After Marking the Omega Officer Who Was Pretending to Be an Alpha - Chapter 3

Shao Enzhuo frowned slightly and rapidly searched her mind for memories related to the Capital of Hope. The unease in her heart gradually magnified. Images from the book seemed to reappear before her eyes like illusions, finally freezing on the two words: Dawn.

“Dawn.”

Shao Enzhuo silently repeated it in her heart.

She remembered now.

Wasn’t the Capital of Hope the only survivor base in the book Dawn, the one she had just been reading? Why would she appear in the Capital of Hope? And as far as she knew, there was no such place as the Capital of Hope in real life.

What exactly was going on?

An ominous feeling suddenly spread through her heart.

Could it be…

“Big sister, what’s wrong?” The little girl saw that Shao Enzhuo’s complexion had turned very poor, so she tilted her little head and looked at her with clear, bright eyes full of concern. “Did you accidentally fall and hurt yourself somewhere? Big sister, do you want to go to the clinic and have a look?”

Shao Enzhuo said nothing.

She stared fixedly at the little girl before her, whose hair was tied into two small braids. An incredulous glimmer flickered in her eyes.

It was not as if she had never read novels about transmigrating into books before. Her roommates had even chatted in the group chat about the topic of “what would happen if they transmigrated into a book.” Anything could happen in novels, but she really could not believe that such a fantastical and bizarre thing as transmigrating into a book could happen in reality.

She could not believe that she had transmigrated into a book.

But…

Although it was utterly absurd,

the passersby around her and this unfamiliar environment were all telling her that she seemed to have really transmigrated into a book. Otherwise, when she had clearly been in the library with Jing Xiaoyi preparing to review, it would have been impossible for her to arrive in this place the moment she opened her eyes.

She had just been about to ask something when she heard the little girl speak.

“Big sister, I still have something to do, so I’ll go first. If you feel unwell, go to the clinic and have a look.” The little girl picked up the bamboo basket sitting on the bluestone road beside her and stuffed it into Shao Enzhuo’s arms. “Big sister, this is the basket you dropped when you fainted just now. I helped you pick up all the vegetables that spilled out. You have to be more careful next time. Don’t faint again. It wouldn’t be good if you got hurt.”

After saying that, the little girl smiled at Shao Enzhuo.

Then she stood up and left.

Shao Enzhuo still had many questions she wanted to ask the little girl. She reached out to grab her, but unfortunately, the little girl ran too fast. Her fingers caught nothing but empty air.

“Wait a second… I still have…”

Her words came to an abrupt stop.

Shao Enzhuo watched the little girl’s bouncing figure disappear into the distance, then lowered her hand and sighed. She was someone with an extremely strong ability to accept things. The moment she realized she might have transmigrated into a book, she accepted the fact. But it had happened too suddenly, and for a while, she really found it hard to digest.

She suspected that it was highly likely she had transmigrated into the body of the Shao Enzhuo in Dawn, the character who had the same name and surname as her. After all, that was how the novels she had read usually wrote it.

How did she transmigrate into a book just like that?

Why did this kind of thing have to happen to her of all people?

Sigh…

Shao Enzhuo frowned in great frustration and lowered her head to look at the bamboo basket in her arms. Inside the basket were several small, ugly potatoes, along with a few small cabbages and lettuce stalks still stained with dirt. They looked as if they had not been dug out of the ground for long.

Another sigh.

Shao Enzhuo miserably held the bamboo basket in her arms and awkwardly climbed up from the ground. She freed one hand to pat the dust off her body, then lowered her head to examine her clothes. The long robe she wore had several patches sewn onto it, and the embroidered patterns were all very cute. The old cloth shoes on her feet were also nearly worn through. Judging from this, the original Shao Enzhuo’s family situation in the book did not seem very good.

She slowly raised her head and looked toward the clear blue sky.

Her heart felt unbearably uncomfortable.

The gentle breeze brushed against her face, bringing with it a trace of coolness. Around her, pedestrians came and went, brushing past Shao Enzhuo. Shao Enzhuo was unwilling to accept the fact that she had transmigrated into a book and wanted to make one final struggle. She withdrew her gaze from the sky and directly stopped an uncle walking toward her.

