Chapter 51.2

“Stop arguing, stop arguing! Please don’t fight because of me anymore!”

Xiang Bie: “…”

Wei Li: “…”

Wei Li stared blankly at Xiang Bie. “Is that… the director’s voice?”

Xiang Bie remained silent as he turned the corner into the ward area, taking in the scene before him.

Seeing Brother Xiang and Brother Wei finally arrive, Mu Ling let out a sigh of relief. “Brother Xiang, Brother Wei , quickly! Moonlight’s food—it’s starving and going crazy. It might attack someone! I tried to get it food, but Lingren wouldn’t let me leave. Then they started fighting, and I couldn’t stop them no matter what I said.”

Xiang Bie: “…”

Wei Li: “…”

Xiang Bie could tell Mu Ling was genuinely panicked. He exhaled deeply, stowing the tranquilizer gun, then exchanged a glance with Wei Li.

Wei Li quickly went outside to fetch Moonlight’s food bowl. When he returned, he cautiously approached the cage and placed it inside at an angle.

“Roar, roar!” But Moonlight wouldn’t touch the food. Instead, it kept slamming the bars with its paws, growling angrily at the white fox across from it.

The white fox clung even tighter to Mu Ling’s arm, as if terrified of losing “her” again. Its cries grew more shrill and piercing, filled with fear: “Gah! Gah!”

Wei Li shivered. “Director, Moonlight isn’t eating.”

Mu Ling was sweating with anxiety. “What should we do?”

Wei Li asked, “What exactly did you do?”

Mu Ling: “…”

Mu Ling suddenly felt guilty. After hesitating, she decided to confess: “Well, since Lingren’s mental state has been off lately, I figured if it can’t tell a toy dog from a real one, it probably can’t distinguish between me and Loyalty either. Loyalty is its childhood friend—a mastiff. At first, I thought about pretending to be its master, but I only learned a few commands from Lieutenant Colonel Song, and I can’t mimic military habits convincingly. After thinking it through, I decided it would be easier to pretend to be the mastiff, so I told Lingren I was Loyalty.”

Xiang Bie: “…”

Wei Li: “…”

Wei Li was dumbfounded. So that explained why the director had been barking all morning—she was pretending to be a dog to trick a fox!

“Then what happened?” he asked.

Mu Ling looked delighted. “It worked! Lingren actually believed me. Look, it won’t even let me leave now!”

Wei Li glanced at the pitiful white fox clinging to Mu Ling like its last lifeline and didn’t know what to say. “So now, Director, you’ve become a mastiff substitute?”

Mu Ling: “…”

Xiang Bie: “…”

Confused, Mu Ling turned to Brother Wei. “What?”

For some reason, the word “substitute” suddenly made things feel a bit strange.

Wei Li pointed at Moonlight. “And what’s wrong with him?”

“It probably woke up because of our noise and got angry,” Mu Ling explained.

“It doesn’t look like it’s just angry from being woken up,” Wei Li said slowly. “It seems… jealous.”

Mu Ling: “…”

Wei Li scrutinized Mu Ling again, his tone turning sarcastic. “Some people just can’t help pretending to be online romance streamers and also act as stand-in lovers; there seems to be quite a problem here.”

Mu Ling: “…”

This was getting ridiculous. Maybe they should just fire Brother Wei instead.

What was he even talking about?

But she had no time to argue with Brother Wei; she was about to go crazy from all the noise. “You both should leave. Your presence seems to be making them more agitated.”

The sudden influx of people in the ward had indeed made both the white fox and white bear more nervous. Especially Moonlight—with Wei Li standing right outside its cage, its door-banging grew even louder.

Moreover, Lingren was becoming increasingly unsettled, its claws digging into Mu Ling’s arm as his body trembled violently.

Xiang Bie and Wei Li left the ward area. Only after it quieted down did the fox and bear finally lower their voices.

Mu Ling called out softly, “Moonlight, eat your food.”

When Moonlight refused to eat and continued making noise, Mu Ling raised her voice: “Moonlight, eat your food, quickly eat your food, Moonlight eat your food!”

The persistent coaxing finally wore down the bear’s resistance.

Eventually, it obeyed and approached the food bowl, taking a bite of meat.

Mu Ling then turned to Lingren, whose condition seemed worse. She softened her voice even more: “Lingren, sweetheart, let me come in and hold you properly, okay? This position isn’t very comfortable.”

When Mu Ling tried to withdraw her arm, the white fox immediately held on tighter, making anxious “gah-gah” sounds in its throat, as if terrified that once she left, she would never return.

But this time Mu Ling didn’t soften. She pulled her arm free in one quick motion and, before the fox could screech, quickly circled to the front door, opened the cage, and slipped inside.

Seeing her enter completely, the white fox startled and retreated backward.

Mu Ling crouched down, adjusted her protective suit, and beckoned to it, making mastiff sounds: “Ying ying, ying ying.”

Immediately, the deceived fox bounded over.

Mu Ling caught it in her arms, and the hefty fox curled into a ball against her, whimpering continuously: “Ying ying, ying ying.”

“Gah gah, gah gah!”

It made several different sounds, showing that its emotions were too complex for a single type of cry to express.

Thanks to her training with Tayun, Mu Ling could now easily carry a twenty-pound eagle with one hand, so holding a fox weighing just over ten pounds was nothing. Like soothing a child, she bounced the white fox gently while walking around the cage, comforting it: “Don’t be afraid anymore, don’t be afraid, our Lingren isn’t afraid anymore.”

