In an alpha training room, Olivia was practicing her shooting.

This was her daily ritual, being the first alpha to set foot in the training area almost every morning, unless she was on a mission.

She lived by a simple motto: "Better to sweat in preparation than to bleed in despair."

But for some reason, today during her usual training session, Olivia was off her game, making mistake after mistake, feeling like she had forgotten something crucial.

"Olivia." Amidst the echoing gunshots, someone shouted her name.

She removed her earplugs, turning her head to spot an alpha she had known since childhood. His name was familiar to her, and she knew that his psychic incarnation was a puppy.

However, his face looked a bit hazy to her at that moment.

"I need to talk to you," the alpha said, his eyes, reminiscent of a puppy’s, looked at her earnestly.

Olivia, momentarily setting aside her feelings of unease, took off her safety glasses, waiting for him to go on.

A sudden wave of sadness welled up inside her, as if she sensed that she was about to hear something heartbreaking.

The alpha looked away, trying to avoid her piercing gaze. Unexpectedly, the tail of his psychic puppy form appeared, even giving a little wag.

Finally, blushing, he confessed the feelings he’d secretly held for a long time, admitting that he had been cherishing these feelings for many years.

"But we’re both alphas," Olivia replied, standing tall, even slightly taller than her friend. Both of them were formidable warriors. "I mean, I do like guys, but I never wanted to be beneath anyone."

"All I’m asking is for one night, just one," he replied. "I’ll respect your wishes."

As he spoke, even his ears turned a shade of red. His voice was soft, yet firm, as if he’d practiced this conversation many times over in his head.

They had known each other for many years, familiar companions who knew each other’s interests, hobbies, catchphrases, even their methods of combat and killing, but not this aspect of each other.

They spent a night that was both delightful and wild.

Surprisingly, just like on the battlefield, they were equally suited for each other in this intimate setting. The compatibility was seamless, the understanding profound, and the excitement was electrifying, making it a night to remember.

Olivia even thought that since he was also fond of her, they could formalize their relationship in the future. After all, she wasn’t of noble birth and had never dreamed of being matched with an assigned beta.

So she decided, cheerfully. Once she returned from the Polluted Zone, she planned to find the right moment, in a somewhat romantic setting, to tell him about her feelings and ask if he’d like to spend their lives together.

However, after that night, the alpha went to the Polluted Zone. It wasn’t a particularly dangerous place, and his task of escorting wasn’t considered challenging, but he never returned.

The alpha, with a Doberman as his psychic incarnation and watery puppy eyes, who was willing to obey Olivia in every way between the sheets, never returned from the Polluted Zone.

It then dawned on Olivia. She thought back to his heartfelt confession before leaving on the mission, how he had cast aside all pride in her presence, catering to her whims with such fervor, and she realized the depth of sadness concealed within that intensity.

She regretted her belated realization.

Upon hearing the grim news, Olivia, like all her comrades, observed a moment of silent mourning and then moved on—For an alpha to perish in the Polluted Zone was common; such incidents occurred almost every month. When tragic events repeat themselves so often, numbness sets in.

Like everyone else, Olivia was silent for a moment after hearing the news and didn’t shed a tear. However, she discreetly entered the Polluted Zone, armed and determined. After an extensive search, she found the deceased alpha’s remains.

She used the panda’s sharp claws to dig through the rubble, excavating the alpha’s remains.

His body was fragmented, bearing witness to the immense suffering he endured before his death. Only his skull was intact. His lifeless body lay there, eyes closed, hair disheveled, face pale, long dead. There was no trace of the man who had called her name affectionately with reddened eyes that night.

After observing him for a while, Olivia drew a knife and severed his head.

"Olivia." A strange voice was calling her name, a cold sensation piercing her brow.

Olivia was momentarily dazed. Her mind seemed to regain a bit of clarity, but a furious rage tightly gripped her heart, preventing her from fully waking up.

She held her loved one’s cut-off head as she stepped out of the Polluted Zone. In the hidden part of the town, she got hold of a Cerebral Cylinder system. She then took out the alpha’s brain with her own hands to put it in the device, watching the moments right before he passed away.

Olivia noticed a diary with a pen scribbling quickly on it.

