Chapter 91 Top Alpha: He was once a crippled Omega. 1. This is...

A murky sky shrouded the earth.

As far as the eye could see, the desert stretched out endlessly, a hazy yellow expanse, with only a few sea buckthorn trees swaying precariously in the increasingly fierce sandstorm.

As the sandstorm approached, all the creatures in the desert sensed the danger and began to hide.

As the sun set, Qi Pingye carried two large bags of garbage back to Oasis No. 3.

"Brother Qi!"

"It's Brother Qi! Brother Qi is back!"

At the entrance to Oasis No. 3, a large group of snotty-nosed children suddenly darted out from the crooked gate, ranging from one or two years old who could barely walk and to six or seven years old who were universally disliked.

They swarmed towards Qi Pingye, and in no time at all, they were covered in his clothes like koalas.

"Brother Qi, why were you gone for so many days this time? Everyone said you died out there!"

Qi Pingye dragged the child and the trash through the door, casually replying, "Which bastard is so rude? Even if he falls into the latrine and drowns, I, his father, would never fall outside."

"Brother Qi, that fat bastard from the orphanage stole my brother's milk bottle! Go beat him up!"

"Get lost! You're seven years old, and that fat guy is only five. He's a head shorter than you, and you can't even beat him. You want me to stand up for you?"

"Brother Qi, look! Look! A puppy! I found it, you should name it!"

"Juanjuan is amazing! This puppy looks quite human-like, let's name it Qi Yousheng... Sigh, never mind, the puppy is innocent, let's call it Gou Dan instead, Qi Yousheng is an unlucky name."

"Brother Qi, Brother Qi..."

Qi Pingye shoved the trash into the checkpoint inside the gate, pulled out a handful of candy, and held it high: "All soldiers of Training Camp No. 3, listen up! Line up according to age to receive your pay!"

The snotty-nosed kids cheered and receded from Qi Pingye like a tide, obediently lining up to receive their candy. Their movements were practiced and orderly, clearly indicating that this wasn't the first time they had done this.

After collecting the candy, Qi Pingye kicked each of them, chasing them all away.

A sandstorm is coming. Even if the oasis has a protective barrier, it is still very dangerous for such a young child to run around outside.

“The pollution index is within acceptable limits, tow it away,” Old Liu at the checkpoint put away the detector. “Only you have the patience to find candy that hasn’t expired for these little bastards. The kids in other oases are lucky to have food to eat, they don’t need to be so picky.”

Qi Pingye laughed: "Kids can't live without candy, just like you can't live without this, Uncle Liu."

As he spoke, he flicked his wrist, and a small bottle of liquor, about the size of a palm, was placed on the checkpoint table with a clang.

Old Liu's eyes widened when he saw it: "Wow, this is a real gem! You've got some skills, kid! You can't buy good stuff from Mengshanxing around here, did you pick it up from the junkyard?"

“Yes,” Qi Pingye nodded, “There are quite a few Mengshanxing things in that garbage dump in the northeast.”

"The northeast? You went that far this time. No wonder it took you more than a week to come back. Those kids were worried sick and kept coming to see me. Don't go so far next time. Most of the planets in the Wind-Riding Sky are in the storm zone, and this place is the home of sandstorms. The sandstorm season is coming soon. If you're unlucky enough to get stuck on the road, you might not be able to come back," Old Liu said.

"Don't worry, I know." Qi Pingye accepted Old Liu's kind advice.

He had been on Zorro Star for over two years and had witnessed the terrifying scenes of sandstorms many times, so he knew how powerful they were. If it weren't for this unexpected incident, he wouldn't have been out there for so long.

Thinking of the unexpected, Qi Pingye tilted his head slightly and looked at the sand-covered glass window next to him. His neck was vaguely reflected in the window, where a hideous scar like a scorpion was crawling.

Old Liu caught a glimpse of Qi Pingye's actions, paused for a moment, and sighed.

Qi Pingye was picked up from a nearby garbage dump by children from the orphanage two years ago.

The young man, in his early twenties, was covered in blood, his limbs were broken, and there was a large hole in the back of his neck, where glands had clearly been removed.

Most people here don't have glands and are called Betas. Only the rarer Alphas and Omegas have glands, and this young man from the junkyard was clearly one of them.

But whether it's an Alpha or an Omega, they are both extremely precious in the White Night Federation. How could they have ended up on this desolate garbage planet in such a miserable state? Moreover, removing the glands of an Alpha or Omega is a capital offense. Who would dare to lay a hand on an Alpha or Omega?

Although their planet Zorro is notorious for being a lawless place, such things rarely happen there.

But too many people in the oasis have unspeakable pasts and secrets. As long as they don't harm others, no one will cross the line and pry into their secrets.

