Blame the Villain – Chapter 21
by Little PandaThe Villainous Scientist (I)
Starting From Scratch: Little Marshal x Mad, Dark, Sickly Scientist
When Song Xuyi woke up, she felt terribly unwell.
She lay on the floor, her clothes in such disarray they barely covered her. Her body heat was scalding, as if a fire was trapped inside her with no outlet, leaving her intensely restless.
Song Xuyi was covered in sweat. Strangely, she felt an odd sensation at the back of her neck—a numb, itchy feeling, as if something sticky was trickling down. A thick, sweet aroma of citrus lingered in the air around her in wisps. In her daze, she even had the illusion that she had turned into a giant orange.
“Water…”
The heat in her body was almost driving her mad. Song Xuyi licked her dry lips and struggled to get up, instinctively reaching to touch the back of her neck—
A small bump had swollen at the back of her neck. When her fingers brushed against it, they came away wet with a sticky liquid. A wave of sharp stinging and pleasure rippled down her spine, leaving her limbs entirely weak. Before she could even scramble up, she collapsed back onto the floor—
What was going on?
She remembered her name was Song Xuyi. She was a Task-doer1 with fragmented memories who had just completed a mission in her previous world. Perhaps because her memories of that world had been extracted and stored away, she could recall what had happened, but she no longer felt any connection to it. To her, it felt like looking at someone else’s story.
“System…”
Song Xuyi bit her lower lip. The sharp pain barely suppressed her body’s strange state as she called out to the System.
“I’m sorry, Xuyi…”
Only after about three minutes did the System’s voice finally ring out, full of frustration.
“I—I got held up by something. I didn’t expect you to hit another unknown attack during your transmission to this world. As a result, you’ve arrived five years later than planned…”
Song Xuyi received the plot summary of this world:
In the post-interstellar era, the Zerg rampaged. Suffering from radiation pollution, humans had developed a gland2 on the back of their necks, supplementing their original male and female biological traits. This divided humanity into three distinct genders: Alpha, Beta, and Omega.
An Alpha’s gland could release pheromones3 to intimidate opponents and attract Omegas. They possessed the strongest combat capabilities and intelligence, occupying the highest tier of society. They were ranked by their overall attributes and served as the elite force against the Zerg. However, perhaps heaven feared that Alphas were too superior and that Alpha-Alpha unions would drive other genders to extinction, so a union between two Alphas could not produce offspring.
Betas could neither release nor detect pheromones, making them the ordinary people of the post-interstellar era. They were the most populous group, though their fertility was relatively low. The vast majority of children born from Alpha-Beta or Beta-Beta pairings were Betas, with only a one percent chance of producing an Alpha or an Omega.
Omegas could also release pheromones, and they made up the smallest portion of the population. Before reaching adulthood, Omegas maintained the physical traits of a Beta, only differentiating after age sixteen. Once differentiation began, an Omega’s physical strength would gradually weaken, and they would begin to emit pheromones that held a fatal attraction for Alphas. Omegas possessed an outstanding reproductive advantage; according to genetic theory, pairings between Alphas and Omegas had a very high probability of producing the most exceptional, top-tier Alphas.
In such a world, Omegas were the most precious humans, and countless Alphas dreamed of marrying one to improve their family’s genetics.
The female lead of this world, Zhao Man, was a top-grade Alpha, while the male lead, Zhou Sui, was an Omega.
Zhou Sui’s parents had died at the hands of the Zerg. Bent on avenging them and unwilling to marry an Alpha and become a mere trophy in the inner quarters, serving a wife and raising children, he forced himself to inject suppressants4 to disguise himself as a Beta. He entered the military and worked his way up to become the adjutant to Zhao Man, the Empire’s Second Princess.
During a battle, Zhao Man found herself in danger. Zhou Sui risked his life to save her, and the two ended up stranded on a deserted island. Deprived of his suppressants, Zhou Sui was forcibly marked by Zhao Man. Unwilling to join Zhao Man’s harem, Zhou Sui drugged her and escaped. After a series of twists and turns, and with Zhao Man’s eventual help, Zhou Sui killed the Zerg that had slaughtered his parents and got his revenge…
The two were on track to reach the happy ending orchestrated by the Main God, but the villain had once again disrupted the worldline.
