After The Mission Failed, The Scumbag Alpha Ran Away - Chapter 31

31: Boss, Isn’t This Alpha Really Good-Looking?

Jiang Youbai slightly furrowed her brows. After a moment of contemplation, she immediately said, “It wasn’t me. I don’t know anything about this.”

Ning Yunze was silent for a long time. He rubbed his temples with a headache. “I’m not here to blame you… It’s obvious this couldn’t have been your doing, right?”

“The original plan was for you to fake your death, and one-third of your luck would naturally return to Lou Huaiche. But now, the opposite has happened—Lou Huaiche’s luck has somehow transferred to you… I suspect the reason you didn’t wake up for over half a year was because it took too long to absorb the luck.”

Hearing the name “Lou Huaiche,” Jiang Youbai’s mind wandered for a moment, and the image of those distant, indifferent peach-blossom eyes flashed through her thoughts.

She wondered how Lou Huaiche was doing now. Half a year had passed in the blink of an eye.

Her memories lingered on the moment beneath the fireworks when Lou Huaiche had raised her head slightly, gazing intently at the sky.

Not long before, Lou Huaiche had told her to “know when to stop,” and Jiang Youbai had felt a pang of sadness then.

So their relationship had stopped at “knowing when to stop.” Half a year later, Lou Huaiche had probably long moved on from this unplanned romance.

A shallow infatuation could easily fade with the passage of time.

Especially a love so restrained and evasive. Even during their passionate kisses, during their repeated temporary marks, this love had never broken through the ice to grow.

So after Jiang Youbai’s death, it was even less likely to flourish. Now, when she thought of Lou Huaiche, her heart was as still as an ancient well, without a single ripple.

It was as if, during her time lying unconscious, her emotions had slowly drained away with time, leaving nothing behind.

She faintly felt like she had forgotten something.

Ning Yunze’s next words interrupted her thoughts: “Jiang Youbai, Lou Huaiche has lost all her luck. I don’t know what her role is in the world’s storyline now. The original worldline revolved around her as the Child of Destiny, but now she’s no longer the Child of Destiny.”

Jiang Youbai tensed. “What do you mean? Then what about now? If I’m the Child of Destiny now, what about the worldline…”

Ning Yunze continued her thought: “There is no worldline now. The new Child of Destiny is the new worldline. The system is still in hibernation… but even if it wakes up, it probably won’t know the worldline either.”

“Why?”

“This world was born from a novel. The system’s worldline was also derived from the novel. Now, it’s likely become an independent world detached from the novel, though it originally stemmed from it. Stealing luck is still easy, though.”

As he spoke, Ning Yunze sighed.

“And the competition will be more intense and direct now. The system originally struggled to extract luck from this world because the Child of Destiny’s luck was incomplete. I’m not entirely sure of the specifics, but now that you possess complete luck, and the system has already absorbed energy from many worlds, dealing with you will probably be effortless.”

Jiang Youbai thought for a moment, then suddenly realized many things. She flopped back onto the bed.

Chi Ruo was startled, thinking she had just woken up and fainted from the shock of the news. She nudged her. “Are you okay?”

Jiang Youbai’s voice was flat and utterly exhausted. “Ha.”

She closed her eyes and let out a mocking laugh. “I don’t want to face this world anymore. This damn life really knows how to mess with me. Feels like fate just punched me in the face with an uppercut.”

Chi Ruo tried to console her. “Look on the bright side. Even though you’ve borne burdens you shouldn’t have, been a pawn of the old imperial faction since birth, grown up walking on thin ice, scheming and exhausting yourself, and just when you finally gained freedom, you’re faced with new troubles… at least you, uh…”

Jiang Youbai opened her eyes. “At least what?”

Chi Ruo hesitated. “At least you…”

“At least you’re rich!”

Jiang Youbai closed her eyes again, feeling even more miserable. “My money’s with you.”

She sat up and asked Ning Yunze, “What do we do now? I’m the Child of Destiny… damn it, why am I the Child of Destiny?! We know nothing about the worldline, and I have a very important question.”

Ning Yunze said, “Go on.”

“The system binds the antagonist and manipulates them to oppose the Child of Destiny, right? But now the Child of Destiny has changed. What about the antagonist? Has the antagonist changed too?”

