Chi Zhan was still lost in thought when a door beside him swung open. A man stepped out—also wearing a mask.
“In a place like this, no one wants their privacy exposed,” Laiyi offered a rare moment of kindness, perhaps because Chi Zhan’s appearance suited his tastes—and because Zhou Yanxing had clearly taken a liking to him as well. “Be careful.”
After such a friendly reminder, Chi Zhan was even more confused about Laiyi’s true intentions. First the man had smiled like a harmless socialite, now he was warning him about danger…
Chi Zhan stared at him for a few seconds, then suddenly asked, “Do you know Cen Chi?”
Laiyi raised a surprised brow.
“Who’s that?”
“Someone unimportant,” Chi Zhan replied coolly. “You just reminded me of him.”
Both of them smiled with knives hidden behind their teeth.
Inside, Chi Zhan discovered that the bar’s interior was rather high-end. Soft, low music played in the background. There weren’t many patrons. Apart from the dim lighting, the lack of pounding bass, and the gauzy curtains partially obscuring the booths, it looked like a perfectly ordinary bar.
Of course, dim lighting posed no obstacle for Alphas—in fact, their night vision improved the darker it got.
As such, Chi Zhan didn’t notice the many Alpha gazes sweeping toward him as he searched for S.
They’d already discussed their appearances. S would be wearing a trench coat and order a Dragon Tequila with a custom scent. Chi Zhan was dressed in his shirt and black pants. But from a distance, nothing was clear. His Beta genes put him at a disadvantage, making the search far more difficult.
He also noticed one thing: most people here wore solid black masks. Did the color of the mask signify something? Chi Zhan didn’t know, but he realized his white mask likely marked him as different.
“Little lamb, looking for someone?” A tall Alpha sidled up behind him, voice laced with ambiguity. “You know, staring at someone so openly in a place like this… has a certain meaning.”
Chi Zhan swiftly dodged the Alpha’s attempted touch without saying a word and continued forward.
The Alpha wasn’t discouraged and kept pace.
“You’re a Beta, aren’t you? An Omega wouldn’t dare come here alone. How about I buy you a drink?”
“……”
“Cat got your tongue?” The Alpha closed the distance again. “Not reacting to my pheromones? Mmm, definitely a Beta. That makes things easier…”
Chi Zhan suddenly had a bad feeling—and sure enough, the Alpha lunged at him with lightning speed.
Chi Zhan leaned back on instinct, twisted his body, and dodged the incoming punch.
“You actually dodged it?” the Alpha said in surprise, then grinned wider. “Now I’m really interested. If you don’t want to be completely paralyzed and dragged out of here by me, then be a good boy and stay put. I won’t—”
Before he could finish, Chi Zhan’s fist smashed into his gut.
The Alpha barely had time to react before a sharp side kick sent him crashing into the bar. Bottles shattered and rained down on his head and shoulders in a chaotic mess.
“You—how dare you hit me?!” The Alpha’s eyes blazed with fury. He wiped the blood from his face and gave a menacing grin. “Now you’ve really pissed me off.”
Chi Zhan stared at him impassively.
After a moment, he smirked faintly and mouthed:
“Just you?”
The Alpha lost it.
He moved like a bolt of lightning. Chi Zhan barely registered the blur before his collar was yanked forward, a punch whistling past his ear—but he felt no pain.
“Sir, please refrain from fighting here.”
The voice was cold but pleasant, like a dry wind sweeping over a snow-capped November peak—crisp, cooling, and strangely calming.
Chi Zhan thought… he’d heard that voice before somewhere.
A hand had intercepted the Alpha’s punch mid-air, effortlessly placing Chi Zhan behind its owner.
The newcomer wore a black trench coat, stood straight and tall, and also had a black mask obscuring his features. What little could be seen—the sharp jawline and smooth lips—was striking. More importantly, the man had stopped an Alpha’s full-force punch with a single hand, without breaking a sweat.
“He started it! You can check the surveillance footage!” the Alpha snapped. “If he hit me, there better be consequences. I’m not letting this slide!”
“Did he actually hit you?”
“Well…” The Alpha faltered. He couldn’t just blurt out that he’d been beaten up by a Beta, could he? That’d be humiliating.
After a long pause, he gave Chi Zhan a vicious shove and growled, “You better watch your back.”
Just as he turned to leave, he suddenly cried out in pain—his wrist felt like it had been crushed from the inside. Cold sweat poured down his face. As he reeled back to retaliate, the hand released him.
“What happened here?” Security had finally arrived. One look at the wreckage, and the guard gave them a tight-lipped smile. “Was there a fight, gentlemen?”
Darkport’s first and most ironclad rule: no brawling or instigating trouble inside the bar. Break it, and you’re banned for life.
“N-no, it was just a joke. A misunderstanding,” the Alpha said quickly. “But the broken bottles weren’t my fault—he did that!”
Clearly trying to pin it all on Chi Zhan.
Chi Zhan began, “I—”
“Yes,” the man in the trench coat cut in calmly. “We’ll pay for the damages. However, most of the fault lies with his inappropriate ‘joke,’ so he should bear the primary responsibility.”
At first, the Alpha thought the guy was backing down. But the more he listened, the worse it got. His face twisted in fury.
“Motherfu—”
“Sir,” the security guard interrupted, “if you keep shouting, you’ll be paying more than just for the drinks. Would you prefer to discuss things with Lord Laiyi instead?”
That shut the Alpha up. Security hauled him away.
The guard then turned to Chi Zhan and the man in the trench coat, bowing politely.
“The total damage amounts to ninety-eight million three hundred thousand. Per protocol, the two of you will be charged ten percent—that comes to nine million eight hundred thirty thousand. But we’ll round it down. Please pay nine million even at the counter.”
“……”
They sure were generous with the rounding, but—nine million?
They’d have to sell him just to break even.
