When the two of them walked into the room, Dennis immediately shut his mouth. He was stunned for a moment, and a look of novelty appeared on his face as he sized up Xia Chuan and Shen Lan from head to toe, and then said, "Where did you guys dig up these vintage-style shirts and trousers from?"

Shen Lan looked down at himself. "Vintage?" This ancestor, accustomed to being a wild man, only felt that wearing long sleeves and trousers was restrictive and very inconvenient to move around in. Fortunately, the fabric was very comfortable, so he reluctantly endured it.

Xia Chuan also glanced over. When it came to clothes, he only had requirements for the cut and texture, and rarely paid attention to the style. At least when he saw these two sets of clothes, he only felt that the style was a bit traditional, but calling them vintage seemed a bit of an exaggeration, right?

"Shirts, besides the difference in stripes and patterns, are all pretty much the same." Shen Lan casually replied. He had gone too long without wearing clothes, and apart from patterned stripes, he couldn't see any other differences.

Dennis snickered, but halfway through he remembered that he couldn't beat either of the two people he was snickering at, so he swallowed the other half back down and said meekly, "More or less, anyway, they're quite vintage. Who wears this kind of thing nowadays?"

He wanted to say that wearing this style would definitely be called outdated, but these two just happened to have broad shoulders, narrow waists, and long legs, natural clothes hangers. Even with this kind of vintage-style shirt, on their bodies it still looked quite pleasing to the eye, not at all "outdated".

"By the way, what's the name of this ship we're staying on? What's the route like, and how long until we reach shore?" Dennis took a sip of water from the bedside table, then nimbly lifted the covers and got out of bed, slipping on his slippers while complaining, "That little nurse was like a lost soul today, answering irrelevantly to whatever I said, talking nonsensically. Chatting with her was tiring, and I didn't even get anything out of it."

Xia Chuan and Shen Lan were stunned by his questions, only now realizing that the two of them had been so focused on circling around Liang and pursuing the matter of the tattoo that they had forgotten to ask about even the most basic things.

"This cruise ship is called..." Xia Chuan recalled for a moment, then said, "The Dominic."

"That's it?" Dennis was surprised.

Xia Chuan coughed and nodded.

"Tsk." Dennis smacked his lips a couple of times and said, "Speaking of this Dominic, why do I feel like I've heard of it somewhere before?"

Xia Chuan was startled. "You've heard of it too?"

"What? You know something?" Hearing this, Dennis looked around at the furnishings and layout of the room and said, "It's quite ordinary, doesn't look like some particularly famous luxury cruise ship. How come it sounds familiar to both of us? Could it be that it's been in the news or something? Being in the news isn't necessarily a good thing..."

"Can't remember clearly." Xia Chuan furrowed his brow and pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "Maybe I heard it before, probably a long time ago. I guess I didn't take it to heart at the time, otherwise my impression wouldn't be so vague."

After all, the ship's name wasn't critical information, so when the two of them couldn't recall it, they didn't bother racking their brains any further.

When Dennis got his slippers on and stood up, he finally realized that the clothes on his body had long been stripped off and replaced with a set of even more traditional striped hospital garb, not as good as the vintage wear on Xia Chuan and Shen Lan.

At this point, he couldn't find any replacement clothes, so he could only follow behind the two with a long face, head hanging unwillingly as he went out the door.

Although this man was a senior researcher at Wes Company and sounded like a rigorous and work-focused person, in his private time outside of work, he cared more about his dress and appearance than anyone else. Especially in places like the dining room where there were many pretty girls, having him go there in hospital clothes and slippers was even more uncomfortable than having him streak.

However...

He touched his stubbly chin, feeling that he had no image to speak of now anyway. Even if he put on that kind of vintage shirt, he probably wouldn't be able to pull off being dashing, so he resigned himself to his fate.

Who knew that the heavens would deliberately go against them, as if intentionally not wanting to let them have a proper meal. Just as the three of them were passing by a door that was ajar, able to see the dining room right in front of them, two sentences of conversation floated into their ears.

"Have you really thought this through?" A low voice came from inside the door, sounding steady and thick, with the tail end slightly rising in tone, carrying a hint of surprise and incomprehension.

"More or less..." Another slightly hoarse voice followed. The speaker should be advanced in years, his pronunciation a bit slurred, each word sounding a bit drawn out. He paused, then said, "When I was in a coma recently, I keep dreaming of things from the past. It's happened more than once..."

Just listening to the content of the conversation, there seemed to be nothing worth stopping for the three of them.

What truly made them pause in their tracks were the two people speaking.

The former was no stranger to Dennis and Xia Chuan. It was none other than Gerald, the German doctor who had previously clashed with Shen Lan and been punched by him, the one who always had a stern face.

As for the latter, not only Dennis and Xia Chuan, but even Shen Lan would not be unfamiliar with him.

"Professor Linton?" Dennis cried out in surprise, forgetting even basic etiquette as he pushed the door open with a slap.

The door lock made a faint "click", evidently not having been fully closed when the door was shut, sliding open a bit more.

