After days of discussion, the IOA Medical Association proposed a method they believed could effectively suppress the deterioration.
“We’ve been analyzing the videos and photos you sent back with the technical department, and we’ve identified some patterns.” Han Xingqian stood once again at Bai Chunian’s hospital bedside. Over the past few days, Han Xingqian had been closely monitoring Bai Chunian’s condition. After all, as Bai Chunian’s attending physician, Han Xingqian had taken charge of him from the day he arrived at IOA, and ensuring his health was Han Xingqian’s responsibility.
Bai Chunian leaned back in his hospital bed, a laptop resting on his knees. He still had a great deal of work to do; the only tasks he could delegate to Lan Xing were menial chores like writing reports. His eyes were fixed on the screen, but he kept one ear open for Han Xingqian.
“Our colleagues from the laboratory department sent to Hongli City have brought back more detailed data. That pearl…”
Bai Chunian turned his head and glanced at him.
“Sorry. The pearl’s shell contains a significant amount of material genetically identical to Lan Bo’s. The research institute used a bonding agent to forcibly establish a connection between the pearl and the immortal spirit, with the aim of using this material to preserve the spirit’s consciousness after its deterioration.” Han Xingqian said, “So we hypothesize that Lan Bo possesses the same ability, and one that is a thousand or ten thousand times more powerful than the pearl’s. We could try using the same method to keep you lucid when you deteriorate.”
Bai Chunian shook his head: “You haven’t seen how the spirits behave—they’re completely unhinged. That’s definitely not how they’re supposed to act. I’ve discussed this with Lan Bo, and we don’t dare take that risk.”
“That’s why I need the synergy-inducing agent,” Han Xingqian said earnestly. “If we can get our hands on the institute’s synergy-inducing agent, we have an 80% chance of resolving your deterioration.”
Bai Chunian’s eyes lit up. “You really have a way?”
“We’ll do everything we can to save you.” Han Xingqian didn’t want to take credit; the professors at the IOA Medical Society had worked through the night to finalize this plan.
“I suppose so. After all, I’m considered IOA property—they can’t afford to let me go to waste.”
“Bullshit about ‘asset.’ The Search Division can’t function without you. You’re staying on until retirement.” Han Xingqian pressed down on his head and gave it a firm rub. “I’ve already submitted the application to the team leader. The mission order has been approved. We’ll dispatch undercover agents to the institute’s satellite facility to retrieve the pro-fusion factor. In the meantime, you’re staying put in this hospital room.”
“Got it.” Bai Chunian stretched. “I’m so bored—even my missions are being handled by my wife.”
Han Xingqian walked away with the ward log. Bai Chunian lay back down on the bed, licked his canine tooth, and savored the satisfaction of Han Xingqian’s words: “The Investigation Division can’t do without you.”
“I’m here. What are you so happy about?”
Lan Bo’s voice came through the computer speakers.
Bai Chunian pulled up Lan Bo’s live feed: “Wow, you look so cool in that outfit, honey.”
Lan Bo could now maintain human form and wear human clothing. At that moment, he was clad in a black combat uniform emblazoned with the IOA Free Bird logo on the back, a magazine belt strapped around his waist, a leather pistol holster on his right thigh, a water-hardened steel tactical dagger tucked against his left thigh, and a water-hardened steel QBZ assault rifle in his hands.
He had casually tied his slightly wavy, medium-length blond hair back with a small blue plastic fish hair tie given to him by Bai Chunian. Strands of hair on his forehead fluttered wildly in the wind. The form-fitting combat suit hugged the contours of his omega physique, accentuating his lean, toned waist and abdomen, while his legs were straight and long—making him stand out as exceptionally tall even among a crowd of alphas.
This mission was to assist the Alliance Police Department in solving an armed robbery case. The gang consisted of eighteen members who had robbed a traveling gemstone exhibition held at the History Museum. The museum director had sought help from the Alliance Police Department. Since the History Museum was not private property and more than half of the gems on display had been donated by generous nobles, the IOA had made an exception and dispatched agents to assist with the investigation.