“Uncle, may I ask you a question?”

The uncle froze for a moment, then nodded in response.

“What question?”

“I want to ask, is this the Capital of Hope?” Shao Enzhuo asked, her heart as good as dead. She knew very well that no matter how much she struggled, it was useless. “And outside, are there walking corpses everywhere?”

“…”

The air suddenly fell silent for a second.

The uncle looked at the young girl before him, who was asking him with a serious expression, and suddenly laughed. “Little girl, are you joking with me by asking this kind of question?”

“No.”

Shao Enzhuo answered with certainty. “I’m very serious.”

In this world, asking such a question was truly bizarre and inexplicable. It might even make people think she was mentally ill. The uncle saw that the young girl before him looked very serious and did not seem to be joking with him, but he only assumed that she was good at pretending.

“Little girl, since you insist on joking around, then I’ll play along with you.”

As he spoke, he suddenly turned around and looked into the distance. “There is only one survivor base on the entire continent of Ostdea, and that is the Capital of Hope. If this isn’t the Capital of Hope, then where else could it be?”

The continent of Ostdea…

Shao Enzhuo followed the uncle’s gaze and looked up. In the distance, a towering wall that rose into the clouds and seemed impossible to climb appeared before her eyes. It looked to be around thirty to forty meters high, giving off a feeling that was grand, awe-inspiring, and somewhat oppressive.

The breeze stirred a few strands of hair that had fallen over her forehead.

Shao Enzhuo looked at the high wall and unconsciously slowed her breathing, her eyes widening. Was this the high wall mentioned in the book’s synopsis?

So magnificent…

Just then, a commotion came from not far away.

“The adjudicators from the City Guard Department are taking people to the Punishment Grounds again! Another vanguard has been captured by the adjudicators and taken to the Punishment Grounds!”

When the people around them heard the shout, they all ran toward the direction of the voice. The uncle in front of Shao Enzhuo was no exception.

“Little girl, Uncle won’t play with you anymore. Goodbye.”

After saying that, the uncle followed the flow of people and ran off into the distance.

“Hey… Uncle…”

Shao Enzhuo turned back in confusion and watched the uncle’s hurriedly departing figure. Why were neither the little girl nor the uncle giving her a chance to ask things clearly? Seeing that many people ahead were all running in the same direction, Shao Enzhuo, who had just arrived and knew nothing, had no choice but to follow helplessly and see what was going on.

—

The afterglow of the setting sun dyed half the sky red.

Shao Enzhuo followed the crowded mass of people to a place that looked like a central square. In the middle of the square was a stone platform about one meter high. Two men in black uniforms, their faces bruised and swollen, were kneeling on the ground with their hands bound. Standing beside them was a group of people dressed in dark brown uniforms and black boots.

The entire square was packed with people.

Everyone’s attention was focused on the stone platform.

Shao Enzhuo, who had only read the synopsis of Dawn, knew nothing about the Capital of Hope. She did not know what had happened to cause such a grand scene, so she could only ask the man standing beside her, “Hello, may I ask what happened?”

Shao Enzhuo glanced at the two men kneeling on the stone platform and continued asking, “What did those two people do?”

“Those two Alphas probably failed to escape and got caught,” the man answered after glancing at Shao Enzhuo. “Vanguards who try to escape are all captured by the adjudicators.”

Vanguards? Adjudicators?

“Caught while escaping?” Shao Enzhuo really did not understand what vanguards or adjudicators were. “What does that mean? Why would vanguards escape? And what are adjudicators?”

“…”

When the man heard this, he looked at Shao Enzhuo as if he were looking at a monster.

“What are you talking about? You don’t know?”

Shao Enzhuo: “…”

Every time she asked certain questions, other people would look at her with that strange gaze. She was like some bizarre outsider in this world. She was too lazy to explain, so she casually made up an excuse.

“I accidentally hit my head a few days ago and lost my memory. I don’t really remember things related to the Capital of Hope, so please help explain it to me.”