The villain, Jiang Qianyu, had developed a drug that could transform Alphas into Omegas. Driven to overthrow the high-and-mighty rule of the Alphas, she plotted to conquer the imperial palace and killed Zhao Man’s father, the Emperor. Zhao Man, too, died in battle while seeking revenge against Jiang Qianyu…
Consequently, the Main God reset time once again to a point before anything had happened and dispatched Song Xuyi.
Under normal circumstances, Song Xuyi would have returned to a time before the villain, Jiang Qianyu, started plotting, giving her ample time to prepare. Yet, due to the unknown attack the System mentioned, the timeline had been delayed by five years…
As for Song Xuyi’s current body…
The Main God seemed to have stuck to the principle that high status makes things easier, once again arranging a prominent identity for Song Xuyi.
Her host body was also named Song Xuyi, the youngest Marshal in the Empire’s history and a top-tier, S-grade Alpha who had never lost a single battle on the field.
“So, have I hit an Alpha’s heat cycle now?”
Song Xuyi quickly skimmed the plot summary as the unfamiliar, scorching heat flared up again. She knitted her brows. “I thought when Alphas go into heat5, they become incredibly violent and even stronger than usual. Why do my limbs feel so weak and heavy instead…?”
“I… I don’t know either,” the System stammered, its voice sounding rather guilty. “To avoid any complications, you’d better absorb this body’s memories as soon as possible!”
Song Xuyi absorbed the body’s memories and froze completely.
She had known she might be in heat, but she never expected that what she was experiencing was not an Alpha’s heat, but an Omega’s!
It all started six months ago.
The original host, as a Marshal, had been an absolute war maniac. She had never given a thought to romance. The Emperor had bestowed several male Alphas upon her, but she had sent every single one of them back.
Six months ago, however, while purging bandits in a remote star system, she had run into a woman.
That woman was simply too beautiful! The original host had frozen on the spot, her heart pounding violently. In particular, the faint scent of peach pheromones wafting from the woman had tempted her like the most potent aphrodisiac!
Even though the woman had used suppressants to mask her pheromones, the original host had still picked up on them: she was an Omega.
The original host had been operating undercover at the time, so she could only watch helplessly as the woman entered the bandits’ den. Fearing she might be marked by those heinous star bandits, the original host had launched an early assault and wiped out the entire bandit nest. Yet, despite searching the entire planet, she could find no trace of her…
Assuming the worst had befallen the woman, the original host had felt despondent for a long time. But when she returned victorious to the capital, the Emperor bestowed another Omega upon her.
The original host knew the Emperor was actually quite wary of her. After all, she held immense military power and possessed imperial blood herself. The Emperor kept sending her Omegas because he wanted her to pair up and bear offspring as soon as possible. Even for a top-tier Alpha, pregnancy would cause her strength to decline. Once that happened, the Emperor could naturally dilute her authority.
To serve a ruler is to keep company with a tiger6. The original host had been indoctrinated with loyalty since childhood. Having already refused him several times, she had no further excuse to reject the beauty the Emperor had bestowed. She had no choice but to accept the Omega he sent.
The Omega had been delivered inside a massive box. The original host had opened it with little interest, only to be stunned by the sight of the very woman she had spent so long searching for!
The original host guessed that the Emperor’s side had made a mistake and sent a female Omega instead of a male one, but she didn’t correct the error. She kept the woman in her rear courtyard, thinking her wealth and status would win her over. Yet the woman remained as unresponsive as a cold stone, completely unmoved, refusing even to tell her name.
Having been a favored child of heaven since birth, the original host had never experienced such disregard. She had always used any means necessary to get what she wanted. Since the woman was unwilling, she had planned to force herself upon her and mark her anyway.
