Chapter 1228: The s.h.i.+p of Theseus Sanjiu
Before leaving the payment counter to find Puppeteer"s new patient room, Lin Sanjiu didn"t forget about other trivial matters. Using the method of exchanging [Hospital Pa.s.ses], the group transferred some of Puppeteer and Bohemia"s excess points to her. Aside from repaying her debts upon discharge, she still needed a whole left hand and a kidney.
After applying the Lava Wound Repair Ointment to her skin, Lin Sanjiu watched as the color of her flesh gradually spread from the severed part of her left wrist, as if a painter who knew her limbs well was meticulously restoring it. After several applications, her left hand returned to her, unmistakably hers. Lin Sanjiu couldn"t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
She hadn"t carefully looked at the arm that had grown back in her sleeve. Besides the constant turmoil and lack of opportunity to sit down and examine it closely, she was also worried that it might be a stranger"s arm that she wouldn"t recognize. What if it was different in length or size? What if it was loose and flabby? Even if it looked symmetrical, it still felt odd to her. She could accept growing bone wings, but she felt uncomfortable with being attached to someone else"s arm.
"The so-called being swallowed by the lava... is just a temporary deduction," she whispered, repeatedly looking at her palm and back of her hand. "The hospital provides an opportunity to get it back, so what you get back must be your own."
With that, she finally understood what Puppeteer"s head reconstruction surgery was all about. Although the name sounded intimidating, his head had always been there. In a way, the surgery was like tuning a channel they couldn"t see so the head"s image appeared on a channel they could see.
"Yes and no. For limbs, it"s like that, but organs are different," the male NPC replied as he took out a nail grooming kit and began filing his nails with a squeaky sound. "The first organ you exchange for will be your own. For example, if you lost a kidney," he said, flas.h.i.+ng a toothy, knowing smile at Lin Sanjiu, who hadn"t yet had a chance to tell him which organ she wanted. "The first kidney you take back is yours. But if you want another kidney, you"ll have to take someone else"s. So, when that person comes to exchange for a kidney, they won"t have their own to take back; they can only exchange it for someone else"s kidney."
Lin Sanjiu subconsciously nodded, then suddenly paused. "Then I definitely won"t be able to get my own kidney back."
The NPC looked at her as if to say, "Ah, you figured it out," then lowered his head and continued filing his nails.
Bohemia leaned over and asked, "Why?"
"It"s like a domino effect," Lin Sanjiu said impatiently to the NPC. "As long as the first person takes two kidneys, everyone else won"t be able to get their own kidneys back. Unless," she turned to Bohemia and explained, "you can exchange for your organ back as soon as it"s sold. Unfortunately, I can"t catch up with this s.h.i.+p."
As for whether that first person has appeared yet, it was a question that didn"t need to be asked at all. Just the Gamers Club group alone has used the organ monopoly method countless times to earn points.
Bohemia wiped her face hard, looking like a student who couldn"t keep up with the teacher"s lecture and asked, "Then... for the brain inside the skull, is it considered an organ or a limb? Huh, if it could be exchanged for a gentle brain, that doesn"t seem so bad."
"Making a big fuss," Lin Sanjiu thought, raising her eyes as the NPC answered, "Your uncle"s situation is special. His brain was taken away with his skull, so surgery can restore it to its original state. It"s different for your kidney," he made a clicking sound with his tongue, "Want to exchange for one?"
Could she not?
Thankfully, organ transplantation was a familiar concept, much easier to accept than someone else"s left hand. Lin Sanjiu paid the points and watched the NPC flip through a large book for a while.
"Um..." the sound lingered in his nose for a good two to three minutes.
"What"s wrong?" Lin Sanjiu held her breath and asked.
"Um..." The NPC sounded constipated, taking a long time to squeeze out half a sentence, "About the stock of kidneys..."
"There are none left?" Lin Sanjiu could never have expected this situation. "The hospital has run out of kidneys? They"ve all been exchanged?"
