Chapter 86: Everything is resolved

Translator: Abo Dammen

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Case Five: The Law of Causality

The elderly judge’s tone remained flat and unhurried, “Whatever you wish to expose, wait until after the hearing concludes…”

“Speaker Zhan Gao is an S-class alpha.”

Xu Pei dropped a bombshell in the quiet courtroom, causing an uproar in the public gallery. The live comments, which had quieted down during the judge’s opening statement, now started scrolling frantically, too fast for anyone to read. 

The vast majority of those present looked incredulous, checking with their neighbors if they had heard correctly. Only Mo Xin, involved in the matter, frowned with worry, while Qiu Wei pushed his glasses up, his face inscrutable.

He Yixun knew Xu Pei had stayed precisely for this moment. Aside from Xu Pei, he was the calmest person in the room.

“Professor Xu,” Zhan Gao, as one of those with speaking rights, said into his microphone with a displeased expression, “Understand the occasion. You will bear legal responsibility for your words.”

The murmurs in the public gallery grew louder. People seemed to grasp the implication of Xu Pei’s words and began discussing Zhan Yuan, who had thrown Nucheng into chaos not long ago. 

“Order.” The judge rapped the gavel. Like everyone else, he was taken aback and stopped the hearing’s progression to ask, “Wasn’t the S-class alpha Speaker Zhan’s younger brother, Zhan Yuan?”

“Yes, Your Honor,” Zhan Gao interjected before Xu Pei could answer, his gaze at Xu Pei carrying a hidden warning. “Zhan Yuan perished in the helicopter explosion. Many witnessed it on site.”

“The one who died wasn’t the S-class alpha, it was the original Speaker Zhan,” Xu Pei said unhurriedly.

“Professor Xu, is it appropriate to make such malicious and unfounded accusations to disrupt the hearing?” Zhan Gao said sternly. “You say I am Zhan Yuan. What evidence do you have?” 

“I never said you were Zhan Yuan,” Xu Pei said. “You are Zhan Gao.”

“Wait, I’m confused,” the judge said. “You say Speaker Zhan is the S-class alpha. Wouldn’t that make him the younger brother, Zhan Yuan?”

Xu Pei stood up from his chair, turned his back to the judge, lifted his chin slightly, and addressed the packed public gallery. “Ladies and gentlemen, the sequence of events is as follows.

“Ten years ago, I was engaged to the older twin brother, Zhan Gao. But not long after, Zhan Gao had a skiing accident which destroyed his gland. He fell into deep despair, severe depression, and planned to end his life.” 

The public gallery fell silent, awaiting Xu Pei’s next words. Zhan Gao, however, couldn’t hide the shock in his eyes, because the details of his accident were known only to his family and hadn’t been disclosed to anyone else, including Qiu Wei and Mo Xin.

During their confrontation on the plane, Xu Pei had only mentioned the brothers’ differing reactions to pheromones, and it was mere speculation without solid evidence. Now he could state the cause of the incident. This felt somewhat ominous, and Zhan Gao was puzzled.

—He wouldn’t realize that a version of himself from another spacetime had personally recounted this experience to Xu Pei.

Xu Pei continued, “During the same period, the younger twin brother, Zhan Yuan, incited riots at Central Station, facing extremely serious charges. The Zhan family, seeing the older brother suicidal, decided he might as well take the younger brother’s place for the punishment. So, after the younger brother was sentenced to death, the old Speaker used some means to have the twins swap identities. 

“In reality, the death row inmate sent to the National Research Institute wasn’t the younger brother Zhan Yuan, but the older brother Zhan Gao.”

The public gallery erupted in noise. The judge had to rap his gavel again. He asked Xu Pei, “Are you saying the person who underwent the gland modification wasn’t Zhan Yuan, but Zhan Gao?”

“Correct,” Xu Pei nodded. “The previous Speaker Zhan also wasn’t who everyone thought it was. It was the younger brother Zhan Yuan impersonating his older brother’s identity.”

Live comments scrolled rapidly. Xu Pei glanced at them, the screen was full of question marks and exclamation marks, showing how shocking this was. 

