Surgery Successful

"If you show any resistance to the research, my friend will quickly eliminate you."

Upon signing the agreement before him, the paper immediately turned into black smoke and dissipated. Yu Jing was being observed by an unknown, extremely terrifying entity that was lurking somewhere nearby, a creature that had instantly killed more than ten Men in Black in the forest earlier. This feeling was exactly the same as when that unknown entity had been watching him.

"There are still two months until school starts. I advise you to put aside the matters you're concerned about during this time. The success rate for Kajimo virus clearance surgery is not 100% in any hospital worldwide. If there are any accidents, I hope you'll be mentally prepared and it won't affect your admission process... In my opinion, your mother must really want you to attend the Ability Institute, right?"

The supervisor's words touched Yu Jing to some extent.

"What about now?" Yu Jing asked.

"You can leave. The money in your bank card should be enough for you to go home. Then, settle your affairs as soon as possible."

As the supervisor finished speaking, the same bronze door as before opened on one side of the white room. Simultaneously, Yu Jing's identification, which he had submitted when he first entered for testing, along with his phone and wallet that were confiscated, automatically rose from the white tabletop.

"Your contact information?" Yu Jing took back his phone, intending to save the supervisor's number.

"You don't need to contact me. I will contact you if necessary."

Yu Jing nodded, put away the admission notice and bank card, and got up to leave. However, just as he was about to exit the bronze door, he slowly stopped and softly asked, "Aren't you afraid I'll leak the information, either accidentally or intentionally?"

The supervisor immediately replied, "Intentionally? I don't think you're foolish. As for 'accidentally,' with your abilities, you could have passed the Research Institute's test. Given your personality, which dislikes interacting with people, and your guardedness towards strangers, coupled with your intentional performance during the test, I'm not afraid of such an 'accident' happening."

"Of course, if anyone targets you, I'll help you resolve it secretly. See you at school. Relax and get yourself together."

Yu Jing didn't respond. He pulled up the hood of his hoodie, the brim obscuring nearly half his face, and walked out of the research institute's corridor with his hands in his pockets.

Returning to the streets of the A-Class city, despite the many unbelievable things that had happened, Yu Jing simply stood by the roadside in the pre-dawn darkness, tears streaming down his face from beneath the brim of his hat.

It wasn't fear of death or corpses from experiencing so many inhuman events. It was a sense of guilt stemming from the fact that Jiang Tian, who had been with him, couldn't survive even until the end of the test.

"In any case, you want to go home, right? Consider your mother's surgery and then sort out your thoughts."

After all, Yu Jing had been away from home for a full day. Although his mother could cook for herself at home, it was best to have someone by her side. As soon as Yu Jing turned on his phone, an unknown call immediately came through.

He found it hard to imagine who would call him at this hour of the morning.

When the call was connected, a hurried female voice came through, "Hello, is this Mr. Yu Jing?"

"Yes."

"Your mother is in the emergency department of Central Hospital. She requires immediate surgery for the 'Kajimo' virus clearance. National medical experts have completed their consultation and require immediate surgery, which needs a relative's signature for confirmation. We can only contact you at the moment, so please come to the hospital as soon as possible."

"...Okay!" Yu Jing, stunned for half the night, immediately nodded in agreement.

Yu Jing quickly hailed a taxi by the roadside. The driver, seeing Yu Jing's attire, gave him a look of disdain.

"To Central Hospital."

"Do you have money? People wandering around here in the middle of the night, and judging by your clothes, you don't look like you're from the city," the driver asked.

Yu Jing directly took out his bank card and swiped it on the taxi's payment terminal, paying two hundred yuan upfront. A night ride to Central Hospital would normally cost at most thirty yuan. The two hundred yuan made the driver's eyes widen, and a look of excitement appeared on his face.

"Get me there as fast as possible."

"No problem, boss!"

Sitting in the speeding taxi, Yu Jing pondered why his mother was undergoing treatment at the hospital. It was impossible for the research institute's supervisor to have arranged this, as their agreement had just been made, and his mother must have been admitted to the hospital several hours ago.

Central Hospital in the A-Class city was the highest-authority medical institution in District 19. Yu Jing had no time to admire the hospital's massive scale. He entered through the emergency department and, after stating his mother's name, was led by a nurse to the door of a private operating room on the top floor.

"What's the success rate?" Yu Jing asked urgently.

"According to the expert consultation, the success rate is as high as eighty percent. You only need to sign your name in the family consent section for the surgery. The chief surgeon is already in position and ready to begin at any moment."

"Eighty percent?! That high!" According to Yu Jing's previous inquiries, the chance of the surgery's success was no more than thirty percent.

