After The Mission Failed, The Scumbag Alpha Ran Away - Chapter 49
49: My Dignity
Chi Ruo underwent a second gender differentiation and became an Omega.
In a bar, two Alphas forcibly gave him a permanent mark.
The world before his eyes turned pitch black, but the two lines of text on his personal terminal’s email stood out with painful clarity.
Jiang Youbai felt her entire body go numb and shaky. A surge of bl00d rushed through her, carrying a bone-deep chill that made her sway unsteadily, barely able to keep her mind clear.
In a panic, she gripped the edge of the table, trying to steady herself—she couldn’t afford to faint now.
But the harder she tried, the stronger the dizziness became, threatening to overwhelm her.
Lou Huaiche, standing beside her, glanced at the message on Jiang Youbai’s personal terminal. Quickly, she closed it and, noticing Jiang Youbai’s trembling limbs, immediately supported her, offering a sip of warm water.
“Jiang Youbai,” Lou Huaiche called her name in a low voice, “you need to stay calm.”
The noise around them was deafening, but Jiang Youbai could barely make out Lou Huaiche’s words. She forced herself to take deep, steadying breaths.
Jiang Youbai had to stay calm.
And so, she did. Summoning every ounce of strength left in her collapsing body, she straightened up.
Her mind raced as she processed the information. With a grimace, she reopened her personal terminal, added Jiang Qingxian’s contact through the email, and demanded:
“Why was it your people who reported Chi Ruo’s incident? Where is Chi Ruo now? Jiang Qingxian, explain yourself.”
Jiang Qingxian seemed to hesitate—perhaps struggling to find the right words, or perhaps unable to bring herself to reply.
In the end, Jiang Qingxian only told Jiang Youbai:
“Chi Ruo smashed a liquor bottle and stabbed those two Alphas to death with the shards. Now, he’s been arrested for murder by the patrol squad and is in custody at the police station.”
A surge of white-hot fury burned through Jiang Youbai. From these sparse details, she immediately pieced together the likely sequence of events.
Those two Alphas were undoubtedly Jiang Qingxian’s subordinates.
And the Alphas who arrested Chi Ruo for murder? Also Jiang Qingxian’s people.
Knowing Chi Ruo’s temperament, there was no way he would panic just because of his secondary differentiation into an Omega—enough to be caught off guard and assaulted.
Every bar, as a precaution against sudden Alpha and Omega ruts or heats, kept ample suppressants within easy reach.
There couldn’t have been only two Alphas in that bar—so why were those two the ones who targeted Chi Ruo?
And how convenient that the patrol squad showed up just in time to arrest him.
This wasn’t an accident.
This was an act of violence, an abuse of power by Alphas who knew they could get away with it.
Jiang Youbai shot to her feet, no longer caring about pressing Jiang Qingxian for answers or even sparing a glance at Lou Huaiche beside her. She bolted downstairs.
The restaurant entrance was a long way from the automated hovercab pickup point.
She ran.
She ran like hell.
Her mind was in complete chaos, her vision dotted with black spots. In the end, a journey that should have taken over twenty minutes was completed by Jiang Youbai in less than three. She stumbled and crawled, desperately grabbing the door of an unmanned aircraft and hauling herself inside.
The intense physical exertion and emotional turmoil left her throat parched and dry, the taste of bl00d foaming in her mouth.
Sitting in the aircraft, waiting for it to take her to the police station, Jiang Youbai slammed her head violently against the transparent window several times.
She couldn’t calm down. Her roars and screams were trapped in her throat, not a single sob able to escape.
Chi Ruo—that was Chi Ruo!
The aircraft soon landed at the entrance of the police station.
Jiang Youbai’s hands trembled as she opened the door. Outside the station, she saw the patrol team under Jiang Qingxian’s command. The team was almost entirely made up of Alphas, clustered around Jiang Qingxian at the entrance, chattering loudly.
“Chi Ruo has differentiated into an Omega. Well, that’s that—the capital’s number one Beta can’t be a council member anymore. She’ll probably lose her title too, right?”
“She also killed two of our men. According to imperial law, that’s clearly excessive self-defense—enough for the death penalty! Hahahaha! I’ve always said these Betas should be barred from the council, just like Omegas.”
“Tsk tsk, look at her now, strutting around like she owns the place. After being publicly marked, how will she ever show her face again?”
