c21 - The Bar
The hovercar sped along, passing through many envious gazes, arriving at the meeting point agreed upon with Ning Xi.
When she saw the Flying Dragon McLaren slowly descending,
Ning Xi quickly took out her phone, recorded a short video, and posted it to their group chat.
[Oh my god! Look quick, a globally limited edition Flying Dragon just parked next to me!]
The group chat quickly responded.
Ma Haoyu posted a video clip of the car interior.
[What a coincidence, I also saw a Flying Dragon today, and I’m sitting inside it right now.]
Ning Xi stared at the screen showing Shen Han parking, her eyes nearly popping out.
The Flying Dragon series was already her dream car.
But even with the Ning family’s affluent background, this kind of globally limited edition model wasn’t something she could buy even if she wanted to.
Because it wasn’t just a matter of high costs.
The purchase qualification, air route permissions, and operating costs – each aspect was enough to make a mid-sized family hesitate.
Even after seeing Shen Han and Ma Haoyu get out of the hovercar,
Ning Xi still couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing was real.
Seeing Ning Xi’s dumbfounded expression, Ma Haoyu immediately felt much more balanced psychologically.
Ning Xi circled the hovercar three times, bombarding Shen Han with a series of questions until her eardrums hurt.
She scratched her face shyly, her smile tinged with a hint of secret pride: “Someone gave it to me, but I can’t reveal their identity for now.”
Hearing this, Ning Xi hooked her arm around her shoulder, asking mischievously: “Is it some big financial group’s omega? Come on, tell us.”
Shen Han smiled without speaking.
Seeing that she really didn’t want to disclose, Ning Xi stopped asking.
Emerging from the excitement of seeing her dream car, she finally noticed the two people’s attire.
Ma Haoyu already had a baby face; with a white shirt and sports pants, he looked like a student who had just skipped class.
And Shen Han wasn’t much better than the small guy.
Denim shirt, black casual pants, canvas shoes.
She didn’t look like someone who would drive a Flying Dragon McLaren at all!
Realizing she still hadn’t gotten over the hovercar, Ning Xi felt somewhat embarrassed.
She hurried the two to get in the car, clamoring to satisfy her driving urge before going to the bar.
In fact, although Shen Han was dressed simply, the top-tier alpha’s innate dominance made her sufficiently attractive without any decorative embellishment.
Because of Ning Xi’s love for her dream car, the three flew on the air route for over four hours.
By the time they reached the Azure Bar, it was nearly midnight.
And Shen Han’s original plan was to stay only until midnight and then go home.
This time approaching dawn was when various bars truly started to get lively.
Ning Xi was a regular here, leading Shen Han and Ma Haoyu directly through the VIP channel to the Azure Bar’s first floor area.
The deafening electronic music rhythm and various ambiguous pheromone scents hit them, making Shen Han slightly furrow her brows.
“This is the dance floor area, it’s quite chaotic. Many omegas looking for rich patrons release pheromones to strangers.”
“Let’s go straight to a private room to play, it’s much quieter there, and the omegas are particularly well-behaved.”
Ning Xi’s voice was mostly drowned out by the noisy electronic music.
So much so that before Shen Han could clearly hear what she was saying, she was already pushed into a luxurious private room.
As soon as she sat down, a tablet was thrust into her hand.
On the warm-toned screen were rows of omega profiles.
Appearance, figure, specialties, price, pheromone scent, and what level of service they could accept were all detailed.
Shen Han was somewhat dumbfounded.
The current situation gave her a feeling of being in a special establishment on the blue planet.
The difference was that before crossing over, she went to such places on missions.
But now, she was actually selecting service personnel.
Seeing notes like “can accept temporary marking” under some omega profiles, Shen Han felt an inexplicable chill run down her spine.
Damn, isn’t this equivalent to “prostitution”?
If Miss Gu found out she came to such a place, would she misunderstand?
Ning Xi sat beside Shen Han, seeing her stare at the screen without selecting, thought she was just shy.
So she snatched the tablet from her hand and began quickly tapping the selection keys.
“This activity is my treat, neither of you is allowed to fight me for it.”
“Just have some fun, don’t be nervous.”
As she finished speaking, she had already selected six omegas.
All were service personnel who properly chatted with guests and didn’t accept any marking.
Although Ning Xi herself was quite a playboy, having dated more omegas than she could count on both hands, she was still clear on matters of principle.
Six omegas quickly arrived in the private room.
Both male and female, all with suppressant patches on their necks.
The two most beautiful were directly arranged to sit on Shen Han’s left and right.
Seeing this guest was very amiable, the omegas immediately enthusiastically chatted with her, hoping she would order more drinks.
“Boss, do you want to play a game?”
“Yes, boss, let’s play a game. The losing side has to drink as punishment.”
The two omegas sang in harmony.
Since they didn’t accept marking from guests, their commissions mainly came from drink sales.
Shen Han thought for a moment and said: “Then you can have a singing competition. Whoever sings best, Boss Ning will open a bottle of Ace of Spades for them.”
