The examinations were once again scheduled on the third floor.
These were not just pre-operative checkups for Ni Hong but also the daily routine energy fluctuation monitoring for all expectant members. It was said that as the cub matured, the rate of energy fluctuation increased, which could be used to calculate the expected delivery date.
Ni Hong had eaten much more for breakfast than usual and felt a bit bloated, so Qin Zhen accompanied him as he strolled through the various floors to aid digestion. By the time they reached the third floor, the waiting area was already full. When they went to check in with the nurse, she informed them that someone had already signed them in.
“It could not be Leng Fei, could it?”
Qin Zhen muttered to himself, unwilling to believe that the cold, impersonal woman would be so considerate.
“But the three of us are in one group. Aside from Leng Fei, no one else would have signed us in,” Ni Hong said.
Sure enough, as soon as eight o’clock struck, Leng Fei entered the waiting room, timing her arrival to the second.
“Number 0888,” the nurse called out.
Leng Fei, looking straight ahead, was intercepted by Qin Zhen.
“Did you sign us in?” Seeing Leng Fei give a silent nod of acknowledgment, he asked again, “Why?”
Leng Fei replied, “I do not like teammates who drag their feet.”
“You!” Qin Zhen had begun to change his opinion of her, but hearing this, he almost choked on his own breath.
“Number 0888,” the nurse called again. “If you do not come now, we are skipping your turn!”
Leng Fei reached out, pressed down Qin Zhen’s arm, and walked straight into the examination room.
Only then did Qin Zhen realize that this was Leng Fei’s identification number. He was both annoyed and speechless, finally squeezing out a single word. “Damn.”
Such a cool number was right there on Leng Fei’s chest, yet he had failed to notice it. If she found out, she would surely question his reconnaissance exam scores again. As expected of a legendary lead, even her randomly assigned room number was the best. Looking back at himself, 1069 was a terrible number. Qin Zhen became increasingly certain that this woman would be his lifelong rival.
Two examination rooms were operating simultaneously. The next number called was Ni Hong. By the time Leng Fei stepped out of her room, it was Qin Zhen’s turn.
As the two rivals crossed paths, Qin Zhen felt that the thin air between them was practically throwing off sparks from the friction. He walked into the examination room with his head held high and asked immediately, “Doctor, how were the monitoring results for that 0888?”
“Papa?” Inside was a male doctor. The eyes visible above his mask showed a hint of confusion.
Qin Zhen’s breath hitched. “888! The number 888! Not Papa! Could a young girl like her really give birth to a son as big as me?”
The male doctor could not help but laugh. If Qin Zhen had observed closely, he might have noticed those eyes seemed familiar. Unfortunately, he was too busy feeling irritated over accidentally calling someone Papa.
“It is quite good. The energy fluctuations are stable,” the male doctor said, pointing to the examination bed. “Lie down and put this on.”
“An eye mask? I did not wear one for yesterday’s checkup.”
“Every doctor has a different style. I prefer to have you wear a mask to eliminate distractions. Without mental interference, the energy fluctuations will be clearer.”
“Oh, I see. Doctor, you are very thoughtful!”
Qin Zhen could not wait to lie down and put on the eye mask, thinking to himself that his results must be clearer and more stable than Leng Fei’s. He did not know that the curtain gathered at the foot of the bed moved slightly as someone stepped out.
The male doctor, or rather Adjutant Qi in disguise, pulled a medical kit from under the bed. Inside was a set of portable prenatal examination equipment. A screen was embedded in the inner side of the lid, which lit up as the power started.
As he took out a bottle of coupling gel and an ultrasound probe, a well-defined hand reached out. Adjutant Qi froze for a moment, then realized the Commander intended to operate it personally. He handed the items over and stepped to the side.
Cang Bai stood tall, looking down at the person on the bed. Just as he was about to lift the other man’s garment, the white python’s voice echoed in his mind.
“Mr. Frigid, does this scene seem very similar to that day? This clothing might as well be nonexistent, his eyes are covered, and you can do whatever you want to him. Well, Qi Zhifu is your adjutant anyway. He will not say anything regardless of what he sees. You can play as much as you like.”
