Chapter 162

Chapter 162

The top-grade alpha, Bai Sheng, exuded an ominous black aura, narrowing his eyes as he sized up Bai Wan.

Bai Sheng's faint peppermint pheromone scent turned sharp and spicy, with a faint, barely perceptible pressure.

Bai Wan, having just heard what the little cub might have gone through, was speechless: ...

Based on his analysis, there was no way he could win a fight.

Otherwise, Bai Wan wouldn't have gone out of his way to avoid Bai Sheng every time they met.

But thinking more carefully about the little one's situation in the Bai family—

Bai Wan figured he was indeed overthinking things.

So Bai Wan silently, hesitantly, and slowly backed away, conveniently "offering up" Bai Zhize, who stood beside him.

Bai Zhize, who thought Bai Wan was acting especially weird today, was speechless: ...?

What the hell are you doing, you little rascal?! Now you remember you've got a dad?

But Bai Zhize exchanged a glance with Bai Sheng, let out a sharp laugh, and was about to speak when Bai Jingyun cut in, "Third Uncle, those three chefs you found—we're taking them back with us too. If there's nothing else, just keep it down."

Bai Zhize was speechless: ...

Do you have any idea how hard it was to find those three chefs who cover the whole range of Z country's cuisine?!

You have absolutely no idea!

Bai Zhize let out another "ha" and started to speak.

"You're restricting our freedom."

Bai Jingyun said flatly, "Oh, I thought this was helping Third Uncle cooperate with the investigation."

...

Bai Sheng couldn't be bothered to listen to them any longer and turned, heading in the direction the official had pointed out earlier.

It was clear the Saviors Organization had returned to M country, intending to reinvent themselves, extensively disguising and modifying the research facility's original setup, trying to use a new identity to dodge the Bai family's pursuit. For someone with K's identity, doing such things was easy enough.

Unfortunately, they were far too slow. And because the Bai family had been too caught up in their own chaos to pay attention to others, they had miscalculated the Bai family's swift and decisive nature.

The smell of blood still hung in the air.

Bai Sheng walked into the room, where several people were collecting evidence. He looked up and saw Bai Liang standing there expressionless, gripping a data folder as if he were about to crush it. Then Bai Liang lowered his head, scanning through rows of archived hard drives for the number he wanted.

Hearing the sound, Bai Liang had already pulled out a hard drive by number, plugged it into the computer beside him, and glanced back at Bai Sheng.

"Done with your end?"

"Handled the outside on the way back—Bai Si's taken over."

Bai Sheng said offhandedly.

Honestly, after discovering that these cockroaches were only good at hiding and weren't as tough as he'd imagined, Bai Sheng's pent-up anger still hadn't fully vented.

"Find anything?"

"Probably couldn't let go of their obsession—only part of the data was destroyed. The experiment-related materials are pretty complete."

Bai Liang let out a laugh at that, though it was clearly a cold one.

After all, with the data this complete, it was obvious they hadn't intended to destroy the research records.

—They were even still hoping to take little Bai Nuo away again.

Bai Sheng let out a cold laugh too.

"Dying like this is too easy for them."

"Didn't we still capture a few of the leaders? The higher-ups are the higher-ups—don't overdo it."

Bai Liang laughed along, teasing.

"You're now our family's second-class protected animal."

The first-class protected animal was little Bai Nuo.

And why did Bai Sheng need protecting?

Because he was the little one's most beloved father—if anything happened to him, the little cub would cry.

So the most ferocious member of the Bai family, Bai Sheng, had earned the title of second-class protected animal of the Bai family.

Bai Sheng didn't feel like entertaining Bai Liang's whimsical ideas, just letting out a "ha" and not bothering to say more.

"But there's something else interesting—interested? The other half of Nuo Nuo's genetic makeup."

Bai Liang waved the folder he was holding.

Bai Sheng looked up at him.

"Actually, no need to worry about it—no one's fighting you for custody. I looked up that name—though he was a top-grade omega, he died of illness many years ago. The research institute must have used stored samples. But this omega's background is quite interesting—he was from the Farrell Family in M country."

Bai Liang pushed up his glasses.

This was also a globally renowned family, controlling nearly the entire underground gang network of M country, while also being major capitalists on the surface—far more chaotic than the Bai family. Not long ago, they had just gone through a massive upheaval, with the family's relevant authority figures completely reshuffled—basically dead or crippled. Now, a seventeen-year-old alpha held power. Under M country's system, the Farrell Family was the true underground emperor.

And such a family would never acknowledge a cub born in a research institute.

So Bai Liang figured there was no need to worry.

Moreover, the Farrell Family only held significant sway within M country. Not to mention coming to Z country—even in the global market, they wouldn't dare clash with the Bai family.

Let alone go after Bai Sheng.

Or rather, the other party would be even less eager for anyone else to share in his spoils.

Sure enough, Bai Sheng only glanced at it before losing interest and looking away.

"If they have any ideas later, tell them to come talk to me directly."

Bai Sheng didn't give a damn about those people.

With that, Bai Sheng looked at the experiment records loading on the computer.

Bai Liang had found what he was looking for. He paused, glanced sideways at Bai Sheng, and clicked open anyway.

He didn't think what Bai Sheng said was wrong, but he couldn't help thinking—those people really were blind, why of all people did they have to pick Bai Sheng's genes.

The video documented a day's worth of related research.

The institute had conducted many illegal studies, and aside from Xiaobai Nuo, there were plenty of other unauthorized experiments.

But since Bai Liang had located the records based on the experiment reports, as soon as he clicked play and the screen lit up, the tiny kid appeared in the center of the video.

The little one looked even smaller, his face the only part that still had that soft, chubby baby look. His damp, soft curls stuck to his head, his big eyes were vacant, staring ahead, and his small body trembled faintly as he leaned against a wooden sofa.

