After administering the strong antipyretic medicine, the wounded with fevers recovered and did not relapse. Serena Feng finally breathed a deep sigh of relief. The powerful antipyretics work fast, but they have side effects and should not be used often—she only gave them to prevent brain damage from the high fevers.
By the time the last feverish patient’s temperature came down, it was already midday the next day. Serena’s whole body ached terribly. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and sealed the freshly drawn blood in the medicine chest.
"Keep a close eye on the patients. I’ll be in the pharmacy—call me if anything comes up." Serena didn’t trust anyone else with the task and carried the samples to the pharmacy herself.
The army medics thought Serena Feng would finally go rest, but to their surprise, she headed straight back to work. They exchanged glances; those who’d planned to rest quietly gave up and said nothing about it.
Seriously, if Her Majesty the Empress—a woman—could hold out, how could they possibly quit? No way could they be weaker than the Empress!
"Just hang in there for half a day more. Once their conditions stabilize, we’ll be fine." The military doctor clapped the young apprentice’s shoulder, urging him to stay sharp. "Don’t slack off, kid—being a doctor isn’t easy." Especially for military doctors; these days, fewer young people want the job, since it’s hard work and pays little.
Nowadays, anyone with any real skill wouldn’t want to be a military doctor. All you do is bandage wounds and apply medicine—nothing else really matters.
Serena accepted her identity as Empress, but she almost never thought of herself that way. She had no idea the outside doctors were only pushing themselves because none of them dared rest while she was still working.
Serena drew blood from several patients—including some without fevers—and examined their samples. The results showed there was indeed something wrong with their blood.
"It’s actually a virus with an incubation period. This live drill really turned out to be a jackpot." Comparing several blood samples, Serena found that many wounded had latent pathogens in their bodies.
This pathogen needs time to mature. When the moment comes, it triggers fevers. The outbreak happened because the carriers were wounded, their immunity dropped, and the bacteria grew rapidly—so waves of patients started running fevers.
"All these people are sailors from the Eastlyn Imperial Navy that Prince Nolan brought." Serena compared the personnel lists and found that only the navy had abnormal blood; the later batch of 'pirate' sailors were perfectly fine, and none of the fever cases were among them.
Although she’d suspected it before, seeing the test results made Serena gasp. "Good thing Prince Nolan prepared a second force—or we’d be doomed."
Serena was deeply relieved they’d caught the issue early. She gathered up all her diagnostic gear from the Smart Med‑Pack before heading off to find Prince Nolan.
"Your Majesty..." Serena, unburdened by skirts, ran over before she could catch her breath. "Water—the navy has a problem. Have them assemble—now!"
After speaking, Serena patted her chest and took a couple of deep breaths to steady herself.
"Alright." Prince Nolan handed Serena a cup of warm water and signaled his aide to act immediately.
After drinking the water, Serena finally caught her breath. She handed her report to Prince Nolan and explained her findings. Like Serena, Nolan had already suspected something; now he was sure.
"The source of the disease has been destroyed—there’s no trace left. Do you have any way to deal with it now?" Prince Nolan showed no panic. If all else failed, he’d just send the navy back and take his own Shadow Fleet out to sea.
Ghost Hall probably never dreamed he’d have another force waiting at sea.
"Yes—as long as the fever is brought down, there won’t be any trouble. The patients who were feverish have already recovered, and their conditions are stabilizing." Before leaving, Serena had already sent a young apprentice to check.
"What about those who haven’t developed fevers yet?" The navy numbers over twenty thousand; at this point, only a few hundred have fevers—the majority are still in the incubation period.
Serena looked troubled. "In a short time, I’m afraid I can’t find a solution." If a patient ran a fever, she could prescribe antipyretics. But for those still in the incubation stage, with an unknown disease, she couldn’t prescribe anything appropriate—unless she had time to develop a new drug.
But do they have time to wait?
"Switch ships. Split up." Prince Nolan didn’t hesitate—he made the decision instantly.
The navy commander was stunned by the news. He had no idea what was going on—he just saw His Majesty and Her Majesty board the 'pirates’ ship and order them to stand by.
"Your Majesty, I..." The navy commander tried to plead for forgiveness and ask to join them, but was cut off before he could finish.
"His Majesty orders you to stand by and investigate for spies. Do not make any mistakes." The shadow guard’s blade glinted in front of the navy commander.
Until the truth was uncovered, everyone on the ship was a suspect. At this moment, Serena and Prince Nolan had to leave.
"Her Majesty has left enough medicine on board. If anyone develops a fever, they must take it immediately." The shadow guard relayed Serena’s instructions, then signaled for the navy commander to leave. As soon as he was gone, the gangplank between the two ships was pulled away.
"Set sail!"
While Serena went back to her cabin to catch up on sleep, Prince Nolan had already set out with the 'pirates' toward Hundred‑Ghost Island. When Serena woke up and heard the news, she just nodded to show she understood. After eating a full meal, she brought syringes and test tubes to find Prince Nolan.
"You need to get checked too—I’m worried we might both have been exposed." Serena set the tray on the table and motioned for Prince Nolan to raise his arm so she could draw blood.
Prince Nolan cooperated fully, but he requested, "Do it right here."
Serena glanced at him, confirmed Nolan was serious, drew a tube of her own blood, then laid out all the necessary equipment in front of him.
The big ship deliberately slowed down; as long as she didn’t use ultra‑precision instruments, the results wouldn’t be affected.
With just the two of them, Serena finished the tests quickly—but the results left her both amused and exasperated.
"There’s a good news and a bad news. Which do you want first?" Serena, dressed in her fitted doctor’s coat, leaned casually against the table, relaxed and at ease.
There was nothing special about her posture—just a rare moment of leisure, sipping hot tea at her workbench, something she often did. But Prince Nolan was suddenly struck; his heart warmed and his eyes lit up...
"Both. I’m not in a hurry." Prince Nolan stepped forward, wrapped his arm around Serena’s waist, and leaned in for a kiss—but Serena stopped him.
Serena looked regretful. "I’m afraid that’s not possible right now!"