Military headquarters.

After the routine check, Lu Xinghe was about to leave when Shen Ni suddenly appeared and called him aside.

"What's wrong?" Lu Xinghe asked.

Shen Ni looked at him: "Some people say that you and Du Lu deliberately didn't board the plane, is that true?"

“No,” Lu Xinghe replied calmly.

"No? Then why did you turn back when you were almost catching up with the plane? Wasn't it to save those two test subjects?" Shen Ni asked again.

Lu Xinghe remained silent, because Shen Ni's question indicated that he already possessed evidence.

And that day, when he was about to catch up with the plane, he saw Luo Ning lying on the ground, about to be trampled to death by the alien species. He suddenly remembered that in a beast tide that was even more turbulent and powerful, she had rushed back without hesitation and grabbed his hand.

So at the last moment, he turned and walked towards her.

But what he didn't expect was that Du Luan and Xiao Ruo would come with him.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Shen Ni understood: "You've finally fallen for her."

Lu Xinghe frowned. What did he mean by "in the end"?

"The disciplinary department will probably contact you and Du Lu tomorrow. Think about how to take responsibility." Shen Ni said, then left with a look of disappointment.

Lu Xinghe watched his departing figure. He didn't care about any punishment; he only cared about whether he would lose him.

After returning to his dorm, he quickly took a shower and changed into clean clothes before going out, not knowing what Luo Ning wanted to discuss with him.

Meanwhile, Luo Ning was sitting with the military personnel, recounting her experiences living with Lu Xinghe and An Xiaoruo over the past few days. Even though she was telling the truth, she could still sense that the military personnel still considered her their "caretaker."

After the military personnel left, she checked the time: 7:50. Lu Xinghe would be arriving in ten minutes.

She was a little nervous, but when she saw the medical staff in the living room collecting Wen Xi's blood for An Xiaoruo, she suppressed her nervousness and walked towards Wen Xi.

The staff put the blood bags away, and Luo Ning poured a glass of water for Wen Xi: "Are you feeling unwell anywhere?"

Wen Xi smiled and said, "Don't always worry about me, this little bit of blood is really nothing."

Luo Ning noticed a layer of rouge on her face, which did make her look healthy, but she shouldn't have such a good complexion after losing blood.

"Drink some of my blood." Luo Ning took the knife and prepared to give her blood to Wen Xi.

But Wenxi grabbed her hand and said, "Really, there's no need. They already gave me blood to drink."

“Those animal bloods are no good, drink mine instead,” Luo Ning said.

“It’s not animal blood, it’s human blood, and you have some too.” Wen Xi pointed to the blood bag next to her.

Luo Ning opened the blood bag with some skepticism. It did indeed smell like human blood, and it was very fresh. It seemed that the base was taking this matter very seriously.

"Then I'll give you this bag too, since you're pregnant," Luo Ning said, controlling herself.

"I'm not hungry anymore, just a little tired. I'll go back and rest now," Wen Xi said, standing up.

Luo Ning helped her into the room and covered her with the blanket: "Then you should rest well. I won't let you work so hard in the future."

After leaving Wenxi's room, she heard the sound of a car outside the villa, followed by the voices of people from the Genetics Department asking questions; the person she was waiting for had arrived.

When Lu Xinghe pushed open the door and walked in, he saw Luo Ning standing under the flowering tree, her face flushed with a faint pink hue. He couldn't tell if the blush on her face was from the color of the flowers.

The dim light illuminated the flowers and her, creating a scene reminiscent of a beautiful dream.

He involuntarily stopped in his tracks.

Luo Ning looked at him too. He stood clean and tall in front of her, and her heart started to pound again, not because she wanted to have a child with him, but because of him.

She composed herself and smiled at him nervously, "You're here."

Lu Xinghe nodded and walked over: "Are you getting used to living here?"

Luo Ning made a soft gesture: "Wen Xi is already asleep, let's... go into the room to talk."

"Okay." Lu Xinghe lowered his voice and followed her into the room.

The room was large, clean and tidy, with a vase of freshly picked magnolia flowers on the white bedside table, and a delicate fragrance permeated the air.

"Sit down." Luo Ning pointed to the chair by the bed and then sat down on the bed herself.

Lu Xinghe sat down in the chair. Although the two of them had shared a room for a long time before, it was always in his room. This time, however, it was in her room.

He sensed that she had something important to say, so he looked at her intently.

