Chapter 158

Chapter 158

Bai Nuo stared at his father with wide, disbelieving eyes, as if accusing him, while still holding his own little head.

He looked like the whole world had betrayed him.

Bai Sheng chuckled at the sight, then lowered his head and blew softly on Bai Nuo's forehead again.

"How about this?"

After getting blown on, the cub cheered right back up, hugging his father's neck and nodding.

"But you shouldn't think like that."

Bai Sheng looked at the cub and continued, still having his doubts.

"And why do you keep thinking like that?"

The Bai family just couldn't figure out Little Bai Nuo.

They couldn't quite figure out how this cub had developed the habit of throwing himself into danger for others. It was pure, but also dangerous.

He had no trouble putting himself right in harm's way.

No matter how Bai Sheng tried to teach him, the cub still had that tendency, especially when it came to people he cared about deeply.

It was even more noticeable then.

Bai Nuo clearly hadn't thought about this kind of thing.

The cub paused for a second before answering.

"Because Daddy's good to Nono, so Nono's gotta be even better to Daddy."

He nodded.

He was really good at picking up on kindness from others and was more than happy to pay it back.

"And Nono's read a whole bunch of books lately."

Thinking about that, the cub started gesturing as he talked.

"There's a lot of stuff in the books that Nono didn't get before. The books say parents build a clean, safe place for their kids in a world that's complicated and always has dark corners."

So Bai Nuo thought back to the apocalypse he'd seen before. He knew this world had some really bad places, but even there—

"Nono thinks this world is sick, it's not good, and somebody's gotta do something. If somebody does a little bit, then it wouldn't be so bad, right?"

Somebody had to do something, or the world wouldn't get better. If nobody did anything, then the villains Nono had wrapped up in his protection wouldn't even exist.

The cub said it seriously, and he meant every word.

He used these simple stories and words from books to make sense of the world.

Then he looked up at his dad with those pure, innocent eyes, silently asking if he was right.

Bai Sheng looked at those eyes and didn't know what else to say or do besides just agreeing with him.

But in the end, hoping for a better world was a good thing, wasn't it?

Bai Sheng carried Little Bai Nuo up the stairs.

"Fine, we'll go. You've never been on a plane before? It'll be a good chance to see the sights—some tourist spots abroad are really pretty in winter too."

Bai Sheng had originally only planned to find a chance to deal with The Saviors Organization and then head home, but if he was bringing a cub along, he'd need to come up with a new plan.

Whether it was safety measures or what to do afterward.

And then there was the possibility that Bai Ye might be there. Bai Sheng wasn't sure if the other person—if it really was Bai Ye—would be safe for the cub to be around.

The cub lay in his dad's arms, thought for a moment, then asked.

"Daddy, is Uncle gonna be okay?"

Bai Sheng paused for a moment and gave a little "mm" in acknowledgment.

"Remember that uncle from overseas?"

"Mm."

Bai Nuo nodded.

"Nono remembers. It's Uncle Halle."

The little guy had a good memory. He'd met Halle Garrison a few times when Halle came to Z Country to talk business with Bai Sheng, and he remembered him.

"Mm, he's in the country we're headed to."

Bai Sheng carried Bai Nuo upstairs to get him washed up and ready for bed.

Several strongholds and research facilities of The Saviors had already been taken care of. Now Bai Sheng had narrowed things down quite a bit.

This was actually going faster than Bai Sheng had expected.

It might be done before Christmas—which would save him from being on edge all day.

A few days later.

Outside a hotel in M Country.

Halle Garrison stood at the entrance, cigar in his mouth, glancing over at a place he'd visited before.

This elegant-looking gentleman smiled and said to his secretary beside him: "Incredible, really. These forces developing in the shadows—the stuff they make just blows past common sense and basic decency. To put it in Z Country's words, it'd be—"

Halle cleared his throat and mimicked with an accent: "Small workshops really know how to pack a punch?"

The secretary next to him laughed at that.

"By the way, see if you can set up another meeting with that Mr. Shen for me tomorrow. Didn't they say this Mr. Shen has done a ton of research and experiments, with a lot of results? Oh, right, I heard he's also really good at restoring antique clocks. Ah, that gives us plenty to talk about."

Halle said with a cheerful laugh.

"Boss, tomorrow probably won't work out. I heard the whole area's gonna be locked down tomorrow, no visitors allowed. The cooperation's gonna have to wait a couple of days. The Farrell family's already headed back, but we still have plenty of time on this trip."

"Full lockdown? Some big shot coming in?"

Halle raised a brow.

"That works out, then."

He muttered something under his breath.

Bai Sheng's people had reached out to him earlier too, asking him to keep an eye on this guy named Shen Ye.

Harley didn't know why, but like he'd told The Saviors Organization before, chances to squeeze a few concessions out of Bai Sheng didn't come around often.

"Hm?" The secretary, who had no clue what Harley was talking about, turned around, looking confused.

"Nothing. Just remembered some company said they were coming here for a team-building thing."

Yeah, the Bai family company.

Harley almost cracked himself up. He finished his cigar, patted his cheek—how the hell had those people managed to piss off Bai Sheng?

"Come on, let's head in. Things are gonna change in a couple days."

"You mean it's gonna snow around Christmas Eve?"

The secretary followed up, asking.

"Something like that."

...

Inside a room at the research institute, it was pitch black.

Bai Ye sat on the sofa, eyes closed, leaning back, running the scenario through his mind over and over.

The comm device beside him lit up.

Bai Ye opened his eyes and glanced over.

It was a message from R.

