Chapter 17: Fact Proves He Accepts Xie Ren’s Pheromones Well
Heavy rain washed over the jungle, thunder masking footsteps and gunshots. The rainforest was fraught with danger.
The wooden house was crude and narrow. Rainwater leaked through the cracks as the two occupied separate corners.
The electronic healing agent couldn’t treat the wound. Fortunately, high-ranking Alphas healed quickly. Xie Ren tore off a piece of gauze and simply wrapped his arm.
Yu Shi put down the communication equipment. “Can’t contact the rescue team. The rain might be affecting the signal.”
“I can’t cut into the channel here either,” Xie Ren said.
Upon discovering the live ammunition, the atmosphere had become much heavier.
Yu Shi asked, “Do you know the model of that gun?”
“Glock 19, 9×19 caliber. Standard issue for K9. They probably found it in Area B.”
“You don’t suspect them?”
Xie Ren scoffed, “Xu Ze is a Falcon Regiment reservist; betraying a commander is a capital offense. And while Han Po hates me, he isn’t stupid enough to tamper with things in this setting.”
Yu Shi tossed the gun back to him. “All battlefield weapons come from the Armory. For the enemy to get a pass, it must be someone inside NDU.”
Xie Ren answered irrelevantly, “People might die today. Are you afraid?”
Yu Shi looked up and stared at him without a word.
“I don’t mean anything else,” Xie Ren reloaded the gun with one hand. “I just feel that you research types rarely see this kind of scene. I’m going to find that person now, and I’ll use some violent means. You probably won’t like it.”
Yu Shi’s face was calm. “Do whatever you want to do. I am not your teammate; I won’t have any objections.”
Xie Ren walked to the door and said coldly, “I always believe in avenging grievances. Today, he must pay the price. Wait for me here; see you in twenty minutes.”
Twenty minutes to deal with a team plus Xu Ze and Song Xiewen—it sounded overly arrogant.
Yu Shi said nothing, finding an energy bar from the supply pile to replenish his strength.
Outside, the rain poured, lightning flashed, and thunder rolled. The depths of the rainforest felt like the end of the world, and a faint scent of blood permeated the forest.
The system began broadcasting: “Group D1 ‘Instructor Yu, You Dropped Your Dog’ Xie Ren eliminated Group D5 ‘I’m Just a Spare Tire, How Dare I Be Jealous’ Nie Zhen. Nie Zhen is out.”
“Group D1… Xie Ren eliminated Group D5… Pang Guoxu. Pang Guoxu is out.”
“Group D1… Xie Ren eliminated Group D5… 9530. 9530 is out.”
…
“Group D5 ‘I’m Just a Spare Tire, How Dare I Be Jealous’ all members out.”
The watch dial turned from 13:25 to 13:43. The weather gradually cleared, and the sound of rain lessened.
Thud, thud, thud.
Heavy footsteps came from outside the wooden house. Yu Shi looked toward the door.
Soaked through, Xie Ren pushed the door open and entered, throwing a body onto the floor with a bang.
The “corpse” kicked up dust from the ground. When the dust settled, it revealed Xu Ze’s pale face, sporting scratches and bloodstains.
Xie Ren took off his soaked protective suit and said, “He fainted.”
Yu Shi glanced at his arm and reminded him, “Your wound has torn open.”
“Yeah. Pass me the knife,” Xie Ren said indifferently.
His hands and face had tiny cuts from dashing through the forest, and his palms showed obvious strangulation marks from vines. It looked like he had been through a fierce fight.
Yu Shi handed over the dagger, thinking he was going to cut cloth for bandages. Instead, Xie Ren held the blade in reverse and poked Xu Ze’s abdomen with the handle.
This jab almost sent Xu Ze back to the afterlife. He woke from his faint with a start, curling into a ball while clutching his stomach and coughing, vaguely cursing profanities.
Xie Ren squatted down, pressing the tip of the knife against his heart, and said leisurely, “Yo, awake, brother.”
