Break out of the courtyard

"Heping, when will Cao Jian's mother be discharged from the hospital?"

When the group arrived in front of the hospital's inpatient building, Mr. Hua suddenly asked a question.

Yesterday, in order to dissuade Cao Jian's mother from her insistence, Zhang Heping let her enter a virtual learning dream and spent the afternoon on the second floor of the library.

As a result, when the medical staff finally opened the virtual learning pod where she was, they only found her unconscious and curled up at the bottom of the pod.

"You can be discharged once you wake up," Zhang Heping replied casually, and strode into the inpatient building.

Yesterday was just to teach Cao Jian's mother a lesson, so that she wouldn't be so arrogant as to come back and beg Zhang Heping to let her son into the virtual learning dream.

The four arrived at the neurology ward floor. Hua suggested visiting Cao Jian's mother, but Zhang Heping refused, telling them to go see her on their own. He then greeted a group of neurology medical staff.

The reason why Hua Lao mentioned this was mainly to test how much Zhang Heping valued Cao Jian.

At this point, it seems that Zhang Heping's regard for Cao Jian was only average, far from reaching the level of "love me, love my dog".

It's not that Elder Hua and the others are overthinking things, since Zhang Heping promised them a virtual dream system and a library as soon as he arrived.

Watching Zhang Heping and the group of medical staff leave, Hua Lao finally came to a conclusion: Zhang Heping only valued Cao Jian's talent.

After Director Zhao arrived, he remained silent.

Although he had heard some things about Cao Jian, he didn't care much because he had never met the little guy.

Then they met Zhang Heping discussing treatment plans with a group of doctors, and then followed Zhang Heping, leaving Elder Hua, Director Wang, and Xiao Qin waiting at the elevator entrance.

"Professor Zhang, we have moved the three vegetative patients to one ward as you requested. This way, please!" Director Xue of the neurology department excitedly led the way, unaware that a bigwig in the medical field was following behind him.

Director Zhao was among the first group of mainland doctors to receive training from Soviet neurosurgery experts. He then dedicated himself to neurosurgery for decades, mentoring many students. His status in the field of medical neurosurgery was that of a leading figure; otherwise, Zhang Heping would not have invited him to the underground base of the Peace Academy.

After Director Xue of the neurology department pointed to the vegetative patients on the hospital beds and explained the treatment plans they had prepared for each one, Zhang Heping unexpectedly turned to ask Director Zhao for his opinion.

Then, a group of neurology medical staff realized that this seemingly old man in his fifties or sixties was actually Zhao Yicheng, the director of neurosurgery at Xuanwu Hospital in the capital!

After exchanging pleasantries, Director Zhao stepped forward to check on the three patients and then said, "I've only experienced virtual dreams twice, and I'm still a novice in dream therapy. Let's see how you do it first."

While Director Zhao was having his physical exam, Zhang Heping had already connected the monkey brain server and the brain-computer interface helmet.

“Then I will take Director Zhao to see the virtual dream hospital first. Director Xue, please call in the family member of the patient in the left bed.”

As Zhang Heping spoke, he beckoned Director Zhao to stand two meters away from the monkey brain server and gave him a brain-computer interface helmet. The others shrank into corners or retreated outside the door, peering through the glass.

Zhang Heping looked around and saw that all the medical staff had consciously moved back. He nodded and said, "It seems you all remembered what I said yesterday, but I still have to say it again: stand further away to avoid being attacked by the scattered spiritual energy."

"Mental power, like radiation, can be deadly even though it's invisible!"

After speaking, Zhang Heping had Director Zhao put on the brain-computer interface helmet. Zhang Heping was wearing gold-rimmed glasses, so he didn't need the helmet.

Although the medical staff nearby were puzzled as to why Zhang Heping did not use a brain-computer interface helmet, they did not ask any further questions because Zhang Heping had said yesterday that this matter was confidential.

This monkey brain server was just a temporary measure, so Zhang Heping didn't build a very complex hospital and equipment in its brain. He only built a small clinic with lights on in the dark.

Zhang Heping gave Director Zhao a brief tour of the small clinic before letting him exit the dream.

At the same time, Director Xue had already led a patient's family member along the wall to a corner of the ward.

"Director Xue, you will be in charge of the treatment from now on. Old Zhao will observe from the side." Zhang Heping waved to Director Xue in the corner, then took a brain-computer interface helmet and went to the patient's area.

Due to treatment needs, all three hospital beds here have been turned around, with the legs of the beds against the wall and the patients' heads facing the door and corridor, making it easier to wear helmets.

Zhang Heping casually said, "If the patient's family members need to cooperate, you can have Old Zhao step out, and then I'll have the patient's family members put on their helmets."

