"This is bad! Kuang Ye is awake!"
To prevent Duke Kuang Lin from blowing their cover once Liang He arrived, Huo An—who had already received an advance message from Hoder—started rehearsing their story with the Duke.
They had just reached an agreement when they heard Doctor Xu Yi shouting from the door of the treatment room. They rushed over immediately.
"Why is he awake so soon?"
Based on the dosage of anesthetics, Kuang Ye shouldn’t have fully regained consciousness for another few hours.
Xu Yi hurriedly pulled the treatment room door shut. Heart pounding, he patted his chest in lingering fear and slumped against the door, sliding down to the floor. Even then, he couldn’t stop throwing anxious glances back inside.
"Kuang Ye’s guard is too high," Xu Yi gasped. "Even with the anesthetics, he forced himself to fight the effects."
As an Imperial Admiral who had fought countless battles, it wasn’t entirely surprising that Kuang Ye would react this way. It was just a pity for Xu Yi. He had intended to take advantage of the coma to reapply medicine to the wounds. Halfway through the process, he suddenly found himself staring into a pair of murderous leopard eyes, which had nearly scared him half to death.
"Once Kuang Ye realized he was trapped, he went berserk," Xu Yi explained. "His wounds have torn open again."
Through the observation window, they could see the Mengji Snow Leopard pacing restlessly around the treatment room. He had exhausted his remaining strength smashing the medical equipment, and now he was huddled in a corner, pitifully biting his own tail.
Watching this, Duke Kuang Lin’s heart ached terribly for his son. The rims of his eyes turned red.
"What do we do?!" he cried out.
If Kuang Ye maintained this standoff and refused to cooperate with his treatment, he would probably exhaust himself to death—assuming the Rebel Army’s bombs hadn’t already done him in.
"Governor Huo, how much longer until this Miss Liang He arrives?"
"At least half a day, at the earliest."
Huo An’s expression was equally grim. His anxiety had only deepened after receiving Hoder’s message revealing that the Rebel Army had dispatched a spaceship to attack them.
"I just received word earlier. The Rebel Army sent a ship to intercept them and stop them from reaching Star D139."
"What?!"
Duke Kuang Lin nearly jumped out of his skin. This woman was the key to his son’s survival!
"Those damn rebels! No! I’ll personally lead a team to escort Miss Liang He! She must arrive safely!"
Growing increasingly agitated, Duke Kuang Lin turned to leave, but Huo An hastily held him back.
"Duke Kuang Lin, I understand your concern, but right now, Kuang Ye needs you more."
Terrified that the Duke might run into trouble, Huo An decided to give him something to do—such as keeping his son company.
"No matter what, you and Kuang Ye are father and son. Perhaps you can soothe his emotions by talking to him."
Huo An had no intention of letting Duke Kuang Lin step directly into the treatment room to face the Mengji Snow Leopard. He simply hoped that a familiar voice could calm the beast down, at least enough to stop him from hurting himself further.
"Will... will that work?" Hesitant, Duke Kuang Lin frowned as he looked into the treatment room, where the Mengji Snow Leopard was beginning to grow violent again.
"How will we know if we don’t try?"
"Alright then."
Convinced, Duke Kuang Lin agreed to Huo An’s plan. However, he didn’t forget to emphasize that Huo An must guarantee Miss Liang He’s safety. Kuang Ye’s life depended entirely on her.
"I understand."
Huo An had Xu Yi lead Duke Kuang Lin to the broadcasting room. They turned on the intercom to the treatment room so the Duke could speak directly to his son. But the moment he heard the voice, the Mengji Snow Leopard’s fur fluffed up. Baring his fangs and extending his claws, he instantly dropped into an attack stance.
"ROAR!"
Hearing the voice but seeing no one, the Mengji Snow Leopard couldn’t locate his target. This threw him into an even deeper state of manic anxiety. Completely disregarding his injuries, he began slamming his body frantically against the door.
"No good! Tell Duke Kuang Lin to stop immediately!" Huo An immediately called it off. He never expected that the Duke’s voice wouldn’t just fail to soothe him—it would actually make things worse.
Watching through the monitor as Kuang Ye battered himself against the door like a madman, Duke Kuang Lin’s heart shattered. He cut off the microphone before Huo An even had to ask.
Beside them, Xu Yi was visibly even more panicked.
