The city of Yicheng had entered autumn.
The wind brushing against the cheeks carried a faint chill. In the abandoned factory, every step on the stairs produced a teeth-grinding creak. The sky was gloomy, with thick clouds indicating that a storm was imminent. Inside the factory, Pei Yujang stretched her long legs and climbed the stairs aimlessly, coughing as the dust choked her the higher she went.
Her destination was a narrow attic.
The attic had been in disrepair for years, but the messy footprints in the dust indicated that someone had recently been there. Pei Yujang sniffed and caught a faint scent of blood, followed by the sound of suppressed coughing from inside. Judging by the sound, it seemed to be a woman.
Fumbling in her pocket, Pei Yujang pulled out a key, and after several attempts, she managed to insert it into the lock.
Her vision was blurry, and her mind was hazy. It was only when she forced the door open and saw the person bound in the corner of the room that she sobered up slightly.
A large cardboard box had been broken and a wheelchair forced inside. The woman in the wheelchair was disheveled, her clothes torn in several places. A white cloth, seemingly torn off, was clipped near her ear, with bite marks at the end.
The scent of blood Pei Yujang had smelled earlier came from her. The woman had multiple cuts on her body, none too deep, but the sight of them was still jarring.
Pei Yujang inadvertently met her gaze.
Those were eyes that held a story.
The description flashed through Pei Yujang's mind. She vaguely remembered reading something like that in a book, though at the time, she couldn't understand such a strange description. But now, as she met those eyes, a small mystery hidden in her heart was instantly solved.
A dim, yellow bulb lit the attic, but it did nothing to diminish the beauty of the woman. Even with her mouth gagged, her wet, tangled hair hanging down in strands, her eyes, surrounded by a faint mist of moisture, appeared sorrowful, like the burgeoning vitality of spring captured in those dark brown eyes.
But...
Even though her head throbbed and her nose was filled with the smell of alcohol, Pei Yujang's judgment wasn't completely impaired.
She suddenly realized that the woman didn't seem to see her.
Pei Yujang waved her hand in front of the woman's face. She was standing on the right side, but the woman continued to "stare" straight ahead, making a muffled sound of frustration.
Had she been the one to kidnap this woman?
Pei Yujang felt as if she had lost her memory, her body moving as if it was following a plan. Looking at the woman struggling furiously in the box, she felt a surge of excitement, a malicious urge to imprison and torture her. But a stronger instinct suppressed that evil thought.
"Hiss—"
As soon as her consciousness returned, memories came flooding back.
In the apocalypse, Pei Yujang had been the epitome of cold abstinence, known for her strict and impartial nature. As an Alpha, she was notorious for being difficult and uninterested in Omegas.
In the post-apocalyptic world, humanity and zombies were divided into two camps. However, humans, despite their intelligence, were far less united than zombies. Many resisted the control of the official army, forming factions of evildoers. Some even attempted to use an Omega to seduce Pei Yujang, the Alpha General, but she rejected them all.
After fighting to the death with the Beast King leading a zombie horde, Pei Yujang did not actually die. Instead, she was bound to a system called 711 and transmigrated into a yuri ABO crematorium novel.
However, she wasn't the protagonist, but rather the cannon fodder superior of the female lead.
In the novel, the female lead was named Yu Zhiwan, a beautiful Omega with high-level pheromones. However, she was blind and wheelchair-bound, making her already frail body even more vulnerable.
In the story, Pei Yujang was a villainous character, a spoiled heiress who, relying on her status and her mother's favor, acted recklessly in the company.
One day, she accidentally encountered Yu Zhiwan at the company. Smitten by her beauty, Pei Yujang forcibly snatched her away from her subordinate, Liu Huanran, even though Yu Zhiwan already had a girlfriend. She harassed her verbally and attempted to rape her, but due to her family's influence, the incident was covered up.
She loved beauty and, despite knowing her pheromones were incompatible with Yu Zhiwan's, forcefully marked her, causing the Omega immense pain.
Pei Yujang couldn't help but frown as she recalled the plot.
Alphas could mark Omegas, but it had to be consensual; otherwise, it was a violation. Moreover, after an Alpha marked an Omega, the Omega would become dependent on the Alpha's pheromones, while the Alpha could mark other Omegas. This biological structure was inherently unfair to Omegas.
Moreover, it was best for Alphas and Omegas to have highly compatible pheromones before marking each other. Otherwise, the marked party would suffer, as incompatible pheromones stored in their glands would feel like ants biting or a small fire burning, causing constant pain.
In short, the original character was a complete scoundrel, using various perverse methods to torment Yu Zhiwan. Eventually, Yu Zhiwan would become blackened and, together with Liu Huanran, who would later become her official partner, would throw Pei Yujang to the wolves in the mountains.
Pei Yujang had only received a rough outline of the plot. The novel didn't delve deeply into the cannon fodder superior, merely depicting her as cruel, lecherous, and relentlessly harassing Yu Zhiwan, while her family was portrayed as a bunch of eccentrics.
