You’re Still Becoming More Fragrant
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Zhou Jiao was stunned.
If she knew why this was happening, the first thing she would do was unleash her fragrance like crazy, bewitching him until he was completely lost in it. Then, while he was caught off guard, she would throw a bridle and bit onto him, commanding him to conquer massive corporations and rule the world—rather than cautiously scheming and sowing discord here.
Zhou Jiao cautiously remained silent.
Jiang Lian narrowed his eyes, staring at her for a long, long time before suddenly saying:
“Maybe I should kill you.”
…Huh?
Wasn’t she supposed to be even more attractive to him now?
The corner of Zhou Jiao’s mouth twitched. Just as she was about to speak, she heard him continue in an even, calm tone:
“You are too weak and too fragrant. Any lowly creature could covet you. Rather than letting you live and be sniffed by filthy things, I might as well kill you now.”
A monster was a monster. One moment, he said she smelled even better, and the next, his hand clamped around her throat with the crushing force of an iron vise.
Almost instantly, a brittle, straining sound came from her neck.
Zhou Jiao had no doubt—if she said a single wrong word next, he would snap her neck without hesitation.
What should she do?
Should she show weakness or goodwill, or should she take a gamble… and unleash all her malice to lure him in?
At the same time, the bones in her throat made a dangerously sharp creaking sound, and the pressure on her neck had already reached its limit.
If not for her modified body, she would have already suffocated to death.
In the blink of an eye, Zhou Jiao made her decision.
She was going to bet everything on this.
“…I just knew—you don’t dare to face me.” She pried at Jiang Lian’s fingers with all her strength, gasping for breath, but every word she spoke was cold and precise. “Half a year ago, you replaced the original Jiang Lian, didn’t you…? You’re so powerful, yet you’ve never left the Special Bureau… Is it that you can’t leave, or that you don’t want to?”
Her eyelashes were thick and dark, and soaked in the cold sweat of near-death, they glistened with a strange brilliance. “You’re not even afraid of Biotech, so how could you possibly be afraid of the Special Bureau…? You don’t want to leave, do you?”
She paused, then suddenly laughed with a malicious edge:
“…You can’t bear to leave my scent.”
Jiang Lian’s grip abruptly tightened. The veins on the back of his hand bulged—if one looked closely, they were an eerie shade of purple-black.
The creaking of her bones grew louder, and her neck was bent to a terrifying angle.
And yet, Zhou Jiao felt that her gamble had a fifty percent chance of success.
—Fifty percent was enough.
“The past six months haven’t been pleasant for you, have they?” she said in broken phrases, “…On the surface, you replaced ‘Jiang Lian,’ but in reality, it was ‘Jiang Lian’ who trapped you… Someone forcibly locked you inside ‘Jiang Lian’s’ body…”
This was just her guess.
But when she saw the sudden chill in Jiang Lian’s eyes, she knew she was right.
“…’Jiang Lian’ is not an ordinary person. His genes are different from those of normal humans. He was born cold-blooded, manic, and filled with an innate aggression… Nearly all his paternal relatives are murderers—his father and grandfather even had canni—balistic tendencies… You reject me so much, yet you’re so obsessed with my scent… I’m guessing,” she smiled, “it’s because you’re being influenced by him, isn’t it?”
For a brief moment, Jiang Lian’s gaze was so piercingly cold that it made her feel a slight sting.
But the force in his hand did not increase.
—He watched her indifferently, yet at the same time, he couldn’t control himself from lowering his head, bringing his nose close to her lips, and inhaling her breath deeply.
“You look down on humans, yet because of human genes, you’ve developed an inexplicable obsession with another human… You are far stronger than humans, yet you have been trapped in a human body… unable to return to your original habitat.”
She panted and spoke softly:
“—I truly pity you.”
As soon as her words fell, a terrifying crack resounded from her neck. A sharp pain twisted through her throat, as if it could snap under the immense force at any moment.
He truly harbored the intent to kill her.
Once again, she was standing at death’s edge.
—It seemed that her fifty percent chance had run out at this very moment.
Zhou Jiao let out a choking cough, every cell in her body trembling violently in fear. Her biological instinct to survive turned her eyes red at the corners, driving her mad with the urge to submit and beg for mercy.
But she still had one last card to play.
“…Work with me,” she forced out, stretching a hand with all her might to grasp Jiang Lian’s shoulder, her fingers pressing so hard that her knuckles turned white. “You help me escape the pursuit of Biotech, and I’ll help you escape this human body… send you back to your original habitat…”
Jiang Lian looked at her, his eyes cold, without responding.
He seemed completely uninterested in her proposal.
