During their time on the big island, neither Nakai or Alo had heard from Ala. Wang Lei had also sent a message to Old Liu through a phone only the two of them knew about, but he was yet to hear a reply as well. With both of their group’s leads silent and their return to Man Country only one week away, the tension began to thicken. While communicating with Alo about Ala’s whereabouts, Nakai also set up Wang Bao’s return to the small island. Even though the security on the big island was better, Nakai trusted Alo more with Wang Bao’s current situation and protection. Without mentioning anything about Wang Bao’s pregnancy, a plan was set up for Alo to come to the big island three days before Nakai, Nera and Wang Lei left. With this date less than a week away,  Wang Bao’s carefree mood he had been feeling for the past few weeks, started to turn sour. Countless times, Wang Bao had tried to convince Nakai that he should come with them to Man country by using a long list of reasons he had written down, in the hopes that one of them would work. However, Nakai’s answer was still a firm no. 

 

On the last weekend that he would be on the big island, Wang Bao wanted to try his luck one last time. After having a shower, Wang Bao wrapped his lower half with a towel before lying down on the bed beside Nakai, who was looking through his phone with a lazy expression. Whenever Nakai wasn’t focused on Wang Bao, he could search through the internet in the hopes of finding something that could tell them about Queen Mother. However, since the guards chasing them in Werebeast, the scent had gone cold and there were also no more attacks on the countries that were against Queen Mother. Once Nakai felt Wang Bao lay down beside him, he put his phone away and rolled over to face Wang Bao, who was already laying on his side. With no shirt covering Wang Bao’s stomach area, Nakai was able to see Wang Bao’s belly had finally grown a little. The small soft mound that was more like a food baby than a real baby, was now beginning to jut out over the towel rather than pressing against the material firmly. While Wang Bao continued to lay down silently, Nakai reached over and grabbed the massage oil he had bought the other week. After pouring a small amount onto both hands, Nakai started rubbing his oily hands over Wang Bao’s stretched skin. 

 

Because Wang Bao had always been on the slimmer side and his abdominal wall was extremely tight, he had started to feel bloated quickly or heavy around his front. As soon as Nakai had found out about this, he started lightly massaging Wang Bao’s belly, and it helped alleviate some of the discomfort Wang Bao would feel. When mentioning this to Doctor Kanui, they were told the best thing to happen for Wang Bao would be for his abdominal muscles to start separating, but there was no telling when that would actually happen, if at all. For now, Nakia could only massage Wang Bao’s belly, and hoped that Wang Bao’s stomach would relax and separate during their time apart. Just as Nakai was trying to work out how long dealing with Queen Mother would take, Wang Bao said in a quiet voice.

 

“Why can’t I come with you? In order to be out of danger, I can always stay at the inn we stopped at, the granny there will take good care of me.”

 

Nakai had lost count of all the times Wang Bao had asked him if he could go back to Man Country with them. He had even lost count of the times Wang Bao had gone to Wang Lei to ask the same thing. Nakai was aware that the next few weeks to months would be the hardest on Wang Bao out of the two of them, and this was what was keeping his patience. In order to hopefully stop Wang Bao from asking this over the next few days before Alo arrived, Nakai looked at Wang Bao with a serious face while saying in a stern voice.

 

“I have told you no several times, Wang Bao. Your brother has also told you no. Do I need to grin Nera in here so that you can hear it from a third person?”

 

Although Nakai’s voice was stern, it wasn’t harsh in any way. As a reply to Nakai’s final and unwavering decision, Wang Bao could only blow a wet raspberry childishly. Seeing Wang Bao like this did make Nakai’s heart both ache and itch, but he had been keeping his word when promising Wang Bao that they wouldn’t have sex inside the house. All Nakai could do to cool both his burning desire, and Wang Bao’s frustration was to continue massaging Wang Bao’s stomach. After a few minutes of Nakai’s comforting massage, Wang Bao sighed with a defeated expression before saying in a grumpy voice.

 

“Fine, I’ll stop asking to go with you, but I want to go to the night market again, we weren’t able to try everything last time.”

