Liang He gently tapped the Mojin King Tiger's nose. Her doting, amused tone quieted him down again, though his gaze remained fiercely fixed on Xu Yi.
"ROAR!"
He warned him not to come near!
"Okay, okay, I won't come near you," Xu Yi said, raising his hands in surrender. He then turned to Liang He with a helpless look, asking for her assistance. "Could you please take him into the treatment room? He still needs to stand on the scanner."
The specialized medical scanner could assess Cedriel's injuries with a single click. It was the most effortless and accurate method available—provided Cedriel was willing to cooperate.
"I'll try." Liang He didn't promise anything outright. Instead, she tried guiding Cedriel into the room.
Cedriel, initially highly resistant, saw her walk in first. Realizing Xu Yi was still standing outside, the giant tiger, unwilling to share the same space as the doctor, immediately lifted his massive paws and followed Liang He inside.
Once again thoroughly despised, Xu Yi let out a helpless sigh. He was doomed; he had definitely been blacklisted. It was fine for now, but if he was still on that blacklist when Cedriel regained his memories, he would be in deep trouble!
"AWOO!"
As soon as Cedriel entered the treatment room, he flicked his large tail and patrolled the area. After confirming it was safe, he shot a cold, dismissive glare at Xu Yi outside the door before finally walking over to Liang He.
"Wow, Cedriel, you're amazing! You even know how to step onto the scanner yourself!"
Following Xu Yi's instructions, Liang He had walked over to the scanner's control console. She had planned to slowly coax Cedriel onto the machine, but to her surprise, Cedriel jumped onto the scanner entirely on his own volition just to see what she was doing.
In the control room, Huo An and the others, who had been observing Service Area Seven, fell into absolute silence.
Fine, they all knew the Marshal had double standards by now. What exactly were they still expecting?
Just moments ago, when Cedriel was hunting Xu Yi, their hearts had been in their throats. But in the blink of an eye, they saw Liang He hug him, and he actually abandoned the hunt. One had to understand, this completely went against the nature of a fierce beast!
"Cedriel, I'm going to start the scan now. Be a good boy and stand still. Don't move."
Taking advantage of the situation—no, striking while the iron was hot, Liang He immediately began scanning Cedriel's injuries. With Liang He there as bait, Cedriel indeed completed the scan obediently.
Watching this scene unfold, the staff in the control room wiped away tears of bitter frustration. They thought, "Marshal, you can't be like this! Your double standards have no bottom line!"
"Huh? Why do you have so many old injuries?"
Looking at the scan results, Liang He couldn't help but frown deeply. Surprisingly, aside from the few fresh wounds added today, Cedriel had a far greater number of old injuries. Seeing that Xu Yi didn't dare to enter, Liang He simply took the results to the door, wanting to ask why Cedriel had so many old wounds.
"These injuries were all left behind from Cedriel's previous battles. He refuses to cooperate with treatment, so new wounds just pile on top of the old ones in an endless cycle. I have no way of dealing with it," Xu Yi explained.
As an SSS-level Beastman, combat was a mission carved into his very bones. The moment Cedriel discovered any trace of a Fierce Beast, he would immediately hunt it down.
"He still needs to be properly treated," Liang He mused, seemingly making up her mind. "Doctor Xu, please devise a treatment plan, and I will help you carry it out. During this period, I'll stay by Cedriel's side the entire time."
Liang He was a Breeder, not a Veterinarian. Since everyone had their own specialties, she could only assist Xu Yi.
Xu Yi had originally intended to ask for her help to treat Cedriel anyway. Now that she was taking the initiative to offer, he naturally wasn't going to object.
"No problem. I'll leave the hard work to you."
The two hit it off immediately. Meanwhile, inside the room, Cedriel kept his eyes glued to Liang He. Seeing that she was taking her time coming back in, he began to grow restless again.
"ROAR!"
Cedriel walked slowly over to Liang He's side. He rubbed his massive head against her neck, acting affectionately without pause, but a dangerous glint flashed in his vertical golden pupils as he glared hostilely at Xu Yi.
"Ahem, it's getting late. I'll head back first to prepare tomorrow's medication. You should get some rest!"
Sensing the imminent danger, Xu Yi immediately turned tail and fled. The moment he left, the atmosphere instantly returned to a harmonious state.
"Why did Doctor Xu run away so fast?" Liang He tilted her head, resting it against Cedriel's large one. She gently stroked his ears, watching Xu Yi's rapidly disappearing figure in confusion.
His ears feeling a bit itchy from the petting, Cedriel reached out a paw to pin down her mischievous hand. He then retreated back into the room and began shaking his head vigorously.
"PFFT, PFFT, PFFT."
Ending up with a mouthful of fur from his shaking, Liang He wiped her face speechlessly. Looking at her hand, she saw it was completely covered in fur.
"Isn't it time you got brushed?"
Such severe shedding wouldn't do!
Acting on her words, Liang He simply went to fetch a basin of water and a new towel. She sat cross-legged right next to Cedriel and began wiping away the dirt and bloodstains on his body.
Fortunately, the Mojin King Tiger inherently liked water, and as a big cat, he also loved being clean, so he was highly cooperative. It wasn't until Liang He had changed the water three times that she finally wiped him completely clean. Then, she started brushing his fur.
"You have way too much loose fur. Didn't your previous Breeders brush you at all?"
The criticized Breeders collectively thought, "Is it that we didn't want to brush the Marshal? It's clearly because the Marshal wouldn't let us touch him!"
"AWOO..."
Cedriel lay down comfortably, exposing his belly to make it easier for Liang He to brush the fur there. He stretched his body out lazily, his paws spreading wide like blooming flowers. His large, fluffy tail wagged back and forth, looking so adorable that Liang He couldn't resist kissing his forehead several more times.
By the time all his fur had been brushed, Liang He was exhausted too. One person and one tiger simply lay down in the treatment room and fell fast asleep.
"She just fell asleep like that?"
In the control room, the staff stared at Liang He, who was using the tiger's belly as a pillow. They exchanged glances, completely speechless.
Huo An, on the other hand, furrowed his brow tightly when he saw the petite, fragile Blue Star human sleeping without even a blanket.
"Remember to send more supplies to Liang He tomorrow. While you're at it, set up a bed for her in the treatment room and prepare a quilt and pillows."
From now on, as long as Cedriel was still in his Evolutionary Stage, Liang He was a key protection target. With her around, the probability of Cedriel safely making it through the Evolutionary Stage was extremely high.
Clearly, the others had also realized this and adopted a solemn attitude.
"Understood."
The next morning.
To be honest, sleeping on the floor was quite uncomfortable. When Liang He woke up, her waist was sore and her back ached. She had to stretch for quite a while before she felt better.
The Mojin King Tiger, who had woken up long ago and was only feigning sleep, immediately stood up alongside her. Lowering his body, he stretched out leisurely and then walked toward the door.
"ROAR!"
Afraid of catching a cold last night, Liang He had closed the door. When the staff in the control room saw that, they had been tense for a good while. After all, fierce beasts rejected captivity, and closing a door on them was considered a highly dangerous act.
However, upon seeing Liang He close the door, Cedriel merely lifted his eyelids lazily, showing absolutely no reaction. When Liang He lay back down on his belly, he even shifted into a more comfortable posture, rendering everyone utterly speechless.
Silence had ruled the control room that night.
"I know, I know. I'm opening the door right now."
Liang He tied her hair up, her ponytail fluttering in the air as she walked briskly to the door. The instant it opened, Cedriel vanished without a trace.