Chapter 119

Chapter 119

Bai Liang watched expressionlessly as Bai Sheng and Bai Jin hurried away. The security personnel panicked, unsure what the shattered object was or if it was toxic. Setting aside everything else, they shouted for the outraged crowd that had just discovered the child trafficker to step back.

Bai Liang’s mind went blank for a split second.

Every time that little one talked about it, trouble always happened to others, didn’t it? Why, when it was his turn, did the little one still end up collapsing?

“Professor?”

The assistant in the driver’s seat didn’t dare speak loudly, seeing Bai Liang’s completely darkened expression.

“Block those two cars parked in front of the shop across the street. He got out of one of them.”

Bai Liang snapped back to reality slightly. He said, slamming the car door shut, and walked toward the man who was still wailing and trying to get up.

The man, with a shifty-eyed look, had his hand bones crushed by Bai Sheng. Now, scrambling up pathetically, he tried to break free from the security guard’s crowd control fork to reach for the folding knife in his pocket, but some random bystander kicked him back when he wasn’t paying attention. The knife was knocked out of his hand, and he was pinned to the ground by the crowd control fork.

The security guard holding him down watched Bai Liang approach.

For a moment, he let out a sigh of relief.

Surely the big-shot professor would know what this shattered substance was, right? Would he need to test it like before?

Just as he was thinking this, several Alphas among the security team suddenly tensed up, dropped the crowd control fork, and retreated repeatedly, their faces turning deathly pale.

Even though Bai Liang’s uncontrollably leaking pheromones weren’t directed at them, they still felt immense pressure.

The usually mild scent of dried white tea flowers turned icy cold, with sharp, astringent undertones, almost burning the whole nose upon inhalation.

Bai Liang stepped onto the man’s arm. He pressed down slowly with his foot, but with one hand, he grabbed the man’s collar and pulled him up. Looking down, he asked in a low voice, “What did you do?”

The sound of bones cracking mixed with his cries of pain, and everything around seemed to go quiet.

Bai Liang asked softly, continuing, “Speak clearly. What was that?”

By now, the man could only gasp for breath, his eyes filled with deep terror. Facing one of those rare top-tier Alphas, he couldn’t utter a single word.

Federal cops rushed in, also picking up on the strong, aggressive pheromones emanating from Bai Liang.

Bai Liang heard a cop come up and tell him to calm down.

*Calm down?*

Bai Liang slowly let go.

He thought: I *am* calm.

At least, when dealing with that idiot just now, I didn’t directly snap his neck. That’s pretty damn calm.

Sometimes, he did think that while the restrictions back home were stricter, at least on the surface, they made everyone in the Bai family look normal, including him.

Bai Liang adjusted his glasses. His fingers had a bit of blood on them from gripping the man’s neck too hard just now, and as he adjusted the frames, the blood smeared onto the silver metal rims.

His smile was gone, as if recalling his most painful memories. His eyes were dark and hollow as he turned his head to look over.

For a second, nobody dared say a word to Bai Liang.

Bai Liang was the first to pull out a tissue from his pocket to wipe his fingertips, then put back on his usual smile. “My little nephew should be heading to the hospital by now. There’s a lot to deal with, so let’s handle it one thing at a time.”

Bai Sheng rushed Xiao Bai Nuo to the nearest hospital to confirm his vital signs were stable, then moved him to a private hospital more familiar with Bai Nuo’s body for further examination and treatment.

The glass shards, along with any leftover traces of the drug, were collected by Bai Liang and sent to the lab for urgent testing.

Xiao Bai Nuo still hadn’t woken up.

The tiny kid, who had just started to put on some weight, was small and frail, sinking into the big hospital bed, eyes tightly shut, not reacting to anything around him.

Only the steady, soft beeps from the machines nearby offered any comfort to the anxious family.

“A child trafficker? How dare he be so bold? Is he just an ordinary child trafficker? That can’t be, right? And only Nuo was affected by that drug, wasn’t he? Is that right?”