 

When thinking about the long crowded street that made up the night food market, Nakai wanted to decline Wang Bao’s wish in fear that he would tire out too quickly. However, Nakai also knew he had been saying no to Wang Bao for their entire stay and didn’t want to send him back to the small island in a solemn mood. Even if Wang Bao was beginning to tire easily and his feet would become sore after thirty minutes of walking, Nakai couldn’t force Wang Bao to stay home for the next nine months. While Nakai got up to go wash his hands, he replied to Wang Bao, who was waiting eagerly for Nakai’s reply.

 

“Sure, we’ll go tonight since it’s not on, on weekdays. However, as soon as you’re tired or your feet hurt, we’re leaving.”

 

Wang Bao was more than willing to accept Nakai’s conditions after hearing they would be going to the night market, While Nakai left the room to wash his hands, Wang Bao rummaged through the bedroom for his coin purse, only once he finally found it, he remembered Nakai had taken his change since he refused to leave. Before Wang Bao could call out for Nakai to give him money, Nakai walked back into the room. Without saying anything, Wang Bao held out his empty coin purse for Nakai to see, along with an expectant stare. Nakai didn’t need Wang Bao to say anything though, since he fully understood what was being demanded of him. 

 

. . . . . . .

 

As soon as the sun was beginning to set, Wang Bao demanded they go to the night market. Although the weather was warm and far from being chilly, Wang Bao chose to wear one of Wang Lei’s jumpers in the hopes of masking his growing belly. Lately whenever Wang Bao would eat a large meal, his stomach would bloat quite a bit, making him look more pregnant than he actually was. When he ate at home, Wang Bao didn’t care that his pudgy stomach turned into a potbelly, but in public, Wang Bao couldn’t help but feel a little self conscious. While in the car, Wang Bao sat beside his brother while Nera and Nakai sat in the front.

 

Now that the news of Wang Bao being pregnant had sunken in, Wang Lei had been sticking close to his baby brother, hoping to spend as much as possible with him before separating again. Tonight was no different, as soon as Nakai parked the car Wang Bao opened his door to get out. Lucky for Wang Lei he was quick to react and held onto his brother’s hand while scooting across the seat in order to follow Wang Bao out and onto the footpath. With Nera and Nakai still getting out of the car, Wang Lei and Wang Bao quickly made their way towards the bustling street. The green string lights hanging between the lamp posts made the atmosphere feel more special for Wang Bao, and his feet unintentionally quickened. Once they had properly entered the night market, Wang Bao made his way to the first stall he saw and once they were closer, he could see and smell delicious corn dogs with various toppings available. By the time Nakai and Nera had reached the stall, Wang Bao had finished ordering all eight flavours the vendors were selling. At the time he had felt this was a good choice, but once the different corn dogs were ready, Wang Bao started to panic since he only had two hands. Before Wang Bao could get too worked up, Nakai quickly suggested they hold two each, this way Wang Bao could take a bite of each corn dog and decide what flavours he liked best. Wang Bao instantly agreed and he took a potato crusted corn dog along with the gourmet sausage corn dog. The rest of the group had no care for what flavour they had and quickly grabbed the remaining six corn dogs, before to the side of the street to allow Wang Bao to try everything. 

 

Once the group of four were huddled together, Wang Bao had already finished his potato dog and was making fast work of the gourmet dog. After trying a bite of each dog, Wang Bao decided to stick with his original options without realising he didn’t have much of a choice. While Wang Bao finished the last few bites of his corn dog, his eyes scanned the area to find another stall, but his nose was able to hone in on a scent that was both sweet and savoury. On the opposite side of the street, Wang Bao could see a vendor selling a mix of both sweet and savoury fried dough balls. Wang Bao couldn’t think of anything else after finding this gem, and he quickly started walking forward until Nakai grabbed a hold of his hand. Wang Lei, Nera and himself were yet to finish eating one dog, let alone be ready to look for more food. When Wang Lei saw the hungry look on his baby brother’s face, he couldn’t help but sigh tiredly and made a shooing action with his free hand, before saying.

