Chapter 152 Rebooter Base - 9 *** ……
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Tang Bufan's clone exited the capsule, and Zero took him directly upstairs at the research institute, without giving Tang Bufan a chance to see it.
But actually, Tang Bufan himself didn't want to go see it.
He waited anxiously for the rejection test results, which came back quickly; there was almost no rejection reaction.
"Congratulations!" Mian Tuo congratulated Tang Bufan and also praised their AI: "Our institute's AI gene repair is really amazing. It perfectly simulated your original genes."
Compared to becoming a robot with only a brain, this outcome is not bad, but Tang Bufan is not happy at all.
“I still want my own body,” he said to the slippers, his voice trembling.
“That’s your own body,” Cotton said, not understanding his thoughts. “It was cloned using your genes.”
“…It’s different.” Tang Bufan lowered his head and murmured again, “It’s different.”
Cotton Slipper thought he was just "nostalgic." As someone who used androids for daily activities, he wasn't too opposed to changing his body or becoming a robot. He even enjoyed the post-apocalyptic cyberpunk feeling, living in a mechanical body until the real apocalypse.
The surgery was scheduled for three days later. Zero gave Tang Bufan three days to prepare, but Tang Bufan felt like he was on a death countdown. He couldn't eat or sleep.
Three days have passed, and while Lu Yi's side is still searching in the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean, they have already moved to the North Sea, so the situation is basically settled.
Tang Bufan felt a tightness in his chest even when he was lying down.
He didn't tell Anderson the time of the surgery, but Anderson guessed it from his reaction.
"Look on the bright side, at least you're still human." Anderson rarely comforted people, but he still sat on the floor covered with cardboard boxes and tried to comfort them: "Unlike that pervert, whose hands are twisted and deformed."
The pervert he was referring to was Zero, and Anderson now dreams of punching him to pieces.
“…Hmm.” Tang Bufan responded softly, that was the only way he could comfort himself.
It's okay... At worst... He can let Lu Yi bite him again and turn back into a sub-beastman... But... can he and Lu Yi really meet again?
In this dazed state, time came to the day of the surgery. That morning, Tang Bufan left the prison early and went to the surface.
The island was quiet and dimly lit in the early morning. Although he knew it was a simulated environment created by the island's protective shield, Tang Bufan still enjoyed taking a deep breath in front of the fields and strolling through the fields overgrown with weeds.
Since the poisoned children left, the field has been neglected. Tang Bufan initially found it strange that half of the children should still be left after the first batch was screened out. Why did all the children disappear? He then went to ask the female researcher surnamed He and learned that there was a problem with the children in the r5166 batch.
“R5165 is a rare variant. It split off from the parent plant D0328. It’s a type of plant autodivision. Although it looks like two people, it’s actually one.” The female researcher told Tang Bufan, “The doctor discovered it a long time ago, but pretended not to know in order to observe the behavior between the parent plant and the offspring. I only found out about it a week ago.”
"What about the other children?" Tang Bufan asked.
"I've been infected."
"Infection?!" Tang Bufan was taken aback.
"You know that plants can achieve symbiosis through grafting, right?" the female researcher said. "All the children in the same batch as r5165 had their cells grafted onto it, and they grew to look more and more like it. Unfortunately, we found out about this too late, and the eliminated children had already left the island."
However, the female researcher did not seem too worried, and only said calmly, "If too many r5165 cells spread outside, we may have to broadcast infrasound globally ahead of schedule. Fortunately, the doctor inserted this 'switch' into their genes."
After hearing this, Tang Bufan raised his palm. He remembered that day when r5165 had scratched him and left red claw marks. He thought that this was probably how she infected the other children.
Seeing Tang Bufan's reaction, the female researcher reassured him that firstly, plant cells and animal cells are incompatible, and secondly, the phagocytic cells of the orcs are more aggressive, so r5165 cannot infect them at all.
I wonder how R5166 is doing. Tang Bufan squatted there, playing with the fruits and vegetables the children had grown, deep in thought. Lu Yi's aircraft was still in the South China Sea, which meant that R5166 had not transmitted the message to Lu Yi as he had intended.
Indeed, how could things go so smoothly? Tang Bufan sighed deeply, hearing footsteps behind him.
Zero stood behind him, looking at him indifferently: "Let's go."
"...Will you perform the surgery on me personally?" Tang Bufan threw away the green chili pepper in his hand.
“Now most surgeries are done by AI.” Zero’s hands were in his pockets. “My hands are steadyer than many experts.”
Tang Bufan glanced at Zero's mechanical right arm inside his white coat, remaining noncommittal.
The surgery required opening the brain, so Tang Bufan needed to shave his head. Tang Bufan had just been to the fields and his head was covered in mud when he touched it, so he suggested taking a bath.
Zero agreed, not caring whether Tang Bufan was dawdling or not. He let Tang Bufan go to the bathroom, and after Tang Bufan silently finished showering and changed into surgical scrubs, three more medical researchers arrived outside.
Zero wasn't there. Tang Bufan recognized two of the three researchers, having greeted them a few times in the cafeteria. The other elderly gentleman was a complete stranger, likely a retired employee residing on the Rebooter.