Cang Bai’s hand paused. It was not because of the white python’s inappropriate joke but because he suddenly remembered the afternoon two days ago. After the childcare specialists had been assigned and he had met his three students for the first time, Qin Zhen had fallen because he was startled by the white python. At that time, Cang Bai had seen clearly that Qin Zhen was wearing nothing under his maternity garment.
Cang Bai’s pause was very brief. Qi Zhifu could not tell, but the white python could. It laughed even more happily.
“What, are you interested? If you are interested, go for it. What is the difference between sleeping with him once or twice? You are the Supreme Commander. As long as you want to, you can completely make this little soldier your private plaything.”
The garment was lifted. Cang Bai’s gaze lingered for a split second on a piece of black fabric. He was wearing something. With that thought, his gaze moved up to Qin Zhen’s lower abdomen. Having received no response, the white python muttered that it was boring and fell silent. Currently, it was a tattoo attached to Cang Bai’s body, and it was perfectly aware of the lack of change in his body temperature or heart rate.
The soldier on the bed was clearly diligent in his training. His body fat was very low, and there was not a trace of extra fat from his hip bone to his lower chest. Every line that should be there was present.
Cang Bai could not remember how many years it had been since he had observed the physical characteristics of an expectant member at such close range. For a moment, it was hard to imagine what those compact, orderly muscles would look like once the pregnancy began to show. In fact, he had seen it with his own eyes just a few days ago, but he had been driven by the white python’s reproductive impulses at the time, and his cluttered memories could not find the corresponding images.
He pushed open the bottle cap, his slender fingers gripping the bottle as the transparent liquid poured down. The coupling gel was too cold. The soldier let out an “Ah” in surprise. Perhaps feeling embarrassed for shouting, he immediately changed it to a soft, muffled groan. He had no idea how similar those intermittent sounds were to Cang Bai’s fragmented memories.
Cang Bai’s probe pressed down without hesitation, spreading the gel. His eyes turned toward the screen, where a chaotic image gradually appeared. The abdominal muscles under the probe visibly tensed. As the gel expanded in circles, the soldier on the bed finally could not help but speak. “Doctor, I feel uncomfortable. Stop for a moment.”
The probe stopped. Cang Bai’s gaze fell on the other man’s face. Qin Zhen already had one hand on the eye mask, clearly wanting to take it off.
“Do not take it off!” Adjutant Qi quickly shouted to stop him. “Taking off the eye mask will interfere with my detection. I will not be responsible if the results are inaccurate!”
This threat was effective. Qin Zhen’s hand dropped. He hissed through his teeth and said, “Doctor, what did you rub on my stomach? It is too cold. I cannot stand it.”
It was just ordinary coupling gel. While there was a temperature difference with the human body and it would feel cool, it was certainly not to the point of being unbearable. Cang Bai looked at his left hand, still holding the soft bottle, and suddenly realized that this bottle of gel was indeed exceptionally cold. He glanced at Adjutant Qi.
Adjutant Qi had already put on a guilty expression, mouthing the words: “Just took it out of the cold storage.”
A ten degree temperature difference was enough to make many people feel uncomfortable, let alone a full thirty degree difference.
Adjutant Qi hurried to say, “Just bear with it a little longer. It will be over soon.”
“Soon? I do not think it is fast at all! Leng Fei was out in two or three minutes, but I have been lying here for at least five minutes, right?”
“Where did you get five minutes? You just lay down. It is normal for a dark environment to slow down your perception of time.”
“It is not normal! Yesterday when I did the energy monitoring, that doctor did not rub anything on my stomach. And Doctor, why do I not feel you putting any sensor patches on me?”
Qin Zhen was shivering from the cold, but Adjutant Qi was sweating from anxiety. Truly, appearances could be deceiving. Qin Zhen seemed careless, but he was so difficult to fool.
A flash of inspiration hit him. “They do not have this kind of treasure. This is an enhancement liquid recently developed by our laboratory. It can increase the energy fluctuation capture effect of the detector by ten times! I only used it for you because I saw you were handsome and exceptionally gifted. When you go out later, you must keep your mouth shut, otherwise, it will be a leak of classified information!”