Bai Jin balled his fists, still remembering how the little one had gone limp and lifeless in his arms after a daze.

He looked at Bai Sheng, trying to find an answer.

But Bai Sheng just sat by Xiao Bai Nuo’s bed, staring down at the little one’s face, his large hand holding one of the child’s small hands. The suppressed vibe around him made Bai Jin step back without thinking.

No matter how many times he’d been beaten up, Bai Jin had never seen Bai Sheng this pissed.

He turned around. “I’ll go tell Mom.”

The Bai family was in total chaos.

Cen Zhi rushed to the hospital, cutting her work short.

“Wasn’t he fine when he left the house?”

Cen Zhi entered, slightly out of breath, and her eyes went red in an instant at the sight of Xiao Bai Nuo lying in bed.

“Nuo, Nuo? Grandma’s here. Look at Grandma, won’t you?”

Cen Zhi’s heart pounded wildly, terrified that this little one, who had come to the Bai family without warning, might leave just as suddenly.

But the tiny child slept on, oblivious.

One by one, the Bai family members arrived as news spread.

Bai Jingyun didn’t even pause after entering; he went straight to Bai Sheng and asked, “Weren’t you following him the whole time?”

How could something like this happen?

But Bai Jingyun only got half his words out. He looked at Bai Sheng’s expression and swallowed the rest.

Bai Sheng’s face was terrifyingly grim.

By seven or eight in the evening, all the Bai family members except Bai Liang and Bai Zhize and his son at the Bai family villa had gathered.

Doctor Xu Chuan hurried in, feeling a bit overwhelmed at the sight of the room full of Bai family members.

At that moment, Bai Liang walked out from the corner of the hospital stairwell.

Bai Sheng, who had been sitting by the little one’s side, stood up. He turned to look over. “He hasn’t woken up yet. His temperature is rising, and he’s already running a low fever. What was that substance? Has it been identified? What effects does it have?”

“It’s not a common drug. It seems to be some kind of foreign sedative and paralytic agent. It hasn’t been officially named domestically yet. I went to request access to the alliance archives earlier, and although most of the records were destroyed, I did see this drug listed on the inventory of that institute that was shut down. It only has sedative and anesthetic effects. In theory, it shouldn’t have too much impact on the young master…”

“In theory?”

Bai Qian’s dark eyes turned cold and heavy as he looked over and questioned in a low voice.

Yes, technically, yeah, it should be. As for why such a small amount would take effect, the kid's body might be super sensitive to it. On him, it hits hard, and he was probably on it long-term for sedation. Now getting hit with it again out of the blue could trigger side effects, like fever and such. If his vitals stay stable, the drug'll wear off gradually, and his fever'll slowly drop.

Xu Chuan blurted it all out in one breath and couldn't help stepping back a few steps. He was about to say it was a miracle that Bai San had managed to get the kid to this point in such a short time, but before he could get the words out, he almost backed into Bai Liang. The second he saw the Bai family's faces, Xu Chuan's skin crawled.

Too quiet.

Way too quiet.

The Bai family were all sharp—geniuses in their own fields. They didn't need Xu Chuan to spell it out.

Long-term sedation?

What kind of situation calls for long-term sedation with this stuff? What kind of pain needs to be drugged away like that?

A series of 'crack—crack—' sounds rang out.

It was the metal railing at the head of the bed—Bai Sheng was crushing it, face blank.

Bai Sheng had a hunch.

The leftovers from that research institute, the half-finished files that already had Bai Sheng fuming.

Bai Jingyun headed out without a second thought.

Cen Zhi snapped out of it and looked over: "Where are you going?"

"I'm heading to the Alliance police station."

Bai Jingyun turned, glanced at Little Bai Nuo, then at Cen Zhi.

"Since the drug came from that institute, if they wanted it, they couldn't be clueless about it."

They always said that institute had bad taste, picking Bai Sheng's genes of all things. But if they dared to poke their heads out, no Bai would let them off easy.

