Ni Hong’s preoperative examination was scheduled after the energy monitoring session.
At ten o’clock in the morning, the waiting room finally emptied, and Ni Hong walked into the operating room with a sense of trepidation.
Although stability testing is a part of the preoperative examination, it is considered a minimally invasive surgery. After local anesthesia, various medical instruments are inserted near the gestation sac, or trace amounts of drugs to be used in the formal surgery are injected to test the young beast’s reaction.
Others who simply underwent gestation sac transplants did not have to go through this process; their transplant surgeries had been completed collectively over the past two days.
Qin Zhen did not understand the technicalities and did not bother to research them. In short, both Ni Hong and Adjutant Qi had said the procedure was not dangerous. All he could do was wait. He pushed the matter to the back of his mind and focused entirely on wondering why Leng Fei had not left yet.
If his idol was a sacred and solemn snow capped mountain, this female soldier was a cold glacier. Concerned for Ni Hong? That was impossible.
Qin Zhen felt strongly that if he were to ask, Leng Fei’s answer would likely be that it was convenient to be the first to know the news of a teammate’s death.
It was bad luck even to think it.
He restrained himself from asking.
Around twelve o’clock noon, a nurse pushed out a wheelchair. In it was Ni Hong, clutching his lower abdomen with a dejected expression and a pale face.
Qin Zhen rushed over to meet them. “I thought it was minimally invasive? Why do you look like you have had a major hemorrhage? How was it? Any problems?”
“His expression makes it obvious; the results are not optimistic,” Leng Fei said.
Qin Zhen turned his head. “Stop being such a jinx.”
“Brother Qin,” Ni Hong interrupted him, his tone lonely. “Leng Fei is not wrong. The stability test failed. The doctor said my young beast reacted strongly to several drugs. If they force the surgery, it will likely break the dormant state. If it develops prematurely, it will be dangerous.”
“Then what? If it does not work, will we just not do the surgery? You already have a gestation sac anyway; it is not as if you cannot carry it.”
Ni Hong shook his head and remained silent.
The nurse answered his question instead: “The surgery must be done. Otherwise, once the sac wall can no longer support a more powerfully developing young beast, the situation will only become more treacherous. Do not worry too much. Stability tests do not always pass on the first try. It might be better if we try again in three days.”
“Why wait three days? Is tomorrow not possible?”
Those without a gestation sac need to complete the transplant within forty eight hours of fusing with the beast egg. If Ni Hong’s gestation sac replacement surgery was necessary, then naturally, the sooner the better.
The nurse shook her head. “The young beast has been disturbed, and its energy fluctuations are erratic. It needs time to calm down. You are in a group with Ni Hong, right? Then he is in your hands. Remember to use the wheelchair more, walk less, and do not be anxious. Focus on nurturing the pregnancy.”
“Understood! Leave it to me!”
Once the nurse walked away, Qin Zhen patted Ni Hong’s shoulder. “Do not be afraid, Little Ni. Your brother is with you. And there is Leng Fei, too. Even though she has low emotional intelligence and does not know how to speak, the fact that she waited here shows she cares about you.”
Before he could finish his sentence, Leng Fei spoke.
She first looked at Ni Hong. “I am sorry for your situation.”
Then she scanned the surroundings. “However, the reason I waited here was to ask you something.”
“What is it?” Ni Hong was puzzled.
The three of them had been in the waiting room together for nearly two hours, and Leng Fei had not asked anything. Why wait until he came out of the operating room to ask?
Leng Fei asked, “Which doctor performed your examination?”
“Old Doctor Chang.”
“Were there no others? For example, nurse assistants.”
“There were. Two nurses. One of them is the one who pushed me out.”
“Was the other one a man or a woman?”
“A woman.”
Not just Ni Hong, but even Qin Zhen was starting to get curious. Leng Fei’s questions sounded like a police interrogation.
Seeing Leng Fei turn to leave after a moment of silence, Qin Zhen grabbed her. “Hey, you cannot leave us hanging like this! The three of us are teammates in the same group; we should share any information we have. Besides, based on your questions, this seems related to Little Ni’s surgery.”
“It is unrelated.”
Leng Fei first dismissed his guess, then paused for a few seconds before looking at the two of them.
“Have neither of you noticed that the doctor who performed our energy monitoring was Adjutant Qi?”
“Adjutant Qi?!” Qin Zhen and Ni Hong looked at each other in disbelief. “Are you sure?”
“Do not question my judgment. I can remember anyone’s physical characteristics, even if I have only seen them once. The height, the eyes, and the characteristics of the voice all match Adjutant Qi perfectly.”
“Furthermore, since you finished your monitoring, the speed at which the nurse called numbers significantly slowed down. Clearly, one of the two examination rooms was closed. I suspect it was the room Adjutant Qi was in. He disguised himself as a doctor just to personally perform the energy monitoring for the three of us.”
“I can understand that Adjutant Qi places great importance on whether our gestation will be successful, especially since the Supreme Commander is personally acting as our childcare specialist. What I find strange is that he did not intervene in Ni Hong’s preoperative examination. In terms of gestation success rate, Ni Hong’s is the lowest among the three of us.”
After this analysis, Qin Zhen was stunned.
Adjutant Qi? That doctor was actually Adjutant Qi?
It made sense. The monitoring doctors from the past two days had not even worn masks, let alone white hats. Today’s doctor wore both a hat and a mask, completely concealing his face.
“With so many clues, did you not notice anything? Did you not have any suspicions?” Leng Fei’s words hit home. “If you two were my subordinates, I would send you back to the military academy immediately to retake your reconnaissance classes.”