Therefore, many people were curious about Qi Pingye, but not a single person actually asked him what he had experienced in the past. Even the little kids knew that they were interested in the current Qi-ge, not the Qi Pingye of the past.

However, some gossipy people still whispered among themselves, suggesting betting on whether he used to be an A or an O. In the end, the betting failed because everyone saw how he carried a hundred-pound sack with one hand and walked with such ease after his recovery, so everyone bet on an A, and no one chose an O.

Qi Pingye later heard about this and scoffed at their absurdity. But that's just how Qi Pingye is; he's entertained whether he's an Omega or an Alpha. Of course, he was quite happy during those two years when he was neither an Omega nor an Alpha, living a free life.

Soon, Qi Pingye said goodbye to Old Liu and dragged his trash home.

His dwelling was in a remote area with few neighbors; it was a small tin shack, pieced together from scraps of wood, barely enough to shelter him from the wind and rain.

Upon entering, Qi Pingye first sorted and organized the collected garbage, then put it in the storage room. He then tidied up the room briefly before finally turning on his homemade filtration device, connecting it to the water collector, filling a basin with water, and beginning to wash himself.

He loves cleanliness, and even after becoming a garbage-loving alien who spends his days crawling through trash heaps, he can't change it.

By the time everything was tidied up, it was completely dark outside.

A sandstorm swept across the sky, obscuring the sun, and the howling wind made the tin-roofed houses on the flat plain rumble loudly. Gravel and pieces of wood, swept up by the sandstorm, crashed and clattered across the streets, producing sudden, loud noises that sent shivers down one's spine.

The protective barrier has been raised, and no matter how fierce the sandstorm, it cannot invade this small oasis.

Qi Pingye stared at the endless gray and yellow outside the window for a while, then pulled the curtains shut.

He ate a piece of dry bread, leaned over to the head of the bed, and pulled out two pheromone-regulating patches from the compartment where he kept his important things.

When he picked this thing up from the junkyard, he never imagined he would ever need it again.

Even when Qi Pingye was still an Omega, he wasn't a gentle and kind person. He had a bad temper, and his pheromones were unstable. He often used pheromone regulating patches.

He knew this stuff wasn't cheap, so even though he didn't need it now, he would often deliberately look for it in the junkyard and pick up some to sell for money.

But these are rare. After working for half a year, he only managed to get two of them, and he hasn't had a chance to sell them yet.

"It's not a waste."

Qi Pingye swallowed the dry bread, tore open a pheromone regulating patch, and slapped it onto the back of his neck.

With the adjustment taking effect, the last bit of Alph essence that had been leaking out of Qi Pingye's body due to secondary differentiation completely disappeared.

That's right, Qi Pingye, who could no longer become an Omega, unexpectedly underwent a second differentiation and became an Alpha.

This story begins eight days ago.

Qi Pingye, who was out collecting garbage at the time, went to the garbage dump closest to Oasis No. 3 as usual, and searched for valuables in the mountain-like pile of garbage.

As he rummaged through the trash, he gradually felt dizzy and nauseous, his legs went weak, and he could barely stand. He didn't know if it was because the summer sun was too strong or the trash was too smelly.

On this garbage planet, medicine is as precious as gold. Even Qi Pingye, whom Old Liu claimed had some skills, dared not fall ill easily. Sensing something was wrong, he immediately stopped his work and went into an abandoned factory to rest.

The more you rest, the worse your symptoms become.

Qi Pingye felt weak all over, his throat was parched, and he felt like he was sometimes an old eggplant being roasted on a fire and sometimes a frozen fish being stuffed into an ice hole, experiencing extremes of hot and cold.

Excessive exposure to garbage can lead to various forms of pollution, which can commonly cause various illnesses. Qi Pingye didn't take it too seriously, pondered his condition, swallowed some fever reducer, and began to tough it out.

But after a short while, he realized something was wrong.

Even though he was sick, why did the back of his neck suddenly start to itch?

Qi Pingye vaguely realized something.

Soon, the pheromones that gradually permeated the factory confirmed Qi Pingye's conjecture.

He actually underwent a second differentiation after losing his Omega gland!

The once fresh scent of grass after the rain has become more intense and mellowed in the second wave of differentiation, similar to the thorny grass that can be found everywhere on Zorro Star, with a spicy and sour taste.

This is a pheromone belonging to Alpha.

The second differentiation transformed Qi Pingye from a useless Omega into an Alpha!

This unexpected turn of events even surprised Qi Pingye, who exclaimed that it was a drama.

As far as Qi Pingye knew, very few people in the White Night Federation could undergo a second differentiation, and even fewer could differentiate from Omega to Alpha. The last well-known example was the former head of the Ji family, a once powerful member of the Federation's legislature.