Ning Yunze pondered. “It’s very possible. The protagonist of the worldline has changed, so it’s natural for the antagonist to change as well.”

Chi Ruo and Jiang Youbai spoke in unison: “What about the system?”

Chi Ruo, being more impatient, cut in before Jiang Youbai could continue. “The system binds the antagonist. Now that you’re not the antagonist, will it bind someone else?”

Jiang Youbai clicked her tongue. “And we don’t know who that person is. If it’s my uncle… that’d be even more troublesome. He controls the entire empire. Even when I was a prince, it was hard to gain any advantage over him.”

“Time is short,” Ning Yunze sighed. “But at least we still have some time. Our information is incomplete, and so is the system’s. It might not even know who the new antagonist is.”

“In the past six months, we’ve handled most of the preparations. We’ve arranged a new identity for you, taken the personal terminal of someone from the lower city who hadn’t yet been registered as deceased, and made it yours. In a couple of days, after you’re discharged from the hospital, you’ll stay in the lower city for a while. Chi Ruo and I will return to the upper city to monitor the system’s movements and the possible emergence of a new antagonist.”

Ning Yunze sounded exhausted. The sudden turn of events left him feeling more lost than ever, even struggling to face his past experiences. “Lou Huaiche disappeared three months ago… No one could find her. And now, the worldline has changed. Her life… might have changed too.”

From these few words, Jiang Youbai sensed Ning Yunze’s confusion and bitterness.

Ning Yunze’s life had been dedicated to following Lou Huaiche’s.

He had gritted his teeth to survive, forced himself to endure pressures he’d never faced before, all to light the path for Lou Huaiche.

But now? He had lived for Lou Huaiche’s glory, but now that the Child of Destiny had changed, what was left for him to live for?

Jiang Youbai saw her own reflection in him.

The imperial capital, this city of decadence and luxury, seemed built from layers of similar people, all facing the same ridiculous fate.

This place had no vitality.

Jiang Youbai asked him, “Do you think Lou Huaiche lived because of her luck?”

Ning Yunze froze for a moment, then shook his head.

Jiang Youbai said gently, “Ning Yunze, I don’t know what the original worldline was like, but I imagine Lou Huaiche became someone you were willing to destroy yourself to protect not because she was the Child of Destiny, but because she was Lou Huaiche. As long as she is Lou Huaiche, what she achieved in the original worldline, she can achieve now.”

Ning Yunze sniffled and said quietly, “Your Highness, thank you.”

Jiang Youbai: “I’m not ‘Your Highness’ anymore. I’ve escaped the cage of being a prince. What about you? Can you escape your cage?”

Chi Ruo handed Jiang Youbai a personal terminal. “Here, take this. Money might be tight… transferring funds would be too conspicuous, and I didn’t send you any.”

Jiang Youbai was puzzled. “Then couldn’t you at least give me some precious metals or minerals to sell?”

Chi Ruo: “…”

Chi Ruo: “You know, I completely forgot about that.”

Jiang Youbai: “…”

Jiang Youbai suppressed the urge to swear. “Seriously? You managed to bypass all surveillance to arrange for me to be in this hospital, but preparing some money was too much?”

Chi Ruo awkwardly avoided her accusatory gaze. “Well! It’s been too long since I’ve been a noble. A small oversight, a small oversight. Forgive me…”

“We came to the lower city this time because the patrol team is under Jiang Qingxian’s control. The next time we can come will probably be in a month or two. We’ll find a way to get you money in the meantime,” Ning Yunze said, pulling himself together to deal with the current crisis. “But it might take a while.”

Jiang Youbai understood. Jiang Youbai sneered. “Got it. The mighty Child of Destiny, working odd jobs in the lower city, huh?”

Ning Yunze and Chi Ruo nodded.

Jiang Youbai: “…” Annoying. Wanted to swear.

The two left as quickly as they had come, bringing nothing but a personal terminal and a series of bad news.

Jiang Youbai lay in bed for a while longer, then got up and turned on the personal terminal to see what she looked like now.

Due to differences in development and growth environments, clones rarely looked identical to their DNA donors. Some only bore a faint resemblance.