Tang Bufan looked into the operating room next door. It was already filled with medicine and blood packs, but his clone was not there.
"Is Zero with my clone?" Tang Bufan asked tentatively, sitting down on the chair next to him.
“Yes,” a researcher familiar with Tang Bufan replied, “He also needs to make preparations on his end.”
"...Do I have self-awareness?" Tang Bufan pressed.
The two researchers exchanged a glance, then nodded: "Yes, your clone is very well developed."
"...Did he know he was going to 'die' today?" Tang Bufan asked again.
“…We told him it was for a physical exam,” the researcher said. “His brain has only been activated for a few days; he doesn’t really know who he is yet.”
Tang Bufan felt melancholy, while the elderly researcher ordered, "Let's go into the operating room and anesthetize them first."
He thought it would be better to let Tang Bufan go to sleep first, and then wait for Zero to send over the clone.
Tang Bufan was quite obedient and got up to go into the operating room with the three of them. He sat on the operating table, and just as he was about to lie down, his leg suddenly twitched.
He gasped, looked down at his right foot, and told the three people next to him, "It seems... there's an electrical leak."
The three turned their heads in confusion and saw an old electronic ankle bracelet, still damp with water droplets because Tang Bufan had just finished showering.
The anklets are waterproof, but many things at this research institute are old, so it's not impossible for the anklets to leak.
"Touch it." Tang Bufan gestured for the researcher he was more familiar with to touch his anklet.
The researcher touched Tang Bufan's anklet with some skepticism, his fingertips brushing against the water droplets.
"Is it numb?" Tang Bufan asked him.
The researcher withdrew his hand, looking surprised: "It is a little numb."
Another researcher, not believing it, reached out: "Let me see."
He touched the ankle bracelet and carefully felt it: "I don't feel any leakage of electricity..."
"Hiss!" Tang Bufan suddenly pulled his foot back and frowned, "It's leaking."
“It seems like we really did leak,” the first researcher said. “My fingertips are numb right now.”
The researcher behind him was startled by Tang Bufan's sudden movement of pulling his foot back, and only then did he belatedly realize, "It seems a little numb."
"Take it off," said the elderly researcher next to him. Wearing an electronic ankle bracelet during surgery is indeed a potential hazard.
His seniority was greater than the other two, and Tang Bufan looked obedient. After thinking for a moment, the two researchers used their ID card permissions to remove the anklet from Tang Bufan.
097453. Tang Bufan stared at the virtual screen in front of the researcher with his dark eyes. With a soft "click," the old shackles on Tang Bufan's right foot were remotely unlocked.
Tang Bufan's heart pounded like a drum.
“Something’s not quite right…” The researcher who was familiar with Tang Bufan felt his hands getting hotter and more stinging, rubbing his fingers and frowning.
Sitting there with his legs empty, Tang Bufan said, "It's chili water."
The researcher looked up blankly, and Tang Bufan smiled at him: "Remember when you ate chili peppers in the cafeteria last time and sneezed?"
After saying that, he suddenly poured out a large amount of red powder from his sleeve.
In an instant, the entire laboratory was covered in pungent red chili powder. The three researchers were caught off guard. Tang Bufan suddenly turned around, grabbed a knife from the operating table, and with a swift motion, cut off the ID card hanging around the researcher's neck. He then kicked away another person who tried to pounce on him, grabbed the old man, and used a clever move to push him away.
"Tang Bufan! You!" The researcher whose ID card had been taken away wanted to curse, but couldn't help sneezing.
"Do you think I'm working for free in the cafeteria?!" Tang Bufan kicked him again. After the man flew out of the operating room and crashed into the wall outside, Tang Bufan, still in his surgical gown, rushed to the door and slammed it shut.
Inside the elevator, Zero stood expressionlessly next to a medical stretcher, with Tang Bufan lying quietly beside him.
"Warning, disturbance has occurred in the operating room on the second basement level. Warning, disturbance has occurred in the operating room on the second basement level." The AI suddenly issued a warning, and a virtual screen automatically popped up in front of Zero.
Zero was taken aback at first, then frowned as he looked at the three researchers sitting disheveled in the corridor.
Without contacting them to ask what had happened, Zero commanded the AI in a low voice: "Give me footage of the operating room."
"The surveillance system has been destroyed by Tang Bufan," a gentle electronic male voice reported.
Zero clicked his tongue, and after the elevator doors opened, he ignored "Tang Bufan" who was still lying on the gurney and strode out.
Turning the corner, he quickly arrived outside the operating room. The researcher whose stomach had been kicked by Tang Bufan struggled to get up and wanted to report the situation to him, but Zero ignored him. He suddenly tensed his right arm, which was covered by a white coat, and then slammed his fist heavily into the closed operating door.
With a loud bang, the metal door of the operating room dented, and the IV pole used to jam the door bent as well. Zero peeked through the crack in the door, and his right arm immediately deformed, pulling the IV pole out through the narrow gap.
The operating room door opened, but Tang Bufan was nowhere to be seen, while the camera in the corner hung limply.
This sterile operating room had no windows, so Zero glanced around the operating room, which still had a lot of chili powder left, and then looked up at the ceiling.
There is a ventilation system there large enough for a person to crawl into.
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