The Same Symptoms

He walked over to Tu Ran and set it on her head.

"Close your eyes." Xie Xu's deep blue eyes looked down at her, his voice flat.

Tu Ran obeyed.

His footsteps faded, followed by the scrape of a chair. Then the machine on her head whirred to life with a low hum.

Tu Ran's mind plunged into a vast expanse of white.

Everything was white.

Was he reading her memories?

No.

She had used the communicator Xie Xu gave her to search for information earlier. During memory retrieval, the subject's brain rapidly flashes through all images from the designated period, transmitting them in exhaustive detail to the connected computer.

What she faced now was nothing but white.

Maybe this was Xie Xu's way of deceiving Zero.

After what felt like an eternity, Xie Xu's voice reached her.

"That's enough."

Tu Ran tried to open her eyes, but they wouldn't budge—her eyelids heavy, her consciousness still trapped in that blank emptiness.

She sensed Xie Xu removing the device, his gaze lingering on her face.

"No need to rush. Rest for three minutes." His voice was calm.

Tu Ran felt relieved.

Three minutes later, she opened her eyes on time.

Xie Xu's deep blue eyes met hers.

"Tomorrow at 8:30 PM, Meihua Nutrient Fluid Abandoned Factory in Luqing City."

Tu Ran propped herself up on her elbows. "Luqing City? You're going to—"

"Yes."

He was going to deal with Zhao Yan.

Zhao Yan's ability was a threat to everyone.

"You've had three days. You should have made up your mind by now."

Tu Ran said nothing.

"I hope to see you there tomorrow."

...

...

After leaving the memory retrieval room, Tu Ran hurried to the Medical Department to check on Xi Chunzhi.

Xi Chunzhi was just as she had been over the past few days—lying quietly in bed, eyes shut tight, dark circles under her eyes, pale skin, hollow cheeks.

The instruments by the bed beeped steadily, indicating the life form on the bed was still alive.

Tu Ran pulled out a chair and sat down, bending her elbow to rest on the pristine white hospital bed, leaning in to study her closely.

What exactly was going on?

The Federation's medical technology was highly advanced. Illnesses that would have been terminal in her old world were nothing more than a slightly worse cold here.

Even with such advanced technology, why couldn't they figure out what was wrong with Xi Chunzhi?

Tu Ran couldn't help but let her thoughts wander, shifting to a more metaphysical angle.

Could it be something unclean?

Maybe she should find a Taoist priest and have a ritual done?

Tu Ran nodded inwardly—yes, she needed to find out where to locate one.

She sat for over ten minutes before the ward door opened.

Tu Ran turned to look. A heavily wrapped hospital bed came into view first, pushed in from outside.

Someone was lying on the bed.

Tu Ran didn't pay much attention to that, instead looking at Xie Xinyu, who followed the bed inside.

"What's this?"

Xie Xinyu was swiping on his tablet. He looked up, glanced at her briefly, and said flatly, "Same symptoms as the other one. I put them together so I can observe them more easily."

Same symptoms?

Tu Ran immediately stood up. "If there are similarities, does that mean we can find the cause soon?"

"Calm down, calm down," Xie Xinyu motioned with his hand, signaling her to steady herself. "We haven't found anything yet. Although their physical signs are completely identical, both of them collapsed right after coming out of the Threshold, their holographic recording rings were both destroyed, and the memory reader couldn't retrieve any memories either. Since we can't see what happened to them inside the Threshold, we can't even speculate about the cause."

Tu Ran's earlier excitement vanished.

So still no progress.

She sighed inwardly and let her gaze drift to the bed placed side by side with Xi Chunzhi's.

A curtain hung between the two beds, and a nurse was slowly drawing it shut.

Just as it closed completely, Tu Ran caught a glimpse of the pale face on that other bed.

Her pupils abruptly dilated.

Wheel of Time!

The one who had unintentionally acquired the Wheel of Time!

The man whose inner core she had dug out, who she had injected with the recovery agent, and left behind in the dense forest of the Threshold.

He had actually come back?!

Wait—he had the same symptoms as Xi Chunzhi?!

Tu Ran stared at Xi Chunzhi in disbelief.

Could she have...

"Do you have any other questions?" Xie Xinyu stood with his hands behind his back, carrying the air of a doctor.

Tu Ran fixed her eyes on him. "Did Xi Chunzhi walk out of the Threshold on her own?"

Given these symptoms, nine times out of ten, her inner core had been removed.

She needed to determine whether Xi Chunzhi had her inner core dug out inside the Threshold or after coming out.

"Yeah," Xie Xinyu nodded calmly. "Otherwise, who would have carried her out?"

"How long after coming out of the Threshold did she collapse?"

"Hmm..." Xie Xinyu rubbed his chin, thinking carefully. "I think she collapsed as soon as she came out. Anyway, on the day the Threshold opened, your Pioneer Team sent in a lot of wounded, and she was among them."

Tu Ran then looked at the adjacent bed. "Did he also walk out on his own?"

"Yes," Xie Xinyu said, glancing down at his watch. "Let's talk next time. I have surgery scheduled."

With that, he turned and left, followed by the two nurses who had pushed the bed in earlier.

The ward was now left with just Tu Ran and the two unconscious patients.

Tu Ran slowly sat back down in her chair, gazing at Xi Chunzhi's pale face. Pretending to tidy the hair at the back of her head, she let her fingers brush against the nape of her neck.

On the smooth back of her neck, near the shoulder, she felt an uneven patch of scar tissue.

Tu Ran's fingers trembled slightly. A storm raged inside her heart, but her expression remained utterly still as she slowly withdrew her hand and sat back in her chair, exactly as before.

As if she were merely straightening clothing.

Xi Chunzhi really had possessed an inner core.

And she was unconscious now precisely because she had lost it.

Who was it?

Tu Ran's mind raced through all the pioneers she had ever met.

Aside from Zhao Yan, she hadn't encountered a single pioneer with abilities.

The person who dug out Xi Chunzhi's inner core would, in all likelihood, consume it themselves. Of course, there was a chance they had hidden it away without taking it, but that possibility wasn't very high.

After all, having painstakingly obtained an inner core, they'd want its attached ability. Hiding it away without using it would be pointless.

Zhao Yan...

Tu Ran chewed on that name.

He was the prime suspect.

If it was Zhao Yan, then the inner core had been removed inside the Threshold.

But if the inner core hadn't been taken inside the Threshold, but outside instead, then he wouldn't be the prime suspect. He couldn't have gotten the Medical Department to lie for him and claim that Xi Chunzhi collapsed the moment she stepped out of the Threshold.

Tu Ran's other suspect was the Federal Government.

The only ones who could make the Medical Department cooperate were certain high-ranking officials in the Federal Government with immense power.

And she never got to see those officials in her daily life, nor could she observe whether they possessed abilities.

It wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

She suddenly rose to her feet.

She needed to go check the surveillance footage and determine exactly where Xi Chunzhi had her inner core dug out.