Chapter 36
"I have no idea."
Only after watching Basil's figure completely disappear did Feng Ran withdraw his gaze and answer softly.
"I was unconscious for a while, and when I woke up the space pirates were gone. It wasn't until Basil appeared and saved me that I found out. That's about it."
Xisen: "I read her treatment report. When she was brought in, there were still residual estazolam drug reactions in her body. She usually takes a lot of suppressive drugs, which can easily cause cumulative neurotoxicity and coma. She probably really has no memory of it."
Shen Shiqian's expression softened: "Does the injury on your arm hurt?"
Feng Ran: "I don't feel anything."
After the anti-inflammatory treatment and bandaging, Enigma's powerful healing ability worked on the wound. The healing and scab formation process was both numb and itchy, so itchy that Fengran wanted to tear it open again, so that it would never heal, always hurt, and always remember this day.
Shen Shiqian: "Just rest well today. I'll arrange for you to be transferred to another hospital tomorrow. I'll feel more at ease having Xisen take care of you."
Feng Ran interrupted him: "So... have the space pirates been caught?"
Her gaze held no hope, no inquiry, only a calm indifference, like a casual remark. But to Shen Shiqian, it was more like a quiet interrogation.
Have the space pirates been caught? Did their scheme, which used abandoning me as a price, have absolutely no effect?
He is the loser in this game.
Shen Shiqian was not afraid to admit his failure, but guilt and resentment tormented him deeply, and he could not say anything to defend himself: "...No, I'm sorry."
Xisen smoothed things over smoothly: "Well, after all, they really had a tough time this time. Although the process was complicated and hard to describe, His Majesty Geno was angry, and the Marshal may be punished for this incident."
Feng Ran remained calm. She glanced at the monitor by the bedside, where her temperature had dropped back to around 37 degrees Celsius. "Doctor, I can transfer to another hospital now."
Nishimori: "Eh? There's no need to be in such a hurry..."
Seeing that the IV drip had finished, Feng Ran pulled out the needle herself. A small amount of blood oozed from the back of her hand, which she pressed down. She shook her head and sat up along the edge of the bed.
Feng Ran staggered to his feet, glancing past Shen Shiqian at Xisen: "Let's go. Basil is my friend, and I don't want to put him in a difficult position."
/
The days in the hospital were boring. Even though Feng Ran's fever had subsided and her wounds were healing well, Xisen still wouldn't let her leave the hospital. Her relationship with Shen Shiqian was as bad as it could get, so she was essentially being entrusted to Xisen in a roundabout way. She just didn't know how Luo Le was doing. Because of the previous signal jamming, her terminal was taken away by Shen Shiqian for research and hasn't been returned yet.
Even in such pain, he still rigorously doubted her. It must be said that he truly lived up to his reputation as Shen Shiqian, remaining as sharp and cautious as ever in this regard. If it weren't for the grudges accumulated from their past lives, they should have gotten along very well.
The Empire's punishment for Shen Shiqian has been announced. His Majesty Geno did not remove him from the position of Grand Marshal, simply because at this juncture, no one was more capable than Shen Shiqian for the position. Even though he made a mistake this time, he still lost half of his military power, and the command of the Third and Fourth Legions fell into the hands of His Majesty and the Speaker of the Council.
Shen Shiqian was promoted from the commander of the Third Army Corps. The Third Army Corps was practically his personal guard, and the current commander of the Third Army Corps, Salo, was his confidant. The army suffered a major overhaul and heavy losses, in addition to the cruel physical punishments inflicted by the military. It is said that he was so badly injured that he should have been the one hospitalized.
Xisen isn't at the hospital all day. He has university classes during the day, occasionally works on projects in the lab, and sometimes gets called to the emergency room for emergency surgery. So, the time he can spend with Fengran is very limited.
Shen Shiqian's plan to arrange for her to be hospitalized for a long time seemed to be to treat her drug accumulation, so every time Xisen came, he would ask her if she felt uncomfortable anywhere and what she thought of the nutritional meals.
To be honest, it tastes terrible, not as good as a nutritional supplement. But the supplement isn't targeted and the nutritional content is just average, so it's been blacklisted. Although this is an important step in conditioning the body, the bland and unappetizing food has made me a bit irritable.
Fortunately, according to Xing Tong's report, Fran and his group finally arrived at Laplace. President Kobana received her "gift" and expressed his willingness to temporarily shelter these "refugees".
The White Star Gathering—a name that exists only in legend. On Laplace, it has a more local name: the Grirah Black Market. For money, you can buy anything you want here: weapons, warships, banned drugs, even human lives. Of course, the black market has its own bargaining system; some items require additional payment based on the seller's demands. It's generally friendly to both buyers and sellers, except for goods.
This is a chaotic and dark corner that harbors filth and corruption, yet it is also safe and reliable, because the lords of the Shax Sector are one of the protectors of this market, and the "goods" handled by the Chairman of the Kobana are especially favored by the upper-class nobles.
Feng Ran went to those places simply because she needed a stable source of energy. To avoid suspicion, she also sold homemade gadgets and electronic components on the black market, pretending she was broke. President Kobana probably thought she had potential and even lent her a laboratory. At that time, she was accompanied by a clueless Imperial spy, but Feng Ran just thought it was a toy given to her by the Empire and pretended not to know anything, focusing on making money.
