Teresa’s business was urgent, but it didn’t take much time.
By the time he returned to the classroom, Pei Liang and the others had only just left.
He still had that damned pervert on his mind. When he glanced around the classroom and didn’t see him, he casually grabbed someone and asked, “Where did Pei Liang go?”
Teresa’s popularity at school was leagues beyond that of the original Pei Liang. The person he stopped gave a knowing grin. “That guy? Arnold took him out to have a little chat.”
Teresa frowned at that, worried that something might happen—not because he was worried about Pei Liang, of course, but because he knew Arnold’s personality all too well.
That damned pervert would never come away from Arnold’s hands unscathed. Teresa was afraid Arnold might go too far and cause serious trouble. This was his problem, after all; there was no reason for his friend to step in and risk taking the blame for him.
He asked, “Where did they go?”
The student replied, “The bathroom, I think? Who knows.”
As he spoke, he laughed, clearly enjoying the spectacle. “Do you think that weakling is going to get killed by Arnold?”
Someone nearby who had witnessed what happened earlier joined in. “You need to watch fewer movies about picking up soap in interstellar prisons.”
“Hahaha…”
There were plenty of high-energy Alphas who had no filter whatsoever, but hearing that suddenly reminded Teresa of that pervert’s remarks the day before yesterday—and of that inexplicably humiliating moment when he had been completely subdued.
He had been too busy these past two days dealing with Alisha’s pheromone imbalance to think about it carefully.
But that bastard’s close-combat ability that day had clearly been inconsistent with his usual rating at school.
Teresa had complete confidence in Arnold’s strength, yet he couldn’t stop a thought from surfacing—
Who would be doing what to whom was still up in the air.
The moment that thought occurred to him, Teresa’s face turned green. He hurriedly dashed out of the classroom.
As for Pei Liang, her feelings at the moment were somewhat complicated.
The handsome, dark-skinned man named Arnold had not taken her to the bathroom as he’d said he would.
Pei Liang couldn’t help thinking that he really didn’t keep his word. She had gotten her hopes up for nothing.
Presumably because he didn’t want anyone to discover them too soon, Arnold chose an unused equipment-parts room on the first floor instead. Once they arrived, he pushed Pei Liang straight inside.
The room was used to store discarded mecha components. After all, the Imperial Military Academy’s training consumed a considerable amount of equipment. None of the parts kept here were core components, so they weren’t individually catalogued or stored. They were simply piled up in the room, and any student who wanted to practice on their own could report to a teacher and come here to take whatever they needed.
Anything valuable was usually claimed before it even made it here, so the parts in this room were only marginally more useful than junk. Very few people came by.
Arnold shut the door behind them and locked it, then turned toward Pei Liang with a dangerous smile.
“There. Now no one will disturb us.”
He walked toward Pei Liang step by step, stopping only when he was less than an arm’s length away.
They were both Alphas, but there was still a considerable difference in their physiques.
The confined space was soon filled with the scent of pheromones. From the inside out—including his pheromones—Arnold radiated the unmistakable aggression of an Alpha.
An ordinary Alpha would have turned pale and dispirited under Arnold’s pressure. The frustration of being suppressed, the defeat in terms of pheromones and even mental strength—it would all leave them feeling utterly miserable, helpless to resist.
But Pei Liang was different. All she thought was that Alphas really did smell intense. If the circumstances had been different, she would already have pinned him to the floor.
As for why the circumstances weren’t suitable, that was obvious from the way he was looking at her. His expression made it clear that he wasn’t joking around.
Arnold braced one hand against the wall above Pei Liang’s head, his presence and scent enveloping her from every direction.
He grinned, revealing a sharp canine, and asked, “I’ve heard that you’ve been in heat lately.”
“To the point that you ignored the situation and the person involved and made a move on Teresa’s younger sister.”
As he spoke, Arnold reached one hand behind Pei Liang’s neck and gripped the back of it, his callused fingers rubbing over the spot.