Hearing this, the eyes of the six omegas in the room immediately lit up.
You should know, Ace of Spades was the most expensive champagne in the bar.
The commission from one bottle was enough to make them financially comfortable for a whole week.
Ten minutes later, the private room where Shen Han and the others were became a KTV fierce song battle scene.
The three alphas sat on the leather sofa, some eating fruit platters, some speechless.
While the six omegas all stood in front of the big screen queuing to select songs, almost fighting over the microphone.
Ning Xi silently lit a cigarette for herself.
She thought: I’ll never bring Shen Han to such a place again. A perfectly good ambiguous atmosphere, and she turned it into a discount karaoke bar.
And it’s still my money being spent!
Ma Haoyu, however, was having a great time, because he discovered that one omega could even sing New Li Country pop songs.
To avoid adding to Ning Xi’s burden, he used his own salary card to open two more bottles of Ace of Spades.
In an instant, the entire private room went crazy.
When the karaoke battle had been going on for nearly an hour, the room door was suddenly burst open.
A newly differentiated omega stumbled in.
“Buzz!”
The omega service personnel who was singing was startled, dropping the microphone, causing a piercing feedback sound.
The omega who suddenly ran into the room was wearing a school uniform, her tear-stained face with doe-like eyes looking around in terror.
Before she could come to her senses, a group of alphas in black suits had already appeared at the door.
“Respected guests, we sincerely apologize for disturbing your entertainment.”
After saying this, one of them strode forward, preparing to take away the reckless omega.
Jiang Shuyi was terrified.
She just wanted to do some part-time work during her free time to ease her family’s debt burden.
After being introduced here by a senior schoolmate, she discovered that these people wanted her first marking rights!
She had barely escaped from that small dark room.
But unexpectedly, places that were easy to pass through when entering became as complex as a maze when trying to leave.
She sobbed as she dodged around in this maze of debauchery, finally pushing open the door to Shen Han’s private room.
Now, seeing those black suits coming to grab her again, she didn’t know where she found the courage to run to the fairest and most delicate-looking alpha.
Kneeling by her leg, she pleaded softly: “Please, don’t let them take me away.”
Shen Han discreetly withdrew her foot, then asked her two questions.
“How old are you?”
“How did you end up here?”
She remembered Gu Junwan once telling her that the Free Federation was originally established for equal rights.
Regardless of attributes, all people enjoyed equal rights and equal protection.
In this land, using force to compel omegas to do unsavory things was illegal.
Jiang Shuyi hurriedly answered: “I’m 16 this year, attending a public high school in the district.”
“I… I just wanted to work part-time to help with family expenses. I never thought about… about selling my marking rights.”
The last sentence was barely audible.
But Shen Han heard it clearly.
“Esteemed guest, every industry has its rules. Some matters, it’s best you don’t inquire too much.”
The lead black suit was an alpha with some authority.
His voice carried a hint of threat, unafraid of the guests’ wealthy or noble status in the private room, directly reaching out to grab Jiang Shuyi.
Seeing this, before Shen Han could make any move, Ma Haoyu exploded.
He stood up, twisted the black suit’s wrist, and threw him towards the door.
“Try that again? Didn’t you see my boss is talking to the young lady?”
Although the Azure Bar’s alpha security guards had some training, they were no match for the special guard team.
The other two black suits tried to come forward to pull him away but were neatly floored by Ma Haoyu.
Seeing the situation wasn’t right, the security guards didn’t dare to continue charging.
Seven or eight burly alphas blocked the door, while a beta quickly dialed the nightclub manager’s phone.
Inside the private room.
Shen Han was still questioning the high school omega, while Ning Xi had started texting people.
The comrades in the prospective guard team were all capable fighters.
Tonight’s issue wasn’t on their side; no matter what, they couldn’t let others suppress their momentum.
Shen Han didn’t stop her.
Hearing the high schooler say that there were over a dozen newly differentiated omegas locked in a small room in the bar,
Shen Han’s eyes narrowed slightly, staring at a small Federation flag on the coffee table, lost in thought.
The nightclub manager quickly arrived at the private room with a group of people.
They crowded in, filling most of the spacious VIP room.
“Oh, so it’s Miss Ning. Look at this mess, we’re all on the same side here, let’s not make a mountain out of a molehill!”
The manager was a middle-aged man surnamed Sun. Seeing Ning Xi, he immediately put on a smile trying to get close, but she didn’t fall for his act at all.
“Who’s on the same side as you? Although my Ning family also does nighttime business, we’re not bold enough to detain underage high school students.”
Seeing Ning Xi’s attitude, Manager Sun immediately knew she wouldn’t negotiate nicely.
His previously smiling face changed to a gloomy expression as if by magic in an instant.
He licked his back teeth and sneered: “Then what does Miss Ning want to do?”
At this moment, Shen Han suddenly stood up from the sofa, said “you take the young student” to Ma Haoyu, and began walking out.
She smiled at the lead manager: “It’s too stuffy in here. Why don’t we go somewhere more open to talk slowly.”