But Zhou Jiao didn’t need his answer. As soon as she finished speaking, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him forcefully.
Lips and teeth intertwined, breaths mingling.
The monster’s cold, dry tongue was gradually moistened by human saliva.
The scent of rain filled the air.
The pattering drizzle drowned out the sound of damp entanglement.
At some point, the grip around her throat disappeared.
A rush of air flooded into her windpipe. Zhou Jiao resisted the urge to cough and continued kissing Jiang Lian—she didn’t dare imagine what expression he would make if she coughed into his mouth.
Come to think of it, while she had temporarily escaped the life-or-death crisis, one thing still unsettled her—Jiang Lian never kissed her back.
What was he thinking?
Did her gamble work or not?
She didn’t know how much time had passed when she suddenly heard the sound of a deep swallow beside her ear.
Zhou Jiao’s tensed body abruptly relaxed.
…She had won the bet.
When the kiss ended, Zhou Jiao’s knees went weak, and she almost collapsed to the ground.
She staggered back a few steps and leaned against the streetlamp behind her. Her hair and clothes were drenched in the cold sweat of barely surviving a disaster. The sensation slithered over her skin like crawling insects, making her shudder several times.
Jiang Lian remained silent.
He stood motionless, watching her, exuding an air of calm and propriety—appearing even more human than she, a real human.
Yet the inhumanity in his gaze was stronger than ever—unrestrained, shameless, insatiable.
The words in his eyes were clear as day: Still want more.
…Completely the instincts of a beast.
Because he disliked being bound by her scent, and disliked the idea of other creatures coveting her, he wanted to kill her.
But the moment she deliberately released her malice and gave him an enticing kiss, he immediately abandoned the idea of killing her.
With a touch of malicious amusement, she thought—though he was a dog that bites, at least with a little bit of sweetness, he could be muzzled.
At that moment, a shadow loomed over her.
The “biting dog” was walking toward her.
Zhou Jiao shuddered, instantly clearing all chaotic thoughts from her mind.
Since she could perceive his origins, then he must also be able to perceive something about her. She had no intention of dying just because she insulted a monster by calling him a dog.
But Jiang Lian merely twitched his nose at her and said, “You’re still becoming more fragrant. How strange.”
Zhou Jiao was momentarily stunned, then her eye twitched slightly.
…So I insult you as a dog, and instead of punishing me, you take it as a reward?
Continuing this conversation was too dangerous.
Zhou Jiao quickly changed the topic: “Dr. Jiang, I sincerely want to work with you—since you like my scent and I need your help, why can’t we cooperate?”
She tilted her head slightly, completely exposing her fragile neck, still marked with deep bruises from his grip, to his view.
“I am so weak, utterly incapable of threatening you… If not for your appendages, I wouldn’t even be able to stand here and talk to you right now. You have complete control over my life and death. If we work together, you’d never need to worry about me betraying you… I will do everything I can to help you escape this frail human body. And all you need to do is spare just a little of your attention to protect me from being killed by Biotech.”
Her expression was obedient, her posture submissive, as if she had truly yielded to his power.
Jiang Lian was silent for a moment before he finally spoke:
“Continue.”
Seeing that he was willing to listen, Zhou Jiao exhaled slightly in relief.
“If my guess is correct, someone must have ‘invited’ you into Jiang Lian’s body using some method.”
“That person is most likely your believer. They harbor deep hatred toward Biotech and want to destroy it—so they sought you out for help.”
Though it was just a conjecture, she had a strong intuition that it was very close to the truth.
What connected everything for her was an account named “When Will BioTech Go Bankrupt”
That person’s final post read:
【I have found a way to bring down Biotech. Once the god descends, everything will end.】
At first glance, the words weren’t particularly noteworthy—similar statements appeared on social media every second.
What truly caught her attention, however, was the image attached to the post.
That person had been posting anti-Biotech images nearly every day—yet only this post’s image had been censored.
Why?
This social media platform belonged to a massive North American monopoly, one that never censored controversial content. Sometimes, it even deliberately reversed the chain of causality, inciting users to attack one another.
Industry insiders had exposed that this platform had long been pushing highly controversial content to users. As long as it increased user retention, no matter how false, shameless, or bottomless the content was, it would be immediately promoted.
And yet, this particular image had been censored—why?
Zhou Jiao thought long and hard, and only one possibility came to mind: The platform could not afford the cost of making it public.
But as a massive monopoly, what could possibly be too costly for it to reveal?
Corporate secrets? Political scandals?
—Absolutely not. The platform actively encouraged users to endlessly argue over such topics.
Then what was it?
Zhou Jiao vaguely guessed the answer—something beyond human comprehension.
