Little Pink Starfish

“How’s my sister? Where is she hurt? Is it serious?!”

When he heard the news, Su Liang felt the world go dark before his eyes.

Lu Taipan immediately caught and steadied him.

“Su Nuan has been taken to the Lu family’s private hospital. According to the report, she’s no longer in critical condition. But… she took a blow to the head during the attack, and she’s still in a coma.”

Hearing that Su Nuan was no longer in danger, Su Liang’s knees went weak and he almost collapsed to the floor.

He let out a breath of relief, but the moment he heard she had a head injury and was still unconscious, that breath stuck in his throat again. His chest tightened.

“As long as her life isn’t in danger, that’s what matters. As long as she’s alive.”

He tried to convince himself. And then, without meaning to, he met Lu Taipan’s gaze.

Su Liang froze. He spoke almost instinctively.

“What exactly happened? What the hell happened?”

Lu Taipan’s expression wasn’t right—Su Liang couldn’t say what was off, because the Alpha before him still looked calm and composed. But beneath those tranquil eyes, something dangerous lurked, sending a chill of unease through him.

“Are you okay? Wait, my sister’s in the hospital—what about the others? What about the others…”

He couldn’t bring himself to say more, especially when he felt Lu Taipan’s arm tighten around him.

There was a brief silence. Then Lu Taipan took a deep breath and replied in a hoarse voice.

“Su Nuan was being guarded at all times. The ‘Vipers’ are mostly high-level Alphas. But the attacker used a special drug on them.”

Drug…

Hearing those words, Su Liang felt a chill crawl down his spine and spread through his body.

Lu Taipan didn’t spell it out, but the moment Su Liang heard the word “drug,” he immediately recalled the warning from Third Legion commander Lin Yifei.

“It’s that kind of drug, isn’t it?” Su Liang asked, his face pale.

A terrifying drug that to high-level Alphas was practically instant death. It could spike their mental power to a level far beyond human limits in minutes. Because of that, Alphas who came into contact with it would collapse mentally, their minds shattering and descending into madness. They’d become monsters without a shred of reason.

“Yes,” Lu Taipan nodded.

It wasn’t supposed to happen.

Thanks to Lin Yifei’s warning, every “Viper” had been equipped with countermeasures against this kind of psychic drug. But on that night, for no apparent reason, those countermeasures failed.

The moment the drug bomb went off, every Viper on site descended into madness.

Fortunately, before they lost all reason, they chose to neutralize themselves.

They didn’t end up like the massacre suffered by one Third Legion team, but their current condition didn’t look much better…

“After the Canaan War, I thought I’d never lose any of them again.”

Lu Taipan didn’t know why he suddenly said this to Su Liang.

He heard his own voice—cold, deep… fragile.

“Si… Sheng…”

Su Liang looked at the heavy expression on Lu Taipan’s face and squeezed his cold hand tightly.

—

Su Liang quickly took a shuttle back to the Lu estate.

The Lu estate’s private hospital was now under heavy guard, surrounded by the Lu family’s elite security like a fortress. Most of the Vipers had gone into hiding. The night was filled with a tense, murderous atmosphere, so heavy it felt like iron had turned to vapor and soaked into the air.

Taking a deep breath, Su Liang exited the shuttle and rushed into the hospital surrounded by guards.

This private hospital was only for the Lu family’s upper echelon. In his past life, neither Su Liang nor Su Nuan would’ve ever set foot here.

But this time, because of Su Nuan’s injury, the entire hospital had been cleared. It was eerily empty and silent. On any other day, Su Liang might’ve found it impressive—but now, everything around him felt like a blur. Guided by a tense-looking doctor, Su Liang kept a calm face as he entered Su Nuan’s room.

“Sis.”

Pushing open the door, he saw her—his only remaining family—lying on the medical bed in that luxurious room.

When they were kids, no matter how hard life was, she always did everything to protect him. And now, lying there surrounded by machines, her figure seemed so small and fragile, and Su Liang’s eyes blurred with tears.

Sensing his emotion, the doctor quietly exited, leaving him alone.

But conversation was pointless. Su Nuan was unconscious.

Under the effect of the drug used in Ning City, frenzied Alphas developed an overwhelming urge to attack nearby Omegas. The natural attraction between A and O would be pushed to the extreme—what was once desire, affection, and care would become an urge to consume.

This was why, during that Third Legion tragedy, the Omega victims had been mutilated beyond recognition.

A horrifying massacre.

Not just for the dead, but for those who survived only to sleep in madness.

Luckily, in Su Nuan’s case, the Alphas realized something was wrong just in time and shot each other to disable themselves completely. That was the only reason Su Nuan wasn’t torn to pieces. Even so, when found, she was still gravely injured, lying unconscious in a pool of blood.

Seeing her like this, Su Liang felt his heart shatter.

“Sis… don’t scare me like this… just rest, and then wake up, okay…”

Su Liang knelt beside her bed, holding her hand and whispering in a choked voice.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…”

And then, he suddenly felt something.

His eyes flew open, and he held his breath, staring at her hand.

