Safe Zone Hospital.

At this moment, the hospital was already full, with injured people everywhere and doctors and nurses hurrying about.

With the war ending, a large number of injured soldiers from the front were being transported to the rear after initial treatment. The limited hospital beds were far from sufficient, and even more injured people had to be temporarily accommodated in a nearby shopping mall.

However, even in a war hospital, the treatment for injured officers and soldiers was vastly different.

In a VIP ward, a young man lay on the bed, surrounded by people, either martial artists or high-level government officials.

"How is he doing?" The deputy mayor, who was visiting on behalf of the City Government, asked.

"It's still hard to determine anything for now!" A middle-aged doctor in his forties carefully worded his reply. The electricity was already out, rendering many instruments unusable, making detailed examinations impossible: "Based on preliminary diagnosis, there doesn't seem to be any major issue with his body, he's quite healthy!"

The deputy mayor couldn't help but look at the nurse beside the bed who was futilely attempting to draw blood from his arm, causing his mouth to twitch slightly; it wasn't just healthy, it was almost abnormal.

The hefty and anxious middle-aged nurse was on the verge of collapse internally.

As an experienced nurse working on the front lines for over twenty years, she had seen all kinds of arms; young and old, male and female, ugly and handsome, belonging to ordinary people and martial artists alike.

If all those arms were cut off and connected together, while they couldn't circle around Earth, they would definitely be enough to go around the Safe Zone, and if piled up, they'd fill a warehouse.

Yet, she had never encountered a situation like this before.

The young man's skin was as tough as high-strength composite material, and the muscles underneath were moving around like mice, spontaneously writhing under stress to reduce force, making it nearly impossible to penetrate with a needle, almost leading her to suspect that he wasn't human at all, but a Barbarian in human skin.

"Then why hasn't he woken up yet?" The deputy mayor asked.

"There are many reasons for this, maybe it's compensatory sleep from extreme fatigue or temporary shock from intense emotional fluctuations," the doctor thought for a moment and replied.

...

The deputy mayor stayed for a while before leaving, as there was plenty of subsequent work needing attention and arrangement despite the war having ended, being in the high level of the City Government, he couldn't afford to stay there long.

After the deputy mayor left, most of the martial artists soon left as well.

By the time Chen Shouyi woke up, there were only six people left in the room; apart from Song Jieying, the other five were somewhat unfamiliar faces.

"You're awake?" Song Jieying exclaimed in surprise when she saw Chen Shouyi wake up.

Seeing this, the others quickly stood up like springs, offering their well-wishes in a flurry of words.

"General Manager Chen, are you okay?"

"General Manager Chen, would you like some water?"

"I'll call the doctor!"

...

To a martial artist, a senior martial artist was a figure worthy of awe.

They stayed here just to make a good impression!

Even if there's nothing they can do to help now, should another dangerous mission like this arise in the future, having a connection might mean getting some aid within his abilities when encountering danger.

Chen Shouyi sat up in bed, expressing his gratitude: "Thank you all for taking care of me, but there's no need to bother yourselves; I'm fine now."

All the martial artists hurriedly exchanged polite words.

As he glanced at the time, he found it was already nine o'clock, three hours since the battle ended, and quickly stood up from the bed, saying: "It's already so late, your families must be anxious waiting; let's go home together!"

Though he was just an eighteen-year-old youth, younger by seven or eight years than the youngest here, Song Jieying, with others nearly his father's age, no one found his words awkward, quite the contrary, they seemed perfectly natural.

"Are you really okay? You suddenly passed out before, maybe you should get checked again," Song Jieying said worriedly.

"Really, nothing's wrong. I know my condition," Chen Shouyi replied helplessly, knowing exactly what had happened.

...

Mrs. Chen paced anxiously in the living room, occasionally stepping out to look down the road amidst the cheerfully celebrating crowds outside, yet at this moment, she felt no joy.

"Why isn't he home yet? Wasn't it over already?" Mrs. Chen said worriedly.

