The Dying Man

Xi Chunzhi shook her head, her voice much less hoarse now. "I didn't feel anything. It was like sleeping. When I'd slept enough, I woke up naturally."

She certainly wasn't about to tell the young Dr. Xie the truth either.

Xie Xinyu's brows knitted deeply.

These two were clearly on guard against him.

He knew the reason behind Xi Chunzhi's coma—she had lost something called an inner core.

He had seen many people like her recently.

He was a member of the Xie family, and his position in the Medical Department represented the Xie family's interests.

The Wells family was searching for inner cores—how could the Xie family sit idle?

Many people in the Medical Department were like him: doctors on the surface, but secretly researching inner cores. They had different assignments; his was to find a way to cure those who had lost their inner cores.

Xi Chunzhi was the first person to wake up after losing her inner core, which made her extremely valuable for research. Unfortunately, these two seemed to be hiding something from him.

Whatever. He'd just check the surveillance footage later.

After all, the camera in the ward had a full 360-degree view with no blind spots.

"You're in good shape now, and your vital signs are stable. Get some rest, and I'll run more tests later. If everything continues to look good, you can be discharged," Xie Xinyu said.

"Alright, thank you for your hard work, Dr. Xie," Tu Ran said politely.

"No trouble at all." Xie Xinyu turned and left, thoughtfully closing the ward door behind him.

He headed straight to the office on the floor below and pulled up the surveillance footage from 5:15 on his computer.

That was right after he'd left, when the instruments had first shown fluctuations in Xi Chunzhi's vitals.

In the footage, Tu Ran sat in the chair by the bed, one hand propping up her forehead and the other resting on the armrest. Xi Chunzhi lay in bed. Both maintained their positions, with nothing changing.

He fast-forwarded through the footage—the scene remained the same throughout. If not for Tu Ran blinking every so often, he would have thought he was looking at a frozen frame.

Just before six, Xi Chunzhi's eyelashes on the bed suddenly fluttered. Tu Ran then stood up and called for him. He knew the rest.

How could this be? Xie Xinyu was baffled, propping his chin on one hand as he looped the footage again and again.

Could it be that nothing really happened? She just naturally woke up?

It never crossed his mind to doubt the authenticity of the footage.

In reality, the surveillance had been processed by Zero. What Xie Xinyu was now seeing was footage spliced from the past few days of Tu Ran sitting by Xi Chunzhi's bedside, with Zero making subtle edits to make the sequence flow seamlessly. That was why Xie Xinyu hadn't noticed.

Xie Xinyu gave up, leaning back in his chair and staring at the ceiling as he pondered the cause.

Back in the ward, Tu Ran raised the head of the bed at Xi Chunzhi's request, and Xi Chunzhi leaned against it.

"Are you hungry?"

Xi Chunzhi shook her head.

"Thirsty?" Tu Ran couldn't think of anything else to say.

"No."

"Then maybe lie down and sleep a bit more?" Tu Ran asked.

Xi Chunzhi: "...I've already slept for a long time."

Tu Ran: Right...

Xi Chunzhi kept her eyes fixed on Tu Ran, her dry lips parting slightly. She had so many questions she wanted to ask Tu Ran, but she knew the room was under surveillance, so she swallowed the words back down.

"I want to be discharged," she finally managed.

Tu Ran glanced at the hidden camera in the corner of the room. Zero was watching.

There was no need to hide their conversation from Zero—Zero already knew everything; this one thing wouldn't make a difference.

But she couldn't let Xi Chunzhi know about Zero's existence.

Their conversation had to take place in an environment where, in Xi Chunzhi's mind, Zero wasn't present.

"Once the doctor confirms you're recovered, we'll go home."

"I know my own body. I'm fine now."

Xi Chunzhi clenched her fist, feeling the strength in it.

Ever since she had taken the inner core, her strength had been gradually recovering. Now she was almost back to normal.

Tu Ran checked the time—it was 6:25. She had to be in Pandalim District by seven.

"I'll come pick you up tomorrow at seven in the evening," Tu Ran said, standing up. "I need to go patrol Pandalim District. Stay here and rest for another twenty-four hours. By the time I get here tomorrow, your check-ups should be done, and we can leave."

Though Xi Chunzhi had no idea why Tu Ran was going to Pandalim District, she didn't ask. She had been lying here for days and must have missed many things happening outside. She nodded. "Go on, then. Stay safe."

"Mm." Tu Ran added, "Do you want to lie down or sit up?"

"Sit, I guess. I'd like to sit for a while."

"Alright. If you feel unwell, ring the bell and the nurses and doctors will come right away," Tu Ran instructed. "A caregiver will also be here soon. She'll bring you food and help you clean up. She's been looking after you the whole time you were unconscious. Tell her what you want to eat, and she'll buy it for you—it's all covered by the hire fee, so don't hold back."

Seeing how fussy Tu Ran was being, Xi Chunzhi couldn't help but laugh. "I know, I know. Hurry up and go, or you'll be late."

Tu Ran glanced at the time—if nothing unexpected happened, she was already late.

Certain there was nothing left to say, she turned and left.

Taking the maglev tram to Pandalim District, Tu Ran jogged to the Executive Department's branch office meeting room. As expected, she was ten minutes late.

What made her heart sink was that the moment she pushed open the door, she saw Dead Fish Eyes sitting squarely at the head of the conference table, tapping the surface as he admonished the pioneers below. The pioneers all wore resentful expressions, barely restraining their anger.

Seeing Tu Ran burst in, Dead Fish Eyes immediately switched targets, unleashing full force at her. "Ten minutes late! Do you know how much damage ten minutes can cause?! What if a gene monster appeared in that time and you couldn't get there in time? How many residents of Pandalim District would be in mortal danger—can you bear that responsibility?!"

He was spitting mad. Tu Ran calmly walked to her seat, hooked a chair with her foot, and sat down, completely ignoring him.

Xi Chunzhi had woken up today, and she was in a good mood—she didn't feel like bickering with him.

Besides, what was the point in arguing with a dying man?

Her nonchalant attitude nearly made Diao Hongzhi choke with rage, his face turning as purple as a ripe eggplant.

"Tu Ran! Don't think you can be so arrogant just because you're a pioneer. You're nothing but—"

Tu Ran irritably rubbed her ear. Just then, her communicator buzzed twice. She tapped it open—it was a mission alert.

Tu Ran stood up immediately, cutting Diao Hongzhi off mid-sentence. "There's a mission. Let's go."

Without even glancing at Diao Hongzhi, she kicked her chair aside and pushed open the door to walk out of the meeting room.

Behind her, the other pioneers immediately followed her out.

They had long grown tired of listening, wishing they, too, had arrived ten minutes late.