After all, in this era of extremely low fertility, people from all social strata long to dote on their offspring without restraint. So even though there are constant power struggles among the upper echelons, here in this first - tier academy, children are just children at heart, and their main focus is to have fun.
"Ahem. We have a new classmate joining us today. From now on, we'll study together. Let's welcome him into our big family."
After Zhang Yuan finished speaking, complete silence fell over the classroom. She pushed her glasses awkwardly and said, "Li Mou, please come in."
Li Mou slung a limited - edition schoolbag over one shoulder, stuck his hands in his jacket pockets, and walked in with a wide smile.
Moments later, the classroom erupted into enthusiastic applause, accompanied by cheers and whistles.
"God, this has to be an Omega. What a stunner!"
"Ahhhhhhh, so cute!"
"As expected, good looks mean everything. He's definitely innocent!"
"Why am I always so easily swayed by appearances?"
"Please don't let him get into a fight with Cheng Cai. I'd be heartbroken if he got hurt!"
The applause and the chattering remarks made the figure lying on the desk in the back corner stir.
Li Mou was extremely pleased with the applause. He nodded slightly, looked at everyone in the class, and even deliberately straightened his thin shoulders.
"Hi, everyone," he said with a smile, deliberately lowering his voice at the end. "I'm Li Mou, an A - class alpha."
As soon as the words left his mouth, the classroom fell so silent that the hum of the holographic projection equipment could be heard.
Everyone stared at Li Mou on the stage, stunned.
Seeing their shocked expressions, Li Mou raised an eyebrow and silently cheered himself on in his mind. He turned around, wrote his name on the blackboard, and then asked the homeroom teacher with a smile, "Teacher, where should I sit?"
"Li Mou, you can sit in the last row for now," Zhang Yuan pushed her glasses, which had slipped down to the tip of her nose, and her voice was strained.
Under everyone's gaze, Li Mou walked step by step towards the last row.
This had always been Cheng Cai's exclusive territory. In this place, free from external distractions and with a simple admiration for physical strength, Cheng Cai also held the position of class monitor.
At that moment, he was sprawled across two desks, fast asleep and oblivious to the world.
Lü Yiyi in the front row whispered to her deskmate, "Hey, if we wake him up, will Brother Cheng lose his temper?"
Li Mou stood in front of Cheng Cai's desk and looked at the figure hunched over the table. Just from the broad shoulders, it was clear that this guy was an alpha, and a high - ranking one at that.
"Hey, classmate, move over," he said, reaching out to push Cheng Cai's shoulder.
There was no response.
"Classmate?" He shook him harder.
The desk rocked back and forth, and the scraping sound of the desk legs against the floor was very distinct.
Cheng Cai suddenly lifted his head, his eyes still foggy with sleep.
"Earthquake?"
Without even opening his eyes, Cheng Cai grabbed the person next to him and started running, muttering as he went, "This shaking is like a magnitude 7 earthquake. Gotta save as many people as we can!"
He dashed towards the playground, following his memory.
The entire Class 3, Grade 2, along with the homeroom teacher standing on the podium like a statue, watched in unison as the class monitor dragged the new classmate away at full speed...
In the silence, a voice suddenly said, "I wonder what the new classmate's temper is like..."
At the classroom door, the heel of Zhang Yuan's high - heeled shoe "snapped".
Lü Yiyi in the back row pointed in the direction where the two had disappeared and said, her voice trembling, "Could it be that Brother Cheng mistook the new classmate for someone to escape with this time?"
Amidst the eerie atmosphere, someone muttered, "Little Li Mou is in trouble. Let's tell his fortune!"
"What fortune - telling!" At this critical moment, the PE team leader reacted quickly and jumped out of the second - floor window to chase after them.
Ren Zhen narrowed her eyes, snorted twice, and looked at the three copper coins on the table. "Oh dear, this is a disaster!"
The hovering dandelions on the barren slope trembled gently in the heat. Li Mou felt that the antique - style plastic track under his feet was so hot that it seemed like it could fry an egg, and his shoe soles were almost melting.
Cheng Cai's hand gripped his like a vice, dragging him as he sprinted along the circular track. His tie flapped wildly in the wind, like a battle flag.
"Stop—" Li Mou suddenly came to a halt, his back slamming into the rusty magnetic rail fence. His fingertips dug deep into the crook of Cheng Cai's hand, and he snarled, "Keep running, and I won't hold back!"