 

“You two go ahead, Nera and I need time to eat.”

 

Unlike Wang Bao, Wang Lei needed time to eat and preferred savouring his food rather than scoffing it down in a hurry. While Wang Bao and Nakai made their way across the busy, people-filled street, Wang Lei and Nera walked over to a bench near the side of the street to eat and rest. As soon as Wang Bao heard his brother give him the okay to carry on eating without them, he started walking away from the group. Similar to Wang Lei, Nakai also had quick reflexes and was able to pull Wang Bao back to his side so that they could walk together. As they made their way across the road, Nakai made sure to say to Wang Bao.

 

“Don’t walk away from me so easily, you need to stay close to me.”

 

Wang Bao wasn’t in the mood for sticking close to Nakai though, and he tried to shimmy his hand out of Nakai’s tight grip that was stopping him from running across the crowded street. Once he realised there was no getting away and that he would need to stick to the slow walk, Wang Bao complained loudly.

 

“I’m hungry and you’re moving so slow~ If they sell out of those stuffed fried breads, I won’t be forgiving you, Nakai!”

 

While listening to Wang Bao’s loud complaints, Nakai didn’t know if he should laugh or cry but in the end, all he could do as a response was huckle under his breath while shaking his head. Back at the bench, Nera and Wang Lei had long finished their corn dogs but weren’t in the mood to carry on eating yet. After chatting about the next few months, Wang Lei looked around the crowded street. He had been going between Man Country and the Big Island for years now, and had gotten to know a lot of the locals on a first name basis. However, when looking around the thick crowd of people walking the beautifully green lit street, he could see too many new faces to be considered normal. While continuing to watch the crowd of people walking past them, Wang Lei leaned close to Nera and asked.

 

“Has the market ever been this full before?”

 

Unlike Wang Lei, Nera wasn’t as concerned but rather a little confused. He looked around the hoard of people walking up and down the road and footpath for a few seconds, then turned to Wang Lei to reply.

 

“Maybe there’s an event going on we didn’t hear about. It has been a while since we came to the night market though, so maybe this is a normal amount of people nowadays.”

 

Wang Lei didn’t buy this assumption though and he continued to glare at the many people passing them by, then looked behind them at the dark empty parks surrounding the street. Although it had been a while since they had last been to the night market, Wang Lei could remember there being string lights in the parks as well to help brighten the area, and make it feel safer for everyone. Now, these lights seemed to have disappeared and gave the brightly lit street an oddly cold feeling. After a few minutes of cold, persistent glaring, Wang Lei couldn’t shake the uneasiness he was feeling in his chest and he grabbed Nera’s arm while standing up. In the few minutes they had been watching the crowd, both Nera and Wang Lei could see the crowd had grown even denser, causing alarm bells to signal loudly in their minds. Keeping a tight grip on Nera’s arm, Wang Lei stayed close to the edge of the footpath that connected the street to the surrounding parks. With Nera leaning close to his face in order to not draw too much attention with his height, Wang Lei was able to speak under his breath.

 

“Let’s find Bao and Nakai then head to the security headquarters, I have a bad feeling about tonight.”

 

Walking along the inner edge of the footpath allowed them to walk past the denser parts of the crowd while Nera kept an eye out for Nakai. However, after only walking for a couple minutes, they could both see and feel the crowd grow in size even more. With people surrounding them from all sides, Wang Lei could feel the crowd forcing closer to the road. With a stone cold expression, Wang Lei remained calm while moving with the crowd, but on the inside he was growing more stressed with every passing second. Beside Wang Lei, Nera was still searching the top of the crowd for Nakai’s face but was yet to see anything. While moving his hand to hold onto Wang Lei’s waist, Nera caught wind of a subtly sweet and floral scent he felt was oddly familiar, although the smell was something he had smelt before, Nera couldn’t pinpoint where he had met the scent before. As quickly as the soft scent surrounded Nera, it disappeared and he didn’t have the time to ask Wang Lei if he had noticed the smell as well. Now that the crowd was dense enough to bump shoulders every few seconds, Wang Lei asked Nera under his breath.

