MLiS – Chapter 14.4

For You, I’ll Live On

A memory flashed in her mind. She remembered she left an amber to Qian Xu here. She rose instantly and ran to the bedroom.

She searched high and low. Rummaging the cabinets. Checking every corner of the room. She searched even the clothes’ pockets. But, she found nothing.

Zi Yan heard the ruckus and came in, “What are you looking for? Need any help?”

Luo Lan was in a trance. She dazedly shook her head, “No need. He should have taken it with him when he left. There is no way to search for it now.”

Zi Yan thought of Qian Xu who didn’t even leave his bones after his death and stayed silent. 

Luo Lan showed the black box to Zi Yan, “I want to take this, a music player.”

“Okay. Anything else?”

Luo Lan shook her head but halted her movement. She remembered Da Xiong, “Where is Qian Xu’s robot?”

Zi Yan unlocked the door of the storage room. “Are you talking about this robot?”

“Yes!”

“For robots, usually, they will get formatted after their owner’s death. After reinstalling their programs, they will be given to a new owner, but this robot’s model is too old and probably will get destroyed directly.”

Luo Lan spoke in haste, “Can I pay to acquire this instead?”

“No need. This robot will be destroyed, anyway. If you want it, just take it. I’ll have someone send this to your house later.”

Zi Yan really helped her a lot this time, Luo Lan knew. Qian Xu was a retired soldier and legally, Luo Lan has no relation to him at all. For her to be able to own his robot, without Zi Yan’s help, it must have been difficult.

The two had walked out of the dormitory and were about to go separate ways, Zi Yan out of the blue said, “I heard you will have surgery tomorrow?”

“Mn, tomorrow morning.”

“Have a good rest.”

Luo Lan said nothing, she went on her way toward her car.

Chen Sha saw her.

He didn’t ask anything.

His gaze swept to the black box that was being held tightly in Luo Lan’s arms and he started the car wordlessly. 

————·————·————

After returning home, Luo Lan wished to rest early, but she kept tossing and couldn’t bring herself to sleep.

She was aware she had to be in her best condition tomorrow, but the more anxious she was, the more she couldn’t sleep.

She had drunk a cup of Youlan Youlu, but because she had reached level A, the sedative effect of Youlan Youlu no longer affected her. 

There was a knock on the door, “Are you asleep?”

It was Chen Sha.

Luo Lan got up and opened the door. “No.”

Chen Sha handed her a drink that was similar to Youlan Youlu, “Try this, it will help.”

“This is…”

“Youlan Youbi^[1], upgraded version of Youlan Youlu. Specially made for those with level A physical ability. The relaxation effect is very good.”

Luo Lan stared at it, she believed the person who formulated this drink was unmistakably a genetic freak.

She drank it all in one gulp, “Thank you!”

Chen Sha collected the empty cup and prepared to leave.

Luo Lan abruptly called out to him, “Chen Sha!”

Chen Sha turned back, watching her with suspicion. 

Luo Lan said, “Thank you.”

Chen Sha dropped his gaze. He hummed, “Rest well.”

————·————·————

Come morning, Luo Lan had her breakfast and went to the hospital. An Na was already waiting outside for her.

An Na informed her about the patient’s latest situation and led Luo Lan to the disinfection room. 

Luo Lan undressed and walked into the disinfection room. She silently recited Zeni’s medical records in her mind.

Across the glass wall, Feng Lin, who was also undergoing full-body disinfection, said: “Before the surgery, we should make full preparations and not let go of any details, but now, instead of thinking about it, just relax!”

“It’s easy for you to say that! I don’t believe you weren’t nervous the first time you did surgery!”

Feng Lin laughed. She urged Luo Lan to spill the beans, “Is the injury from your physical ability promotion related to Zi Yan? Was he the one that injured you?

“Chu Mo told you that?”

“With Chu Mo’s attitude, he prefers to hide everything in his heart, he won’t talk about these things! It’s Zi Yan. He personally came to me and begged me to think of a way to cheer you up by any possible means. It’s a rare occasion for him to beg others for help. And as a good friend, I cordially extorted some things from him. You don’t mind, right?”

“I don’t.”

Both were done with their disinfection. They accepted the surgical gown handed over by the robot. 

Feng Lin grinned while putting on her clothes, “I was planning to ask you to come back to work, but he got to me first. He requested me to call you back here, I pretended to consider it. That evildoer must have noticed that I was only putting up an act, but he still played along and could only let me extort things from him. Ahh~ It’s so refreshing to vent out my grievances on him! Hahaha!”

The two were done putting on their surgical gowns and walked out of the glass compartment.

