The night before the promotion

Chapter 27 Bad News

Zhou Si sat up from the hospital bed. This was the first hour he was awake.

During this hour, Zhou Si carefully examined his body and found several fresh scars on his abdomen and back. When he pressed gently, he felt a dull pain.

Feeling like there was something foreign in his nose, Zhou Si blocked one nostril and blew hard through the other nostril, blowing out a small ball of blue gelatinous substance. It seemed that his previous experience in the medical cabin was also a fact, not an imaginary dream.

only……

Zhou Si looked back at the end of his memory. Among the rows of blurry faces, a familiar face kept flashing.

Ruan Linrui.

Zhou Si hasn't seen her for three years, and hasn't dreamed of her for more than three years.

Not knowing whether it was the effect of the drugs or the reverberation of memories caused by the chaotic consciousness, Zhou Si was not sure whether Ruan Linrui who appeared in front of him at that time was real or an illusion. If possible, he hoped it was the latter.

"Cough cough..."

Zhou Si coughed painfully a few times, with blood in his saliva. It might be that his mucous membrane was scratched when the trachea was roughly pulled out.

Looking out the window, the sky is gloomy and heavy rain is brewing. In this hot summer, heavy rain is a good blessing, but before it comes, the air is still hot and unbearable, as if being in a steamer.

Zhou Si touched his left arm. It was empty except for a bearing-like connection that was abruptly embedded in the flesh. The surrounding area was covered with a thin layer of skin and flesh. When he tapped it gently, he could hear the sound of metal colliding.

The fairy accident killed half of Zhou Si's body, and this is not just talk.

Zhou Si's prosthesis was missing. He asked the doctors, but they didn't know where it was. They were only responsible for treating Zhou Si's injuries and checking his artificial organs to see if they were damaged in the battle.

According to the doctors, Zhou Si suffered some internal bleeding, concussion, and several broken bones, but his artificial organs were intact.

Zhou Si was not surprised by this. After all, machines are always more reliable than the human body.

Zhou Si stood up shakily. He was conscious but his body was still a little weak. This was a normal reaction after waking up in the medical cabin, as if his soul had taken over this empty body again.

Hurried footsteps were heard outside the door. The visitor did not knock but directly pushed open the door of the ward.

"Good morning, Team Leader Li."

Zhou Si sat back on the hospital bed tiredly, trying to put on a kind smile.

Li Weiyu was standing at the door, panting. He walked over quickly, pulled open Zhou Si's eyelids, observed his pupils, and raised his finger, signaling Zhou Si to follow his gaze.

"No need for testing. I'm awake and in good condition," Zhou Si touched his stomach, "I'm just a little hungry. The nutrient solution doesn't seem to be able to offset the hunger in my abdomen."

Seeing that Zhou Si still had the leisure to joke with him, Li Weiyun felt relieved. "You have been lying in the medical cabin for a week. Whatever was in your stomach, it has been digested."

"A week? That's incredible."

Zhou Si learned this news from the doctors as soon as he woke up.

Zhou Si was very surprised that he had been in a coma for a week. He was also very surprised that his serious injuries had healed almost completely after just lying in the medical cabin for a week.

"With such good results, the treatment plan must be very expensive, right?"

Zhou Si moved his right hand, clenched his fist, unclenched it, and then clenched his fist again. His muscles and nerves reacted normally, and there was nothing serious.

"It's really expensive. Every minute and every second you're in the medical cabin is burning a lot of money."

Li Weiyun was also shocked by this terrifying medical technology and its equally heavy price. "But please rest assured, Dr. Zhou, someone has already paid for your medical expenses."

Zhou Si glanced at Li Weiyun and said, "You don't have the financial means, but it seems that no one else will pay the bill for me except you."

Since the Xianyun accident, Zhou Si has bid farewell to the past. Li Weiyun may be one of the few friends he has in these years.

"Ruan Linrui," Li Weiyun casually threw out the name, "your ex-girlfriend, she paid for all this for you."

Hearing this name, Zhou Si was stunned for a moment.

Sure enough, it was not an illusion.

While Zhou Si was stunned, Li Weiyu told him what happened during Zhou Si's coma.

