With Lu Xia personally requesting it, the hospital didn’t obstruct Graces’s discharge and quickly processed the paperwork.

The process didn’t even require notifying Duke Leslie.

As Graces was already Lu Xia’s husband, his life and death had belonged entirely to Lu Xia from the day their relationship was established.

If Lu Xia had chosen to stop Graces’s treatment at the doctor’s suggestion, it would have been permissible. No one would have even objected.

In their eyes, Graces was a toy that had lost all value. There was no need to treat him. Besides, there were plenty of other toys like him, so if one broke, you could just throw it away and get a new one. It wasn’t at all worth the master, Lu Xia, spending so much effort on him.

Even many people at the hospital couldn’t understand why Lu Xia insisted on discharging Graces.

’Does she want him to die at home or something?’

As far as they were concerned, Graces wasn’t going to make it.

The hospital had a dedicated car to take Graces home, so Lu Xia didn’t need to worry about it.

The old butler helped Lu Xia back into the car, unable to resist saying, "This all happened so suddenly, but please don’t be too upset. Your health is what’s most important right now."

Lu Xia nodded. She knew the old butler meant well; after all, she wasn’t alone. She was carrying a child.

In truth, she wasn’t having that much trouble accepting Graces’s injury. What she found harder to accept was everyone else’s attitude toward him.

Although she knew their attitude was the norm in this world, it still left her with complicated feelings.

Back home, Lu Xia had Graces placed in his original room. After everyone else had left, she looked at the unconscious man on the bed, unbuttoned his clothes, and examined the wound on his chest.

The stitches were clearly visible on the wound. The strange thing, however, was that where the wound should have been healing, small, black, scale-like substances were growing sporadically along the suture line.

After putting on gloves to examine it closely, Lu Xia confirmed they were indeed scales.

’So what kind of creature did Graces undergo gene fusion with? A snake of some kind?’

With that thought, Lu Xia wasted no time. She fed Graces a small cup of Spiritual Spring Water, then contacted Duke Leslie to ask for Graces’s old gene fusion medical records.

When Duke Leslie heard that Graces had been injured on a mission, she was surprised for only a moment before saying, "This is Graces’s fate. You don’t need to think too much about it. Even without him, the relationship between our two families will not change."

Seeing Duke Leslie so eager to state her position, Lu Xia felt a pang of sadness for Graces, even though she had been prepared for this. "Duke, Graces’s condition is relatively stable. He might still recover. You don’t have to give up on him so quickly. Please send me his previous medical records as soon as possible, or the contact information for the doctor who performed his gene fusion surgery would also work. I’ll be waiting for your message."

This time, she didn’t bother with pleasantries. After stating her purpose, she cut off the communication.

When she turned off her terminal and looked back to check on Graces, she found he had woken up at some point.

Their eyes met. The man’s gaze was calm.

Lu Xia didn’t show much surprise, simply asking, "How are you feeling?"

Hearing her voice, Graces tried to sit up, but Lu Xia pressed a hand to his shoulder. "Stay down."

"Did you bring me back?" The question was unnecessary—if Lu Xia hadn’t been willing, no one could have sent him back—but he still wanted to hear the answer from her own lips.

"Yes. The hospital notified me. Your military superiors were also there when I arrived."

"What did the doctor say? Is my condition bad? If it’s too much trouble, you can just give up on me." Although he didn’t know the extent of his injuries, he could feel a strange energy inside his body, constantly wanting to erupt.

’This isn’t normal at all.’

"The doctor said you’re experiencing genetic instability, a side effect of the Genet Fusion Potion you took before. In serious cases, it can escalate to genetic collapse. They did suggest I give up on you. But I figured we’ve spent some time together, and it’s not like you’re completely beyond saving. Besides, your condition is quite valuable for research. So, I brought you back. I just contacted your mother to ask for your old gene fusion medical records. Are you willing to let me study you?"

Lu Xia was very direct, making no effort to hide her reasons for bringing him back.

But to Graces’s ears, it all sounded like an excuse the little female had made up to bring him home. All those words were just to put his heart at ease.

’How could there be such a gentle, kind, and soft-hearted female in this world?’

"Thank you. I am willing. Whatever you need me to do, I will cooperate." If Lu Xia needed it, he would offer her even the last bit of value he had left in his final moments, without reservation.

"I need to collect some samples from you for analysis."

"Okay." Graces agreed without the slightest hesitation, as if he didn’t care at all what experiments Lu Xia would conduct with the samples.

Lu Xia found some clean test tubes and placed the collected black, scale-like substance inside. After finishing, she looked at Graces. "Get some rest. I’ll have the butler arrange your meals. Don’t move around. I’ll come see you again."

With that, Lu Xia left. She had just received the medical records from Graces’s gene fusion, sent over by Duke Leslie.

Arriving in the study, she opened the file. The first thing she saw was: Fusion Material—Black Dragon Gene X1.90.

’Black Dragon Gene?’

’Do dragons really exist in this world?’

Lu Xia found it hard to believe. Now she was even more curious about Graces. ’Could this mean that if his gene fusion is successful, he might have a chance to transform into a dragon?’

The mere thought of it filled Lu Xia with immense interest.

It seemed her No.2 Institute could finally be officially opened.

Meanwhile, Graces, lying in bed, was not feeling well. It was as if a fire was burning inside him, or like something was growing. His mind was muddled, and he felt on the verge of fainting at any moment. Yet, an extremely strong life force was healing him, always pulling him back to reality just as he was about to descend into madness.

The injured area was burning hot. Something was growing from the wound. Graces subconsciously reached out to touch it. His fingers met the hard surface of scales. As his fingertips brushed against them, he could even hear a faint rustling sound.

He struggled to sit up and look. Even in the dim light, he could clearly see that a patch of black scales had indeed grown from the wound on his chest. In the faint light, they sparkled with tiny points of light.