Xu Bingli

Tu Ran hadn't completely lost her composure—she managed to stop just outside the meeting room door.

The room was completely sealed off, leaving her no view of what was happening inside.

She waited outside, glancing at her watch. Six o'clock.

By seven, she needed to be back in the Pandalim District.

She'd already made two or three trips between the Administrative Building and the Medical Department, wasting plenty of time on the commute.

If she used Instant Shift, she could cover the distance between the Administrative Building and the Medical Department in under three minutes.

But Zero's eyes were everywhere in the Federation. Any anomalous behavior on her part would expose the inner core inside her, and the people behind Zero would come after her just like they had Xi Chunzhi.

She couldn't afford to underestimate those lurking behind Zero.

At 6:20, the meeting ended, and the door slid open on its own.

Xu Bingli emerged, surrounded by a small crowd, fielding questions about medical knowledge as they walked.

He answered each one with patient care.

Tu Ran stepped forward abruptly, blocking their path.

Xu Bingli looked up, and his body stiffened almost imperceptibly.

Perhaps that was guilt.

He knew Tu Ran and Xi Chunzhi were friends.

Now Tu Ran—who had no reason to be here—stood before him with a threatening air, and he couldn't help but suspect she'd discovered something.

"Pioneer, please don't block the way," barked a doctor in a white coat who had come out with Xu Bingli.

Tu Ran ignored him, her gaze locked on Xu Bingli.

"Dr. Xu, my friend Xi Chunzhi—do you remember her?"

Xu Bingli's heart sank, though his face betrayed nothing. He lowered his head briefly as if in thought, then raised it again, his voice gentle. "I remember. Is something the matter?"

If Tu Ran hadn't read that guard's memories, she would have been fooled by exactly this performance.

He was good at pretending.

Then she'd give him a show of her own.

Her eyes drooped, and she put on a look of anxiety and panic. "She's come down with some illness—she's been unconscious and won't wake up. I wanted to ask you, Dr. Xu, to take a look at her."

Tears welled in her eyes as she looked at him, perfectly embodying the helpless desperation of someone seeking any doctor who might help.

Xu Bingli breathed a silent sigh of relief.

"Dr. Xu isn't your personal physician! He sees countless patients every day—he can't just drop everything because you say so!" The doctor beside him cut in again, glaring at Tu Ran as if to say he'd seen her type before: latch onto the kind doctor who's easy to push around.

Tu Ran's expression snapped shut. She gave him a cold glance and said in a low voice, "Is your surname Xu?"

"No," the man stammered, startled by the sudden shift in her demeanor.

"Then can you shut up?"

The man choked, mouth opening to retort but not quite daring.

Xu Bingli stepped forward, putting himself between them.

"He's right," he said, meeting Tu Ran's eyes with his usual gentleness, though his tone brooked no refusal. "Xi Chunzhi is under another doctor's care. It wouldn't be appropriate for me to interfere."

"But that doctor can't save her!" Tu Ran's voice shot up, wild and frantic, her tone unusually agitated.

People still lingering in the meeting room were drawn by her voice and turned toward the door in unison. Even passersby in the corridor stopped to stare at the woman daring to challenge Xu Bingli.

That was exactly the effect Tu Ran wanted—the more people gathered, the harder it would be for Xu Bingli to refuse.

She put on a desperate, pleading air, eyes red as if she'd been pushed to her limit.

"She's been unconscious for over half a month! The medical bills alone are four thousand Federation credits a day, and you still can't cure her—you haven't even found the cause! How much longer do you expect her to stay? Do you think four thousand credits a day isn't expensive?"

Tu Ran continued to stir up the onlookers. "Four thousand Federation credits a day—that's nearly a month's salary! I'm just an ordinary pioneer—how am I supposed to keep that up? Two more days at most, and my friend will be kicked out because I can't afford the fees anymore!"

"I've drained my savings, and she's still not cured. Tell me—what else can I do besides beg the famous Dr. Xu for help? I have no other options left." She wiped her face, playing the pitiful role.

She played it very well.

Around her, people showed looks of sympathy. The price really was steep—it was lucky she was a pioneer to have held out more than half a month. If it had been them, they'd have crumbled within five days.

Many eyes turned to Xu Bingli.

Some even began to urge him to go take a look, saying the two girls shouldn't have to waste their money.

Xu Bingli fought to keep his expression steady.

Of course, he knew why Xi Chunzhi wouldn't wake up.

But he couldn't cure her either.

It wasn't that he didn't want Xi Chunzhi to wake—it was that he couldn't allow it.

Her body was extremely attractive to many departments within the Federation.

The Research Institute, the Medical Department, the newly established Genetic Modification Lab—all of them wanted her body for their studies. Samples were scarce, so every single one was in high demand.

The man who had swallowed a lizard's inner core and gained superhuman hearing within a hundred meters—even at the rank of major general—had still been taken to the Research Institute, where experiments were conducted on him under the guarantee of his continued survival.

Xi Chunzhi was only a junior pioneer. She was originally meant to be eliminated outright—erased from this world entirely, left forever in an underground laboratory.

But Zero, after a series of assessments, concluded that Tu Ran—Xi Chunzhi's only friend—represented a highly unpredictable variable.

She was well known among the pioneers.

Highly capable herself, and deeply attached to Xi Chunzhi.

After a comprehensive analysis and evaluation of her personality, conduct, and antisocial tendencies, the calculated danger coefficient came out to 82%.

A number that high was enough to make those up top think twice. They ultimately decided to eliminate the dangerous variable of Tu Ran first.

Then quietly take Xi Chunzhi to the lab.

In that way, the world would lose both Tu Ran and Xi Chunzhi at once.

For now, Xi Chunzhi lying there was merely a tool to keep Tu Ran pacified.

Those up top were already planning how to deal with Tu Ran without a trace.

His job right now was to calm her down.

"Lead the way, Miss Tu. I'll take a look."

Whether he could cure her didn't matter.

What mattered was dispelling her suspicions.

Those up top would act soon enough.

Tu Ran led Xu Bingli into the elevator, and the two arrived at Xi Chunzhi's floor.

Entering the room, Xu Bingli immediately noticed the other bed in the same ward as Xi Chunzhi.

His brow furrowed. He stepped closer to examine it, then turned to the head nurse behind him. "Who authorized putting another patient in this room?"

"Dr. Xie Xinyu," the head nurse replied. "Dr. Xie Xinyu said this Yang Hao's symptoms are similar to Xi Chunzhi's, so he placed them together for easier comparison."