaceport, where the mass UNK explosion caused a magnetic field around the entire area.”

One-third of the packages at the spaceport were swapped for explosives, but that still left two-thirds as UNK.

“In any case, let Secretary Luo have a good rest for now,” Shen Xiluo said. “The explosion and resonance caused some damage to his brain and he will inevitably have some symptoms, so he needs to take it easy.”

Shi Xiuqi originally hadn’t wanted to leave, but after a glance from the first prince, he could only obediently go out.

When only Shen Xiluo and Luo Ran remained in the room, Shen Xiluo immediately said, “Secretary Luo, some people already suspect you’re an omega.”

Luo Ran frowned.

“But you can’t expose it, especially not in the current situation. The admiral isn’t here and the first prince’s people can’t wait to use you for experiments even though you’re a beta — if you become an SSS-grade omega, they would only become more extreme.”

Maybe even to the point of outright robbery.

Luo Ran raised his head and said sincerely, “Doctor Shen, thank you, thank you very much for not saying…”

“I knew the first time I saw you that you are an SSS-grade omega,” Shen Xiluo said slowly.

As a skilled doctor and pheromone researcher, he could tell with a single glance what gender people were, but he wouldn’t proactively mention it.

Luo Ran was taken aback.

Then, he suddenly stopped talking.

He just stared forward in a daze with empty eyes.

“Secretary Luo?” Shen Xiluo frowned slightly.

Luo Ran didn’t react.

“Secretary Luo.” Shen Xiluo accurately tapped Luo Ran’s temple, causing him to shudder and come back to his senses.

“Why did I…”

“It’s normal.” Shen Xiluo dragged a chair closer, sat down, then seriously explained, “Secretary Luo, I will now tell you your actual situation.

“You have refined UNK but your spiritual power is SSS-grade, so the side effects will take longer to show themselves — unlike other omega, your body will not immediately send signals to indicate maladaptiveness. This explosion can be regarded as a trigger.

“The UNK explosion did cause resonance, but it was your pheromones which resonated. I don’t know what will happen because this has never happened before. I can only judge that for an unknown reason, your spiritual power is very compatible with UNK.

“This, in addition to the pheromone resonance, led to you being able to melt UNK with your bare hands. It is currently unknown how long this state will last. At the same time, your spiritual consciousness suffered secondary trauma caused by a violent external force, so you will also suffer symptoms such as delirium, fatigue, and migraines.”

Luo Ran indeed felt a little tired, he had to make an effort to understand Shen Xiluo’s long speech.

Pausing for a moment, Shen Xiluo then handed two bottles of medicine to Luo Ran. “These are the medicines you need to take. One is for stabilising your pheromones, two pills a night. The other one is a painkiller, take it as needed.”

“Thank you.”

“Rest well.”

Shen Xiluo left after taking care of Luo Ran’s side, he still wanted to see Xia Zhi.

After he left, Luo Ran stared blankly at his white ward.

As the smell of disinfectant filled his nose, he suddenly missed the scent of earth.

He thought to himself, maybe he was too used to smelling tobacco.

Luo Ran supported himself with the IV stand to get up, wanting to open the window, but when he looked up, he saw that the originally empty window sill was now filled with hanging wisteria flowers.

It was exactly the same as the wisteria in the office.

So beautiful.

He kept looking at it absent-mindedly until his terminal beeped and vibrated with a notification.

Luo Ran picked it up.

“Luo Ran.”

It was Lucas’ voice.

Luo Ran paused.

“Luo Ran.”

“Oh, Admiral.”

The familiar voice coming from the terminal suddenly made Luo Ran feel relieved.

When he looked up again, the wisteria flowers were gone.

“Luo Ran, how are you?” Lucas asked, his voice low and hoarse. “Are you hurt?”

“No.” Luo Ran spoke slowly, trying to organise his words. “It’s only flesh wounds. My left leg is broken but it doesn’t hurt after injecting anaesthetics.”

Lucas was silent for a while, then: “Did they make things hard for you?”

“No.” So far, Luo Ran hadn’t felt anything significant was happening, but he guessed that it must have become chaotic outside and the two sides must have quarrelled again.

“Luo Ran, you wait for me to go back. I want to see who can bully you.”

“Okay,” Luo Ran couldn’t resist smiling.

“Wait for me.”

“Mn.”

Lucas made a serious vow to Luo Ran.

When the call ended and he put down the terminal, Luo Ran noticed that the wisteria flowers had completely disappeared.

–When he thought of him, the wisterias bloomed.