 

“Did you bring anything with you?”

 

Wang Lei didn’t want to ask outright if Nera had any weapons on hand, but luckily his other half was aware of what he was actually asking. In order to keep their profile low in case of listening ears, Nera simply hummed to signal he was saying no. When hearing Nera’s answer, all Wang Lei wanted to do was scream out to his brother, but he wasn’t sure what would happen once he did start making a scene. After what felt like twenty minutes with no sight of Nakai or Wang Bao, the soft subtle scent from earlier returned, only this time Wang Lei was able to catch wind of it and his body instantly froze. Unlike before where the scent disappeared as soon as it was noticed, both Wang Lei and Nera felt as if the sweet floral scent was surrounding them from all sides, chilling Wang Lei’s blood and causing his heart to beat in his ears with a loud thump. With the hairs on their bodies standing on end, Wang Lei threw caution to the wind and pulled Nera’s arm as he began pushing his way through the crowd, all the while screaming out Nakai’s name.

 

. . . . . . . 

 

After chomping through the stuffed fried bread, Wang Bao instantly started hunting for more food. If Wang Bao had had it his own way, then he would have been eating without a break but because Nakai was with him, he would force Wang Bao to rest on one of the benches that lined the street after every new dish they ate.. After eating vigorously for the past hour, Wang Bao’s belly was beginning to press against the loose jumper, but he wasn’t showing any signs of slowing down or reaching his limit. While the couple sat on the bench peacefully, Wang Bao’s eyes tried to search through the crowd to see what was next on his menu. Through a small fleeting gap in the crowd, Wang Bao was able to see a vendor selling a stretchy ice cream, but rather than making him hungry, Wang Bao’s stomach churned and gurgled loudly. As soon as Nakai heard this, he snatched a box of loaded fries from a nearby person and held it under Wang Bao’s mouth, catching the warm and smelly puke just in time. With The sound and stench of vomit sifting through the air, the couple were instantly given a wide berth, allowing Nakai to crouch in front of Wang Bao, who was struggling to keep any of the food he had eaten down. During the four weeks they had spent on the island, Wang Bao hadn’t experienced any sort of nausea. With one hand holding the nearly full cardboard box of vomit, Nakai skillfully emptied his drink onto the ground before using it to catch the rest of Wang Bao’s puke. 

 

Once Wang Bao could finally take a full breath without feeling the need to barf, he quickly started complaining to Nakai about how hungry he was. Without missing a beat, Nakai stood up and dumped both vomit filled containers in the bin while saying in a serious voice.

 

“How can you be hungry? Let’s take a break then see how you’re feeling, it’s getting late so we might just head back.While we sit here, I’ll call Lei and Nera to let them know to head back to the car.”

 

Wang Bao wanted to try and convince Nakai that they should stay a little longer, but as he went to stop Nakai from getting his phone out, the hairs all over his body began to stand on end as he caught wind of a familiar but subtle floral scent. Nakai had also expected Wang Bao to bicker with him about heading home so soon and he turned to see why Wang Bao was being so quiet. The moment Nakai saw Wang Bao’s scared, wide eyed face, he felt his heart beat falter from anxiety. In less than a second, Nakai knelt down in front of Wang Bao and cradled his face in his large hands gently. Nakai could see Wang Bao’s face had grown concerningly pale while he was also cold to the touch. Despite having Wang Bao’s face in his hands, Nakai could see Wang Bao wasn’t paying any attention to him, instead his eyes were unfocused as he continuously mumbled under his breath. With his concern growing worse, Nakai tried to get Wang Bao to focus on him by speaking loudly.

 

“Wang Bao, what is it? ...Is something wrong? Wang Bao!...Bao, tell me what’s going on!”

