Chapter Ch160.1 - Consciousness
translator: xiin
editors: apricot & juurensha
Beneath the Floating Base tower.
Wei Shi had only just opened the door to the mansion.
He removed his coat and went to the bedroom. He looked down at his terminal and waited for the heat to dissipate the chill from outside.
Wu Jin had already been sleeping for 14 hours straight.
Only a faint orange lamp was on in the bedroom. The light gently licked along the side of Wu Jin’s face and coated the small curls with a soft glow.
Wu Jin’s breathing was light and shallow, the rhythm even. He was well-behaved in his sleep, keeping to the edge of the big bed.
Wei She approached. The fingers covered in gun calluses rubbed over the soft, small round face, “Get up first. Drink a bowl of porridge before going back to sleep.”
Wu Jin was immersed in a deep sleep and wasn’t aware of him at all.
Wei Shi dropped a punishing kiss on the beautiful sleeping trainee’s slightly parted lips. Wu Jin struggled briefly, then slowly opened his eyes. He looked at Wei Shi for a few seconds and finally seemed to respond, “What porridge, are there wraps…”
Wei Shi: “Sit up, I’ll bring it over.”
Wu Jin finally sat up and yawned widely. While waiting for Wei Shi to return to the bedroom, he threw himself back into the quilt.
“Get up, eat first.” Wei Shi pulled the youth back out again, but Wu Jin’s eyes were closed, and there was no response.
Wei Shi paused.
In the dim light, the man quickly measured Wu Jin’s pulse. The beat was a little sluggish, so he pulled back Wu Jin’s eyelids to take a look. The youth’s pupils were circled with an abnormal ring of grey.
It was at this time that his terminal vibrated.
Researcher Song’s expression was heavy, “Brother Wei, Little Witch’s blood sample… there’s a problem with the results. Are you able to wake him up?”
Wei Shi’s expression changed abruptly.
10 minutes later, Wei Shi rushed into the tower ward with Wu Jin in his arms. The six doctors on duty came forward quickly, followed by Zhou Nan, who’d just arrived by suspension car. All the blood infusion devices had been started up at the same time and were now on standby.
“Brother Wei.” Zhou Nan took over Wu Jin and quickly prepared the tape, tubing, and pliers, “Hand them over to me. Prepare for hemodialysis immediately.”
Wei Shi’s eyes were bloodshot. Other than Zhou Nan, n.o.body else dared to come forward and talk to him.
Zhou Nan sighed.
In the corridor, Researcher Song held the test results in his hands. His palms were wet with sweat from the tension.
“Just now, the detection equipment gave an early warning on the blood sample data.”
“We gave Little Witch two tests, each four hours apart. When comparing the samples, it appears that blood ammonia increased, and blood oxygen has decreased rapidly. A preliminary speculation is that there was a poisoning effect caused by the excessive use of sedatives.”
“In the past 24 hours, Little Witch was given two injections. A N-type memory agent and a large amount of MHCC. Little Witch is resistant to both drugs, but––” Researcher Song took a deep breath, “The combination of the two drugs conflict with each other.”
Inside the ward, the dialysis machine chirped, and the power was turned up to the maximum.
Wei Shi suddenly moved his line of sight away from Wu Jin’s body. His voice was hoa.r.s.e, “It was only just discovered?”
Researcher Song explained, “There is no ingredient list for N-type memory drugs in Floating City, and present, we don’t know what caused the poisoning, which is why there wasn’t an advance––”
Wei Shi cut straight to the point, “Other than the ingredients, what else is needed.”
Researcher Song looked steadily into Wei Shi’s eyes, “Shao Yu’s specific drug dosage and the time of the injection.”
Steps sounded out quickly along the corridor. Mao Dongqing followed behind Wei Shi and quickly departed. Shao Yu’s screams soon rang out from the bottom of the Floating Tower.
On the other side, the d.u.c.h.ess in the video call tried to argue but finally handed over the prescription to Wei Shi after being threatened with the chip.
The research team received the formula.
The virtual intelligence AI calculated at its maximum speed, and Researcher Song was sweating constantly. The dialysis results were not ideal, and Zhou Nan urged for more data for the fourth time.
Wei Shi stepped into the dungeon in a domineering manner.
Mao Dongqing’s expression was heavy, “Shao Yu’s emotional lock has broken down, and he can’t provide any valuable clues despite the interrogation…”
Wei Shi interrupted him indifferently, “Use his iris, fingerprints, and genetic sequence. Obtain all the rights for surveillance access for the star ship to the Imperial capital and the Duke’s manor.”
Arjun jumped up abruptly, “Right, I didn’t think of it––”
A quarter of an hour later, Arjun quickly called over the terminal, “The surveillance videos are here! The N-type memory drug was injected at 3:35AM, standard time zone, and the MHCC drug was injected at 14:00PM––”
Researcher Song looked at the data that finally fit together and beamed, “Quick, send it to Dr. Zhou. The conflicting component is an adrenergic beta blocker, which can block emotions, memories, and cognition for the injected person…”
On the hospital bed.
After undergoing dialysis for nearly 40 minutes, Wu Jin, who’d barely improved at all, was finally injected with anti-blocking drugs.
Wei Shi’s eyebrows twisted as he watched the thick needle enter Wu Jin’s back.
Zhou Nan breathed a sigh of relief.
