Task 4
In Korra's impression, Lin Zhouze has always been a very "decent" person.
He believed that decency must include qualities such as kindness and justice, just like the protagonists in the heroic stories he had heard his father tell him.
Of course, he was also very grateful for Lin Zhouze's kindness.
However, it was not until this moment, when she became the one being interrogated, that Korra realized that Lin Zhouze's most obvious characteristic was actually his agility.
"Xiao Yue..." Korra pursed her lips, secretly glanced at the expression of the person in front of her, and then quickly lowered her head again.
...
December 1, 179 in the new calendar, was the day the association publicly ruled against Yun Gui.
Due to the spatial confusion caused by Ying Yungui opening the wormhole, Korra and Xiaoyue were accidentally teleported to the headquarters base in Area 1 while avoiding the attack of the chimera.
And they happened to run into the most intense wave of enemy attacks.
When attacked by a bird chimera, Korra hadn't realized the severity of the situation.
Xiaoyue pushed him away at the critical moment and was taken away.
Although it took less than fifteen minutes under command, the situation was basically under control and there were no unnecessary casualties in the base.
But when Xiaoyue was rescued, her limbs had already started to spasm and her whole body was twitching.
Fortunately, she landed only a hundred meters from the experimental research center. Lan was nearby inspecting the damage and took the bedraggled Xiaoyue back to the observation room.
It was not until she wiped the foul-smelling secretions off Xiaoyue's body that Lan realized that she knew this girl.
Many years ago, when District 9 still existed, he was sent by the then branch chief to investigate and support the epidemic area.
The mission location at that time was Area 5.
And this girl was the liaison officer assigned to Pei Chanbai by the District 5 branch at that time.
"If I remember correctly, her name seems to be Xiaoyue." Lan recalled as he quickly checked Xiaoyue's vital signs.
When Korra arrived at the research center with the help of location tracking, Xiaoyue had already shown symptoms of shock.
"Her wounds were seeping with chimera blood and organs. As you can see, severe rejection symptoms have occurred."
Lan didn't have time to transfer Xiaoyue to the treatment room, so he had to start first aid on the spot.
However, this is an experimental subject research center, not the medical department of the base, and the instruments and methods used here are not used on "normal people".
Lan injected the mildest inhibitor into Xiaoyue's body and said to Korra, "You'd better be mentally prepared. There is a 90% chance that she won't make it."
Korra stumbled back a few steps when she heard this and fell to the ground.
Facts proved that Lan's judgment was correct. The inhibitor only suppressed the dirty chimera energy for a short time. After about two minutes, Xiaoyue's breathing stopped after a violent struggle.
Korra hugged Lan's legs in embarrassment and cried, "Sister Lan, please save her, find a way to save her!"
Lan looked at the boy, whose awakening to become a mutant and whose growth to this day, and who had just celebrated his coming-of-age ceremony in District 5, and felt reluctant to dash his hopes.
But no matter how much she didn't want to, she couldn't save Xiaoyue, whose physical energy was so weak.
"Her body's energy is insufficient to counter the Chimera's invading energy."
In other words, this means that Xiaoyue will be eroded and die in an extremely painful way.
Korra was a little overwhelmed. "It's my fault! I brought her here! I was the one who told her that everything would be fine if she followed me."
"It was me who should have died." He said this and his voice softened as he realized this.
Lan closed his eyes and turned his head away from the two of them.
Just as Korra was about to rush forward like crazy, he was grabbed by the back of the collar and thrown aside.
"Zizi" the firefly blue liquid was injected into Xiaoyue's left shoulder. Lin Zhouze swung his hand, and the empty syringe made a crisp breaking sound on the ground.
"You!" Lan quickly realized that it was the inhibitor No. 0 in the experiment, and looked at Lin Zhouze who suddenly appeared in panic and anger.
"You're crazy! That's..."
"This is the only way to save her now." Lin Zhouze interrupted her accusation firmly, looking in her direction and saying, "Are you really going to let her die like this? Without even trying?"
Lan stretched out his hand and wanted to slap Lin Zhouze, but fortunately he immediately realized what was the most important thing at the moment.
She pushed Lin Zhouze away forcefully and opened Xiaoyue's eyelids to check.
"It's over."
"She can't even withstand Type D inhibitor, how can you expect her to withstand Type 0! Are you crazy?" Lan's roar was so fierce that it broke his voice.
Lin Zhouze frowned and said, "It's because she can't even fuse with the D-type, so this is the only way!"
"You...are you referring to..." Lan Gang was so excited that his voice trembled noticeably.
It also seemed like he didn't dare to think too much about what Lin Zhouze meant.
"Yes, only by giving her a fusion transformation can we save her."
Although Korra didn't understand why the two were arguing, she could tell that Xiaoyue still had a glimmer of hope. She quickly got up from the ground and said, "What can we do to save her? I can do anything!"
Suddenly, Xiaoyue's body, which had originally been unresponsive, began to shake strangely, making a violent collision sound of "crunch crunch".
"There's no time! Phase 0 only lasts ten minutes! If we can't remove the contaminated part and provide a new energy source within that time, she'll be beyond saving."
Lin Zhouze was obviously speaking to Lan, his tone was very urgent.
Lan's breathing was still a little rapid, she could even hear her own heartbeat, which was very fast.
This is not a suitable state for "surgery".
So she tied her hair up again, took a deep breath, and said.
"Korra, go wait outside."
