Successful Surgery

"Once you show any resistance to the research, my friend will wipe you out completely."

The moment the agreement in front of him was signed, the paper immediately turned into a wisp of black smoke and vanished. Yu Jing felt as though some unknown creature lurking here—a terrifying entity hiding somewhere and watching him—was observing him. It was exactly the same feeling he had when he was watched by the unknown being that had instantly killed more than a dozen Men in Black in the woods.

"There are still two months before school starts. I advise you to use this time to put aside as much as possible whatever you're worried about. No hospital anywhere in the world can guarantee a hundred percent success in removing the visible Kajimo virus. If anything goes wrong, I hope you'll be mentally prepared and won't let it affect your subsequent admission process... In my opinion, your mother really wants you to attend the Ability Institute, doesn't she?"

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

"What now?" Yu Jing asked.

"You can leave. There should be enough money on your bank card for you to get home. Then settle everything around you as soon as possible."

As the supervisor finished speaking, the same bronze door as before opened on one side of the white room. At the same time, the identification documents Yu Jing had handed over when he first entered the testing facility, along with the phone and wallet that had later been confiscated, rose automatically from the white table in front of him.

"Your contact information?" Yu Jing retrieved his phone and intended to save the supervisor's number.

"You don't need to contact me. If necessary, I'll contact you."

Yu Jing nodded, took the admission notice and bank card, put them away, and rose to leave. However, just before walking through the bronze door, he slowly stopped and asked softly, "Aren't you afraid that I might accidentally—or deliberately—leak the information?"

The supervisor immediately replied, "Deliberately? I don't think you're an idiot. As for 'accidentally,' with your abilities, you could have passed the Institute's test. Given that you don't like interacting with people and are even wary of strangers to a certain extent, combined with your deliberate performance during the test, I'm not worried that this kind of 'accident' will occur."

"Of course, if someone targets you, I'll deal with it in secret. See you when school starts. Relax and get yourself in order."

Yu Jing did not respond. He put the hood of his sweatshirt over his head, shadowing nearly half his face, shoved both hands into his pockets, and left the Institute through its passageway.

After returning to the streets of the A-Class City district, although many unbelievable things had happened, Yu Jing merely stood by the roadside beneath the predawn darkness, two tearful trails visible beneath the brim of his hood.

It was not because he was afraid of the inhuman things he had experienced, or because he feared death and corpses. It was because, even at the very end of the test, he had still failed to keep Jiang Tian, who had accompanied him, alive. A deep sense of guilt welled up from within him.

"In any case, I should go home. After considering my mother's surgery, I can slowly sort out my thoughts."

After all, Yu Jing had been away from home for an entire day. Although his mother could cook for herself, it would be best if someone stayed by her side. Just as Yu Jing switched on his phone, an unknown number immediately called him.

It was hard to imagine who would call him at this hour of the night.

When he answered, a woman's hurried voice came from the other end. "Hello, may I ask if you're Mr. Yu Jing?"

"Yes."

"Your mother is in the emergency department of Central Hospital. She currently needs immediate surgery to remove the 'Kajimo' virus. Experts from the national medical institutions have finished their consultation and need to operate at once. A family member's signature is required. You're the only person we can contact right now. Please come to the hospital immediately."

"...All right!" Yu Jing froze for half a second before immediately nodding and answering.

Yu Jing immediately hailed a taxi by the roadside. When the driver saw his appearance, he gave him a disdainful look.

"Central Hospital."

"Do you have money? People wandering around here in the middle of the night, dressed like that, don't look like they're from the city," the driver asked.

Yu Jing took out his bank card and directly swiped two hundred yuan on the taxi's card reader. A night ride to Central Hospital would cost thirty yuan at most. The two hundred made the driver widen his eyes, excitement appearing on his face.

"Get there as fast as possible."

"No problem, boss!"

Sitting in the speeding taxi, Yu Jing wondered why his mother was receiving treatment in the hospital. It was absolutely impossible that the Institute's supervisor had arranged it. After all, their agreement had only just been reached, while his mother must have been sent to the hospital several hours ago.

The Central Hospital in A-Class City was the highest-authority medical institution in District 19. Yu Jing had no time to admire the hospital's enormous scale. He entered through the emergency department, gave his mother's name, and was led by a nurse to the independent operating room on the highest floor.

"What are the chances of success?" Yu Jing asked in his urgency.

"After the experts' consultation, the success rate can reach eighty percent. You only need to sign your name in the family consent section agreeing to the surgery. The chief surgeon is already in place, and the operation can begin at any time."

"Eighty percent?! That high?" Based on the information Yu Jing had previously gathered, the chance of a successful operation was no more than thirty percent.