"...Go on, your cousin's there too."

Cen Zhi nodded.

Cen Liu, though, still didn't know about the institute connection.

"I'll get someone to check their routes and contacts."

Bai Qi stood up and said.

She glanced at Bai Sheng too, knowing he'd already sped up the crackdown on those institutes. Then she looked at the little cub in the bed.

The shiny little guy today wasn't as bright as usual.

Bai Qi looked down, thought for a sec, then said.

"But there might not be any leads. Using traffickers as a last-ditch move means they're sneaky and good at hiding. This doesn't feel like a provocation—more like testing if they could grab him and run."

If normal drugs didn't work on Little Bai Nuo, they might not have even slipped up like this, making it all look like an accident.

The old man's gaze was heavy too: "When I get back tonight, I'll reach out to my international contacts and ask them to step up the cleanup."

They had to drag out the turtle hiding in the back first.

The Bai family was all on the same page about that.

Bai Liang had only been standing there a few minutes before he turned to leave: "I'll head abroad tomorrow and check with a few partner research institutes overseas. Usually, overseas, they don't hide as tight and careful as they do in Z country."

But Bai Qi blocked his path for a second.

Bai Liang shot her a dark look, facing Bai Qi, and for once showed zero emotion: "Move."

Bai Qi just stared back coldly at Bai Liang: "Get your own mess sorted at home first before you talk about anything else."

Bai Liang's brows dropped even lower, and he was about to say something.

"Second Brother, your research institute's been targeted too—the location's leaked."

Bai Jin spoke up at the right time.

"It's best not to run around during this time."

Bai Liang paused for a moment. He didn't speak again, but lowered his eyes to look at the finger he had once made a promise with Little Bai Nuo.

He actually didn't care whether he was being targeted.

But he was a bit concerned that being targeted had brought trouble to Little Bai Nuo.

...

That evening, at the Bai family villa.

Bai Zhize, who hadn't seen the old master return, was a bit puzzled. After inquiring, he learned that the Bai family members were all at the hospital.

What were they all doing at the hospital?

Were they crazy? Having a fight at the hospital? A full service of fighting, then seeing a doctor, and getting IV fluids in bed??

"Huh? Or... is that little thing sick?"

Bai Zhize was lounging on the sofa, one leg crossed and resting on a nearby chair. The aristocratic air he had when he first returned to the country had dissipated considerably. He squinted as he asked.

Bai Wan, sitting at a distance and examining a thick black-and-yellow feather, also looked up.

The little baozi is sick?

"I'm sorry, I'm not at liberty to discuss the specifics with you."

The assistant in charge of watching them was surprised by the Bai family's keen observation, but kept his expression unchanged.

"It seems so."

Bai Zhize straightened up, rested his chin on his hand, still a bit skeptical.

"Can such a little thing really gather that scattered group of them together?"

Is he really crazy?

Bai Zhize was indeed a bit curious.

Did that little guy have some kind of charm skill?

He looked like just an ordinary, run-of-the-mill child, at most a bit cute. What could he possibly have?

Little Bai Nuo was drowsily sunk in a dream.

His consciousness occasionally drifted in and out, but his eyelids simply wouldn't lift, his body had no strength at all, and after a moment, he passed out again.

This feeling was familiar, like he'd been through it a bunch of times...

When did he go through it?

All these blurry, fuzzy memories and images mixed together, leaving Xiaobai Nuo feeling kinda out of it. In his haze, he thought he felt pain and suffocation, and the panic of water flooding his nose, taking all the air away.

Then what? He opened his eyes and waited for his dad?

No, that didn't feel right. At that time, some weird force pushed him out of the water, away from the apocalypse. He opened his eyes again, confused, and saw researchers holding reports and potions, saying stuff like 'His eyes are open,' 'Cultivation successful,' 'No, looks like a failure,' 'Even a failure can be useful.'

Chaos, confusion, despair, and the sedatives kept him out of it for a long time, barely aware of himself, only remembering bits and pieces now and then.

