Falling into the Abyss

The gray-haired guard turned around slowly, his gaze fixed on Ethan. “Construction site? Which construction site?”

Ethan felt a layer of cold sweat emerge from his back. He didn’t know that there were several construction sites, so he had to speak nonsense, “I don’t know which one, Samuel took me there.”

“Jonathan Samuel?” The gray-haired guard stared at him suspiciously, but then his lips arched up to a grin, and he said to the other guards, “Let’s go and take a look.”

Ethan stiffened when they passed him, and the gray-haired guard paused to the right of him for a moment. He chuckled and said, “I better not find out that you lied to me.”

Ethan felt a chill rise from his feet, and all his hair stood on end. For a moment, he thought about whether he should immediately kneel on the ground and confess the truth to make amends. However, his remaining backbone was barely able to support him, and gave him the strength to not give in. As the sound of their footsteps faded away, Ethan quickly moved his stiff legs over to Typhoeus.

The familiar delicate face was looking downwards, his eyelids drooping weakly. He was covered in bruises due to being beaten up by the guards’ rods, and others due to suspicious bite marks. There was also a mess between his legs. Ethan was upset and felt his eyes heating up as he pitied Typhoeus and resented the guards. He immediately climbed onto a stool and untied his hands.

Typhoeus’s legs could not support his body, and he fell to the ground after crying out in pain. Ethan quickly climbed down from the stool, hesitating for a moment before touching Typhoeus’s body, which was stained with sweat and helped him up.

“How are you? Can you walk?” They didn’t have much time to leave before the angry guards would rush back to find them.

Typhoeus nodded and tried to stand up with the support of Ethan’s shoulder. Ethan was clueless about what he should do. Was there a hospital in the Forbidden City? After a moment of hesitation, he finally decided to take Typhoeus back to where he and Samuel stayed.

Although Typhoeus was an Omega, he was still a man after all. Ethan had to alternate between carrying and dragging him as they made their way back to where he stayed, and his clean clothes were now soaked with sweat. He helped Typhoeus lie down on his hardwood bed, which lacked even the bedsheets, and used some of the water from the washbasin to clean the wounds on his body. Typhoeus kept whimpering softly, and his muscles twitched due to the pain.

Even a nonhuman wouldn’t torture an Omega this way, right? Why did the guards, who were legal citizens, commit such acts?

The Forbidden City was indeed not a suitable place for an Omega. Ethan felt that his mood was solemn as he heaved out a long sigh.

There is no way he could watch the naked Typhoeus continue to shiver. He wanted to borrow some of Samuel’s clothes, but he was afraid that the other party would get angry if he took too many of them. It suddenly occurred to him that some of the nonhumans who had participated in the Red Earth mission with him had not been able to return, and some of them had lived in the same building as him. Thinking of this, he immediately rushed out of the door, searching through the other rooms. Most of these people’s belongings had already been scraped clean, but he was lucky enough to find several articles of clothing and a quilt in the last room on the first floor. As he walked up the stairs with his arms full, he suddenly realized that he had already begun to act as eager as the others who would split up and scavenge for the deceased’s possessions, with zero sense of guilt.

After he changed Typhoeus’s clothes and spread the quilt over him, Ethan sat on Samuel’s bed and sighed. He looked over at the figure on his bed and suddenly realized that he did not know whether Typhoeus was in a coma, or just sleeping, and he finally felt fear.

After learning that he and Samuel were together, would the gray-haired policeman come to stir up trouble for him or Samuel?

Ethan began to feel increasingly restless as he stayed in his room, and he began to regret saving Typhoeus. He was already unable to protect himself, so why should he act like a hero?

At that time, he should have ignored the cry for help. If he hadn’t gone over, he would not have seen Typhoeus. If he didn’t know that Typhoeus was there, then he wouldn’t feel so helpless. However, it was now too late for regrets.

A low moan came from the bed. Ethan turned to look at the bed and found that Typhoeus had woken up. For a moment, he looked like a proud researcher of the Energy Bureau, but soon the glimmer in his eyes faded, and his eyes were immediately infected with a deep fear. He shivered violently and hurriedly sat up, before finally spotting Ethan.

