Prince Nolan's idea is simply impossible to realize...
An AK-47!
Serena only has this one, and it was thanks to the war that she managed to rack up enough Medical Ethics Points to exchange for a single AK-47. To keep it running, Serena has to save lives desperately, earning Medical Ethics Points to redeem bullets—otherwise, no matter how powerful the weapon is, if she can't use it, it's just a pile of scrap metal.
Prince Nolan can forget about getting an AK-47. Serena studied medicine, not weapons engineering—she doesn't understand the mechanics of guns at all. She can't even make a basic homemade firearm; all she knows is how to use one.
Besides, even if Serena did understand the principles, with the current level of technology, she could only make a crude homemade gun. An AK-47 is nothing but a dream.
Serena poured cold water on Prince Nolan's hopes, then told him about the undersea volcano.
"We really overestimated ourselves. There are too many dangers at sea, and we charged in without knowing anything about these waters. We're lucky nothing happened—if it had, we'd all be buried at sea, and Little Dumpling would be left all alone, suffering who knows how much." Serena wasn't as calm as she had been facing the Ghost King; just thinking about what could have happened made her shudder.
If she hadn't been pregnant, and she and Prince Nolan had gone ashore together—if they hadn't run into the Ghost King, hadn't stopped him from detonating the volcano, they'd all be finished...
"This child is our lucky star." Prince Nolan stroked Serena's belly, his anticipation for their unborn child growing—of course, only if the baby turned out to be a little princess, not a Little Dumpling brother who'd compete with him for Serena's affection.
"That's favoritism! Little Dumpling is our lucky star too. You can't just forget your old love because you have a new one." If it hadn't been for Little Dumpling, Serena doubted she would have survived.
Back then, her heart was dead; she lived only for Little Dumpling.
"That's not how you use 'new love' and 'old flame.'" Prince Nolan was covered in black lines, unable to resist asking, "Who taught you to read when you were little?"
Serena knew Prince Nolan was joking, but still answered seriously, "Dean Mom."
"Dean Mom? What's that?" For all his experience, Prince Nolan had no idea what 'Dean Mom' was. Serena patiently explained, "She's the kind-hearted woman who took in a bunch of kids nobody wanted. She cared for us and let us go to school. She only supported us until we turned eighteen, but by then, I could support myself."
Her past life felt so distant now, she could hardly remember how she managed to hang on back then...
An eighteen-year-old girl, having to support herself and save up for college tuition—it really wasn't easy. In her busiest days, she barely slept four hours a night...
"Can you tell me about it?" Prince Nolan asked softly, as if afraid to disturb Serena's memories.
Serena pulled herself out of her thoughts and gave a faint smile. "I've forgotten most of it." Her past life was simple: orphanage, academy, work, battlefield.
Whether in her previous life or this one, she had always been busy, never stopping for a moment. The first half of her life was a constant struggle just to survive, fighting to change her fate with her own hands.
To give herself a better life, she worked hard at everything, treasured every chance to learn, and always strove to be the best—because only the best would be noticed, only the best would be rewarded. That's what she learned in the orphanage.
People called her a surgical genius, partly because of her talent, but even more because of the endless practice she put in behind the scenes. To perfect her precision, she could repeat a single movement with a scalpel thousands, even tens of thousands of times...
Serena gave a simple account of her life, picking only the interesting bits. As for the hardships, she left those unspoken.
"I've been lucky. All my hard work paid off." For someone her age to achieve so much in medicine was rare, but she had done it.
"My only regret is that, even at the end, I never figured out what superpower I had that made the government notice me. Too bad that mystery will never be solved." Serena sighed...
In her past life, she kept her head down and worked hard, had no close friends, and was just acquaintances with her colleagues. There was nothing she was attached to, nothing she couldn't let go of.
When she died, only her senior sister would grieve. Everyone else might sigh a little, then move on with their lives.
Prince Nolan had a belly full of questions, but seeing Serena's lack of enthusiasm, he didn't press. Instead, he gently pulled her into his arms and whispered, "From now on, I won't let your life have any more regrets."
Knowing about Serena's past made Prince Nolan ache for her even more—and proud of her too.
An orphan with no parents, who made it step by step to such heights without any help—that was no small feat. Of course, Prince Nolan had seen all the sweat and effort Serena put in.
Prince Nolan felt for Serena, but their unborn child didn't understand any of that—only knew how to torment Serena until she was half-dead...
Supplies were always scarce at sea, and even if Prince Nolan wanted to take good care of Serena, he couldn't. To make things worse, the little one kept causing trouble, not sharing any space in Serena's belly. Serena couldn't eat or sleep well on the ship and looked thinner by the day...
"Aren't daughters supposed to be sweet to their mothers? Why doesn't this child care at all?" Prince Nolan was starting to feel a little dissatisfied with his unborn 'little princess.'
Luckily, Serena was a doctor herself and could easily get medicine from her Smart Med-Pack. Otherwise, she would've collapsed by now...
"It's because she cares about her mother—she doesn't want me to get too tired, can't bear to see me running around outside." Serena was retching until she was dizzy, yet still managed to comfort Prince Nolan, the soon-to-be dad.
"Just hang in there—a month more and we'll be on land." Prince Nolan had originally ordered the ship to go slow, but seeing that Serena was miserable no matter the speed, he told the crew to hurry up and get them home.
To take care of Serena, Prince Nolan pushed aside all other matters, even left the Eastlyn navy spy issue for his subordinates to handle—he only checked in at the very end.
"Mm." Serena's face was sallow as she rested her head on Prince Nolan's thigh, answering weakly. This child was really making her suffer—if the kid didn't turn out filial after all this, it would be a crime...
Seeing how uncomfortable Serena was, Prince Nolan began massaging her temples, hoping she could fall asleep—at least she'd feel better that way...
While Prince Nolan and Serena were rushing home, Little Dumpling was in the palace, wishing with all his heart that his parents would hurry back.
That night, Little Dumpling hugged Wang Jinling, whining, "Big Brother, you keep telling me to do other things, to learn not to think about Mama, but what if I just can't? I still miss Mama so, so much—it hurts right here."
Little Dumpling poked his own chest with his chubby fingers, his stubborn little face full of gloom...
He missed his mama so much!
Wang Jinling smiled affectionately, patting Little Dumpling's head and gently said, "If you can't learn, then don't. Your mama will be home very soon."
Little Dumpling wasn't him—he didn't need to learn not to think about Serena. He'd gotten word: at most five more days and Serena would land and come home by road...