However, the IOA agent team was swamped with work, and the Search Division was running nonstop, flying back and forth between domestic and international locations. Even the trainees who had just been promoted couldn’t return from their missions. The few available field agents had been dispatched to investigate the “Promote United” incident, leaving Bai Chunian as the only available agent in the Search Division. Yet Bai Chunian had been ordered by the Medical Association’s doctors not to leave headquarters, so he had no choice but to ask his wife to cover for him.
“Thanks for your hard work, honey.”
“Yeah.”
There was no other way. His little Alpha—just wrap your arms around his waist and act a little spoiled, and he’d forget everything else, agreeing to any request on the spot. Now he’d taken on a pile of troubles for himself and had to hang out with a bunch of strangers. It wasn’t comfortable.
“I’ll bite you when you get back.”
“……” Lan Bo’s cheeks flushed. Bai Chunian spoke through the headset, his voice lazy and trailing off with a playful whine, as if whispering right into his ear—it was utterly captivating.
“It’s a deal.” Lan Bo spread his hand, and a water-based steel magazine materialized in his palm, which he loaded into his rifle. According to long-range reconnaissance by the Golden Eagle officers from the Alliance Police Department, they had already approached the gang’s hideout, so Lan Bo lightened his step.
After years of collaboration, the Alliance officers held the IOA’s search agents in high regard and would never dare to look down on them simply because they were Omegas. No matter the mission, as long as IOA agents were on board, success was guaranteed. Now, as the officers watched Lan Bo ahead of them—his face a mask of disdain as he held his transparent rifle—they dared only to follow cautiously behind, afraid of holding their senior colleague back.
Bai Chunian projected the live feed onto his tablet, shifted his position on the hospital bed, propped two pillows against his chest, and leaned forward, cradling the tablet in both hands. The view on the screen was Lan Bo’s own, with no delay whatsoever.
Lan Bo had already entered an abandoned building on the outskirts of the city. The gang of robbers would be dividing the loot there, removing the gemstones from the jewelry and breaking them down into small pieces to be distributed among their smuggling accomplices for transport out of the country.
The light inside the abandoned building was dim. With his poor eyesight and no fishtail blue light for illumination, Lan Bo couldn’t see clearly.
“It’s okay, just keep moving. I’ll light the way for you.” Bai Chunian put on the external headset. “There’s a cable on your left—don’t trip over it.”
“It’s so dark—can you really see anything?”
“I can hear.”
Intelligence obtained by the Alliance Police Department indicated that this gang of robbers consisted entirely of Alpha Dryad Lizards, possessing exceptional night vision. Such a dark environment worked to their advantage, while the officers were forbidden from turning on their lights to avoid alerting them.
Lan Bo navigated around obstacles following Bai Chunian’s instructions. Although he couldn’t see a thing in the pitch black, Bai Chunian’s guidance had never failed him; he hadn’t even stepped on a single pebble along the way.
“Honey, tilt the camera down a bit.”
“Okay.” Without giving it a second thought, Lan Bo reached up and adjusted the camera tucked inside his collar button.
Holding the tablet, Bai Chunian activated the night vision mode and studied the illuminated screen. His wife’s pecs were so white—he really wanted to take a bite. Her six-pack was gorgeous; the Merfolk were naturally built that way—they didn’t even need to work out.
“Are you looking at something else?” Lan Bo suddenly spoke up, asking in a low voice.
“No, I’m just helping you see the path. It’s so beautiful.” ” Bai Chunian teased him on purpose, rolling over while still holding the tablet.
“Is that so?” Lan Bo chuckled softly, unhooking the camera button from his collar and tucking it into his waistband. “Come see something even better.”
Bai Chunian stared at the suggestive image appearing on the screen, paused for a moment, then bit his lip and buried his flushed face in the crook of his elbow.
“Damn…”
Speechless. Why was it so hard to see Lan Bo blush?
Faint footsteps gradually drifted through his headphones. Bai Chunian’s expression grew slightly serious as he whispered, “Grab the flashbang.”
Lan Bo pulled the flashbang from his belt and clenched it tightly in his hand.
“Keep moving forward. The first door on the right.”
Lan Bo lightened his step and crept closer.
“Open the door, toss it in, then shut it.”
