Chapter 591: Teasing

Federation Headquarters, B3 level medical combat preparation area.

The just-concluded general mobilization raised the temperature of the whole building by a few degrees, and the corridor still hummed with the residual buzz of the departing crowd. In the innermost comprehensive debugging room, the core members had rarely gathered together.

Jiang Yuan leaned against the wall, his card bag placed at his feet, eyes closed, resting his mind. Su Ming sat on a folding chair in the corner, legs straight and crossed. Qin Zhixia sat at the center of the debugging bench, the outer shell of her mechanical arm removed, exposing the internal precision transmission mechanism.

Liang Wen stood before the floor-to-ceiling mirror, adjusting the collar of his black windcoat for the sixth time.

"You say, was my just‑finished request‑for‑battle speech the most imposing in the whole hall?"

No one responded.

Liang Wen turned around, hands on his hips.

"Su Ming, give your evaluation."

Su Ming didn't lift his head. "Last place."

"What did you say?"

"Even L is better than you. At least they attached a reasonable leave request. Yours is purely a performance‑type personality outbreak."

Liang Wen was choked for three seconds.

"You really don't know how to appreciate." He walked over and plopped down beside Su Ming, "I'm setting the mood, you know? At times like this we need someone to ignite the whole crowd's emotions—"

"You ignited it." Jiang Yuan opened his eyes, "the kind that makes people laugh."

Liang Wen opened his mouth, turned his head to look at Qin Zhixia.

Qin Zhixia was lowering her head to look at her disassembled mechanical arm, the corner of her mouth twitching slightly upward.

"Don't look at me. I was thinking about something else at the time."

"You guys—"

The door of the debugging room was pushed open.

Chu Che walked in carrying a silver medical kit. Every button of his Doctor's Lab Coat was fastened to the topmost one, and his Gold Thread Glasses glowed softly under the light.

"Qin Team, the mechanical arm needs stage‑by‑stage calibration." He placed the medical kit on the debugging bench, opened it, and took out a set of micro‑tools. "Recent usage intensity has been too high; the neural feedback parameters at the interface may have drifted."

Qin Zhixia raised her residual limb.

At the interface, the junction of metal and flesh bore old scars. She had no intention of covering them up.

"Thank you for the trouble, Dr. Chu."

Chu Che donned sterile gloves, his fingertips touching the fine‑adjustment knob on the edge of the interface. His movements were extremely light, as if handling a piece of delicate porcelain.

"How much is the feedback delay?"

"It's up by 0.3 compared to last week."

"Hmm, that's within normal fluctuation range. I'll set it back."

His fingers moved in the metal gaps—long, fair, steady without any tremor.

The debugging room fell silent for a few seconds.

Then Liang Wen spoke.

"Ah—"

He drew out the tail sound, his peach‑blossom eyes narrowing, his gaze darting back and forth between Chu Che and Qin Zhixia.

"Dr. Chu."

"Huh?" Chu Che didn't look up, continuing to adjust the parameters.

"How many times have you adjusted Qin Team's mechanical arm?"

"Seventeen." Chu Che answered naturally, "Post‑battle calibration is a necessary procedure."

"Seventeen." Liang Wen repeated the number, winking at Jiang Yuan, "Seventeen hands‑on adjustments, more frequent than my trips to the barber."

Jiang Yuan stayed silent for two seconds, then turned his face away.

Su Ming still hadn't lifted his head, but his hand stopped playing with the fragments.

Qin Zhixia frowned. "Liang Wen, what are you trying to say?"

"Nothing, nothing." Liang Wen raised both hands in a surrender gesture, "I just feel that with so many technical staff in the overall operation, He Chuan's subordinates have plenty of people who could do this job. Yet every time it's Dr. Chu personally coming over."

He paused.

"And he only adjusts yours."

The air in the debugging room suddenly acquired a subtle shift.

Qin Zhixia's back muscles tensed.

Chu Che's hand movements remained steady. "Because Team Leader Qin's mechanical arm has special specifications, the precision required for neural interfacing is higher. Others can't get it right. Moreover, doing this requires medical knowledge."

"Oh—" Liang Wen nodded, "Indeed, only Chu Che's hands are worthy of this."

"Liang Wen." Qin Zhixia lowered her voice by a notch.

"I'll shut up."

But he didn't.

"Anyway," Liang Wen rubbed his chin, "Dr. Chu, you're about thirty, right? Do you have a partner?"

The atmosphere in the room completely froze.

Jiang Yuan seemed to have choked on saliva, coughing twice. Su Ming finally lifted his head, his gaze sweeping over indifferently.

Chu Che smiled—a gentle, harmless smile.

"Is this topic getting too far off?"

"Not far, not far," Liang Wen's interest rose, leaning forward, "I'll tell you, the apocalypse is coming, life is short. Some things need to be said early; if we wait until after the battle and the bones are cold—"

"Liang Wen!" Qin Zhixia raised her voice half a degree.

"I'm talking about general life philosophy." Liang Wen spread his hands innocently, "What does it have to do with you? Unless you're feeling guilty?"

Qin Zhixia didn't respond.

But the angle at which she tilted her head revealed the color of her ears.

Su Ming saw it.

He collected the fragments into his palm and spoke.

"Dr. Chu."

Chu Che raised his eyes. "Huh?"

"The Qin Team's calibration data always improves significantly that night." Su Ming's tone was flat, as if he were saying the weather was nice today, "It's better than anyone on He Chuan's team has calibrated."

