Chapter 69

"Madam Ming, the repair agent is working, but we found a toxin anchor during the operation. Removing it will inevitably cause the Commander to lose a portion of his memory." A toxin anchor—the spot where the infection first took hold. There, the injury was worst and hardest to clear. It was an infection trait of an evolved subspecies of the insect race; no one expected the insect mother to have it too.

"Just a portion? Are you certain?"

"Certain."

"Remove it immediately."

A portion of memory was nothing. As long as he lived, there were other ways to make up for it. As long as he lived!

...

The insect race war was nearing its end, and the Federation might soon enter a new era. According to the latest military announcement, Fourth Army Commander General Asher had completed the clearing of the insect race's core nest, and the border defense line had achieved total victory. Unfortunately, the Commander had been injured in this campaign and was in critical condition!

A brief news video spread rapidly across the Star Net. The moment Wu Ying saw it, her mind went blank with a buzz. The noise around her faded into the distance, then crashed back down. All she could see were the words "critical condition."

"Bang—"

Cynthia was looking down at her food when a sudden crash sounded in front of her. She looked up. Wu Ying's face was deathly pale, her nostrils flaring slightly, her eyelashes trembling as she stared at her Light Brain as if she might cry.

"Wh-what's wrong?"

Wu Ying gasped for air, unable to figure out how to answer. "I—" She opened her mouth, instinctively trying to respond, but her mind went blank and words wouldn't come. She shook her head; as her consciousness cleared slightly, she didn't have time to explain to Cynthia. She turned and ran out, needing to ask what had happened.

On the way, she opened Asher's contact and sent a voice message: "Asher, what happened to you?" After sending it, something felt off, so she opened Ming Yu's contact instead.

Good thing she hadn't deleted it even at her angriest. Wu Ying didn't waste time typing—she dialed directly. The ringtone sounded, a series of "beep-beep-beep" like an interrogation, each note striking her startled heart.

She ran in a panic. The base was so huge it made her want to cry, and the road to the dorm seemed to stretch on forever with no end in sight.

"What's wrong with her?"

Cynthia sat there dazed. Su Yi shot her a contemptuous glare. "Something happened. Check the news yourself."

There was no need to check again—the other students were already discussing it, and bits and pieces of their chatter could piece together the truth. Huo Lin ran in from outside; she'd seen the news too.

"Where is she? Did she leave?"

Su Yi nodded, then frowned as she heard Huo Lin and Cynthia discussing how to help. She was still sizing up the situation. In her view, this might just be official rhetoric. The matter was already settled—if the announcement had been released, then there were only two possible outcomes: either the Commander was out of danger and this would blow over, or the opposite extreme—his fate was sealed.

She leaned toward the latter, but it was only speculation.

"Why isn't he answering?"

Wu Ying paced back and forth in the dorm, frantic with worry. She didn't dare ask around outside, afraid of affecting their plans. Jiujiu had already finished preparations for departure.

Asher hadn't replied, and Ming Yu wasn't answering either. She'd contacted everyone she could think of—even Meng Ke hadn't responded. And that was it.

She didn't know how many calls she'd made before someone finally picked up.

Ming Yu's cold voice asked what the matter was, and Wu Ying's tears nearly spilled over. "What happened to Asher? He's injured—where is he? I'm going to find him."

She'd never thought Ming Yu's voice could sound so beautiful. Wu Ying clasped her hands together, resting them on the table, her gaze tense as if she were staring at a bomb.

Ming Yu heard the obvious sob in her voice and frowned in irritation. "You don't need to worry about his affairs. Just take care of yourself. Don't bother me if it's nothing."

"Wait—" Wu Ying called out, her voice suddenly rising, afraid the call would be cut off. "How could I not worry about him? I want to know if he's okay right now. Please, tell me—I can't reach him, and I can't reach anyone around him either." Wu Ying begged in a rush. The other end was silent, only the sound of shallow breathing reaching her.

In the silence, Wu Ying realized her own breathing was frantic. She tried to lighten it, but her heart clenched tight. She couldn't wait any longer: "If I remember correctly, I'm his wife. He's in critical condition now—can I really just stand by?"

"You can. Because there's nothing you can do."

Her words were like a rusty knife slicing at her heart. The pain made Wu Ying break out in a cold sweat, and tears fell before they could even well up, dripping onto the table and spreading into a small circle. She bit her lip, forced herself to calm down, and said, "I'm his legal wife. Whether I'm capable of anything is a matter of my own ability. When he's in critical condition, as his partner, I have the obligation to be at his side. You have no right to stop me from going to him."