Lan Bo released the safety pin and yanked open the locked steel door with all his might. The doorframe and threshold warped under the force, and the wall cracked and flaked away. He rolled the flashbang inside, then turned and slammed the door shut.
Bai Chunian instantly pulled off his headset to block out the buzzing sound of the flashbang’s explosion, then put it back on: “Go in.”
Lan Bo swung open the steel door. Inside, a man was covering his eyes—stung by the flashbang—and firing wildly. The chaotic, piercing gunfire echoed through the empty, dark space.
Bai Chunian’s hearing was a hundred times sharper than his vision; he rarely used night vision equipment during close-quarters combat. At that moment, he simply closed his eyes, listening intently to distinguish the chaotic noise coming through his headset.
“Get down. There’s a sofa for cover to your left. To the left front of the sofa, there’s a guy with a submachine gun. Take him out.”
Lan Bo crouched down and quickly moved behind the sofa. He poked his gun barrel out, piercing the man’s sleeve. A幽 blue electric current surged through the liquid steel into the man’s body, causing him to convulse as if electrocuted before collapsing onto the sofa.
If he’d been trying to silence them, Lan Bo wouldn’t have gone to all this trouble. Unfortunately, the police department required him to take them alive—and he couldn’t let the leader get away. It was incredibly frustrating.
“Get up and run. Get behind the safe on your right. Take out the guy with the AK.”
Lan Bo grabbed the robber he’d just electrocuted and used him as a human shield, dashing through the darkness to the back of the safe. Behind the safe stood an M2-level Alpha. Although his vision recovered faster than that of an ordinary person, Lan Bo had already crept up on him silently. He raised his dagger and slashed across the man’s neck; a powerful electric current caused his body to stiffen and convulse, and he eventually passed out.
Chaos erupted in the room where the loot was being divided. Suddenly, amid the barrage of gunfire, Bai Chunian heard the faintest sound of shattering glass.
“Someone’s escaped. Leave the ones inside to the Alliance Police. Go after the one who jumped out the window.”
Alliance police officers also stormed into the room, wielding riot shields and shotguns, shouting orders.
Lan Bo smashed through the glass and leaped out. Sure enough, a robber was fleeing with a portable safe. He was Gecko Alpha, possessing the innate ability to walk on walls, and he was running at breakneck speed down the vertical exterior wall of the building.
The robber sprinted forward like a madman, trying to shake off Lan Bo, glancing back from time to time. After running several hundred meters, he looked back again—only to find that the figure hot on his heels had suddenly vanished.
Just as he thought he’d escaped with his life, a cold-blue fishtail suddenly shot up before his eyes. Lan Bo’s true form appeared before him, using electricity to attach itself to the steel reinforcements inside the building. The fishtail wrapped around the robber’s leg, and a long gash split the corner of its mouth as it opened its blood-red maw, revealing rows of sharp, dense teeth.
“Aaaah—! ” Terrified by this monstrous creature, the ringleader fainted on the spot. His grip loosened, and the briefcase filled with gems slipped from his grasp, plummeting from the height.
Lan Bo swiftly scrambled downward, flinging the unconscious ringleader back into the room with his tail. His body transformed into a streak of lightning as he darted downstream, reaching out with an open palm to grab the briefcase’s handle.
A tanned hand beat him to it, seizing the briefcase as a dark figure landed steadily on the narrow ledge.
Lan Bo landed on the ground as well, emitting an electromagnetic hum.
“Hand it over.” Lan Bo looked up, scrutinizing his opponent coldly with a hostile glare.
Black Panther stood on the narrow ledge above the wall, the hem of his black trench coat fluttering slightly in the wind. His ring-adorned index finger gently unfastened the suitcase’s clasp. He rummaged through the pile of gems inside for a moment, selecting the largest ruby from the collection. He held it in his hand, examined it against the light, then closed the suitcase and tossed it back to Lan Bo.
“I’m sorry. I was asked to take this as a temporary measure; I will certainly reimburse you for its full value later.”
The ruby he had selected weighed a full 1,250 carats. It was the highlight of this touring exhibition—uncut and unmounted, shaped like a heart.