Chapter 7

Chen Chen slowly opened his eyes.

It was like a blind man seeing the light again. What met his gaze was an utterly brand-new world.

The fluorescent tube above flickered between light and dark at a frequency imperceptible to ordinary people;

Shadows swayed back and forth beneath the tightly shut doors of the emergency room;

And the smell of disinfectant filled the air, wave after wave...

All the information presented itself in his mind with unparalleled clarity—the multitude of people before his eyes, their footsteps, conversations, even the rhythm of their breathing...

There was not the slightest omission.

It was like watching a real movie, except its image quality had changed from 360p standard definition to 1080p ultra-high definition, every frame rendered in perfect detail.

Nothing in the world had changed, yet everything had changed beyond recognition.

That was right. The world had not changed; what had changed was Chen Chen's perspective on it.

Endless inspiration churned within his mind. With a single thought, he could call upon any knowledge or memory from his childhood to the present.

As though recalling something, Chen Chen suddenly raised an eyebrow. He took out his phone and searched for the words "Limitless" again.

But unlike before, this time Chen Chen added "TV series version" after the title.

At once, the cover and synopsis for the TV adaptation of Limitless appeared on the search page.

"At the end of the movie's plot, the protagonist Eddie Mora found a way to overcome the drug's side effects, but it was never shown in the film, so the USB Drive cannot materialize it."

"However, this movie was adapted into a TV series three years later. Because of its longer runtime, the series needed a richer plot than the film, so there is an eighty percent chance that it includes a way to overcome NZT's side effects..."

The thought flashed through Chen Chen's mind.

For certain reasons, both the TV and movie versions of Limitless had been banned in the Central Continent Region. Legitimate websites could at most turn up a basic synopsis; there was simply no way to watch them.

But this was the internet, after all. As Chen Chen dug deeper, he eventually found the complete series on an obscure little website.

Chen Chen skipped straight to the final episode and quickly fast-forwarded through it, watching the entire thing.

Sure enough, the TV version of Limitless had developed a method to overcome the side effects of NZT-48.

It was something called an "Immunity Injection."

According to the series, there were two types of Immunity Injection. One could make a person immune to NZT's side effects within a few weeks.

The other could permanently grant immunity to NZT's side effects.

There was only one permanent Immunity Injection in the entire world, and it had appeared only in the finale, Episode 22.

In other words, as long as he could obtain this permanent Immunity Injection, Chen Chen could take NZT-48 as freely as he pleased without ever worrying about side effects again.

Chen Chen turned off his phone and leaned back against the chair, sighing with emotion.

Although they both belonged to the Earth Federation, the Central Continent Region and the North American Zone—the Federation's two strongest regions—had always been locked in overt and covert rivalry for political reasons.

This rivalry did not refer to war, but to contests in diverse forms such as culture, information, technology, and economics.

Thus, there were always films and TV series from North America that could not pass review in the Central Continent Region, including the TV adaptation of Limitless.

In Chen Chen's memory, he had happened to see news online about Limitless being adapted into a TV series when he was only fourteen years old.

At the time, he had merely glanced at it casually before that information was swallowed up by the mountain-like sea of data on the internet.

Besides, the series had been a flop even in North America, which was why, when he had first obtained the USB Drive seven days ago, the thought had never crossed his mind.

So this was the effect of taking NZT-48...

Only three minutes after taking the drug, he had relied on a fleeting glimpse from four years ago to swiftly find a way to solve NZT's side effects.

Besides, he had actually taken the wrong path from the very first step.

Chen Chen thought silently.

Choosing NZT-48 had not actually been the optimal choice. The truly best choice should have been the Power Crystal from Chronicle.

Why was that?

Because researching the USB Drive required a tremendous, tremendous, tremendous amount of money.

Even if technology could not decipher the USB Drive's existence, solving its energy problem would still be an immensely profitable deal.

Because as long as the USB Drive had sufficient energy, its possibilities would be limitless.

If Chen Chen had chosen superpowers, he had ten thousand ways to obtain vast amounts of money.

But NZT was different.

NZT was merely a drug that stimulated the brain. Although its value was immeasurable, if Chen Chen wanted to make money through NZT, he first needed to accumulate sufficient knowledge before he could turn that knowledge into money.

That added an extra step for nothing.

As for trading stocks, that was out of the question. First, Chen Chen had no capital.

Second, stock prices generally took years to rise or fall. If Chen Chen traded stocks, he could only chase limit-up stocks, speculate in the short term, use leverage, and engage in other high-risk practices.

However, the stock market in the Central Continent Region was manipulated by major players.

Moreover, the number of NZT-48 pills was limited.

Chen Chen had calculated it before: that large bag of sealed packets contained exactly 500 pills, and each pill's effects lasted twelve hours.

Even if Chen Chen took only one pill a day, they would last him no more than a year and a half.

Not to mention that NZT-48 came with enormous side effects.

If the USB Drive stopped working in the future, and Chen Chen failed to find another way to deal with NZT-48's side effects, that would be interesting...

So, NZT-48 was not actually the best choice.

But since he had already made his choice, there was no room for regret.

Lost in thought, Chen Chen rose and walked toward the door.

By now, Chen Chen had confirmed that NZT would not kill him, so there was no need to remain here any longer.

However, as he passed the mother and daughter, his ears twitched. He suddenly turned to the little girl and said, "Your father will be coming out soon."

"Really?"

The little girl looked up blankly.

The young mother beside her also froze, raising her head to stare at Chen Chen in astonishment.

To her, the boy before her had a pair of clear eyes, like black crystals without the slightest hint of cloudiness. She could even see her own reflection in them.

"He's a hero, so he'll definitely make it through safely."

The boy smiled faintly and turned to leave. Though his words made no logical sense coming from him, they carried an inexplicably convincing quality.

The little girl looked at her mother with innocent eyes. "Mom, is what Big Brother said true?"

The young mother opened her mouth, unsure how to answer. But just then, the doors to Emergency Room No. 2 suddenly opened.

"Which one of you is Yang Yuexin's family?"

A stretcher was pushed out of Emergency Room No. 2. One of the nurses looked at the mother and daughter, who had hurriedly stood up. "You're Yang Yuexin's family, right? After emergency treatment, the patient's condition has temporarily stabilized. Go inside and take care of the paperwork first."

"Ah!" The young mother trembled with excitement. "Okay! Okay..."

After leaving the hospital, Chen Chen took the subway back to school.

His earlier conclusion that the little girl's father would be fine had not been fortune-telling. He had merely overheard the conversation coming from inside the emergency room.

The incident had been reported on subway TV earlier. Although Chen Chen had not paid attention at the time, after taking NZT, he realized that the little girl's features bore a forty to fifty percent resemblance to the man who had acted bravely to save someone in the news.

Moreover, the accident had happened on Renmin Road, not far from Shangdu People's Hospital. If they had called 120, the ambulance most likely dispatched would have been from Shangdu People's Hospital.

The age matched, the timing matched, the location matched, and there was also the little girl's appearance. Anyone could have identified the mother and daughter.

Of course, being able to determine it was one thing. The prerequisite was having a brain capable of picking out this information from countless details and connecting it all together.

And Chen Chen, after taking NZT, possessed exactly that ability.

Astonishing insight and logical thinking—everything he saw, everything he heard, everything stored in his memory could be accessed at any time, allowing him to rapidly connect the clues and reach a reasonable conclusion...

That was the power of NZT-48.