Time felt stuck for him; every day was the same, only the pain changed. He couldn't tell where he was, if he was alive or dead, or if surviving the apocalypse was better than just drifting through this place.

Why was he even here, anyway?

He just numbly accepted everything, because it couldn't get worse—nothing could be worse than this. He stopped listening, looking, thinking, and stopped reacting to the world outside the 'dream.'

Until that day the research institute went into chaos, cold liquid dripped into him, pain and suffocation. He curled up and struggled, like he was instantly back at the moment he died in the apocalypse. The suffering here, in his haze, felt like just a flash of a dream before death—a broken nightmare about to end.

Then, sitting in the trashed institute, he heard those key words, like a time switch flipped back on for him. So the four-year-old Xiaobai Nuo really arrived here from the apocalypse.

Wrapped in a little blanket, holding warm water, listening to the female beta doctor whisper softly, after he finished the egg custard, he looked up and saw his dad.

The tall, unfamiliar alpha crouched in front of him and said, "Bai Sheng, your dad."

It was the family he'd always dreamed of.

So the little cub hesitantly reached out, forgetting that hazy 'nightmare' as a flash before drowning in the apocalypse. He remembered the Villain Family, and his own name.

"Bai Nuo."

It was Nono, who didn't want to be alone but always ended up that way.

The water was clean, and Nono liked that.

The food was good, and Nono liked that.

But Nono liked his dad the most.

For the first time, Nono wasn't completely alone.

...

So the little cub fought to open his eyes in the familiar haze.

Outside, it was already light.

Bai Sheng sat leaning next to him, staring down at his phone with a blank look, occasionally tapping to send texts.

Until Bai Sheng heard the little cub's tiny voice: "Dad...?"

Bai Sheng immediately looked down and said softly, "Headache?"

Xiaobai Nuo blinked groggily and shook his head: "A little... sleepy?"

Bai Sheng's big hand reached over and touched the little cub's forehead.

"You're not sleepy, you have a low fever."

Bai Sheng's hand was a little cool, and the feverish Xiaobai Nuo instinctively rubbed against his dad's palm.

The medicine seemed like it hadn't worn off yet, but the little guy was awake.

Bai Sheng didn't want to make unnecessary connections, like how even though Xiaobai Nuo was sensitive to this drug, he'd built up a slight resistance from overuse. But damn, these thoughts kept popping into his head.

Those messed-up things were still trying to leave marks on his cub.

Bai Sheng wouldn't let that happen.

"Want to sleep a little more?" Bai Sheng said softly.

His face was calm, like he wasn't the one who'd let out that violent pheromone aura yesterday.

Due to the low fever, Xiaobai Nuo's reactions were a bit slow. He tilted his little head to think, then shook his head.

"Nono remembers..."

He recalled softly and dazedly. Yesterday's events had been too sudden; Xiaobai Nuo hadn't seen clearly what happened. He only remembered.

"Strawberry Smoothie."

Bai Sheng: ...

You're really stuck on that, always craving treats.

Bai Sheng's limited patience was all for his own cub.

"Want a Strawberry Smoothie? It's too cold; you can't have it now."

Bai Sheng was a bit anxious, feeling that the little bit of weight he had managed to put on Xiaobai Nuo was about to mysteriously drop off again.

Xiaobai Nuo let out an "mm," his little face resting against his dad's palm, then shook his head.

He looked a bit listless.

No Strawberry Smoothie.

The little guy looked around.

He saw Bai Jin, not bothering to be particular, still in yesterday's clothes, leaning against the hospital bay window with his head drooping, asleep. He looked like he had just dozed off; even Bai Sheng's words hadn't woken him.

The others weren't there. The little guy thought for a moment and instinctively looked at his dad.

"They have things to do; they'll come later."

And the little guy thought.

"What about Second Uncle?"

Second Uncle wasn't hurt, was he?

Bai Sheng paused slightly.

