On their way back, they had the misfortune to run into mutant wolves. They fought as they ran, not daring to stop.
Their luck really was something else. Their armor was broken and unusable, leaving them with only their exoskeletons for protection. Things were hardly looking good now.
They killed few of the mutant wolves this time. Even Captain Qi was injured, and everyone had wounds.
Only after they reached a more open area did Sang Luoluo take out a truck. They drove it to escape, narrowly surviving the wolves' jaws.
Sang Luoluo leaned against a soft cushion in the truck bed. The back was open, and they kept shooting at the mutant wolves pursuing them. Her head felt heavy and muddled, and she could no longer keep her eyes open. She fell asleep.
"You can actually sleep at a time like this." Lei Qi looked at Sang Luoluo, who had suddenly slumped motionless against the cushion, and scoffed, unsure whether he should admire how untroubled she was.
Captain Qi sensed something was wrong. He leaned over and pressed the back of his hand against her forehead. His expression shifted slightly. "She has a high fever."
Only then did Lei Qi realize he had spoken out of turn. He hurriedly felt her forehead and grew worried. "She's burning up. Could she have caught some virus?"
Xiao Li still felt lingering fear from the time a mutant monkey had ruined half his arm. "We can't take this lightly. I nearly didn't survive my last high fever. She's an evolved human, at least, so she should be stronger than me. There are two doses of fever medicine in the first-aid kit, but Sang Luoluo has it."
"Captain Qi, I... I don't feel too well either." Wei Xing struggled to hold on.
Qi Feng felt his forehead. He had a fever too.
Lei Qi tried to wake Sang Luoluo, but she would not wake at all. In just a short while, Wei Xing grew listless, looking as though all his vitality had been drained.
He spoke quietly into the microphone. "He Fei, speed up. Get back to base as soon as possible."
The truck sped ahead at full speed, reaching the base's Guard office area in just three and a half hours.
The base hospital was right there, and Sang Luoluo and Wei Xing were sent in immediately.
Sang Luoluo felt groggy. In her daze, she seemed to hear many people calling her name.
At the ward entrance stood a young man whose left leg had been amputated. Blood still soaked through beneath his bandages. Leaning on crutches, he watched the Guard members carry two people inside on their backs. One of the frail figures looked familiar no matter how he looked at her.
Chapter 26: Her brother returned. We can't afford it...
He limped after them on his crutches, wanting to make sure.
His ashen face suddenly filled with anxiety. Standing at the door, he heard the Guard members speaking inside.
"...The two of them spent three days in a highly radioactive hive. Although they had heavy armor and radiation suits and weren't directly exposed to radiation, they may have come into direct or indirect contact with highly radioactive honey during those three days."
"The others spent time in the hive too. Have them checked as well."
The nurse asked, "The names of these two patients? Their addresses? Any contact information for their families?"
Qi Feng answered calmly in a low voice, "Her name is Sang Luoluo. She has no family. The other is Wei Xing, and he has no family either. Put the Guard dormitory down as the address for both. Contact me directly if there are any problems."
Qi Feng scanned his wristwatch and left his information.
The young man at the door could no longer contain himself the moment he heard Sang Luoluo's name.
"Luoluo!!"
He barged straight in on his crutches and headed for the bed by the window. That thin little face, those familiar features-there was no way Sang Yunpu could mistake her.
"Who are you? Why are you barging into someone else's ward? The wounded here are all Guard members. You're a civilian. You can't just barge in." Lei Qi blocked the young man. Despite missing a leg, he was quite strong.
Sang Yunpu struggled, his eyes red. "That's my sister! Sang Luoluo is my sister! How did my sister end up like this? Why is she with your Guard?"
"What? Your sister?"
"Didn't she say she was alone?"
"Where did you come from? You say you're Sang Luoluo's younger sister? Show us your identification to prove it."
The other Guard members each spoke up as they looked at Sang Yunpu.
Still, Sang Yunpu's features did bear some resemblance to Sang Luoluo's, and their tones softened somewhat.
Sang Yunpu held out his battered wristwatch and showed everyone his identification. Their household had only two people: the older brother, Sang Yunpu, seventeen, and the younger sister, Sang Luoluo, sixteen. The photographs of the two left no doubt.
"Captain, then why did Sang Luoluo say her brother was dead?"
Sang Yunpu explained, "We ran out of food at home, so I took a temporary job with the Guard delivering supplies to Base No. 24. The round trip was supposed to take about three days, but we ran into trouble on the way. The entire Guard team was trapped. There was no signal, and we ran out of food too. I injured my leg because of it. Later, people from the base came to rescue us, but my leg couldn't be saved. They had to amputate it."
Well...
He was rather pitiful.
After hearing him out, Qi Feng fell silent for a moment, then said, "Stay here and watch over Sang Luoluo, then."
He turned and continued giving orders. "He Fei, stay here and look after the two of them. As soon as Sang Luoluo wakes up, have her take out the supplies."
