"Is there something outside the window?" Yang Qi's puzzled voice came from behind, "Why are you staring at the window?"

"Nothing." Sun Hang shook his head, "Just spacing out... thinking about some things."

"There's no time for daydreaming now. Besides this surgery, there's more important work to be done tonight," Yang Qi said, "The experiment on Chen Hongjuan's side should have already started. We'll head there now."

"Hmm..." Sun Hang nodded and glanced back at the empty windowsill.

He vaguely felt that perhaps the Three Monkeys' obstruction was justified...

He seemed to have inadvertently released a major trouble.

...

Though Yang Qi said they should rush over now, she humanely gave Sun Hang twenty minutes of rest.

She herself hurriedly left carrying a tablet and a stack of documents.

"Got anything to drink?" Sun Hang patted Song Yarong sitting at the computer— although the surgery was complete, she couldn't leave, needing to constantly monitor the infection progress inside Jiang Yu... If everything went smoothly, they would move Jiang Yu to the special care room once the anesthesia wore off; but if any accident occurred... beside the computer, there was a red button covered by an acrylic protective shield, specifically for responding to such situations.

The institute was already prepared for the worst—a "harmless disposal" of Jiang Yu.

"Something to drink?" Song Yarong looked around, "There's only pure water, glucose, and saline... Oh right, there should be vending machines for drinks in the hallway outside, you can buy some by swiping your work ID, but I'm not sure if they've restocked recently, given the current special situation, you know."

"Alright, what would you like to drink? I'll bring you something," Sun Hang asked.

"Coffee, canned or instant will do." Song Yarong stretched lazily, "I'll have to stay up all night tonight, can't even afford a nap."

"OK."

Sun Hang walked out of the operating room, went down the corridor, and soon found three vending machines standing side by side next to a long bench in a rest area.

However, the shelves of the vending machine selling bottled drinks were empty, only a few flavors that tasted abominably bad were left untouched.

Sun Hang glanced at the machine selling instant coffee, its light shining green, with some light brown stains left on the floor.

Even in special times, the institute's coffee supply had never broken—after all, for those lab coat workers who stay up late as routine, coffee had become a survival necessity second only to three meals a day.

Sun Hang took two paper cups, poured two steaming cups of instant coffee, and returned to the operating room.

He placed a cup of coffee on Song Yarong's desk.

"Thank you."

Song Yarong picked up the cup, gently blew twice at the mouth, then slowly sipped a bit.

"I couldn't find where the sugar packets were, and there's no milk either," Sun Hang said.

"I'm used to drinking black coffee now, no need for sugar or milk," Song Yarong shook her head, "If you find it bitter, you can add some glucose solution—the stuff is sweet, probably four or five drops are enough."

"Forget it, adding that stuff to the coffee makes it no different from mop water," Sun Hang waved his hand and turned to look at Jiang Yu, who was still lying on the operating table, her body covered in tubes and electrodes, with restraints made of flexible materials firmly fixing her limbs and body to the table.

"How long before she wakes up?" Sun Hang asked.

"According to the anesthesiologist's dosage, an average person should wake up after about eight hours, the surgery already took over five hours..." Song Yarong glanced at the equipment screen, "However, judging from the vital signs, she's still very weak now, waking up tomorrow morning would be quite fortunate."

"The Taisui meme will enhance the human body, but that's after the complete fusion," Song Yarong continued, "She's had too many things replaced, the only concern is that the infection progress doesn't break the danger threshold... Speaking of, are you planning to recruit her into the Field Operations Department?"

"No, I'm planning to establish an independent unit, she would probably be one of the first soldiers in this unit," Sun Hang said.

"No matter where you plan to send her, you'd better be cautious," Song Yarong reminded, "Her situation is different from mine... Even if her condition remains stable, her infection progress will stay at a relatively high level. Suppose every infected person is like a bomb, this infection progress is like the bomb's fuse; my fuse is still quite long, while her 'fuse' is almost burned to the end."

"You mean she could undergo a complete aberration anytime?"

"I didn't say that, with proper control, there are people who can keep their infection progress stuck at the dangerous level for ten or even dozens of years... But cases vary from person to person, I advise you to always prepare for the worst."

"I'll have someone keep an eye on her," Sun Hang nodded.

An image of Ling Xiao popped into his head—the emotionless Ling Xiao seemed well-suited for this job, after all, he didn't hesitate to shoot at both Sun Hang and Chen Hongjuan; if asked to deal with an aberrant teammate, he'd certainly have no qualms.

The only concern is whether Ling Xiao would win against an aberrated Jiang Yu when the time comes.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.