Feng Lin gestured to Luo Lan and motioned her to spin around so she could check her.

She inspected up and down and carefully stretched out her hand to adjust Luo Lan’s sleeve. “It’s normal to get injured in the physical ability promotion. It may be painful, but at least you successfully advanced to level A. You can also use this to blackmail Zi Yan and extort things from him, don’t be shy about it一”

Luo Lan interrupted in a soft voice, “Qian Xu is dead.”

Feng Lin froze.

Luo Lan stepped back, facing the mirror. She pulled up her hair and tied it, preparing to wear the surgical mask. 

Feng Lin was worried about her, “Are you… Okay?”

“I’m not!” Luo Lan forced out a smile at Feng Lin through the mirror. “But, it won’t affect my work! On the contrary, I will work even harder!”

With Luo Lan like this, Feng Lin was left with no words. She could only accompany and support her to do her best. 

She put on a surgical mask and studied the two people in the mirror. It looked like they were wearing special armor and were about to fight the Grim Reaper on a special battlefield. She stated heroically, “Let’s go! The surgery time is near! ”

————·————·————

The two stepped out of the disinfection room one after another and marched towards the operating room.

In the silent sterile hallway, only their firm footsteps could be heard.

From behind, there was a loud noise. Someone shouted anxiously, “This is a restricted area, no entry is allowed!”

Feng Lin and Luo Lan turned their heads when they heard the sound and saw that the hospital staff were facing off with a team of armed police. They obviously couldn’t stop them.

Feng Lin was blazing with anger, “What are you doing? Don’t you know this is the operating area?!”

Zong Li, who was wearing a police uniform, came to them silently like a poisonous snake spitting venom from its mouth, “Duke Feng Lin, there is some evidence that showed you may have betrayed the Federation and has sold confidential information to outsiders. Please follow me back for investigation.”

Feng Lin scoffed, “Ridiculous! I have an important surgery soon. I must do it no matter the reasons! Wait until I finish the surgery!” 

Feng Lin ignored him and set to leave.

Zong Li pointed a gun at her, “I hope you cooperate and don’t make me use force to forcibly arrest you!”

Feng Lin faced him. She pointed in the direction of the operating room. She shouted angrily, “There is a human life waiting to be saved there! Is your investigation so important it can’t wait?!”

Zong Li was firm with his stances. He replied coldly, “My investigation is related to thousands of lives in the Federation.”

He gestured and four policemen rushed over to surround Feng Lin.

Feng Lin was shaking with anger. She pulled down her surgical mask and said menacingly, “Zong Li, your evidence had better be convincing, because if not, I will write a letter of complaint about your abuse of power!”

Zong Li smiled darkly, “I am only enforcing the law! Everyone is welcome to supervise our law enforcement and you are welcome to complain about us later! Take her away! ”

Four policemen escorted Feng Lin out.

Luo Lan chased after them but was blocked by other policemen. Luo Lan questioned anxiously, “Feng Lin, what about Zeni?”

Feng Lin answered dejectedly, “We can only cancel the surgery for now.”

“But Zeni can’t wait any longer!”

Feng Lin turned around sadly and followed the police away. 

Luo Lan was very anxious. Zeni needed this surgery. She contacted Chen Sha and begged, “Can you tell Zong Li to let Feng Li go?”

Chen Sha was confused. “Isn’t Feng Lin with you?”

“Zong Li just took Feng Lin away. He said she is a traitor.”

Chen Sha roughly guessed the ins and outs of the matter, “Zong Li and I are in different departments. It is impossible for me to command him to do anything. Moreover, if it involves a felony of treason, for Feng Lin’s own good, she’d better cooperate with the investigation.”

“Oh… So that’s how it is…”

Then, she must find another way. Luo Lan didn’t even bother to say goodbye and directly cut off the communication,

Luo Lan sped to the operating room. The others had been informed of the cancellation of the operation and were arguing with each other, at a loss.

“Is it not possible to search for other gene repairers?

“Are you in your right mind? Do you think we can find another gene repairer at will? This is the most complex and difficult gene repair surgery! Other gene repairers don’t understand Zeni’s condition at all. How can they perform the surgery?”

“But Zeni really can’t wait any longer…”

As Feng Lin’s chief assistant, with great authority, An Na interrupted everyone’s argument and stated rationally, “The surgery is canceled and the patient will be sent back to the ward. We all have tried our best!”

No! Not yet! She hasn’t tried her best! Luo Lan swiftly expressed, “An Na, I can do the surgery for Zeni.”

“You don’t have a license as a gene repairer. You can’t do the surgery on your own. ”

“You can find a licensed gene repairer to supervise me in the operating room. You don’t need them to do it, let me.”