The diary pages didn’t have any titles or names, just random phrases here and there, but Olivia couldn’t shake the feeling that these were words meant for her to see.

I keep thinking that there’s something really off about this task. This feeling is super weird, and it scares me a bit, making me think that maybe I won’t get out of the Polluted Zone. My dear, knowing how you are, you might try to find out every detail of what happened if I die. So, I figured I’d write down everything I know, to save you the trouble and sadness of looking into it. Obviously, if I make it, I should get rid of this notebook.

It’s odd, at first, all my team members and I believed this was just a normal job to guard scientists going to the Polluted Zone. The group was just a bunch of us alphas, and we all were chill, thinking it was going to be a straightforward and safe job.

But then, right before we were about to leave, I found out by accident that we weren’t guarding scientists, but a beta. And it wasn’t just any beta, but a really small kid.

Why are we taking a beta, who is way too young and absolutely can’t fight, into the Polluted Zone?

Once we got in, the leader told me that we weren’t going to the usual outer part, but to the very center of the Polluted Zone, where the Backbone is. When we got to the middle part, we were even told to leave the little one there by themselves. This is just too mean, really awful. I have to say something.

Betas are very precious in our Empire. Even for us alphas who really need betas to do the grooming, it’s not common to even see a beta on a normal day.

Why is something so crazy happening? Sweetheart, I feel like I’m with a bunch of bad guys, helping them out. We’re like offering a blameless little one to a monster. But the leader won’t let us talk about it, he won’t let us say anything more, he just wants me to do as told. I can’t listen to him this time; I need to find out everything that’s going on.

Honey, I have a really bad feeling, but if I survive, I know I need to look into this completely...

The diary notes ended here, followed only by broken pictures: a war zone, scary mutants, long tendrils coming out from the Backbone, a kid with tears in their eyes, a boss trying to kill his own team, and loads of bright red blood flowing everywhere.

......

The next second, Olivia was at the training ground again, using her gun.

She had lost the memory; it was like she was there on that day again. A friendly and close friend came up to her, moving his psychic tail back and forth, showing how he felt about her.

"Olivia." That voice, saying her name over and over, suddenly echoed in her head once more.

"Come to your senses."

"Don’t you want to find out the real story, to get justice for him?"

"You keep living through this night again and again, swinging between happiness and sorrow."

"Listen! If you don’t snap out of it fast, Little Fish won’t be able to keep going, Nicole, Raymond, Rakan, they’re all going to get hurt!"

Something struck Olivia’s mind sharply, someone was shouting her name.

Olivia stopped for a moment, raising her head to listen to the person in front of her saying, "I’m only asking for one night, even if it’s just a single night."

Olivia stared at the person for a bit, removed her glasses, reached out to mess up his hair, and then, right there with everyone watching at the training ground, she moved closer and kissed him.

"I’m sorry, I should have talked about this with you before. I want to give you more than just one night."

She let go of the guy, who was shocked by her kiss, touched his forehead, and said sorry to him.

"I need to leave. I can’t hang around in the past to be with you forever."

"I’ll find out about the stuff you couldn’t figure out, dig deep, and let everyone know."

...

Ren crushed a mutant’s head under his foot, yanking out his bloody, long sword, the sword was so gooey, his hand holding the handle was sliding.

He couldn’t see clearly, his sight was all red and blurry. He didn’t even have a moment to breathe and clean off the blood; another mutant was popping out of the ground.

Scary creatures opened their big mouths wide, one hadn’t even gotten all the way out from the ground, another was already dangling from the roof by a string. Ren lifted his sword again, his arm shaking, he ripped a strip of fabric to tie the handle and his hand together.

"Relax for a bit, I’ll take over."

Olivia’s voice echoed from behind him.

A huge panda dropped from above, squishing two mutants with a loud bang of its backside.

It was Olivia; she had snapped out of her confused thoughts.

The big panda jumped into the fight with full force, rolling around the fight area, ripping lots of mutants to pieces.

Ren, feeling a little relieved, wobbled, nearly falling but stopped himself by using the point of his sword to prop himself up. Just then, a strong hand reached out from behind to hold him up.

Raymond was holding Ren’s arm up, his braid had come undone, golden hair all over the place. His face was covered in blood, showing a really angry look.

"You take a break, we got this," he said to Ren.