To her shame, Feng Ran couldn't remember the undercover agent's name anymore. She only remembered that he had blond hair that was somewhat pleasing to the eye, and his appearance was probably quite decent, so it wasn't long before he caught the eye of Chairman Koba. Of course, Feng Ran wouldn't hesitate to share her toys. After all, she was getting tired of the undercover agents' monotonous modus operandi. Anyone who dared to approach her should be prepared to fall into the abyss.
Feng Ran only watched half of the "product's" processing before losing interest. Although the finished product was polished to be alluring and pure, with a dazed and pitiful appearance, she didn't like this lifeless toy. Kobana told her that her toy had found a buyer, a general from the military.
This was probably the funniest news she had heard during that time. Did that undercover agent ever imagine that after all the suffering he endured, he would end up being bought by his own colleague? At the buyer's request, Kobana even performed sex reassignment surgery on the product, implanting artificial glands into the Beta and injecting large amounts of hormones. Even if it couldn't completely transform into an Omega, being able to mark and go into heat would be enough. As for how many years the person would live after the modification? That wasn't their concern.
With seven years remaining until the outbreak of the civil war on Franklin Star, Feng Ran could slowly infiltrate the war through the White Star Assembly, gradually eroding the Empire's territory.
When Xisen came in, Fengran was picking at the scabs on her arm after removing the gauze. She glanced up at Xisen and continued nonchalantly, gently peeling away the tender pink new skin beneath the scab.
"Miss Fengran, I heard you left some food uneaten again today."
"The portion is too much for me to finish."
"That's the amount of nutrition a normal teenager needs to consume every day."
“Normally, teenagers of this age should be attending school.”
Xisen recently got to know Feng Ran a little better and found that this young lady's appearance and behavior were very deceptive. In other people's eyes, she was a beautiful and dignified young lady, but in reality, she was willful, rebellious, and had a sharp tongue. He really didn't know how she and Shen Shiqian could get along, since as far as he knew, that virgin didn't like to talk about such things.
He no longer cares about whether those two are in love or not; he just needs to fulfill his duties.
Xisen: "You seem to be in such good spirits, let's do a pheromone indicator test."
Since they've already broken up, they might as well just become a nominally married couple to avoid making life even harder later on, that's what Xisen thought.
Feng Ran looked at him warily: "Why are you doing this?"
Sissen: "Make some preparations in advance for your second differentiation."
Shen Shiqian can sometimes deceive himself by going against his conscience because he likes Feng Ran, although his feelings are worthless at crucial moments. But Xisen clearly doesn't have that kind of conscience. People who are passionate about academic research are very stubborn and hard to fool.
The willful and rebellious young lady suddenly became uneasy. Without paying attention, she scratched the scar open, and a little blood oozed from the break, filling the air with a strong smell of alcohol.
"What do you mean? Aren't I an Alpha? What do I need to adapt to?"
Sissen approached her with the data collector in hand: "Perhaps we can find out by doing a test."
Feng Ran stood still for a long time before looking up at Xi Sen. Her childish and cunning temper had disappeared, and her eyes were as calm as a deep well. She said.
"Doctor, can I trust you?"
Undeniably, Feng Ran is indeed a very special person. Xi Sen's perception of her is not because Shen Shiqian treats her specially or because there is any ambiguity about her gender, but because she is too smart. Her intelligence and insight are beyond her years, yet she is also stubborn and naive.
Xisen had certainly witnessed other business marriages under the oppression of power, where men and women, objectified and traded, developed long wounds in their hearts, often becoming melancholic. Feng Ran, on the other hand, was more cautious than anyone else, trying her best to stay away from anything that could harm her, like a beautiful and illusory crackled porcelain, both independent and fragile, searching for someone she could trust and rely on.
Even after experiencing betrayal, is the willingness to still try to trust others a sign of resilience or naivety?
Trust should be mutual, shouldn't it?
The young lady blinked, relaxed, gave a dry laugh, and then awkwardly started fidgeting with her hands again.
Feng Ran: "My pheromone level is very high, and my aggressive aura is also very strong. When I first differentiated, I couldn't control the leakage at all. Ordinary isolation was not very effective, so my family gave me a lot of strong inhibitors when I was young."
"Perhaps it's because of the side effects of the medication, I do have some mental illnesses, but I haven't had a detailed examination. Or rather, my family doesn't allow anything that's like a stain to exist, especially since they're very strict with me in this regard because of some things that happened in the past."
"These family scandals get boring after a while. My pharmacology knowledge is all self-taught. Occasionally my condition deteriorates to a very bad point, and I don't have any taboos when I start treating myself. Fortunately, an Alpha's body is strong enough that it seems like it's not too late to start treatment now?"
Xisen... Xisen still insisted on having the pheromone level test. He compromised slightly, opting for blood instead of glandular fluid. His brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly, and he spoke with a bitter expression:
“I shouldn’t comment on other people’s family affairs, but I’m doing this out of professional ethics to help you understand your own body. Besides, when you’re sick and in pain, don’t you have any other thoughts? And you dare to take medicine indiscriminately?”
Feng Ran: "I didn't take any random medications. All my medicines are formulated strictly according to medical and pharmaceutical standards and are specifically targeted to my own constitution."
Xisen also learned her harshness: "Why haven't you healed yourself after so long since you had the miracle drug?"
Feng Ran narrowed his eyes: "Ha, you think you can cure me if I can't? I really don't know who sewed a bow on the incision during an appendectomy and got scolded for it."
Xisen blushed: "These are two different things, and who told you that! I clearly sewed the infinity mark back then!"
Feng Ran rolled his eyes, thinking to himself, "How is this any better?"
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