Wu Ying swallowed and slowly let out: "I believe someone will help me fulfill that obligation."

Her tone was firm in a way that didn't quite seem like her. Wu Ying refused to back down. She refused to believe that an announcement could be released while she couldn't get to Asher's side. She just needed to know where Asher was—she'd get there herself.

"Are you threatening me?"

"No. I'm just very worried about him."

Wu Ying struggled to control her breathing, forcing herself to calm down. On the other end of the line, Ming Yu let out a cold snort. "Fine, come then. I'll send someone to pick you up."

Ming Yu truly looked down on Wu Ying's delicate and fragile nature, but she could hear that Wu Ying genuinely cared about Asher. Since that was the case, she didn't deign to stop her.

With Ming Yu's concession, the heavy hammer in her heart finally settled.

Wu Ying said thanks and immediately sent her location. She straightened up, casually wiped the tear from the corner of her eye with her hand, and immediately called her experiment course professor, Lucia, to ask for leave. She didn't dare waste time—she dialed directly, explained in a few brief sentences, and the professor didn't dare stop her, approving the leave on the spot.

Bell 13 Star. Another planet she'd never heard of. The Star Federation was so vast that she always failed her geography exams. Unknown planets were like stars in the sky—you never knew which corner they twinkled in. Asher was on one of these forgotten planets. And she was crossing time and space to get to his side.

Wu Ying's eyes were vacant. She was thinking—just a month ago, Asher had come running to find her, scolding her for not coming home for summer break, clinging to her. So full of life. Why was he suddenly in critical condition? She didn't believe it.

The person who picked her up drove her to a private hospital. The hospital was quiet, the guard at the entrance cold and stern with sharp eyes. Few people came and went, and armed patrols were stationed throughout. Wu Ying glanced around casually, kept walking without stopping, and the guards didn't stop her.

The elevator arrived, and inside were equally fully armed guards. Wu Ying glanced at the person in the elevator—he looked somewhat familiar. She couldn't remember where she'd seen him, but she must have encountered him around Asher.

She stepped forward, drawing a sidelong glance from the man. Wu Ying wanted to ask if he knew Asher's current condition, but before she could voice the question, she stopped herself. In her peripheral vision, the elevator display showed the floor numbers changing rapidly—the 32nd floor was almost there.

She swallowed the words in her throat and endured the wait. The elevator moved quickly, but its sound was nearly inaudible. In the silence, Wu Ying counted her heartbeats to pass the time.

All along, she'd been comforting herself—Asher was fine. If something really happened, Ming Yu would at least tell her, or more directly, she wouldn't have answered her call at all. But was that certain? Wu Ying couldn't guarantee it, so her heart could only suffer, swinging between hope and fear.

The elevator doors opened, and she rushed out first. Guards stood in the corridor, and one of them spotted her and walked over. "Madam Ming is this way."

He was going to lead her to Ming Yu. Wu Ying nodded, then asked, "Can you take me to see Asher first?"

"Apologies, Madam Ming instructed me to bring you to her quarters first."

Wu Ying knew that if Asher was truly severely injured, control of this place would be in Madam Ming's hands. If she wanted to see Asher quickly, she'd have to follow. When you're under someone else's roof, you have to bow your head—whether it was the Sicel family or Asher's soldiers, they all preferred to listen to Ming Yu.

She was the one left out, unable to even get a heads-up about Asher's condition along the way.

Ming Yu sat behind her desk, a stack of documents in front of her. She looked up as Wu Ying entered. "You're here. Have a seat."

"I want to know Asher's current condition. Is he... okay?" Her answer carried an obvious bias, as if she hoped Ming Yu would just tell her directly that Asher was fine. She could understand why Ming Yu hadn't said anything before—fear of leaks or unclear conditions. But now she was here, and she needed an answer.

"Current condition? He's out of danger, but he's still unconscious." Ming Yu closed the file, and a pair of eyes similar to Asher's looked at her, a cold gleam flashing in their dark pupils. "Behave. The reason I agreed to let you come is to control you—an unstable element."

Wu Ying took a deep breath, ignoring Ming Yu's sharp words. "I know. So, can I see him now?"

"Are you a doctor? What good will seeing him do?"

Was Ming Yu a hedgehog? Every sentence Wu Ying said, she'd prick back. Wu Ying's patience wasn't great, and her expression was already turning sour. "I need to see him with my own eyes. Otherwise, how do I know whether your bait is real or fake? Can't I look just because I'm not a doctor?"

