MCL CH140

Chapter 140: Take him home.

Lin Xi hadn’t expected Shen Nanyang to have actually removed all the detection equipment from the Central Research Institute. He got out of the car, carrying a dense contamination radiation value, but surprisingly, he didn’t hear the sharp alarms he had imagined.

Almost as soon as they got out of the car, they saw a figure in a white lab coat walking out of the laboratory building.

“Professor Shen, long time no see.” Lin Xi’s tone was as familiar as if he were facing a close friend. His gaze swept over Shen Nanyang’s excessively pale face, the end of his sentence rising slightly. “Are you sick? It looks like you’ve also had a hard time recently. At least your current state is somewhat terrible.”

The assistant: “Isn’t that the truth? The professor has been…”

Before the assistant could finish, Shen Nanyang calmly interrupted him. “My condition is very good. No need to worry. I have already arranged all the equipment needed for the surgery. As long as you are ready, we can start at any time.”

“I’m ready anytime too.” As Lin Xi spoke, he was already striding towards the laboratory building. “Time is already tight. I think we can start right now.”

One after another, the protective doors opened layer by layer after confirming his authority.

After following Shen Nanyang through the last door, a scene of people rushing back and forth came into Lin Xi’s view.

He had known about the secret laboratory in the Central Research Institute when he was the Chief Executor of the United Administration. He had even personally approved it back then. He just never thought that the purpose of setting up this laboratory back then was for a high-risk experiment with a heavy price, and now, its official use was actually on himself.

Lin Xi cooperated with a series of pre-operative procedures. When he returned in a plain white patient gown, he looked at the people still busy in the laboratory and was even in the mood to joke, “I feel like I haven’t been treated with such ceremony for a long time, right, President Yan?”

What answered him was a stretch of silence.

Lin Xi glanced back at the almost expressionless man beside him and reached out to smooth his furrowed brow. “An expression like yours makes me feel that the future is not very optimistic.”

Yan Xingzhou looked at him and, after a moment, spoke, “It will be successful.”

Four simple words, but it was unclear whether he was saying them to Lin Xi or to himself.

Lin Xi patted Yan Xingzhou’s shoulder and walked into the room with a relaxed expression.

The laboratory door closed as he entered, and for a moment, all sounds were blocked out. Only silence remained in the corridor.

Yan Xingzhou lowered his eyelids, retracted his gaze, and leaned against the wall outside the door, waiting patiently.

Led by the staff, Lin Xi lay down on the operating table and squinted slightly under the glaring lights.

In his mind, a certain contaminant was making a last-ditch, struggling attempt.

[I say, is there really no room for turning back?]

[You absolutely cannot trust that Shen guy. I have a feeling he’s trying to harm me, I mean, harm us!]

[I went through so much trouble to resurrect you. We have a pretty good relationship now, right? Wouldn’t it be too much of a loss to die directly on the operating table?]

[Actually, there are other ways, right? Look, I’ve got the contaminant side stabilized for you. There’s actually still a lot of time for humanity to make other plans.]

[How is this trying to take my crystal core from your body! We’re already one. It will really be fatal!]

[Hey, hey, hey, don’t play dead! Can you hear me!?]

“I hear you.” Lin Xi closed his eyes, looking too lazy to bother. “So, are you done talking? If not, continue.”

[……]

“Looks like you’re done. Then be quiet.” Lin Xi let out a careless chuckle in his mind. “Humoring Yan Xingzhou is one thing, that’s because I’m willing to humor him. But for you, I don’t have that much patience. Know your place and be quiet. If you still want to have any crooked thoughts…”

At this point, his words paused slightly. As if thinking of something, he sighed silently. “Forget it, let’s make it simpler.”

[Simpler? What simpler?]

This choice of words clearly made Calamity sense that something was wrong. By the time he came to his senses and tried to resist, it was already too late: [No, you can’t… Ugh, ahhhh—! Lin Xi, you’re really a dog… you can’t do this… Ugh, ah, right… hic.]

Before He could finish, his mind had completely quieted down.

As expected, this was the most comfortable.

Lin Xi satisfyingly opened his eyelids, just in time to see the figure who had finished preparations and come before him. Their eyes met, and he silently curved his lips. “Professor Shen, I’ll be in your hands this time.”

After a brief silence, Shen Nanyang replied, “I will give you a satisfactory answer.”

The sky gradually darkened, then became bright again.