"Huo An, we have to make Kuang Ye stop right now! He’s going to fight until he’s dead!"
As a Veterinarian, Xu Yi understood Kuang Ye’s current mental state all too well. An invisible enemy, a severely injured body, the inability to fight back, and the impossibility of escape—it all filled Kuang Ye with overwhelming terror. He wanted to flee! And if he couldn’t escape, he would rather die than be kept as a human’s captive!
"Damn it! What do we do now?!"
Did they really have to give him another anesthetic injection?
Even setting aside the fact that it was currently impossible to safely enter the room to administer the shot, hitting him with consecutive doses of anesthetics in such a short time span would cause immense damage to his body!
BEEP BEEP BEEP.
Just as they were caught in this dilemma and Duke Kuang Lin was beside himself with anxiety, Xu Yi’s Light Brain suddenly chimed. It seemed to be a voice message from Liang He.
"Doctor Xu, we’re still about three hours away from Star D139. If it’s convenient, could you send me the Mengji Snow Leopard’s files to look over?"
Liang He had figured that since they were rushing her to Star D139 overnight, the situation had to be critical. She assumed she would need to start working the second she landed. If that was the case, she might as well learn more about the Mengji Snow Leopard now so she could better assist Xu Yi with the treatment later.
Upon hearing her message, Xu Yi opened his mouth to reply, only to feel a hand clamp tightly onto his wrist. He looked up to see a visibly thrilled Duke Kuang Lin, who was pointing a trembling finger at the monitor.
"Doctor... Doctor Xu. Kuang Ye... he’s quieted down!"
Liang He’s clear, gentle voice had played from the Light Brain and traveled straight into the treatment room through the intercom, which they hadn’t yet turned off.
The Mengji Snow Leopard, who had just been violently throwing himself against the door in an apparent suicide attempt, suddenly seemed to snap into lucid awareness the moment he heard her voice. His ears twitched slightly. He halted his lunging motion mid-stride, leaving everyone in the observation room completely dumbfounded.
"Wait, what’s going on?"
Xu Yi subconsciously leaned closer to the monitor to get a better look. However, his voice was picked up by the microphone and broadcast to the Mengji Snow Leopard, causing the beast to grow restless again. Scared, Xu Yi quickly scrambled backward.
"Xu Yi, replay Liang He’s voice message," Huo An ordered decisively, having been the first to grasp the key to the situation. "Let Kuang Ye hear it."
Following Huo An’s instructions, Xu Yi replayed the message. He watched in awe as the Mengji Snow Leopard instantly calmed down again, looking around curiously as if searching for the owner of the voice. It took Xu Yi a moment to process what he was seeing.
"You’ve gotta be kidding me! Liang He’s voice works this well?!"
How was he supposed to live down the embarrassment?!
Refusing to believe it, Xu Yi paused Liang He’s voice message and gestured for Duke Kuang Lin to speak again.
The result was entirely predictable. The Mengji Snow Leopard immediately grew agitated and disgusted. He unleashed a barrage of angry roars while clawing at the door, eventually going so far as to cover his ears with his paws!
"Seriously, is our voice really that awful?"
After testing this three or four times, Duke Kuang Lin and Xu Yi finally accepted reality, terrified that they were going to break the Mengji Snow Leopard if they kept playing with him like this.
"Kuang Ye actually only likes hearing Liang He’s voice! This is outrageous!"
Subjected to this blatant favoritism, Duke Kuang Lin and Xu Yi were thrilled that Liang He was indeed effective on an SSS-level Beastman, but simultaneously rendered speechless by the Mengji Snow Leopard’s extreme double standards.
"Cough... I guess he’s just... outgrown his old man?" Duke Kuang Lin couldn’t make sense of it either. He could only comfort himself with the thought that Liang He’s voice was probably just nice and gentle, which was why it managed to calm Kuang Ye down.
"Regardless, at least we don’t have to worry about Kuang Ye taking us all down with him anymore."
Xu Yi slumped back into his chair in defeat. He had just reached for his cup of water to take a breather when Duke Kuang Lin hoisted him back up.
"Doctor Xu, you can’t stop playing it! If Kuang Ye can’t hear Miss Liang He’s voice, he’s going to get upset again!"
"???"
So now, a highly respected Veterinarian like him had been reduced to an MP3 player for Liang He’s voice notes?!
"...Right away, Duke Kuang Lin."