But how long had it been? It had been less than thirty hours!
"I already told you—it's only a test sample." Ai Yue shook his head without directly answering the question. "Where are the other patients?"
A single case was not enough to prove the medicine's reliability. Even if they were only collecting data, they still had to—
Spasi suddenly remembered that there were still many pale-blue medicines in the box in Ai Yue's hands. This dispelled the last trace of his doubt, but he still instinctively said, "Medicine that hasn't undergone animal testing can't..."
Before he could finish, he slapped himself, then walked ahead. "Come with me."
The Fifth Science Department's aboveground facility was less a hospital for treating Honkai Sickness patients than a place for providing end-of-life care and collecting experimental data. From the day the hospital was established until now, it had cured only one patient: Su.
Many scholars in the Fifth Science Department would mock themselves, saying that this place was actually a cemetery. They were supposedly doctors, yet all they could do was watch patients being sent here, obtain Honkai Sickness-related data from them, and remain completely unable to cure them. After the patients died, they even had to extract Honkai Sickness Antibodies from their corpses. They were practically a group of ghouls.
For these patients, even if the medicine in Ai Yue's hands could only give them a final flicker of life, extending their lives—which were already nearing the end—by a few insignificant days or even hours, that would still far surpass all the efforts the Fifth Science Department had ever made. Since that was the case, why should he continue obeying those outdated rules?
Special circumstances naturally called for special methods.
Ai Yue still had nineteen doses of medicine, so Spasi selected the nineteen patients in the most critical condition. Accompanied by more and more doctors who had come after hearing the news, all nineteen patients returned to normal after receiving the medicine.
"Everything has been arranged. Every patient will undergo a complete examination and a one-week observation period." Su knocked on the office door before entering. He looked at his teacher and Ai Yue. "But judging from the current results, the serum Doctor Ai Yue provided is essentially as effective as the serum originally used on me."
"There is still a difference." Ai Yue sat on the sofa without raising his head. "My medicine takes effect faster."
"So how exactly did you do it?" Su had now developed an emotion toward Ai Yue called fear. "To be honest, I really can't understand it."
When faced with things they could not understand, most people felt fear. That was exactly how Su felt now.
Before this, most of Su's understanding of Ai Yue had come from rumors on the internet and descriptions from his friends. Such information inevitably contained some inaccuracies, so Su had found it difficult to directly comprehend just how absurd Ai Yue's abilities were.
But today, he had experienced everything himself.
Could one person really complete, in a single day, a problem that the entire Fifth Science Department had spent nearly ten years failing to solve?
Su could not imagine what Ai Yue must be like in his own laboratory. But he knew very well that even designing the formula for a Honkai Sickness inhibitor would take him far longer than this.
And that did not even include the subsequent rounds of experimentation and refinement.
Su was already acknowledged as a genius by the entire Fifth Science Department. Spasi had even been willing to use on his behalf a dose of Honkai Sickness Serum made from the corpses of a thousand patients. Yet compared with Ai Yue, what did he amount to?
At that moment, Ai Yue's figure had already twisted and expanded in Su's eyes, transforming into some incomprehensible existence. Only something that surpassed the limits of human imagination could have done something like this.
Mobius's evaluation had been completely accurate. Ai Yue truly was someone who created miracles.
Su could not help looking toward his teacher.
Spasi seemed gentle and kindly, but was actually extremely stubborn at heart. He had immense confidence in his abilities and took great pride in his work, constantly striving for it. Even though he was now disabled and advanced in age, he still worked as hard as a young man, sometimes even enduring longer hours than Su.
Could someone like that accept having his lifelong efforts surpassed so easily by another person?
Yet contrary to Su's expectations, Spasi was smiling.
He did not look at Ai Yue or Su. Instead, he gazed out the window with a relieved smile.
It was as if Ai Yue's actions had not dealt him any blow at all. Instead, they had freed him from some shackles he had been unable to escape for a long time.
After a moment, Spasi gathered his scattered thoughts. He stood and bowed deeply to Ai Yue with a solemn expression. "Doctor Ai Yue, thank you."
