After Marking the Omega Officer Who Was Pretending to Be an Alpha - Chapter 8

Ren Qiruo’s words slowly entered Shao Enzhuo’s ears.

The treatment Omegas suffered in this world made Shao Enzhuo feel terribly uncomfortable, and the word “vanguard” confused her even more. She abruptly stopped walking, looked at Ren Qiruo, and asked, “Why vanguards?”

“Because only Alphas who become vanguards are qualified to receive an Omega as their partner,” Ren Qiruo said. She had been born into exactly this kind of family. She looked into Shao Enzhuo’s clear eyes and said, “To be honest, my stepmother is an Omega the Hope Organization assigned to my mom.”

So that was how it was…

“What about adjudicators?” Shao Enzhuo could never forget the adjudicators’ evil deeds. “Are adjudicators not qualified?”

Ren Qiruo said, “Adjudicators aren’t qualified.”

Since adjudicators had the authority to publicly judge vanguards and kill them, why were they not qualified to be assigned an Omega? Shao Enzhuo truly did not understand. “Why?”

“Adjudicators belong to the City Guard Department, while vanguards belong to the Reconnaissance Department. As for why adjudicators aren’t qualified…” Ren Qiruo slowly explained according to what her mother had once told her. “That’s because Alphas who become vanguards have to leave the city to clear out walking corpses, while adjudicators don’t have to leave the city to do that. You know how dangerous it is outside the city, so adjudicators aren’t qualified. Only vanguards are qualified.”

Hearing this, Shao Enzhuo frowned deeply.

Her feelings were extremely complicated.

“The adjudicators of the City Guard Department only have one choice, and that is to be with Betas, or they can pair up internally,” Ren Qiruo said, linking arms with Shao Enzhuo and continuing forward. “In the end, it’s because vanguards gamble with their lives to obtain this qualification.”

Shao Enzhuo murmured, “Gamble with their lives…”

The two walked toward the city center.

“Every vanguard who leaves the Capital of Hope to clear out walking corpses has no idea whether they can come back alive. Also, there are very few Betas who will differentiate into Omegas, so Omegas are very rare and precious,” Ren Qiruo said as she looked ahead. “So under these special circumstances, only vanguards from the Reconnaissance Department are qualified to be with Omegas.”

Shao Enzhuo’s mind suddenly became somewhat chaotic. Vanguards left the city to clear out walking corpses and save the world; they were the heroes of the Capital of Hope. The qualification they exchanged for by risking their lives was admirable, and assigning Omegas to vanguards was not completely unreasonable.

But…

She kept feeling that something was strange.

Omegas and Betas clearly also possessed the ability to leave the city and clear out walking corpses. Why did the task of clearing out corpses have to be done by Alphas? And why did Omegas have to wear restriction rings and only accept being assigned?

After a moment of silence, she organized her thoughts and said, “So just because Omegas are rare and precious, the Hope Organization uses something like restriction rings to force Omegas to wear shackles for life, deprives them of their freedom and rights, and assigns them to Alphas who are vanguards?”

“Mm… you could actually understand it that way,” Ren Qiruo said. She felt that it did seem to be like that. The restriction ring was a shackle placed on Omegas, a shackle that could only be removed after death. “The restriction ring really does put Omegas in lifelong shackles.”

“What if an Omega falls in love with a Beta?” Many questions suddenly surfaced in Shao Enzhuo’s mind. “Or what if an Omega falls in love with another Omega? Or… what if the person an Omega likes happens to be a certain Alpha?”

Ren Qiruo shook her head. “It’s useless.”

Shao Enzhuo asked, “What do you mean?”

“My stepmother said every Omega has a serial number that belongs only to them. Once a vanguard draws a certain serial number, the Omega who has that serial number must leave with that vanguard,” Ren Qiruo said. She had always believed that it was very fortunate for her stepmother to have met her mother. “It’s useless whether an Omega falls in love with a Beta or another Omega. In the end, they will be separated. Even if the person an Omega loves happens to be an Alpha, it’s still useless. Omegas must accept the Hope Organization’s assignment. They must leave with the vanguard who draws their serial number.”

She paused, then continued, “And once an Omega is assigned to a certain vanguard, if that vanguard loses their life while clearing out walking corpses outside the city, the serial number of the Omega who lost their partner will be taken back by the Hope Organization, and they will continue waiting to be assigned again. I heard that a long time ago, there was an Omega who was assigned twelve times.”

Shao Enzhuo was stunned. “That…”

“My stepmother can be considered an extremely lucky Omega. After all these years, her serial number has never been drawn again by a vanguard,” Ren Qiruo said. She had always felt that the love between her stepmother and her mother was something that moved her deeply. “Otherwise, she would have had to be with another vanguard Alpha.”

