Top-Tier Omega: Chasing Alpha to the Crematorium – Chapter 76
by Little PandaWu Lan’s “Confession”
In Zhan Nansheng’s room, a priceless antique vase shattered into pieces in her hands. The sharp crash of flying porcelain echoed down the empty corridors of the Presidential Palace. Her chest heaved violently, and several strands of her meticulously pinned hair had fallen loose, clinging to her sweat-dampened forehead.
“Get out!” she roared at the guards standing in the doorway, her voice hoarse. “Every last one of you, fuck off!”
The guards exchanged tentative glances, but none of them dared to move.
Zhan Nansheng snatched something from the table, preparing to hurl it, but she froze the moment she raised her hand—her father, Zhan Li, had stood in the doorway at some point, his hawk-like eyes staring coldly at her.
“Nansheng,” Zhan Li said, his tone low, yet it caused the temperature in the room to plummet. “Have you made enough of a scene?”
“Is this how the successor I raised is supposed to behave?”
Zhan Nansheng’s palms clenched, but she still stubbornly raised her chin. “Father, I want to see Wu Lan.”
Zhan Li walked slowly into the room. He waved his hand to dismiss the guards, and the moment the door clicked shut, Zhan Nansheng felt a crushing wave of pressure wash over her.
She knew her father. This time, he was genuinely furious.
“Stop interfering in Wu Lan’s affairs,” Zhan Li said, taking a seat on the sofa and unhurriedly adjusting his cuffs. “The Qin family has already agreed to the political marriage. The engagement ceremony will be held next month.”
“I do not agree!” Zhan Nansheng stared at Zhan Li in disbelief, demanding angrily, “Father, why must you force me like this?”
Zhan Li’s gaze suddenly sharpened, his expression heavy with disappointment as he said, “Do you think I am negotiating with you? Wu Lan has the wild ambitions of a wolf; she doesn’t deserve you at all! The people of the Four Great Families are all eyeing my position. I need the backing of the Qin family!”
Zhan Nansheng suddenly laughed, saying desolately, “For the sake of your power, is my marriage just a commodity to be traded?” She staggered back a few steps, saying indignantly, “Father, do not forget how Mother died back then.”
Zhan Li’s expression changed abruptly, a flash of agony crossing his eyes before it was swiftly replaced by rage. “You—”
“I want to see Wu Lan,” Zhan Nansheng interrupted him, with the resolution of mutual destruction1. “Otherwise, I will go on a hunger strike and die with her. You know I keep my word.”
“Zhan Nansheng, you disappoint me too much!” Zhan Li looked at her with disappointment, roaring, “What kind of bewitching potion did Wu Lan feed you to make you forget your own identity?!”
Zhan Nansheng’s chest rose and fell sharply. Her father’s interrogation threw her into a strange silence. She hung her head, speechless. Even she could not explain why she was confronting her father so stubbornly for Wu Lan’s sake.
Was it love? Hate? Or was it just unwillingness to let go?
After pondering for a long time, she could only arrive at a vague, painful conclusion.
For all this time, Wu Lan was the only one who had ever made her suffer such a massive setback in her feelings, yet Wu Lan had always remained completely unfazed. This left her frustrated and annoyed. Perhaps it was this very entanglement of love and hate, this intense unwillingness to accept defeat, that made her so helplessly addicted to Wu Lan, unable to tear herself away.
Zhan Nansheng did not want to think deeper, but the thought in her heart grew even stronger.
She could not let anything happen to Wu Lan, and she certainly could not sever ties with her so easily. She wanted Wu Lan to taste this agonizing misery too. She was not reconciled to being the only one drowning in it.
As if having made up her mind, Zhan Nansheng met her father’s imposing gaze and said, word by word, “Father, I beg of you. Let me see Wu Lan.”
“Why are you so insistent on seeing Wu Lan? What do you want to do?”
“Do not concern yourself with that. I will give you a satisfying answer.”
Father and daughter confronted each other in the room full of wreckage. The air seemed to freeze solid.
In the end, Zhan Li stood up, his face dark. “Fine. I will let you see her. But remember, this is the last time.”
Zhan Nansheng nodded in silence.
Zhan Li had someone escort Zhan Nansheng out and immediately summoned the Acting Director of the Federation Bureau of Investigation, Chen Duo, instructing him to take her to see Wu Lan.
On the way, Zhan Nansheng could not conceal her anxiety. “Acting Director Chen, how is Wu Lan?”
Chen Duo’s brow twitched imperceptibly at the word “Acting,” but he maintained a polite, superficial smile. “Lieutenant General Zhan will find out once she sees her.”
Zhan Nansheng was dissatisfied in her heart by his perfunctory attitude, but she forced herself not to lose her temper.
The special interrogation room on basement level two of the Federation Bureau of Investigation.