Yes, that would explain it. Only something beyond human comprehension would make the company treat it as such a taboo.
Zhou Jiao suspected that the censored image might involve Jiang Lian’s true origins.
The account “When Will BioTech Go Bankrupt” must have come into contact with some kind of non-natural doctrine and discovered a way to “summon a god.”
Thus, the “god” had been forcibly summoned into Jiang Lian’s body.
She had arrived at this conclusion not only because of that censored image but also because of Jiang Lian himself.
Why had the “god” descended into Jiang Lian’s body?
Why was it Jiang Lian—not Xie Yueze, not herself?
Because Jiang Lian’s genes were unlike those of ordinary humans.
He was classified as a high-risk individual under the Special Bureau’s supervision—a born psychopath, a criminal-in-waiting, someone who lacked emotions and empathy from birth.
And the Special Bureau was an international organization controlled by Biotech.
If the monster hadn’t been so obsessed with her scent, the sequence of events should have played out as follows: The monster descends into Jiang Lian’s body and, under the influence of Jiang Lian’s genes, becomes cold-blooded, manic, and filled with hunger and malice toward humanity.
Before long, the Special Bureau detects Jiang Lian’s abnormality and discovers that an unidentified mutant entity has appeared inside him.
The Special Bureau’s high-ranking officials were devotedly loyal to Biotech and would inevitably report this to them.
And Biotech only had two ways of handling new mutants—elimination or experimentation.
No matter which method they chose, it would lead to one inevitable outcome—they would enrage Jiang Lian.
If Jiang Lian truly possessed the power of a “god,” then Biotech’s fate would be inevitable destruction.
Which aligned perfectly with that statement—
“Once the god descends, everything will end.”
Zhou Jiao couldn’t help but shiver.
This plan seemed airtight, perfectly reasonable, as though it could truly bring an end to Biotech’s reign.
But there was one unresolved problem—the monster inside Jiang Lian was uncontrollable.
If he destroyed Biotech, he might just wipe out all of human civilization along with it.
Had the account “When Will BioTech Go Bankrupt” simply not considered this possibility?
Or had they known that Jiang Lian might destroy the entire world—and still chosen to summon him anyway?
Zhou Jiao didn’t dare think too deeply about it.
She was afraid that if Jiang Lian sensed her thoughts, he might realize that beyond merely inhaling her scent, he could also destroy the world just for fun.
So, she concealed the final part of her theory and told Jiang Lian only what she wanted him to know.
Taking a deep breath, she stepped closer to him, forcing herself to recall the most malicious thoughts she could.
She didn’t know if this would intensify the scent that fascinated him—but it was worth a try.
“Work with me,” she said, taking his hand and pressing it against her face, gazing up at him from below. “You help me escape Biotech’s pursuit, and I’ll help you escape ‘Jiang Lian’s’ body.”
After speaking, she tilted her head slightly, brushing her cheek against his cold palm—though her body remained tense.
Because she had twisted the truth.
What she truly wanted to escape from had never been Biotech’s pursuit—but the monster standing in front of her.
Jiang Lian lowered his head, staring down at her.
That tangible gaze reappeared.
Zhou Jiao’s heart skipped a beat.
He extended a finger, tracing down the contours of her face.
Perhaps it was the dampness in the air, or perhaps it was because the thing he extended wasn’t a finger at all—but his touch was cold, slick, like frozen fish flesh, exuding a chilling aura that sent waves of numbness down her spine.
His finger stopped at her lips.
She wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination, but something seemed to emerge from his fingertip—gently suckling at the corner of her mouth.
Zhou Jiao’s submissive expression nearly cracked.
But Jiang Lian’s Adam’s apple moved slightly, and he murmured with a thoughtful look:
“You smell good even when you’re thinking.”
Zhou Jiao: “…………”
So I just said all that, and you didn’t hear a single word—you were just figuring out when I smelled the best, weren’t you???
I called you a dog, and you’re actually acting like one now???
Maybe because her expression completely failed to hold, a fleeting trace of amusement flashed through his eyes.
It was the first time he had shown something so human.
Zhou Jiao froze.
The next second, he pressed his finger forward, slipping between her lips.
The moment his fingertip touched the dampness of her mouth, it morphed into something long, slick, and sticky—tendrils that chased after and entwined with her tongue. (TL: Does it not taste fishy or something?? 😭)
Zhou Jiao’s eyelashes fluttered rapidly, her expression momentarily at a loss.
Half a minute later, Jiang Lian withdrew his finger. His Adam’s apple bobbed heavily, his eyes brimming with satisfaction and pleasure.
“Pleasure doing business with you.”
He had agreed.