The man looked Shao Enzhuo up and down, half-believing and half-doubting. After a few seconds of silence, he replied, “You lost your memory? Then you at least haven’t forgotten that Alphas must join the Hope Organization, right?”

Shao Enzhuo shook her head. “I haven’t forgotten that.”

Those lines from the synopsis had already been carved into her heart.

“You also know that Alphas must join the Hope Organization. There are many Alphas who become vanguards but don’t want to leave the Capital of Hope to clear out walking corpses. But the Hope Organization won’t agree to that.” The man slowly looked toward the two Alphas kneeling on the stone platform. His eyes were calm and emotionless. “That’s why these Alphas all choose to run away. Once they fail to escape, they’ll be captured by the adjudicators and brought to the Punishment Grounds. And the adjudicators are Alphas who judge these runaway vanguards.”

Shao Enzhuo looked toward the adjudicators in dark brown uniforms on the stone platform in disbelief. She had not expected that this square was actually called the Punishment Grounds. Did all vanguards who were caught after escaping get tied up by the adjudicators and brought to the Punishment Grounds to be punished in public?

As she looked at the adjudicators and vanguards on the Punishment Grounds, her expression grew increasingly grave. When she had finished reading the synopsis earlier, she had already thought it was extremely unreasonable that Alphas had to join the Hope Organization. She had not expected them to be divided into vanguards and adjudicators too.

They were not even allowed to quit.

Once they ran away, they would be captured and sent to the Punishment Grounds.

What kind of world was this…

“Fellow survivors, during these few days of assessment for the 254th batch of vanguards, two traitors appeared in the reconnaissance department of our P-43 District.” The tall adjudicator on the Punishment Grounds faced the surrounding crowd and pointed at the two Alphas kneeling on the ground as he spoke loudly. “In order to escape, the two of them did not hesitate to injure several vanguards. From today onward, the two of them are criminals of our Capital of Hope!”

Shao Enzhuo did not quite understand the meaning of these words.

Why would vanguards who tried to escape become criminals of the Capital of Hope? And why were they called traitors?

She really did not understand.

In any case, she knew the Hope Organization was definitely not good.

“In order to save the world and rebuild our homeland, the fact that Alphas must join the Hope Organization is something everyone must engrave into their bones.” The tall adjudicator turned back and viciously pointed at the vanguards kneeling on the ground, then cursed loudly. “You are Alphas, yet you are selfish, greedy for life, and afraid of death. You even tried to escape at all costs. You are criminals of the Capital of Hope! You are traitors to humanity!”

The tall adjudicator shouted loudly, “You two are cowards! Useless trash! A disgrace among Alphas!”

Everyone’s gazes were focused on the two vanguards.

Shao Enzhuo frowned deeply.

Was this the reason runaway vanguards were judged?

It was simply absurd.

The two Alpha vanguards kneeling on the ground trembled, gritting their teeth as tears streamed down their faces. Neither of them said a word.

“I’ll give you one last chance.” The tall adjudicator glared down at them from above. “Do you want to stay in the Hope Organization and continue serving humanity or not?”

As soon as he finished speaking,

one of the vanguards kneeling on the ground suddenly raised his head and cried out at the top of his lungs.

“I am a criminal! I am a traitor! I am a coward! I am a disgrace! Please, don’t make me leave the Capital of Hope to clear out walking corpses! The walking corpses are too terrifying! Too terrifying! Please!”

Every cry he shouted was hysterical and utterly desperate.

“I don’t want to leave the Capital of Hope! I don’t want to clear out walking corpses! Please! I am a criminal! I am a disgrace! Please let me go! Please! Please—”

“Bang—”

A gunshot rang out.

Scarlet blood and brain matter instantly sprayed across the stone platform, a shocking sight to behold. The birds resting on nearby tree branches were startled by the gunshot and quickly flapped their wings, flying far away. The vanguard who had been crying and begging to be spared just a second ago collapsed heavily onto the stone platform.

The Punishment Grounds fell into deathly silence.