“Ethan Eldridge!!! I thought I was dreaming!” He reached his hands out towards Ethan as though he was reuniting with a family member after a long separation. Ethan was a little frightened by his enthusiasm. Although they had chatted with each other when they were in the Energy Bureau, their relationship was akin to the friendship between two virtuous men and was clear like water. Typhoeus was an arrogant man and had rarely showed such strong emotions.

Typhoeus reacted quickly and relaxed his grip, but he still refused to let go, as though afraid that he would run away. He asked, “Why are you here? Are you here to investigate?”

Ethan was really amused by what he said and spread out his arms. “Look at what I’m wearing. Do I look like I’m investigating?”

“They threw you in too?!”

Ethan nodded and said, “For divulging the secrets of Project Zero to a spy affiliated with three nations. Treason.”

“But didn’t the director speak out for you?”

“He couldn’t even protect himself, let alone care about me.”

Typhoeus nodded but his gaze was constantly wandering. He seemed to be in a state of shock and uncertainty, and may not have even heard what Ethan said.

“How did you anger the guards?” Although he knew that the other party may not want to talk about the nightmare he had just experienced, Ethan still had to ask. He needed to know what kind of trouble he had stirred up before Samuel returned.

However, Typhoeus clenched his lips tightly and refused to talk about it. Ethan tried to look at his neck and as expected, he noticed a bloody bite mark.

A mark was forced on him……. Given Typhoeus’s personality, he was sure that Typhoeus wouldn’t agree to such a thing. It was likely that the gray-haired guard was irritated by his behaviour? Ethan’s heart sank. Willfully snatching away another’s Omega was the most unbearable thing for Alphas. If that Alpha knew the truth, then currently, the most appropriate he could do was to send Typhoeus back.

However, he was unable to turn a blind eye to someone bullying his former friend.

When it reached the time to get off work, more people lingered on the streets. The noise coming from the corridor gradually became louder, and the heavy footsteps made the floor tremble slightly. After a while, the door creaked open, and Samuel walked into the room with a cigarette in his mouth, asking Ethan, “You really stayed in the house for the entire……”

Before he could get the last word out, he saw Typhoeus sitting on the bed with a frightened expression, wrapped in a quilt.

“Who the hell are you?”

Ethan pushed up his glasses and whispered on behalf of Typhoeus, “My former colleague from the Energy Bureau was in a bit of trouble……”

Samuel stared at Ethan, eyes blazing with rage. “Can you stop bringing a man home for a single day?! Last time it was an Alpha and this time it’s an Omega. You really know how to choose.”

Ethan could not believe his ears. His green eyes widened, and he couldn’t help but say, “When the hell did I become a person who brings a man home every day!”

Samuel just rolled his eyes, as though he could not be bothered to care about him. Ethan’s face turned white due to anger, but he couldn’t refute the other. After all, he was currently wearing Samuel’s clothes and was living off of Samuel’s generosity, so he could only swallow a bellyful of anger.

It was only now that Samuel suddenly seemed to think of something. He immediately turned around and grabbed Ethan’s shoulder. “You said that he was in trouble. That trouble has nothing to do with the ‘Second Lord’, Gray Fur, right?”

“What do you mean by Second Lord?”

“Maxim Ivanovich Vasilev, the captain of the guards in charge of the Eastern area. He holds the most power besides the chief security officer, Schneider. The one with gray hair.”

Seeing Ethan’s face turn pale, Samuel glared at him for a moment, and had an indescribable look of either anger or helplessness plastered on his face. Finally, he sighed. “So that’s why he suddenly brought a group of people to the construction site today and strolled around with a scheming face. It turns out that you, this secretary, are tired of living. And once again, you’re meddling in someone’s business.”

Ethan swallowed hard and asked, “You seem to have a good relationship with chief security officer Schneider? Can you tell him…”

“Given that something dangerous happened on Red Earth, it’s not clear whether he will continue to serve as the chief security officer. Did you forget that he didn’t return with us? Now, Gray Fur is the president of the east area. Right, you really dared to provoke him. You’re just a little Beta, but robbed someone from the president.” Samuel took off his dirty coat and threw the cigarette on the ground, putting it out with his shoe. “You can either send that person back, or hurry up and write your will now.”