"When I arrived at the scene, the woman had already brought people from Shenwei Technology to retrieve you. What happened next is what you know. You were kept in the medical cabin until you woke up."

Zhou Si looked doubtful, "That's it?"

"What else do you want?"

Zhou Si fell on the bed and murmured, "She is here... That's true."

"As for the two avatar bodies that attacked you, we extracted the consciousness records from them, but just like before, the tracking signal disappeared in the vast ocean."

Li Weiyun said solemnly, "But what is certain is that the other party is Elysium, and they have already set their sights on you."

"but……"

Li Weiyun hesitated for a moment, but still spoke out his guess, "I suspect that the Elysium incident is related to Shenwei Technology. The woman rushed to the scene too quickly, as if she knew there would be an attack."

"The Elysium may really be related to Shenwei Technology," Zhou Si said, looking at the clouds outside the window, "but this attack has nothing to do with Ruan Linrui."

He raised his hand and tapped his left chest, making a dull metallic sound.

"I'm using an artificial organ from Shenwei Technology. According to the product agreement, they implanted a locator inside it. It's too simple, not to mention monitoring all the data of my body."

Zhou Si said very calmly, "You know what? When I just broke up with that woman, she was so angry that she checked my physical indicators through the backstage every day, like a voyeur. She also threatened me that if she adjusted the parameters of the artificial organ a little bit, I would get diabetes tomorrow."

"what?"

For a moment, Li Weiyu didn't know what expression to use to face Zhou Si.

"Oh my god, that woman is simply a lunatic. You have never been with her, Team Leader Li, you can't imagine how terrible her desire for control is," Zhou Si said to himself, "No wonder she can become the head of the Information Security Department."

Li Weiyun was a little bit unable to process such complicated information, "I'm still curious, why did you break up with her..."

"No, my breakup with her had nothing to do with her morbid desire for control," Zhou Si added, "Just like Shan Jun said, maybe I am happy about it."

Zhou Si moved his shoulders and did not continue to talk about his relationship with Ruan Linrui. "When I was seriously injured, the artificial organ should have sent an alarm to Ruan Linrui, so she came so timely."

He sighed in a low voice, "I have been away from my job for four years, but it seems that I am still under the watchful eyes of Shenwei Technology." Zhou Si was not surprised about this. As Chen Wen Ge's best student, the one with the most perfect feathering technique, and the person closest to becoming an immortal.

In the eyes of Shenwei Technology, Zhou Si is a very valuable asset, and this cannot be changed even if Zhou Si leaves.

Zhou Si glanced at Li Weiyu. He guessed that he was also under the surveillance of the Supervisory Bureau, but this Team Leader Li really treated him as a friend and never realized it.

Unknowingly, a dark storm had begun to rise, and Zhou Si once again stood in the center of the vortex.

Li Weiyun looked at Zhou Si again and again, and asked curiously, "Then why did you break up?"

"Are you gossiping?"

"I guess so," Li Weiyun admitted, "I'm just curious. I've known you for so long, and you've never mentioned this... You don't seem like someone who would have a romantic history."

Zhou Si was amused. "Am I so cold in your eyes?"

"It's okay. Sometimes you are really interesting, especially when you are treating patients. You always burst out with unimaginable enthusiasm," Li Weiyun judged Zhou Si from his perspective, "but most of the time, you give people the feeling that you have no desire."

Zhou Si pondered his words for a moment and explained, "There is no reason. It's just that after experiencing the Lishi disease, my world was shattered. I felt that I could no longer bear the responsibility of loving someone, nor could I love someone wholeheartedly, so it ended. It's very simple."

"That doesn't sound like the truth of the matter."

Zhou Si said, "What the world lacks most is unsolved mysteries."

The time for chatting was almost over, and Zhou Si was trying to calm himself down. He knew that Li Weiyu was hiding something, and Li Weiyu also knew it, and he had actually noticed it a long time ago.

Sometimes human social interactions are just so... subtle. There are some things that everyone knows clearly, but due to various reasons, they have to express them in roundabout ways.

From a rational point of view, this is a redundant and meaningless waste, but from a human point of view, they regard this as human emotion.

