Breakthrough (V)
The days passed as each of them recovered. Shi Youchen had almost fully recovered, but Yan Zhiyuan and Ying Yungui were still unconscious. Lin Zhouze became increasingly busy. Except for the first few days, when he was still able to bring food and medicine to Shi Youchen, he later became so busy that he had to ask Li Nuo to make the daily trip for him.
The refrigerator in Shi Youchen's treatment room was not only restocked with daily medicine, but also had a special space reserved for his daily meals. As for fresh fruits, Li Nuo would also bring them, but Shi Youchen naturally would not ask her to tinker with them. After all, Team Leader Li now had much more work to do than before.
Fortunately, this situation didn't last long. Five days later, Shi Youchen finally left the treatment room with a positive test result and returned to the 16th floor of Building 7. That evening, Lin Zhouze took time out of his busy schedule to invite him and Li Nuo to dinner, saying it was a welcome dinner and a good omen.
What no one expected was that the good omen they prayed for did not come true. No good news came from either Treatment Room 3 or the Ability Observation Room. Instead, a message came back from the farther Area 9.
That day, Shi Youchen had just returned from the archives. He had followed his doctor's advice and hadn't rushed back into exercise, treating his daily commute as a form of rehabilitation. As he passed the Information Center building, his wristband and personal communicator rang simultaneously.
Shi Youchen glanced at the caller ID and picked up the call: "Dr. Lan, what's wrong?" At the same time, he opened the message box of the bracelet, which was a message from Li Ming, a friend with superpowers.
"Shi Youchen, Mollier's condition isn't right. [Attached]" Attached to it was what appeared to be a photo of a hospital bed. Before he could click on it for a closer look, a flashing red warning box appeared in the middle of the screen.
"Friend Number: 7102 Vital Signs Monitoring Abnormal!!!"
Lan's panicked voice echoed from the other end of the communicator: "The virus in Morrill's body is multiplying and spreading explosively. He has lost consciousness and has just been taken to the emergency room."
Although Li Ming had been the one providing feedback on the progress of their observations since Li Mo and Li Mo, at Shi Youchen's suggestion, sought Lan's help, Lan had a duty and a need to promptly relay important information to Shi Youchen, as the primary observer entrusted by a friend. However, the previous observations had been quite stable, so she hadn't bothered Shi Youchen too often.
Morrill's condition took a turn for the worse some time ago. Shi Youchen knew about this because he had contacted Li Ming before he was attacked in City Z on March 17th. He also learned that Morrill became extremely emotionally unstable after learning that the Mo family was burned down, and fell into a coma several times. Later, he was temporarily cut off from District 9 due to injuries from falling into the river.
I hadn't expected to receive such news from Morrill just as the new month began, after I'd finally recovered. Shi Youchen's throat ached with dryness, and he murmured, "I understand. Regardless of the outcome, thank you for your time." The sudden change in the Mo family, such a huge shock, coupled with Morrill's physical condition, was likely to...
Youchen couldn't fall asleep that night. He didn't feel tired at all mentally, but his physical condition didn't allow him to do any physical or mental activity. So when Lan's news came, he was quietly sinking into the sofa, listening to the documentary as background music.
"The 'Gene' Recombination Project was officially declared a failure in the 80th year of the New Calendar."
Shi Youchen paused the call and answered Lan's phone. "Go ahead," he said, seemingly prepared to hear any news. Lan's voice was calm. "The virus is spreading much faster than expected. The emergency room just passed the relevant information to the experts at headquarters. Li Ming and I have discussed this, and he will return to District 8 at dawn."
"He will take Mollier's relics back with him." Lan was still worried that Shi Youchen would be shocked by this, but after hearing the other party's immediate reply, he felt temporarily relieved.
"Okay, I'll wait for him here. It's getting late there, so go and get some rest." Shi Youchen pulled himself out of the sofa and stood up, walking towards the window with the curtains drawn. The living room was dim except for the light from the monitor. His knee accidentally hit the corner of the coffee table, but he didn't stop to check the injury, but walked straight to the window.
The heavy curtain was carefully opened a crack, and Shi Youchen looked out with his eyes lowered. Outside was a deeper and more vast darkness, and silence. "Thank you, Lan."
It's almost dawn.
After the call ended, Shi Youchen turned on all the lights in the dormitory. A documentary about major events in the supernatural world during the human new calendar continued playing on the monitor. He walked into the kitchen, took out the relatively abundant ingredients in the refrigerator, and quietly and quickly prepared a balanced meal for himself. This was his first meal of the day.
Shi Youchen quietly finished his meal and cleaned up. A new chapter in the documentary had begun. He turned the volume down, then went into the study and brought the borrowed paperwork and several neatly folded notebooks to the coffee table in the living room.
He supported himself on the edge of the sofa with one hand and sat on the ground. His trousers moved up a little due to this movement, and the bloodstain moved with it. Only then did he roll up his trouser legs to reveal the wound on his knee.
The wound wasn't deep, but it had broken the skin and was bleeding, and it was at a vital joint, so it was best to heal it first. But Shi Youchen ignored it, simply glancing at it. Then he dropped his trouser legs, stretched his legs, and began writing furiously.
Shi Youchen's handwriting tonight was particularly sloppy, and not as clear as usual. He even used a lot of cursive strokes, and it was difficult to tell what the words were at first glance. It was like the handwriting left behind when he was a student and was extremely sleepy in class but had to take notes. He was afraid that no one could understand it except himself.