“Fuck… your hand is… really heavy, cough cough cough!” Xu Ze trembled with anger.
“No father and son on the battlefield. Don’t blame your daddy for being heartless, especially since you struck first.” Xie Ren snorted coldly. “Where’s that gun?”
“You have the nerve to ask? It fell into the trap you made. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been captured alive by you! Cough cough… hurts like hell!”
“Where did that gun come from?”
“Where else? Picked it up in Area B.”
“Besides you, who else has used it?”
Xu Ze was irritable. “How should I know? No, wait, if you’re going to kill me, just kill me. Why ask so much crap?”
Xie Ren poked his chest with the knife tip, causing him to yelp in pain. “Answer when asked.”
“Fuck! You can’t torture prisoners like this! Let me think… Han Po. Han Po used that gun.”
Xie Ren and Yu Shi exchanged a look. Xie Ren stood up and kicked him. “Take us to find him.”
“No can do. I have a backbone.”
“Is that so? So tough.” Xie Ren raised the dagger. “I’ll poke a few holes in you first.”
Yu Shi stopped him. “Wait.”
Both looked at him simultaneously. Xu Ze’s eyes burst with light, as if seeing a savior descend, the beautiful Omega radiating a bling-bling white holy light.
Yu Shi picked up a bottle of alcohol at hand. “I found this in the supply box. Poke a hole in the sensor on his chest and pour a little into the wound.”
Xu Ze broke down crying and shouting, “…Inhumane! Inhumane! You two are unforgivable villains! Ahhhhh, stop poking! I’ll lead the way, okay?!”
The rain gradually stopped. The three walked through the jungle in a line.
Xu Ze, tied with vines, led the way in front. The other end of the vine was in Xie Ren’s hand. His mouth was stuffed tight with gauze, his face full of despair and resentment.
Yu Shi and Xie Ren walked side by side. The air was filled with the earthy smell of post-rain soil, and a faint scent of peppermint alcohol.
That scent could no longer be hidden.
Xie Ren teased, “Instructor Yu, do you smell anything?”
“I smell it,” Yu Shi said expressionlessly. “Your pheromones.”
It was hard to believe someone would order a drink identical to their pheromones the first time they treated someone to a drink.
How thick-skinned.
Xie Ren was dissatisfied. “Just this reaction? I thought you’d be embarrassed. Or do you smell other Alphas’ pheromones often, so you’re used to it?”
Yu Shi looked at him like he was crazy and didn’t respond.
Xie Ren continued on his own, “Really strange. You can smell my pheromones, but I can’t smell yours. Why is that?”
Yu Shi raised an eyebrow. “You seem very interested in my pheromones.”
“Of course, I’ve always been curious.” Xie Ren pushed his luck. “Why don’t you release some? Let’s bump them against each other.”
His words didn’t imply harassment; it was purely because Yu Shi had said earlier that he would let him smell enough on the battlefield.
Releasing combat pheromones was more of a game between ranks. Perhaps his combative factors were at play, but he was very curious about what kind of pheromones Yu Shi, a fellow high-ranker, possessed.
Yu Shi scoffed, “Have you ever considered that the reason you can’t smell them is because our compatibility is too low?”
“Is that so? Then why didn’t your wristband react?” Xie Ren grinned wickedly.
Yu Shi frowned, keeping a straight face without making a sound. His wristband indeed hadn’t vibrated, nor was there any stress or allergic reaction.
Fact proved he accepted Xie Ren’s pheromones well.
Xu Ze couldn’t bear it anymore and rolled his eyes, grunting and shaking his head.
Xie Ren pulled the gauze out of his mouth.
Xu Ze said grumpily, “Ahead is the supply house we searched. Han Po was still here before we split up. And hey, can you treat the prisoner like a human? Don’t discuss such private topics in front of me. I’m not deaf.”
“Who asked you to listen?” Xie Ren hit him with the gun stock. “Go squat over there. If you dare play tricks, wait to die.”
Xu Ze was stifled to death but had to squat at Yu Shi’s heels.
