Chapter 147

Chapter 147

Bai Xiaoyu's expression was noticed by the two people next to him. They followed Bai Xiaoyu's gaze and looked up, only to see a rather ordinary-looking flier approaching.

Mo Yan rubbed his chin. "Could it be that an important guest is arriving?"

The flier quickly landed, and a dozen or so young people around the same age as Mo Lin stepped out. At first glance, they seemed somewhat familiar.

As Bai Xiaoyu looked at the dusty group, despite their varied attire, they still carried a hint of nervousness and unease on their faces. The youthful immaturity and arrogance that belonged to their student days began to fade, replaced by a calm and confident demeanor.

The group of twelve, led by Chen Ying, Ning Fang, and Yang Fanxin, approached Bai Xiaoyu. "Captain, we're back," they reported.

Bai Xiaoyu looked at them with increasingly gentle eyes. "Well done, our future top doctors of Fire Seed's First Medical Team have returned. You've had a hard time these past few days."

The usually composed group suddenly reverted to the immaturity of before they went into battle, becoming embarrassed by Bai Xiaoyu's teasing. Some scratched their heads, others let their eyes wander, and a few even stood there grinning foolishly.

After all, they were still a bunch of big kids, though very capable ones.

Mo Yan, standing nearby, carefully examined the group. He finally realized why they seemed familiar—weren't these the members of the medical team that Hao Qiao had been closely following on F105 planet?

Seeing this young medical team, Mo Yan couldn't help but send a message to Hao Qiao. "Hao, the medical team members you've been watching have returned. This is a great opportunity. Do you want to come over and meet them?"

After receiving the message, Hao Qiao, who had been packing, paused briefly before casually replying, "No need."

Mo Yan was stunned. Uncertain of what he had been thinking, he quickly typed a message: "After all these years, have you still not let go?"

Just as he was about to send it, he hesitated, glanced at the message, and ultimately decided to delete it.

At that moment, Mo Lin's voice suddenly rang in his ear. "What hasn't Doctor Hao let go of, boss? Why did you delete that?"

Mo Yan realized that he had been too focused and hadn't noticed when Mo Lin had peeked over at his messages.

He smacked Mo Lin's head away and couldn't resist giving him a kick. "Get out of here."

Mo Lin clung to him again. "Boss, tell me. I want to know what Doctor Hao hasn't let go of. An old flame?"

Mo Yan kicked him away again without mercy. "If only it were an old flame. Do you think your brother Hao is the type to hold onto past relationships? If there really was an old flame, he'd capture them, dissect them, stitch them back together, and after a hundred times, any resentment would be gone. Why would he still be unable to let go?"

Mo Lin considered Hao Qiao's personality and realized that Mo Yan's words made sense, but it only fueled his curiosity.

Seeing Mo Lin's expression, Mo Yan said, "If you have the nerve, go ask your brother Hao yourself. Don't say I didn't warn you about the consequences."

Mo Lin looked at the other medical team members of similar age and said, "Doctor Hao is interested in these people, right? According to our intel, they've just returned and haven't been given accommodations yet. How about we find an opportunity to place Doctor Hao next door to them?"

Mo Yan rubbed his chin, thinking this was a good idea. There are some things you can't just keep avoiding. Sometimes, it's better to confront them head-on, like lancing a wound to drain the infection before it can heal.

At that moment, Bai Xiaoyu addressed the medical team members. "You've all been traveling for a long time and must be exhausted. Go back and rest. Your dormitories have already been arranged."

Chen Ying and a few others looked at each other. "Captain, when will the interviews for the new recruits be?"

Bai Xiaoyu looked at the remaining nine, all of whom were looking at him expectantly. "You've already passed the interview and are now part of the medical team."

Everyone exchanged glances. "When did that happen?"

How could they not have known?

Bai Xiaoyu tapped his optical brain, projecting videos of their actions on the battlefield. "I've been watching all along. You've all performed well, so naturally, you've all passed."

The medical team members were surprised and delighted, and immediately burst into cheers.

They each greeted Bai Xiaoyu and followed the guiding robot to leave.

After they left, Mo Yan and Mo Lin gathered around Bai Xiaoyu, flanking him on either side.

Bai Xiaoyu looked at them and asked, "Aren't you going to pack?"

Mo Yan: "Packing won’t take much time. Boss, I want to ask, are our accommodations in the same area as the medical team's?"

Bai Xiaoyu shook his head, "Your accommodations are newly built. Considering the medical team will grow in numbers in the future, the two residential areas are adjacent, not far from each other."

Mo Lin: "Can we arrange for someone to move in?"

Bai Xiaoyu: "Do you have someone in mind to share the space?"

The newly built residential areas have single apartments, double or triple apartments, and even larger family apartments. Generally, for families like the Blood Egg's parents and cubs, a three-bedroom apartment is sufficient. The arrangements are typically based on the residents' needs, and most employees here live in single apartments.

If members of Dawn were placed among the medical team, what if there are ideological conflicts, leading to friction or even fights?