Qin Zhen’s eyes widened, and he was about to lose his temper, but he thought better of it and suppressed his anger. He asked politely, “Officer Leng, since you are so observant, did you happen to spot the Commander? Was he with Adjutant Qi?”
“I did not find any trace of the Commander in the examination room.”
“Oh.” Qin Zhen was a bit disappointed.
“One more thing.” His words seemed to remind Leng Fei. “The monitoring process for Ni Hong and me took less than three minutes. Why did yours take over five minutes? Was your energy fluctuation too weak, or did Adjutant Qi say something to you?”
“You are the weak one! You are the weak one!” Qin Zhen immediately flared up. “My baby is doing great! It is fierce and strong!”
Leng Fei remained noncommittal.
This expression should have further enraged Qin Zhen, but his face changed instantly, and he smiled from ear to ear.
Adjutant Qi’s actions represented the Supreme Commander’s intentions. It turned out that in his idol’s eyes, he was the most special one. Not only did the examination take the longest and was the most meticulous, but they even used the latest developed enhancer on him.
Was this not the mutual appreciation between an old hero and a new one?
Qin Zhen was secretly happy, and Leng Fei was suspicious, while only Ni Hong remained completely unaware of their odd behavior, lost in his own despondency.
“Adjutant Qi did not participate in my preoperative examination. Does that mean it means my situation is not optimistic, and the Supreme Commander has given up on me?”
“Nonsense!” Qin Zhen immediately straightened his smiling face. “Are you stupid? Quite the opposite! It means the Commander and Adjutant Qi do not think your surgery is a big deal!”
He made a dismissive gesture. “It is a piece of cake!”
Adjutant Qi knew why the Commander was giving Qin Zhen special treatment.
Setting aside the man’s morbid obsession with the Commander, Qin Zhen had been at the Gestation Center for only two days and had already lusted after the beautiful doctor and harassed Elder Chang. He had no discernment and was definitely a philanderer in private. As for why no relationship history was found, a pervert like him obviously would not want to establish a long term, stable partnership.
If you always walk by the riverside, you are bound to get your shoes wet. It was perfectly normal for a scumbag with a gestation sac to have an accidental pregnancy.
This was why the Commander suspected he was carrying a human rather than a combat beast. That was why the Commander had not only asked him to obtain a pregnancy monitor but also instructed him to secretly take the blood sample Qin Zhen had left at the Gestation Center for testing.
Unfortunately, neither of the test results was ideal.
Adjutant Qi was well aware of the dilemma the Commander faced. Qin Zhen was an expectant parent student personally accepted by the Commander. Without a reasonable justification, how could the Commander be embarrassed enough to expel him? Would that not be a slap in his own face?
After careful consideration, he walked to the Commander’s side and lowered his voice. “Commander, I have thought of a plan.”
Cang Bai’s eyes appeared to be fixed on the ultrasound image, but his consciousness was actually communicating with the White Python. Hearing this, he glanced at him.
Adjutant Qi took it as a look of encouragement and became even more eager.
“I have reviewed the monitoring results of all the expectant parents. Qin Zhen’s energy fluctuations are the weakest. Not only are they weak, but they are also intermittent and quite fragmented.”
“Since that is the case, we might as well expose his monitoring results in a discreet way. Let everyone know that even if Qin Zhen gives birth to a combat beast, its strength will be insignificant. It might not even be able to go to the battlefield.”
“With the pressure of public opinion, on one hand, Qin Zhen himself might feel too embarrassed to continue following you. On the other hand, I am sure the Vice Commander and Dean Lao would be happy to share your burden and find a way to persuade him to withdraw.”
This method was quite underhanded, but Adjutant Qi felt that as an adjutant, he should be relieving the Commander of his worries.
“Qi Zhifu,” Cang Bai called him by his full name, which was rare.
“Here!” Adjutant Qi was a bit excited, already prepared to receive orders.
“Do you wish to retire?”
“Huh?”
Adjutant Qi was taken aback. Cang Bai had already turned away. His back, as upright as a snow capped mountain, chilled Adjutant Qi with a cold sweat.
“If you ask me, your little adjutant’s plan is quite good,” the White Python’s tone was as frivolous as ever. “As long as Little Ding gets the idea to persuade him to withdraw, the little soldier cannot possibly leave the Gestation Center with the young beast. Furthermore, even if he is lucky enough not to have his gestation sac removed, once he is outside, can you not control and manipulate him however you wish?”
“As for me,” the White Python continued, “for the sake of that one in ten thousand chance that he is carrying my offspring in his belly, I will turn a blind eye to your actions. What do you think, Whitey?”
Unsurprisingly, Cang Bai’s train of thought was not swayed in the slightest.
He pondered in his consciousness: “The ultrasound image cannot show the internal state of the gestation sac. It is indeed an energy isolation reaction, but it does not mean that what is inside the gestation sac is a young beast. That beast egg’s energy was too strong; the residual energy left in Qin Zhen’s body will take some time to dissipate completely.”
At this point, Cang Bai turned around again. “Adjutant Qi.”
Qi Zhifu had already retreated to the corner of the wall, facing it in silent reflection to show he knew his mistake. Suddenly hearing his title, he hurriedly jumped over and gave a military salute. “Here!”
He breathed a huge sigh of relief in secret.
Cang Bai said, “For the next week, continue performing pregnancy checkups on Qin Zhen.”
“Yes!” Adjutant Qi responded, then asked, “Should I perform the examinations?”
This question made Cang Bai glance at the screen again. On the ultrasound image, except for a shadow around the perimeter, the central part representing the interior of the gestation sac was a blank void. Ultrasound waves could not penetrate the isolation layer formed by exotic beast energy.
“I will do it,” Cang Bai made his decision.