He had been so busy before; why would he have wasted time listening to his son talk about some girl?

But things were different now. This girl was clearly capable. Judging by Academician Magnus’s expression, he also held her in high regard. Ethan Young’s attitude toward her was different too. A person like that was naturally someone he should pay attention to.

’I naturally need to learn more about her,’ he thought. ’Besides, she’s my own son’s savior and has done our family a great service. How can I possibly keep disregarding her as I did before?’

’But this son of mine really doesn’t get it. How could he just blurt that out so casually? Where am I supposed to hide my face?’

Seeing the looks from the people around them, Connor Grant’s face turned beet red. He glared huffily at his son.

Louis Grant was still laughing off to the side, completely oblivious to his father’s fury.

Meanwhile, Stella Sterling had already rejected Marvin Magnus’s invitations twice.

Marvin Magnus’s eyes went wide. He was fuming internally, but there was absolutely nothing he could do about Stella Sterling.

’Who am I?’ he thought. ’Never mind now—even before the apocalypse, I was a giant in the medical field, highly respected, the center of attention wherever I went.’

’Forget my personal invitations and courteous treatment—even just asking someone to do a small favor for me is a coveted opportunity that people would fall all over themselves to take.’

’And now the apocalypse is here. Aside from some hardship at the very beginning, I was immediately taken under the protection of the authorities and brought to stay at Meridia Base.’

’I am highly valued by the base. If I take a liking to someone, they’ll be set for life in Meridia Base.’

Yet, she had refused him. He had even proposed that as long as she agreed to be his disciple, he would allow her to focus solely on studying medicine within the base, without needing to go out on missions.

She had still refused such a tempting offer.

This was the first time he had ever encountered such a situation. He really wanted to crack her head open and see what on earth was going on in there.

Seeing his expression, Stella Sterling’s intuition screamed danger. She abruptly took a few steps back, watching him warily.

Her eyes grew cold. He hadn’t done anything, but the aura radiating from him made her feel an intense sense of danger.

Her gaze sized him up as she mentally calculated. ’If he really makes a move, how should I respond?’

Although her relationship with Louis Grant was pretty good, to the base, a core figure like Marvin Magnus was naturally more important. The base would definitely side with him.

With Meridia Base’s power, they definitely had firearms. On the ship, the base members were armed with guns. Now they were in Meridia Base’s main camp; she didn’t even have to imagine how much firepower they possessed.

’What are my chances of escaping?’

In that brief instant, a map of the base’s terrain had already appeared in Stella Sterling’s mind, and she had already planned an escape route.

But she wasn’t too worried. Even if it came to a direct confrontation, she didn’t have much of a chance on her own, but Meridia Base wouldn’t be able to stop her either. She was fully confident she could get away unscathed.

Ethan Young, who was standing to the side, was a little disappointed but not surprised that Stella Sterling had refused.

He just hadn’t expected the atmosphere to turn sour so quickly.

Academician Magnus was angry, and Stella Sterling’s expression had turned cold.

He quickly stepped forward and tugged on Marvin Magnus’s arm. "Dr. Magnus, Miss Sterling isn’t a member of our base to begin with. She already has her own plans, so we can’t force her!"

As he spoke, he shook his head at Marvin Magnus.

He knew what Dr. Magnus was angry about. For people in high positions, even a simple rejection was hard to accept. It felt like a loss of face.

He didn’t know what Dr. Magnus might do when he was angry; after all, no one had ever acted this way toward him before.

But no matter what, nothing could happen to Stella Sterling. He was the one who had invited her, she was Louis Grant’s friend, and she had done that kid Basil Xavier a favor. It seemed Basil Xavier’s feelings for her weren’t ordinary either. He couldn’t let Dr. Magnus make a move against her.

Louis Grant also sensed that something was wrong. Forgetting about his father, he walked over and quietly stood in front of Stella Sterling. He said to Marvin Magnus with a grin, "Uncle Magnus..."

Seeing this, the coldness in Stella Sterling’s eyes softened a little.

She looked at Marvin Magnus calmly, her eyes betraying no worry.

Marvin Magnus saw this and became even more furious. If he had a beard, it would probably be bristling with rage right now.

He was practically sputtering. He patted his chest a few times and said to them, "Look at all of you! What do you think I’m going to do to the young lady? In your eyes, am I that petty of a person?"

Louis Grant immediately chuckled. "Of course not! Uncle Magnus isn’t that kind of person."

Just then, Marvin Magnus looked at Stella Sterling, his breathing having calmed. He still cherished talent. Even though she had rejected him, he still felt protective of such a promising junior in the medical field.

So, after calming down, his gaze toward Stella Sterling was once again friendly. "Since you’ve made up your mind, young lady, I won’t force the issue. But aren’t you staying at the base for a few more days? You’re welcome to come by and chat with everyone. It would be a chance for you to improve your skills too!"

Stella Sterling was not one to be ungrateful. "As long as Mr. Magnus doesn’t find me too chatty, I’d be more than happy to." 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The others around them let out a sigh of relief.

Mr. Magnus also stared at Stella Sterling for a few seconds. ’This girl has quite a few people protecting her,’ he thought. ’Even the usually aloof Ethan Young seems to treat her differently.’

At that moment, the doors to the operating room opened again. Titus Grant was wheeled away, and Crystal Thorne walked over, greeting everyone one by one. Finally, her eyes landed on Stella Sterling. "We really have you to thank for today. Your technique is incredible! I learned so much today!"

The excitement in her voice was palpable. She truly hadn’t imagined the wound could be treated that way. ’Miss Sterling’s ideas aren’t just unconventional; she’s also bold yet meticulous. She’s a natural for this line of work. Given time, she’ll be incredible.’

Because of this, she felt it was a real shame. ’If Miss Sterling were willing to join us, it would be our good fortune.’

’We could all learn so much from her.’

Seeing Crystal Thorne’s excited state, the others felt she might be exaggerating a little. No matter how skilled Stella Sterling was, she was still young. Was it really necessary to lose her composure like that?

Only Marvin Magnus didn’t think so. Seeing Crystal Thorne’s reaction, he felt a pang of regret. ’Maybe I should have been more insistent about her joining us.’

’I’ll have to ask Taylor for the details later.’