But after the call, there were no wisteria flowers left. Luo Ran peacefully lay down and continued sleeping.

* * *

Thump!

Lucas, who just finished the call, harshly slammed his fist on the railing in front of him.

The railing shook and dust scattered around it.

Wang Qiuyang stood next to him not daring to speak.

This had to happen just when they left.

His chest violently heaved up and down.

“Should we… turn back? Or after we land at M4, I and the other adjutants can take care of things and Admiral can take a small team back.” Wang Qiuyang straightened. “I will bring victory to the Admiral at any cost!”

Grasping the railing, Lucas closed his eyes for a long moment, opened them, and then said in a suppressed voice, “No need. Current ETA is three hours, let the warships go faster.”

Then, Lucas turned and strode away from the bridge.

“Finish it quickly! Fight earlier and we’ll go back earlier!” The hostility in Lucas’ eyes was so thick that even an alpha like Wang Qiuyang couldn’t control his fear.

* * *

Elsewhere, Shen Xiluo hurried downstairs after finishing Luo Ran’s file.

When he pushed open the door to Xia Zhi’s ward, he saw that Xia Zhi was already awake and undergoing a physical examination under the care of several other doctors.

Shen Xiluo went closer, pushed up the frame of his glasses, and said, “I’ll do it.”

Xia Zhi glanced at Shen Xiluo and took a deep breath. “No need, it’s done.”

Luo Ran had protected Xia Zhi rather well when they fell, so he didn’t receive any serious injuries and even had quite a bit of energy now. 

After the other doctors left, he immediately grabbed Shen Xiluo.

“How is Ranran? He’s an omega…”

Xia Zhi’s hands were shaking. As soon as he woke up, he heard that Luo Ran could melt UNK with his bare hands, which scared him half to death. He originally suppressed it because he didn’t want others to see through him, but now that he saw Shen Xiluo who also knew this secret, he couldn’t bear it anymore.

“He’s fine, I covered it up,” Shen Xiluo said, holding Xia Zhi’s hand. “He’s been prescribed Mental Stabiliser DX-56.”

Xia Zhi let out a breath. “As long as he’s fine, as long as he’s fine…” He lowered his head. “It’s all my fault…”

“First, this isn’t your fault, because you participated in neither the bomb’s making nor its installation,” Shen Xiluo stated seriously, “second, Luo Ran being fine doesn’t mean the situation is fine, this turmoil isn’t over yet.”

“Huh…?”

Shen Xiluo sat on the edge of the bed still holding Xia Zhi’s hand, and Xia Zhi was so focused on Luo Ran that he didn’t notice anything was wrong.

“People with the first prince and second prince have surrounded the hospital, just waiting for an opportunity,” Shen Xiluo said. “Shi Xiuqi hasn’t left either, he’s still downstairs.”

“…?” Xia Zhi was confused. “Why?”

“The first prince wants the research into UNK to continue, so he wants Secretary Luo to join the research institute — he’s ready to kidnap him at any time. The second prince is the opposite, he’s here to stop the first prince,” Shen Xiluo paused for a moment, then continued, “and do the admiral a favour by the way, hoping to win him over.”

Xia Zhi was shocked for a moment when he heard this, then when he ran to the window to see, indeed, there were soldiers standing outside the hospital.

“Asshole…” Xia Zhi glared. “This is a blatant threat! He’s threatening Ranran!” He paced back and forth, saying, “What if we announce Ranran’s SSS-grade omega status? The Empire has always protected omega, not to mention 3S-grade.”

“You’re too naive.” With a voice as dead as stagnant water, Shen Xiluo analysed, “The Empire protects omega because they are weak, but also because they can use spiritual power, and the stronger the power, the more they are protected, precisely so they can be used in times like this.”

Xia Zhi’s entire body stiffened.

Shen Xiluo continued, “We can put it off now because Secretary Luo is a beta. But that changes if he’s an omega. It would be inevitable to be caught and repeatedly injected with UNK in order to find the secret of melting UNK with his hands.”

“…The law prohibits inhumane experiments like that!” Xia Zhi trembled.

“The law is what the royal family and the Council say it is, and experiment proposals go through the research institute director.”

“Then… is the first prince not afraid of the admiral coming back and dealing with him!”

The two princes were obviously competing for Lucas’ power before.

“If Secretary Luo really joins the research team, then not only will the admiral not ‘deal with him’, but he will automatically join the first prince’s camp and participate in the experiment. Else why do you think the second prince is so anxious to stop it?”