"Ha, still so childish." Ming Yu shook her head slightly, as if Wu Ying were being unreasonable. When she saw Wu Ying about to say more, she raised a hand to massage her temple, looking thoroughly annoyed.

"Get out. I'll have someone take you."

With those words, Ming Yu pressed some button on her desk. The door opened automatically, and someone was waiting outside.

Wu Ying said thanks and got up to leave. She'd achieved her goal, hadn't she?

Asher, post-surgery, was still in the intensive care unit. Wu Ying walked down the corridor, turned into a passage, and saw rows of ward doors embedded with thick, specially made metal.

The nurse brought out a heavy protective suit, and the two of them struggled into it before she could finally reach Asher's side.

His head was enclosed in a device with a line like a heartbeat, jumping up and down—sometimes surging to the top, sometimes plunging as if about to drop off the screen. A single glance was enough to make Wu Ying's heart leap with fright.

Wu Ying didn't know much about medical equipment, so she couldn't help asking the nurse. The nurse politely explained and reminded her that she couldn't stay in the ICU too long.

She didn't know that the device on Asher's head was monitoring his mental power threshold. The readout showed abnormal fluctuations—any other time, the alarm would have been blaring. But since Asher's mental power had been in constant abnormal states since the infection, this was considered normal.

The moment she stepped into the ICU, the value suddenly spiked to its peak, held for a long while, then slowly descended. His mental power had always been fierce, and after being provoked by the toxin, it had become a violent form. It coiled around Asher, prowling through the ICU. When Wu Ying stepped into its domain, it instinctively wound around her. It tried to pierce through the protective suit to catch her scent, to identify who she was.

Wu Ying's protective suit was custom-made, with layers of extra coating against mental power attacks.

Only such a suit could withstand Asher's mental assault. Even when his mental power enveloped her entirely, it couldn't penetrate a single trace. It grew angry, and the value that had just calmed spiked again.

"Normal is good."

Wu Ying returned to the bedside. Through the instrument, she couldn't see him clearly. He lay quietly, his upper body bare, no visible wounds, but a patch was stuck over his heart, connected to the device by the bed—like a heart rate monitor. The numbers were normal.

Wu Ying wanted to touch him, but she didn't know where to start. Even though she could finally see him, the distance felt so vast. She couldn't hold back her tears, the heavy protective suit weighing her down, crushing her heart along with it.

She leaned closer, trying to make out his face. Asher's eyes were closed, like a delicate doll—quiet and fractured. It suddenly struck her that she'd never seen him like this before. In the past, he didn't speak much, but his presence was overwhelming. The word "fragile" had nothing to do with him; one look from him was enough to make you feel the pressure.

Even the strongest can be hurt. She'd known that before, but seeing it now felt even more painful, because the contrast was impossible to ignore.

The ICU was nearly filled with all kinds of equipment. In the middle sat a small bed, Asher surrounded at the center. There were no windows—only the door through which she'd entered, as if there was no way to breathe. His life could only be shown through cold instruments, turned into cold numbers. Only by reading those numbers could one feel the pulse of Asher's life.

But Wu Ying didn't understand them, so she desperately wanted to see his face clearly. She couldn't grasp the meaning of the numbers, so she could only tell herself this was normal—he'd be fine in a while.

Wu Ying thought: this really is a terrifying place. When Asher woke up, she'd help him decorate his ward properly. What mattered most for recovery was a pleasant mood—the environment was important. Sunlight, flowers, fruit, and fresh air...

"Time's up. Miss Wu Ying, please come out."

The nurse at the door called her. Wu Ying looked up, checked the time, then turned back to trace his features one last time. "Asher, get better soon. I'm leaving."

The heavy protective suit made her steps feel sluggish. She waddled out of the ICU, and the door shut immediately behind her.

She wanted to look back, but all she saw was the cold, unforgiving "iron door."

"Let me help you out of that."

The nurse stepped forward to help her undo the clasps. Maybe because Wu Ying's expression had improved, she grew more talkative. "I heard Dr. Vido say the Commander has made it through the most critical period. The next phase of treatment will focus on his abnormal mental power."

"Thank you. What you've told me means a lot."

Wu Ying looked at her with moist eyes, her tone sincere. The nurse's hands paused briefly, then she smiled and said, "You're welcome." She continued working. "Are you the Commander's wife?"