“It’s not as simple as you think! Nobody will be willing to supervise you!”

Luo Lan was bitter, “I understand you are afraid that the surgery will fail, but if there is no surgery done to Zeni, he will still die! So why not give it a try?”

“If the surgery is successful, the other party will not get any benefits; but if it fails, the other party will definitely have to be subjected to due diligence, it will become a stain on their career and their license may be revoked. They will lose everything. Not only that… In the eyes of many gene repairers, Zeni’s disease… There is no need for him to do the surgery at all.”

“Then don’t find anyone. I’ll do the surgery on Zeni by myself!”

“It’s illegal!”

Luo Lan was burning with a frenzy of rage, “Not allowed to do this, not allowed to do that! Could it be that you want me to watch Zeni die just like that?!”

An Na was as calm as ever, “We are merely ordinary people with limited ability. It is impossible to save every patient.”

Luo Lan was silent.

An Na instructed everyone to pack up the equipment and prepare to push Zeni out of the operating room.

Luo Lan blocked them. “Following the rules, because  Feng Lin is not here, I am the person in charge. The surgery will proceed as normal. Please take your positions.”

An Na said, “Do you want to ruin yourself? Zeni is still alive now. If the surgery is unsuccessful, you will be a murderer!”

Luo Lan was firm. She stared straight at An Na. “I know what I’m doing. I’m going to do this surgery!”

“No one dares to cooperate with you!”

Everyone looked at Luo Lan apologetically.

Luo Lan begged, “Save Zeni! I can write down a written statement in advance, and I will bear any consequences alone!””

An Na answered earnestly, “It’s not that we don’t want to save him, but everything we do, we must still follow the rules and regulations!”

Others echoed, “Yeah, that’s right!”

In the face of everyone’s unified opinions, Luo Lan’s own persistence seemed very feeble.

Chen Sha’s voice came out of nowhere, “If it doesn’t violate the rules and regulations, are you willing to cooperate with Dr. Luo Xun for the surgery?”

Luo Lan spun her head in surprise and saw Chen Sha standing straight as a ramrod in the observation room in his military uniform, overlooking them from the glass window above. 

Even if someone didn’t know him, they could guess his identity by the epaulets on his uniform.

Everyone halted their movement and saluted, “Commander!”

Chen Sha affirmed, “This is an affiliated hospital of a military base. You should all be soldiers, right? ”

“Yes!”

“Soldiers must obey commands unconditionally.”

“Yes!”

“Now I command you, perform the surgery. Any consequences, I will bear it.”

“Yes!”

Chen Sha has an awe-inspiring reputation and was well-known, there was no one who would doubt him. Without questioning his command, they went back to their position silently. They resumed preparing for the surgery. They checked Zeni’s data in an orderly manner, “The marker^[2] in the linkage^[3] is stable. The pseudogenes^[4] are stable…”

Luo Lan was gawking at Chen Sha foolishly. Chen Sha reprimanded her coldly, “Am I your patient?”

Luo Lan snapped back to her senses and shifted her attention to Zeni. 

“All data of the patient are stable,” An Na reported

Luo Lan took a deep breath. She moved to the huge surgical equipment and operated the equipment, “Commence the surgery!”

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Footnotes

1. 幽蓝幽碧 – yōulán yōubì, Deep Blue Deep Bluish-Green/Azure. A sedative drink for level A. I made a mistake, I said Youlan Youlu is for level A, it is actually for people with level below A.↵

2. 标记 – biāo jì. Marker. A detectable genetic trait or segment of DNA that can be identified and tracked.↵

3. 连锁 – lián suǒ. Linkage. Linkage is the genes or segments of DNA that are closely positioned along a chromosome to segregate together, and therefore be inherited. Genes that tend to be transmitted together are said to be linked to each other.↵

4. 假基因 – jiǎ jī yīn. Pseudogenes. A DNA sequence that resembles a gene but has been mutated into an inactive form over the course of evolution. Pseudogenes are nonfunctional segments of DNA that resemble functional genes.↵

Amoeba’s Corner

Mn. Good Zi Ya. Good Chen Sha. You get my stamp of approval.

This chapter marks the end of the daily update! 

We are back to the usual 2 Chapters per week! 

At minimum but finger-crossed. You know I’m not one to be trusted.

See you on Sunday!

————·————·————

Sneak-a-Peek

All of sudden, the door to the observation room opened and Zi Yan casually strolled in. His gaze fell on Chen Sha before it stopped at Chu Mo. He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes, “Oh, turns out both of you are still alive! How surprising! Nobody stopped that woman from going mad so I thought both of you were already dead!”

Obligatory Closing
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