Having lived in this world for ten years, Qin Zhen had never been this excited, even when he got into the military academy as an orphan from the welfare home.
Dr. Lu was fair skinned, beautiful, gentle, and considerate; she was his ideal type from head to toe! Moreover, she was a true specialist. Being a core doctor at the Breeding Center was only one part of it. According to Xiao Ni, childcare specialists all possessed their own war beasts!
She had the looks and the substance; she was simply perfect!
Not only was the person perfect, but the timing of her appearance was also perfect. It was neither too early nor too late, occurring exactly when he fused with the beast egg and officially began his journey as a powerful protagonist.
Was this not the arrangement of destiny?
Qin Zhen had already begun to imagine the scene of becoming a God of War in the future, traveling the galaxy with his lady and enjoying the cheers of the masses from the mountain peaks. He was so immersed in his fantasy that he was completely unaware when a colossal figure appeared in the activity room, looming over everyone like Mount Tai.
He did not notice until the sound of gasping rose around him.
“Hiss; Tie Tu! That is Tie Tu!”
Many people recognized the newcomer immediately without even looking at his name tag.
He was nearly three meters tall with a back as thick as a city wall. His heavy uniform could not hide the bulging muscles on his body. Combined with his fierce face and an expression that suggested you would be rewarded with a punch just for making eye contact, he was terrifying.
“Is he our childcare specialist for this session?”
“No way; how is my luck this bad?”
Tie Tu was notoriously cold and brutal, rarely treating expectant trainees like human beings. While other war beasts developed humanity through the breeding process, he had gone in the opposite direction, becoming exactly like his Icefield Giant Bear. He believed in the natural law of survival of the fittest and the weak being prey to the strong.
It was said that for every class of trainees he taught, fewer than one in ten could successfully give birth to a war beast and become a beast soldier!
Except for Qin Zhen, who was purely from the grassroots, the other expectant trainees all had some family background. They had inquired about the childcare specialists long before the fusion, terrified of stepping on a landmine.
They did not expect the biggest landmine to be planted right in front of them, and that they would be forced to step on it.
Some people could not handle the fear and had already begun to wipe away tears.
Qin Zhen overheard some of this and was quite surprised.
Whether dealing with exotic beasts or neighboring countries, were not war beasts the more the better? Given how much the Empire valued beast soldiers, how could they allow such a person to continue being a childcare specialist?
Looking at the uniform style, Tie Tu was not even an officer; he was just a beast soldier. To have destroyed so many flowers of the motherland without having his uniform stripped, he must have a powerful background.
However, Qin Zhen’s current mental capacity did not allow him to think about so many questions, and he quickly pushed Tie Tu to the back of his mind.
Whatever. He was going to choose Dr. Lu anyway. Regardless of the perspective, Dr. Lu would surely choose him as well. What did this big idiot named Tie Tu have to do with him?
Under the weight of despair, the whispers of the expectant trainees were uncontrollable. Not only Tie Tu himself, but even the Vice Commander standing further away could hear most of it.
But the Vice Commander did not offer a single word of comfort. He cleared his throat and said in a deep voice, “Since the childcare specialists are all here, Director Lao, let us begin.”
“Very well, Your Excellency.” Director Lao shot another cold glance at Qin Zhen and stepped forward. “The allocation of childcare specialists consists of three stages.”
Stage one: Trainees choose their mentors. Whichever mentor you prefer, go and line up in front of them.
Stage two: Mentors make their selection. They pick the trainees they want from their line and give them a voice card.
Stage three: Random filling. Trainees who fail the mutual selection will put a card with their name into a blind selection box. Mentors with unfilled seats will draw the corresponding number of cards from the box. Whoever is drawn belongs to that mentor.
“Now, the first stage begins.”
Before Director Lao could finish his sentence, the expectant trainees swarmed forward.
Analyzing the resume and background of each mentor or speculating on what resources they could provide was no longer important. The most important thing now was to seize the last chance to stay far away from Tie Tu!
Of course, Qin Zhen did not have any of those messy thoughts in his head.
He had only one thought in his mind: Goddess, here I come!
He grabbed Ni Hong and lunged forward like an arrow.
The power of love was truly great; he was the first to arrive in front of Dr. Lu. Unfortunately, the old doctor, Dr. Chang, was standing next to Dr. Lu. Recognizing Qin Zhen’s predatory posture and the grin that nearly reached his ears halfway through, the old man retreated several steps in horror.
