A Mutation?

[Yuan Jing knelt down again and carefully took Nangong Min's arm, turning it so they could both see his identificator. He clicked for it to display the screen again and the database Nangong Min had looked at before was shown.

"Let's see if there is some information on the plant. Do you remember how it looks like?"

Nangong Min hurriedly nodded. This was his chance to impress his idol! He couldn't waste it!

He had the identificator display a keyboard and his fingers flew across the keys, adding a few parameters for the database to check. The results turned up and he looked at them together with Yuan Jing. Unfortunately … the plant they had seen wasn't among them and the percentage of the match the other plants had with the keywords he had chosen varied greatly.

Nangong Min frowned. "I don't understand this. I definitely didn't add the wrong parameters. Why couldn't it be found?" He opened the search mask again and checked if he had accidentally typed in something wrong but no. He had used exactly the keywords he had thought of.

Nangong Min turned to Yuan Jing with a confused expression. Ah, this was so sad! Not only did he fail to show any results, but he didn't even understand why. His chance to make the Major appreciate him was definitely gone now.

Yuan Jing didn't mind though. He gently brushed Nangong Min's hair back and smiled. "It's not a problem. Who knows? Maybe you've even encountered a plant that isn't in the database yet. We did some cursory checking on the planet before setting up the mission but not every one of the soldiers is knowledgeable about plants so they could have missed something like that."

"Is that likely?"

"Well, at least, it's not impossible. Let's see if we can find out anything from the plants that match your description the best. It could be a subspecies that wasn't discovered yet or maybe a mutation of one of them."

"Mn." Nangong Min nodded and had the identificator display all the plants that matched well on different small screens. Then he looked at Yuan Jing again. He didn't know how to look for something like this so he could only rely on him.

Yuan Jing skimmed the information on the plants and frowned. The outer appearance of the plant that Nangong Min had described was very similar to two or three of the plants and they also shared some basic properties like the sap on the leaves so it could be assumed that they were from the same family.

So was this indeed a mutation? That wasn't good. Especially if he looked at what had happened to Nangong Min. Not only had he slept with someone he didn't feel attracted to out of his own initiative, but he couldn't even remember afterward. That wasn't just a trifle. This was a serious problem. Just imagine what this might mean if a military unit stumbled upon such a plant!

Yuan Jing furrowed his brows. They definitely had to find out more about this. He didn't like to but he still turned around to Kang Lei. "Cadet Kang, what about you? Do you feel any different now compared to before you happened upon that plant?"

Kang Lei harrumphed but still shook his head. "I'm an Alpha. How could some little plant be a problem for me?"

Yuan Jing ignored him. Alphas had sturdier physiques than Betas so Kang Lei might actually be right about that. They'd need to test that though. "Ah Min, what about your clothes? Do you think you can still wear them?"

"Uh … probably?" Nangong Min looked around and finally found his clothes a few steps behind him. Unfortunately, at least the shirt was ripped. He still picked everything up and slipped into his pants again.

Ah, he couldn't believe that Major Yuan had seen him like this! What would he think now? And he hadn't even just seen him naked. No, worse! He had actually seen him do some shameful things with Kang Lei! He was probably disgusted with him.

Nangong Min also put on his shirt in the hope of salvaging the situation but it had ripped in such a way that he seemed even less presentable after wearing it. Before he had just shown a bare upper body, now, he was actually looking a little scandalous with his nipples peeking out through the tear and his navel showing.

Both Alphas looked at him and gulped. Ah, would they be able to claim that this had been the plant's doing afterward?

Nangong Min didn't notice. He looked down at himself and then at the jacket that he had given back to Yuan Jing. Never mind how he looked just now … he really would have liked to wear that jacket a little longer. It smelled so nice.

Yuan Jing noticed his gaze and hurriedly stepped forward to drape the jacket around Nangong Min's shoulders. "Here, wear this for now. After we've taken a closer look at the plant, I'll bring you back to the base and make sure you get another set of clothes."

Next to them, Kang Lei frowned. "There's no need for that, Major. In case you've forgotten, all our own stuff is in the base anyway. Ah Min can just take those out. You don't have to trouble yourself."

Yuan Jing ignored him again and instead used the opportunity to stroke Nangong Min's arms. "You have a small frame. It could be a bit difficult to find something that fits you well."

"Oh, I wouldn't want to make any difficulties for you, Major Yuan."

"Mn." Yuan Jing fondly rubbed Nangong Min's cheek. "You can call me Yuan Jing if you want."

"Yuan … Jing?" Nangong Min's heart fluttered and his cheeks flushed. This wasn't just because of that plant, was it? He wasn't hallucinating right now, was he? Ah, if he was, then he didn't want to wake up from this hallucination! "Yuan Jing." He repeated the name and pulled the jacket closer around him, making Yuan Jing chuckle fondly in response.

Ah, coming to look for this little cadet had really been the right decision.]