Suddenly, a hand reached in from off-screen, grabbed a fistful of Bai Nuo's hair at the top of his head, and yanked it, forcing the little cub to look up.

"I can't believe this is the test subject we managed to produce from top-tier alpha genes and top-tier omega genes. How did it end up like this?"

"Tell me about it. The excitement when we accidentally succeeded back then is nothing compared to the disappointment now. I really don't get it. Whatever, let's try again and run the next test."

...

Bai Liang: ...

Bai Liang suddenly paused the video.

"If you can't bear to watch, go ahead and go keep Nuo Nuo company now."

Stop blasting your pheromones like that—it's reckless.

"More importantly, I need a minute to recover too."

Bai Sheng's pheromones eased off a bit, and he glanced at Bai Liang, who was smiling.

"Bai Ye needs to be brought back to the country. His stance isn't a major issue, but we need to see how deep his involvement was. Someone will reach out to you about it later."

"They'll contact me?"

Bai Liang raised an eyebrow.

"His alpha gland is completely ruined. It's going to seriously shorten his lifespan."

"Completely ruined? Yeah, that's a problem. I'm not exactly great at that kind of thing, so we'll have to play it by ear. After all, Bai Ye's probably gonna be Nuo Nuo's favorite uncle in the future."

Bai Liang said.

Bai Sheng had already turned to leave, but at that, he glanced back.

Bai Liang immediately picked up on it, smiled, and pushed his glasses up again, though his eyes held no amusement: "Ah... sorry, with all this anger bottled up, I couldn't help stirring the pot."

Watching the drama, stirring up trouble, and adding fuel to the fire were basically Bai Liang's go-to ways to unwind.

That alone showed just how furious Bai Liang was.

Or rather, the entire Bai Family was just about losing their minds this time.

"If you give yourself a heart attack from all that anger, that's on you. Don't come crying for sympathy."

Bai Sheng turned and left.

It wasn't that he didn't want to know what the lab had done, or that he really couldn't stand to watch.

It was just that he hadn't seen his little cub all morning, and he suddenly really wanted to hold his kid.

Behind him, Bai Liang watched Bai Sheng leave, then finally turned his attention back to the computer.

Bai Liang muttered to himself: "With a mouth like that, doesn't San'er poison himself every time he licks his lips?"

After leaving the hospital.

Little Bai Nuo had been taken by his uncle to a cute little handicraft shop nearby.

The building had a storybook feel, with a small farm out front and beehives covered in insulation in the distance, since winter had set in. The elderly shopkeeper looked like a fairy godmother straight out of a storybook—white hair, always smiling behind a pair of little glasses, with a half-knitted woolen glove sitting beside her.

The shop mainly made handmade soap, using materials from her own small farm. The soaps were shipped all over the world, and there were other handmade goods too, but the main draw was that kids could make safe soap here too.

Right now, they were waiting for Bai Sheng to show up.

The little cub had been chatting with the grandmother with his uncle's help and had already picked up a few foreign words from his new friend. He was holding a cup of spiced apple tea the shopkeeper had given him, taking small sips with both hands, while still chatting with Grandma Shopkeeper.

Soft and tiny, babbling in an adorable, milky voice as he tried to mimic foreign words—it was impossible not to smile.

Grandma Shopkeeper was already doting on him, calling him "little treasure" nonstop, piling all sorts of pretty trinkets around him.

Until Bai Sheng arrived.

The little cub stood up, shouted "Daddy!" and ran over with his apple tea.

Bai Jin didn't follow. He stayed in his chair and checked the time.

It had wrapped up faster than he'd expected.

"Oh, so that's the little one's father? You two do look alike. But he was just saying he wanted Grandma to find him a rose brooch, and now he's already forgotten all about it."

Grandma Shopkeeper teased kindly.

"After all, these are little treasures."

Bai Jin chimed in, pointing at the pretty things piled around the little one, then at Bai Sheng, who was picking up the cub.

"But he's that little one's biggest treasure."

"Haha, what a sweet father-son relationship."

...

"Daddy, Nuo Nuo went with Uncle to see Uncle Bai Ye. Uncle Bai Ye has to have surgery, so the doctor uncle told Nuo Nuo and Uncle to leave first..."

The little cub was picked up by his father and, like always, chattered away, sharing everything he'd done and seen that day.

"The grandma here makes such pretty things, and there's apple tea too. Nuo Nuo's never had it before—the first sip was weird, but the more I drink it, the better it gets. Daddy, try it—"

Bai Sheng hummed in response, holding the cub with one arm while his other hand kept stroking the top of his child's head, like smoothing fur, or like soothing the little cub whose hair had been yanked so painfully back then.

The cub had been stroked for a while and looked up with some confusion, cup in hand.

"Daddy?"

Those eyes were bright, completely different from the ones in the video, looking at him with confusion.

Bai Sheng snapped out of it. He took a sip of the spiced apple tea the cub offered: "The taste is a bit strange."

He didn't pull his hand away, instead asking, "Still having nightmares?"

Well, of course, right?

Thinking about those things, going through those things—of course nightmares would follow, wouldn't they?

Bai Sheng's mood grew even more gloomy today.

What could he do to stop those dreams from haunting this little cub any longer?

Xiaobai Nuo blinked.

"I do have nightmares, but the picture book says every child is a brave little explorer of the world—and Nuo Nuo is one too."

The cub said, bumping his little head against his father's hand.

"Grandma said Nuo Nuo will fly very, very high someday and grow up to be incredibly strong—just like Daddy."

This cub was so full of hope for that future.

So it was fine—he cared more about the future than the past.

"Nightmares can't trap a brave little explorer."

The past couldn't trap Nuo Nuo.

So don't let them trap Daddy either.