"Yes," He Fei replied.
Qi Feng continued, "I'll report on the mission. The rest of you, get checked first, then rest."
After everyone left, only the unconscious Sang Luoluo and Wei Xing remained in the ward, along with Sang Yunpu and He Fei, who sat to one side, feeling somewhat awkward.
A doctor came to examine the two patients and ordered a pile of tests. He Fei and Sang Yunpu could only wait nearby.
Looking at the pile of test orders, Sang Yunpu felt utterly useless and full of self-reproach. He could not even pay his sister's medical bills. His fingers dug into his crutch as though he might gouge the wood apart.
After his examination, Wei Xing was immediately put on an IV. Sang Luoluo was also receiving an IV. The bones in her lower leg were cracked, so the doctor could only immobilize it and put it in a cast.
Turning toward the two men, the doctor asked, "Which of you is her family?"
Sang Yunpu hurriedly answered, "I am. How is my sister?"
The doctor shook his head and showed him the examination report. "There are multiple fractures in the bones of her lower leg. She'll need time to recuperate. I've put it in a cast for now. It would be best if we could use a gene drug for her follow-up treatment. She could recover in a short time, but the price..."
Sang Yunpu and He Fei looked at the scan. The bones in Sang Luoluo's lower leg had split into several pieces. Even with his broad experience, He Fei had never seen bones cracked like that.
He glanced at Sang Yunpu. "Your sister's bones cracking like this must have something to do with malnutrition from childhood, right? I've never seen bones this fragile. She didn't scream or cry once on the way back. She really can endure pain."
Sang Yunpu pressed his lips together. For shantytown residents like them, having something to eat and not starving to death was already good enough. Malnutrition was a minor problem. He knew their circumstances all too well. Now he was in this state, and his sister was like this too. He did not even know whether the few points he had earned on that trip would cover their medical bills this time. As for gene drugs, their price was astronomical to people like them. Dejectedly, he said, "We can't afford it..."
The doctor had expected that answer. He merely sighed softly and said regretfully, "What a pity. Your sister is an evolved human, after all. With her lower leg injured this badly, it won't recover to its former condition. Even going on missions will be difficult in the future."
The wilderness was dangerous to begin with. At the very least, going on missions required an able body that could run and jump. In her current state, she would only be dead weight outside, holding others back.
He Fei felt some regret as he listened. From meeting Sang Luoluo to going on a mission with her, he had found that although the girl was frail, she was quite spirited and a good person. She had only recently awakened her ability, yet she had lost the use of a leg just like that. Thinking of Xiao Li's arm, he still could not bear to lose an evolved ability user like Sang Luoluo. "Doctor, isn't there another way? Like amputating it and fitting a prosthetic leg?"
The doctor said, "That would still cost a considerable amount. By Guard standards, an ordinary prosthetic costs at least six thousand points, plus the amputation and medication afterward. If the patient can afford it, I can perform the surgery at any time. A prosthetic can fully match a real leg in function. I would recommend that the patient try it."
Hearing that, He Fei realized there was still hope. Seeing a little hope gradually rising in Sang Yunpu, he patted his shoulder and comforted him. "Don't be too pessimistic. Your sister may have injured a leg, but she has a good ability, and she's an evolved human, after all. If she works hard and saves up points, buying a prosthetic won't be a problem."
He Fei meant what he said. A spatial ability user was so rare, and she could store so much. Even if she did not go out on missions, she could support herself by accompanying the Guard's other C-rank and D-rank teams on their missions.
He Fei said, "It's difficult for you to get around with your leg, so stay here and watch over them. I'll go buy them something to eat and fetch some water."
Sang Yunpu said, "All right."
He sat beside Sang Luoluo's bed, waiting for her to wake, checking her forehead's temperature every so often.
The IV had shown no effect yet. Her forehead was still terribly hot.
Sang Luoluo felt uncomfortable all over. Her consciousness drifted through her space. She wandered around the farm, then visited the livestock area. All those crops and animals had been locked in place by the space, frozen at the moment before she transmigrated.
Her consciousness was a little groggy too. She returned to the villa in her space, filled the bathtub with warm Spirit Spring water, and lay down in it to relax. The days spent in the wilderness had exhausted her both physically and mentally. She fell asleep as soon as she lay down.
When she woke, it was already the next morning.
Through her haze, she saw a figure approach.
"Luoluo, you're finally awake. You had your brother worried to death."
Unable to contain his joy, Sang Yunpu reached out and touched Sang Luoluo's forehead, then sighed in relief. "Good, your fever's gone."
Sang Luoluo's mind blanked for an instant. Brother? Sang Yunpu was back? The next moment, she reacted, her eyes stinging slightly, as scenes of her original self spending time with her brother instantly surfaced in her memories-
Warm and tender
-moments. From now on, I'll take care of this brother.