Shao Enzhuo really had not expected things to be like this. “Why…”

Ren Qiruo said, “Omegas have no choice. They can only accept assignment.”

Shao Enzhuo’s heartstrings trembled deeply.

How could this be…

If she differentiated into an Omega, she would rather leave the city to clear out walking corpses, protect humanity, and save the world than accept being with someone she did not know. Let alone being assigned to someone she had never even interacted with. Only being able to accept assignment was truly terrifying, and they could even be reassigned.

She kept feeling that this was like a form of “kidnapping.”

The key point was that Omegas could only be assigned.

Her heart was filled with mixed feelings. “Can’t Omegas secretly remove the restriction ring?”

“My stepmother tried many methods before, but she couldn’t take the restriction ring off,” Ren Qiruo said, raising her hand to tuck the loose hair blocking her eyes behind her ear. “Also, if the restriction ring is damaged, the Omega will be punished.”

Shao Enzhuo asked, “What punishment?”

“The restriction ring is high technology from the Capital of Hope, so it won’t be damaged easily. Once an Omega damages the restriction ring, they will be locked up by the people from the City Guard Department,” Ren Qiruo answered. “So in order not to be locked up, Omegas don’t dare damage the restriction rings.”

This time, Shao Enzhuo was completely speechless.

She only felt extremely uncomfortable.

“But in a certain sense, the restriction ring also protects Omegas. Once an Alpha approaches an Omega, the restriction ring will light up red and sound an alarm. That’s why Alphas don’t dare approach Omegas,” Ren Qiruo said. “But it can’t be considered absolute protection either. After all, the restriction ring can only guard against Alphas. It can’t guard against Betas and Omegas.”

Shao Enzhuo truly could not imagine what the Omegas in this world were going through. Why, even after the end of the world, were humans still being treated so differently? Did the Hope Organization even treat Omegas as people?

“The restriction ring can protect Omegas from being disturbed by Alphas, but it can’t guard against Betas and Omegas,” Shao Enzhuo thought for a moment, then could not help asking, “Then why does the Hope Organization still deprive Omegas of their freedom to love and their human rights?”

“Because only Omega pheromones can soothe an Alpha’s heat,” Ren Qiruo said, looking at the clouds in the distance and sighing. “Assigning Omegas to vanguards should be considered a reward for the Alphas who are vanguards. After all, vanguards are protecting humanity with their lives. I think that should be the Hope Organization’s purpose in doing this.”

A reward?

Omegas were actually treated as “rewards” and given to vanguards?

Shao Enzhuo said, “Is that so…”

Ren Qiruo said, “But there is also a very contradictory part.”

Shao Enzhuo asked, “What contradictory part?”

“My mom said that after someone differentiates into an Alpha, they will be injected with a kind of medicine. After the injection, the pheromone concentration inside the Alpha’s body will drop to the lowest level, E-rank,” Ren Qiruo said slowly, recalling her mother’s words. “Once an Alpha’s pheromone concentration drops to E-rank, they won’t really be affected by their heat period anymore, so they won’t need Omega pheromones to soothe them. For vanguards who leave the city to clear out walking corpses, this is an incredibly good thing. After being injected with the medicine, Alphas are only genetically different from Betas. That’s why even if the Alphas in the City Guard Department can only be with Betas, it doesn’t matter much.”

Shao Enzhuo suddenly froze.

Then didn’t the matter of using Omega pheromones to soothe vanguards become meaningless? Didn’t making Omegas wear restriction rings and assigning them to vanguards also become meaningless? The shackles placed on Omegas and their forced assignments had no meaning at all. Even the qualification vanguards obtained by gambling with their lives had no meaning.

Why would the Hope Organization still do this when it had no meaning?

Why exactly…

“Vanguards don’t need Omega pheromones to soothe their heat. On the contrary, it’s Omegas who need Alpha pheromones to soothe their heat periods. But because they wear restriction rings…” Ren Qiruo could not help feeling heartache when she thought of how her stepmother endured her heat. “Before Omegas are assigned to vanguards, they can only inject suppressants and painfully endure their difficult heat periods.”

The spark burning fiercely in Shao Enzhuo’s heart grew stronger and stronger. She clenched her teeth, trying to keep her emotions stable, then asked Ren Qiruo very calmly, “Since there is no meaning in Omegas waiting to be assigned, and no meaning in the qualification vanguards obtain by gambling with their lives, why does the Hope Organization treat Omegas this way? And why does it treat vanguards this way? Besides, maybe Omegas are willing to become vanguards and leave the city to clear out walking corpses. Maybe they also want to leave the city and save the world.”

Ren Qiruo said, “Because this is the fate of Omegas.”

Shao Enzhuo said, “…Fate?”