"Hey, don't do that." Ai Yue scrambled up from the sofa and moved out of the way of the bow. "You're so old. I can't accept this."
"No, you can." Spasi did not straighten up. He maintained his bow. "Thank you for saving us from that hopeless, numb quagmire."
"Forget all that." Ai Yue waved his hand. "Now, can we talk about the condition we discussed earlier?"
"You won," Spasi said, straightening at last. "No matter what condition you propose, I'm willing to accept it."
A playful smile appeared on Ai Yue's face. "Even if I demand that the Fifth Science Department be disbanded?"
The Thirteenth Chapter: How Powerful Gravity Is
"Teacher, you really agreed?"
Even after Ai Yue had left, Su still had not fully recovered from his shock.
Ai Yue's condition of "disbanding the Fifth Science Department" was outrageous enough on its own. What was even more outrageous was that Spasi had agreed without much hesitation.
Su was suddenly at a loss. He had only joined the Fifth Science Department recently—how had their organization suddenly ended up on the verge of disbandment?
"Why not?" Spasi countered. "Su, you need to understand that eighty percent of the Fifth Science Department's projects are related to Honkai Sickness Serum. Now that artificially synthesized Honkai Sickness Serum has been developed, is there still any need for those projects?"
"If eighty percent of the Fifth Science Department's projects no longer exist, then naturally the department can be disbanded, can't it?"
"But as the world's foremost medical research institution, the Fifth Science Department isn't limited to researching Honkai Sickness Serum!" Su countered. "There are so many diseases in the world that need to be conquered. Shouldn't we solve them?"
"Su, you must understand that the Fifth Science Department is an affiliated organization of Moth to Fire." Spasi shook his head. "Since its establishment, Moth to Fire has had only one purpose: to completely eliminate the threat Honkai poses to humanity."
"What you mentioned is certainly important, but compared with Honkai, it is insignificant." Spasi lowered his head. On his desk lay the documents Ai Yue had left behind. "Besides, disbanding the Fifth Science Department isn't necessarily a bad thing."
As he spoke, he handed the documents to Su and gestured for him to open them.
"This..." Su skimmed through them, then looked at Spasi. "So it isn't really disbandment, but rather breaking the whole into parts?"
"Breaking the whole into parts. I like that description." Spasi smiled. "So, what do you think now?"
"I have to admit, this plan is excellent." Su opened and closed his mouth, then finally sighed. "I can't think of any problems with it."
Ai Yue's plan was simple. The birth of artificially synthesized Honkai Sickness Serum meant that producing this medicine was no longer restricted by the number of patient corpses available, greatly increasing production efficiency. Combined with the mass production of Honkai Energy Absorbers, ordinary patients could now be treated without being sent to the Fifth Science Department to await death.
Therefore, Ai Yue planned to establish hospitals dedicated to treating Honkai Sickness in major cities, launching a "counterattack" against Honkai Sickness.
Establishing hospitals naturally required experienced and skilled doctors. But where in the world could they find doctors with experience treating Honkai Sickness?
The answer was naturally the Fifth Science Department.
Thus, under Ai Yue's plan, apart from retaining a small number of researchers to continue studying projects such as reducing the production cost of Honkai Sickness Serum, all other personnel would be sent to hospitals across the world. That was why the plan was described as disbanding the Fifth Science Department.
Of course, this plan was not meant to be implemented starting today. Ai Yue had given the proposal to Spasi partly to express the message, "You decide what to do with it."
He had even left behind the detailed information on artificially synthesized Honkai Sickness Serum, clearly intending to stop involving himself in the matter.
From then on, whether Spasi chose to retain the Fifth Science Department, carry out Ai Yue's plan, or pursue some other idea, Ai Yue would not interfere.
It was as if he had come here for the sole purpose of helping them overcome their most difficult obstacle.
"Su, I've already made my decision." Spasi suddenly spoke. "The Fifth Science Department will retain one laboratory for continuing to research ways to optimize Honkai Sickness Serum. I'm putting you in charge of it."