"Okay, Teacher Zhang!" Director Xue walked over excitedly, and even shook hands with Director Zhao, asking for his guidance.

Seeing that Director Zhao and Director Xue were both holding helmets and hadn't moved, Zhang Heping added, "I'll put the helmets on the patients after you go in."

After saying that, Director Zhao and Director Xue put on their helmets and entered the dreamlike little clinic.

The two had just sat down in the small clinic when they heard a series of hurried footsteps, as if someone was running.

Not long after, a middle-aged man appeared at the entrance of the small clinic, panting heavily, his eyes quickly scanning the scene inside and outside the clinic.

The clinic was very simply furnished, with only a table and three chairs, not even a stethoscope, let alone a computer or a water dispenser.

The middle-aged man looked at the endless darkness outside the clinic, then at the two elderly men inside, and asked, "Excuse me, is this the underworld?"

Director Xue looked at Director Zhao, who then gestured for him to begin the treatment.

"This isn't the underworld, and you're not dead!" Director Xue said slowly, looking at the patient who was unconscious after the car accident.

"Gong Yuan, you have been in a coma for seven months. Your wife, Liu Menglin, brought you to our Heping Hospital's neurology department for treatment. I am your attending physician, Xue Hong, and this is Professor Zhao, a neurosurgery expert."

"If you are willing to accept our treatment, you can sit down and we can talk slowly."

Perhaps tormented by the car accident dream for too long, the patient named Gong Yuan only glanced at the endless darkness outside before walking into the small clinic and sitting opposite Director Xue and the others, separated only by a wooden desk.

"Very good, you made a wise choice!" Director Xue said with a smile. "Before I begin your treatment, I need to explain to you our current environment..."

Because Zhang Heping did not enable the acceleration mode for the monkey brain server, he and the others waited for more than 20 minutes before they saw Director Zhao take off his helmet.

Director Zhao glanced around and spotted Zhang Heping behind him. He quickly said, "Heping, the patient wants to see his family."

Zhang Heping took the helmet, then waved to the female family member who was both nervous and expectant, briefly explained how to exit the dream, and handed the helmet to her.

As the female family member put on the helmet, everyone else's attention focused on Director Zhao.

Remembering Zhang Heping's instructions, Director Zhao stepped back against the wall before explaining to everyone, "The patient is very cooperative, and Director Xue has already gained the patient's trust."

"Just like your treatment plan says, the next step depends on the patient's willpower and will to live!"

Upon hearing this, the surrounding medical staff were overjoyed, eager to immediately put on their helmets and check on the situation in the dream.

Unfortunately, there are only 3 helmets available at the moment. To be precise, excluding the helmet that must be given to the patient, there are only 2 helmets available for doctors to use.

Time passed by, and soon it was the agreed-upon hour.

Zhang Heping transmitted a spiritual force into the dream, reminding them to exit.

Director Xue withdrew decisively, but the patient's family members were reluctant to leave.

Zhang Heping waited an extra five minutes before forcibly taking the helmet from the female family member. "Get out!" Zhang Heping said coldly to the patient's family member, ignoring the stunned woman who was standing there crying, and continued to take the helmet from the patient's head.

Two female nurses stepped forward and pulled the female family member away, while two male doctors stepped forward and pushed the table under the monkey brain server in front of the middle bed, preparing for the next treatment.

"Director Xue!" Zhang Heping placed the helmet on the table. "I have things to attend to at the library, so you can handle things here on your own!"

"In addition, I will leave a team of bodyguards here to protect this equipment. They will take the equipment away after you are done using it."

“Okay, Professor Zhang!” Director Xue replied hurriedly. “You go ahead and do your work. I’ll send today’s clinical trial report to your email later.”

"Connect the suspension wire to the helmet. If the time limit is exceeded or the user's complexion is abnormal, pull the helmet up to stop them from entering the dream." Zhang Heping gave this final instruction before walking towards Director Zhao to ask him whether he wanted to stay or leave.

The novel treatment experience made Director Zhao choose to stay without hesitation.

So Zhang Heping went out, greeted Hua Lao and Director Wang, and then returned to the library with another team of bodyguards.

Because the personal transport mecha wasn't ready yet, Zhang Heping didn't assign any new tasks to the teenagers in the genius training camp today.

However, Zhang Long and Zhang Hu led a group of teenagers to work on exoskeleton mechs today. Judging from their progress, they should be able to finish one by tonight.

Zhang Heping continued to work in the server room to improve the data on the regenerative brain server, preparing to fill it with all the knowledge he knew, as a way of leaving a legacy.

His eight children, lacking any special advantages, were unable to inherit all of his knowledge.

