After the power went out, Zhou Shiyi realized something was wrong.

When the lights went out everywhere, only the exit signs remained lit, illuminating the path underfoot in the surrounding darkness.

Chasing that man in black now was clearly the wrong choice; he turned toward the center of the banquet instead.

Before he reached it, he heard noises from that direction—the angry roar of an alpha, the screams of omegas—and knew the situation was bad.

The foreman had already called all the betas together into an emergency situation; this was covered in the on-the-job training.

When there’s no suppressant, betas are taught how to control an enraged alpha in a crisis.

There’s a reason alphas and omegas are rare: their pheromones can vary unpredictably with physical condition and psychological factors.

In a crisis, heightened emotions trigger large amounts of pheromones, which then throw the scene into chaos.

So in ancient times, without pheromone blockers or suppressants, alphas and omegas were at the very bottom, put on display for people to watch.

As technology progressed, they learned to control their pheromones, and by leveraging their innate advantages they gradually seized control of the economic lifelines of society, and their status changed accordingly.

Zhou Shiyi recalled the emergency-response training, located the safety equipment placed around him, and took out a suppressant from it.

Betas can’t smell pheromones, so they don’t know who is in heat; they can only look for whoever’s in the most pain, whoever most fits the definition of being in heat, and give them the injection first.

Zhou Shiyi suddenly heard noises coming from the bathroom. He fumbled in the dark and found someone engaged in a struggle.

Although he didn’t know why they had appeared in the beta bathroom, one of them kept babbling like a madman: “You smell so good, how can you be so fragrant.”

Zhou Shiyi judged that this person was an alpha entering the rutting period; he suddenly choked the alpha from behind.

An alpha in rut still has instincts and was about to attack Zhou Shiyi from behind, but Zhou Shiyi didn’t hold back either—he precisely sprayed the suppressant onto the alpha’s glands.

After this period of study, Zhou Shiyi already knew about the glands’ existence and could accurately locate them.

The alpha let out a howl, then went limp to the ground.

It doesn’t matter where the suppressant is injected—the effect is the same. Most people choose to inject it into the arm, but for alphas entering heat, forcibly giving them a suppressant is extremely dangerous, so people take the cheap way out.

Beta injections hit wherever possible, but no one wants the suppressant injected directly into the glands.

No matter how tough someone is, no matter how good they are at enduring pain, anyone will cry and wail when their glands are attacked.

Zhou Shiyi said “sorry” to the alpha who had lost consciousness on the floor, then stepped over him to reach the frightened omega.

“Do you need help? I’m a beta — are you all right?”

“Mm, I’m fine, I’ve already taken a suppressant.” The person inside sounded shaken, their voice trembling a little, but Zhou Shiyi still recognized it as He Yanqing’s voice.

His expression grew strange; he suddenly remembered a scene from the original story.

The protagonist top and bottom both attended an engagement banquet and were caught up in an attack by a group that harbors extreme hatred toward alphas and omegas.

He Yanqing noticed a strange scent on a waiter and felt puzzled.

But then he realized that scent had triggered a false heat in him, so he tried to slip away and get an injection of a suppressant—only for an alpha to follow him in.

Gu Sheng happened to run into the scene and rescued He Yanqing.

Because He Yanqing had already taken a suppressant and Gu Sheng couldn’t smell any pheromones on him, he just assumed he was an alpha beast.

But He Yanqing’s flushed, sweaty face kept flashing through his mind, and it planted the seed for the two of them later tearing through that thin pane of glass between them.

Zhou Shiyi hadn’t expected such bad luck — to run into this scene — and he’d clearly disrupted the plot.

Thinking this, Zhou Shiyi couldn’t help but silently scold himself for being slow.

The story is obviously centered on the protagonist, so no matter what kind of engagement party it was—although many people got engaged the same day and many held parties at the same time—he would inevitably run into them.

A voice from the walkie-talkie told them to gather in the lobby; that was where the worst of it was.

After confirming He Yanqing was alright, Zhou Shiyi dragged the alpha on the floor out.

He was very strong; an alpha over 1.8 meters tall was hauled out of the beta restroom like that.

Thinking of He Yanqing inside, Zhou Shiyi closed the beta bathroom door, which could only be opened from the inside.

He put the fainted alpha in a conspicuous spot, then Zhou Shiyi went into the main hall.

By the time he got there, the estate’s backup power had already been switched on, allowing them to see what was happening inside.

When Zhou Shiyi walked in, he saw someone wearing a gas mask waving at him; only when he got closer did he realize it was Aya.

Aya made a gesture at him; when she saw he didn’t understand, she grabbed a gas mask and pressed it to his face.

Zhou Shiyi was a bit unaccustomed to Aya’s kind of care. He leaned away to one side and held his breath while putting it on himself.

The gas mask was in case those extremist groups released other harmful gases; if the betas also collapsed, the whole banquet would become nationwide news.

In a way none of the people present wanted to see.

Zhou Shiyi put on his gas mask and entered the scene with the other betas.

Those alphas had already torn into each other once; the wounds on their bodies not only failed to rouse their consciousness but instead ignited their fighting instincts.

