The World of Bengtieli: They All Have designs on me

Chapter 187 Luo Ning's Examination Report

The corridor of the Medical and Psychological Assessment Center was blindingly white, filled with the mixed smell of disinfectant and cold metal. Shiluva paced anxiously back and forth, arms crossed, the rapid, jerky sound of her high heels echoing the pounding of her heart. Bronya stood beside her, her brow furrowed, her gaze frequently drifting towards the end of the corridor.

There, Lingke sat quietly on the bench, like an isolated island. She didn't move, didn't speak, and might even have fallen asleep.

But her very existence is a silent confrontation, a stubborn declaration, proclaiming her ownership of that "trouble."

An hour later, Pera finally appeared at the other end of the corridor.

She held a thin data panel in her hand, her face displaying a calm, businesslike expression. "The report is out."

Hilva lunged forward, almost snatching the data panel from Pella's hands. "How is he? Is he alright? What did that bastard do to him?"

“Silva.” Bronya pressed her shoulder, took the data panel from Pera, and handed it to her. The screen of the data panel displayed rows of cold, technical terms and numerical values ​​that were almost incomprehensible to most.

Hiluva's gaze skipped over the complex analytical diagrams and landed directly on the final conclusion. [Evaluation Subject: Lonin. Age: 7 years old.]

[Physiological assessment conclusion: Vital signs are highly active, and the metabolic rate exceeds the standard value for its age by 37%. No external injuries were detected.]

Abrasions or internal tissue damage. No known drugs, hormones, or external inducers were found in the blood and tissue samples.

[Special Note: A specific body part of the assessed subject (number: P-01) exhibits atypical abnormal developmental characteristics; its size, tissue density, and thermal response all far exceed normal physiological ranges. Specific data are available.]

Hiluva's breathing stopped.

Her fingers turned white from the force she exerted, and she almost crushed the edge of the data panel.

There were no external injuries. There were no medications.

This is worse than the worst possible outcome.

This means that there is no culprit to blame for the horrific changes in Luo Ning. It's like an inexplicable tumor that appeared out of nowhere and grew on his body.

“This is impossible!” Shiluva’s voice was sharp, trembling with a hint of collapse. “This report is wrong! How could there be nothing?” The report was automatically generated by the medical center’s main system; the data was absolutely accurate. Pera pushed up her glasses, her eyes behind the lenses flashing…

The unusual glow... "We even used the military's depth scanner to confirm that there were no implants in his body."

*【Wow, all-natural, no additives. This is way more interesting than cyborgs. Did the icy girl from the Landau family dig up some hidden gem of a boy? I really want to... collect some deeper data myself.】*

"How do you explain that?" Bronya's voice also turned serious. She took the data tablet from Shiluva and carefully read the "Special Notes" section, her expression extremely solemn.

As an heir who received the highest level of elite education, her understanding of the world is built upon logic and order. And this report is the most blatant critique of logic and order.

Just then, a cold voice broke in. "The data matches."

Ling had somehow appeared behind them. She glanced at the data panel and spoke calmly, as if she were checking the scale of a geological map.

"My observations last night are consistent with this."

“You…” Hilva turned around abruptly, her habitual rage reignited, and she almost lunged at her. “Linco!” Bronya shouted, stopping her sharply. “This is the medical center!”

Hiluva froze, staring at Lingke's face, mostly obscured by goggles. Her chest heaved, and her eyes were red-rimmed. Anger, helplessness, and a deep-seated fear overwhelmed her.

“What about Lonning?” Bronya forced herself to calm down and turned to Pera. “What was his psychological assessment like?”

"The preliminary conclusion is that there is a mild case of post-traumatic stress disorder, and a strong imprinting effect on a specific protector." Pera's wording remained professional yet vague. "He has been placed in ward number three, a completely safe environment. It is recommended that he be allowed to calm down on his own for a while."

Ward No. 3, a special guard ward, was completely white.

White walls, white sheets, even the air seemed white, carrying a sterile, cool quality.

Luo Ning sat alone on the bed, hugging her knees, feeling like a piece of evidence labeled and awaiting disposal. [System: Host, you have successfully upgraded a family ethics issue to a supernatural scientific mystery.]

Is Luo Ning something to be proud of? The door was gently pushed open.

The first one to enter was Shiluva.

She changed out of her tight uniform and into a soft beige sweater, holding a plate of exquisite strawberry cake from a top-tier dessert shop in the upper-class district.

