After being separated from my family, I became a darling of the military region thanks to my medical

Political Commissar Zhang of the Military Region Logistics Department.

The words Gu Zheng uttered carried a weight a thousand times heavier than the poisoned needle from before.

Ye Zhen leaned against the cold wall. The intense surgery and the tension that had kept her on edge all night left her feeling weak all over, but her mind was clearer than ever before.

She didn't ask "Really?" or question it.

She simply looked at Gu Zheng, his sharply defined jawline reflected in her bloodshot eyes.

"Evidence," she said, her voice dry and hoarse.

Gu Zheng laughed, a laugh tinged with bloodlust: "That brake fluid was a special hydraulic fluid that he personally applied for at the military factory last month. The application form has his own signature on it."

Witness testimony, physical evidence, and motive.

The chain of evidence is perfectly closed.

Ye Zhen's heart sank.

Political Commissar Zhang is determined to take down Team Leader Ji.

"He'll make another move," Ye Zhen said with certainty. "He knows Team Leader Ji isn't dead, and he knows we've secured the physical evidence. He'll stop at nothing to silence him."

Gu Zheng gave her a deep look, his gaze filled with more admiration than scrutiny.

This woman is smart and calm.

"So," he gestured toward the empty duty room next door, his tone commanding yet utterly concerned, "go to sleep now. Get some rest and prepare for the big show."

Does this man really think he's a commander giving orders?

Ye Zhen mentally complained, but her body's limits prevented her from arguing. She really was about to collapse.

Without saying another word, she turned and walked towards the duty room.

Just as her hand touched the doorknob, Gu Zheng's voice rang out behind her.

"Ye Zhen".

She turned around.

He stood at the boundary between light and shadow, like a lone wolf locking onto its prey, his tone domineering and unreasonable.

"Remember, from today onwards, you belong to me, Gu Zheng. If you want to harm you, you'll have to ask me for permission first."

Ye Zhen's heart felt as if it had been struck by an electric current, a tingling sensation running through it.

Then, he regained his absolute composure.

She said nothing, pushed the door open, closed it, and shut out that burning gaze.

……

Ye Zhen slept very soundly, yet for a very short time.

She was awakened by a series of hurried footsteps and arguing sounds.

It was already broad daylight.

She sat up abruptly and rushed out of the duty room, only to see a tense scene unfolding at the entrance of the ICU.

Dean Zhou stood at the door like a mother hen protecting her chicks, her face red and her neck bulging.

Before him stood a senior colonel with two bars and four stars, his expression arrogant. Behind him followed several health ministry officials and heavily armed guards.

"Dean Zhou, get out of the way!" The colonel waved the official document in his hand, his tone forceful. "This is a transfer order jointly issued by the Military Region Command and the Ministry of Health! The patient must be transferred to the Military Region Sanatorium immediately! If you dare to obstruct it, you are disobeying military orders!"

"No!" Dean Zhou was sweating profusely with anxiety. "The patient's vital signs are extremely unstable! Transferring him now would be tantamount to killing him! I'm the dean; I have to be responsible for the patient!"

"Is your responsibility more important than orders from headquarters?" the colonel sneered, waving directly at the guards, "Execute orders!"

Two guards immediately stepped forward and reached out to grab Dean Zhou.

Just then—

"Let anyone try to touch him."

A clear, cool female voice, though not loud, was like a scalpel, precisely cutting through the tense atmosphere.

Everyone turned to look.

Ye Zhen, wearing a white coat, walked out of the duty room. Her face was bare, slightly pale from exhaustion, but her eyes were frighteningly bright.

She walked up to Dean Zhou, like an unbreakable barrier.

"I am the patient's surgeon." She looked at the colonel, her gaze as calm as a deep pool. "I declare that the patient faces three major risks: postoperative infection, multiple organ failure, and secondary brain herniation. Any movement could lead to acute heart failure and respiratory arrest."

She paused, then spoke each word with professional eloquence.

"The mortality rate is 99.9 percent."

"The remaining 0.1% is reserved for the King of Hell to pull strings. If you want to gamble, I don't mind issuing you death certificates on the spot."

She looked up, glancing at the transfer order in the colonel's hand, her eyes icy.

"However, whoever approves it and handles the transshipment must have their name listed first. Who among you will take the blame for this?"

"You!" The colonel was speechless, his face turning ashen.

He's just an administrator, how would he know these things! But he understood "mortality rate" and "taking the blame"!