It's fine to teach it to outsiders, but those outsiders might not be grateful to him after learning it.

For example, when Zhang Heping got into trouble, there were no protests or demonstrations in various places to demand justice for him, despite the materials and instructional videos posted on the World Internet Forum.

Therefore, when he left data on the regenerative brain server in the library, he also added a floor multiplier limit. People who don't know how to adjust the base acceleration multiplier shouldn't think about staying on the higher floors of the dream library for too long.

……

Japan's East City, Ministry of Safety and Health.

Hey! No danger detected so far!

"The flu patients discovered earlier have all recovered and been discharged from the hospital; they pose little threat!"

"Hey! We will definitely continue to monitor the situation diligently, please rest assured!"

In the huge office, everyone else was silent, except for a bald old man with a mustache in front of them who kept talking into the microphone.

About five or six minutes later, the bald old man finally put down the landline phone, and the office came back to life.

"Minister, those four viruses only cause the common cold, is it really necessary to be so concerned?"

"Hosokawa-kun, don't forget whose lab that virus came from!"

"If that virus is really related to the Lifespan 200 potion, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to take it a hundred times more seriously!"

Just as everyone was discussing this, the bald old man came up behind a middle-aged man and asked in a low voice, "Kawasaki, have the flu numbers reported by the various hospitals been tallied?"

"As of midnight last night, all hospitals in Dongdu have received a total of 13211 patients with colds!" After the middle-aged man finished speaking, he turned to the bald old man behind him and asked in confusion, "Minister, are you worried about the flu caused by those viruses?"

"I have a feeling this isn't as simple as it seems!" the bald old man muttered as he walked to the side.

Tokyo is such a large city, and from the 29th of last month to today the 3rd, only 13211 cases of the flu have been found, which is a very low flu rate.

However, there is a big potential problem here.

For the common cold, patients usually buy cold medicine at the pharmacy and only seek professional treatment at the hospital when their condition does not improve.

Therefore, it's not wrong for the bald old man to pay attention to the number of cold patients in the hospital.

The fact that those four types of viruses cause colds is really easy to treat makes one wonder why Zhang Heping had such a strong reaction after losing the culture medium for those four viruses!

Even though the Japanese islanders pride themselves on their intelligence, they could never have imagined that those ancient viruses could affect human genes.

Many biologists believe that humans evolved from monkeys, but they cannot explain why so many monkeys have not become humans!

Therefore, some people attributed the evolution of monkeys into humans to genetic mutation.

So another question arises: what causes gene mutations?

Given the vast global population, even going back hundreds of millions of years, there would still be tens of thousands of people.

If these tens of thousands of people were originally monkeys, how did they simultaneously or successively undergo genetic mutations to become humans?

Virus!

……

Director Zhao spent the morning at the Department of Neurology at Hong Kong Island Peace Hospital, listening to the summaries from the medical staff, before going to lunch with Professor Hua and the others.

On the way to the Peace Hotel, Director Wang casually asked, "What does Elder Zhao think of that medical brain-computer interface?"

“It’s very rudimentary, like an old-fashioned landline phone!” Director Zhao knew what they wanted to ask, which was why he hadn’t mentioned to Zhang Heping about setting up a virtual dream system at Shenzhen Heping Hospital. “What you want is a high-end system that can accommodate hundreds of people entering a dream at the same time.”

“This morning when I was using the virtual dream device at the hospital, I briefly mentioned it to Heping. He said he didn’t have time to work on it right now, so I didn’t say anything more.”

“This kind of equipment should be quite mature by now!” said Xiao Qin, the bodyguard and secretary walking behind. “Please ask Consultant Zhang to take a few days to make one. It shouldn’t be difficult!”

Originally, Xiao Qin had no right to speak here, but since Elder Hua didn't say anything, it's likely that he instructed Xiao Qin to say these words, which can be considered a tactful question.

Director Zhao pondered for a moment and said, "Advisor Zhang gave you a piece of advice today, which you may not know since you weren't here at the time."

He said, "Stand back a bit to avoid being attacked by the scattered spiritual energy."

"I don't need to explain what mental power is and what it can do. I think Consultant Zhang went to the hospital this morning specifically to see if the medical staff were operating it according to his instructions. He was worried that the equipment might harm the medical staff!"

"Therefore, we need to verify with Consultant Zhang the mature statement made by this young comrade."

"If it's truly a mature technology, why would he need to personally deliver the equipment to the hospital and test that virtual dream system himself!"

Old Hua frowned and asked, "What does Old Zhao mean?"

"Wait!" Director Zhao smiled and said, "We'll talk to Heping about the equipment after the clinical trials here are over and after things at the library are settled."

...(End of chapter)