“…Good luck, General.”
“By the way, General, was your argument with Secretary Luo today because of Miss Nina?”
Lucas frowned slightly. How did he know?
Zhou Mingkai said, “Well, the lady sitting beside me right now is Miss Chen’s cousin. Miss Chen is Miss Nina’s best friend, so I learned a few things through her.”
“Hmm?”
“So I don’t really understand why you were angry, General. From what I heard, Miss Nina was making up things about you online, saying you were cruel and all that. Then Secretary Luo found out and went to explain to her that you weren’t that kind of person. Hmm… Don’t we have this kind of friction and dispute in the empire every day?”
Lucas paused.
“General, if someone spoke badly about Secretary Luo, what would you do?”
Lucas snorted coldly. “Who would dare? I’d beat them to death.”
“Exactly… See? Secretary Luo thinks the same way. Isn’t he doing all this with you in mind?”
Lucas leaned back against his chair, frowning slightly.
He gave an indistinct “Mm,” then ended the call.
Next, Lucas looked up the Network Administration Bureau and successfully found the deleted post in its backend.
Lucas frowned slightly.
This…
Tsk. Stupid Luo Ran.
He really had gone too far earlier that day.
Luo Ran had also tried very hard to explain things to him, but he hadn’t followed Luo Ran’s reasoning or considered what he was saying.
Lucas rubbed his nose.
Forget it. He would talk to Luo Ran again when he came in tomorrow.
…
As it turned out, Luo Ran did not come to the office the next day.
After getting up, Luo Ran took the sample and went to see Xia Zhi.
The previous night, when Luo Ran had gone to the research institute to collect the sample, the director had told him that, to complete their records and carry out the subsequent tests, they hoped to obtain information about the health and mental state of the Omega who had extracted the UNK, including any fluctuations in those conditions.
The director’s original intention had been to arrange for an elite imperial doctor to accompany the Omega throughout the process and keep a complete record. Naturally, Luo Ran had refused.
Luo Ran explained that the Omega was shy around strangers and did not want to interact with outsiders. However, he had a friend—a former battlefield doctor named Xia Zhi—who could also provide precise, continuous records throughout the process.
Once the research institute heard that name, they had no objections.
Xia Zhi had been a star of the Medical Department a few years ago, one of the empire’s top battlefield doctors. Back then, he had even been engaged to Shen Xiluo, the head of the battlefield unit.
However, Xia Zhi had later left the team and broken off his engagement to Shen Xiluo.
Luo Ran returned to the little wooden cabin, bringing a basket of seeds with him.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning!” Xia Zhi was watering the garden. Hearing him, he immediately looked up and smiled. “Ranran, you’re here. I’ve already heard about the details in your email.”
“Sorry… I acted first and informed you afterward, and now I’m troubling you.” Luo Ran held up the basket in his hands. “A little gift to make up for it.”
“It’s fine. I already told you to come to me whenever you need help. As long as you ask, keeping records isn’t difficult. It’s just…” Xia Zhi blinked. “If this were a request from Shen Xiluo or the Medical Department, I wouldn’t be willing to help.”
He took off his gardening gloves and went inside to clean up.
“No, I specifically asked for you myself. Besides, the person the Medical Department was going to send wasn’t him.”
“Then that’s good.”
The two entered the house, and Luo Ran went down to the basement. He carefully opened the box he had brought on the table.
Inside the safe lay a large silver stone that looked like a block of ice.
Xia Zhi froze for a moment, then reached out to touch the blood-red patterns on its surface.
“It’s beautiful.”
Xia Zhi asked Luo Ran to sit down and put a monitoring helmet on his head.
“Can we begin? Did you take leave from work today?”
Luo Ran nodded gently.
“Good.”
…
“He’s not coming to the office!” Lucas sat in his large leather chair, and he even spun around in it as he spoke.
“He’s really angry. And really angry.”
This was outrageous!
“…?” On the other end of the terminal, Zhou Mingkai had been dragged out of bed in the middle of the night to listen to Lucas’s troubles. Now he was being harassed again early in the morning before he had even woken up properly. He wished he could award himself a commendation banner.
“Um… Secretary Luo didn’t take leave or anything?”
“He did. He said he was taking the UNK sample to see the Omega who extracted it and some former battlefield doctor or whatever. He’s gone on a business trip.”
“…” Zhou Mingkai yawned, completely baffled. “Th-this sounds perfectly normal, doesn’t it?”
To be fair, Zhou Mingkai had originally been convinced that Luo Ran wasn’t angry. But now even Lucas had him thoroughly confused.
“Do you think he’s really sick of me?” Lucas bared his teeth in frustration.
“…”
Zhou Mingkai was on the verge of tears. “Just go see him yourself!”
“I was going to!” Lucas sneered. So he was avoiding him, was he? Fine! Once Lucas went to the military headquarters and finished his duties for the day, he would go find Luo Ran. He would force him to accept the apology if he had to!
“…”
Zhou Mingkai thought to himself, What the actual hell.
— XXXXX —
The basement was brightly lit. Luo Ran rested both palms lightly on the icy mineral, his eyes closed as he concentrated completely. Using his mental power, he searched for the tiny pathways within the stone and pushed the minerals inside it out.
Whether an Omega or an Alpha, anyone using mental power to carry out such precise work was extremely wary of being disturbed. Therefore, Xia Zhi did not speak at all from beginning to end. He simply recorded every change in Luo Ran’s mental state in silence.
This UNK was far too strange. The patterns inside the stone were more complicated than anything they had ever encountered.
Moreover, the closer Luo Ran got to the core, the more energized he felt.
After spending the entire day in contact with it, Luo Ran felt noticeably more mentally invigorated. Even Xia Zhi was astonished as he looked over the report.
The two stayed there until evening. In the end, Xia Zhi gently patted Luo Ran’s shoulder, guiding him to stop and slowly withdraw his mental power.
“It’s already late. Rest first. Don’t exhaust your mental power too much.”
Luo Ran sat there in a daze for quite some time. Only after a long moment of confusion did he look up and ask, “What time is it now?”