Zhan Gao, the central figure, crossed his arms without saying a word, not rushing to refute, seemingly waiting to see how much Xu Pei actually knew.

“Now, ten years later, to research gland-related diseases, I…” Xu Pei paused and corrected himself, “Professor Mo Xin created the S-class test subject.

“According to the institute’s regulations, all test subjects should be in a dormant state. However, due to the S-class alpha’s extremely strong physique, he developed a tolerance to anesthetics. Therefore, in the later stages, he remained conscious and communicated with Professor Mo Xin.”

“Who told you the S-class alpha was conscious?” Mo Xin interrupted, frowning. “Nonsense!” 

“Then what I’m about to say next,” Xu Pei walked to where Mo Xin sat in the front row, “will seem even more like nonsense to you.”

Having said that, Xu Pei turned to address the others in the public gallery. “Mo Xin fell in love with her own test subject.”

“What are you talking about!” Mo Xin shot to her feet. “I’ll sue you for defamation!”

Xu Pei turned a deaf ear, treating the vast courtroom as his stage, pacing back to the center with ease. “No alpha fails to envy an S-class gland. Zhan Yuan, who had already assumed the Speaker’s position, was no exception. He planned to break his brother Zhan Gao out and swap glands, which would allow him to mark his number one lover, Qiu Wei.” 

The ever-increasing volume of information made the observers present gasp in shock.

The rumor that Speaker Zhan liked alphas and that his secretary was his lover was well-known gossip. Originally, such unconfirmed rumors weren’t fit for formal discussion, but Xu Pei stating it like this instantly raised its credibility.

“Breaking Zhan Gao out of the heavily guarded institute was impossible without internal cooperation. Qiu Wei, working for Zhan Yuan, connected with Mo Xin. Coincidentally, Mo Xin also didn’t want her beloved trapped in the institute. Thus, the event that shook the entire city occurred. The S-class test subject was broken out.

“Originally, after Zhan Yuan broke out Zhan Gao, he would schedule the gland replacement surgery. But what he didn’t know was that Qiu Wei had betrayed him. Ultimately, he was stuffed into a gasoline drum by Zhan Gao and burned to death. 

“Since then, the Speaker Zhan and the S-class alpha you’ve seen are the same person. Robbing the central bank was just a smokescreen to confirm Zhan Yuan’s death and eliminate any future troubles.”

Reaching this point, Xu Pei walked up to Zhan Gao, turned his microphone towards himself, leaned forward slightly, braced his hands on the edge of the table, looked directly at Zhan Gao, and asked into the microphone, “Am I right, Speaker Zhan?”`

Zhan Gao’s face remained impassive, but his eyes flickered towards Qiu Wei and Mo Xin not far away. Only the three of them knew about these events. Especially the method he used to kill Zhan Yuan. Only Qiu Wei knew that detail.

However, Qiu Wei met his gaze and shook his head very slightly, indicating it wasn’t him who leaked it. 

At this point, Qiu Wei had no reason to lie. Could it have been Mo Xin? Even less likely.

“A very entertaining story,” Zhan Gao said composedly, turning his microphone back. “You’ve gone to great lengths to disrupt this hearing.”

“A blood test will reveal who you are,” said Xu Pei.

“A blood test is possible, but not now,” said Zhan Gao. He could prepare thoroughly later and fabricate a fake report. “Today’s topic is discussing your guilt. Stop trying to confuse the issue!” 

“I knew you wouldn’t admit it,” Xu Pei said leisurely, walking back to stand before Mo Xin again, like an actor moving on stage, drawing the gaze of all the spectators. “You’re pregnant, aren’t you?”

Mo Xin’s face instantly turned pale. Amidst the murmurs, her back stiffened as she said, “How could that be?”

“After Zhan Gao regained his freedom, you started dressing up. But strangely, when I saw you today, you paid attention to your clothing and accessories, even wearing jewelry, but had no makeup on. And when subjected to my pheromone pressure, your first instinct was to protect your lower abdomen.”

Actually, Mo Xin hadn’t visibly done this. Protecting her abdomen was Xu Pei’s deduction. 

“So I reasonably suspect you are pregnant.”

“This is slander!” Mo Xin’s voice rose sharply. “I haven’t been marked. How could I be pregnant?”