Luo Ning took a deep breath: "I heard from the medical department today that Xiao Ru's condition is currently unstable and she still needs a constant supply of blood."

"Yes, I've heard about that too. The Gene Department is working hard to develop the drug, so Xiao Ru will be fine," Lu Xinghe replied.

Luo Ning rubbed her hands together: "But there's no set timeframe. Wen Xi is pregnant and not in good health, so she might need other blood sources to supplement Xiao Ruo."

Lu Xinghe was taken aback. Other bloodlines? Did she mean another mutant like Wen Xi, who was pregnant, would appear?

But right now, she's the only one in the entire base who has that possibility.

So... this is why she called him here tonight?

His heart skipped a beat.

Although he had countless romantic dreams about her and wanted to get closer to her and possess her, he was also very clear that her feelings for him had not reached that point yet, and she was only doing this to save An Xiaoruo.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Luo Ning thought that she hadn't made herself clear: "Wen Xi has already helped me a lot. She's pregnant now, and I'm worried about her health, so... so maybe I can..."

Before she could finish speaking, the room suddenly went dark; the base had lost power again.

The room was pitch black. Outside, there could be the sound of footsteps from the Genetics Department, but they did not enter the villa; they were merely patrolling outside the wall.

Moonlight slowly filtered through the curtains, softly spreading across the room, where the sound of each other's breaths could be heard.

"So maybe I can conceive a child. I heard that this can't be done through technology and can only be achieved through natural conception. Maybe we... we can start that plan again." Luo Ning finally said the last sentence.

However, Lu Xinghe remained silent. In the dim light, she could see that he was also looking at her.

His eyes were as calm as a clear spring.

She suddenly felt a little lost. She thought he would agree. He cared about An Xiaoruo so much that he was willing to give up his life for her. Moreover, he was going to implement the breeding program at first, which is why he kissed her in the laboratory.

But why isn't he saying anything now?

After a long while, Lu Xinghe finally moved his body: "You want to save Xiao Ruo, so you want to get pregnant like Wen Xi?"

"Hmm." Luo Ning responded softly. She suddenly wanted to take back what she had just said and pretend that nothing had happened, but words spoken are words that cannot be taken back, and she had no other choice.

"Okay, for Xiaoruo." Lu Xinghe's voice seemed to come from a very distant place.

He stood up and slowly unbuckled the belt on his uniform, then the metal buttons, one by one.

He took off his stiff uniform jacket, and his long, slender fingers unbuttoned his shirt, revealing his strong and well-proportioned body.

Luo Ning watched his actions. Everything was going according to her plan, but for some reason, seeing Lu Xinghe like this, she felt like she had made a mistake.

"Don't take it off." She grabbed his hand, her voice trembling slightly. "Just pretend I didn't say anything. I'm sorry... don't take it to heart. Just forget about today."

Then she ran out of the room as if fleeing and went to the second-floor platform, where she squatted in a corner, breathing heavily.

Lu Xinghe stood there, his eyes lowered, his fingers resting on the last button of his shirt. Watching her flee in panic, he paused for a moment, then buttoned up the shirt one button at a time.

Luo Ning heard him walk out of the room. He stood in the courtyard for a long time without making a sound. She mustered up her courage and looked down, only to find that he was looking in her direction. He knew she was hiding here.

She immediately crouched down again, like a thief afraid of being discovered.

After a while, he left.

"What have I done?" she cried, clutching her head in frustration, her face burning hot enough to fry an egg.

Hearing the noise, Wen Xi went upstairs to the second floor and saw Luo Ning squatting in a corner. She walked over and asked softly, "What's wrong?"

Luo Ning touched her burning face, trying to cool it down: "It's nothing, why aren't you asleep?"

"I heard you suddenly run upstairs and thought something had happened to you, so I came to check on you. What brings you here, Major Lu?" Wen Xi asked.

"I...it's nothing." Luo Ning found it hard to say.

Seeing her sad expression, Wen Xi sat down next to her and asked, "Do you want to have a child with Major Lu?"

Luo Ning was taken aback: "You heard everything?"

Wen Xi shook her head: "I won't deliberately listen to what you're saying. I'm just guessing. You're so worried about Xiao Ruo and you always feel sorry for me. Given your personality, you would definitely do this."

Seeing that Wen Xi had guessed it all, Luo Ning sighed softly, "I think I made a mistake, but I have no other way to help you."

