"CRASH!"
Kloer kicked open the door to the dical room. The old door, nearly overwheld by the force, teetered on its hinges.
This was the only dical room on the worksite, and it had only one doctor.
The doctor, Jeff, was dozing on a dical bed, and the trendous noise of the door being kicked open startled him awake.
Jeff rolled over and sat up, looking toward the pitch-black doorway.
The power had gone out at the worksite ten minutes ago. Every ti the defense wall was attacked by the Mutant Species, the voltage would beco unstable. This was because all the electricity was being diverted to the electric grid on the wall.
Before Jeff could even react, a Beastman who rushed in, reeking of blood, shoved him off the dical bed.
"Still sleeping?! Get a Healing Potion, now!" Kloer said urgently.
Jeff quickly glanced at Kloer and the other Beastn, his gaze landing on the... Mixed Breed in one of the Beastn’s arms.
"What’s wrong with it?" Jeff asked, snapping back to his senses as he went to grab a dical kit from the shelf.
Kloer turned on his terminal for light. "Not sure. Probably injured."
It had been chaotic on the wall; Mutant Species were relentlessly attacking them. This wave was especially vicious, and a few of them even broke through the inner defensive line. They had just gotten into an elevator when a Mutant Species pecked it into disrepair. Not long after, a massive power outage hit the entire worksite, and they had to use a zipline to get down from the wall in the end.
On the way down, Kloer had been so focused on protecting Gu Ning that he hadn’t had a chance to check her for injuries.
As he spoke, he said to Jite, the Beastman holding Gu Ning, "Take its clothes off and check for wounds."
Jite and his companion, Seth, exchanged a look. Alex had specifically instructed them not to let anyone get too close to the little Mixed Breed, and especially not to touch its gear.
"What are you standing there for?" Kloer demanded when he saw Jite just standing there, and he reached out to take Gu Ning.
Seth put a hand on Kloer’s chest, stopping him from getting closer.
Kloer frowned. "What’s wrong with you two?"
He’d felt sothing was off back on the wall, but with the Mutant Species attacking, he hadn’t given it much thought and had simply handed Gu Ning over to them.
’These two young wolves usually follow Alex around, so it’s normal for them to know Gu Ning. But this protective stance...’
’It really made him wonder again if Gu Ning was one of Alex’s relatives.’
"Who needs treatnt?"
Doctor Jeff asked, holding an opened Healing Potion.
All three Beastn were wounded, their blood dripping onto the floor.
Kloer pointed at the unconscious Gu Ning. "It!"
Hearing this, Jeff approached Gu Ning with the Healing Potion, only for Seth to push him away as well.
Kloer’s expression darkened. "Seth, if you keep this up, I’m done being nice."
Seth glanced at the faintly breathing little Mixed Breed, his expression hesitant.
’He’d already contacted Alex, but Alex was still in a eting at the southern fortification base, and he didn’t know when he’d be back. Should they just give the little Mixed Breed the shot?’
’If sothing happened to it, they’d be in for it.’
Jite was thinking the sa thing. After a mont of consideration, he placed the little Mixed Breed on the old dical bed.
Kloer moved to check Gu Ning for wounds, but as soon as he reached out, Jite grabbed his hand.
Just then, Jeff injected the Healing Potion into Kloer’s arm.
Kloer: "...Why did you inject ? Treat it, not ."
"This potion is for external injuries. Its symptoms don’t look like an external injury," Jeff said. He glanced at the deep, gaping wound on Kloer’s back before walking over to the little Mixed Breed and reaching out to feel for its carotid artery.
Jite and Seth moved to stop him, but when they saw that Jeff only placed his fingers on the little Mixed Breed’s neck and did nothing more, they lowered their hands.
As his fingertips touched the scorching hot, soft skin, Jeff’s expression faltered.
The carotid artery was beating rapidly, accompanied by the little Mixed Breed’s ragged breaths.
Now that the three Beastn had stopped arguing, the sound of its breathing beca much clearer.
’The temperature is a bit high, but that’s within the normal range for a Mixed Breed. It’s the pulse and breathing that are off. It’s almost like...’
Jeff imdiately pulled out a dical scanner to scan the little Mixed Breed. Less than half a minute later, the physical examination data was displayed.
He looked at the mutation value on the scanner: 25%
Seeing such a low mutation value, Jeff relaxed. ’Thank goodness. It’s not about to mutate.’
Kloer leaned in. "How is it? What exactly is wrong with it?"
"I need to check sothing else." Jeff’s gaze fell on the little Mixed Breed’s face. He could see in the dark, though not as clearly as he could in normal light.
He saw the little Mixed Breed was wearing a mask and reached out to pull it down, thinking it would help it breathe more easily.
Just as his fingers touched the mask, he heard the sound of urgent footsteps from the doorway.
Kloer and the others all turned to look at the doorway.
"Boss! You’re here!"
Seeing Alex return, Jite and Seth both breathed a sigh of relief.
When Alex saw the small figure lying on the dical bed, he strode over with a terrible expression and shoved Jeff aside.
"Alex?" Jeff was surprised to see him.
’Shouldn’t he be busy with the mission handover to the military right now?’
"Boss, it’s not injured," Jite said quickly, sensing the oppressive aura emanating from Alex. "The blood on it is ours and from the Mutant Species."
Alex slowly exhaled. "I can sll that. You’ve all worked hard. Go get so rest."
"Boss, why are you back?" Kloer asked. "The eting..."
"All of you, get out!" Alex snapped.
Kloer froze. He had rarely seen Alex this furious.
Seth and Jite exchanged a look and reached out to pull Kloer along.
Kloer was completely bewildered, but he followed Seth and Jite out.
Jeff hadn’t left yet. He glanced at Alex’s expression, then turned to the dicine cabinet. "It seems to have a fever. I’ll get so fever-reducing dication."
With a grim expression, Alex reached out to check on Gu Ning. His hand felt a patch of cold, damp clothing, and he imdiately moved to take off her wet clothes.
"Doctor Jeff, could you please step outside?" Seeing that Jeff was still there, Alex paused and said, "Please send her dical report to . You can give the dicine to Jite later."
"Alright." Jeff put down the dicine, left the dical room without another word, and even thoughtfully closed the door behind him.
’He’d heard long ago that Alex had a Mixed Breed relative with him, and it seed to be true.’
Jeff grumbled to himself, ’This little Mixed Breed is so weak. No wonder Alex keeps it by his side; it probably wouldn’t survive otherwise.’
’It was the first ti he’d ever seen a Mixed Breed’s high temperature be caused by a fever rather than mutation.’
Hearing the door close, Alex first took off Gu Ning’s mask.
Without the mask obstructing her, Gu Ning unconsciously took a long deep breath and exhaled. Her breathing began to settle after a few more long breaths.
"I’m here. I’m here now," Alex murmured, caressing the little female’s feverish cheek.
His only answer was Gu Ning’s irregular breathing and occasional shivers.
Seeing her in this state, Alek instantly understood that she had been sick since earlier in the day.
’How could I have been so careless?’
Alex cursed himself inwardly and quickly stripped off all of Gu Ning’s wet clothes.
Even though Jite had said she wasn’t injured, he still couldn’t rest easy until he’d checked her entire body for wounds himself.
...No wounds.
Alex silently took off his jacket, wrapped the little female’s feverish body in it, and then picked her up.
He stood frozen for a mont before slowly tightening his arms around the little female, lowering his head to press his cheek against her soft, burning one.
’No wounds...’
’But her identity was now set in stone.’
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