Zhan Nansheng’s footsteps echoed down the sealed corridor. She clenched her fists so hard that her fingernails nearly sliced into her palms, yet she felt no pain. They had not met for three days; what state of torment would Wu Lan be in? Her father had promised there would be no physical torture, but those new mental interrogation devices were far more brutal than any leather whip…
When the guards pushed open the alloy door, which was half a meter thick, the heavy stench of disinfectant mixed with pheromone disruptors rushed out. Zhan Nansheng’s stomach spasmed violently. It was a synthetic Omega pheromone specifically designed to torment Alphas, concentrated to a level that could force even the strongest Alpha to lose control.
Wu Lan sat in the center of the room on a customized metal chair, her pale face looking almost translucent under the glaring incandescent lights. There were indeed no visible wounds on her body, but her entire being seemed to have been hollowed out. Her thick black hair had long lost its luster, clinging limply to her forehead. Her dark eyes were dim, and even her signature, slightly upturned lips now drooped powerlessly.
What struck Nansheng’s nerves the most was the nerve inhibitors clamped around Wu Lan’s wrists and ankles—
Blue electrical currents surged across her skin from time to time, each time causing her increasingly emaciated body to shudder in reflexive spasms.
Zhan Nansheng’s nose stung uncontrollably. “Wu Lan, you…”
“Eldest Miss…” Wu Lan pried her eyelids open with visible effort, her voice raspy. “You look quite dreadful like this…”
This familiar, mocking banter instantly turned Zhan Nansheng’s eyes red.
She rushed forward and dropped to her knees in front of Wu Lan, her trembling fingers brushing against her sunken cheeks. “Shut up… you bastard…” Tears splashed onto Wu Lan’s handcuffs. “What did they do to you?”
Wu Lan shook her head weakly, her dry lips parting in a bitter smile. “…It is nothing. Eldest Miss, this is no place for you…”
“Wu Lan… do you blame me?” Zhan Nansheng stared at her anxiously, her voice trembling. “I was just so angry at the time, that is why I told Father… I am sorry. I did not expect things to end up like this. I only wanted to teach you a lesson…”
By the end of her sentence, Zhan Nansheng was practically draped over Wu Lan, weeping uncontrollably.
Wu Lan lowered her gaze and said with difficulty, “Eldest Miss, do not cry.” As she spoke, she suddenly began to cough violently, a trace of blood seeping from the corner of her lips. “I do not blame you. Compared to the scoundrel things I did to you… what does this even amount to?”
Zhan Nansheng froze, lifting her gaze to look at her.
Wu Lan’s eyes remained as detached and careless as ever, as though those words had not just slipped from her own mouth.
Recalling everything Wu Lan had subjected her to over the past months, Zhan Nansheng was overcome by a wave of grief. Rage, grievance, and unwillingness, mixed with a confusion of emotions she could not name, fermented in her chest.
With tears swimming in her eyes, she whispered in a shaking voice, “Wu Lan, why did you treat me like that? Did you… did you ever love me?”
Hearing this, Wu Lan could not help but avert her eyes, falling into a long, heavy silence.
Annoyed by the silence, Zhan Nansheng cupped her face, forcing her to meet her gaze. “Answer my question, Wu Lan. Do not lie to me, or I swear I will kill you… I definitely will!”
Instead of answering directly, Wu Lan let out a bitter laugh. “Because I was jealous… Eldest Miss.”
“What?” Zhan Nansheng’s voice caught in her throat.
Wu Lan’s gaze suddenly became incredibly sharp, stripped of all pretense to reveal a raw honesty Zhan Nansheng had never witnessed before. “You were born in the clouds… the sole daughter of the Zhan family… as radiant as a rose. But what about me? A piece of trash with absolutely nothing… by what right did I lay hands on you?”
Zhan Nansheng’s breath caught.
“So you see…” Wu Lan suddenly laughed. “The more I envied you… the more I wanted to destroy you. To conquer the great Eldest Miss of the Zhan family, to make you wear that expression beneath me, weeping and begging for mercy…”
Slap!
A crisp slap rang out through the interrogation room.
Zhan Nansheng’s palm stung with heat. Her voice was fractured. “Shut up, Wu Lan. Do not think I do not know what you are doing. You are just trying to drive me away in anger!”
“I can believe you would stop at nothing for power, but I do not believe… that you would treat me this way just to climb. Obviously, if you had only pretended to flatter me, you could have easily obtained everything.”
“I do not believe a word you say!”
Wu Lan’s head was turned to the side, a thin line of blood trickling from the corner of her lips.
After a long silence, she could not help but sigh. “Eldest Miss, I am a pervert.”
“Wh… what?” Zhan Nansheng’s eyes widened in sheer shock.
