MORIC - Chapter 178

Chapter 178: The Nursing Cub

"Miss Xi's vitals are all within the normal range, it's just… it's just…"

The doctors Xi Li had invited to the house were all considered renowned physicians, and it wasn't as if they hadn't heard of this young lady from the Xi family before.

She used to be an Omega. During her practical training, she encountered a Zerg Tide outbreak and, like her family's matriarch, had an accident and underwent a Secondary Differentiation into an Alpha.

Videos of Xi Zhoumeng piloting her mecha to fend off the Zerg had gone viral online. As an Omega, she was as beautiful and dignified as a goddess; as an Alpha, she was still captivating enough to make one's heart flutter. Consequently, completely unbeknownst to her, Xi Zhoumeng had actually acquired a dedicated fanbase.

Although a large portion of it was started by her classmates from Guyun Academy.

Now, the golden-haired Alpha sat before them, one hand propping up her face, her gaze not fixed on the doctor at all.

"Just what? You can speak plainly."

Xi Zhoumeng wasn't the least bit worried. She glanced at Chi Yueshan, who was holding the baby off to one side, thinking to herself that her gaze was as clingy as could be.

She's never even looked at me like that.

Having children early is really no good at all.

The female Alpha doctor stammered for a good while, then glanced at Xi Mingguang, who was sitting in a wheelchair to the side.

The former commander nodded, and only then did she speak. "It's like this: in all other aspects, you are perfect. It's just that your spiritual power has been excessively depleted. This will resolve itself with a period of rest."

"As for the only… issue from this physical examination…"

"You may not be able to have children in the future."

Xi Zhoumeng had been listening distractedly. She looked a little thinner, which made her already superior features even more defined.

There was a sharpness hidden within her softness, but this aura was easily shattered, because one of her hands was still busy painting her nails.

She lamented that the nail art techniques of the Prime Century were still too crude.

Xi Mingguang sighed. Just as she was about to comfort Xi Zhoumeng, who was still preoccupied with her nails, she was caught off guard when Xi Zhoumeng looked up joyfully. "Really?"

The doctor found her reaction a bit odd. The moment she nodded, Xi Zhoumeng slammed her hand on the table, sending the various bottles and jars on it clattering together with a crisp sound.

Off to the side, Xi Li sighed to himself. She doesn't act like a mother at all.

Xi Zhoumeng said, "This is wonderful news."

She took another sip of water and asked the doctor, "Are you sure?"

Her expression could only be described as ecstatic, which left the female Alpha doctor somewhat bewildered. "I'm saying that the probability of you and your Omega having more children in the future will be quite low, practically nonexistent."

"It's truly a shame. Your compatibility…"

Xi Zhoumeng cut her off. "Not at all, not at all. It's great."

"So, if she mates with me during her future heat cycles, she won't get pregnant. Is that correct?"

Xi Zhoumeng's hair was very long. Perhaps because she had always dyed it brown or black in the past, Xi Mingguang was still not quite used to seeing her this way.

It was too dazzling.

Xi Li was also blond, but his features weren't as flawless as Xi Zhoumeng's, so it toned down the effect a bit.

Xi Zhoumeng, on the other hand, had no such flaws to balance. The golden hair only made her more radiant, and now, her smile alone was enough to make one feel dizzy.

The doctor almost thought she was going deaf.

How could anyone be this happy about it?

This wasn't right. Most Alphas would find this devastating.

The doctor nodded. Xi Zhoumeng said, "That's great."

She then turned to Chi Yueshan, who was off to the side. "Isn't this great?"

Chi Yueshan, holding the baby, didn't even lift her eyelids. "Weren't you planning on getting it removed anyway?"

Xi Li and Xi Mingguang: …

Even the Alpha doctor was so shocked she stammered, "Re-removed?"

Xi Li really didn't want to listen to this kind of conversation. He asked the doctor, "Is she really alright physically?"

The doctor nodded. "Miss Xi's previous coma was due to severe spiritual power depletion. However, her spiritual power is very high, so the loss can be recovered as long as she rests properly."

Xi Zhoumeng said, "Yes, my head feels so dizzy right now. Let me get some proper rest."

She couldn't even be bothered to feign it anymore and just wanted to shoo them away. Xi Li scoffed and pushed Xi Mingguang's wheelchair out of the room.

"Mother," Xi Zhoumeng called out.

Xi Mingguang knew what she wanted to say and waved her hand. "You rest first. I'll talk to you about the other matters later."

The group of people who had arrived left just as quickly, leaving only Chi Yueshan holding the baby.

She looked as if having a child hadn't affected her own plans in the slightest.