"Luo Ning," she said softly, with a deliberate gentleness, "are you hungry? Here, have your favorite strawberry cake." She placed the plate on the bedside table, sat on the edge of the bed, and carefully, not daring to touch him.

Luo Ning looked at the beautiful cake, then at Xiluwa's bloodshot eyes, and felt a pang of sadness.

He picked up his fork and took a small bite. It was sweet, but the sweetness made him feel nauseous.

“Sister Hiluva,” he whispered, “I’m fine. Sister Lingke…she really didn’t bully me.”

Hiluva flinched, forcing a smile. "Okay, I understand. You eat first, don't think about anything." The more she acted like this, the more suffocated Luo Ning felt.

Sylva didn't stay long before leaving; she seemed unable to bear the calm yet strange atmosphere. The second to enter was Bronya.

She didn't bring any food, but instead brought a very complicated 3D chessboard.

“This is a star trail simulation, a kind of logic game.” Bronya’s tone was calm as she sat on a chair not far from the bed, keeping a safe distance from him. “Shall we play a game? Just to… relax.”

She wanted to use this method to assess whether his thinking was clear and whether his logic was flawed. Luo Ning nodded.

He played chess with Bronya, deliberately making a few wrong moves, and then, at a crucial moment, with a childlike intuition, making a brilliant move. Bronya stared at the chessboard, falling into a long silence.

His thinking possessed both the confusion of a child and extraordinary sharpness.

This confused her even more. Bronya left too.

The suffocating silence returned to the ward. Luo Ning lay down and pulled the blanket over her head.

He suddenly missed that narrow, damp, but warm cave.

I miss that crackling campfire, and that sister who always said "troublesome" but would still put her only coat on him... Troublesome sister.

Just as he was about to fall asleep, the door was opened for the third time. There was no knocking.

The person entered without hesitation, pushing the door open. Luo Ning pulled back the covers and saw that familiar figure: Ling Ke.

She was still wearing that gray-white adventure outfit and carrying her badly worn backpack.

She ignored the "No Visitors" electronic sign at the ward entrance and the alarms that might be triggered, and walked in. She walked to the bedside and stood still.

I didn't ask him "Are you okay?" or say "Don't worry".

She simply took something out of the mesh pocket on the side of her backpack and placed it on Luo Ning's bedside table. It was a can of food.

A silver-white can of fish soup with a fish printed on it, which looked cheap.

“It’s hot,” she said.

Then she took a small, folded can opener from her pocket and placed it next to the can. Having done this, she prepared to turn and leave.

"Wait a minute!" Luo Ning called out to her hurriedly. Ling Ke stopped and turned around.

“Sister,” Luo Ning sat up, lifting the blanket, picked up the can that still held her warmth, and asked softly, “Aren’t you staying?” Ling Ke’s gaze swept across the pure white hospital room, and her brows furrowed involuntarily.

“This place,” she said succinctly, “is not suitable for sleeping.” Too bright, too empty, too clean.

The absence of the scent of mud and snow made her feel uneasy. Luo Ning, observing her, suddenly understood something.

He clumsily pried open the can with that little tool.

A rich, salty, and slightly fishy aroma of fish soup instantly filled the sterile ward. The smell was raw, direct, and full of life.

It dispelled the coldness of the disinfectant, giving the white cage a touch of human warmth. Ling Ke's icy blue pupils seemed to soften for a fleeting moment because of this familiar scent.

Luo Ning picked up the can, took a deep breath of the hot liquid, and then handed it to Ling Ke. "Sister, you drink first."

Lingke looked at the canned food he handed her, then at his rosy little face, and didn't take it.

She simply reached out and very lightly ruffled the top of his fluffy head. "Yours."

Then, she turned around and left decisively.

Luo Ning sat blankly on the bed, holding the warm can of food.

He knew that Sister Hilva's cake was expensive, and Sister Bronya's chess game was very useful. But only this can of food belonged to him and Linco.

It belonged to that secret, unknown to anyone, of sharing the last dose of nourishing medicine in the cave, covered by the same coat. Outside the ward, through the one-way observation window, Silva and Bronya witnessed the entire scene.

As Xiluwa watched Ling Ke's departing figure, and then at Luo Ning in the ward, sipping his fish soup in small sips, her expression shifted for the first time from anger and fear to a pure, incomprehensible expression of Fan Ran.

Chapter 188 My Trouble, I'll Raise It Myself

In the long corridor outside the ward, Silva and Bronya could see everything through the cold, one-way observation window. Silva's expression was blank.

Anger, fear, worry—these intense emotions seemed to have been drained away by what had just happened, leaving only a desolate ruin.