Only when he realized Qin Zhen was not coming for him did he wipe the cold sweat from his forehead with a trembling hand.
That was close; his reputation was almost ruined again.
Ni Hong was also in a bit of a sorry state. Qin Zhen was too fast and too strong, causing him to practically fly forward. When Qin Zhen suddenly slammed on the brakes, Ni Hong felt as though he had crashed into an iron plate; his bones were aching.
However, Qin Zhen noticed none of this. His eyes were fixed on Dr. Lu, staring so intently that she lowered her gaze to avoid eye contact.
Oh no, the worst case scenario has happened, Lu Yanqiu thought helplessly.
As the mentor who had dealt with Qin Zhen the most, he had indeed chosen her. If he had not offended so many people, it would have been fine; she would have been happy to choose this poor but determined genius. But right now, the Director and the Vice Commander were watching, and even the victim, Dr. Chang, was present.
Hehe, the goddess is shy, Qin Zhen thought happily.
He had arrived before her without hesitation, pushing through thousands of people. Surely the goddess could see his singular devotion! Since she felt shy, it meant everything was set!
This was a sure thing!
While he was bubbling with joy, Ni Hong poked him in the kidney.
Only then did Qin Zhen remember his little brother. He turned his head and said, “Do not worry, Xiao Ni. I chose the best one. Wherever I go, you can go too.”
Ni Hong gripped his sleeve and lowered his voice bashfully: “I, I have a mentor I want to choose.”
“Ah? Who?”
Ni Hong glanced to the right and remained silent.
“You really should think this through,” Qin Zhen advised. “You analyzed it yourself; you have no advantage in choosing a mentor. If you are not selected, you will end up in the hands of that big idiot.”
“Big idiot?”
“Just.”
He was about to name names when he suddenly felt his scalp tighten. He looked up and saw Tie Tu staring at him with eyes like an angry warrior.
Qin Zhen quickly smiled at the man, lowered his head, and mouthed: Tie Tu!
“Actually,” a suspicious flush appeared on Ni Hong’s delicate face, “my intuition tells me he is not that kind of person.”
“Intuition? Is a man’s intuition reliable? Only a woman’s intuition is reliable!” Qin Zhen said decisively. “Why eat rotten fruit when there is good fruit? Why take a risk when there is a risk free option? Since I am your brother, I have to look out for you. No!”
“This is my own choice; what right do you have?”
“That is enough.” The one who interrupted Ni Hong was not Qin Zhen, but Director Lao. “Since everyone has lined up, we shall proceed to the second stage.”
Now it was useless for Ni Hong to be anxious. He looked up blankly at Tie Tu. Seeing that the man kept his eyes closed the entire time, Ni Hong lowered his head in disappointment.
Under the pressure of Tie Tu, the trainees’ choices were made very quickly, and the lines were fairly even. Except for the empty space in front of Tie Tu, most mentors had five people in front of them, so there was no need for a selection process.
The remaining mentor lines had six or more people. Perhaps feeling that doctors were more compassionate, the lines for mentors from the Breeding Center were longer.
The numbers were slightly uneven, but compared to most times, they were much more balanced.
“Mentors who exceed their seat count, begin your selection.”
Director Lao finished speaking and retreated to the Vice Commander’s side. He observed Lu Yanqiu’s line while remarking to Ding Xiaoyi.
“As long as Tie Tu is here, all those under the table interest calculations vanish without a trace, allowing the allocation of childcare specialists to truly return to fairness and justice. No wonder Tie Tu offended so many powerful families yet the Commander in Chief still insists on keeping him as a specialist. This move by the Commander is truly brilliant!”
“Of course. The wisdom of the Commander in Chief has accumulated over a hundred years; it is not something you or I can compare to.”
Ding Xiaoyi’s gaze also fell on Lu Yanqiu’s line, specifically on Qin Zhen at the front.
“You missed one point,” he added. “Tie Tu’s presence is not just to balance the powerful families, but also to serve as a warning to everyone. Do not think that becoming a beast soldier is just about glory or that you can be lawless!”
Director Lao deeply agreed, so he spoke up calmly: “Lu Yanqiu, why have you not started your selection yet?”
Suddenly being called out, Lu Yanqiu felt a bit flustered and nodded quickly: “Starting immediately.”
What is that little old man rushing for? He is scaring my goddess!
Qin Zhen grumbled inwardly. On the surface, his burning gaze almost pierced through Lu Yanqiu’s face. He wanted to imitate a variety show from his previous life and scream: Choose me, choose me, choose me!