That was where an Omega’s gland was located—the place where an Alpha marked them. There was no doubt that it carried clear mating implications.
For that reason, making such a gesture toward an Alpha was an extremely humiliating act. Yet Arnold was doing exactly that.
His voice grew even more dangerous. “Are you really that curious about an Omega’s gland? Hmm?”
Pei Liang, however, didn’t feel much of anything. It was a debt she was bearing on behalf of the original host, so she answered frankly, “I’m not curious anymore.”
But her words sounded like an admission of guilt—a cowardly retreat now that the truth had come to light—which only made Arnold look down on her more.
He didn’t bother hiding his contempt. Nor did he intend to let her off so easily.
Things had ended without incident only because Teresa had arrived in time.
Arnold’s pheromones surged. If an Omega had been there, the concentration and intensity would have been enough to trigger an immediate heat.
And using that kind of intimidation against an Alpha was obviously an act of provocation.
Arnold lowered his head until he was less than an inch from Pei Liang’s face and threatened her, “Not curious? Or is it that you don’t know where to start?”
“Then again, a waste of space like you probably won’t ever attract an Omega. Do you even know how to mark one? Or, with you being an impotent Alpha, do you even have the ability to mark an Omega?”
Pei Liang had only been in this world for less than two days and had yet to fully absorb its values.
Even so, she could tell that the essence of his words was no different from mocking a man for being unable to perform.
She truly didn’t care. This sort of thing wasn’t something that could be settled with words, was it?
Arnold, however, was clearly pleased with the effect of his verbal attacks. At the end, he even let his breath fall against the back of Pei Liang’s neck.
When his deep, magnetic voice entered her ear, its tone sent a faint shiver through her.
“Would you like me to teach you in advance how to mark someone?”
Even though Pei Liang couldn’t see his expression, she could feel his gaze fixed on the back of her neck, concentrated and sharp as the point of a needle.
Another Alpha might have been so frightened that they wet themselves, terrified that he would simply bite down and mark them.
If an Alpha was marked by another Alpha, they would not become the other Alpha’s property as an Omega would. Nor was it easy for an Alpha to mark another Alpha.
It required an overwhelming disparity in pheromones and mental strength before such a mark could be successfully established.
But Arnold was a top-tier 3S-level Alpha, with physical strength and combat ability that made him an Alpha among Alphas. No one would doubt that he could successfully mark an S-level Alpha.
Once an Alpha was successfully marked by another Alpha, it would become extremely difficult for them to disobey that Alpha’s commands, both mentally and physically.
From that point on, he would also become less sensitive to an Omega’s pheromones. After marking an Omega, his pheromone concentration would be too weak, making it easy for another Alpha to overwrite it. Put more simply, it was the equivalent of being impotent.
Thinking of it that way, one could understand just how terrifying such an act was to an Alpha.
Yet just as Arnold’s fangs were about to touch Pei Liang’s gland, he stopped.
Because Pei Liang said, “What good is demonstrating it somewhere I can’t see?”
“If you really want to help me, shouldn’t you stick your own neck out and let me try it?”
The smile on Arnold’s face grew increasingly dangerous. He pressed down on Pei Liang’s head and prepared to drive his knee into her nose.
Given the difference in their physiques, even if she tried to block him, it would have been completely useless.
But what happened next was entirely unexpected. The other person placed a hand on his raised knee and lightly tapped a spot on the side of the kneecap.
Arnold’s entire leg suddenly erupted in stabbing pain. It gave out involuntarily and dropped, naturally preventing him from completing the knee strike.
He reacted swiftly. Like a dangerous, agile panther, the moment he realized his prey was not as weak as he had imagined, he immediately adjusted his movements.
His left leg had yet to regain sensation, but that did not hinder him.
Arnold grabbed Pei Liang by the wrist and yanked her forward, making her collide directly with her other hand. His broad palm attempted to restrain both of her hands.