"Mm." Wu Ying nodded, not noticing the pause, only thinking that this protective suit was truly a pain to put on and take off. The whole thing came in separate pieces, assembled one by one when putting it on, every clasp fastened tight; and when taking it off, you had to open each clasp and pull the parts apart.

After a while, the suit was finally off. Wu Ying let out a slow breath and asked the nurse, "Have you heard the doctor say about how long before Asher wakes up?"

"No. The doctor can't be sure either."

Wu Ying nodded in defeat. "Okay. Could I add your terminal contact? Asher's here, and I feel a bit uneasy. I don't know much about medicine, so I might have some questions for you." Wu Ying looked at her with pleading eyes, sounding pitiful and sincere.

The nurse immediately beamed. "Of course!" Adding the Commander's wife to her contacts was absolutely beneficial. Good thing she'd been quick to strike up a conversation—otherwise, she'd have missed a golden opportunity.

After exchanging terminals, Wu Ying followed the nurse out of the ward. In the corridor, the man who'd brought her was still standing in the same spot.

"Where's my room? I'm a little tired and want to rest."

"Very well. Please wait a moment."

He was probably asking Ming Yu. "I'll take you there. Your room is arranged on the floor below."

Wu Ying nodded casually, then suddenly thought of Asher and paused. "On the floor below? Wouldn't it be more troublesome for me to come up? Wouldn't it be even harder to see Asher?"

She'd just noticed that guards were posted at both the elevator and stairway entrances, while Ming Yu's room and Asher's ward were on the same floor, just separated by a distance.

The man explained that regardless of which floor, no one could move freely in this area without approval, so the difference between floors was negligible. He added, "Besides, the family rest rooms on the 32nd floor are all taken, so Madam Ming arranged for you to stay on the 31st floor."

"Oh, I see." Wu Ying awkwardly touched her head. "Well then, let's go."

Seeing Asher had lifted her mood, but now the awkwardness felt especially pronounced. She supposed that was fair—did she think she could just waltz in and see Asher whenever she wanted just because she was on the 31st floor? With that old witch Ming Yu holding the reins, she couldn't get in even if she were right outside the ICU.

A mother protecting her child, that's all.

But would she ever harm Asher? Ming Yu just couldn't stand her!

Wu Ying habitually let her left and right brain bicker, and the victorious little voice cheered and danced above her head. She smiled in satisfaction. Next came waiting for Asher to wake up. But before that, she had to get herself settled. Jiujiu was tucked away in a specially made spatial pouch—easy to carry.

Her guardian. Wu Ying couldn't go without it.

She was having dinner downstairs when, upstairs, Ming Yu stepped out of her room. She'd put her work aside for now—tonight, she had an appointment with Dr. Vido to discuss the treatment plan. Everything was under her control.

Ming Yu flipped through a few pages, and the more she read, the deeper her frown grew. "Dr. Vido, isn't this plan too risky?" She turned to look at the projection of her husband, worry in her eyes.

Perhaps they'd been too optimistic. They'd thought that once the toxin was cleared, there wouldn't be any more problems.

Vido, stared down by the two of them, felt a chill despite his experience. His tone carried a hint of hesitation. "It is risky, but it has its rationale. Please look at pages 5 through 11—this method might be the most appropriate for now."

As Vido explained: Asher's mental power was unusually strong. In his early years, he'd become immune to most standard mental power suppressants on the market. It was only later that Abner had invited Vido to create a custom suppressant for him, which allowed Asher to undergo mental power treatment. Now, faced with this uncontrollable mental power, Vido didn't think he could immediately produce a new suppressant formula.

"The most important point is that our team has observed that even with the Commander's current abnormal mental power surge, his brain region hasn't suffered damage from his own mental power." In other words, this stimulation might have further activated Asher's mental potential—his mental power was breaking through and growing once again.

At that thought, Abner and Ming Yu instinctively held their breath, then immediately returned to normal. Risk and reward always went hand in hand. Dr. Vido's treatment plan was to use other medications to wake Asher, and once he woke, he'd control it himself.

"If Asher still hasn't woken, what makes you think the mental power surge hasn't affected his brain region?"

Abner was the first to raise the question. He hoped for a safer approach.

Vido paused for a moment. He was about to say that their preliminary assessment was that the Commander's continued unconsciousness was due to the repair agent being rejected by his mental power, causing the injuries to the poisoned brain region—and the surgical wounds—to heal more slowly. But their plan was to use other drugs to stimulate the Commander into waking.