Yu Jing signed without hesitation. The operation began immediately. His mother, lying on the gurney, was under anesthesia, while the doctor who followed her inside gave off an unusual aura that seemed somewhat different from that of an ordinary person.

Yu Jing had no intention of sleeping as he waited outside the operating room. He went to the nurses' station to ask about a question troubling him.

"Excuse me, who brought my mother here?"

"We don't know the details. Our hospital only received a call asking us to go to Pingxiang County and accept a patient infected with the visible Kajimo virus. They paid us thirty million yuan and requested that we use the highest-grade medical facilities, as well as bring in a renowned surgeon from the central authorities to perform the operation personally."

Facing the nurse's answer, Yu Jing stood there in a daze for a long time, unable to speak.

He truly could not understand who would be willing to pay thirty million yuan for his medical expenses and bring in an expert to perform the surgery.

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

"They only gave a surname over the phone. It was a Mr. Yu."

"Yu?"

Yu Jing's name was pronounced the same way. A man's figure suddenly flashed through his mind, but the character the nurse ultimately wrote down was "Yu." With his lightning-fast thoughts, Yu Jing immediately thought of someone—Yu Xiaoxiao.

"Could it be her? Yu Xiaoxiao wasn't among the other five corpses in the truck. She should have been one of the original test's passers. Why would she help me? Was it simply because I picked food for her before the test, and because I looked like a good person?"

Yu Jing leaned against the corridor outside the operating room. Although his mind was filled with countless matters he had yet to analyze and process, several consecutive hours of facing life and death and pushing his body to its limits erupted all at once. Yu Jing's head drooped, and he fell into a deep sleep in the corridor.

After an unknown amount of time, sunlight streamed through a window on one side of the corridor, shining directly onto Yu Jing's right arm. Some green object beneath his skin began to writhe on its own.

When Yu Jing slowly opened his bleary eyes, he found a hospital blanket draped over his body. It was clearly a kindness from the nurses. However, the warmth from the sunlight on his right arm was remarkably intense. He could even see some green object leaping beneath the sunlight on the back of his hand, and he could clearly feel light energy being absorbed into his body.

"Photosynthesis."

Just then, the tightly closed operating-room door opened. His mother was pushed out with an IV bottle hanging beside her. Yu Jing immediately covered the back of his right hand with his left, blocking the sunlight and stopping the green plant from carrying out photosynthesis.

"Congratulations, the operation was a great success. Dr. Liao has something to ask you."

As the nurse congratulated Yu Jing, she pointed toward the surgeon who had performed the operation.

"Dr. Liao, thank you very much!"

When Yu Jing extended his hand, the other party did not reach out to shake it.

After slowly removing his mask, the doctor looked at the young man before him, who appeared utterly ordinary, and asked, "How do you know the Yu family?"

"The Yu family?" Yu Jing did not understand.

"Looks like you really didn't know. You probably just happened to have dealings with someone. You must have accumulated virtue in a past life. If this Kajimo virus removal surgery—which even I wasn't confident about—had failed, my lifetime's achievements would have been ruined. According to my research, this virus is hereditary. If you get sick again, don't come looking for trouble with me."

The doctor who had come from the central authorities did not take Yu Jing seriously at all. After saying this, he immediately strode out of the hospital.

Yu Jing had long since experienced the contempt brought by questions of status and birth, so he did not take it to heart. After all, the other party had saved his mother's life, and Yu Jing was still filled with gratitude.

When he arrived at the private ward, his mother had already opened her eyes, but her entire body looked weak. The nurse had also instructed her to speak as little as possible on the first day.

During their brief conversation, Yu Jing reassured his mother a hundred times that he had not used improper means to raise the surgical fee and told her to rest easy here.

At the same time, so that his mother could let go of the worries weighing on her heart, Yu Jing took out the admission notice the supervisor had given him.

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

When the mother lying in the hospital bed saw the admission notice in her son's hands, she wept tears of joy. As a mother, she naturally understood what was on her child's mind. Yu Jing had not wanted to attend the Ability Institute because he wanted to work outside and earn money for her. Now that her illness had been treated, and her son would also be attending the Ability Institute, this ordinary country woman was completely satisfied.

After settling his mother down to sleep and rest, Yu Jing walked to the window of the private ward. From the highest floor of Central Hospital, he looked down over the prosperous panorama of the entire A-Class City in District 19, and a subtle change stirred within him.

Sunlight poured through the glass and scattered across his body. Photosynthesis was occurring violently throughout his right arm.

"Next comes the time to fulfill my promise. The Dihua Ability Institute? A school located in Central District One. I wonder what kind of Ability Institute it is. Many secrets should be revealed there, right?"

—End of Volume One, "Death Test"—