At the same time, his other hand clenched into a fist and drove toward her abdomen.
At such close range, combined with his advantage in physique and strength, he should have been absolutely incapable of failing.
And yet, his opponent slipped through his grasp like an eel. Every one of his movements, even when victory seemed certain, ended up missing its mark.
Arnold frowned. His judgment had not deteriorated to that extent.
Then he revealed an excited, battle-hungry grin. Tearing off the obstructive school uniform jacket, he rolled his shoulders and flexed his joints. “Looks like you’re not as much of a waste of space as I thought.”
“Good. Beating up a waste of space would be boring.”
Pei Liang also wanted to test her own combat ability. Several centuries ago, the humans of this world had already completed a genetic evolution.
In terms of physical constitution, stamina, and even their potential for growth, they were beyond comparison with the people of ordinary worlds. But based on the original host’s memories, Pei Liang did not have a particularly concrete impression of what that meant.
The Imperial Military Academy was a breeding ground for this world’s strongest war machines. Even in the military, 3S-rank Alphas were rare elite forces.
It was said that Arnold’s strength was already comparable to that of a genuine soldier. For Pei Liang, he was the perfect benchmark.
Thus, she too leisurely removed her school uniform jacket and rolled her shirt sleeves up to her elbows.
She gave Arnold a smile. “Come on.”
*
Teresa had gone to the restroom but failed to find Arnold or that pervert, so he asked the others whether they had seen them.
However, Arnold had deliberately avoided people so he would not be found too quickly. Teresa only knew the direction they had gone in, and in a school as enormous as this one, finding them was no easy task.
But Teresa soon had no need to worry about where the two of them had gone, because a tremendous crash came from the direction of the abandoned parts room on the first floor.
Teresa rushed over at full speed, only to see that the metal exterior wall of the parts room had even been dented outward.
The room had fairly good soundproofing, yet the heavy sounds of fighting could still be heard from inside. It was obvious how fierce the battle must have been.
The door was locked, but that presented no difficulty for Teresa. He lifted his leg and kicked the door open.
The sight that greeted him caused his handsome face to twist.
Arnold had been pinned against an abandoned desk by Pei Liang, with one of his legs hooked over her shoulder and an expression of humiliating defeat on his face.
Although it was clearly just the posture created by their struggle, once he recalled the disgusting things Pei Liang had said earlier, the scene became impossible to interpret innocently.
The two of them looked over at the sound of the commotion. Upon discovering that it was Teresa, they calmly turned their gazes away again.
Pei Liang was still taunting Arnold. She grinned and said, “Who’s Daddy now?”
Arnold’s temper was roused. With a feral grin, he twisted his knee and clamped it around Pei Liang’s neck. Using his sturdy waist for leverage, he hoisted his upper body up and drove a fist toward the bridge of her nose.
But Pei Liang moved faster. She punched him directly beneath the armpit, causing the arm he had raised to lose eighty percent of its strength at once.
Arnold gritted his teeth and did not cry out, but it was obvious that he had fallen into a disadvantageous position.
Seeing this, Teresa immediately charged forward and kicked at Pei Liang.
His jumping ability was astonishing. The parts room was not small, and Teresa was nearly twenty meters away from the two of them at the doorway, yet after only two running steps, he launched himself into the air and flew over.
According to the original host’s memories, leaping several meters into the air and landing on a mecha was not difficult for this man, so it was hardly surprising.
When Pei Liang saw him coming, she grabbed Arnold by the hair and slammed his head against the metal desk, temporarily depriving him of at least two or three seconds of combat ability.
Then she caught Teresa by the ankle, dispelled the force of his attack, swung him around twice, and hurled him away.
Teresa crashed into a pile of spare parts, followed by another cacophony of clanging metal.
He was somewhat incredulous. The day before yesterday, in the private room, he could have attributed his defeat to the close quarters causing him to misjudge her strength. Alisha had also been present, and the cramped space had prevented him from fighting at full strength, allowing Pei Liang to catch him off guard.