Then, it entered the night once more.

Unknowingly, the surgery had been going on for nearly 36 hours.

Finally, when the last crystal core fragment was separated from the human body, before the people on site had time to cheer, they heard the alarms of various instruments going off one after another.

“Not good, the contamination radiation is suddenly and continuously rising. If this continues, it will be completely uncontrollable.”

“The crystal core fusion rate is too high. After complete separation, the human body is instead starting to show signs of disorder!”

“Abnormal brainwaves. His body is autonomously resisting the departure of the crystal core.”

“How could this be… Why is his contamination radiation even higher after removing the crystal core? If this continues…”

“Attempt to awaken consciousness failed. Requesting a second attempt.”

…

No one had expected such a sudden situation when the surgery was on the verge of success.

This body of Lin Xi’s dependence on the contaminant crystal core was clearly far beyond their understanding.

In a scene of chaos, everyone’s nerves were stretched to the limit.

Lying on the operating table, Lin Xi’s eyes were tightly shut. His body, though completely anesthetized, was tensed to the extreme due to instinctual reactions. The dense blood vessels protruding on his skin were clearly visible.

If this continued, and he couldn’t use his own consciousness to forcibly suppress this physiological reaction, this special body that was neither human nor contaminant would soon completely collapse.

But alas, the calls to Lin Xi’s consciousness had failed three times in a row.

“Professor, what should we do?” The assistant looked at Shen Nanyang, somewhat at a loss.

Although there was no reason, from his recent contact with Shen Nanyang, he was inexplicably certain that this person had absolutely anticipated such a development.

Shen Nanyang’s face was even paler under the immense mental exhaustion. He frowned and was just about to turn around when he heard a loud “Bang—!” from behind.

Yan Xingzhou had kicked the door open from the outside and charged straight in.

“President Yan?! President Yan, you can’t come in.”

The research personnel, in a state of high tension, were startled by Yan Xingzhou’s appearance. They hurriedly tried to stop him but were thrown to the ground.

“President Yan, the surgery is still in progress. You really can’t come in!”

“You’ll affect the progress of the experiment, President Yan!”

“President Yan…”

The rest of the words were cut short by the dense supernatural ability fluctuation that exploded around them. Everyone felt as if an invisible hand was squeezing their throats, rendering them unable to speak another word.

Yan Xingzhou’s icy gaze swept over the glistening, blood-stained crystal core fragments on the operating table. Finally, his eyes met Shen Nanyang’s fixedly. “Is this your ‘infallible’ plan?”

“It’s not the end yet.”

Shen Nanyang was not surprised by Yan Xingzhou’s appearance. His pale face was still calm. “It’s just that this final step needs you to complete it.”

Yan Xingzhou’s eyes were a deep pool. “Me?”

“Prolonged coexistence with the crystal core has caused the body to develop a strong dependence on these contaminants’ ‘hearts.’ Forcibly separating them will inevitably trigger a strong rejection response.” Shen Nanyang stated each word clearly. “If it were anyone else, the only outcome would probably be complete collapse. But, he is Lin Xi.”

He did not shy away from Yan Xingzhou’s gaze. “In Lin Xi’s consciousness right now, he is facing a tug-of-war between his human ‘him’ and the contaminant ‘Him.’ What needs to be done now is to bring back his human side.”

At Shen Nanyang’s words, Yan Xingzhou turned his head and looked at the person on the operating table.

Compared to the incessant alarms from before, the surrounding equipment had gradually quieted down. The person on the bed also seemed to be gradually adapting to the state of being separated from the crystal core, slowly relaxing his body.

But it was only a slight relaxation. Whether it was his tightly furrowed brow or his hands gripping the edge of the operating table, everything indicated that he was making some kind of choice deep in his consciousness.

“Even without you saying it, I would still go to take him home.”

Yan Xingzhou walked to Lin Xi’s side, reached out, and slowly caressed his face. His low words were like a soft murmur to the person before him. “This is something we agreed on long ago.”

As these words fell, the researchers on site felt an unprecedented sense of oppression wash over them. Many, unable to react in time, fell to the ground, their legs giving way.

When they looked up again, what entered their eyes was Yan Xingzhou’s figure, enveloped in a powerful supernatural ability fluctuation.

Someone finally reacted.

Besides being an X-rank dual-ability user, this man also possessed—the world’s top-tier dream-type ability.

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