He kept looking through the information and adding notes on the paper. When his eyes were sore, he would put two drops of medicine in them. When his throat was dry, he would drink a whole glass of cold water. When one hand felt sore from writing, he would switch to the other hand. He just didn't want to stop.
He can't stop, he doesn't have much time left.
...
Li Ming and Shi Youchen met in the Information Center lobby. Li Ming had just submitted Morrill's death certificate, issued by the District 9 Treatment Center. "You're here," he said calmly upon seeing Shi Youchen appear.
He no longer had the cynical air he had when Shi Youchen first met him. The light brown scar on his left cheek seemed much more pronounced. Shi Youchen glanced at the three round earrings on his right ear and motioned for him to step aside to talk.
At the end of a secluded corridor, two heads, one black and one white, leaned against the window. It was a cloudy day today, with thick, gray clouds that barely let in a ray of sunlight. This kind of weather could easily ruin anyone's mood, let alone someone who was already in a bad mood.
"Mind if I smoke one?" Li Ming asked, leaning against the armrest and looking outside. Shi Youchen glanced at him and said, "As you wish," then handed him a cigarette. "Want to try it?" Li Ming seemed certain that he had never smoked before, "It's quite useful as medicine."
Shi Youchen neither accepted nor refused. He reached out and took the slender "medicine" in his palm. He glanced at Li Ming, who was puffing out smoke, and turned his head to the side where the wind was blowing. He asked, "Lan said you brought back Mollier's relics."
"Huh... Hmm." Li Ming pursed his lips, holding a small piece of filter in his mouth. He reached into the inside pocket of his coat, pulled out a flat box, and opened it. Inside was a red amber bracelet that Shi Youchen looked so familiar with. "This is all she left behind." Li Ming handed the box to Shi Youchen, who paused, took it, and closed the lid.
Li Ming's vision was foggy, as if he had been transported back to the torrential rain in District 9 a few hours earlier. "It's said that the poison in her body is impossible to completely remove. After all nerve activity ceased, the people over there said that the body couldn't be taken out of the room for the time being, fearing it would affect public safety."
Shi Youchen clenched his five fingers, and the cigarette in his palm was bent into pieces.
Li Ming continued, "Later, they said that the walls of the room had been affected and mutated, and the body could no longer be kept, so they called Dr. Lan." He put one hand in his pocket, and the other hand holding a cigarette hung by his leg, with the cigarette butt facing outward, sparks flickering.
"Dr. Lan checked the identity information with the people at the information center over there."
"Then the supervision center ordered the immediate disposal of the remains."
"They burned Mollier and left this bracelet."
Li Ming didn't take another puff. The cigarette butt between his fingers was already half-burned, then broke silently, the ashes falling to the ground. His voice was always calm as he recounted these events, so calm that if Shi Youchen hadn't seen the dark marks on his collar, he would have thought he was describing the death of a stranger.
"I'm sorry." Shi Youchen said.
"Don't talk about this. Neither she nor I want to hear it."
"If I hadn't persuaded you to go to District 9, she would still be able to be with her family." Shi Youchen closed his eyes, his teeth felt sore. He thought of the red sandalwood bracelet that belonged to Mo Lian and which he had handed to 07 personally, and his palms felt extremely hot at this moment.
The cigarette on Li Ming's fingertips had already burned out. He put it out with his fingertips and clenched it in his fist. He said fiercely, "She doesn't want to be with her family other than Madam Mo, and she doesn't regret going to District 9."
"You're not the one who should apologize. Everyone in that mountaineering club should apologize. They're the ones who killed Morrill." The small piece of cigarette that was crushed in his palm fell to the ground and was crushed further by a kick. "The toxin matter can't be concealed anymore. District 9 will report it to headquarters. Even if they don't, I will report it to the association."
In the past, they placed too much emphasis on family glory, prioritizing social status and aristocratic titles above all else, believing that their family's strength would provide them with an eternal bulwark. But the "Mo Family of District 8" was destroyed overnight, leaving behind nothing but gossip. No one would go against public opinion and return Morrill's remains to District 8 just because of this once-glorious family.
"Only if I'm strong enough will I not need to be told what to do." Li Ming only regretted that he had come to this realization too late, at such a high price. It took his closest friend's own life for him to realize this.
Shi Youchen looked out the window at the sky where rain was beginning to fall, and murmured, "Yes, yes."
All his failures, setbacks, pain, and regret along the way were probably due to his weakness. 07 was absolutely right, he was too weak, and the fate of the weak is never under their own control.
If he had enough power, at least Yan Zhiyuan wouldn't still be lying in the treatment room. If he were even stronger, Xiaowei wouldn't have died, He Xian wouldn't have been taken away by the Maintenance Bureau, and Ying Yungui wouldn't have to sacrifice his time. He was so eager to become the highest authority in the association...
Just as Shi Youchen thought of this, the building of the information center shook violently and the alarm inside the building sounded, reminding them not to panic, and the corresponding protection program would be automatically activated.
"Look outside!" Li Ming exclaimed. Shi Youchen held on to the handrail tightly to steady himself and looked outside as he said.
The ground outside was actually cracked by the vibration. The trees on both sides of the road in the distance were uprooted. The vehicles parked on the side were spinning and sliding as if they had no weight. The entire space seemed to be in chaos.
This is definitely not a natural event like an earthquake.
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