It was just that with a child, it was no longer feasible to have the house resemble a mecha workshop with no room to walk. So, the tables in the room were covered in blueprints, all filled with dense annotations and various design proposals.

The little cub started crying again, and Chi Yueshan held her to nurse.

An AI robot refilled a cup of hot tea for Xi Zhoumeng. She held the teacup and watched Chi Yueshan.

She stared so intently that Chi Yueshan finally looked up and glared at her. "Aren't you supposed to be dizzy and resting?"

Xi Zhoumeng shook her head, then nodded. "I suddenly have this…"

She propped her face in her hand. The new nightgown she'd changed into perfectly suited her aesthetic style—so complex it was headache-inducing, yet on her, it was merely an adornment.

"…feeling of the vast changes of time."

Chi Yueshan replied, "You're exaggerating."

Xi Zhoumeng suddenly got up, walked over, and rested her head on Chi Yueshan's shoulder, inhaling her scent.

Chi Yueshan was already sensitive at the moment, and the Alpha's domineering, cold pheromones were nearly enough to stir up all the frantic obsession that had lain dormant within her for the past few months.

Chi Yueshan said, "Don't lean on me. I'm very busy right now."

Xi Zhoumeng sighed and glanced at the little cub, who was eating happily. "When is she going to grow up a little?"

That was a novel thing to say. Chi Yueshan asked, "Why do you ask?"

Xi Zhoumeng replied, "So she can be independent. An independent individual who won't need us to spare her a single glance."

Her words were so heartless that Chi Yueshan pushed her away.

Xi Zhoumeng fell back onto the bed, her head still aching. When she closed her eyes, her mind was filled with the Zerg language she had forced herself to memorize. Rolling over, she asked Chi Yueshan, "What about Sheng Yangkui? How is she?"

Chi Yueshan replied, "She's being looked after by Marshal Shen. For now, she's doing okay."

"I need to go see her," Xi Zhoumeng said.

Chi Yueshan nodded. "Alright."

She paused, then added, "But before that, I hope you'll…"

The baby, having eaten her fill, was now pursing her lips, ready to sleep. Chi Yueshan placed her down next to Xi Zhoumeng. "You watch her for a while."

"I'm going to work on your mecha."

As soon as she finished speaking, she fastened her buttons, but in the next second, a pair of hands wrapped around her waist. Then Xi Zhoumeng leaned against her shoulder again, like a siren about to drain a person's soul, and whispered aggrievedly in her ear, "Is the mecha really that important?"

Not long after waking up, she had not only been peed on by the baby, but had also been dragged by Chi Yueshan to retrieve the mecha before the doctor even arrived. If there were a ranking of priorities, Xi Zhoumeng found it completely unacceptable that she was apparently last.

Chi Yueshan pried Xi Zhoumeng's hands off, sighing as she said, "Of course it's important. I don't want to see you get hurt again."

She turned and cupped Xi Zhoumeng's face. "Tonight, will you tell me about your time in the Prime Century?"

Even though Chi Yueshan was terrible at history, she knew that era had not been an easy one. Order had been destroyed, accompanied by Secondary Differentiation; mecha had just been invented, and the Zerg were rampant.

She would have much preferred for Xi Zhoumeng to have returned to the ZR home planet to live a life of comfort, rather than have to experience such suffering all over again.

But there was very little Chi Yueshan could do. Mecha were her passion, and Xi Zhoumeng was her deepest love; she was determined not to fail either.

Xi Zhoumeng said, "Getting injured is nothing."

She leaned in closer. "You shouldn't work so hard either. Who goes and finds work for themselves right after giving birth?"

Xi Zhoumeng's face was a picture of exasperation, as if chiding her for not taking it easy, and she blinked slowly. Those smoke-gray eyes were filled with nothing but Chi Yueshan, making Chi Yueshan suddenly feel the urge to cry.

She suddenly hugged Xi Zhoumeng and mumbled, "Hey…"

Xi Zhoumeng teased, "What's with the 'hey'? Who am I to you?"

Chi Yueshan could be quite thick-skinned when she wanted to be, willing to do odd jobs for tuition that most students wouldn't touch for any price.

But she could also be very thin-skinned. Words of love were difficult for her to say, and expressing affection through coquetry was even harder. In the end, all she could offer was an embrace.

Their reunion after such a long separation had been too rushed. This moment felt like their true, official reunion.

Sometimes, an embrace is more ardent than a kiss. Xi Zhoumeng could feel all of Chi Yueshan's unspoken longing, her worries, and the complaints that stemmed from them.