"It"s not that all of them have been exchanged," his tongue made a clicking sound, "There are still two left."
"Are they disabled?" Bohemia said, slapping the counter. "Deformed? Suffering from kidney disease?"
"Not that either," the male NPC said so fast that it could make someone anxious. "The thing is, they are a bit different from normal kidneys. One of them is a chicken kidney."
"A chicken kidney?!" Bohemia said, raising her voice by a few notches. "What is she supposed to do with it? Roast it?"
"Shouting at me won"t change anything. It was originally a posthuman"s kidney, which is why we accepted it. My guess is that he must have known about our system, so he used some protective measures. If anyone else took it, it would be a chicken kidney; only when he takes it does it become a human kidney."
The guess made sense but was of no use.
"What about the other one?" Lin Sanjiu hurriedly asked.
The male NPC hesitated for a few more seconds and said slowly, "We registered it as a kidney, but... in reality, it"s a ma.s.s of darkness."
It was probably taken in when the hospital was thrown into chaos by the Great Deluge. Lin Sanjiu raised her eyebrows, "A ma.s.s of darkness?"
"Yes, it was taken from someone"s body, and when it was taken out, it was also a kidney... or rather, it served as a kidney. Otherwise, we wouldn"t have accepted it." The NPC looked at the register, looking confused. "But somehow, after taking it out, it became a ma.s.s of darkness. I suppose that when you put it in your body, it should also function as a kidney... I suppose. I can only tell you this much. Will you exchange it?"
"Exchange your a.s.s!" Bohemia immediately rejected it. "Who knows what will happen after putting it in—"
"Exchange it," Lin Sanjiu said, feeling surprised herself as the words came out of her mouth. She pondered for a few seconds under Bohemia"s gaze, and the warm feeling of certainty in her heart became even clearer. "Exchange it now!"
She couldn"t even say why.
"It"s just to go against your mother," Bohemia said disapprovingly and unhappily, looking at the NPC as he took out a constantly moving ma.s.s of black shadow, which seemed to possess its own life, and wrinkled her face. "This thing looks like the concentrated essence of night and nightmares condensed!"
Indeed, she had memorized a lot of poems. She described the feeling that the ma.s.s of darkness gave them in an instant. It was like a deep, swirling black mist, coalescing and flowing, with the edge of the mist drifting gently, but it never dissipated. If you looked at the deep darkness for too long, you would even feel dizzy, as if you were about to be sucked into it.
"Are you ready?" the NPC asked, holding it up.
Lin Sanjiu was also a bit nervous.
[Keen Senses] was indeed sharp, but it wasn"t always right. She didn"t say a word and after the ma.s.s of darkness fused into her skin unimpeded, she quietly felt it for a while. Apart from her heart beating fast due to nervousness, she felt no other abnormal sensations in her body, which made her breathe a half sigh of relief.
Next, all they needed to do was for everyone to draw lots and get a target to complete the lava challenge. However, this was a significant matter—according to the NPC, some people could be discharged simply by cleaning the floor in front of the counter while others needed to acc.u.mulate 211 organ exchanges to be discharged. Considering her luck, Lin Sanjiu decided to wait until Puppeteer woke up and ask if he had any items that could improve luck before drawing lots.
As the group walked towards Puppeteer"s new patient room, they caught sight of Wus.h.i.+ Ming again from afar. Even from a distance, Lin Sanjiu could see how nervous he was; he squatted in a corner, constantly looking around, afraid of being watched. If she hadn"t spotted him early, he would have jumped up and run away long ago.
However, even though he was so nervous, he didn"t use any points to get a room. It was clear where he used the points: Wus.h.i.+ Ming was holding the Lava Wound Recovery Ointment in one hand and holding Wus.h.i.+ Fan"s head in the other, repeatedly applying the recovery ointment to the wound.
"Isn"t it useless?" Bohemia also stopped and watched from a distance.
Lin Sanjiu turned her head and didn"t want to look any longer, "Let"s go."