'K's very interested in the intel and some of the samples you found. They've gone through them and think they'll be useful for the upcoming ops against the Bai family. He'll come by tomorrow to meet with you, Bai Zhize, and Bai Wan. I hope this can put a lid on their craziness and sound the first trumpet of our counterattack. As for the pheromone meds you need, I'll have someone drop off a few more months' supply later. Of course, just as your colleague, I also hope you stay healthy and get to see what you want to see.'

Bai Ye looked away, turned his head, and stared at the only light in the pitch-black room—a small tablet.

On it, a video was looping on mute—footage from Bai Nuo's kindergarten fall trip.

Bai Ye's return to the country wasn't just to check on Bai Nuo, nor just to wait until Bai Sheng wasn't around to carefully observe the little cub.

He'd documented all kinds of stuff about the Bai family—how many people were usually guarding Bai Nuo, and of course, some biological samples from little Bai Nuo himself.

He hadn't planned on collecting them, but the cub had come to him on his own, handing him the chance.

And these livestream recordings—under the excuse of gathering intel and observing behavior—he could justifiably keep playing them here all day.

All of it together formed a "stepping stone."

Tomorrow?

Bai Ye adjusted the scarf around his neck, his icy fingertips stiff.

Well, he had that little good-for-nothing to thank for that.

Way, way earlier than he'd expected.

As for those materials?

No, no need to worry.

After tomorrow, none of it would exist anymore.

So clearly, he was still ahead—let those Bai family members clean up the mess.

That was enough.

M-country's winter wasn't as cold as Z-country's, but at night, it was just as unbearable.

Wrapped up like a ball by his dad, the cub sat in the car, leaning against the window, tapping the glass with his little hand, not feeling the cold at all.

Little Bai Nuo was still a bit worried, but he hadn't gotten over the excitement of flying on a plane.

This was his first time on a plane, his first time abroad—just like when Bai Sheng had carried him out of the research lab, he was taking in the scenery outside.

"Daddy, it's different outside than at home. There aren't as many trees, and the houses look different too."

Bai Nuo said to Bai Sheng beside him, his little body trying to push up from the car seat to point out the differences to his dad.

The Bai family had come in full force this time. Everyone from that night had quietly set foot on M-country's soil, except Cen Zhi, who'd stayed behind.

But they'd landed in separate waves. Those who got in earlier, like Bai Qi and Bai Liang, had already split off to gather intel.

Bai Jin was in this car too.

Bai Jingyun was in another car. They were being escorted by bodyguards to their place.

By the time they got there, it was already pretty late.

Bai Sheng had gotten new intel, so he let Bai Nuo go inside with Bai Jin first. Bai Jin was still confidently promising to make little Bai Nuo some hot chocolate.

Bai Sheng had his doubts about that, but seeing his cub's curious face, he kept his mouth shut.

Bai Sheng waited for Bai Jingyun to catch up, raising an eyebrow.

"Bai Zhize and Bai Wan are here?"

What the hell are those two up to?

Instead of taking their three precious chefs somewhere to lay low, why are they coming here to stir up trouble?

"Someone spotted them here."

Bai Jingyun followed him in, taking off his coat.

"It's also pretty much confirmed to be Bai Ye. This time we can bring Bai Ye back and take down all these strongholds, but the ones behind are harder to hit—they might pop up again in a few years."

"If we can take these down, we can find intel on the one at the very top. That's how we caught this organization this time."

Bai Sheng said casually.

Bai Jingyun looked at Bai Sheng.

"...Nono seems really attached to Bai Ye. You still haven't told Nono that he might be his uncle, have you?"

"Yeah."

"What are we going to do with him once we bring him back?"

"Just dump him at the hospital. As for what he's done over the years, federal law will deal with him."

Bai Sheng had already spotted his brother and the kid huddled together in the distance, the grown-up and the little one messing around with something—maybe making that hot chocolate Bai Jin mentioned?

Bai Jingyun paused mid-step and blurted out, "Doesn't that bug you? If it's true, he'd be the first one to meet Nono, right?"

Bai Jingyun didn't have that much empathy; he just felt like his 'position' was being threatened.

Xiaobai Nuo insisted on coming abroad because of Bai Ye too, right?

"And so what?"

His dad had already walked off, just tossing out one line.

"Nono says I'm his most important dad."

Isn't that all that matters?

The eldest uncle, getting one-upped again: ?

Then Bai Jingyun glanced at the little one, who was resting his chin on his hand with a weird look on his face, softly asking if that's how you do it, and then looked at Bai Jin's supposed hot chocolate.

Bai Jin was indeed melting chocolate over a double boiler, but the type he'd chosen wasn't the best choice—it was the kind with syrup and chopped nuts mixed in.

By then, Bai Sheng had already scooped up Xiaobai Nuo, not about to let his kid eat that stuff.

"Don't eat anything your uncle makes."

"What? Nothing?"

The little guy wrapped his arms around his dad's neck.

"Yeah, your uncle's poison—anything he touches could kill you."

Bai Sheng said it with a straight face.

The kid, totally trusting his dad, was stunned for a moment, then nodded instinctively and looked at his uncle, the 'poison man.'

Bai Jin: ?

Hey! Who's the one who always made terrible food before?!

But before Bai Jin could protest, he heard a click while stirring—the sound of someone taking a photo.

Bai Jin turned to see Bai Jingyun already sending the pic to the group chat.

"...Dude, what are you doing?"

Then a notification popped up in their group.

Bai Jingyun gave a small smirk.

Bai Jin, suspicious, checked and saw a reply from Bai Qi, who had already shared something in the group.

#Temporarily Loving Family#

...

Bai Qi: I don't think we should move tonight; wait until tomorrow. They seem to have something big going on tomorrow, and they don't even know we're here yet.

Bai Jingyun: "Image"

Bai Qi: ?

Bai Qi: What the heck is this?

Bai Qi: Sorry, typo. What is this?

Bai Jin: ...