 

All of a sudden Wang Bao started gasping for air frantically, at the same time his head turned from side to side erratically, as if he was looking for someone. Although Nakai’s attention was on Wang Bao, seeing his lover like this had caused him to be on edge and he was able to make out the dull sound of quick footsteps coming towards them. Since the sound was too heavy for Wang Lei and too loud for Nera, Nakai knew this person wasn’t part of their group. While holding one of Wang Bao’s hands, Nakai swiftly yet gracefully turned on his heel in time to see a person with their face covered and dressed all in black, running towards them. As soon as the person was two steps away, Nakai saw them pull out a dagger. Before the weapon could cause any injury, Nakai kicked his foot out and forced the unknown person back several paces. Because his foot had landed on the attackers chest, Nakai knew they wouldn’t be getting up any time soon. When turning back to focus on Wang Bao, Nakai could see he was looking worse despite him looking away for a few seconds. Wang Bao was now mumbling to himself while also rocking back and forth. In order to properly hear what Wang Bao was saying, Nakai leaned closer with his ear resting beside Wang Bao’s lips. In a frightened whisper, Wang Bao continued mumbling over and over again.

 

“She’s found me...She’s found me…She’s found me.”

 

Nakai tried getting Wang Bao to elaborate more or get him to say who had found them, but all Wang Bao did was jump to his feet in an attempt to run back the way they had come. Nakai quickly pulled Wang Bao back into him by his waist before Wang Bao could run into someone, and asked Wang Bao to tell him how he could help. Wang Bao was beginning to look more like himself after Nakai’s last question, he was able to reply to Nakai but his voice was still thick with fear, and his head never stopped turning from side to side to look around the crowd.

 

“We need Lei. I need to find Lei, Nakai!”

 

Now that Wang Bao was able to think a little clearer, Nakai was able to calm himself down enough to start walking through the crowd. While holding onto Wang Bao’s waist, Nakai used his free hand to gently push people aside in order for them to pass. While walking, Nakai replied to Wang Bao calmly.

 

“We’ll go back to the car then I’ll call Lei.”

 

While walking, Wang Bao resembled a scared child looking for their parents. He was clinging to Nakai’s side with both hands, while his wide black eyes looked around frantically. Nakai was also watching the crowd but with a suspicious gaze. He knew the person in black that attacked them wouldn’t be the only person wanting to hurt them, and he needed to get Wang Bao out of the street before he could call for the Island security to clear everything up. Nakai was also looking through the crowd for Wang Lei and Nera, but he was yet to see them. After a few minutes of gently pushing people aside, Nakai suddenly felt as if there were too many people surrounding them to be considered safe. His size had always been useful in clearing a space for himself, but now it seemed as if people were purposely nudging him and Wang Bao to keep them in the middle of the street. The current situation and their lack of ability to get to the exit of the street didn’t sit well with Nakai and rather than waiting to get back to the car, he pulled out his phone and called Wang Lei. Almost instantly the call went through to voicemail and Nakai decided to call the Island security team now. However, the call didn’t connect. Instead he could only hear the dull repetitive tone of a disconnected call. Rather than try again, Nakai messaged the head of the Island guards with a security breach code, then returned his attention to their surroundings. When looking back up, Nakai finally spotted Nera close to a hundred metres away. The crowd was now shoving against him and Wang Bao, causing Wang Bao to freeze out of fear. 

 

Reaching into his pocket, Nakai pressed a button on the side of his phone before shoving his way through the hoard of people surrounding them. Normally he would treat citizens with respect and aid, but in their current predicament, he wasn’t sure who was here to harm them or who was a simple bystander. Nakai could see Wang Lei and Nera were also trying to shove their way forward, but before the gap between the group could shorten too much, Nakai saw more and more people covered in black cloth from head to toe manoeuvre through the crowd. The attackers were able to pass by the people effortlessly, making Nakai believe there were more people wanting to harm them dressed in regular clothing. The moment the unknown attackers saw that they had been noticed, all of them withdrew knives and daggers. As soon as the green light from above them shone bright on the cold metal, Nakai went into attack mode and crouched down slightly to match closer with the height of the black clothed people. With one hand keeping Wang Bao close to his back, Nakai effortlessly punched the first three people that lunged towards them from the front and back.  From all around them, Nakai could see more and more people in black popping up in the crowd, without counting the people Wang Lei and Nera were having to deal with, Nakai was able to see close to thirty people set on attacking him and Wang Bao. 