“The fate of Omegas is that they must wear restriction rings and wait for the Hope Organization’s assignment. They are not qualified to join the Hope Organization,” Ren Qiruo said, her tone calm, as if she were talking about something very ordinary. “Just like Alphas must join the Hope Organization, and Betas must work as laborers. These are the rules of the Capital of Hope.”

When Shao Enzhuo heard this, she truly could not take it anymore and shouted emotionally, “Fuck fate! Fuck the rules! The Hope Organization doesn’t deserve to be called hope! They don’t deserve the name Hope at all! They don’t! They don’t!”

“Shh—”

Ren Qiruo was so frightened that she hurriedly covered Shao Enzhuo’s mouth and whispered, “Ah Zhuo, if you shout that loudly and people from the Hope Organization hear you, you’ll be dead.”

Shao Enzhuo was furious.

Was this humanity’s final pure land, the Capital of Hope?

Slowly,

Shao Enzhuo, whose mouth was covered, gradually calmed down in her anger, and Ren Qiruo finally let go.

“Ah Zhuo, don’t say reckless things.”

Ren Qiruo warned her seriously.

“Qiruo, can you tell me everything about the Capital of Hope?” Shao Enzhuo turned and stared into Ren Qiruo’s eyes, speaking solemnly. “I want to know everything about the Hope Organization. For example, why adjudicators don’t have to leave the city, and why adjudicators can kill vanguards.”

“Okay.”

Ren Qiruo agreed without hesitation. “As long as it’s something I know, I’ll tell you.”

The breeze gently brushed past, and the sunlight was just right.

The two chatted as they walked toward the city center.

From Ren Qiruo, Shao Enzhuo learned that the Hope Organization had two major departments: the Reconnaissance Department and the City Guard Department.

After Alphas joined the Hope Organization, they would become trainees in the Reconnaissance Department. After one year of training, the trainees would draw lots. Trainees who drew a black lot would be directly promoted to vanguard in the Reconnaissance Department, while trainees who drew a white lot would be assigned to the City Guard Department.

Trainees who entered the City Guard Department would draw lots again internally and be divided into adjudicators, guards, and grain protectors.

Adjudicators specialized in judging vanguards who tried to escape and vanguards who intended to rebel. Grain protectors were Alphas who distributed relief grain and managed the grain crops of the Capital of Hope. Guards stood watch day and night at the city gates of the Capital of Hope, and also managed public order and all matters big and small within the city.

After trainees drew lots and became vanguards of the Reconnaissance Department, they would continue strengthening their training for one more year. After one year, they would undergo the vanguard assessment. As for what kind of assessment it was exactly, Ren Qiruo’s mother said it was not allowed to be revealed, so she did not say. She only said that the vanguard assessment was extremely cruel. Vanguards who passed the assessment all survived. Vanguards who did not pass the assessment…

all died.

The buildings of the Capital of Hope were built by Betas, and the grain was also planted by Betas. Aside from wearing restriction rings and waiting to be assigned, Omegas also participated in construction and planting.

These were all rules of the Capital of Hope.

“Qiruo, don’t you think rules like this are strange, ridiculous, and unfair?” After hearing Ren Qiruo finish, Shao Enzhuo frowned deeply and said, “Everyone is human. Everyone has the ability to protect humanity and protect their homeland together. Omegas can clearly become vanguards. Betas can also become vanguards. Alphas can also stay in the Capital of Hope and participate in construction and planting. Why does the Hope Organization insist on making rules like this?”

“That question of yours is very good. I’ve thought about it too. I asked my mom why before,” Ren Qiruo said with a somewhat helpless expression. “But my mom said this is our fate. We can only follow the Hope Organization’s rules, because everyone is following these rules, so we have no other choice.”

“How did the Hope Organization come about? Why do they have the power to set these rules?” Shao Enzhuo’s mood had sunk to rock bottom. “Who exactly manages the Hope Organization?”

Ren Qiruo said, “The Watchtower.”

Shao Enzhuo repeated, “The Watchtower?”

Ren Qiruo said, “Mm.”

“What is the Watchtower?” This was the first time Shao Enzhuo had heard of the Watchtower. “Where is the Watchtower?”

“The Watchtower is in the main city center of the Capital of Hope,” Ren Qiruo said. “That is, the Watchtower in the City of Light.”

“The main city? The City of Light?” Shao Enzhuo asked in surprise. “Could it be that aside from here, there are other places?”

“Of course there are other places. This place is only one of the twelve districts of the Capital of Hope, District P-43,” Ren Qiruo suddenly stopped walking and tilted her head slightly, looking into the distance. “The center of the Capital of Hope is in the main city, the City of Light. And the core of the entire Hope Organization is—”

“The Watchtower.”