Mo Yan, seemingly aware of Bai Xiaoyu's concern, quickly clarified, "It's not us troublemakers moving in, but Hao Qiao. He's also a doctor, so he'll have something to talk about with the medical team."

Bai Xiaoyu thought about the bespectacled, genteel man and involuntarily nodded slightly, "That doesn’t sound like a bad idea."

Suddenly, Mo Lin interjected, "Boss, while Hao Qiao isn’t a troublemaker, he’s caused quite a bit of trouble before. Every time we confronted the Huang Family, he was always at the front, fighting fiercely. He has thirty-six wanted notices; apart from you having one more than him, he has the most."

Mo Yan barely resisted kicking Mo Lin away.

Bai Xiaoyu was surprised; he hadn't expected the bespectacled man to have such a side to him. He looked at Mo Yan, "Tell me why you’re doing this."

Mo Yan: "Well, actually, Hao Qiao, like those medical students, dreamed of becoming a doctor who would treat frontline warriors and invaded planets since his student days. But his dream was shattered. Now that your medical team is still recruiting, I thought we might be able to help him."

Bai Xiaoyu: "We are indeed recruiting. But I see Hao Qiao as someone with his own thoughts. Why don’t you ask him first?"

They both shook their heads, "He'll refuse."

Mo Yan: "Boss, just arrange it, next to the students."

After much convincing, Bai Xiaoyu finally agreed. If Hao Qiao finds the arrangement unsuitable, he can always switch.

After Bai Xiaoyu left, Mo Yan and Mo Lin suddenly turned around to find Hao Qiao already standing not far away.

Mo Yan chuckled awkwardly, "Hao Qiao, what brings you here?"

Hao Qiao looked at the two, who seemed guilty, "Can you tell me what you were discussing with the boss just now?"

Mo Yan: "It was just some small matters about accommodations. Let’s go pack."

Hao Qiao called out to them, "Wait, I want to know why others received accommodations in District E, but I'm in District F?"

Mo Yan: "There wasn’t enough housing, so you were assigned to the new district."

Mo Yan and Mo Lin cautiously watched Hao Qiao’s reflective glasses in the sunlight and the scalpel twirling in his hand, then quickly slipped away without saying much more.

Hao Qiao, seeing how quickly they fled, decided not to bother with them for the moment. Instead, he headed to his assigned accommodation.

As soon as he arrived at the door, he heard voices coming from next door. These voices were not unfamiliar to him, as he had heard them in various videos on the star network. Although the short videos sometimes only had a few words, it was enough for him to recognize them.

These fledgling voices were full of vitality and anticipation. The door was even left open, perhaps to share their joy with anyone passing by.

"Finally, I've become a member of the Fire Seed medical team. In the future, I will do my best to treat the wounded on the battlefield."

"Me too, all these years of study have led to this moment."

"Do you remember the severely wounded soldier we treated earlier? He protected us from the advanced alien bugs. It was really dangerous, but thankfully we managed to save him. He was transferred to the frontline medical team. I wonder how he's doing now."

"The medical team there has better equipment, so he'll be fine. He might even be back on the battlefield next time, and we might meet again."

...

Ha Qiao lowered his gaze, and no one could see the expression behind his glasses' reflective surface.

He stood at his dormitory door, hand reaching towards the door, but remained motionless for a long time.

Until someone came out from the next door and was startled to see him standing there.

The person who came out was Chen Ying. Seeing Ha Qiao holding a medical kit, he thought he was a senior from the medical team and quickly greeted him. "Hello, senior, we're new here. Please take care of us in the future."

Ha Qiao turned to look at him and suddenly asked, "What if the person you sent away never comes back?"

Chen Ying's expression froze, and a few others who had heard the commotion inside also came out.

Looking at their eyes full of hope and light, Ha Qiao saw a reflection of his younger self. Realizing he was losing composure, he turned and said, "Goodbye."

He quickly left the place, his steps almost resembling a fleeing escape.

Bai Xiaoyu received the message from the medical team and naturally knew what had happened.

Before he could contact Mo Yan and the others, Ha Qiao reached out to him.

Seeing the usually well-groomed man now slightly disheveled, Bai Xiaoyu was a little surprised. "You want to change your accommodation? Is it because you're not used to the medical team there..."

Ha Qiao: "No, it's my own issue. They are great, but I don't fit in. I know Mo Yan and the others wanted to help me, but I feel I no longer have the qualification to be there, to hold my scalpel with a clear conscience."

Seeing Ha Qiao holding his forehead, his face a bit pale, Bai Xiaoyu asked, "Where are you? I’ll come get you."

Ha Qiao: "No need, thank you. I'm fine. It's just today that hit me hard after so many years."

Bai Xiaoyu: "Maybe you want to talk about it?"

Ha Qiao looked at Bai Xiaoyu and fell silent.

He couldn’t help but recall the days decades ago, when he graduated from the Imperial Military Academy. Initially, he served as a military doctor, but after the internship, despite being the top student in the medical department that year, he didn't receive offers from various legions.

In the end, the Huang family’s medical team approached him. At that time, he thought that wherever he went, he would still be saving lives, so he agreed to join the Huang family's medical team.