"Teacher?" Su froze. He had never imagined that, having only recently joined the Fifth Science Department, he would be entrusted with such an important task. "What about you? Are you planning to retire?"
"Retire? Of course not." Spasi smiled and instinctively clenched his right hand. "Honkai took everything from me, so I'll fight it until the very end."
"I'll work on the front line at the hospital until I die."
Spasi's wife and daughter had both died of Honkai Sickness. When they fell ill, Spasi had been there. Because he had refused to let go of their hands even after they died, his left hand had also become infected, and he had ultimately been forced to save his life through amputation.
Although Spasi now used a bionic prosthetic limb, some resistance in his heart meant that he hardly ever used the arm.
Yet today, he worked hard to control the prosthetic limb and opened a drawer that had been sealed for a long time. From it, he took out a curved, flat liquor flask.
"Come have a drink with me, Su." Spasi raised the flask and smiled happily. "We might not get another chance after this."
"Teacher..." Su looked at Spasi, who seemed to have aged greatly, hesitated again and again, and finally spoke. "There's something I want to tell you."
"Two days ago, I met Doctor Mobius."
Ai Yue naturally had no idea what conversation had taken place between the teacher and student after he left. He had already returned to his room and only wanted to get a good night's sleep.
To complete the artificial serum research project as quickly as possible, Ai Yue had gone nearly thirty hours without sleep. Medical technology had always been his weak point, after all. If Prometheus had not obtained all the basic knowledge related to Honkai Sickness from Spasi's computer, he probably would not have been able to complete the project today.
Of course, artificially synthesizing Honkai Sickness Serum was not actually an especially difficult technology. After all, fifty thousand years in the future, a certain blond psychopath had completed the project through the knowledge left by his predecessors and his own efforts.
But compared with the version in Ai Yue's hands, even the "HSN-b64 Serum" was slightly inferior.
After all, Ai Yue's version only needed minor optimization before it could enter mass production. It was completely different from something that could not be produced without specific materials.
As he thought about this, Ai Yue could not help yawning.
This degree of exhaustion was nothing to him now, but as a lover of sleep, Ai Yue could not tolerate going so long without rest.
Before sleeping, however, he still made a phone call.
"Doctor Ai Yue?"
Sakura's slightly puzzled voice came from the other end. "You're calling me at this hour. Is there some mission?"
"No, the matters on my end are basically settled." Ai Yue got straight to the point. "When are we going to pick up your sister?"
The Thirteenth Chapter: How Powerful Gravity Is
For Ai Yue, Sakura's request was extremely important.
On one hand, Sakura was willing to entrust her most important family member to Ai Yue. This not only meant that she acknowledged Ai Yue's abilities, but also that she was willing to trust him enough to expose her greatest weakness before him.
On the other hand, Ling herself was also extremely special.
In the original storyline, she was the Twelfth Herrscher—in other words, the host of the Herrscher of Erosion. She looked no different from an ordinary person. Yet after Ling's death, the ultimate virus known as the Herrscher of Erosion would awaken, becoming the final straw that crushed human civilization.
If possible, Ai Yue naturally hoped to prevent such an ending. Even if protecting Ling could not prevent the emergence of the Twelfth Herrscher, it could at least change the tragedy these sisters had once suffered.
Therefore, he chose the safest plan available.
Early the next morning, Ai Yue was awakened by the doorbell. Rubbing his eyes, he came downstairs and saw Prometheus's projection float out while rubbing her own eyes. "Sakura is outside. Strange, why did she come to see you so early?"
"She's probably a little impatient." Ai Yue smiled, then looked at her strangely. "You don't feel tired or sleepy either, do you? Why are you rubbing your eyes?"
"This is one of the ways I'm learning to become human." Prometheus blinked. A soybean emoji rolling its eyes appeared above her head. "Humans do this, so I should do it too."
"So you didn't sleep well last night?" Ai Yue nodded thoughtfully. "Rose, I believe I told you not to play games too late."