Zhou Si tried his best to control his emotions, "Since I have been attacked, what about Pei Dong?"

"Unfortunately," Li Weiyun shook his head helplessly, like a child being trained, "When we arrived at her home, she had mysteriously disappeared, and the surrounding surveillance cameras had also been hacked. We had no idea where she had gone."

Zhou Si had anticipated such an answer and was mentally prepared, but when it really appeared before him, his heart still couldn't help but ripple.

"Zhou Si, maybe I will agree to them?"

Pei Dong's words echoed in his mind, and his soul decayed and rotted among the mutilated zombies.

Zhou Si took a deep breath and continued to ask, "Besides this, are there any other clues?"

"We have made some progress on the tiger line," Li Weiyun said. "By tracing back the mind records and looking up the serial number of Luo Yong's incarnation, it led us to the hidden alley."

Zhou Si repeated, "Hidden Alley?"

"This is the largest second-hand body shell trading area in Yanyan City, or... the smuggling trading area," Li Weiyu said. "The results point to this place, which is in line with our expectations."

Zhou Si said as he walked out the door, "Very good, we have already wasted a week, it's time to speed up."

Zhou Si opened the door and waited for Li Weiyu at the door. He shouted, "What are you still standing there for? Team Leader Li."

Li Weiyun stood up and said, "Your injury has not yet healed."

"so what?"

"Nothing. I thought you wouldn't just stay here and recuperate. Ruan Linrui also knew that you wouldn't just lie here and wait to die.

Dr. Zhou, you are like a desperado who is busy rushing towards destruction, a car that burns to a shell but never slows down. Nothing can stop you. "

Li Weiyun picked up a bag from somewhere and shook it, and there was a clattering sound of medicine bottles colliding inside.

"This is the painkiller prescribed by the doctor. Remember to take it on time."

Li Weiyu threw the bag over and Zhou Si caught it easily. His body's reaction was still healthy, but after losing the prosthesis in his left arm, his balance became a little poor.

"Elysian Paradise, Incarnation Killer, Metamorphosis Technique..."

Li Weiyu kept muttering all the way as he and Zhou Si walked to the hospital gate. Bursts of thunder sounded from the gloomy sky, like the sound of hammers coming from a distant land.

He complained in a low voice, "I didn't expect Luo Yong to be involved in such a complicated matter."

Li Weiyun rummaged through his pockets, took out a box of cigarettes, picked up one skillfully and lit it.

He took a deep breath, and the depression and anxiety in his heart were relieved a lot under the catalysis of nicotine, just like before.

Once upon a time, Li Weiyu was like a religious believer. He didn't smoke or drink, lived a regular life, and abided by his desires.

With his outstanding qualities, Li Weiyu was promoted to team leader in the Supervisory Bureau in just a few years. However, everything changed after his fiancée was sent to a sanatorium and his life became a mess.

Even Li Weiyun, under the heavy blows of life, unconsciously seeks some spiritual comfort. Some people need power, some need wealth, some need sex, and some need recognition from others...

It seems that everyone’s comfort is different, just like the thousands of souls under a thousand faces, unique and ever-changing.

Zhou Si reached out and took a cigarette from Li Weiyu's cigarette box. Li Weiyu looked at Zhou Si in surprise. As far as he could remember, this was the first time Zhou Si had smoked.

Li Weiyun lit a cigarette for Zhou Si and put away the lighter. The two of them looked at the city under the gloomy clouds, feeling anxious and sad.

"Doctor Zhou, are you a nihilist?"

"That's it."

"Did the Immortal Falls accident cause you to become like this?"

"possible."

Zhou Si narrowed his eyes and recalled the not-so-distant past, until the rumbling sound of the hammer was approaching and the boiling rain poured down.

The crackling sound of the rain blocked out the hustle and bustle of the city, immersing everything in the chaotic rain curtain. The air did not become cooler, on the contrary, heat and boredom spread, as if a big fire was cooking the city and everyone in it.

Zhou Si threw away the cigarette butt, exhaled, and stepped into the rain.

"Let's go, Team Leader Li, this is a big case."

(End of this chapter)