Who knew there would be numerous issues with medical care in the Huang family, treating only the garrison legion and local people of the corresponding planet, while ignoring others.

He thought it was just the problem of their team leader at the time, so he protested and gave suggestions, but they were ignored. Since he couldn’t effect change from his position, he aimed to become the team leader himself.

But no matter how hard he worked, he couldn’t surpass someone who rarely came to work and only appeared to impress leaders or reporters.

This situation lasted for half a year, and just when he could no longer continue, his team leader suddenly got promoted. The position of medical team leader fell to him.

At that time, their medical team was needed on a nearby planet invaded by alien insects. There were already legions fighting, including the garrison legion and another legion.

All the wounded sent over were received by him.

Not only that, but there were also a group of critically injured orcs, about a dozen. Even in extreme pain during treatment, they wouldn’t make a sound and would even show grateful smiles.

As the leader, he personally administered tranquilizers to the warriors, and they needed to be transferred to the military hospital.

He saw them off and gave various instructions to the captain of the guard team. He didn’t pay attention when the captain of the guard team muttered, "Acted really well," before leaving.

A few days later, when he saw these orcs on the officially published casualty list, he jumped up in shock.

These orcs were incapacitated and unfit for combat, their lives were not in danger—he had examined them himself, how could this have happened?

He later discovered that these warriors were not sent to the military hospital for treatment but to the Huang Family's underground lab.

Following that incident, his previous captain actually assigned an assistant to him and hinted at the situation, offering him the option to either participate or become one of the experimental subjects.

The assistant went out and was devoured by the Zerg. The Huang Family assumed that he had completed the handover with his predecessor and viewed him as one of their own.

The next month, they went to another battlefield. His predecessor had been appointed as his direct superior and patted him on the shoulder, complimenting his performance from the previous month.

By then, he had already suspected something was amiss and remained silent, determined to discover the truth since he was the one who had sent those warriors out.

So, he paid compliments to this superior for the first time. This superior was from the Huang Family’s main branch and allegedly wielded considerable influence. When he mentioned wanting to see those people again, the superior surprisingly offered to show them to him.

Then he saw a variety of individuals in the lab, including those dozen warriors encased in a transparent container.

As he watched, he trembled all over.

It was really them!

His superior thought he was scared and believed his demonstration of power had worked, so he comforted him, "The technology is not mature yet, most of these warriors are defective."

Afterward, he was taken to a hidden chamber with hundreds of people—these individuals were less capable than those warriors but had been captured from planets recently invaded by the Zerg.

There were over three hundred people.

At this point, he could no longer hold back and secretly took out a prepared antidote, dispersing it into the air.

Mo Yan was there. He had already woken up but was too weak to move and was waiting for an opportunity. Seeing the scene, he didn’t make a sound, but Hao Qiao suddenly kicked him. He almost cried out but, because of that kick, his body gradually regained strength.

After Hao Qiao was taken away, Mo Yan stood up and began kicking each person awake individually.

After everyone woke up, the lab’s traps were triggered, and they escaped before the explosion. That’s when Dawn was formed.

Hao Qiao took a deep breath and pulled out a scale armor piece, which was given to him by a warrior who had woken up in the container and asked him to deliver it to his family.

He had planned to stay with his warriors and take his superior down with them, but Mo Yan forcibly dragged him away.

Even now, he couldn’t let it go—he was the one who had sent those warriors out, leading to everything that followed.

Bai Xiaoyu looked at the scale in his hand, slightly curved with a hint of purple-gold, and it felt strangely familiar, "What is this?"

Hao Qiao: "A scale from a warrior who fell into hell because of me, and he asked me to deliver it to his family."

Hao Qiao smiled bitterly. It was the warrior’s last wish, but when he reached the planet where the warrior’s family lived, it had already been occupied by the Zerg.

Unfortunately, this scale would never be delivered.

Bai Xiaoyu suddenly said, "Do you have the genetic sequence of this scale?"

Hao Qiao was stunned, then nodded, "Yes. But parts of the gene have mutated."

Bai Xiaoyu asked him to send it over and compared it with his last orphaned orc, his expression softening slightly.

"Come to the Pharmaceutical Building right away, I'll take you to see someone."

Bai Xiaoyu led Hao Qiao into the underground medical center.

Upon entering and hearing the beast's roar, Hao Qiao furrowed his brow. He detested these labs more than anything and his expression toward Bai Xiaoyu gradually shifted.

Bai Xiaoyu said, "Don't misunderstand, all the beastmen here come from the Huang Family's lab."

Since Hao Qiao was an outsider, everyone around them, including the beastmen and nearby staff, remained extremely vigilant and silent after waking up.

Only in the last room, the pangolin, which had been agitated by people bringing their families and had been digging holes daily, was roaring.

Bai Xiaoyu led Hao Qiao to the last room, and as the door opened, a giant pangolin lunged forward but was yanked back mid-air, snarling.

It didn't roar at Bai Xiaoyu but instead directed its roar at Hao Qiao, who stood frozen. Hao Qiao was stunned to see the pangolin, which looked exactly the same as it did years ago. Could that warrior still be alive after all this time?