“I said, I am a pervert.” Wu Lan smiled. “I just like watching you cry, watching you show that unwilling expression beneath me, cursing in exasperation but unable to do anything, and finally crying out. This makes me… feel so good, so excited!” By the end, her words had become shamelessly explicit.
Zhan Nansheng’s eyes burned crimson. “You pervert!”
“So… stay far away from a pervert like me.” Wu Lan slowly turned her gaze back, the mask in her eyes shattering completely. “Eldest Miss… do not worry about me anymore…” She tremblingly nuzzled against Zhan Nansheng’s face. “As long as you refuse… even the President cannot truly force you to marry…”
Zhan Nansheng threw her arms around her, whispering through gritted teeth right by Wu Lan’s ear, “I will get you out of here… and then…” Her tears soaked into Wu Lan’s prison uniform. “…I will make you spend the rest of your life paying me back.”
Wu Lan shook her head weakly, her breath faint as a thread. “It is useless… I have done too much dirty work for your father… He will never let me go. Besides… he always intended to use me to coerce you into this marriage…”
“Then what am I supposed to do?” Zhan Nansheng had completely lost her composure, panic overriding her reason. “I cannot… I cannot give up on you…”
With a sudden surge of effort, Wu Lan raised her bound hands, her icy fingertips brushing against Zhan Nansheng’s cheek. Her voice was so quiet it was nearly imperceptible: “Eldest Miss… would you be willing… to elope with me?”
Zhan Nansheng snapped her head up, unable to believe her ears.
Yet Wu Lan’s gaze had cleared. She continued to murmur in her ear, “Pretend to agree to the marriage first… then go find Ming Yu and tell her… XY0713… She will find a way to get us out…”
Before she could finish, Wu Lan suddenly arched her back in agony. The nerve inhibitor surged with a blinding blue light, dragging her back into the abyss of pain.
“Lieutenant General Zhan, time is up,” a cold, harsh voice called out from the doorway.
Zhan Nansheng whirled around, glaring. Four fully armed guards had already entered, led by Chen Duo.
“Scram!” Zhan Nansheng blocked the path to Wu Lan, her entire body radiating fury. “Who dares touch her!”
Wu Lan shook her head almost imperceptibly, the movement offering a silent, soothing comfort.
Forcing down the swell of grief and anger in her heart, Zhan Nansheng bent down, wrapped her arms around Wu Lan, and kissed her, lingering desperately on her lips.
Wu Lan kissed her back, whispering in Zhan Nansheng’s ear in a voice meant for her alone, “XS-0719.”
By the time she stepped out of the interrogation room, Zhan Nansheng’s tears had already dried.
Keeping her spine perfectly straight, she suddenly kicked over a piece of fire equipment on the corridor wall under Chen Duo’s watchful gaze. The clattering crash of metal served as a violent outlet for her fury. “Chen Duo, I warn you. If Wu Lan loses even a single hair… I will never let you off!”
The heavy metal door slammed shut behind her, and Zhan Nansheng felt as though her last ounce of strength had been completely drained away.
Wu Lan’s fragile, weakened state lingered vividly in her mind. The proposal to elope acted as a double-edged sword, offering her a sliver of hope while filling her with suspicion—why would Ming Yu help them?
What else was Wu Lan hiding?
Clenching her fists, she made up her mind: no matter what, she had to get Wu Lan out first.
Suppressing the doubts in her heart, Zhan Nansheng smoothed her clothes and marched toward her father’s study with resolute steps, each stride feeling as though she were walking on the edge of a blade.
Inside the study, Zhan Li sat behind the desk, looking down as he reviewed files.
Hearing her footsteps, he did not even look up. “Have you thought it through?” His tone made it clear he had anticipated this outcome all along.
Zhan Nansheng walked up to the desk, staring straight into her father’s eyes. “I will agree to marry into the Qin family, but you must release Wu Lan.”
Zhan Li finally raised his head, his eyes brimming with disappointment. “You compromised so easily just to save Wu Lan? Where is your spine?”
Zhan Nansheng did not back down in the slightest. “This is my condition. If you agree, I will play my part in the marriage. Otherwise, do not expect any cooperation from me.”
Zhan Li remained silent for a long moment, seemingly weighing the pros and cons. Finally, he spoke, “Very well, I agree. But Wu Lan cannot remain on the Capital Star. I will exile her to a remote planet. This is my absolute limit.”
A sharp pang pierced Zhan Nansheng’s heart, but she knew this was already the greatest concession her father would make.
Feigning compliance, she nodded. “Fine. I will return to work at the military academy starting tomorrow, is that a problem?”
Zhan Li gave a dismissive grunt, taking it as an agreement.
The moment she turned to leave the study, Zhan Nansheng forced her tears back.
She did not plan to follow exactly what Wu Lan said, but she still prepared to go see Ming Yu.
She had to know exactly what Wu Lan and Ming Yu were up to.
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