Yu Jing signed without hesitation, and the surgery began immediately. His mother, lying on the gurney, was under anesthesia. The doctors who accompanied her exuded a distinct aura, seeming somewhat different from ordinary people.

Waiting outside the operating room, Yu Jing had no intention of sleeping. He walked to the nurses' station to ask some questions that were on his mind:

"May I ask who sent my mother here?"

"We're not entirely sure. Our hospital received a phone call requesting us to pick up an active Kajimo virus infected person from Pingxiang County. The caller paid us thirty million yuan, requesting the highest medical facilities for the surgery and for a renowned surgeon from the central region to perform it personally."

Yu Jing was stunned into silence for a long time by the nurse's answer.

He couldn't understand who would be willing to fund his thirty million yuan medical expenses and invite experts to perform the surgery.

"Did they leave a name?" Yu Jing asked.

"On the phone, they only left a surname, a Mr. Yu."

"Yu?"

Yu Jing's name was pronounced similarly. Suddenly, a man's figure flashed through his mind, but the nurse eventually wrote down the character '余' (Yú). Yu Jing, with his quick reflexes, immediately thought of someone – Yu Xiaoxiao.

"Could it be her? Yu Xiaoxiao wasn't among the other five bodies in the truck. She should have been the original candidate to pass the test. Why would she help me? Was it just because I helped her with food before the test, or because I looked like a good person?"

Yu Jing leaned against the corridor outside the operating room. Although a large amount of unprocessed information was accumulating in his mind, the continuous life-and-death experiences and pushing his physical limits over the past few hours erupted at this moment. Yu Jing slumped his head and fell into a deep sleep in the corridor.

After an unknown amount of time had passed, sunlight began to shine directly through the window on one side of the corridor, illuminating Yu Jing's right arm. A green object beneath his skin began to wriggle on its own.

Yu Jing slowly opened his groggy eyes and found a hospital blanket draped over his body, clearly a kind gesture from a nurse. However, the warmth from his right hand, where the sunlight was shining, felt intense. He could even see a green object on the back of his hand, pulsing in the sunlight, clearly absorbing light energy into his body.

"Photosynthesis."

Just then, the operating room door, which had been tightly shut, opened. His mother, with an IV drip hanging, was pushed out from inside. Yu Jing immediately covered the back of his right hand with his left hand, blocking the sunlight and stopping the green plant from photosynthesizing.

"Congratulations, the surgery was a great success. Dr. Liao has a few things he'd like to ask you."

The nurse walking beside Yu Jing congratulated him and then pointed to the lead surgeon for the operation.

"Dr. Liao, thank you so much!"

As Yu Jing extended his hand, the other person showed no intention of reciprocating the handshake.

Slowly removing the mask from his face, he looked at the incredibly ordinary-looking young man before him and asked, "How do you know the Yu family?"

"The Yu family?" Yu Jing didn't quite understand.

"It seems you really don't know. You must have interacted with someone by chance. You're truly blessed from your past life. This Kajimo virus eradication surgery, which even I'm not confident about, could ruin my entire career if it fails. Based on my research, this virus is hereditary. If you fall ill again, don't come looking for me."

This doctor, who had come from the central region, didn't give Yu Jing much thought. After saying that, he quickly left the hospital.

Yu Jing had long since experienced the disdain that came with his background and birth. Naturally, he didn't take it to heart. After all, the man had saved his mother's life, and Yu Jing was still filled with gratitude.

Upon arriving at the private room, his mother had already opened her eyes but appeared weak all over. The nurse had also advised them that she should avoid speaking for the first day.

Through some simple conversation, Yu Jing reassured his mother that he hadn't resorted to any improper means to raise the surgery fee, urging her to rest and recover with peace of mind.

To further ease his mother's worries, Yu Jing took out the admission notice he had received from the hospital supervisor.

"I'll report to the Dihua Ability Institute in Central District 1 in September."

Looking at the admission notice in her son's hand, his mother, lying in bed, was overjoyed to tears. As a mother, she naturally understood her son's thoughts. Yu Jing had been reluctant to attend the Ability Institute because he wanted to work and earn money. Now that her illness was treated and her son would be attending the Ability Institute, she, as a simple countrywoman, was completely content.

After ensuring his mother was settled and resting, Yu Jing walked to the window of the private room. From the highest floor of the Central Hospital, he gazed at the prosperous panorama of the entire A-Class City, District 19, feeling a subtle shift within him.

Sunlight streamed through the glass, falling upon his body. Photosynthesis was occurring intensely along his entire right arm.

"Now it's time for me to fulfill my promise. Dihua Ability Institute? An academy located in Central District 1. I wonder what kind of ability institute it will be. Many secrets will likely be revealed there."

--End of Volume 1: Death Test--