At these words, Cheng Cai stopped abruptly. His metal watch swung half a circle due to inertia. He squinted his emerald - green eyes and looked around.
The holographic campus path signs flickered on and off a hundred meters away. The anti - gravity lawn of the distant laboratory building floated like a piece of emerald, and they were now standing beside the wreckage of an abandoned old starship—a training ground left over from a simulated meteorite impact ten years ago.
Cheng Cai yawned. He still didn't seem fully awake. "Where's the earthquake?"
He stretched, and his vision gradually cleared. He met a pair of furious almond - shaped eyes. The other person's neck was so white that it seemed to glow, but now it was tinged with a faint flush. His black hair was tousled by the wind, with a tuft of hair sticking up, giving him a rather cute look.
"Who the hell are you?" Cheng Cai shook his numb wrist, and the earring on his earlobe flashed coldly in the sunlight.
Only then did he realize that he didn't recognize the person in front of him.
The young man was bent over, panting with his hands on his knees. The collar of his school uniform had slipped down, revealing the delicate skin of his neck, which was slightly red from the heat and reminded him of the pomelo he'd eaten a couple of days ago.
Li Mou glared at him. There were still beads of sweat on his eyelashes, and the tip of his nose was pink. "Are you insane?" He tugged at his wrinkled school uniform cuff.
For a moment, Cheng Cai thought he caught a whiff of lily - of - the - valley, but it was quickly overpowered by the pungent smell of alpha pheromones, as if the floral scent had just been an illusion.
"Listen, classmate—" Li Mou panted and took out a small silver can from his pocket, shaking it. "Ever heard of the new 'Defender'? They say it can knock an alpha out cold." The can glinted menacingly in the sunlight.
The onlookers stopped dead in their tracks fifty meters away, as if pulled by an invisible force. The PE team leader smirked and murmured, "This is getting good!"
Cheng Cai squinted at the guy who was a head shorter than him, a hint of disdain in his eyes. Suddenly, he reached out and grabbed the other's collar.
The onlookers gasped in unison. Ren Zhen's copper coins clattered to the ground. "Bloodshed..."
"Your pheromones are leaking. Is that a milky scent?" Cheng Cai's nose was almost touching the side of Li Mou's neck.
Li Mou's pupils shrank, and his thumb pressed down on the spray valve. The moment the citrus - scented mist shot out, Cheng Cai took two steps back, and a powerful cedar - scented aura burst forth. The two scents collided in the air, creating tiny crackling sounds.
"Is this some kind of cross - conversion agent? When this stuff meets high - concentration alpha pheromones, it..."
Before he could finish, Li Mou suddenly collapsed to his knees, his legs giving way. The gland at the back of his neck throbbed violently, and his blood felt like it was filled with popping candy. He watched in horror as the spray can rolled to the other's sneaker—the label clearly read [Do not contact with S - class alpha pheromones].
"It can induce gender transformation in low - level alphas. Isn't this a sex toy?" Cheng Cai bent down and picked up the spray. The light reflected from his watch flashed across Li Mou's sweating nose. "New kid, didn't your parents teach you to read the instructions?"
In the distance, the clicking sound of high - heels could be heard. The homeroom teacher came running, holding a megaphone. "No fighting! No fighting!" Suddenly, her eight - centimeter heel broke, and she tumbled to the ground by the track like a ball.
A group of small flying robots had already surrounded them. These were the campus emergency robots, designed to handle all kinds of unexpected situations.
One of the silver - white robots had a red light flashing on its belly display. It let out a warning hum, flapped its fluffy wings, and flew straight towards Li Mou, injecting him with a shot before he could react.
It was a mixed - type inhibitor, effective for both alphas and omegas.
After a while, Cheng Cai slowly got up, his face as dark as a thundercloud.
Cheng Cai instinctively ran his fingers through his hair. Only then did he notice Li Mou's sorry state. He hesitated and stammered, "Umm..."
"Shut up. I don't want to hear a word from you."
"Sure thing." Cheng Cai clicked his tongue. He didn't mind; he wasn't the comforting type anyway. Besides, this guy had attacked him first.
Li Mou stared at him with wide, disbelieving eyes, so angry that he looked like a puffed - up pufferfish.