Within that faint darkness condensed to its utmost limit, something like a flash of light suddenly flickered and vanished, strikingly conspicuous.
Instinctively, he tried to reach out and catch that lingering glimmer, only to suddenly find it glaring.
...On the hospital bed, the old man slowly opened his eyes. All he could see was a vast expanse of white. His eyelids trembled, and it took him quite a while to come back to himself.
Through the small oxygen mask, he gradually made out that there were many people in front of him.
People he knew, people he did not, people he had met once, people he was fairly familiar with, people he vaguely remembered...
Accompanied by the shrill alerts of the machines, doctors and nurses were bustling around the bed. Some recorded the old man's blood pressure and other vital indicators upon waking on the medical equipment nearby; some rapidly adjusted the oxygen supply beside the bed, allowing him to transition his breathing more easily while preparing to readjust the oxygen flow at once if needed; others carefully held his hand, repeatedly holding up fingers before his face and asking aloud whether he felt anything unusual, whether he could tell how many fingers they were, and whether he remembered who they were...
Beyond that flurry of white-clad activity were family members who had rushed in from the side of the room, only to be blocked by the medical staff. They could only watch helplessly as the old man lay there looking weak, calling softly to him in concern.
An elderly woman even began to sob quietly at the sight, seeming both heartbroken and overjoyed. The younger members of the family hurriedly supported her and handed her a handkerchief...
In this Throne, a private ward at a hospital somewhere in the capital, the old gentleman, admitted after "suddenly fainting," quickly grasped his situation. Especially after noticing that his family was in the room, a faintly warm, apologetic smile appeared on his gaunt old face.
But he soon seemed to remember something. He raised one hand and waved it forcefully, gesturing for all the breathing equipment on his face to be removed first. Yet, intentionally or otherwise, his other hand remained hidden beneath the light-colored blanket.
Although the doctor monitoring his condition wanted to conscientiously offer a word or two of objection, once he confirmed that the old man was awake, the hospital administrator standing beside two particularly stern-faced middle-aged men spoke first, his own expression equally grave. "Do as Elder Ning says. Don't delay..."
Very quickly, the apparatus on the face of the old man known as "Elder Ning" was removed. Pulling up his sleeve to wipe away the moisture left on his face by the breathing equipment, he drew two deep breaths in relief and motioned for the doctors around him to step back.
After carefully looking over his surroundings once more, the old man finally turned his head.
Unexpectedly, the old gentleman in hospital clothes ignored his family. Instead, he nodded first at the two middle-aged men in plain clothes, both standing ramrod straight.
"Little Chen, what time is it?"
"Elder Ning, it is 1:22 a.m. Yanjing time. Approximately nine hours and twenty-two minutes have passed since you suddenly fell unconscious at the research institute."
"The situation was urgent, so the personnel in charge sent you to the hospital. Even after examination, they were unable to determine the exact cause. The preliminary suspicion was some kind of cerebral issue. Since we could not fully assess the severity of your condition this time, and in consideration of some wishes you had expressed previously, the organization temporarily arranged for your family to come and see you. Please forgive us."
After lowering his head to check the time, the slightly older of the two men promptly and crisply gave a string of answers, along with a few Jane words explaining the current situation and offering an apology. Then he fell silent again.
They clearly knew each other. At the very least, they had dealt with one another before.
Almost everyone understood the meaning behind that seemingly Jane-simple word, "see."
No one in the room wished to interrupt at a time like this.
Only a child of no more than a few years old, held in the arms of a younger family member, sleepily and dazedly looked at the adults' reactions. He seemed to want to say something, but his father pressed a hand to his head and put a finger to his lips with a "Shh." The child could only continue waiting quietly with everyone else.
"Ah, that was what I asked for at the time. How can I blame you... I caused everyone trouble again this time. I imagine Little Sun and the others were scared half to death."
"When you collapsed, you truly gave Dr. Sun quite a fright."
The man's voice paused, as though recalling something. Then he took two steps forward on his own initiative, moving to the rear side near the head of the bed—a perfect position from which he could clearly observe the old man's current condition up close without taking up space that might be needed for medical treatment. Only then did he lower his voice and speak.
"After you were taken away, he shut down the external communication signals in the laboratory. When he came out to verify the situation with the internal personnel, his face was frighteningly pale... Is there something you need conveyed?"
By the time he spoke that final sentence, Little Chen's voice had become so low that only the old man before him could practically hear it.
"No, no, don't overthink it. This time, it should have been my own problem. It had nothing to do with them. I truly feel somewhat sorry toward him and those staff members."
Realizing that the other man might have misunderstood something, the old man shook his head with a bitter smile. But his expression immediately turned serious.
"Still, this probably isn't over. Little Chen, Little Xu, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you two to work overtime."
"Elder Ning, if it is something important, then it may need..."
Seeing the change in the old man's expression, as though they had vaguely sensed something, the two surprised men instinctively became alert and abruptly swept their gazes over the people around them. The other man even silently took half a step back, his sharp eyes rapidly scanning the ward entrance and the windows like a radar.
But before the warning could be finished, the old man stopped him with a wave of his hand.
"It's fine. There's no need to avoid them anymore. Everyone here has already been half-dragged into this, anyway. Of course, it may not necessarily be a bad thing, but there's no avoiding it, and there's no need to."
"You two should report to your superiors later. Find someone responsible and arrange a secure place for me. There are some matters of 'work' that cannot be delayed for even a moment. Also, help me contact the institute and have personnel prepare the connection verification procedures. This time, it's rather significant. We may have to notify someone above our level..."
"Also, this already meets the research institute's confidentiality procedures. During this period, anyone who has come into close contact with me, as well as everyone present, will likely have their freedom of movement restricted to some extent. I'm truly sorry for dragging you all into this because of an old man like me..."
Before his words had even faded, deep apology had already appeared in those aged eyes.
Especially when he saw the little child in the young man's arms, already overwhelmed by sleepiness, undisguised warmth appeared on the old man's face, as though even the wrinkles carved by decades had softened somewhat.
Yet when his gaze caught sight, through a narrow gap quietly revealed beneath the blanket, of the cold, smooth test-tube-like object between his fingers, no thicker than a knuckle, and he confirmed once more that it was truly not an illusion, his expression quickly hardened again.
Those personal matters could be set aside. The urgent priority now was to deal with what he held in his hand.
...This was an exchange item that should have been brought back from some strange place in a "dream," supposedly worth more than a hundred Universal Points.
Having weathered decades of storms, he understood very well what this signified.
With a sigh, the old gentleman merely closed his hand and gazed out through the window toward the world beyond the ward.
In the dim night lit by the city lights in the distance, beneath the streetlamps lining the hospital road, swarms of insects wheeled and circled everywhere, chasing that blazing white glow. As if tireless, they crashed, fell, and searched among the hollow metal lampshades...
He watched quietly for a long time and said nothing more.