They had to determine a winner first before they could mark an omega.

So they often fought until both sides were crippled, their combat effectiveness diminished.

This also made their work much easier.

Two people would go up and hold the runaway alpha down; if two weren’t enough they’d use three, until the person was restrained and injected with a suppressant.

Those who had already completely lost their minds were fitted with biting muzzles—not only to prevent them from forcibly marking omegas, but also to stop alphas from biting betas.

An alpha’s canine teeth can inject their pheromones; although a beta won’t be marked, they can still be affected by the high concentration introduced into their body.

Metabolizing pheromones takes time; during that period, the excess pheromones can affect a beta’s daily life. Although the long-term side effects of this influence are very rare, no one could afford to take that gamble.

The situation is a bit better for omegas. When an omega goes into heat their whole body becomes hot, their limbs grow weak and numb. So administering inhibitors and putting on bite-proof collars isn’t particularly difficult.

They were all fully armed and had undergone professional training, so their strikes were steady, precise, and ruthless, and they moved very quickly.

Only, some were initially too close to the scene—surrounded by alphas and omegas in heat. A few omegas couldn’t break free and were torn apart by several alphas.

An omega was covered in bite marks from head to toe; the hand he used to press over his gland was a mess—no unbroken skin, the wounds were bloody, all torn.

When the beta administered the suppressant, he couldn’t help feeling a pang of pity. Seeing that the anti-bite collar wouldn’t go on, Aya anxiously asked, “What do we do? It won’t fit.”

Zhou Shiyi took a sedative and said, “I’ll do it.”

He stepped forward and saw the omega blur his eyes open. He soothed him, “It’s okay now. We’re here to help you. The ambulance will be here soon.”

Omega didn’t know if he heard it, tears streaming from his eyes as he began to struggle weakly.

Zhou Shiyi, afraid his struggling would cause him further injury, injected him with a tranquilizer.

The omega struggled once, finally letting go of that hand, revealing the back of his neck bruised and purple from the palm’s pressure.

The betas successfully fitted him with an anti-bite collar and placed him on a stretcher, ensuring he could receive treatment the moment the ambulance arrived.

After finishing that, Zhou Shiyi pressed his hand to his face under the gas mask; sweat had already formed.

While Zhou Shiyi was injecting an alpha with a suppressant, he saw the man open his eyes. His gaze was clear—not like someone who had lost consciousness.

“How are you?”

Gu Yuan looked at him without struggling. “I’ve already been given the suppressant. It was too chaotic just now, and I got surrounded.”

As soon as he smelled the scent of synthetic pheromones, Gu Yuan knew something was wrong. He pushed out the syringe of inhibitor and gave himself a shot first.

Later he really was one of the few who remained conscious, it was just that his position was unlucky—too close to the chandelier—so he was surrounded by unconscious alphas and omegas who needed help.

In the chaos, Gu Yuan ended up fighting with others; it’s hard to say who threw the first punch.

Zhou Shiyi could also see that apart from a broken arm and soft-tissue bruises, he didn’t have any major injuries.

He called Aya over and had her immobilize his arm.

Now the entire hall was a mess; looking around, the floor was littered with people lying down.

Zhou Shiyi quickly threw himself into rescuing the next person.

Most of those who had partners and had already undergone lifetime marking were doing a bit better; they were the ones who had recently started to recover.

They hadn’t expected that attending an engagement banquet would turn into this.

“Big brother, are you okay?” Gu Jinyan had stayed on the balcony to get some air, and when she noticed something was wrong she immediately called the police.

She’d taken a suppressant just last month, so the drug was still active.

Seeing Gu Jinyan, Gu Yuan felt slightly relieved: “Why are you the only one here? Where are Mom and Dad? Where’s Gu Sheng?”

“My parents are fine. Dad has minor injuries, Mom was a bit shaken. They’re both very worried about you two. What about Gu Sheng? Was he not with you?”

Gu Yuan also looked concerned. “No, after the power went out I haven’t seen him.”

They couldn’t help but worry a little, but everything was in chaos right now and they needed someone to take charge.

Zhou Shiyi was sweating from exhaustion; the farther he went, the less serious the injuries he found.

Now all the doors and windows were open, the exhaust fans running at full power, and several people were beginning to regain their composure from the earlier panic.

They glanced at one another, each a little embarrassed — in the chaos before, no one could see clearly, and everyone had been like trapped animals, fighting among themselves.

Right now they had come to, and their faces were grim. They didn’t know who had set them up, but they were determined to make those people pay.

Zhou Shiyi helped the last person up, his arms so exhausted he couldn’t lift them.

The ambulance lights flashed outside. Because there were so many callers, and because the people inside were of special status, police cars formed a ring around the scene.

Those entertainment reporters were like sharks that had smelled blood, all swarming outside, waiting for whoever was inside to appear.

Zhou Shiyi took off all the equipment he was wearing, thinking to himself, what on earth is going on.

Suddenly, he heard someone shouting, “There’s another person in here! Quickly bring inhibitors and sedatives.”