Tonight was originally the night the original host had planned to mark that woman. Yet, to everyone’s surprise, an anomaly occurred in her body. She discovered she had suddenly turned into an Omega, and it was at this exact moment that Song Xuyi arrived in this world—
…
Once Song Xuyi finished processing the memories, she was completely numb.
No wonder the plot summary mentioned that the original host had failed to show up when the villain attacked the palace, allowing her to easily breach it. Now Song Xuyi understood: the original host could barely even save herself at that point, so how could she possibly have the strength to protect the Emperor?
Meanwhile, waves of scorching heat continued to pulse through her body…
Song Xuyi remembered the suppressants the original host kept in the cabinet. Pinching herself hard, she dragged herself up with great difficulty. She had just managed to reach the bedside cabinet when sudden footsteps echoed outside, stopping right in front of her door—
“Marshal, we’ve brought her!”
Song Xuyi gasped in shock, only then remembering that the original host had already ordered her subordinates to bring the woman to her bedroom.
Song Xuyi gritted her teeth. She leaned her head back against the quilt to cover the gland on the back of her neck, preventing her pheromones from dispersing any further. Forcing down the tingling pleasure and pain caused by touching her gland, she spoke in a raspy voice, “You may leave first. Just leave her by the door.”
The original host possessed formidable strength and had been notoriously strict with her subordinates. Because Song Xuyi spoke this way, the sound of retreating footsteps quickly faded outside the door.
Song Xuyi let out a sigh of relief. Just as she was about to stand back up, she heard a soft creak from the doorway, and the woman pushed the door open and stepped inside.
A dense, sweet scent of peaches wafted in with her, immediately blending with the rich aroma of citrus. For a moment, Song Xuyi felt her head grow even heavier…
Panting heavily, she stared with a flushed face at the approaching woman. The woman walked with slow, deliberate steps, her skin bearing a sickly, pale hue. A tiny red mole sat at the outer corner of her eye like a finishing stroke, making her as breathtakingly beautiful as a delicate doll…
Even though she knew the woman’s true colors, Song Xuyi’s heart still involuntarily skipped a beat.
An exquisite look of astonishment crossed the woman’s lovely face. With ‘concern,’ she knelt before Song Xuyi, looking down at her. Her pale hand brushed against Song Xuyi’s forehead—it was the first time she had touched Song Xuyi in all this time.
“Marshal, what’s wrong? Why is your face so red…?”
Though the woman’s tone was full of concern, Song Xuyi didn’t miss the dark, glinting light in her eyes—it was the look of someone staring at a highly satisfying test subject…
The original host had been clueless, but Song Xuyi knew all too well that every single change taking place in her body right now had been brought about by the sickly, beautiful woman standing before her:
—The villain, Jiang Qianyu.
The author has something to say:
Me in the past (humble): “My little angels, please, I’m begging you for comments. Don’t make me get down on my knees and beg.”
You all (proud): “We’re not going to comment! Hmph hmph~”
Me now (giving up and throwing caution to the wind): “Whatever! Once the angst starts, I’ll even slash myself!”
You all: “Sob sob, waah waah, aaahhh…”
And that created the highest number of comments on a single chapter for me.
So?
…
I stroke my chin, lost in thought.
Footnotes
- Rènwùzhě; a transmigrator bound to a system who travels between various small worlds to complete assigned missions and prevent plot collapse.
- Xiàntǐ; a physiological structure located at the back of the neck in the ABO universe, responsible for secreting pheromones that dictate biological gender and social dynamics.
- Xìnxīsù; chemical signals secreted from the glands of Alphas and Omegas in the ABO universe, used to establish dominance, attract partners, or signal emotional states.
- Yìzhǐjì; pharmaceutical agents used by Alphas and Omegas in the ABO universe to temporarily control, suppress, or conceal their pheromones and heat cycles.
- Fāqíngqī; a periodic cycle of intense physiological arousal and heightened pheromone release experienced by Alphas and Omegas in the ABO genre.
- Bàn jūn rú bàn hǔ; a traditional Chinese proverb warning that serving a ruler is as perilous as keeping company with a tiger, as imperial favor is highly volatile and dangerous.
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