Afterword (1)
The results for the first month of the PBB Military Base Exchange Training Camp were announced. Lu Yan received the badge for first place in hand-to-hand combat and skipped all the way back. His first thought was to show it to Lan Xing in the neighboring class, but halfway there, he suddenly remembered that Lan Xing wasn’t there.
“Hmm. Xiao Xiao isn’t here either, and not even Dr. Han.” Lu Yan let his ears droop in boredom, but then perked up suddenly. He dashed off to the Major’s lounge, knocked on the door, and asked, “Uncle Xia, did my dad call me?”
The Invisible Stalker happened to be inside, standing with his head bowed before Major Xia, his face flushed and wearing a contrite expression.
Xia Jingtian was sitting on the sofa, questioning the Invisible Stalker, who quietly explained in detail how he had disguised himself as Bai Chunian to provide an alibi for him during the Joyful Fishing Festival.
“Hey, Little Bug’s back. Where’s Lanxing?” Lu Yan asked, peering through the door.
Xia Jingtian noticed him: “Rabbit Ball, I’m a bit busy right now. Your dad called you. Go to the communications room and call him back.”
“Okay!” Lu Yan tucked his medal under his arm and dashed off to the communications room.
Lu Shangjin’s call came in just then. As soon as Lu Yan answered, he said happily, “Are you both home? I got first place on this exam again.”
“That’s amazing. You’re truly my little Rabbit. Give me a kiss.”
“I’ll be able to start working at headquarters soon, right?” Lu Yan sat backwards in his chair, leaning against the backrest and rocking it back and forth. “I’m ready.”
“IOA isn’t a place for people. Listen to Dad—come take over the family business. I’ve got the new brand all set up for you. It’s in the fur industry. Set yourself a small goal first: make five bucks.”
Lu Yan looked thoroughly displeased, but Lu Shangjin suddenly fell silent. Then Lu Yan heard footsteps approaching. Lu Shangjin was saying to Yan Yi, “Look at that—your son just got beaten up by a fish.”
Lu Yan froze, still holding the phone.
“Your son, your son, your son, your son, son, son, son, son…”
Epilogue (II)
Bi Lanxing sat in Bai Chunnian’s office, typing away furiously on his laptop: “Thanks to the joint efforts of the Alliance police and my special operations team, we’ve finally uncovered all the details of the submarine leak, cleared the leaked chemicals from the seaside, and ensured the Happy Fishing Festival can proceed as scheduled…”
The summary report was usually the responsibility of Cang Xiao’er, the head of the Special Operations Unit, but Cang Xiao’er passed it on to the deputy head, who passed it on to the secretary, who passed it on to the Investigation Division, whose director then passed it on to Bai Chunian, the head of the Investigation Division. Finally, Bai Chunian passed it on to Bi Lanxing, leaving him with a massive headache.
The phone on his desk rang again. Bi Lanxing hurriedly picked it up: “Hello, Special Operations Group Investigation Division.”
“Lanxing.” Lu Yan’s voice sounded a bit aggrieved over the phone. “My dad and the others have a new kid behind my back. I’ve suspected it for a while. They brought him home three years ago. Even though he’s never spoken a word, I actually caught them once. They even bought him a car and give him pocket money…”
As soon as Bi Lanxing heard it was Lu Yan, he calmed down and tried to comfort her: “Don’t cry. Who are you talking about?”
As luck would have it, his phone rang at that very moment. It was Bai Chunian calling from the Red Lynx City breeding base. The background noise was deafening: “Lanxing, send me the data on those test subjects I mentioned. Hurry up—I need it right away.”
“Okay, got it. I’ll send it right away.” ” Bi Lanxing hurriedly used the watch provided by the Crawler to search for the test subject codes Bai Chunian had read out. Some subjects didn’t have codes, so he had to search by appearance and serial number—a tedious process where even the slightest mistake was unacceptable.
Lu Yan didn’t realize he was working; he just noticed Lanxing had gone silent after saying only a few words, his attitude seeming terribly dismissive, which made him feel even more wronged: “ “Lanxing, do my parents think I’m useless? Do they actually mind that I’m an omega? When I was in kindergarten, during a craft class on the Lantern Festival, I made a big glutinous rice ball out of clay and placed it on their bed. Dad thought it was a little peregrine falcon egg. Do they actually want an alpha?”
Lanxing’s fingers flew across the keyboard as he sent Bai Chunian the requested test subject data one by one. A vine sprouted from his ribcage, wrapping around the phone as he held it to his ear to comfort him: “Of course not, Ayan. Just wait a minute.”
Just then, the councilor sent a message urging him to submit the summary report quickly, saying the team leader was waiting for it. A cluster of vines sprouted from Bi Lanxing’s knees, crawled over to the laser printer, turned it on, and loaded the paper, then brought the printed documents back to the desk.
The background noise on Bai Chunian’s end of the line grew increasingly chaotic, even including the sound of gunfire. Bai Chunian urged, “Hurry up. If you can’t manage it all, just send the first ten.”
“Okay, I’ve downloaded up to the ninth one.” A vine sprouted from Bi Lanxing’s head; the leaves at its tip tapped on his watch like fingers, searching for the data Bai Chunian needed.
