The tall tower stood majestically in the center of S District, its glass windows reflecting a pale golden light that fell on Li Po’s cool, clear eyes.

He stood in the middle of the room, glancing around with a somewhat complex feeling.

After all, having witnessed two contamination parasitism incidents in such a short period was truly a strange stroke of luck.

“Sit.”

Li Po tilted his head slightly, glanced at Jiang Yu, and obediently sat down on the sofa.

This time, he didn’t speak first. He just quietly lowered his head and sat there in silence. From this angle, Li Po could see the gaps between the white tiles. If he raised his eyes a bit, he could even see Jiang Yu’s pure black military boots.

The black laces were tied diagonally, meticulously threading through the eyelets. The tension-adjustment strap wound around the sole, its upper end hidden beneath his pants. Li Po couldn’t see it, but he knew the strap would pass through the buckle and wrap around Jiang Yu’s ankle, just beneath the fabric.

He stared at it with interest, even wondering what Jiang Yu’s hands would look like.

Jiang Yu had beautiful hands, with distinct knuckles, clean and neat—especially striking when holding that dark gold handgun. Li Po couldn’t help but imagine what those hands would look like tying shoelaces. Would it be the same as how he tied his own?

Li Po even had a rather outlandish thought: wouldn’t it be nice if Jiang Yu could tie his shoelaces for him once?

But alas, he was daydreaming in broad daylight.

Jiang Yu glanced down at Li Po, noting his lowered head.

He knew omegas were generally timid and weak, especially after being held hostage by an alpha with a knife to their throat. It was only natural they’d be scared. Although this omega had kept it together earlier, now that the crisis was over, memories of the event might cause him to fall into uncontrollable panic.

Jiang Yu couldn’t empathize, nor was he good at offering comforting words. All he could do was say calmly, “If you’re not feeling up to it, we can talk another day.”

Li Po snapped out of his thoughts.

He blinked in confusion at first, then quickly realized what Jiang Yu meant and hurriedly denied it, “I’m fine, sir. Please, go ahead and ask.”

At that moment, he finally lifted his face to look at Jiang Yu.

After everything that had just happened, and with a tube of blood drawn, Li Po’s face was understandably pale. The soft golden light falling on his face added to his fragile appearance, making him look delicate and easily breakable.

No alpha could resist such an omega, just like no one could dislike a beautiful appearance. When faced with a weak, beautiful omega, most alphas couldn’t control their inner thoughts, leading to hidden, unsavory desires.

But Jiang Yu was different. His face remained expressionless as he asked questions in a businesslike tone.

Li Po rested his elbow against the side of his face, speaking slowly and steadily. His voice was pleasant, like a gentle breeze brushing over flower petals, carrying a hint of floral fragrance, tickling at the heart.

Some omegas deliberately spoke in a coquettish tone to win the favor of alphas, their voices so sweet it could practically drip honey—artificial and forced. But Li Po wasn’t like that. He didn’t care about others’ opinions, acting however he felt comfortable. He was the same, even when facing Jiang Yu.

As he recounted the events that had occurred not long ago, his expression worsened with each word.

His beautiful face gradually scrunched up, and he gripped the corner of his shirt tightly. Li Po bit his lower lip, speaking with difficulty, “Black bugs crawled out of his skin. I saw his forehead was covered with a mass of eggs…”

His voice trailed off, and Li Po furrowed his brow deeply, falling silent.

After a moment, he lifted his eyes, looking pitifully at Jiang Yu, “Sir, I’m really sorry, I’m feeling a bit unwell.”

“It’s fine.”

Jiang Yu’s face showed no impatience or pity. He simply waited in silence for Li Po to gather himself.

Facing Jiang Yu’s calm expression, Li Po quickly concealed the faint glimmer in his eyes. He blinked, about to say something, when suddenly, a loud “grumble” interrupted.

—His stomach growled.

“…”

Li Po froze for a second, his eyes showing a rare trace of embarrassment. A hint of awkwardness flashed in his gaze as he quickly covered his stomach and lowered his head, remaining silent.

From Jiang Yu’s perspective, all he could see was the omega’s bright red ear tips.

Li Po was truly embarrassed. The stomach growl was one thing, but another matter weighing on his mind was that he had already “borrowed” a piece of clothing from Jiang Yu last time and still hadn’t returned it. If he asked for anything else now, wouldn’t Jiang Yu think he was just here to mooch off him?

Just the thought of it made Li Po’s face start to heat up.

Before the warmth on his face could subside, a cold mechanical arm suddenly brushed against his arm.

Startled, Li Po turned his head, only to find a bag of nutrient fluid in front of him.

The mechanical arm was holding the bag upright, and Li Po noticed that the cap had already been unscrewed.

Had the artificial intelligence become this considerate? As a time traveler, Li Po couldn’t help but show a look of wonder. He smiled, glancing at Jiang Yu while quickly reaching out to take the bag of nutrient fluid.

Jiang Yu withdrew his gaze, tapping a few times on the terminal strapped to his wrist. The mechanical arm received its instructions, spinning its mechanical head before swaying back into its resting position.

“Thank you, sir.”

Li Po squinted his eyes contentedly, smiling brightly.

The transparent bag was nestled between his lips, and as he sipped, you could see the liquid slowly flowing inside. The colorless liquid entered his mouth and was swallowed down, as seen by the bobbing of his throat.

Li Po was starving, but he was afraid of making any embarrassing noises, so he carefully sipped, holding the nutrient bag close as he drank cautiously.

When drinking, Li Po had a habit of biting on the bottle cap, often chewing straws flat when drinking milk tea. This habit was deeply ingrained, and even with Jiang Yu watching, he didn’t notice anything wrong. His thin lips closed around the mouth of the nutrient bag, biting and sucking, leaving faint teeth marks on the plastic opening. His soft lips unconsciously parted, revealing a hint of bright red, slightly glistening with moisture.

Suddenly, he seemed to realize something and immediately clamped his mouth shut, glancing up quickly.

As expected, Jiang Yu wasn’t looking at him. He was focused on the screen in front of him, appearing very busy.

Seeing this, Li Po relaxed, shifting his attention back to the half-empty bag of nutrient fluid.

He had to admit, this nutrient fluid was far superior to the ones he had in his cabinet. Although it was flavorless, like drinking plain water, it was highly nutritious. Just a single sip provided the benefits of ten of the inferior ones. After drinking only half the bag, Li Po was already feeling full.

But he didn’t want to waste it, so he kept drinking the rest of the nutrient fluid. After all, resources were scarce in S District, and he didn’t want to feel guilty about being wasteful.

Sensing Li Po’s attention shifting, Jiang Yu finally lifted his gaze, casting a brief glance at the omega curled up on the sofa.

His eyes flickered briefly over the scene, and despite his deliberate avoidance, he still caught sight of the moment when the moist tip of Li Po’s tongue lightly licked the mouth of the nutrient bag. Jiang Yu paused for a second, expressionless, before shifting his focus back to the screen in front of him.

Another wave of silence passed.

Finally, the nutrient bag was empty. Li Po, feeling a bit full, patted his stomach and casually tossed the empty bag into a nearby trash can. He then narrowed his light brown eyes, smiling as he said, “Thank you for the nutrient fluid, sir. Now we can get back to business.”