"It seems that the day we return to Central Star is just around the corner..."

While feverish, Qi Pingye was lost in thought.

From the day he left the Central Star, had his legs broken, his glands removed, and was expelled from the Qi family, a raging fire ignited in his chest.

With this flame, he survived the days when he was seriously injured and on the verge of death when he first arrived at Oasis No. 3, endured more than 800 days and nights of pheromone disorder, and also survived this extremely painful second differentiation.

This division lasted five days.

Afterwards, in order to avoid arousing suspicion, Qi Pingye hurriedly ran to a garbage dump in the northeast, pretending that the long delay he had caused was due to his trip to the distant garbage dump.

At least for now, while he was still developing and unsure if the Qi family had truly let him go, he didn't want to reveal his true situation. The threat posed by a cripple without glands was certainly not as great as that of a second-differentiated Alpha. Although Qi Pingye hadn't had the opportunity to test his pheromone level, he had seen the highest-level A-grade Alphas in the Federation, and he felt that his current pheromone level was no worse than theirs.

Inside the tin-roofed house, Qi Pingye reminisced casually while pouring himself another glass of water and shoveling some dry bread down his throat.

After dinner, Qi Pingye washed up and went to bed early.

He had a high fever and was traveling for the past few days, constantly on edge and on guard, and didn't get a proper rest. Now that he's finally home, he can finally get a good night's sleep.

Qi Pingye put his head on the pillow and quickly fell asleep.

In a daze, I don't know how much time had passed, when suddenly my old iron gate was pounded on.

Qi Pingye woke up with a start.

He frowned, shook his head, quickly snapped out of his daze, got out of bed, and quietly went to the window, peering out through the gap in the curtains.

It was already dark outside, the sandstorm hadn't passed, and everything around was still shrouded in gray. The wind howled like drums, blowing everything around it and making everything outside sway and tilt.

Including the people standing outside the iron gate.

He is the mayor of Oasis No. 3.

Why would he come to find me, especially in this sandstorm?

Qi Pingye recognized the person and, while wondering what was going on, retreated to the bedside, pretending to have just been woken up, and called out, "Who is it?"

"Young Qi, it's me! Your Uncle Chen!"

Chen Xiang's voice was muffled through the door and his sand mask, almost drowned out by the wind.

Qi Pingye quickly opened the door to let him in: "Uncle Chen, what brings you here? Come in and get some shelter from the wind. In this kind of weather, we can talk about anything after the sandstorm stops..."

Chen Xiang didn't go inside, but waved his hand hastily and said, "Do you think I'd want to come out in this kind of weather? Alright, no time to come in and sit down. Qi boy, let me ask you, do you know how to repair flying machines?"

Qi Pingye was hit in the face by the sand and dust outside. He raised his hand to shield himself and moved behind the door to avoid it. He replied, "Yes, that's what happened. What's wrong?"

When Qi Pingye was seriously injured, he owed the town a large sum of money for medicine. If he didn't have any skills to rely on, he would never be able to pay it back by just picking up trash. So he picked one of his skills, called himself a mechanic, and went to Ganlu City to repair cars and aircraft for half a month.

Although his hand had been broken once, making it difficult for him to realize his dream of becoming a top mechanic in the Federation, repairing some old cars and aircraft on the garbage planet was still a piece of cake.

"That's right!" Chen Xiang clapped his hands and pushed him, "Hurry up, put on your clothes and come with me."

Qi Pingye sensed something was amiss: "What exactly happened, Uncle Chen?"

Chen Xiang's eyebrows, hidden beneath his hood, twitched, a look of mixed joy and worry on his face: "Big news! You heard about the new Omega that emerged in Ganlu City a while ago, right? The city lord sold the person to a big shot on the central star, assembling an escort team to deliver them. But they encountered a sandstorm right after takeoff, the aircraft malfunctioned, and they had to come back..."

Qi Pingye raised an eyebrow: "Uncle Chen, you don't mean to say that they got lost in the sandstorm, made a landing mistake, and ended up in our Oasis No. 3, do you?"

Chen Xiang looked at Qi Pingye and sighed, "It sounds like a coincidence, but it really is true."

Qi Pingye's eyes flickered slightly, and he frowned.

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Author's Note: Important Information for World Reading in This Unit:

1. Qi Pingye (top) x Shen Wu (bottom), AO combination.

2. It's a pseudo-sci-fi story set in space, featuring some cheesy tropes like "real and fake young masters," but the overall tone remains the same: a sweet romance where mutual pampering is all that matters.

3. It doesn't promote ABO equality. The background setting is already a world that has implemented equality. However, no matter how fair a world is, there will inevitably be shadows.

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Please see the synopsis for full reading instructions. Enjoy your reading, little angels!