But this time, none of those obstacles existed. Even so, she had effortlessly redirected his strength and thrown him aside.
He and Arnold were known as the two strongest people in their year. Yet the two of them had joined forces against an utterly unremarkable person and still could not gain the upper hand.
Teresa’s competitive spirit was fully ignited. Ignoring the enormous disturbance they were causing, he rolled out of the pile of parts and got back to his feet.
By then, Arnold had also shaken off his dizziness. The two of them stared at Pei Liang. Their teamwork was so well honed that they did not even need to signal each other before attacking simultaneously.
Sure enough, with their tacit coordination, the pressure on Pei Liang increased considerably.
In her eyes, the two of them were extremely powerful. The Imperial Military Academy was a place that trained people for the battlefield, so their fighting styles were certainly not all show.
They struck with speed and agility, reacted swiftly, and possessed an astounding tolerance for pain and setbacks. They were the type who grew stronger the longer a battle continued.
Combined with the genetic advantages of 3S-rank Alphas, the gap between them and ordinary people was self-evident.
But who was Pei Liang?
Even though the strength of the original host’s body was inferior, Pei Liang’s nearly two centuries of martial arts mastery had reached the pinnacle. The support of her internal energy more than made up for the shortcomings in her physical abilities, and her wealth of combat experience was likely something few people in this world could match.
Thus, the three of them fought with such ferocity that the sky seemed to darken and the earth itself tremble, utterly absorbed in the battle.
The commotion earlier had already been enormous, but the other students were farther away and had lagged well behind Teresa.
Once Teresa had torn the door off, the sounds from inside traveled through the entire teaching building without obstruction.
By the time the three of them were locked in an intense, evenly matched battle, a large crowd had gathered outside to watch.
At first, everyone was stunned by the explosive fight. Then some sharp-eyed spectators noticed that something was wrong—
“Isn’t that Pei Liang? She actually got mixed up in Teresa and Arnold’s fight and still hasn’t died?”
“Aren’t those two supposed to be close? Why are they fighting?”
“Are you all blind? What fight? It’s obviously Teresa and Arnold teaming up against Pei Liang—and they still haven’t managed to take her down after all this time.”
“Give me a break. What has Pei Liang ever done to deserve having two second-year top students join forces against her?”
At any rate, if you only took one glance, there was absolutely no way you’d believe what you were seeing.
“Move along. Everyone back to your classrooms.”
A cold, stern voice rang out.
The crowd turned around and saw the class monitor of the elite class.
Normally, a class monitor had no authority to interfere with students from another class. But the class monitor of the elite class was different. Not only was he the top student in the entire year, but the student council president was also chosen from among the few candidates in this class.
At a military academy, the student council president possessed considerable authority and decision-making power within the school. After graduation, they would even be directly granted a military rank and become everyone’s superior in the future. Naturally, the students had no choice but to obey.
Thus, upon seeing him arrive, the spectators no longer dared to watch the show. Reluctantly and at a snail’s pace, they began to disperse.
When the class monitor saw that the three people inside showed no sign of stopping, a gun appeared in his hand. A glint flashed across his glasses, and he fired at the three tangled figures.
Sensing the danger, the three hurriedly sprang apart and looked in his direction.
The class monitor pushed up his glasses and walked in through the ruined doorway.
He glanced at the wreckage of the parts room, his brows drawing together, and said to the three of them, “Except during combat training and official competitions, fighting is strictly prohibited on school grounds. What exactly do you think you’re doing?”
Arnold was already irritated at having to deal with this guy. His competitive spirit had been thoroughly roused, and at this point, there was only Pei Liang in his heart and eyes.
So he took his anger out on the class monitor for interrupting them. “Didn’t I already say it was just a friendly exchange? Classes haven’t started yet, so stop putting on airs.”
“What did you say?” The class monitor’s expression darkened. In his eyes, a troublemaker like Arnold was even more of a headache than Pei Liang.
