Surgery

Inside the White Room, it had already been turned into an operating room.

Jenny and old Dean Bo Li were both dressed in light green sterile surgical gowns, wearing sterile latex gloves, disposable sterile caps, and masks.

Two other staff members stood nearby to assist them, while several tall soldiers waited on standby some distance away.

He had been sedated with a heavier dose of anesthetic than before. Ba Di was broad-shouldered and thick-backed, with a formidable build. Even lying face down on the operating table, the contours of his back muscles gave off an imposing presence. No wonder Slade had instinctively found him so dangerous.

The slightly fitted green sterile surgical gown perfectly accentuated Jenny's slender, graceful figure.

But the exposed beautiful eye on her face was bloodshot and wide open, leaving her whole body tense and rigid.

She had not slept for two days. Every moment, her taut nerves replayed everything concerning Ba Di's surgery in her mind.

She cared too much, was too nervous, and placed too much importance on this surgery.

It concerned Ba Di's future. She truly did not want him to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. She wanted to walk hand in hand with him through the rest of their lives.

The vision of the future Ba Di had painted had completely captivated her. Her heart was filled with Ba Di's affectionate words, and she could not free herself from them.

Jenny bit down hard on her lip. The pain stimulated her nerves. Ba Di was lying face down on the operating table, waiting for her and trusting her.

"Jenny, are you all right?"

Old Dean Bo Li hypocritically offered a word of concern. He could tell how much Jenny valued this operation.

But it was useless. The outcome had long been in Slade and Dean Bo Li's hands. It would not change.

In truth, whether it was Slade, old Dean Bo Li, or Ba Di, they all understood that Jenny really was just a chess piece in their hands, acting according to the way they had envisioned.

The difference was that old Dean Bo Li did not know Ba Di was also a player moving the pieces, lying low as he waited for the day he would see the sun.

Slade was wary of him, so he guarded against Ba Di with extreme vigilance.

Ba Di lurked in silence, displaying exactly what they wanted to see.

Jenny gently shook her head, gripped the scalpel, steadied her breathing, and began operating on Ba Di's broad, sturdy back.

The cold, sharp scalpel in her hand cut through Ba Di's back muscle fibers as though slicing through cowhide. With some difficulty, she exposed bloodied flesh and the stark white spine beneath.

Jenny was calm and focused. At that moment, she forgot the exhaustion from two days without proper rest. Her concentration sharpened as she saw the vertebrae. Just as she had planned, she accepted from Dean Bo Li at her side a steel needle capable of emitting pulses, secured it near the nerve fibers around the spine, and connected it to the spinal cord nerves.

After more than half an hour of focused fine-tuning,

she finally closed the incision in his back.

The final setup looked like a needle inserted into Ba Di's cervical spine, with a long guide wire extending from its rear and connecting to a reclining metal wheelchair. Behind the wheelchair was a controllable screen that could monitor Ba Di's heartbeat at any time and perform lie detection. That was all Jenny knew.

What Jenny did not know was that the wheelchair could also control Ba Di's life through electric shocks and the release of toxins.

The Pulse Radiofrequency Needle could sever the movement signals to Ba Di's limbs below his neck. The reflex nerves in his limbs would no longer transmit to the neurons in his brain, but would instead be diverted directly through the Pulse Radiofrequency Needle, preventing Ba Di from issuing commands from his brain to control his body.

Old Dean Bo Li ordered several soldiers on standby to lift Ba Di into the metal wheelchair. The guide wire connected to the magnetic Pulse Radiofrequency Needle gradually retracted into a hole in the wheelchair as they moved. The backrest reclined, and Ba Di lay in the metal wheelchair as metal rings emerged from it to restrain his legs, waist, and wrists.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Jenny's forehead. She removed her mask and looked at Ba Di's resolute, sunny face, so full of masculine vigor. She could not help letting out a breath and giving him a faint, warm smile.

Most of it was complete. All that remained was to wait for Ba Di to wake up and activate the Pulse Radiofrequency blocking pulse signals. That would be the most critical moment, when she would need to adjust them carefully. They could not be too strong or too weak. She had already measured them with instruments, but she was still afraid that one careless mistake could leave Ba Di permanently paralyzed, beyond recovery.

She turned and walked behind the wheelchair. Her slender fingers tapped the control keyboard on its back as she performed a final check of the Pulse Radiofrequency settings. She had handled every part of this herself. She knew Ba Di's body inside and out. The surgery and its operation were highly difficult, but not particularly hard for her to complete.

More than anything, she was simply too worried to think clearly.

Only after all the settings were complete did she finally let out a breath. Her legs went weak, and a hollow weakness seemed to drain through her organs as exhaustion flooded her face.

Her fingers braced against the wheelchair as she studied Ba Di's face. She recalled the story behind that deep scar, his past, and the future he hoped to have with her.

After everyone had left the White Room, Jenny's exhausted face softened as she gently kissed Ba Di's cheek. After stroking his hair, she forced aside her reluctance and turned off the lights.

The White Room fell into darkness. She left to rest and wait for Ba Di to awaken tomorrow.

Night. Pitch-black.

A thin, frail figure openly entered the White Room and, behind Ba Di's wheelchair, continuously readjusted the pulse signals with ten fingers. The real pulse fluctuations were concealed beneath the neural pulse signals Jenny had set.

"Tsk..."

A disdainful voice seemed to give a casual snort, and the footsteps gradually retreated from the White Room.

Ba Di's eyelids seemed to twitch before sinking back into stillness.

The next day.

Ba Di's eyelids trembled, and he slowly opened his eyes. The aftereffects of the heavy anesthetic made it difficult for his body to move or respond, but he could still faintly sense that his body was there.

Feeling himself half-reclined in the wheelchair, with something needle-like and icy inserted into the spine at the back of his neck, Ba Di remained unruffled. He knew that from now on, this wheelchair could monitor his heartbeat and test him for lies. He would need to be even more careful in how he responded afterward.

But at the same time, Ba Di knew that he now had a chance to act. He was no longer imprisoned in the White Room forever. This was a leap forward, even if his freedom and movement were being electrically assisted and pushed along by others from behind.

Seeing Ba Di awake, Jenny, who had been waiting for a long time, smiled. "You're awake."

Ba Di returned her smile, but before he could speak,

Slade, standing erect beside them in his military uniform, said coldly, "Begin. The anesthetic is about to wear off." Soldiers stood behind him holding guns, and more soldiers were stationed outside the door. Security was exceptionally tight.

Old Dean Bo Li had already checked everything and ensured that Ba Di would be unable to move under these circumstances. Yet Slade still kept watch in his own way.

Jenny ignored Slade. She loathed this soldier who targeted Ba Di, finding him ugly and irritating, so much so that she did not even want to answer him.

Jenny tightly held Ba Di's large hand, her beautiful eyes filled with tenderness and concern. Only after Ba Di gave a slight nod, offering her tremendous support and confidence, did she ignore Slade's grim expression as though he had been force-fed romance, let go of Ba Di's hand, walk behind the wheelchair, and begin activating the Pulse Radiofrequency block.