The Scalpel

The door to the observation room slid open silently.

The man who walked in was no longer the doctor in the blood-stained green scrubs with a vacant look in his eyes. Instead, it was a young man who looked to be around thirty years old, tall and slender, wearing a well-tailored, high-quality light gray casual suit.

His hair was meticulously combed, and he wore thin-rimmed Glasses. Behind the lenses, his eyes held a gentle smile, and the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned. He exuded an air of well-educated refinement and elegance. If one hadn't seen it with their own eyes, it would have been incredibly difficult to connect him with the Madman who, just minutes before, had been engaged in a cruel "interaction" under the operating lights.

He walked in with light steps, his gaze immediately locking onto K, who was sitting quietly in a chair. The gentle smile on his face deepened, and he walked straight to K, extending his right hand very naturally, his posture warm and appropriate, as if he had met an admired colleague in a high-end salon.

"A pleasure to meet you. My surname is Xie, Xie Yunchuan. I was downstairs just now... I made a fool of myself." His voice had changed; it was no longer the steady, cheerful tone he used in the operating room, but had become clear, magnetic, and his words were refined. "May I ask how I should address you?"

K looked up at the clean, long hand with neatly trimmed nails extended in front of him. This hand had just been holding a scalpel, "exploring" and "demonstrating" inside the chest and abdominal cavities of a living person.

He didn't answer immediately, but remained silent and extended his right hand.

Hold hands.

Xie Yunchuan's hands were warm and dry, and his handshake was firm and well-mannered.

However, in the instant that this seemingly ordinary, polite handshake lasted less than a second, Xie Yunchuan's smile suddenly changed, but the hand he was holding on K tightened abruptly! His five fingers gripped K's palm like iron clamps, with astonishing strength, completely at odds with his refined appearance!

At the same time, his left hand shot out of his suit pocket with lightning speed!

Between his fingers was an incredibly sharp, gleaming scalpel blade—without a handle, just the most primitive and deadly kind of willow-leaf shaped blade!

A flash of light, and the blade pierced straight for K's right eye! The movement was swift, ruthless, and precise, without the slightest hesitation, displaying a casual and cold-bloodedness akin to dissecting a frog in a laboratory!

The blade stopped abruptly less than an inch from K's pupil.

It came to a smooth stop.

He could even feel the cool, sharp edge of the blade cutting through the air, right in front of K's eyes.

The whole process happened in the blink of an eye.

The Skinny and the High Cheekbones standing to the side were so frightened they almost screamed. Their bodies trembled violently, and their faces turned deathly pale. They clearly hadn't expected their boss to pull such a stunt.

And K...

He remained seated there.

The body did not lean back, the neck did not dodge, and not even the shoulders shrugged.

His eyes didn't even blink before the knife tip that was about to pierce his pupils.

K's dark pupils calmly reflected the sharp blade so close to his face, and behind that blade, Xie Yunchuan's eyes, hidden behind his glasses, filled with inquiry, excitement, and a hint of cruel laughter. K's face remained expressionless throughout, devoid of fear, anger, or even a trace of surprise. It was as if what was aimed at him wasn't a weapon capable of easily robbing him of his sight, but a meaningless straw.

Time seemed to freeze for two seconds.

"Heh..." Xie Yunchuan chuckled softly, breaking the silence. With a flick of his wrist, the dangerous scalpel blade vanished from his fingers as if by magic, disappearing without a trace. At the same time, his tightly clenched right hand loosened.

He took a half step back and looked K up and down again with the same admiring gaze one would give to a work of art, especially K's eyes, which remained calm and unwavering.

"Interesting." Xie Yunchuan pushed up his Glasses, his gaze behind the lenses intense. "Zero reaction time, no pupil constriction, steady carotid pulse... You didn't even have an instinctive eye-closing reflex. Why... didn't you dodge?"

His tone was full of pure curiosity, like a researcher who had encountered an interesting experimental phenomenon.