He held his head and cursed, “Instructor Yu, absolutely don’t ally with this guy. He’s just using you. He sells out teammates in the final circle without hesitation. Don’t be deceived by a moment of soft-heartedness.”
Xie Ren raised his gun and entered the house without looking back. “Xu Ze, say a few more words, and I’ll come back and slaughter you.”
Xu Ze was fearless. “I’m dead either way! Instructor Yu, before I die, I want to expose him fiercely! Last year he said he’d take me to first place, then turned around and shot me in the final circle. The year before in the sea battle, he insta-killed me at the start, tearing even the robot dog to pieces. He didn’t even spare the dog! Is he even human… Mmph mmph!”
Yu Shi stuffed the gauze back into his mouth, patted it twice thinking it wasn’t tight enough, and turned to focus on the supply house situation.
Xu Ze wanted to cry but had no tears. “…”
Truly a pair of villains, rotten to the core!
A few minutes later, Xie Ren came out of the wooden house.
“No one inside. Only a Browning and used medical agents.”
Yu Shi asked, “What about that gun?”
Just as Xie Ren was about to answer, his expression suddenly changed drastically, shouting, “Get down!”
Yu Shi immediately rolled into the grass. A gunshot rang out close behind. Xie Ren dodged with quick reactions; the bullet flew past his brow and hit an ancient towering tree, leaving a deep crater.
Yu Shi’s gaze sharpened, saying to him, “Something’s wrong.”
The shooter used an M17. This was the most accurate pistol on the field, suitable for single-target kills.
However, there were only three M17s in the entire battlefield. Where did so many gunshots come from?
Hiding in the grass, they heard approaching footsteps—rustling, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue.
Yu Shi quietly looked up and saw five people wearing black raincoats.
Not people from NDU.
Xie Ren cut Xu Ze’s bindings and gave him a gun found in the supply house.
Yu Shi mouthed: Who are they? Was that live ammo just now?
Xie Ren shook his head and mouthed back: Let’s test it.
Xu Ze leaped up first. The five men in black aimed and fired at him simultaneously. Xie Ren seized the opportunity to rise and fire—three shots, three hits, striking precisely between the eyebrows of three men.
The next second, the five men turned their direction simultaneously and opened fire on him. He turned and rolled behind the towering tree.
Xu Ze panted, looking at the two in shock. His protective suit glowed orange, but there was no blood on his exterior, and the system didn’t broadcast any information.
He asked, full of doubt: What the hell is going on?
Yu Shi looked into the distance. Not one of the five men in black had fallen; they were continuing to close in on them.
Xie Ren threw a glance at Xu Ze. Having fought alongside him for years, Xu Ze immediately understood his meaning and darted out from behind the tree to shoot again.
This time, the men in black didn’t even look at him, instead suppressing Xie Ren’s hiding spot with firepower.
Xie Ren was beaten back as soon as he showed his head, unable to resist cursing.
Soon they realized that these people had only one target: Xie Ren. No matter what angle he moved to, they stared at him dead on.
Realizing this, Xie Ren no longer held back. He quickly flipped up a tree, and the forest went quiet.
Ignoring Yu Shi and Xu Ze, the men turned straight toward the direction he disappeared and searched, vanishing from sight in moments.
Yu Shi stood up from the grass, wanting to chase after them.
Xu Ze stopped him. “It’s okay, Brother Ren went to kite them. It’s his usual method. Let’s go into the supply house and wait.”
Deep in the jungle, the five men in black separated into a triangular column.
The rearguard lagged about ten meters behind. As he carefully searched the grass, Xie Ren descended silently from the sky, cutting his carotid artery from behind while covering his mouth and dragging him into the bushes.
Everything happened in a split second. The man didn’t even have time to make a sound before he was quickly dealt with.
Blood soaked the gloves, clothes, and soil, merging with the pitch-black color. Without looking closely, one couldn’t tell the difference.
The smell of peppermint alcohol in the forest grew stronger, masking the scent of blood.