Qin Zhen liked hearing handsome and exceptionally gifted, but what moved him most was that ten times increase. If it was increased by ten times, would his energy fluctuations not definitely surpass Leng Fei’s?
“Okay, okay! I will keep the secret. Do not worry, my lips are sealed!” Qin Zhen gritted his teeth and continued to endure. Suddenly, he remembered something. “By the way, Doctor, why do I feel like your voice is a bit far from me?”
Adjutant Qi zoomed to his side. “I told you your senses are off. A dark environment affects more than just time perception. It affects all five of your senses. Just shut up and hurry. The enhancement liquid is about to lose its effect.”
“Oh! Fast! Hurry up!”
Qin Zhen nodded repeatedly and finally settled down. Adjutant Qi wiped away cold sweat and smiled sheepishly at Cang Bai. Unable to help himself, he gathered his courage to tap the probe in Cang Bai’s hand, gesturing for him to hurry as well. There was no other way. If Qin Zhen discovered that the so-called doctors were imposters, his own loss of face would be minor, but if the Commander lost face, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Cang Bai did not hurry, but he did lift the probe. While Adjutant Qi was busy fooling the man, he had already finished investigating everything that needed to be checked. As he handed the probe back to Adjutant Qi, his calm eyes stared at the adjutant for two seconds before he turned around and vanished perfectly behind the curtain.
Adjutant Qi felt a chill down his spine. He quickly packed away the medical kit, applied the sensor patches to Qin Zhen, and finished the energy monitoring.
“Finished.”
Qin Zhen immediately ripped off the mask and jumped up from the bed. “How was it? How strong were the energy fluctuations? Let me see!”
Adjutant Qi quickly stepped back and raised his arms to block the screen of the energy detector. “No!”
If other people’s energy fluctuations were a regular curve, Qin Zhen’s were as if they had been chewed by a dog. Not only were they fragmented, but they were also very weak. Adjutant Qi did not think Qin Zhen would be so stupid as to not realize that, so he naturally did not let him see.
“I am looking at my own monitoring results, not someone else’s. Why not?”
“It is for your own good!” Adjutant Qi’s mind raced. “It is just like checking a baby’s gender. To prevent parents from having favorites, disclosing the test results is strictly prohibited!”
“I am carrying a War Beast, not a baby. Is that the same?”
“It is the same!”
“Alright.” Qin Zhen settled for the next best thing. “Then you can tell me the general result, right? Are the energy fluctuations strong? Are they fierce? Is my baby very powerful?”
Adjutant Qi only wanted him to leave quickly and nodded vigorously. “Strong! Fierce! Your baby is very powerful!”
He finally managed to fool Qin Zhen into leaving. The man left happily, even forgetting to wipe the coupling gel off his stomach.
Qin Zhen’s examination took too long. When he came out, many people cast strange glances at him, secretly wondering if there was a problem with his monitoring results. Ni Hong was equally worried and immediately went to meet him.
“Brother Qin, why did you just come out? Are you okay?”
“Good! Very good!”
“Why are your clothes wet?” Ni Hong noticed the water stains showing through his garment.
How could Qin Zhen say anything? His lips were sealed. He had promised to keep the secret and he would. “Hehe, my baby did some exercise in there and worked up a bit of sweat. Hehe.”
“Uh.”
“Liar.”
A decisive tone cut through Ni Hong’s speechlessness. Qin Zhen then realized that Leng Fei was actually standing behind Ni Hong. The grin that had stretched to the back of his head shrunk by two inches.
“Leng Fei? You have not left yet? Are you waiting for me too?”
Although it was a routine checkup, it was still an examination. Waiting for a teammate to finish was considerate, but it did not fit Leng Fei’s personality in his mind.
Sure enough, Leng Fei said calmly, “It is very important to get information on a comrade’s death at the first opportunity.”
“Death? Then you are going to be disappointed.” Qin Zhen patted his stomach. “My baby War Beast is doing great. It is much stronger than the one in your belly!”
One of the two examination rooms quietly closed. The medical kit was opened again and placed on the table. The screen showed the ultrasound images just captured. The room was silent. Adjutant Qi dared not even breathe as he waited for Cang Bai to study the examination results.
He could not quite understand. The results of the images were clear at a glance. What exactly was the Commander contemplating?