There was a sudden knock on the office door. Lü Ge from the Laboratory Department poked his head in and asked, “Little Bi, we’re done here. When will the Search Division send over the blood samples? If it’s going to take a while, I’ll go ahead and shut down the machine.”
Bi Lanxing clutched his throbbing head. “Don’t make any noise!”
Lü Ge froze, then quietly withdrew his head.
There was silence on the line for a few seconds. Lu Yan sniffed: “I wasn’t bothering you. It’s one thing for Dad to treat Brother Chu like his own son, but now you’re yelling at me too. Go date Brother Chu.”
The call ended, and the world suddenly fell silent.
Bai Chunian: “…Huh, was he just talking about me?”
…
Half an hour later, Dr. Han gently pushed open the office door. The room was already filled with poison ivy vines that had grown all the way to the ceiling. Bi Lanxing had his face pressed against the desk, and the vine leaves above his head had wilted.
Dr. Han pulled a disposable syringe from his pocket, tore open the packaging, drew up some diluted compound fertilizer solution, injected it into Bi Lanxing, and patted him on the shoulder: “Hang in there. Remember to pick up your blood test results from the lab later.”
Epilogue (3)
At the ruins of the Hongli City Cultivation Base, Alliance and international police officers were frantically retrieving the test subjects from the rubble. Thanks to the protection of the cultivation chambers, these test subjects—whose cultivation periods had not yet ended—remained unharmed.
These surviving test subjects should actually be retrieved by Institute 109 and then transferred to other breeding bases for management. However, a prior inspection process was required: the Alliance Medical Association needed to verify whether any of the test subjects were infected with the infection agent and whether they posed any adverse effects to the public. Consequently, they were temporarily held until the test results were available, at which point the test subjects would be returned.
Bai Chunian was at the ruins site, assisting the police officers in retrieving the test subjects on behalf of the IOA Special Operations Group’s Search Division. With him there, the retrieval operation proceeded very smoothly. It looked like they’d be able to finish work early today, and the officers were very grateful to him.
After receiving detailed data on the test subjects from Bi Lanxing, Bai Chunian paused to consider the situation, then instructed the officers to split into three teams. Equipped with the appropriate capture gear, they advanced deeper into the ruins.
Some test subjects’ cultivation chambers had been destroyed, or their cultivation timers had reset, causing the chamber doors to open. There were at least eight freely moving test subjects in the ruins, ranging from those in the cultivation phase to those in the mature phase. Fortunately, none of them possessed strong attack capabilities, and with Lan Bo assisting nearby, the capture operation encountered no significant difficulties.
As they emerged from the ruins carrying the temporary, reinforced bio-containers for transporting the test subjects, a BMW pulled up outside the cordon. A female Alpha in a suit stepped out of the car, wearing sunglasses. Facing the reporters, she gently brushed back her red hair, appearing both elegant and slightly impatient.
That was Elaine’s car. With such a major incident occurring, as the current operator of Research Institute 109, Elaine certainly had to make an appearance.
Surrounded by a group of burly bodyguards, Elaine faced the media cameras, her expression a composed mix of grief and anger. She made a point of saying, “I will get to the bottom of this.”
Bai Chunian directed the police officers as they carried the bio-containers, watching from a distance as the hummingbird-like Elaine stepped out of the car and whispered to Lan Bo by her side.
“Look at the bodyguards she’s brought. That tallest one—he’s at least 2.6 meters tall, with blue skin, bulging eyes, and the look of someone with little intelligence—that’s Test Subject 436, codenamed Gagantel, a Class A3 viral zombie test subject. His primary ability is summoning, and he’s one of the two ultra-high-tier test subject bodyguards by Elaine’s side.”
Lan Bo sneered, “Dumb. Ugly.”
“True… he’s no pretty boy. The designer must be someone else. The Imperial Crocodile I met at Berner Pharmaceuticals looked a lot like him—very burly and tall. He might have been created by the same test subject designer.”
They noticed a male Omega who had gotten out of the same car as Aileen. He was around thirty years old, wearing a white researcher’s uniform. His light blue-gray hair was slightly long, loosely tied back with a rubber band. He seemed to have a very good temperament, squinting and smiling faintly at the camera the whole time. He then avoided the reporters’ questions and, without hesitation, crawled over to the edge of the rubble to inspect the failed culture chamber.
“It’s him,” Bai Chunian said softly.
It was intuition—a judgment based on his understanding of researchers.
“Never mind, let’s go say hello before we leave.” Bai Chunian walked toward Ailian, dug a broken-legged stool out of the dirt pile, and placed it in front of her: “You must be tired from walking in high heels, ma’am. Please, have a seat.”
Instantly, all the reporters’ cameras swiveled in that direction.
Eileen’s face turned green as she shot Bai Chunian a cold, mocking glance. “You little brat, just you wait.”
Epilogue (4)
Bai Chunian rode his motorcycle home with Lan Bo. Lan Bo sat sideways on the back seat wearing a helmet, wrapping her arms around his waist, her hands wandering under his Alpha jacket.