Prometheus instantly withdrew the expression above her head, then nonchalantly turned and floated toward the laboratory. "I have work to do. Goodbye, Doctor Ai Yue."
I'm replacing her fiber-optic connection with a telephone line when I get back.
After mentally complaining about the gaming addict in his household, Ai Yue quickly opened the door. The fox-eared girl standing straight outside immediately reacted upon seeing his exhausted face. "I'm sorry, Doctor Ai Yue. I'll come back at noon."
Her mind had been filled with thoughts of her sister the previous night, and she had overlooked the fact that Ai Yue must have been exhausted too. Now she had disturbed his rest as well.
"No need. Come in and sit." Ai Yue, who had slept for nearly fifteen hours, waved his hand and invited Sakura inside. "I'll get ready and we can leave. Rose, entertain Sakura."
"Then... sorry for the trouble." Sakura hesitated before finally entering. She then looked at Prometheus, who had floated out again. "Um, that won't be necessary."
"What a shame. I wanted to try saying, 'Coffee or tea?'" Prometheus shrugged, then continued, "Miss Sakura, you came this time for your sister, didn't you?"
Sakura was not surprised that Prometheus knew about it. Even someone as unskilled with the internet as she was knew how powerful Prometheus was. As Ai Yue's only and most capable assistant, she had probably played a significant role in this matter.
"Yes." Sakura nodded, a gentle smile appearing on her face. "My sister, Ling, is a very adorable child."
As she spoke, Sakura took out the photograph she kept close to herself and handed it to Prometheus, as if she wanted the artificial intelligence to understand Ling's adorableness too.
"I'm sorry, Miss Sakura, but my current form is only a projection." A sweating soybean emoji appeared above Prometheus's head. "If you want to show me something, you'll need to place the photo here."
As she spoke, she pointed at her feet. Sakura lowered her head and discovered a mobile device resembling a robotic vacuum cleaner on the floor. It was the projector on top of it that was projecting Prometheus's image.
"Sorry, I forgot." Sakura nodded, then crouched and held the photograph before the camera. "Can you see it now?"
"I can, Miss Sakura." Prometheus nodded. "From a human perspective, this is indeed an adorable child."
Sakura smiled as well, as if she enjoyed hearing other people praise her sister.
"Then, Miss Sakura, may I ask you a question?" Prometheus waited until Sakura stood before continuing. "What does 'family' mean to you?"
"Hmm... If I have to explain it using Ling," Sakura said after thinking for a moment, "then family is my everything."
"Everything?" Prometheus repeated. "It seems Ling is truly very important to you, Miss Sakura."
"Ling and I fled from our hometown. Our father and mother both... stayed behind." Perhaps because she was speaking with an artificial intelligence, Sakura became somewhat more talkative. "Ling is all that remains of my family. The reason I joined Moth to Fire and joined 'Viper' was also so that Ling could live well. That is my responsibility as her older sister."
"If you lost your sister, then naturally you would no longer exist either, right?"
Prometheus's expression did not change at all, but a thoughtful soybean emoji appeared above her head. "Miss Sakura, your words are somewhat difficult to understand."
"Sorry. I'm not good with words." Sakura blushed slightly. "Please forget what I said. It wasn't anything important."
At that moment, Ai Yue finally came downstairs. "I'm ready. Let's go."
"Doctor Ai Yue, your 'getting ready' time has been reduced by another twenty seconds." A suspicious expression appeared above Prometheus's head. "Are you really taking proper care of yourself?"
"Men get ready this quickly when going out. Besides, someone is waiting for me today." Ai Yue waved his hand, unconcerned about such trivial matters. "Let's go, Sakura. Hua should be arriving soon."
"All right, Doctor Ai Yue." Sakura nodded, then looked at Prometheus. Although she already knew it was only a projection, she still instinctively looked into its eyes. "Then we'll be leaving."
"No need to say goodbye, Miss Sakura." Prometheus's projection vanished from the spot, but her voice came from Ai Yue's body instead. "I'll be going with you."
Sakura was slightly stunned, but said nothing.
Ai Yue, however, took out his phone.
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