"Then why did you stop? You left Major Lu there all alone," Wen Xi asked, puzzled.

"I...I thought he would agree. Although he did agree, he didn't say anything and just took off his clothes. I felt like I did something wrong, so I ran away." Luo Ning sighed again after speaking, as if a heavy stone was pressing on her heart.

Wen Xi stared straight at her after hearing this.

"Are you looking at me like that because you think I'm stupid?" Luo Ning asked with a mournful face. If even Wen Xi thought she was wrong, then she must be wrong.

However, Wen Xi looked at her with pity and said, "Luo Ning, you've fallen for Major Lu."

Luo Ning's eyes widened for a moment, then she hurriedly denied it: "How could that be? I only... I only did it to save Xiao Ruo, I..."

"You fell in love with him, which is why you stopped the whole thing, because you were worried that he didn't like you back."

Luo Ning was stunned. Had she fallen in love with Lu Xinghe?

“I only see him as a younger brother, how could I like him?” she tried to deny herself.

“But you also know clearly that he is not your brother, and if you really considered him your brother, you wouldn’t have asked him to do this. I heard that Meng Ting and you have a high genetic match, so you can ask him too, can’t you?” Wen Xi understood.

Luo Ning fell silent. In this matter, she hadn't even thought of Meng Ting; her first thought was Lu Xinghe.

As for Lu Xinghe, he probably doesn't like her, which is why he's so cold towards her.

“The human heart can always fall into a sweet dream without realizing it, and is unwilling to wake up,” Wen Xi said softly, a faint sadness in her eyes.

Luo Ning remained silent for a long time. Her mind was in complete chaos. She didn't know if Wen Xi was right or if she had really fallen for Lu Xinghe.

In the early spring night breeze, the two were each lost in their own thoughts, but even the spring breeze could not understand their feelings.

The next day, Luo Ning woke up with a headache. It was the first time she had experienced a headache without being injured since she acquired the alien body.

As she went into the bathroom to wash up, she looked at herself in the mirror and thought of how Lu Xinghe had unbuttoned her clothes one by one last night. She felt melancholy again, wondering how she would face him in the future.

After washing up, she opened the door and went out. There were already three unfamiliar men and women waiting for her in the living room.

"Miss Luo, we are from the Department of External Relations. We're here to take you to the department." The person who came said politely.

"External Production Department?" Luo Ning didn't know about this department.

The visitor replied, "It's the External Life Research Department, mainly responsible for the psychological and behavioral research of alien species. This time, they want to understand how you got along with An Xiaoruo back then."

"Oh, okay, let's go." Luo Ning was also willing to cooperate with this research. Now she and Wen Xi were both able to be friendly to people, and perhaps other alien species were the same.

The vehicle drove towards the research center and soon arrived near the command center. She followed the researchers to a two-story building. Suddenly, to the right of the building was Lu Xinghe's dormitory. Although she didn't know if he still lived there, she lowered her head.

When she got to the bottom of the building, she saw Meng Ting again. She tried to pretend she didn't see him, but to her surprise, Meng Ting greeted her first: "Luo Ning."

She forced a smile: "What are you doing here?"

The eighteen-year-old boy's eyes also held a smile: "I'll be in charge of security here."

"Is Yao Cheng feeling any better?"

"He's fine, he'll recover after a while."

Luo Ning nodded: "Then you go ahead and do your work, I'll go upstairs first."

“Okay.” Meng Ting stepped forward and helped her open the door.

Even after Luo Ning went inside, the boys' eyes remained fixed on her retreating figure.

"Is it pretty?" Lu Xinghe's voice suddenly rang out.

Meng Ting immediately snapped out of his daze and saluted Lu Xinghe: "Major Lu."

"What did she just say to you?" Lu Xinghe asked, looking somewhat uneasy.

"She didn't say anything, just asked how Yao Cheng was doing," Meng Ting answered truthfully.

Is that all?

“Yes.” Meng Ting asked, puzzled. Was there something else?

"You don't need to stay here today. Go help out at the military headquarters. I'll arrange for someone else to come," Lu Xinghe ordered.

Although Meng Ting didn't want to leave, Lu Xinghe was his superior, and he had to obey all his orders.

"Yes," he replied, then glanced at the research institute again before turning and leaving.

Lu Xinghe also looked in the direction where Luo Ning disappeared. He knew her feelings for An Xiaoruo, and he was not the only option.