Her current body had been prepared by Chi Ruo. Though she trusted Chi Ruo’s taste and reliability, Jiang Youbai still needed to familiarize herself with her new face.

She opened the personal terminal and realized it was a model from over a hundred years ago, lacking full transformation capabilities and unable to connect to ocular implants. It only projected holograms externally.

Such personal terminals were severely limited in functionality and outdated. Facial recognition, in particular, was practically useless.

No wonder they’d given her a random terminal—the facial recognition was so broken that whoever’s face it scanned came out as a blur, sometimes barely human-shaped.

So she got up to find a mirror in the bathroom.

The lower city’s hospital was a testament to the inconveniences of lagging behind the times. Compared to the extravagant upper city, it felt like two eras had accidentally collided.

Even the bathroom lights required manual switches connected by wires.

Jiang Youbai had only seen such lights in textbooks—history textbooks.

They didn’t exist in the imperial capital. A few years ago, before retro styles became trendy, most lights in the capital were wall-embedded, illuminated by nanoscale materials that emitted soft, daylight-like glow.

Even when retro styles became fashionable, such lights were purely decorative.

Jiang Youbai fumbled around the bathroom for a while under the dim glow of the hologram but couldn’t find the light switch.

Finally, annoyed, she turned to leave and accidentally pressed a small switch on the wall. With a click, the bathroom lit up.

She stared at the tiny, fingernail-sized button on the pristine wall for a long time.

Jiang Youbai: “…” How charming. Who designed this? Just to mess with patients?

At least she could finally see herself in the mirror.

The reflection showed a stunning face—phoenix eyes slightly upturned, dark pupils like stars, with a single crimson teardrop mole beneath one eye.

Her beauty surpassed her original appearance, with fewer sharp edges and more allure, delicate as peach blossoms.

She looked far more delicate too. A single glance from her shimmering eyes was like a swaying, enchanting peony in spring. One could even call it seductive.

Though her features were only 70% similar to her past self, if her current face were placed side by side with her old one, no one would think they were the same person.

Only Jiang Youbai’s innate noble grace, every movement elegant and unrestrained, carried a faint echo of her past.

Not bad.

Looks were just looks—as long as they were pleasing.

And now she was even more breathtaking than before. Jiang Youbai was satisfied.

She spent a few days in the hospital adjusting to her new body, undergoing thorough checkups. Aside from her scent changing, everything else was nearly identical.

Chi Ruo had done a thorough job. Jiang Youbai was reassured.

A top-tier Alpha’s body recovered quickly, and she was soon discharged.

Only after leaving the hospital did Jiang Youbai realize that the hospital was actually one of the better-equipped places in the lower city.

Everywhere reeked of desperate poverty. People on the streets hurried along with numb expressions.

Facilities were outdated, sanitation was poor, and public safety was abysmal. Passing a few alleys, she even saw people brawling with weapons.

In the upper city, this was unimaginable. If Jiang Youbai wanted to fight someone, she’d have to plan carefully to avoid patrols.

The flying vehicles ubiquitous in the upper city were absent here, replaced by long-obsolete energy cars rolling on four wheels.

Shops were sparse—mostly junkyards and small stalls selling nutrient packs. The rest were shoddy residential buildings pieced together from cheap materials.

Not even the capsule housing commonly used by the lower classes was available.

Jiang Youbai ducked into an alley, leaning against the wall to think.

This godforsaken place existed within the imperial capital because, over centuries, many aristocrats had gone bankrupt overnight. Unwilling to leave the capital but unable to afford it, they congregated in areas outside the prosperous districts, gradually forming slums like the lower city.

It was practically a lawless zone. Finding legitimate work would be tough.

Jiang Youbai’s expression was blank. Chi Ruo really hadn’t done her job well—how could she not prepare money in this situation?

Now she was stranded here with less than 100 universal credits to her name. How was she supposed to survive? By robbing people?

As she pondered the feasibility of mugging someone, shadows fell over her.

Jiang Youbai looked up to see a group of thuggish young Betas surrounding her. One of them eyed her up and down, whistling. “Hey, such a pretty Omega, all alone here?”

Jiang Youbai murmured, “Hm?”