Ethan turned his head to look at Typhoeus, who had not spoken the entire time. After listening to what Samuel had said, he had an expression of despair. The hope in his eyes had been extinguished, and the hand holding onto the quilt was gripping it so tight that his knuckles had turned white.

Ethan felt that his head was about to explode. In that moment, he impulsively thought of taking on another ten-point mission to seek death. He approached Samuel and said using a voice that only the two of them could hear.

“You are both Omegas and you know that it’s not easy to remain in the Forbidden City. Can’t you help him?”

“Are you treating me as the president of the Omega Association, who has to take charge of each and every Omega?” Samuel impatiently took off his shoes, kicking them so hard they flew in the air as he continued, “If you aren’t afraid of death, then send him to the clinic tomorrow. There are always volunteers who like to engage in the nonhuman rights movement. If you are lucky, even Gray Fur won’t be able to do anything to him for a short time.”

Ethan breathed a sigh of relief, and was about to thank him, but Samuel snorted and added, “Some people say that offending Gray Fur is even more terrifying than offending Schneider. Act by yourself and remember not to drag me down with your dirty water.”

That night, Typhoeus occupied Ethan’s bed, so Ethan had no place to sleep. Samuel glanced at Ethan, who was going to make do with sitting in a corner all night, and scooted to the side, patting the empty corner. “Hey, secretary.”

Ethan took a glance at the narrow bed and shook his head. “You don’t have to. I’m fine this way.”

Samuel felt inexplicably suffocated, and his shining eyes conveyed his displeasure in the dark. “Stop acting coy. Don’t put on your gentlemanly Beta act.”

“……It isn’t right……”

“Why didn’t you feel bad when you lay on that little boy toy of a priest’s bed?”

“Keep your voice down! That’s not the same!”

“You still aren’t fucking getting up here?”

“……”

There was a rustle, and Ethan curled up carefully on the edge of the brick bed, feeling uncomfortable. Samuel’s body temperature was higher than that of ordinary humans, and Ethan could smell the silky, musky scent belonging to an Omega that was covered by the Alpha pheromones through his clothes and the quilt. The smell lingered in the room.

However, even with that smell, it was difficult to associate Samuel with being an Omega, especially after comparing him to Typhoeus lying opposite them. Ethan could not help but respect the tall man beside him.

“Hey, secretary, what happened at the Energy Bureau? Did everyone from the Bureau get stuffed in here?” With a slightly sleepy tone, Samuel’s voice suddenly drifted to his ear, and Ethan couldn’t react for a moment.

“……I can’t say.”

“Hahahaha…..” Samuel laughed quietly, causing the whole bed to shake lightly. “You are already a nonhuman. Why would you still want to help the country keep its secrets?”

Ethan thought about it carefully and felt that what the other party said is very reasonable, and he was unable to refute it.

“You wouldn’t benefit by knowing it.” Ethan rolled over, his back now facing the Omega. He recalled the third space station’s clean, sharp architecture, as well as the secret research center buried deep under Mars, and suddenly shivered, curling up his body.

He had always felt uneasy when the Energy Bureau was tasked to build an underground research station and a particle accelerator on Mars to prepare for Project Zero. For a long time, Project Zero was only a theory, and it was something that couldn’t be realized in reality. However, the Eves offered something that made the plan possible. Once successful, the Earth Union would possess a unique energy source, able to be used not only in developing spaceships capable of traveling long distances outside the Milky Way but also to manufacture weapons that were so terrifying that they could devour stars.

Now that he thought about it, the strange material that the Eves provided may have came from the God of Order’s eggs.

Now that the Ophiuchus Alliance obtained key information regarding Project Zero through Roland, could the project still be continued? After seeing Typhoeus’s predicament, he was afraid that the project would be put on hold very soon.

That might be a good thing for the entire Milky Way, though.

When he thought of the Eves, he couldn’t help but think of the man with golden hair and pointed ears and would recall that night. When he did, he could feel the blood coursing through his body heat up. He slightly opened up a gap in the quilt to cool off.

Thinking about how he wouldn’t see Tanisiel again and that he wouldn’t even have a chance to say goodbye to him, Ethan felt a little disappointed. Amid such melancholy, he entered dreamland during his second night in the Forbidden City.

The author has something to say:

Maybe the priest would pop out in the next chapter or the chapter after the next ~