Those people were led further away. Xie Ren carried the corpse, circled back to the supply house, and casually threw the person on the ground.
“Holy shit, what is this thing?” Xu Ze was startled, his voice stuck in his throat.
Xie Ren said, “It’s an android.”
He removed the corpse’s mask, revealing a face without features. The skin texture was exactly like a human’s; without close inspection, one couldn’t tell it was a machine at all.
“An… android? Wasn’t research on this stuff banned?” Xu Ze turned pale with fright. “Wait, I’m a bit confused. Why would this thing appear in the Simulated Battlefield?”
Androids were initially used for entertainment and medical industries, later developing into slaughter weapons on the battlefield. Due to ethical and technical issues, they were publicly banned by the Interstellar Alliance.
Yu Shi stared fixedly at that face, feeling his hair stand on end. A dangerous guess arose, and his face turned pale.
Xie Ren glanced at him and covered the corpse’s face.
He pulled an M17 from behind his waist and placed it on the table. “Found this on him. Have you contacted the emergency team?”
“No, there’s been no signal, and the system broadcast has stopped too.” Xu Ze felt creeped out inside. “Brother Ren, did enemy troops infiltrate the battlefield?”
Xie Ren said, “Keep calling. The control center for this kind of android is in the brain. Severing the spine cuts the connection.”
While he spoke, a faint noise came from outside the house.
Neither of the other two noticed. Xie Ren’s eyes darkened. “They’re coming here.”
“What? Didn’t you lure them away?” Xu Ze was shocked.
Yu Shi thought for a moment, looked at his wound, and whispered, “It’s pheromones. They are tracking you.”
Xu Ze was furious. “Fuck! How did these ghost things get in?”
Yu Shi lifted the covering on the wound to look. The bleeding hadn’t stopped; it was flowing intermittently.
Xie Ren’s expression also changed slightly. A bullet scratch of this degree was nothing to him. The fact that it hadn’t stopped bleeding yet was eerie.
Yu Shi picked up the M17 on the table, took out a bullet, and observed it carefully in his hand.
These weren’t live rounds, but soft-textured simulation rounds. There was a line of extremely small engraving on them: T5RI.
The Fifth Research Institute.
His hand trembled, nearly dropping the gun.
Xu Ze couldn’t bear it anymore and pushed the door open to leave. “Damn it, they’re just androids. Let’s fight them! I’ll go outside to reinforce the traps. I don’t believe these dead things can be that capable.”
Yu Shi’s eyes were cold to the extreme, staring at the gun without a word.
Xie Ren asked, “Is there a problem with the bullet?”
“Have you heard of the Fifth Research Institute?” Yu Shi’s voice was hoarse.
Xie Ren nodded. “Heard a little. One of the five major institutes established at the founding of the nation. It closed suddenly decades ago, and all researchers inside disappeared. The reason hasn’t been announced to this day.”
Yu Shi said, “The Fifth Institute never made their research projects public because they conducted a notorious experiment that caused an uproar at the time: the Pheromone Replication Experiment.”
Xie Ren recalled, “So they did that. I know that before I was born, a lab was accused of using A-class humans for experiments, collecting massive amounts of pheromones to replicate and create weapons. This weapon is very special; it can precisely locate the target to be killed in a crowd and initiate automatic tracking. It won’t stop until the target is completely dead.”
“At that time, various gray industries moved in. Many vicious incidents like human trafficking and kidnapping occurred. Social order fell into chaos. Finally, the Sovereign Corps intervened to suppress it.”
A sharp light shot from Xie Ren’s eyes, his face grim. “I know who they are. Last month in Zone 9, I destroyed a lab.”
Yu Shi looked at him. “These bullets won’t hurt others because they are customized specifically for you. They can only shoot and kill you alone.”
This was a siege targeting Xie Ren.
Xu Ze suddenly pushed open the door, cold sweat on his forehead. “I saw those ghost things… I estimate, estimate there’s a company of them.”
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