Her proud family background, the money and material possessions she could easily provide, and the care she showed as the eldest sister all crumbled before that cheap can of fish soup.

Bronya's brow furrowed even deeper.

Unlike Silva, she didn't outwardly express her emotions, but her inner sense of order was undergoing a violent earthquake. Logic couldn't explain it.

Lingke's behavior was completely beyond her comprehension.

That wasn't concern, it wasn't reassurance, and it wasn't a strategy. It was... a kind of geological exploration.

Discover an unknown sample, confirm its basic needs, and then provide the minimum, most efficient life-sustaining resources—cold, precise, yet inexplicably effective.

"Did she... mistake him for some little animal she found on the snowfield?" Shiluwa's voice was dry, with a tremor she herself didn't even realize.

Bronya did not answer.

Looking at Luo Ning, who was clutching a can of sweet potato in the ward, like a young animal that had just been fed and regained its sense of security, an even more troublesome problem surfaced in her mind.

Perhaps, for Luo Ning right now, being treated like a small animal is the best choice. Pera stood behind the two, adjusting her glasses, her internal data rapidly updating.

*【The rudimentary feeding behavior established a preliminary subordinate relationship. Scent marking was completed. Compared to the Landau eldest daughter's ostentatious displays of affection and the heir's evaluative contact, the polar explorer's survival-oriented interaction clearly better met the target's current core needs. A truly interesting sample; the results of the three control experiments are immediately apparent.】*

The next two days became a silent tug-of-war surrounding the No. 3 special guard ward.

Hiluva stopped sending expensive cakes and began studying nutrition, personally preparing delicious and nutritious meals for children every day and delivering them to the hospital room.

Luo Ning would politely eat a small portion and then put down his utensils.

Bronya paused the logic game and brought in Bellberg's best child psychologists, attempting to break down Lonin's defenses through gentle sandplay and art therapy.

Ning was very cooperative; he would draw blue skies and white clouds, a smiling sun, and all the healthy symbols that psychologists hoped to see. But he didn't say a word more.

He was like a meticulously programmed doll, making all the "correct" reactions, but hiding his true self even deeper. As for Ling Ke, she didn't participate in this competition at all.

She only comes twice a day at fixed times, like clocking in for work.

She never comes empty-handed, either at 10 a.m. or 4 p.m.

Sometimes it was a small hand warmer she sewed from the lining of an old adventure suit, stuffed with dried moss.

Sometimes it was a smooth, warm stone that she told him was igneous rock from near a geothermal core, and that holding it could help him concentrate.

Sometimes, she would even bring a short piece of rough rope and spend ten minutes silently teaching him to tie an extremely complicated knot called the "mountainer's figure-eight knot".

None of her things were "normal" gifts.

They were rough, practical, and carried the scent of the wild, mixed with the smell of mud and snow. Luo Ning, however, treasured these things.

He would sleep with the hand warmer in his arms, place the stone beside his pillow, and then clumsily practice that complicated knot with the rope, over and over again.

He no longer needs the guidance of psychologists, nor the comfort of nutritious meals.

These little gadgets from another world created an invisible "safe zone" that only he and Ling could enter. On the third night, something unexpected happened.

Luo Ning had a nightmare.

He dreamt of that bumpy snowmobile, of his sister Silva's stiff body, and of the uncontrollable changes within himself that brought shame and fear.

[System: Warning! Host's heart rate has surged to 150 bpm, adrenaline levels are abnormal, and high-intensity energy responses are occurring in specific physiological areas.]

[Luo Ning: Shut up! Stop talking!]

He awoke with a start from a pure white panic, drenched in sweat and breathing rapidly. Then, he felt it.

That familiar, yet loathed, uncontrollable hardness and heat was arrogantly proclaiming its presence under the covers. It was clearer and more intense than the time in the car.

"No." He let out a suppressed sob, curling up and trying to suppress the restlessness with his knees, but to no avail. The bedside vital signs monitoring system emitted a faint alarm, and the red indicator light flashed in the darkness.

Rapid footsteps echoed down the corridor. Luo Ning closed her eyes in despair.

He was about to be discovered as a monster. The door to the ward was swung open.

But it wasn't a nurse who came in, nor was it Silva or Bronya who had rushed over upon hearing the news. It was Lynco.

She was still wearing Bai Guan's adventure clothes, so she obviously hadn't gone far and had spent the night on a bench at the end of the corridor. Ignoring the flashing alarm lights, she went straight to the bed.

In the darkness, her icy blue pupils seemed to pierce through everything.