K slowly turned his neck, shifting his gaze from the tip of the knife to Xie Yunchuan's face. He looked at the lingering excitement and curiosity in Xie's eyes, remained silent for a moment, and then spoke slowly in a flat, factual tone:

"Because..."

He paused, as if searching for the most accurate wording.

"Didn't react in time."

This answer was simple and unadorned, even somewhat... clumsy. Was it not based on extraordinary courage or precise judgment, but simply a slow neural transmission? Or perhaps, there was no intention to react at all?

Xie Yunchuan was stunned for a moment, then he suddenly burst into laughter!

"Hahahaha! Good! Good! Good!" He laughed so hard he almost fell over, even wiping away tears of laughter with the back of his hand. "I didn't realize! That answer is brilliant! You... you're so funny!"

He stopped laughing, but the light in his eyes shone even brighter, a kind of fervent excitement like discovering a rare specimen. He stepped forward, almost touching K, and said eagerly:

"So? Want to... work for me?"

He opened his arms as if to embrace a great future.

"You see, we have the best equipment, the most professional processes (he automatically ignored his own 'little hobbies'), and... endless 'resources'." He lowered his voice, full of allure, "What we need is someone like you. Calm, stable, with clear goals... and ruthless enough."

K looked at him, shook her head, and said in a flat voice, "Not interested."

The refusal was decisive and straightforward, leaving no room for negotiation.

Xie Yunchuan's eagerness cooled slightly, but he wasn't angry. Instead, he gave K a thumbs-up and exclaimed, "You've got guts! You've got way more guts than those two good-for-nothings lying inside!"

He pointed to the operating room across the glass, which was now empty but seemed to still retain an atmosphere of bloodshed and despair.

"So, they can only lie there, like pigs and sheep waiting to be slaughtered, howling and begging for mercy, until they become a pile of scattered 'materials.'" His tone carried a condescending contempt, then he turned to K, his gaze piercing. "And you, you can stand outside, calmly watching all this happen, even... deciding who should lie down inside."

He walked to the huge glass window, his back to K, gazing at the spotless, now empty operating room across the way. His voice became distant, as if he were depicting a grand blueprint:

"Do you know? Many people don't understand our cause. They only see the bloodshed, the cruelty... but they can't see the greatness behind it."

He turned around, and a flame, almost religiously fanatical, burned in his eyes behind his Glasses.

"What we're doing is a great undertaking that optimizes resource allocation! Just think about it, using the organs of individuals who are... well, perhaps 'inefficient' or 'low-value' in a social sense, to heal and prolong the lives of true strongmen, geniuses, and creators! How much wealth and employment can a business tycoon create if they live ten more years? How much technological progress can a top scientist drive if they live five more years? A great artist..."

He became more and more excited as he spoke, waving his arms:

"This means that every bit of value they create in the future has our contribution! Our dedication! Behind the scenes, we are silently providing the most basic 'life guarantee' for the progress of this world!"

He suddenly pointed into the void, as if Hawking or some other great man he imagined stood there.

"Think about it! When Hawking was contemplating the origin of the universe, when Einstein was calculating relativity... if they needed a healthy heart, a intact liver! Who provided that for them? It was us! We are indirectly participating in the great scientific process!"

His face flushed slightly with excitement, and his breathing became a little rapid. He turned around, facing K again, his eyes burning with fervor and sincerity, and spoke each word as if making a vow:

"And in the future, you will also have a part in this great cause of mine! This glory of advancing human progress... I will never keep it all to myself!"

He reached out, as if wanting to shake K's hand again, or pat him on the shoulder, to share this "sublime" passion.

K listened quietly the whole time, his face remaining expressionless, like the most detached observer watching an absurd one-man show.

Until Xie Yunchuan finished speaking those last words, full of passion and the meaning of "sharing," until the other person's fervent gaze locked onto him like a searchlight, awaiting a response—

K finally lifted his eyelids slightly.

He looked into Xie Yunchuan's eyes, burning with twisted ideals, and at his face, slightly flushed from self-proclaimed greatness.

Then, K's lips moved, and in a tone that remained calm and perfectly clear, he slowly uttered two words:

"Sand wall."