Her voice was soft and gentle, low and pleasant, like a shy, flustered little Omega. The Betas burst into laughter. “Oho! Is the little beauty shy?”

“Hey, no need to be shy. Come with me, I’ll treat you right.”

“Hahaha! Third Bro, don’t scare her.”

Jiang Youbai quickly realized why they’d mistaken her for an Omega.

Betas had weak pheromones and poor sensitivity to them. Those who rarely encountered Alphas or Omegas often judged by appearance alone.

Clearly, her stunning new looks had labeled her an Omega.

Jiang Youbai curled her lips, about to teach these Betas a lesson and relieve them of their valuables.

Before she could act, one of the Betas yelped as someone kicked him from behind.

A delicate voice shouted angrily, “You lot! What are you doing?”

At the alley’s entrance, where light and shadow intertwined, stood a pretty female Beta.

She had short hair, wore a sleeveless top, black cargo pants, and carried a dagger and a small gun at her waist. Before the Betas could react, she swiftly kicked another one down.

“Bullying Omegas again!”

Jiang Youbai hummed.

At first glance, this seemed like a Beta, but upon closer inspection, the skilled fighter was actually an Omega.

The short-haired Omega stepped over the two wailing Betas and approached her, her voice sweet with concern. “Are you okay?”

Then, her face twitched. She turned and kicked another Beta in frustration.

The Beta, who’d thought he’d escaped, clutched his stomach and howled. “Lou Chuxue! Why’d you kick me again?”

Jiang Youbai’s eyes flickered.

Lou Chuxue?

Same surname as Lou Huaiche. Coincidence?

The Omega called Lou Chuxue angrily stomped on the groaning Betas. “Use your eyes! Last time, the boss told you not to harass Omegas, and you still don’t listen. And besides—”

She pointed at Jiang Youbai. “Open your damn eyes and look properly. This is an Alpha! An Alpha! Ugh, I can’t with you idiots. Can’t you do something useful instead of causing trouble for the boss?”

“Seriously, just go back and mop the floors for the boss. That’s better than this.”

The Betas on the ground whined louder. “How is this an Alpha? She’s totally an Omega!”

Jiang Youbai listened quietly, ignoring them.

From Lou Chuxue’s words, she’d already deduced the relationship between her and these Betas.

Apparently, the lower city had its own factions and power structures. These people all served under one leader.

Maybe she could temporarily join this group to solve her immediate problems. If there were benefits, even better.

So Jiang Youbai said, “No need to restrain me. I’ll come with you willingly.”

Lou Chuxue blinked. “Oh? You’re willing? I’ve kidnapped so many Alphas, and none were willing at first. They all threw fits. But after seeing our boss, they all wanted to stay, and the boss didn’t want any of them.”

She sighed dramatically. “Over a dozen of them. There aren’t many decent Alphas in District A of the lower city. I grabbed every single presentable one, and none were good enough. Plus, they were freeloaders.”

Jiang Youbai smiled. “From the sound of it, your boss has high standards?”

“Not just high—she’s gorgeous!”

Lou Chuxue signaled the others to release her. “But don’t get your hopes up. Our boss is mesmerizing. There’s a long line of people waiting for her attention. You’re beautiful, but you might not even make the cut. Probably can’t even cut in line.”

Jiang Youbai thought, *Could her standards be higher than Lou Huaiche’s? Lou Huaiche was an unfeeling stone.*

The group led Jiang Youbai through a maze of alleys to a relatively decent building in the lower city.

The four-story building had over a dozen rooms. The courtyard walls were fortified, and sentries stood guard.

It resembled a small-scale mercenary base.

Two single-story wings flanked the main building—one likely for meetings, the other a cafeteria.

Lou Chuxue brought her to the meeting wing. A tall, striking Omega stood with her back to them, reviewing documents at a conference table.

Lou Chuxue called out cheerfully, “Boss, boss, look what I brought you!”

“I told you not to bring random people back!”

The person referred to as “boss” turned around impatiently, then froze when her eyes met Jiang Youbai’s.

Lou Chuxue chirped beside her, “Boss, boss, isn’t this Alpha really good-looking? I went through a lot to snatch her for you!”