“Yes, you haven’t been marked. How could you be pregnant?” Xu Pei stepped back, looking at Zhan Gao. “It’s because an S-class alpha can impregnate an omega without marking them.”

Perhaps due to a massive influx of online viewers, the live stream became extremely laggy. The murmuring in the public gallery grew uncontrollable. The judge rapped his gavel repeatedly. “Order! Order!” 

When the courtroom quieted down, the judge looked at Mo Xin and asked, “Are you really pregnant?”

“Nothing of the sort,” Mo Xin insisted, refusing to admit it. “This person has no lower limit in disrupting the hearing.”

Xu Pei wasn’t surprised at all.

Mo Xin loved Zhan Gao hopelessly, even committing murder for him. Why would she surrender easily? 

“Secretary Qiu.” Xu Pei turned to the silent Qiu Wei. Unlike his tone with Mo Xin, it held more respect. “May I ask you a question?”

Qiu Wei seemed to guess what Xu Pei would ask. He lowered his gaze and pushed his glasses up.

“You’ve been marked, haven’t you?” Xu Pei said.

The public gallery gasped. Qiu Wei, however, remained calm, neither admitting nor denying it. “Why would you think that?” 

“Initially, I just found it strange that you couldn’t smell my pheromones,” Xu Pei noticed. “Later, after interacting with this Zhan Gao…”

Realizing “this Zhan Gao” sounded odd, Xu Pei corrected himself. “…this Speaker Zhan, I discovered he has a strong, primal desire to reproduce.”

Hearing this, Zhan Gao’s face darkened, looking at Xu Pei with displeasure.

“It’s actually understandable,” Xu Pei shrugged. “The S-class gland influences Zhan Gao’s behavior, making him instinctively want to reproduce. That’s why he has no feelings for me, yet upon learning my pheromone levels recovered, he wanted to marry me again—simply because I have the highest probability of producing superior offspring. 

“Aside from physiological factors, psychologically, Zhan Gao is undoubtedly the strongest alpha on the surface. Being in such a position, it’s almost impossible not to become inflated. Wanting to conquer other alphas is also normal. Especially since Qiu Wei was originally Zhan Yuan’s lover and is so good-looking. Since Zhan Gao took Zhan Yuan’s place, why would he let Qiu Wei go?”

This Zhan Gao differed significantly from the previous one in that he didn’t have Xu Pei as his ‘white moonlight’.

Judging by him impregnating Mo Xin, he seemed to have no bottom line. It was easy to imagine he would also make a move on Qiu Wei.

“As for confirming Secretary Qiu was marked… Zhan Gao, knowing I was already marked, still wanted to try to overwrite it. This shows he’s curious about his own abilities. Just like impregnating an omega without marking, he would also test whether he could mark an alpha.” 

All eyes turned to Qiu Wei, eagerly awaiting his response. His silence already said everything.

The reason Xu Pei was polite to Qiu Wei was, first, Qiu Wei hadn’t tried to murder him, and second, the gamble he was taking hinged precisely on Qiu Wei’s attitude.

“Secretary Qiu,” Xu Pei said persuasively, “If you want to break free from Zhan Gao, now is your only chance.”

Qiu Wei, to free himself from Zhan Yuan, could stand by and watch him be burned alive by Zhan Gao. Now that Zhan Gao had become his new shackles, Xu Pei was betting that he couldn’t possibly be loyal to Zhan Gao. 

Sure enough, Qiu Wei let out a soft sigh and slowly began to speak, “Yes. Everything Professor Xu said is correct.

“The person sitting here now as Speaker Zhan is actually the former S-class alpha from the laboratory, the one who robbed the central bank and was rated by you all as the number one criminal in history.”

As these words fell, even the powerful alphas sitting with Zhan Gao, who initially hadn’t taken Xu Pei’s words seriously, turned to look at him with incredulous expressions.

The recently stabilized live stream began lagging again. Outside the State Court, deafening cries denouncing Zhan Gao erupted. 

“Secretary Qiu,” Zhan Gao said with a dark expression, still relatively composed, “How much did he pay you to slander me?”