"He's fine. He probably went to the police station to blow off steam."

Xiaobai Nuo didn't really get it. He could barely remember what happened yesterday.

But at least Second Uncle was okay.

The little guy nodded dazedly, blinking his big, half-closed eyes, still watching his dad.

"What's wrong?"

Bai Sheng leaned in a bit closer and asked softly.

"Nono, what do you want, buddy? You want something to eat? Or your Little Bear or Dou Dou?"

Bai Sheng thought to himself.

He had everything planned out to the last detail.

Whether it was feeding Xiaobai Nuo's little fish, charging Dou Dou, or picking a flower every day to put in the tiny vase...

Whatever he asked, Bai Sheng had an answer.

For a second, Bai Sheng even had a dangerous thought: the outside world was way too dangerous for this little guy. Why not just forget about socializing, friends, all that stuff—he could build a safe fortress himself, just let this little one be happy forever—wouldn't that be enough? No need to face danger, no need to grow up, and nothing bad would ever happen.

...

But no, a parent couldn't do that.

That's when Bai Liang gently pushed the door open. He hadn't slept all night, had taken his glasses off, and was covered in morning dew, his face unreadable. He glanced inside and paused for a second.

Already awake?

He heard the little guy say softly to Bai Sheng: "Nono wants... to sleep in Daddy's arms."

Bai Jin, nearby, heard the noise, stumbled a bit, and woke up. He looked up too.

The little guy, who'd been sleeping soundly, was now being held gently in Bai Sheng's arms.

Bai Sheng had tossed his phone and computer aside for now.

Watching the tiny figure curl up in his arms, finding a comfy spot on his own.

Then the little hand reached out to touch his dad's chin, and he let out a low giggle: "Daddy, your beard is prickly."

Bai Sheng lifted his head skeptically and touched his own chin.

Meanwhile, Bai Jin couldn't help standing up: "Awake?"

The sleepy little guy turned his head groggily to look over.

He yawned again, his big eyes blinking sleepily, his little voice very soft.

"Second Uncle, Little Uncle, morning."

"You're gonna scare someone to death."

Bai Jin couldn't help stepping closer.

Every time, something happens in my arms. What's your problem? You gotta watch Little Uncle get killed by your dad?

"Little Uncle almost went up to the roof to try out those invisible wings he bought to see if they'd fly."

Wings?

Fly?

Rooftop?

The little guy slowly put those words together.

"Little Uncle, you'll fall."

"Oh, why didn't you say that earlier?"

Bai Jin finally cracked a smile, came over to mess with Xiaobai Nuo, and even tugged at the little socks he had on.

The little guy instinctively pulled his feet back and hid them in his dad's arms.

Bai Sheng lifted his foot to kick Bai Jin away, about to warn him the little guy still had a fever.

But then the little guy suddenly remembered something, struggling to poke his little head out. Even though he was super sleepy and the meds hadn't fully worn off, he looked at Bai Liang.

"Second Uncle."

Bai Liang looked over: "What?"

He watched as the little one raised his small hand, yawned at him, then curled his little finger—pinky promise. Nono wanted to check if Second Uncle's hand was hurt.

Bai Liang hesitated for a second, then bent down, reached out, and hooked his pinky with the little guy's.

The three of them held back a lot about that research institute for now. The sunlight streamed in evenly, and it was already broad daylight.

Seeing Bai Liang was fine, the little guy contentedly pulled his hand back, then looked at his little uncle.

"Little Uncle."

"Hmm?"

Bai Jin looked over, confused, and also hooked his pinky.

He had to do it too?

Then he heard the little one say: "The Strawberry Smoothie hasn't been eaten yet."

What a shame.

Nono's Strawberry Smoothie.

Bai Jin: ...

How are you still hung up on that Strawberry Smoothie?!

And how come with Daddy, it's about sleeping in his arms; with Second Uncle, it's about hooking pinkies.

But when it comes to Little Uncle, it's all about the Strawberry Smoothie?!

That's not fair!