 

Without stopping to catch his breath, Nakai threw a multitude of punches and kicks. The moment the first few people fell to the ground dead or unconscious, the innocent people attending the market started screaming and running. This aided in keeping the attackers in small numbers, but it also made it difficult to keep Wang Bao close to him. With all of his willpower, Nakai continued to hold Wang Bao against his right side, while fending off everyone that came their way. Most people were slow enough to injure or disarm with one motion, but after keeping twenty people at arm's length, one was able to slip past Nakai’s swift elbow attack and cut the thick muscle of Nakai’s calf. The injury wasn’t deep, but it did sting and Nakai reached out to his left where the person was attempting to run. Grabbing the back of the black cloth covering the attackers head, Nakai pulled them back before throwing them towards the remaining four people lunging towards him. Now that they had a small clearing, Nakai crouched down to check on Wang Bao. He knew the stress of tonight wouldn’t be doing any good for the baby, let alone Wang Bao, and it made Nakai’s anxiety skyrocket. 

 

The moment Nakai tried to caress Wang Bao’s cheek to see if he was doing okay, Wang Bao flinched away as if Nakai was going to hurt him. At first this caused Nakai to feel both angry and sad, but when he saw the distant look in Wang Bao’s eyes, he could see the young man was entering a panicked state again. The last thing Nakai wanted was Wang Bao becoming violent and going into a manic state, but he didn’t know how to keep him from spiralling. Before too much time could be spent thinking of how to keep Wang Bao calm, a loud booming shout from Wang Lei could be heard over the screaming from the panicked citizens.

 

“Bao! Nakai!”

 

Hearing Wang Lei’s voice, Nakai didn’t hesitate to press Wang Bao’s hand to the band on his wrist. Nakai was already aware that he wouldn’t be able to keep Wang Bao by his side the entire time they were on this street, but he knew that as long as Wang Bao was wearing the armour given to them by the Sea Queen, then it would prevent a lot of serious injuries. Without wasting any more time, Nakai started running towards Wang Lei’s voice with Wang Bao in tow. Their hands were still holding onto each other tightly, but on multiple occasions Nakai could feel people attempt to separate them. Had there been more room to move and less threat of being attacked from all sides, Nakai would have picked Wang Bao up, but fighting with only one hand was proving difficult enough. The moment Wang Bao felt his hand being tugged from a person he didn’t know, his panicked state caused him to start screaming at a blood curdling pitch. Aiding in the person pulling his and Nakai’s hands apart, Wang Bao felt someone reach around his body from behind and pull him back the way he and Nakai had run from. All of Wang Bao’s fighting ability escaped his panicked mind, and he could only struggle frantically while screaming Nakai’s name repeatedly. While screaming, Wang Bao could see Nakai was trying to run back to him, but in a split second, Nakai was surrounded by people in black cloth.

 

As Wang Bao watched through tear filled eyes as Nakai tried to fight off the twenty people that had suddenly surrounded him, he didn’t know how this could have a positive outcome. Despite his lack of hope, Wang Bao threw his body from side to side violently in an attempt to get away from the unknown person pulling him backwards. Before the person could lose patience and start attacking Wang Bao, a loud, piercing roar echoed off of the greenlit street and surrounding areas. The roar was loud enough to make everyone on the street pause, mainly out of fear. Nakai, Nera and Wang Lei, who had been struggling to get through their own group of attackers took the opportunity to gain the upperhand and started attacking the shocked black clothed people. In the distance in front of their group, the sound of dull thudding against the concrete could be heard before Raia’s body lept out from the dark street exit and onto the crowded road. Her white eyes were narrow as she glared at the hooded person dragging Wang Bao away, before she started running forward without a care as to who was in her way.