Across from them, Moonlight had eaten half its food and couldn’t continue. It sat in front of its bowl, dark eyes fixed on their side.

Mu Ling: “…”

Feeling guilty under his stare, she carried Lingren out of the cage and walked to Moonlight’s cage, coaxing, “Moonlight, continue eating, be good.”

The command made the bear lower its head and resume eating.

But after finishing his meal, Moonlight picked up his toy bear from the ground and retreated to the corner.

Strange…

This time he hadn’t picked up his bowl after eating.

Mu Ling watched as Moonlight seemed to revert to his previous withdrawn state, turning to face the corner and curling into a tight ball.

He was truly upset this time.

Mu Ling felt helpless. She sat outside the cage, gently soothing Lingren with one hand while looking at Moonlight, calling out, “Moonlight, Lingren is sick. I can’t ignore him. If I don’t take care of him, he might die—just like you might have if I hadn’t taken care of you before. Isn’t that right?”

Because it kept hearing its name, the curled-up bear’s ear tips twitched slightly.

“Moonlight,” she called again, “can you come over here? Come sit next to me.”

Moonlight understood the “come here” command, but he didn’t move.

“Moonlight, our world’s most adorable, most precious Moonlight, the one I love most, won’t you come keep me company?”

The repeated mentions of his name, along with the word “love,” finally stirred the pointy-muzzled bear. He picked up his toy and took two steps forward.

Mu Ling smiled encouragingly. “Come.”

Finally, the bear sat beside Mu Ling, just like when they slept last night, separated only by the bars. It pushed his nose through the gaps to sniff her arm.

Mu Ling freed one hand to pat his nose.

With one hand gone, Lingren suddenly felt less secure. The white fox immediately burrowed deeper into Mu Ling’s embrace, wedging its head under her arm.

Mu Ling: “…”

This position was somewhat… improper.

But it wasn’t good to adjust now, so Mu Ling could only hold Lingren with one arm, patting its back, while using her other hand to stroke the bear, soothing both their emotions.

The ward area, which had been chaotic all morning, finally quieted down. Mu Ling let out a relieved sigh, murmuring sincerely, “Having two children really isn’t easy.”

*

Meanwhile, across the galaxy in the Federation Capital Star, Chai Yunyue had made dozens of communication attempts, but Brother Xiang’s number from last night remained powered off.

“You’re killing me here!” Chai Yunyue was cursing and about to try calling from a different number when suddenly there was a knock on his office door.

Chai Yunyue set down his light brain device and called out, “Come in.”

The office door opened, and his subordinate entered respectfully. “Director, I’ve gathered all the materials you requested about the terrorist attack on Xuangu Star from a year ago.”

The subordinate placed a document on the desk. Chai Yunyue picked it up and reviewed it, raising an eyebrow at the end. “There’s been no trace of that traitor since then?”

The subordinate nodded. “The Security Bureau has been searching but hasn’t found anything. They probably changed their identity.”

Chai Yunyue set down the materials. “What about that mastiff? Such a conspicuous target, and they can’t find it either?”

The subordinate shook his head. “Mastiffs aren’t rare breeds, and quite a few circulate in the black market, so it’s not easy to track. However, I did find something else.”

“What is it?”

The subordinate produced another document.

Chai Yunyue opened it and frowned as he read. “Shenwang Star, Major Chang, reported large numbers of low-level and mid-level infected mutant beasts in the back mountains of Bi Ke Forest on Shenwang Star?”

The subordinate explained, “This report only arrived at Military Headquarters a few days ago. Because it was a routine patrol report, it almost got filed away directly. I only found it by chance while investigating the Xuangu Star aftermath. After those rebels attacked Xuangu Star, they fled in the direction of Shenwang Star. While there’s no direct evidence they went to Shenwang Star, in less than a year, Shenwang Star’s largest primitive forest suddenly has large numbers of mutant beasts. This doesn’t seem like a coincidence.”

The subordinate continued, “Major Chang also wrote that Shenwang Star’s garrison organizes mountain-clearing operations every year. Last year’s operation only found seven or eight low-level infected mutant beasts, which was a normal proportion. But this year it suddenly increased several dozen times. How could so many mutant beasts appear in just one year? I suspect they might have been deliberately bred.”

Chai Yunyue frowned as he reviewed both documents again, then nodded after a while. “Good work. Come on, let’s go see the President.”

The subordinate was startled. “Does this case need the President’s personal attention?”

“It wouldn’t normally.”

But since this lead came from Brother Xiang himself—it warranted showing off to the President!

Thinking of Brother Xiang, Chai Yunyue suddenly felt triumphant.

Everyone said Brother Xiang was finished, that he was hiding because he knew he was incompetent, that he had become a coward. But how could Brother Xiang be incompetent?

When Brother Xiang suddenly called him last night, he knew something was off, especially when Brother Xiang mysteriously asked about Xuangu Star.

Sure enough, Brother Xiang was clearly trying to give him a hint, telling him to investigate Xuangu Star.

Look what he found—the rebels’ next target planet was very likely Shenwang Star.

Such a great achievement, and Brother Xiang had just handed it to him.

Chai Yunyue smiled again. He knew it—his Brother Xiang was far-sighted. Even though he wasn’t directly involved anymore, he still knew everything about the Federation’s political and military situations, and was capable of anything.

A lead that even Military Headquarters hadn’t detected, he already knew about it. His Brother Xiang was truly omniscient.