But as Pei Yujang quickly reviewed the plot, she couldn't recall the original character ever kidnapping Yu Zhiwan at this point in the timeline.
No, the original character was wicked and depraved, but she never resorted to kidnapping. If she wanted to sleep with an Omega, she would have chosen a comfortable hotel, not a filthy place like this.
So why was she here?
As if to answer her question, Pei Yujang's phone vibrated. She saw a message pop up but didn't check it immediately. Instead, she first removed the cloth from Yu Zhiwan's mouth.
"I won't let you get away with this!"
The female lead trembled with anger as she finally got her mouth free. Having been gagged for so long, her voice was a bit muffled, causing Pei Yujang to frown.
She was a law-abiding citizen and didn't want to harm this woman or be unjustly blamed for something she hadn't done.
Reincarnated into the body of a scumbag, Pei Yujang felt no joy, only tension and anxiety. She quickly searched through the original character's memories and finally opened the message.
[Have you found the place?]
[I haven't fed her for two days, so she's probably weak by now.]
[And she's likely close to her heat period. I didn't give her any suppressants. Don't touch her yet; just scare her a bit. I'll be there soon, and we can enjoy her together.]
The word "enjoy" used in reference to an Omega was undoubtedly ominous.
Sensing that something was terribly wrong, Pei Yujang's heart raced as she quickly skimmed through the previous messages, discovering that someone had kidnapped the female lead and sent an anonymous text to the original character, revealing the location of the key.
At that time, the original character had already been lusting after Yu Zhiwan. At first, she didn't believe in such a miraculous opportunity, but then she found it thrilling and decided to check it out.
Since it wasn't the original character who had kidnapped the female lead, Pei Yujang felt relieved. She didn't want to get thrown into prison right after coming back to life.
The system informed her, "Your task is to properly play the role of the cannon fodder, to be slapped in the face later, but be careful not to let the female lead's blackening value get too high. If it reaches 100%, the apocalypse mode will be activated!"
After absorbing the entire plot and the original character's memories, Pei Yujang learned two things.
First, she wasn't an Alpha; she had bought Alpha pheromone extract on the black market.
Second, this so-called "waiting to be slapped in the face" was not what she had imagined.
Pei Yujang asked, "What is the female lead's current blackening value?"
The system hesitated for a moment before answering, "98%."
Pei Yujang: "???"
Can I still go back and continue fighting zombies?
The system seemed to read her mind:
"It's too late for that, Host. The person you're in contact with is the female lead's official partner, Liu Huanran, who will eventually pursue the female lead in a tragic, hot-and-cold relationship filled with misunderstandings, but ending in a happy-ever-after."
Liu Huanran!?
Before Pei Yujang could recover from her shock, the system quickly explained:
"This is a redemption story where the scumbag Alpha reforms and chases after her wife. The scumbag Alpha was truly awful in the beginning, but later regrets her actions. After going through a series of
misunderstandings and mutual torment, they finally get back together. In the early stages of the story, the two have a fight, and in order to make the female lead realize her importance, the scumbag Alpha deliberately kidnaps her, framing you, so that she can heroically 'rescue' her."
"The official partner will arrive on the scene in five minutes."
As soon as the words left the system, Pei Yujang understood that she didn't have any more time to waste. Her head was spinning, and she realized the original character had been quite reckless, coming to a place like this after drinking so much alcohol!
Pei Yujang took a deep breath and moved in front of the female lead, struggling to untie the ropes binding her. Under Yu Zhiwan's surprised gaze, Pei Yujang lowered her voice and tried to change her tone as she spoke to her:
"Don't move. I'm letting you go now."
A flash of lightning illuminated the room, making it as bright as day, followed by the sound of raindrops pattering through a nearby window. The rain splashed onto Pei Yujang's face, and she wiped it away before continuing to untie the remaining ropes. Whoever had tied her up must have been incredibly cautious, as there were layers upon layers of restraints.
Now Pei Yujang understood where the injuries on her body came from—it was likely the rough nylon ropes that had caused them. An Omega's skin was delicate, easily bruised with just a touch. The woman had struggled out of fear, causing the red marks all over her body.
Perhaps due to the fear and the fact that she couldn't see, Yu Zhiwan gripped Pei Yujang's wrist tightly, her nails nearly digging into her flesh.
Pei Yujang, who had long been numb to this kind of pain, felt her original body's frailty, nearly crying out in pain. Instead, she whispered:
"I'm letting you go now, but remember, I wasn't the one who brought you here, got it?"
To ensure Yu Zhiwan could hear her clearly over the sound of the pouring rain, Pei Yujang leaned in close, their faces almost touching.
Yu Zhiwan slowly removed her mask and mouthed something silently. Just as the raindrops clung to her eyelashes and rolled down her cheeks, Pei Yujang blinked, unable to clearly make out her expression.
Furthermore, since she was now a Beta, she had no sensitivity to pheromones, so she didn't immediately notice the intoxicating scent of the Omega's pheromones dispersing into the air.
It wasn't until the heat of the woman's breath brushed against her lips that Pei Yujang realized what was happening.