The two people inside the door were clearly not aware of this issue, so when the door was pushed open, their faces were filled with astonishment. Gerald's face was a bit dark, looking very unpleasant, while the old man sitting across from him, upon seeing the faces of the three outside the door, was even more embarrassed, not knowing where to put his hands and feet.

For someone of advanced age, reactions are always a bit slow. He opened and closed his mouth, his neck flushing red, before finally finding his voice and laughing dryly, "Ah, you're all awake?"

Dennis: "..."

Xia Chuan and Shen Lan, standing slightly further back, swept their gazes over the two people in the room, both furrowing their brows. Professor Linton had obviously chosen the most unreliable greeting.

Gerald had already known about the three of them waking up since early morning. He had even gone to Dennis' room, where he was punched hard by Shen Lan. The injury on the corner of his mouth was still visible, slightly swollen and red. How could Professor Linton, who had been with him, not know that the three of them had woken up?

He knew, but he didn't go to see Dennis and the others right away. Instead, he was saying suspicious things in this room that they thought was locked, which was very questionable...

Moreover, before this, Xia Chuan and Shen Lan had already become suspicious of Professor Linton, always feeling that some of his actions were problematic, but not knowing whether his motives were good or bad. At that time, Dennis was still reluctant to believe it, but now the situation clearly confirmed some of Xia Chuan and Shen Lan's speculations.

At least it could be confirmed that Professor Linton was hiding something from the three of them, and he indeed had issues.

Dennis' expression didn't look too good. He was always noisy and exaggerated, rarely getting angry. At least in the three years that Xia Chuan had known him, he had never seen him get angry.

If he had directly shaken Professor Linton while yelling loudly, it would have been normal. But now his face was almost calm, but this calmness was only floating on the surface. Anyone could see what kind of turbulent waves were pressing underneath.

When Professor Linton saw his expression, his face became even more embarrassed. His mouth opened and closed, closed and opened, back and forth several times. Finally, his gaze bypassed Dennis and nodded to Xia Chuan and Shen Lan behind him, saying, "You guys come in first and close the door."

The people in the room were not really a threat. Even if Gerald and Professor Linton were multiplied by four, they would be no match for Xia Chuan and Shen Lan. So the two of them had nothing to worry about. They simply followed behind Dennis into the room and closed the door behind them.

With the door lock clicking shut, the flowing air was locked outside the door, and the atmosphere inside the room became extremely stagnant.

It was a single room, not much more spacious than the infirmary where Dennis lived. With a bed, a low table and two armchairs, there wasn't much space left.

The two chairs were occupied by Gerald and Professor Linton. Getting up to offer their seats at this time would only add to the awkwardness. Gerald came to Professor Linton's rescue. He gestured to the single bed without looking at Xia Chuan and Shen Lan, and spoke only to Dennis, "Sit."

Dennis was a person who had been afraid of hospitals since childhood. Even at the age of twenty-seven or twenty-eight, he would still feel weak in the legs when he saw a doctor. He used to be like a mouse running into a cat when he met Gerald. But because of his own physical discomfort or Xia Chuan's injuries, he always had to get close to Gerald. Over time, he developed a kind of Stockholm syndrome-like feeling towards Gerald's clinic.

When he saw Gerald, he would be timid, but when he didn't see him, he would mention him from time to time.

It made Xia Chuan unclear for a while whether his relationship with Gerald, this serious German guy, was good or not.

Even though Dennis looked extremely unhappy at this moment, when he heard Gerald say "sit", he still sat on the bed as if it was a conditioned reflex.

Xia Chuan: "..."

Dennis: "..."

Gerald nodded, seeming quite satisfied with this result, but his expression didn't change much. His brows were always slightly furrowed, forming two shallow trenches, making him look extremely unapproachable.

Xia Chuan had been treated for injuries many times in his clinic, but he had never seen him show any gentler expression. No wonder Dennis was timid.

Since he was already sitting on the bed, Dennis couldn't care about saving face anymore. He stiffened his face and said, "Professor, how much have you been hiding from us?"

Professor Linton made an "uh" sound and didn't answer right away. Instead, he turned his gaze to Shen Lan and Xia Chuan and said, "You guys sit down too."

"I prefer standing. Suit yourself." Shen Lan raised his chin at him. He wasn't Dennis, and his relationship with Professor Linton was only a few days old. He had no extra emotions. Plus, there was a Gerald in the room that made him extremely uncomfortable, so he didn't want to stay here for long at all. He planned to listen to Professor Linton's explanation and then walk away.

Xia Chuan nodded, echoing Shen Lan, and had no intention of sitting down either.

Professor Linton gave a dry laugh and said, "Hey, you two are too tall. Standing there gives a bit of an oppressive feeling."

Shen Lan said "oh" and replied, "That's good."

Professor Linton: "..."

"Actually, you guys don't need to be so hostile." Gerald suddenly spoke in a deep voice. He glanced at Professor Linton from the corner of his eye and said, "He's actually on your side."

Professor Linton probably heard him say something decent for the first time in his life and relaxed his expression a little, sighing.

As soon as he finished sighing, just as he was about to inhale, he heard Gerald add, "At least for now."

"..." Professor Linton's breath got stuck in front of his nose, holding it in until his face turned red.