Who the hell dares to take this responsibility?!

"How dare you! You're just a lowly doctor, threatening your superiors!" the official behind the colonel roared, his voice trembling with fear.

Ye Zhen didn't even lift her eyelids.

In her field of expertise, she is the absolute queen.

Just as the two sides were deadlocked, a lazy yet powerful voice came from the end of the corridor.

"When did it become the Ministry of Health's place to lecture my people?"

Gu Zheng, leaning on his cane, slowly walked over. Xiao Wang followed behind him, carrying a thermal lunchbox.

He wasn't even wearing a military uniform, just a civilian outfit, with a cast on his leg, making him look like a family member of a patient.

But as soon as he appeared, Colonel Chen, who had been so arrogant just moments before, turned pale instantly.

"Commander... Commander Gu..." Colonel Chen stammered as he saluted, his back almost bent over.

Gu Zheng didn't even look at him. He walked straight to Ye Zhen, shoved the cane into Xiao Wang's arms, and with an incredibly natural movement, raised his hand to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

Their actions were intimate, as if no one else was around.

"Didn't sleep well?" he asked, looking down, his voice deliberately low, hoarse, and gentle.

Ye Zhen froze, wanting to dodge, but he stopped her with a look.

[Fine, you'll go all the way with the acting, huh?]

She endured it and didn't move.

Gu Zheng then raised his head, and when his gaze fell on Colonel Chen's face, the gentleness from before vanished completely, leaving only a chilling coldness.

"Colonel Chen," he said, a forced smile playing on his lips, "how come I had no idea your Ministry of Health could extend its reach to the headquarters to mobilize guards?"

Colonel Chen's forehead was instantly drenched in cold sweat: "Reporting to Commander Gu! It was... it was Political Commissar Zhang who specially approved it! He said the situation is urgent..."

"Political Commissar Zhang?" Gu Zheng chuckled softly, as if he'd heard the funniest joke. "He's just a logistics officer, yet his reach extends all the way to headquarters?"

He took a step forward, his injured leg rooted to the ground like an iron stake, yet his imposing presence forced Colonel Chen to retreat three steps.

"Go back and tell Political Commissar Zhang." Gu Zheng's voice was icy cold, each word piercing to the heart, "I, Gu Zheng, will protect this patient. I've also detained him. If he wants to go back, he can."

Gu Zheng suddenly leaned close to Colonel Chen's ear and whispered something only the two of them could hear:

"Let him come to the ICU entrance dressed in his funeral clothes and kneel down to beg."

Colonel Chen's body trembled violently, his face turned ashen, as if he had heard some terrifying curse.

He dared not utter another word and fled with his men, practically running away in a panic.

The turmoil subsided in an instant.

Dean Zhou let out a long sigh of relief, looking at the man and woman in front of him with a complex expression, as if he were looking at some kind of military legend.

Gu Zheng shoved the insulated lunchbox into Ye Zhen's arms: "Pork rib soup, drink it."

It was a commanding tone, yet it carried an undeniable concern.

Ye Zhen opened the lunchbox, and a fragrant aroma wafted out, causing her stomach to growl loudly.

She stopped being coy and picked up the spoon to drink.

Seeing her obediently drinking the soup, the hostility in Gu Zheng's eyes subsided somewhat.

Just then, Xiao Wang, holding a military-grade encrypted phone, quickly walked to Gu Zheng's side and whispered a few words with a solemn expression.

Gu Zheng's face instantly darkened.

He took the phone, and after hearing just one sentence, a storm instantly gathered in his unfathomable black eyes.

He hung up the phone and looked at Ye Zhen, who was drinking soup.

Ye Zhen felt uneasy under his gaze and stopped what she was doing.

"Something happened?"

Gu Zheng didn't answer, but stared intently at her with an extremely complex expression, including shock, inquiry, and a hint of... indescribable eeriness.

He remained silent for a full half minute before slowly speaking, his voice terribly hoarse.

"Political Commissar Zhang is dead."

Ye Zhen was taken aback.

Dead? So quickly? Suicide out of guilt?

However, Gu Zheng's next words caused the soup spoon in her hand to fall into the lunchbox with a "clatter," splashing scalding soup.

"Just now, he died in his own office." Gu Zheng stared into her eyes and said, word by word, "The preliminary forensic examination... indicates an acute drug allergy, and the allergen—"

"It's penicillin."