205: Chapter 205 Target: Centaurus, Let's Go!

"Doctor! Call all the best doctors in the entire base to me!"

Jiang Chen's hysterical roar echoed through the silver-white metal corridor of the Moon Base.

He carried Academician Chen Shuyin, who had completely lost consciousness, in his arms. His magnetic boots thudded heavily against the floor, and he looked like a crazed cheetah as he burst through the heavy airtight door of the medical center.

Zhao Gang, who had originally been preparing supplies for the interstellar expedition, was now leading a team of heavily armed guards to clear the way, kicking several alien laborers who were slowly pushing equipment into the corner.

"Quick! Prepare the emergency room! Adrenaline! Ventilator! Turn on all available life-support equipment!" Jiang Chen carefully laid Academician Chen Shuyin on the pristine white emergency bed, gripping the edge of the bed so hard that the veins on the back of his hands bulged.

This interstellar overlord, who could chat and laugh even in the face of an alien fleet, was now so panicked that he couldn't even breathe properly.

He looked at the bloodless, pretty face on the hospital bed. Academician Chen Shuyin's brows were tightly furrowed, a fine layer of cold sweat oozing from her forehead. Her eyes, which were usually filled with reason and data, were tightly shut, and she appeared incredibly fragile, as if a gust of wind could scatter her.

"Mr. Jiang, please go out first. We need to perform a comprehensive examination!"

Director Li of the medical center rushed in with several experts and pushed Jiang Chen out of the emergency room door.

"Bang."

The emergency room door closed ruthlessly, and the red warning light above it instantly lit up, blinding and unsettling.

Jiang Chen was shut outside, pacing anxiously in the corridor like a trapped beast. He irritably loosened his tie, panting heavily, his mind filled with all sorts of terrifying conjectures.

"How could she suddenly faint?"

Jiang Chen stopped, grabbed Zhao Gang by the collar, his eyes bloodshot: "Was there something wrong with the anti-radiation coating during the Curvature Engine test? Was she contaminated by high-dimensional radiation? Or is there some slow-acting virus targeting carbon-based life forms hidden in that alien black box!?"

Zhao Gang rolled his eyes as he was grabbed, stuttering as he comforted him: "Bo... Boss, don't scare yourself. Academician Chen has been pulling all-nighters for half a month to catch up on the progress of the luan bird. Maybe it's just simple hypoglycemia or overexertion?"

"Bullshit! She has taken the gene-strengthening serum from the Wasteland; her physique is tougher than a special forces soldier. How could she faint just from staying up late!?"

Jiang Chen couldn't listen to a word of it. He knew Academician Chen Shuyin's physical condition too well; ordinary high-intensity work could never cause her to go into shock on the spot without warning.

It must be some kind of unknown, fatal threat that even the system hadn't detected!

The more Jiang Chen thought about it, the more afraid he became. He reached into his personal space and pulled out the metal box filled with "nano-targeted repair capsules." This was a life-saving miracle drug from the Wasteland; as long as the person wasn't completely dead, popping one in could pull them back from the gates of hell.

He clutched the box, eyes fixed on the emergency room door, ready to rush in and force-feed her the medicine at any moment.

Time ticked away, and the atmosphere in the corridor was so oppressive it felt like it could be wrung out like water.

Just as Jiang Chen was about to lose patience and kick open the explosion-proof door.

"Hiss—"

The airtight door made a slight decompression sound and slowly slid open to both sides.

Director Li walked out holding a long electronic examination report. He took off his sterile mask, and the expression on his face was extremely strange. It was a distorted look that mixed shock, sudden realization, and even a forced attempt to suppress laughter.

"Old Li! What the hell is going on!?"

Jiang Chen rushed up in one stride, grabbed Director Li's white coat, and shoved the nano-capsule right under Old Li's nose, his voice fierce:

"Is it radiation sickness? Or genetic collapse? Never mind all that, just force-feed her this medicine! I'll take responsibility if anything goes wrong! Even if I have to trade the entire Moon Base for her life, I will!"

"Don't, don't, don't! Mr. Jiang, please calm down!"

Director Li was so scared that he hurriedly pushed away the blue-glowing "immortal pill," afraid that Jiang Chen might crush it in his excitement.

He cleared his throat, looking at the interstellar overlord before him who was so anxious that his eyes were bloodshot for a woman, and tried his best to suppress the smile at the corner of his mouth, making his tone sound as medically rigorous and solemn as possible.

"Mr. Jiang, please don't be agitated. Put away your miracle drug; Academician Chen does not need to take this."

"Not need? What do you mean? She has fainted, and you tell me she doesn't need it!?" Jiang Chen was furious.

"She is really fine. Her vital signs are very stable, even healthier than a normal person. The fainting was indeed due to recent overwork, combined with a momentary lack of blood supply to the brain caused by a sudden emotional fluctuation."

Director Li looked down at the report in his hand, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes crinkling with a smile, "However, when we performed a biochemical analysis of her blood, we discovered an extremely special indicator."

Jiang Chen's heart skipped a beat.

A special indicator? It's over! She must have been sabotaged by the aliens!

"What indicator?" Jiang Chen swallowed, his voice trembling, his mind already calculating how to grind that alien civilization to dust. "Is it dark matter residue? Or has her genetic sequence been tampered with? Just tell me straight, I can take it!"

Director Li shook his head, extended a finger, and tapped heavily on a certain line of the electronic report.

"It's not dark matter, and it's not genetic tampering. It's her HCG level; it's a bit high."

"HCG?" Jiang Chen froze, blinking in confusion.

As a straight man with a background in science and engineering who later became obsessed with interstellar warships and the Anti-gravity Engine, this term was nowhere in his knowledge repository.

"Is this an abbreviation for some new virus? Or some kind of radioactive isotope!?"

Jiang Chen was so anxious he was hopping mad, grabbing Director Li by the shoulders and shaking him frantically. "Old Li! What time do you think it is to be spouting English at me! What kind of antibody do I need to kill this HCG? Tell me!"

Zhao Gang, standing nearby, might have been a brute, but he was married and had a wife. Hearing the letters "HCG," he froze for a moment, then his eyes widened sharply, looking at his boss as if he were looking at an alien.

Director Li was shaken until he was dizzy and could no longer hold it in.

He pressed down on Jiang Chen's hands, his face blooming with an incredibly bright, even slightly fawning, congratulatory smile.

"Mr. Jiang! This is not a virus! And it is not an isotope!"

Director Li took a deep breath and announced loudly in a voice that everyone in the corridor could hear:

"HCG is Human Chorionic Gonadotropin!"

"In layman's terms, it means..."

Director Li looked at the completely stunned Jiang Chen and said, word by word: "Congratulations, Mr. Jiang. Academician Chen is not sick; she is pregnant!"

"You are going to be a father."