Jiang Youbai walked up to the two men speaking and slapped them across the face.
“What the hell are you doing?”
The two Alphas, struck by her, instantly flew into a rage. Once they recovered, they lunged at Jiang Youbai, trying to grab her.
Jiang Youbai easily shook them off and strode up to Jiang Qingxian. Without a second thought, she raised her hand and slapped him across the face.
Faintly, she recalled something from six or seven years ago—a time when she and Chi Ruo were watching a comedy show. The host had joked, half-seriously, “Only Betas and Omegas resort to slapping and hair-pulling when they’re angry. Alphas don’t do that. Alphas are rational, restrained by nature.”
At that time, Chi Ruo disagreed. She kicked a nearby cabinet, pointed at the holographic projection, and began cursing at it angrily.
Jiang Youbai thought Chi Ruo was being unreasonable. The two had often argued over such matters before, so Jiang Youbai ended up in a heated quarrel with Chi Ruo.
After the argument, they nearly came to blows. Jiang Youbai stormed up to the second floor and locked herself in her room, refusing to see Chi Ruo.
Chi Ruo grabbed a kitchen knife, went upstairs, and started hacking at the door while shouting, “Jiang Youbai! Take a good look—when this Beta gets angry, do I slap or use a kitchen knife?!”
Not long after, the Prince’s residence was repaired, and Jiang Youbai moved out. The two hadn’t been in private contact for a long time since then.
Jiang Youbai suddenly found it all absurd.
Even as a top-tier Alpha, when pushed to the brink of fury, her first instinct was merely to slap someone.
Jiang Qingxian took that slap squarely. Her lips trembled slightly, but in the end, she couldn’t utter a single word.
The patrol team behind her stirred, itching to retaliate, but Jiang Qingxian raised a hand to stop them.
Ignoring the group, Jiang Youbai strode straight into the police station.
Behind her, the murmurs of indignant Alphas faintly reached her ears.
“Your Highness, are you just going to let that damn Beta hit you?”
Jiang Qingxian closed her eyes and sighed into the night breeze. “Quiet! What’s wrong with all of you? Chi Ruo has presented as an Omega, and this is the first idea you come up with when you pass by?”
An Alpha smirked, trying to shift the topic. “Ah, Your Highness, you’re just too much like an Omega—what do they call it? A woman’s soft heart! Chi Ruo is practically the leader of the Reformists. Just because she’s turned into an Omega doesn’t mean she’s lost all ability to resist. And what better way to break an Omega’s will than by forcing a mark on her?”
Jiang Qingxian gritted her teeth and finally couldn’t hold back a roar: “And then? You didn’t even report it, just took matters into your own hands? And now? Now Chi Ruo has directly killed two people!”
The Alpha said indifferently, “Those two of ours were just unlucky, getting killed by a freshly differentiated Omega—utter trash. Dead weight is dead weight. Chi Ruo has suffered a major loss now anyway.”
The words were so shamelessly blunt that Jiang Qingxian was momentarily at a loss for how to respond.
Like Jiang Youbai in the past, Jiang Qingxian had merely been pushed forward by countless underlings pursuing their own interests, forced onto the throne as the crown princess.
Her subordinates were even more chaotic and power-hungry than the old imperial faction. Unlike Jiang Youbai, who had never touched real authority and remained ignorant of the empire’s true state, Jiang Qingxian knew the reality all too well.
In truth, Jiang Qingxian had grown up on a satellite colony, where she had witnessed firsthand just how corrupt the empire was. The distant satellites were practically fiefdoms ruled by certain nobles.
The annual taxes levied by the empire’s upper echelons grew heavier with each layer of bureaucracy, crushing the people of the satellites under their weight. Meanwhile, the funds allocated each year were embezzled by those pleasure-seeking nobles until barely a pittance remained.
Jiang Qingxian knew that while the empire appeared prosperous on the surface, its nobility wallowed in extravagance and decay. The financial reports released to the public were one thing, but the internal records told another story—nearly all tax revenue was carved up and devoured by the nobles of the imperial capital’s upper city.
The entire empire was nothing more than a hollowed-out shell, seemingly thriving but rotten to its core.
She had hoped that once she ascended the throne, she could implement new policies to save the common people—exploited by the nobility, their lives hanging by a thread, adrift in hardship.
