General Zheng seemed to want to find some words of comfort but could say nothing. After a moment, he could only nod: “I hope you can pull yourselves together.” He then actively shook hands with each person and briefly instructed: “Have the medical team stand by in my office. Captain Zhou, bring your people with me. We urgently need to know everything you’ve experienced during this time.”
Zhou Rong looked back towards the direction where Si Nan’s stretcher was taken away, but the rescue had been very quick. Only personnel and vehicles could be seen moving back and forth on the carrier deck, with distant lights leaking blinding white light through the crowd’s gaps.
He squinted, reluctant to leave, and finally followed under Chun Cao’s anxious urging.
The ward was filled with noise as Sinan forcefully pulled out the needle from his neck, not caring about the spurting blood, and then began to tear off the blindfold. Tang Hao stood up and shouted: “Stop him!”
The doctor rushed forward, but before he could steady himself, he felt a sudden, intense pain in his throat.
Under everyone’s gaze, Sinan incredibly and quickly gripped his neck.
“Let go!” Tang Hao stepped forward: “That’s a doctor, this is the military headquarters! You are safe now!”
Sinan easily dragged the speechless doctor in front of himself, as if “looking” at everyone through the bandage.
This movement was subtle, but his calm face seemed to exude a thread of cold air, making everyone feel as if facing a sudden blast of ice and snow just by glancing at him.
“…Calm down,” Tang Hao forced himself to speak deliberately: “This is the South China Sea Military Headquarters. We rescued you. The doctor said there’s blood clotting in your skull pressing on the optic nerve. You can’t use your eyes for a while, and the clot will naturally disperse in a few days—”
Sinan’s fingers tightened slightly.
Tang Hao’s words stopped abruptly, watching the doctor’s face instantly turn from red to purple.
Everyone in the ward stood frozen, with someone silently drawing their gun, immediately stopped by Tang Hao’s stern look.
“I’ve heard your voice,” Sinan suddenly spoke in the silence.
Tang Hao was stunned and then responded: “…Yes, we’ve met before.”
Sinan said: “Who are you?”
It was clearly a question, but the tone was flat, without any fluctuation.
“I’m Tang Hao, a major in the South China Sea Military Rescue Squadron.”
When Tang Hao spoke again, his voice had been adjusted, with his negotiation training making his voice steady and controlled, without giving too much pressure:
“We met in T City. My team was ordered to search for and escort Omegas to the shelter. We had a misunderstanding then. But that’s in the past. You’re safe now, please release the doctor.”
The doctor’s struggle gradually weakened, his eyeballs rolling back, as Sinan’s strong fingers suddenly loosened.
Fresh oxygen rushed into his lungs, and the doctor coughed silently.
“Where’s Zhou Rong?” Sinan “looked” at Tang Hao and asked.
“…”
“Where’s Yan Hao? Chun Cao, Ding Shi, Guo Weixiang?”
“The Sixth Squadron has its own mission…”
Sinan interrupted: “Zhou Rong is not here. I’m not safe.”
Just like in T City, Tang Hao realized he was once again directly confronting this tricky Omega.
Although he knew the other couldn’t see, Tang Hao still stared at those eyes covered by white gauze: “Major Zhou Rong has critical information to report to superiors and can’t come here. The Strategic Research Institute has issued a top-level document. Your serum is crucial for developing an antidote vaccine. Please calm down and cooperate with our work.”
Sinan paused, his almost bloodless lips slightly curving: “No.”
“Bring Zhou Rong here,” Sinan spoke with his usual commanding tone: “Immediately.”
“Major,” someone in the room whispered: “This Omega has already been marked by Major Zhou…”
Tang Hao understood the implication.
Once marked, an Alpha’s spiritual control over an Omega could be extremely powerful, and some of the Omega’s overly dependent behaviors might not be entirely autonomous.
Tang Hao rubbed his temples forcefully, then took a long breath, frowning: “Major Zhou Rong is not here. I’m sorry I can’t fulfill your request. To be frank, I don’t know under what circumstances your marking occurred, but even if there was the slightest element of coercion, you can have the marking surgically removed with military assistance…”
Sinan scoffed: “Shut up.”
Tang Hao felt utterly exasperated, repeatedly pinching the bridge of his nose.
No one could guess what this precious Omega was thinking, but everyone knew Zhou Rong’s current situation was delicate. Zhou Rong must explain how he knew and marked Sinan, and if the central command suspected he used inducement or even coercion to mark him while knowing Sinan had antibodies, it would be an extremely serious issue.
If this Omega had arrived at the military base at the beginning of the virus outbreak, he was the only antibody carrier, and with Zhou Rong’s rank, he might not even have the qualification to directly speak to him.
“Bring Zhou Rong,” Sinan said flatly, “You have five minutes.”
Tang Hao’s grievance was beyond words. The 118th Battalion had always been the blue team in exercises, defeating the entire army, accumulating countless blood feuds among field troops. Now that the 118th formation was gone, that Zhou guy was still finding ways to continue attracting hatred.
“Major…” the deputy battalion commander couldn’t help but signal desperately, making a throat-cutting gesture.
Tang Hao pointed his index finger in the air twice, using the gesture to vent his frustration, and casually cursed: “Cut it out! What are you standing there for? Can’t you see we’re not handling this? Go, go, go and invite that pretty boy Yan to come in!”
Yan Hao chuckled mockingly, his expression seven or eight parts similar to Zhou Rong.
Then he straightened his lapel, casually stuffing the PSP into his military pants’ back pocket, and steadily walked into the ward under the gaze of the deputy battalion commander and several soldiers.
Ji Nan sat quietly on the hospital bed, slightly tilting his head when he heard footsteps: “Yan Hao?”
“Yeah.” Yan Hao greeted casually, acting as if Tang Hao and the dozen soldiers around were invisible: “Ji Xiaonan, let go of the doctor, what if you choke him to death later?”
Ji Nan’s fingers loosened slightly.
The grip was just enough to prevent the doctor from breathing freely while giving him no chance to escape. He asked, “Where’s Zhou Rong?”
“The captain’s been invited for tea by the military committee bigwigs. You looking for him?”
Ji Nan didn’t answer, “Are you injured?”
Yan Hao said: “No.”
“What about Chun Cao, Ding Shi, and Big Rooster?”
“All at the military committee.”
Ji Nan nodded almost imperceptibly, falling silent for a moment.
Everyone in the ward held their breath, the silence like countless small bombs constantly vibrating against everyone’s eardrums.
After a while, Ji Nan finally spoke in the center of attention: “How do we get to the military committee?”
Tang Hao immediately pointed at Yan Hao and whispered an order: “Take him out.”
However, before the deputy battalion commander could respond, Yan Hao preemptively challenged: “Battalion Commander Tang, you want to make a move?”
But bodily reactions are always half a step slower than consciousness. Before Tang Hao could act, there was a loud thud. Ji Nan grabbed the doctor’s neck and slammed him hard against the bedhead, then pulled out all the needles from his body, flipped off the bed, landing as light as a feather, instantly repelling the two soldiers who rushed at him!
Tang Hao: “Yan, what the hell are you doing?!”