But Chi Yueshan was also too clear-headed, too rational. She knew why Xi Zhoumeng had done what she did, which made it impossible for her to voice those complaints.

All these messy thoughts pulled her in every direction, and as Xi Zhoumeng pulled her tighter into her arms, she finally couldn't hold back her tears.

She clutched the collar of Xi Zhoumeng's nightgown, fiercely wrinkling the freshly ironed fabric, just like her own heart, which had been clenched day after day—broken and pieced back together because of this person—and was now returning all that anguish.

Xi Zhoumeng said, "Don't be afraid. I'm here."

She held Chi Yueshan, closing her eyes to quietly savor the long, lingering tenderness of the moment.

In the past, Xi Zhoumeng had been indifferent. Life was just wandering, the only variable being the quality of her accommodations.

But it was only after going to the Prime Century that she truly understood how difficult the days were to endure without Chi Yueshan.

Delicious food could satisfy her palate, but it couldn't soothe the emotional turmoil that Chi Yueshan's absence had created, a void that was impossible to fill.

She needed Chi Yueshan.

So this was what it meant to miss someone to the point of madness.

Chi Yueshan said, "You don't have to bear it all alone."

Xi Zhoumeng replied, "That's right. Now that I'm back, don't I have my fighter friends?"

She let out a laugh. "Wen Xinghuo is probably dying from frustration. She's just waiting for a chance to erupt."

Chi Yueshan asked, "But what are you going to do? The Zerg population on the capital planet has exploded. Even with Marshal Shen doing her utmost to maintain order, it's difficult to guarantee there won't be major casualties."

"After all, Shen Yu, like my mother, doesn't approve of directly exposing the royal family's scandal. They believe that even if it forces the Zerg to retreat, it would create too many other problems."

She hadn't had much contact with Shen Yu, but that one gathering had been enough to reveal the ambition hidden beneath the carefree elder's demeanor.

The look in her eyes as she gazed at Lan Lan was clearly one of wanting a legitimate blessing.

The Queen's only heir, Sheng Yangkui, represented everyone's hope for a new future.

Besides, Sheng Yangkui herself had been shackled by the corrupt system for years, so she would naturally agree to Shen Yu's proposal.

Xi Zhoumeng had only needed a quick glance at her light-brain to understand the current situation.

The Queen wanted Shen Yu to hand over Sheng Yangkui, but Shen Yu was using Sheng Yangkui to control the situation.

She wanted to outlast the Zerg Queen, and she also wanted to see what the Zerg Queen would become without a human vessel.

Xi Zhoumeng said, "If it were me, I'd do the same. The Queen is a ruler in name only, anyway. The only people she can mobilize are those who can stir up public opinion online."

The breath of her words ghosted across Chi Yueshan's ear, carrying a powerful sense of security, as if she had crossed centuries, still determined to spend the rest of her life with Chi Yueshan.

"But Xiao Kui's health is genuinely poor…" Chi Yueshan said.

Before Xi Zhoumeng returned, Chi Yueshan had heard from Xi Mingguang that Sheng Yangkui suffered from a chronic illness, and its current flare-up likely had other causes.

Or perhaps, she had been chosen precisely because someone had already tampered with her.

She thought of the other world and asked Xi Zhoumeng, "Why is it that we all remember our past lives, but she and Senior Wen don't seem to?"

The system in Xi Zhoumeng's mind had briefly chirped when she returned, but due to her own spiritual power depletion, it couldn't sustain itself for long and had gone dormant again.

"Didn't Xuan Ping tell you?" Xi Zhoumeng asked.

She sighed. "Sheng Yangkui wouldn't have been chosen because she had been invaded before. As for Wen Xinghuo… perhaps she was simply unwilling."

"Not everyone can remember their past life. The few of us are at the very core of it all; we were always being pushed forward."

Xi Zhoumeng held Chi Yueshan and kissed the crown of her head. "I'm going to see Sheng Yangkui tonight. I have a question, and I'm not sure if she'll have the answer."

She was about to say more, but the cub on the bed suddenly burst into tears, shattering the tender atmosphere.

Xi Zhoumeng was endlessly annoyed. "Why does she cry so much? Didn't she just eat?"

But Chi Yueshan hopped off the bed. "I'm going to work on the mecha. You can handle this."

She fled so quickly it almost gave Xi Zhoumeng the mistaken impression that she didn't want to soothe the baby either.

"What about me? You're just leaving her with me?"

But the baby was still wailing. At a loss, Xi Zhoumeng looked over and poked the infant's cheek with her finger.

Strangely, the baby stopped crying.

Xi Zhoumeng let out a laugh. "Stunned into silence by my beauty, were you?"

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