Suddenly, she noticed Bai Chunian occasionally reaching into his waistband to rub against something.
Lan Bo glanced sideways at him. “Where does it itch?”
“What are those scales you have embedded near my hip bones for?” Bai Chunian’s ears turned slightly red. “They don’t hurt, but they keep brushing against me whenever I move.”
“The only scales left behind by the Siren when she stepped down, to protect her people,” Lan Bo replied. “I don’t know if they’re actually useful—it’s probably just a made-up story. They’re just for decoration. What do you think?”
“I think…” Bai Chunian pulled the jacket tied around his waist down over his legs and cleared his throat twice. “How should I put this? It’s a bit erotic—the kind that screams ‘controlling.’”
“Is that so?” Lan Bo’s cool arm boldly slid up from beneath the hem of his clothes, lightly brushing against the Alpha’s taut pectoral muscles. “If you like it, I can put one here too.”
“Help me.”
Epilogue (5)
It had been some time since Bai Chunian had transported the test subjects from Hongli City back to headquarters.
According to research by experts from the Medical Association, these incubation chambers functioned much like eggshells, effectively hatching the test subjects. Under the nurses’ meticulous care, the subjects inside the chambers had all reached the end of their incubation period and emerged to breathe fresh air.
With the exception of the centipede and mantis test subjects, there are essentially no highly destructive test subjects among them. Even if they survive at the research institute, they will ultimately become food for the more powerful test subjects, and the doctors are deeply concerned about their future.
Most of them are still in the developmental stage, babbling and unable to speak properly, so much so that the Medical Society’s ward now resembles a kindergarten.
Han Xingqian is currently busy tending to them, observing the habits and behavioral patterns of more test subjects, while Xiao Xun, having fully recovered, continues to assist Dr. Han until he returns to the military base.
Six beds have now been added to each ward, and Xiao Xun makes four rounds a day to ensure these little ones, fresh out of their growth chambers, aren’t getting into trouble.
Pushing open the ward door, Xiao Xun found a dandelion test subject who had accidentally opened the window; the wind had blown half her hair away, and she was crying sadly. Xiao Xun went over to comfort her.
This Dandelion test subject’s ability is “Descent.” As long as she plucks a strand of hair from her head and holds it in her hand, she won’t get hurt no matter how high she jumps from.
Just as Xiao Xun was trying to cheer her up, the Gangyu test subject in the next bed crawled up, gently tugged at Xiao Xun’s clothes, and looked at him pitifully.
The Jade Experiment Subject’s primary ability was “Grinding”; while sleeping, she had ground her teeth so hard that she shredded the bedsheets.
Just as Xiao Xun was at a loss, a pair of dark, lustrous eyes with a metallic sheen gazed at him through the glass door.
Jinluchong walked in carrying the mummy on his back. Under his control, the mummy rolled off his back and cradled Dandelion in his lap to comfort her. Jinluchong sat down on the hospital bed and used white spider silk to mend the sheets that Gangyu had shredded.
With the tricky situation resolved, Xiao Xun stood up, clutching the ward log, walked over to Jin Luchong, and whispered, “Um, thanks.”
Jin Luchong blinked his dark, gleaming eyes at him.
There was a knock on the ward door. Xiao Xun looked up to see Dr. Han waiting outside.
Dr. Han was wearing his uniform as usual, but this lab coat had been freshly laundered and was spotless.
Last month, Xiao Xun had been injured by an infectious agent leaked from a submarine. He hadn’t expected Dr. Han to rush back from the military base just to visit him.
The doctor entered looking disheveled from the journey, still in his uniform. As soon as he stepped inside, he embraced Xiao Xun, only taking off his coat after a while to give him a quick examination.
The concern on his face was genuine, and Xiao Xun could see it. He had originally thought this minor injury was nothing, but now, seeing this, his eyes began to well up.
Dr. Han suddenly leaned in and touched his brow with the horn on his forehead.
The sudden, intimate gesture caused Xiao Xun’s brain to freeze, and he couldn’t help but let his mind wander: “…Why did he take off his white coat? That coat looked so charming on Brother Han… His current emotional state was… Oh no, I can’t focus. My tail—I can’t wag my tail. Hold on, I mustn’t wag my tail.”
But Xiao Xun didn’t know that Dr. Han’s companion ability, the Sacred Beast, was nearby, and that when it touched him with its horn, it could read his memories and his current thoughts.
Han Xingqian couldn’t help but chuckle: “ “The uniform is dirty. Could you wait while I grab a fresh one from the sterilizer?”
Having said that, he actually went to get one. Xiao Xun stood there dumbfounded for a while, repeatedly trying to recall whether he’d just spoken his inner thoughts aloud.
Dr. Han returned wearing a clean uniform, slipping a ballpoint pen into his breast pocket.
“ “By the way, Brother Chu was just here. He mentioned the Lingti Clan’s Selection Ceremony. I was wondering if there’s anything I need to do…”
Before Xiao Xun could finish speaking, the Alpha walking toward him leaned down and kissed the corner of his lips, then wrapped his arms around him.
“Don’t think you’re all grown up yet. If you’re too far away, I won’t be able to save you.”