Moreover, Jiang Qingxian held affection for the empire and the imperial family. She didn’t want such a vast empire to march blindly toward self-destruction.
But now, Jiang Qingxian suddenly realized that these greedy Alpha nobles were utterly incapable of restraining their avarice.
They were less like people and more like beasts.
Her ideals, Jiang Qingxian understood, were destined to be nothing more than a fleeting, bubble-like dream.
She covered her face, her body and mind sinking into exhaustion.
Jiang Youbai only heard the earlier part of the conversation. Her face expressionless, she walked toward the police station but was stopped by an Alpha guard from the Empire.
“What do you want?”
Jiang Youbai raised her head. “I’m here to bail Chi Ruo.”
“She killed two patrol guards. That’s a serious crime. According to imperial law, there’s no way we can let you bail her out.”
Jiang Youbai asked, “Why not? She just presented as an Omega and was raped by two Alphas. Don’t you know how severely hormonal imbalance affects the body?”
The Alpha guard gave her a disdainful look. “Who’s to say it was rape? Maybe the Omega begged to be marked.”
Jiang Youbai’s hands, hanging at her sides, slowly clenched into fists. Before she could act, Jiang Qingxian entered and instructed the Alpha guard, “Let Miss Bai go in to see Councilor Chi first.”
The Alpha guard stepped aside, making a gesture to lead Jiang Youbai to the interrogation room, but he laughed and said, “Your Highness! Chi Ruo is an Omega now—she can’t enter the Lower House anymore!”
A wave of nausea rose in Jiang Youbai’s chest.
She swept a cold glance over the laughing guard and let out a scornful chuckle.
Then, without waiting for anyone to react, Jiang Youbai strode straight into the depths of the police station. Having once been a princess, she naturally knew which interrogation room Chi Ruo would be held in according to protocol.
The fury and bitter agony churning in her heart suddenly settled the moment she pushed open the interrogation room door and saw Chi Ruo, covered in bl00d.
The Empire’s interrogation rooms for serious criminals were extremely strict, separated by an exceptionally sturdy, transparent new material, with energy shields protecting both the inside and outside.
Chi Ruo sat on the interrogation chair, her body almost entirely smeared with half-dried bl00d. She was still wearing her red high heels, her hands and feet bound with laser shackles.
Hearing Jiang Youbai’s footsteps, Chi Ruo lifted her head and staggered toward the transparent wall.
The laser shackles had burned layers of skin on her hands and feet.
Chi Ruo and Jiang Youbai were separated by a transparent cage. At a glance, Chi Ruo could tell Jiang Youbai had rushed over—likely even gotten into a fight along the way.
Jiang Youbai pressed against the transparent cage, her forehead resting against it. She opened her mouth but couldn’t speak, not even daring to let her tears fall.
With difficulty, she said to Chi Ruo, “Don’t move around. The laser shackles—”
Chi Ruo spat out a mouthful of bl00d, irritably kicking the wall in front of her. The laser shackles sizzled as they burned her skin.
Her clothes were disheveled, her body bearing the marks of a struggle—she looked utterly battered.
At this moment, Chi Ruo stared fixedly at Jiang Youbai, enunciating each word: “Jiang Youbai, don’t you dare cry.”
“Whether I’m an Omega or a Beta, I won’t let these Alphas have their way with me. I won’t cry, and you sure as hell aren’t allowed to cry for me.”
“You Alphas think this is some ultimate humiliation, the best way to break an Omega. But stripped of power and the rules you’ve set, the ones who’ll truly be broken are the Alphas when they realize I don’t give a damn.”
Whenever Chi Ruo felt irritated or impatient, she’d kick something nearby—this time was no exception. As she kicked the wall again, the laser shackles sizzled once more, accompanied by her sharp, domineering voice.
“Jiang Youbai, stand straight and listen well. I won’t feel ashamed or humiliated by this. My dignity isn’t something Alphas can give me! It doesn’t come from Alpha definitions of what an Omega should be! Alphas say Omegas need chastity, need to feel shame when marked—since when do Omegas have to obey that?”
“Right now, what you should be thinking about is how to make these people afraid—so afraid they’d never dare pull this sh1t again. Not standing there looking like you’re about to cry, pissing me off.”
Jiang Youbai straightened her posture.