Xia Zhi sat heavily and cracked his knuckles one by one. “Shen Xiluo, what do we do, Ranran is a 3S omega, I don’t know why he’s so familiar with UNK, but we can’t let them take him away… if they inject him with UNK, you know what’s going to happen! His spirit is already damanged!”

“Mn,” Shen Xiluo nodded, “I will do my best.”

He put his arms around Xia Zhi’s shoulders stiffly, as if trying to comfort him.

Xia Zhi blinked in surprise for a few seconds, and when he recovered, he looked at Shen Xiluo strangely.

“You…” The corners of Xia Zhi’s lips twitched upwards. “You’ve changed quite a lot.”

“Do you like it?”

“…You weren’t so kind before. When something like this happened, you would only put the Empire’s interests first, like a robot without emotion. I thought you would say that, then…”

“Is that one of the reasons why you broke off the engagement with me back then? Apart from my bad skills.”

With Shen Xiluo suddenly saying that, Xia Zhi froze again. “I…”

Shen Xiluo interrupted him. “So I changed, I’ve been studying hard in the last few years.”

“By watching porn?” Xia Zhi asked, torn between laughing and crying.

“Intimacy is the emotion most intuitive for humans to express, this is also within my scope of study.”

Xia Zhi: “…”

Shen Xiluo gazed seriously at Xia Zhi. “If I do well this time, would you consider having dinner with me?”

“…” Xia Zhi, smiling, said lightly, “That depends on your performance.”

—— XXXX ——

“Secretary Luo…!”

This sleep of Luo Ran’s lasted a day and a half. By the time he woke up, Lu Cheng, who had been guarding the door, had come in.

Luo Ran pressed at his temples, forced himself to concentrate, and asked, “What’s wrong? Why are you here?”

“Report! It’s the admiral who asked me to come, to protect you!” Lu Cheng said.

“Protect me?” Luo Ran slowly frowned.

“The first prince dispatched his personal soldiers to guard outside the hospital, and the second prince did as well,” Lu Cheng said. “Please believe in me, Secretary Luo! No one can kidnap you while I’m here!”

“Did you also bring troops?” Luo Ran had a bit of a headache.

This was the capital, so they wouldn’t break out into open combat and this was just using private soldiers such as bodyguards to suppress others, but the current situation still wasn’t ideal in the least.

And this was all due to him.

A pause later, Luo Ran ordered, “Arrange something for me, I’ll talk with His Highness the First Prince or Director Shi. Don’t let things get worse.”

“This… Yes sir.”

After a while, Zhou Mingyu himself came alone, perhaps to show his sincerity.

“Secretary Luo, are you feeling any better?” Zhou Mingyu dragged a chair closer to the bed and sat down, smiling. “I originally wanted to send a few nurses to help take care of you, but Doctor Shen insisted on doing everything himself.”

“Having Doctor Shen is enough,” Luo Ran also smiled.

“Secretary Luo, allow me to get straight to the point,” Zhou Mingyu said. “My goal is simple — I hope that you can cooperate with the research team, find out how a beta can refine UNK, bring the Empire higher, and save the other alpha and omega.”

Luo Ran said nothing.

“Secretary Luo, you know that I… that in my heart, you’re different.” Zhou Mingyu poured Luo Ran a cup of warm water. “I will look after you and ensure your safety.

“Can you believe me?”

“…Your Highness.” Just as Luo Ran wanted to say something, he felt a sharp pain in his head, and then his vision fell into chaos.

“Secretary Luo…!”

“Secretary Luo!”

Two people who were waiting outside, Lu Cheng and Shen Xiluo, abruptly rushed in.

“Your Highness, Secretary Luo’s mental state isn’t good now, can you step out first…!”

Luo Ran hadn’t thought that this would happen so suddenly either, apparently, he couldn’t concentrate for too long before his spirit wasn’t able to hold on.

“Apologies…” Luo Ran pressed his forehead. “Can I contact you later by terminal?”

Zhou Mingyu hesitated, but in the end, he still left.

Not long after, Lu Cheng received a call for help on his radio.

One of the guards stationed outside shouted, “The first prince’s people have a doctor here and want to go in, saying they’re here to pick the secretary up for treatment!”

“…” Lu Cheng’s eyes narrowed as he shouted back, “Don’t let them in!”

Five minutes later.

“The admiral is back…!”

Luo Ran vaguely heard this sentence and was stunned.

What?

Author:
Write a little plot this chapter, next chapter will be sweet!

Translator:
I’m so done with the author’s aversion to naming things