A meter away, his goddess took out a voice card from her white lab coat.
Unlike the military equipment Qin Zhen was familiar with, the voice card Lu Yanqiu had prepared was very small, worn on a lanyard like a necklace pendant. It was uniquely shaped like a silver white flower and looked very expensive at first glance.
The voice card lay in Lu Yanqiu’s beautiful palm as she took a step forward.
Qin Zhen stared intently, his throat moving involuntarily. He felt as if his surroundings had blurred into a misty white fog, slowly condensing into a wedding hall.
As Lu Yanqiu took a second step, the voice card in her hand changed; it was no longer a pendant, but a shining ring.
Then came the third step.
Qin Zhen could no longer suppress his excitement. He stepped forward to meet her and blurted out, “I do!”
However, Lu Yanqiu dodged with a side step and went around him, leaving Qin Zhen standing there like a wooden chicken, surrounded by a large number of confused gazes.
“Brother Qin.” Ni Hong pulled him back to his original position. “Did you mean ‘I do’ as in you are willing to become Dr. Lu’s student?”
It seemed it could be interpreted that way, but it still felt strange.
Qin Zhen snapped out of it, feeling immense regret. It was only a matter of two seconds; why was I in such a hurry? There are so many people here, and the goddess is so shy; how could she not be startled! See, I scared the goddess to the back of the line!
But it was fine. There were several voice cards; Qin Zhen was certain one of them must belong to him. Naturally, Xiao Ni would benefit from his association and get one too.
Good things take time; haste makes waste!
Qin Zhen patiently waited.
Starting from the end of the line, he watched the voice cards being handed out one by one. With only the last two left, Qin Zhen finally became nervous.
He suddenly realized that his line actually had seven people, the most in the room!
In other words, at least two people in his line would fail the selection, and Lu Yanqiu only had two cards left in her hand!
“Dr. Lu!”
Seeing Lu Yanqiu hold a voice card and prepare to hand it to someone else, Qin Zhen finally could not help himself. But before he could say anything, a deep, warning voice intervened.
“Do not interfere with the mentor’s selection.” The Vice Commander stared at him like a hawk.
“Vice Commander.”
While Qin Zhen was dazed, Lu Yanqiu gave away the last two voice cards in one breath. Naturally, they were not given to him or Ni Hong. Once finished, she quickly returned to her mentor position, lowering her eyes and head.
Qin Zhen’s eyes followed her path, his mind a bit numb from the heavy blow.
Why?
Why did Dr. Lu not choose him?
Why did the Vice Commander, who clearly valued him so much, interfere with his choice?
“Xiao Ni.” Qin Zhen was so bombarded by “whys” that he was losing his senses. “Is it the end of the world?”
The end of the world? Ni Hong stole a glance at Tie Tu, the corners of his lips barely able to suppress a smile.
This was not the end of the world; it was clearly the arrival of spring.
Lu Yanqiu was the last to complete her selection. As soon as she returned to her spot, the Director announced the start of the third stage.
A nurse recorded the numbers of the eight failed trainees from their maternity dresses and put the cards into the blind selection box.
Before the blind selection began, Ding Xiaoyi suddenly spoke: “To ensure fairness and impartiality, the blind selection process will be slightly modified. All cards will be drawn by the Director on behalf of the mentors. Mentors, do you have any objections?”
Since the Vice Commander had spoken, naturally no one expressed opposition.
Director Lao walked to the blind selection box. He glanced at the trembling failed trainees out of the corner of his eye and smiled: “Since Mentor Tie Tu does not have any students yet, the next five cards drawn will fill the vacancies for Mentor Tie Tu. First card.”
He pulled a card from the box, and the result was beyond doubt.
“Expectant Trainee Number 1069.”
Qin Zhen’s world finally collapsed. His lips turned a bit pale: “The end of the world really has arrived.”
“Second card, Number 1070.”
Ni Hong could no longer contain his joy and flew toward Tie Tu like a bird.
His behavior confused everyone. He had clearly met a tragic end, so why did he act like he had won the lottery?
Director Lao was also surprised for a moment but moved his gaze back to the stunned Qin Zhen.
“Number 1069, why are you not going to line up with your mentor yet? Do you have an objection to this result?”
“I definitely have a—”
Qin Zhen’s disrespectful words were not fully spoken when the door to the activity room was suddenly pushed open.
A tall figure in pure white appeared outside the door, framed by the light.