Chen Dawei, sitting on the sofa with hands on his forehead, remained silent for a while before saying: "Don't worry; maybe something held him up, or he's celebrating with others."

"A message would be good, too, but he's so grown up and still so clueless. When he gets back, I'll deal with him," Mrs. Chen said, her eyes turning red, quickly turning her head to wipe her eyes to cover up.

"Mom, Brother is a senior martial artist; he'll be fine. I'll go check outside again!" Chen Xingyue said, her eyes also red. She quickly ran out and hadn't gone far before she saw Chen Shouyi approaching briskly.

Chen Xingyue let out an "Ah," turned, and ran back quickly, shouting excitedly: "Dad, Mom, Brother's back!"

...

Upon entering the living room, Chen Shouyi found himself having his ear promptly tugged by Mrs. Chen.

"You know how to come back, do you? Look at the time!"

Chen Shouyi looked at Mrs. Chen's reddened eyes, not daring to dodge, inexplicably fearful that she might suddenly pull out a hammer from somewhere to knock on his head.

Or, Father Chen standing behind might suddenly wield a kitchen knife.

Damn this curse, it's creating some psychological shadows now.

A fleeting train of thought crossed his mind.

"Mom, it hurts! Stop pulling. I went to the hospital to visit an injured colleague!" He had already prepared his excuse on the way home.

Chen Xingyue watched with a schadenfreude expression as her brother grimaced. Serves him right.

"What happened to your colleague?" Mrs. Chen asked quickly, releasing Chen Shouyi.

"Nothing serious, just got knocked out by an explosion, resting a few days will be fine," Chen Shouyi answered.

...

Seeing the old couple quickly placated, Chen Shouyi breathed a sigh of relief and then turned to Chen Xingyue asking: "Xing Yue, where's the briefcase I entrusted to you?"

"Still in the basement!" Chen Xingyue said, a sly smile appearing on her face: "Wait, Brother, didn't you say you'd give all the stuff to me?"

She remembered her brother seemed to say before leaving that there was a gift left for her inside, which needed to be fed with honey or something, obviously a secret pet of his!

"What do you mean give it to you? You definitely misheard. I never said that," Chen Shouyi steadfastly denied. The Shell Lady was his little treasure; now that he was back, how could he possibly give her away.

Noticing her expression, seemingly indicating she hadn't opened the briefcase to see the Shell Lady, he mentally sighed in relief, planning to reclaim it easily.

"Mom, see how Brother won't keep his word!" Chen Xingyue said.

"I didn't say that!" Chen Shouyi quickly retorted.

"Yes, you did."

"No, I didn't!"

"Whoever lies is a puppy!"

"Aren't you childish? I'm too tired to argue with you!"

"Mom, see, Brother feels guilty!"

Mrs. Chen, getting a headache from their bickering, nudged Chen Dawei, saying: "You two keep arguing, we're off to bed!"

Ignoring her, Chen Shouyi headed to the basement, soon returning with the briefcase.

Chen Xingyue hadn't had much hope; she was mainly curious. Her brother, who had never shown much affection for animals, secretly raising one was indeed surprising.

She followed up, coaxing: "Brother, what kind of pet are you raising? Let me take a look!"

"No way!" Chen Shouyi resolutely refused, knowing the Shell Lady, such a beautiful Thumbelina, would be totally alluring to young girls. Once she sees it, peaceful days might be over forever.

If Chen Xingyue were to treat the Shell Lady nicely and use a bunch of Glass Beads as temptation, what if she gets lured away? Chen Shouyi wouldn't have time to cry.

Given the Shell Lady's obsession with Glass Beads, there was a high chance of this happening.

No room for negotiation on this matter!

Remaining persistent all the way, Chen Xingyue trailed Chen Shouyi to the bedroom door, still wanting to sneak a peek, but got pushed out by Chen Shouyi, who quickly shut the door.

Standing in front of the closed door, Chen Xingyue stomped her foot, saying indignantly:

"Such a miser, fine, then I won't look."

ps: Laziness kicking in, definitely two chapters tomorrow.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.