He paused.

"Are you sure it's just because of your skill?"

In the tuning room, even Jiang Yuan couldn't hold back; no matter how he pressed, the curve of his mouth wouldn't go down.

Liang Wen slapped his thigh excitedly.

"Su Ming! Good brother! This king hasn't misjudged you!"

Su Ming's face was expressionless. "I'm just stating the data."

Qin Zhixia lowered her head, her metal fingertip lightly tapping her knee. The mechanical transmission structure emitted a faint click.

From the day her father was imprisoned, she locked herself away in a shell without warmth.

When she personally put an end to Xiao Zhang, she thought she would no longer go soft for anyone.

The blade that severed the arm. The white-haired form that burns life in ignorance. Alone shouldering the Federation's most dangerous missions, day and night.

But every time he escaped death and came back, the first one waiting in the medical area was this man in the Doctor's Lab Coat.

He asks no mission details, utters no comforting nonsense.

He simply calmly treats her.

Every time is the same.

Qin Zhixia didn't lift her head, but the right hand clenched on her knee loosened.

Chu Che raised his hand and pushed his glasses.

That habitual little gesture. He does it when thinking.

He lowered his head, continuing to adjust the final set of parameters. The knob returned to position, the latch engaged. The prosthetic arm's shell closed again, emitting a faint airtight seal sound.

"Done."

He took off his gloves and retrieved the toolbox.

His movements flowed like clouds and water, clean and neat.

Then he stopped.

Liang Wen was still excitedly fanning the flames: "So, is there or isn't there——"

"Liang Wen." Chu Che spoke, his tone gentle.

Liang Wen blinked. "Ah?"

Chu Che didn't look at Liang Wen.

He looked at Qin Zhixia.

The eyes behind those lenses carried something very gentle. Not a deliberate performance, at least not to anyone's eyes.

"Team Leader Qin."

Qin Zhixia lifted her head.

At the moment their gazes met, her breath caught.

Chu Che's lips curved into an arc.

"Wait until we defeat the god."

His voice was very light, very steady, like saying something utterly ordinary.

"After this is over."

"I will give you a serious answer."

The adjustment room fell silent for a full three seconds.

Then Liang Wen sprang up from his chair.

"Holy shit!!!"

"Dr. Chu, you're awesome!!!"

Jiang Yuan raised his hand to cover his face, shoulders trembling. Su Ming tilted his head to look at the wall, the curve of his mouth not successfully hidden.

Qin Zhixia sat on the adjustment table, her whole body stiffening for an instant.

Then she turned her face away.

The mechanical prosthetic arm hung at her side, its metal fingertips unconsciously curling slightly.

"...... You person."

Her voice was very low.

"Choosing any time is not good."

Chu Che smiled, without explaining.

He fastened the medical box's buckle, stood up, and smoothed the Doctor's Lab Coat's hem.

Liang Wen was still jumping up and down beside them: "I knew it! I knew there was something! Jiang Yuan, you owe me fifty——"

"When did I ever make a bet with you?"

"A mental-level wager!"

Su Ming stood up, patting nonexistent dust off his pant leg.

He glanced at Chu Che.

"Dr. Chu."

"Hmm?"

"Saying it and doing it."

Chu Che nodded. "Naturally."

He picked up the medical kit, nodded at everyone. A warm smile lingered at the corner of his mouth, just the right measure, making people feel at ease.

"Then I'll head back first. Tomorrow there's another batch of wounded needing pre-op evaluation."

"Take it easy on the road, Dr. Chu!" Liang Wen waved at him, "From now on call me sister-in-law—"

"Liang Wen, shut up." Qin Zhixia's voice chased from behind.

Laughter rose and fell in the Debug Room.

Chu Che walked into the Corridor.

His footsteps echoed in the spacious Underground Passage. The laughter behind him grew fainter and more indistinct.

He walked about fifteen steps.

Exactly the starting point of the Debug Room's monitoring blind spot.

His steps did not stop.

But the smile hanging at the corner of his mouth vanished.

It wasn't a gradual fade, nor a slow cooling.

It was like flipping a switch—clean and abrupt—gone.

Behind the Gold Thread Glasses, those eyes were empty, revealing nothing human.

Warmth, kindness, tenderness, promise.

Nothing at all.

The Corridor's light fell on him, the edge of the Doctor's Lab Coat drifting in the darkness.

Chu Che lifted his left hand, glanced at his palm.

Just now, while debugging the prosthetic arm, Qin Zhixia's residual body heat lingered at her fingertips.

Quite warm.

He withdrew his hand, slipped it into his pocket.

What pulsed in his mind wasn't any emotional aftereffect, but a clear set of data.

At the end of the Corridor, a gray figure leaned against the corner.

Sai Men's mask tilted to one side, the eyeball on his cane swiveling to look at Chu Che.

"'Wait until we defeat the gods.'" He mimicked Chu Che's tone, repeating it once, the tail end tinged with laughter, "When you said that, didn't you find it especially funny?"

Chu Che pushed up his glasses.

"The effect was excellent."

"They need a belief that 'after the war, a beautiful life awaits.'"

Sai Men turned sideways and followed behind Chu Che.

"What if," his cane tapped the ground with a regular click-clack, "she actually survived to the end?"

"What answer do you intend to give?"

Chu Che did not stop.

"Then she would be qualified to witness the birth of the gods."