Qiu Wei didn’t say much. He took a USB drive from his suit’s inner pocket and plugged it into the nearest screen. Using a remote, he opened the file and played the video. The footage of Zhan Gao destroying the cockpit door with his bare hands appeared before everyone, causing another wave of exclamations.

At this point, Zhan Gao could no longer argue. He slammed the table and stood up abruptly. “You set me up?”

He had told Qiu Wei to delete the video, but he had copied it instead. 

“I am an alpha,” Qiu Wei said flatly. “I don’t like alphas.”

Seeing the situation turn against him, Zhan Gao leaped into the air, vaulted over the table, and sprinted towards the courtroom exit.

The elderly judge finally reacted, standing up in a fluster and commanding, “Seize him! Quickly!”

The court officers on duty were armed with live firearms. The guard at the exit quickly raised his gun, aiming at Zhan Gao, and shouted, “Halt!” However, in the next instant, overwhelmingly powerful S-class alpha pheromones enveloped the entire courtroom. The person holding the gun found himself unable to pull the trigger, and under the extreme pressure, even his arm lowered. 

“You think you can catch me with just this?”

Indeed, the people inside the courtroom were powerless against Zhan Gao.

He still had some time before more police forces arrived. Zhan Gao slowed his pace, savoring the pained expressions on everyone’s faces. The absolute supremacy of his power brought him immense pleasure.

He spread his arms wide, walking backward towards the exit while facing Xu Pei, who was leaning against a chair struggling to breathe: “You’re right. With power like mine, I should be proud. 

“I’ll let it go for today. Another day. I will come for you another day.

“I’m very curious if I can actually overwrite…”

Suddenly, a BANG! shattered the suffocating oppression in the courtroom, accompanied by a scream from Mo Xin.

Zhan Gao looked down at the blood soaking through his chest, then stared incredulously at He Yixun, who was holding the gun. “How did you…” 

Unlike the people around him suffering under the pheromone suppression, He Yixun showed no reaction. He said, “This bullet is payback.”

Back at the central bank, it was he who had been held at gunpoint by Zhan Gao. Now their positions were reversed, even though this particular Zhan Gao wasn’t aware of that history.

“How can you possibly resist my…”

Zhan Gao didn’t surrender. He tried to charge forward to seize the gun, so He Yixun gifted his knee another bullet. 

The pain prevented Zhan Gao from continuing to release pheromone suppression. The court officers swarmed him, pinning him down securely. Just then, the SWAT team arrived. Xu Pei warned, “He’s terrifyingly strong. Don’t let him escape.”

The elderly judge added, “Send more personnel!”

No matter how powerful Zhan Gao was, while shot and surrounded by numerous well-trained alpha SWAT officers, escape was nearly impossible.

The courtroom descended into chaos. The elderly judge, having never seen such a scene, rapped his gavel and said, “We’ll stop here for today. The hearing will be reconvened at a later date!” 

Qiu Wei, implicated in the matters with Zhan Gao, was also arrested by the SWAT team. Before leaving, he passed by Xu Pei and asked curiously, “How did you know everything so clearly?”

He hadn’t spoken, and Mo Xin and Zhan Gao would never have talked. Yet Xu Pei could recount the events in detail, as if he had the eye of God.

“I can travel through time and space. Do you believe me?” Xu Pei said.

Qiu Wei looked bewildered as he was led away by the SWAT officers. 

He Yixun holstered his gun under his suit jacket, came to Xu Pei’s side, and let out a breath. “Everything is resolved.”

“No,” Xu Pei said, blinking with a pleased expression. “There’s one more thing.”

Relying on the blocker wasn’t a permanent solution; the problem wasn’t truly solved. And Xu Pei no longer wanted to return to this spacetime, because here, he was already dead. Only by him leaving completely could the spacetime’s operation return to normal.

Fortunately, the elite Xu Pei had left him a gift. 

“I’m going to undergo the stabilizer treatment.”

Author’s Feed:

The plotline is finally finished! Heading back happily now~

Translator’s Feed:
 LMAO was sabotaged twice by Qiu Wei. What do the Zhan brothers not understand? HE DOESN’T LIKE ALPHAS AT ALL HE IS STRAIGHTTT lmao