Not a hallucination.

Her fingers moved.

“Sis?! You’re awake?!”

He jumped up, frantically pressing the call button while keeping his eyes on her face. That’s when he saw her dry lips move.

“What are you trying to say? Sis, don’t force yourself. I’m listening—I’m right here.”

He leaned closer to her mouth.

Then he heard the faintest whisper:

“Be careful… it’s… Lu… Lu Zhi… be careful…”

Su Liang’s pupils shrank.

Behind him, the door creaked open—probably the doctors finally arriving. But Su Liang didn’t even look back. He held her hand tightly, whispering, “I know. I heard you. Sis, don’t worry. I’ll make sure nothing—”

Maybe she really heard him, because her fingers stopped moving. No more whispers came.

She had slipped back into a deep coma.

Sniffling, Su Liang activated his communicator, planning to call the Vipers.

But nothing happened.

The only sound in the room was the soft humming of the medical equipment—no signal, no response.

No sound… not even from the “doctor” behind him.

Su Liang straightened slowly, every muscle tense.

Then came Lu Zhizhao’s voice.

“All signals in this area are blocked.”

Su Liang turned to see the slender Alpha in a doctor’s coat, his gaze ice-cold.

Outside, it was quiet. Too quiet. His heart pounded.

“What did you do to the guards?” he asked, his voice hoarse.

Lu Zhizhao’s gaunt face looked even more sunken under the harsh lighting, casting deep shadows in his eye sockets.

“Xiao Liang… at a time like this, you’re still worried about irrelevant people?”

He smiled and sighed.

“Oh well… that’s just how you are.”

The moment his words fell, Su Liang tried to fight back.

But Lu Zhizhao was an S-rank Alpha. Far too strong.

Before Su Liang could raise his hand, the ghost-like youth was already beside him.

He saw a flicker of movement—and then a sharp, cold pain in his neck.

“You—”

Su Liang’s body went rigid.

A syringe had pierced his neck, injecting all of its contents in seconds.

He tried to speak—but the drug gave him no chance.

The slender youth’s eyes quickly glazed over, and then, helplessly, he collapsed into Lu Zhizhao’s arms.

“It’ll be okay,” Lu Zhizhao whispered with crazed joy, holding him tightly, “It’ll all be okay soon, Xiao Liang. We can be together again. This time, nothing will go wrong—I swear. We’ll finally be happy…”

With that, he carried Su Liang out of the room, stepping over the twitching Alpha on the floor. He vanished into the shadows, taking the boy with him.

—

His head hurt.

His body too. Every joint ached like rusted hinges, nerves soaking in acid.

The intense discomfort kept Su Liang from focusing or thinking clearly for the first few seconds after opening his eyes.

Until someone approached with another syringe.

“Get away from me!”

He shouted instinctively.

The person hesitated, then skillfully gave him another shot.

This time, the drug drained all his strength. At least it didn’t hurt as much.

As his vision cleared, Su Liang looked up—and saw Lu Zhizhao.

In that instant, everything from before he passed out came rushing back. Su Liang struggled again—but his effort was weak and useless.

He quickly gave up.

Lu Zhizhao had been watching him the entire time, eyes full of unsettling affection.

“Want some water? That sedative causes pain and muscle soreness. Don’t worry—it’ll pass soon.”

He spoke gently.

Su Liang ignored him, scanning his surroundings. The more he saw, the heavier his chest felt.

He clearly wasn’t on Planet One anymore. This was a ship, and judging by the stars outside, they were already in space.

“Don’t bother looking—we’ve been gone a while. That old monster won’t be catching up anytime soon…”

As if reading his mind, Lu Zhizhao whispered softly.

“Don’t be afraid, Xiao Liang.”

He brought a glass of water to Su Liang’s lips, trying to feed him.

Su Liang tried to push it away—only to realize he couldn’t even move a finger.

He didn’t drink. Lu Zhizhao’s face darkened briefly, then smiled again.

“Your temper’s getting worse…”

He said it like a lover complaining.

Su Liang finally couldn’t take it anymore. He locked eyes with him, icy cold.

“Lu Zhizhao, you hurt my sister.”

His voice was freezing.

Between her whispered warning and what happened next, everything was clear. The wounds on Su Nuan weren’t caused by crazed Vipers—it was Lu Zhizhao.

All to lure Su Liang to the hospital and make it easier to abduct him.

Just the thought made bile rise in his throat.

Lu Zhizhao didn’t deny it.

“I’m sorry, I really am. But… I had no choice. If I didn’t do this, that old man would never let you go. We wouldn’t have had a chance to meet again.”

Hearing Lu Zhizhao’s deranged justification, Su Liang felt sick.

“…Lu Zhizhao, you really are insane.”

“I am. But whose fault is that? Xiao Liang, did you ever wonder how it came to this? We could’ve been together. We were so good together. But you abandoned me—just because in this life, you became an Omega? So I’m not good enough for you anymore? That old bastard has a higher rank, more power, so he’s better?”

“…”

“You’re the one who drove me mad.”