"You seem a little different. I can't say exactly how."
Panda looked at his old friend, hesitant yet moved.
Lu PingAn still smiled calmly, as if he had no worries at all.
But that itself seemed to be a hint.
"I thought you'd take some leave. Your child was just born—your wife actually let you come out?"
Panda Man shrugged. Such an obvious change of subject probably meant Lu PingAn was plotting something mysterious again.
"I'm the head of the household. Do I need to file a report just to come out and earn a living? I'm not like you, calling home regularly to check in whenever you go out to have fun."
"If I hadn't seen Panda's Wife scolding you that day, telling you not to smoke or drink and to properly prepare for the baby, then watched you on the balcony chewing bamboo with Alcohol Chocolate, I might've believed you."
"Uh..."
Panda Man, now a good husband after marriage, fell silent. Once certain scenes had been witnessed by his buddies, it became hard to hold his head high around them. Especially when the bastard before him really did have x-ray vision.
"Ahem. Let's talk about the upcoming Exploration Team deployment."
Lu PingAn smiled. He had not actually seen it; Panda's Wife had seen it and told him.
No one had expected that the first person in the team to get married, and the first officer to have children, would be Panda Man, who looked so carefree.
In fact, after experiencing ten accelerated years, he was already physically middle-aged.
However, Rule-level and stronger experts had long lifespans, found it difficult to reproduce, and could generally control their desires. Those who married were rare.
Panda Man's situation was somewhat special. His race usually had relatively short lifespans, and a powerful