The blood oxygen levels finally started to rise.
The monitor lights turned from red to orange, and someone braved the tension to look over at Wu Jin’s bed. The invisible death G.o.d who’d hovered in the ward had finally left.
Two doctors remained on duty to oversee the ward. Zhou Nan nodded to Wei Shi, then stepped out to talk to Researcher Song. At this moment, both their backs were wet with sweat.
Before going out, Zhou Nan saw Wei Shi sitting down on the metal chair. He bent down slowly, and his forehead touched the back of the youth’s cold hands.
It was like a sinner confessing in church.
Wu Jin slept quietly on the hospital bed.
Wei Shi measured his pulse, matching his breathing with the youth’s.
The door closed gently.
The lighting in the corridor was harsh and white. Outside the ward, Zhou Nan frowned, “It’s been almost 36 hours since Brother Wei rested.”
Researcher Song walked quietly to the terrace and lit up a cigarette, “Same for Little Witch.”
Zhou Nan was stunned.
After smoking, Researcher Song sorted out all the information on the case and showed Zhou Nan the brain wave chart, “You started in medical sciences. When you look at this, you first filter out the noise, then read the beta waves, the morphine levels in the brain, and the sleep waves.”
“I’m different. I majored in biological science. When I entered the R-Code Base as a researcher, my first lesson was in the stress responses of brain waves when drugged.”
Researcher Song pointed to two peaks in the chart, “Little Witch is resistant to N-type memory drugs. However, drug resistance is something that exists in the immune system, not the mind. The consciousness itself is more fragile than the nerve centers that are the carriers.”
“Little Witch never slept; he was just caught up by nightmares. I didn’t discover it before, partly because Little Witch didn’t tell Brother Wei about it.”
Zhou Nan: “What kind of dream is he having?”
Researcher Song: “What kind of dream could it be? It’s probably about the R-Code Base. That tube of injections should have brought back all of his lost memories. Compared with having this kind of dream, it’s better to stay awake.”
The windows in the laboratory were slightly open. The night breeze swirled around them.
The two of them leaned lazily against the window sill. Zhou Nan took a cigarette from Researcher Song and slowly breathed out a smoke ring, “Not going back to sleep?”
Researcher Song shook his head, “Yeah, I’ll stay awake overnight. Isn’t it the Autumn Festival tomorrow?”
Zhou Nan nodded and squinted at him, “What made you apply to the R-Code Base back then?”
Researcher Song spread his hands, “I didn’t go to the base; I was a member of the technical staff. I wasn’t directly under the R-Code Base and was affiliated to the Federal Research Inst.i.tute. At the time, I had just graduated and had written a few popular articles. The annual salary that R-Code offered me was the highest, so I went there.”
Zhou Nan: “Yo, then how did you switch sides and end up here.”
Researcher Song sighed emotionally, “Brother Wei hacked the entire scientific research building and smashed in through the window. The gla.s.s scattered all over the ground, and I was just wondering about who this bada.s.s guy was when he held me at knifepoint and forced me to come to Floating City the very next second. How could I dare not come?!”
“Only after coming here with him did I learn that the research topic that I was given, the ‘simulated fit genetic modification program’, wasn’t used on death penalty criminals at all. After that, I treated more of the genetically modified people, and didn’t want to go back anymore. I’ve been with Brother Wei and stayed in the city for six years now.”
“Now, I’ve moved my old man over to live with me too. He’s in his late 70’s, almost 80. He wears a superman mask and buys vegetables outside every day, and things are good. Other than how Floating City owes me a girlfriend, I don’t have regrets about anything else.”
Researcher Song dusted off his cigarette, “In those years in the Federation, all the projects I handled actually threatened human life. As for me now, I’ve harmed others with my research, so I’m now researching as atonement.”
Zhou Nan kicked him, “Screw you. You wear a plaid shirt and white coat every day. Even if they start distributing girlfriends, you should let me go first. How could it be your turn?”
Outside the window, the sun rose slowly from the mist.
On the day of the Autumn Festival, the city woke up earlier than usual.
A large, large batch of tourists poured in from the Star Harbor, and another batch of 50,000 imported flamingos arrived and ran around the city. It seemed that the Tourism Bureau planned to continue long-term breeding of these birds.
According to custom, the Autumn Festival fair would only start at noon, but it was already crowded early in the morning.
Two kilometers away from the Floating Military Base, a group of construction workers were in full swing at a certain weapon armory. The logo on their coats proclaimed them to be staff from a ‘certain wedding planning company’.
The company’s unnamed planning manager revealed that this was the most wonderful proposal order he’d ever received, bar none.
Floating Base hospital ward.
The fresh morning breeze was drawn in through the window. After just one night, Wei Shi was already able to read the monitoring panel for the equipment, change the drip, and find the blood vessels.
According to the attending doctor, the hand that had held guns before was more accurate than the medical instruments.
Wu Jin lay there quietly, curled up on the bed with his eyes closed.
Wei Shi read a book nearby, and there was an occasional rustling sound.
“Brother Wei still hasn’t slept?” Someone asked in a quiet voice from outside the door.
“He should be waiting for Mr Wu to wake up.”
The sun rose slowly.
Wei Shi opened up a video tutorial and was very serious as he learned how to ma.s.sage a bedridden patient’s entire body.
Then, he dismissed all the medical staff and pinched the rabbit for half an hour.