Chapter Forty-Three: They'd Overestimated Them

Huoding had arranged a private room for Xilin.

Not long after Xilin was brought to the infirmary aboard the aircraft, the sounds of fierce gunfire and heavy weapons boomed from below. It seemed the Big Black Rat had gone berserk.

Judging by the distribution of firepower suggested by the sounds, the black rats were no longer attacking in an organized fashion. Their leader's confused thinking had severely disrupted their actions.

"Well, looks like the final battle's started."

A Medical Personnel member treating Xilin's wounds spoke up. Their colleagues had told them the crisis was nearly over, and that had put them more at ease.

The medical reinforcements' ship had reached the Space Station outside the planet, and some urgently needed medicines had arrived too. Once things here were more or less settled, the rest of the medical staff aboard the ship would probably be sent over to help.

"Yeah, Chief Huoding's confident he's got this in the bag," said a medic who had come in with some medicine. Glancing at Xilin, who was lying on the bed, the medic asked, "Are you a cadet too?"

Xilin nodded.

The medic gave him a thumbs-up. "I've heard from my comrades that you're all impressive. It's a shame about that cadet named Hard, though."

"Hard? What happened to him?" Xilin was startled. He still hadn't heard anything about Hard.

"He's in the Serious Illness ICU. I heard he took a few swipes while saving a teammate, then got injured several more times in the fighting. The Antibody Serum they injected didn't work, and the Rat Poison has already spread to his organs. They say he can't hold on much longer," the medic said regretfully. He was only a cadet, barely a teenager—still just a child in their eyes. It was remarkable that he'd bravely joined the battle and, in those circumstances, refused to abandon his comrades.

Xilin got out of bed. "Which room is he in?"

"Upstairs, third emergency room on the right past the corner."

"Hey, your wounds haven't—"

"I'll live." Xilin ignored the Medical Personnel beside him and left the room, heading upstairs.

There was no need to check the room numbers. As soon as he reached the upper floor, Xilin saw several bandaged soldiers standing outside a room. They were probably members of Hard's team. Someone else was squatting against the wall with his head in his hands, sobbing hoarsely. It was Saqi.

Just then, the door to the ICU opened. The attending physician stepped out and wearily rubbed his brow. "I'm sorry. It still didn't work. None of the different serums we injected helped. He's very strong-willed, and he's held on impressively long. You should go see him. He... has five minutes at most."

Saqi and the others rushed inside. Seeing Hard's body already turning black and beginning to rot, they wiped their eyes, took deep breaths, and went to his side.

Hard was wearing an Oxygen Mask. It was obvious he could barely breathe. His eyes were so swollen that their original shape was almost impossible to make out. Through the narrow slits of his half-open eyelids, he could vaguely see the people beside him. His vision was badly blurred, and his hearing had weakened too. But he knew who they were. Even through the hazy silhouettes, he recognized them.

Hard couldn't make a sound. Xilin could only understand what he was saying by reading his lips.

"I... don't... want... to... die..."

"It's okay, you won't die. Didn't you say you wanted to become a general? Then you can go back and look down your nose at those bastards who talked behind your back!" Saqi's voice trembled as he practically shouted.

Tears slid from the corners of Hard's eyes, tinged with blood, and fell onto the white pillow. He knew what awaited him, and he had little time left. But he wanted so badly to go home, even if only to speak with his family. They were too far away, though, and by the time the communication signal was relayed, it would be too late.

Looking at Hard's gaze through the narrow slits of his eyelids, Xilin knew that even now, Hard didn't regret anything. He didn't want to die, but he had no regrets.

Dias had once said, "In the military, on the battlefield, generals give the orders and soldiers die."

But soldiers had their own honor and their own convictions. They could die without regret.

Xilin raised a hand and placed his fingers on Hard's. It looked as though he was giving his comrade one last bit of encouragement, but in fact, he was analyzing the toxins in Hard's body and synthesizing specific antibodies to counter them. He secreted the antibodies from his fingertips, allowing them to seep through Hard's pores and beneath his skin, then reach every part of his body through Blood Circulation or other means...

Saqi had been trying to make out what Hard wanted to say. When Hard suddenly closed his eyes and stopped moving his lips, Saqi burst into tears.

Xilin nudged Saqi, who was lost in grief and wiping away his tears. "He's just asleep. Look at the Heartbeat Fluctuation on the monitor."

Saqi: "..."

He... really did seem to be asleep.

Five minutes later, his heartbeat was still there.

Ten minutes later, it seemed to be getting stronger.

Once Xilin was sure Hard was out of danger, he patted Saqi on the shoulder. "Go get the attending physician. Looks like this kid Hard's so stubborn even the Grim Reaper won't take him."

"Oh." Saqi still looked dazed, but he went to get the attending physician as Xilin had asked.

Watching the medical staff bustle around in amazement, Xilin shook his head and left. But he didn't return to his room. Instead, he went to the makeshift Analysis Room, where several researchers were busy at work. Some had escaped from the base earlier, while others had arrived later aboard the Medical Ship as reinforcements. So far, they had only analyzed a dozen or so Antibody Molecules. Many warriors infected with Rat Poison after being scratched by the black rats were still waiting for an antidote in the form of Antibody Serum that hadn't been identified yet.

Xilin sighed. He'd really overestimated them! He now understood the disappointment Mo Heng felt toward the other researchers at the Seven Luminaries Mechanical Engineering Institute.

"Hey, who are you?"

"Get out of here. This isn't a place for soldiers!"

"You have no respect for discipline. Don't get in the way of our work!"

Xilin ignored them and walked straight to a Molecular Synthesis Analyzer. He grabbed the researcher sitting there by the collar and pulled him aside. The man raised his eyebrows, about to say something, but Xilin didn't even look at him. He took out a portable pistol and pointed the muzzle at the man's mouth as he tried to speak.

As soon as Xilin pulled out the gun, the room fell silent. A few people near the door ran out to get the soldiers.

Xilin sat down in front of the machine and glanced over the buttons on the control panel before looking away. He kept his eyes on the screen, holstered the gun to free his hand, and began pressing the buttons. His fingers landed precisely on each one, as if he knew the machine well.

His hands moved faster and faster, his movements increasingly practiced. More than that, the researchers in the room saw that the machines before them had begun operating on their own, automatically transmitting their analysis data to Xilin's machine.

In such a short time, he had taken control of every machine in the Analysis Room!

A few researchers began criticizing Xilin for acting recklessly. But gradually, everyone in the Analysis Room fell silent.

On the screen of Xilin's machine, molecular structures began to take shape one after another. The data displayed beside the rotating molecules made it clear to everyone that they had no right to speak up.

One, two, three... No one had any idea how Xilin had done it. All they could do was stare at the nearly hundred Antibody Molecule diagrams on the screen.