But by now, Pei Liang had more or less tested their strength, so what happened next hardly mattered to her.
She immediately shifted the blame. “It has nothing to do with me, Class Monitor. I was being bullied. These two subjected me to merciless abuse, and I was only forced to fight back.”
Arnold and Teresa stared at Pei Liang, their faces practically screaming, What the hell are you talking about?
Wasn’t she the one who had fought harder than anyone else just now? Wasn’t she the one who had beaten them until they were covered in bruises? Wasn’t she the one who had threatened to make them call her “Dad”?
Even the class monitor looked at her with an indescribable expression. After studying the positions and injuries of the three, it was obvious that she hadn’t been at a disadvantage in the slightest.
The class monitor was also quite interested in the strength Pei Liang had suddenly displayed—strength that was completely at odds with the impression he had of her.
But before he could say anything, the school broadcast crackled to life—
“Second-year elite-class students Teresa, Arnold, and Pei Liang, report immediately to the chancellor’s office. Repeating…”
The class monitor glanced at the three of them and said coldly, “Go.”
Arnold and Teresa both looked thoroughly annoyed. Pei Liang, on the other hand, recalled that the original owner of her body had barely any impression of the chancellor.
That made sense. With the original owner’s mediocre abilities, she naturally wouldn’t have attracted any special attention from the higher-ups.
For a mere fight to get Pei Liang summoned by the chancellor, she supposed she had the two people beside her to thank.
On the way there, Arnold was still complaining. “Teresa, you shouldn’t have torn the door off. I specifically chose that room so no one outside would hear this girl screaming.”
Teresa shot back, “And yet someone still got slammed into the wall hard enough to leave a dent. I had no idea any soundproof door could be that powerful.”
“You idiot. It’s still better than getting caught red-handed.” Arnold folded his arms behind his head. “As long as we weren’t caught in the act, what could they do if we simply denied everything?”
“You’re still too inexperienced.”
Teresa: “…”
He could keep that kind of idiot’s experience to himself.
The two continued bickering, their gazes unconsciously drifting toward Pei Liang once more.
That woman was still as carefree as ever. Just looking at her was enough to make them furious.
Arnold squeezed between them and looked at Pei Liang with a mocking laugh. “This isn’t over yet.”
“But that lousy parts room was such a letdown—”
Before he could finish, Pei Liang nodded. “Exactly. I thought we were going to the restroom. I got my hopes up for nothing.”
Arnold didn’t understand what she meant and assumed she was deliberately messing with him. Teresa, however, looked utterly humiliated.
He grabbed Arnold and pulled him back. “That’s enough. Keep your mouth shut.”
“What, are you scared of her now? So what if we went to the restroom? She probably wanted to pick up the soap anyway.”
Teresa: “…”
When someone was this stupid, there was truly no saving him. Damn it, he’d been the one getting the verbal advantage taken against him, and he didn’t even realize it.
As they spoke, the three arrived at the chancellor’s office.
As the chancellor of the Imperial Military Academy, he held a position of considerable power in the military and was rarely present on campus.
But today, they happened to be lucky enough to run into him.
The office door opened, and the three of them walked in. A tall, broad-shouldered man in a dark suit sat behind the desk.
The man possessed a strange blend of a soldier’s restrained austerity and a career office worker’s slyness. He looked at the three of them with an expression that was half smile and half mockery.
There was something indescribably strange about his gaze. To Pei Liang, it felt both icy and scorching, both deranged and restrained—like the gaze of one of those twisted villains from a manga.
Pei Liang’s eyes lit up.
The man interlaced his fingers on top of the desk. His deep, resonant voice filled the room, though what he said was considerably less pleasant.
“Let’s hear it, then. Two 3S-ranks ganging up on an S-rank, and the S-rank is still standing here perfectly fine.”
His gaze fell on Teresa and Arnold, and his face twisted into a mocking smile.
“How do you two still have the nerve to go on living?”