Then he turned to Lin Zhouze: "You, help me."
If it were any other time, Korra would have insisted on pestering him, but now he didn't dare, he was afraid.
So when he heard Lan's order, he fled from the observation room.
Lan pulled out the restraints and tied Xiaoyue up, then cut open the clothes that were in the way so that he could observe her.
...
"injection"
"Define the scope"
"injection"
"dilution"
Lan's hands remained steady as he operated while instructing Lin Zhouze to carry out the operations.
When she cut open the joints of her body, she was choked by the pungent smell and burst into tears. However, she didn't bother to wipe the sticky liquid off her face. She said to Lin Zhouze behind her, "Analysis results."
Lin Zhouze immediately announced: "Crown Forest Flycatcher."
"Sure enough." Lan's breathing suddenly became much faster, and the pungent smell so close to him rushed into his lungs.
Because she didn't usually do this kind of exposure experiments, she was negligent in this emergency situation.
At this time, Lin Zhouze pressed something against her ear from behind.
The barrier unfolded, and transparent crystals wrapped around Lan's entire head, and she finally became a little more awake.
Lin Zhouze's voice was noticeably calmer than it had been a few minutes ago. "Among the existing containers at the research center, the S561 is the most suitable."
"561..." Lan frowned slightly, "I remember it was a defective one."
Lin Zhouze: "There's no time."
Lan looked at the increasingly large pool of blood beneath Xiaoyue and made up his mind: "Take S561."
Lin Zhouze went to the transmission window in the corner and scanned the chip instructions. A half-human-high culture tank appeared with "S561-C" marked on it.
The fusion transformation experiment itself is not difficult. It can even be said that there is no technical difficulty at all. Even the lowest-level assistant in the research center can complete it independently.
However, for Lan, the difficulty of this experiment is not the operation process, but the psychological preparation before starting.
Because in most cases, fusion transformation experiments mean killing people.
And the soul is wiped out along with the body.
When Korra was called in by Lin Zhouze, the first thing she smelled was a cold, damp, salty smell, and then the smell of blood.
Then he saw Xiaoyue lying in a pool of blood, her face looking paler than a dead person.
He subconsciously thought that Lan and Lin Zhouze had failed and Xiaoyue was really dead, so he paused and ran forward tremblingly.
When Lan's figure no longer obscured Korra's view, he could clearly see that the bound Satsuki's upper body was covered with a large coat.
Her lower body was a gray-green snake tail, hanging limply on the ground, lifeless.
"this..."
Lan's face was pale, and he said in a hoarse voice, "It seems that the transformation has been initially successful."
"But her physical condition is too weak, and she could be attacked back at any time."
But just like Lin Zhouze said, Lan had no other choice, and S561 was indeed the best and only choice in that situation.
"So she has to stay here and I have to take care of her personally." Lan's sweaty hair stuck to her face, making her feel very uncomfortable.
Cold and sticky.
Like snake skin.
"Ugh!" She couldn't hold it back any longer and rushed to the side to vomit.
Lin Zhouze seemed to be in a much better state than her. He explained to Korra on her behalf, "Although this is to save her life, she will be one of our experimental subjects from now on. She cannot leave the research center without the permission of the person in charge."
Korra felt like vomiting because of the mixed smell in the room, but she managed to suppress it and asked, "Will she be like this from now on?"
"Yes." Lin Zhouze said, "Her own energy is not enough to maintain her vital signs. She must have a new energy source."
"It will get better slowly."
"At least I'm still alive."
Korra lowered her eyes, clenched her fists tightly, and thought to herself, "Is it really better for her to live like this than to die directly?"
Lan cleaned it briefly and turned on the indoor self-cleaning system. The dirt on the ground and the turbidity in the air were gradually discharged, and even the blood under Xiaoyue was cleaned up.
But Xiaoyue’s condition is still unstable, so we can only wait until she recovers a little before cleaning her body.
Lin Zhouze said to Lan, "You need to enter the experimental subject's information yourself. I also have something to go out for."
Lan nodded tiredly, "Let's deal with Ying Yungui's matter. You go ahead." Then he turned to Korra, who was still stunned. "I'm going to leave for a while. You stay here and contact me immediately if she has any problems. Got it?"
"...Yeah." Korra responded in a daze, not noticing when the two left.
The room was silent for a long time. Korra was brought back to her senses by a rustling sound. Her sight focused and met Xiaoyue's trembling eyes as they opened.
Korra was completely stunned, completely forgetting Lan's instructions. He wanted to reach out, to move closer, to say something.
But he didn't dare.
He was afraid that Xiaoyue would find out what she had become like this, afraid of the resentment or even anger that might appear in her eyes, and even more afraid of her tears.
Korra's feet seemed to be nailed to the spot.
Xiaoyue opened her eyes, but her body was unable to move, and she couldn't speak, so -
Korra saw the gray-green snake tail move, and it was still stained with the blood that Xiaoyue had not cleaned off.
After a while, Xiaoyue closed her eyes contentedly and fell asleep again.
Korra took two steps stiffly to the side and saw a line of small red words on the ground -
"Thank you for keeping my promise to Xiaowei."
Many years ago, Xiaoyue mentioned this to Korra, saying, "Xiaowei and I made a promise when we were little: if one of us died, the remaining one would live on no matter what, and do her best to live."
"Even if you look ugly and ferocious, even if others despise you, as long as you have breath left, you must live well."
After Korra saw the words clearly, she finally began to cry silently.
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