Chapter 177 Frank Hospital
Had Jian Qingrong been aware of Wen Shi’s high regard for him and belief in his excellent self-control, his confidence would have crumbled.
The mentor he spoke of, upon finding out the truth, would not only fail to understand but would also want to whip him with a cane.
Jian Qingrong was still seriously considering the feasibility of his plan. During their previous conversation, Wen Shi explained that no matter how noisy things got later, he should stay away from A’Ao.
A’Ao could be aggressive with patients, but with players, he took a more passive approach. Hospital rules prevented the director from using extreme violence, but now those rules were loosening. A’Ao was actually getting ready to send Wen Shi and the troublesome interns on their way to the afterlife.
The monster would inevitably use a hand taken from the medical interns. A’Ao wouldn’t personally do this minor task. Jian Qingrong just had to wait halfway and make the switch from the nurse’s hands.
However, he couldn’t directly kill the nurse…
“I need some help.”
Jian Qingrong came up with the idea of involving the host, who was good at brainwashing and creating illusions. In reality, the host’s ability to deceive was much stronger than that of the【Pen Stylus】. The host was just the right choice to deal with the nurse.
Closing his eyes, Jian Qingrong’s body transformed into countless dense dark particles, some of which carried negative energy from his shadow.
In the dead silence of the chaotic black mist, every component of his body became like detachable building blocks. The soul was the core of the Lord of Terror, and this was why he had left vital organs in his clone as a leverage in deceiving the game.
Jian Qingrong extracted some of the energy from the dark mist to prevent A’Ao from succumbing to the temptation of devouring flesh and blood.
Then, as per his will, the dark mist condensed into the shape of a hand. Jian Qingrong walked to the makeshift workspace, using the contaminant to control the hand to knock on the door. The host, who was diligently working on his manuscript, raised his head. Outside the door, a deranged, blurry dark mist had gathered, with a pale severed hand knocking.
“……”
The host silently thought that working late into the night indeed brought bad luck.
•
Meanwhile, the even more unlucky Wen Shi was now under the guidance of Tu Bianxi as they entered the operating room.
The interior was larger than imagined, confirming Tu Bianxi’s claim that there were many nurses involved in each surgery. This room was spacious enough to accommodate a dozen people.
Except for the space around the operating table, which seemed to be isolated, the rest was shrouded in red light. The shade of red resembled freshly slaughtered meat, glossy and vibrant, and the faint scent of blood in the air seemed as though it had been amplified.
Wen Shi furrowed his brow. Apart from some basic surgical equipment, there was only a very small cabinet in sight, nowhere to hide a person.
If forced to choose a stealthy approach, they could only use one method: an invisibility item coupled with suppressing their own aura. However, the game imposed strict restrictions on invisibility items, as they only worked againts NPCs, and their effectiveness in disrupting entities below the true spirit level was too overpowering. As a result, most of these effects were very short-lived and came with cooldown periods.
Wen Shi’s【Small Cloak】was an exception. It could be used in conjunction with higher-level similar items, but the total duration still wouldn’t exceed five minutes. Yu Xingzhou and the others had similar high-level items.
Tu Bianxi had long anticipated what might happen and spoke with a hint of sarcasm, “That’s why I said trying to kill someone during surgery is delusional.”
He was only responsible for leading the way. The abnormal level of lighting in the corridor today made Tu Bianxi suspect whether the hospital director himself was undergoing surgery. He didn’t intend to participate in their rebirth mission and found an excuse, “The ward missing a patient might raise alarm. I’m heading back.”
Wen Shi didn’t stop him.
Once Tu Bianxi left, the group began speaking without restraint.
Song Yan was the first to break the silence, “Are we still sticking to the plan?”
With no hiding spots, it meant they could only launch an attack at the beginning of the surgery. This place wasn’t a standard operating room. It lacked even laminar flow systems, so the transplant was likely not very precise. As a monster, A’Ao was just temporarily using someone else’s hand, so the surgery time could be further reduced.
But it was unlikely to be reduced to under five minutes.
Wen Shi nodded. “Even if the transplant process hasn’t started by the three or four-minute mark, we’ll still have to strike.”
They had only one chance to hit hard and run.
To players, the boss was like an immovable giant. Now that A’Ao had lost half his heart, his strength had greatly diminished. They had to employ the “death by thousand cuts” tactic to further weaken him, similar to how they dealt with Jian Guangsi.
Every bit of damage counted.
The lights turned even redder, and the surgical lights on the operating table suddenly lit up on their own. The entire room seemed to transform into a beast’s belly.
Before long, they heard the sound of a medical cart approaching in the corridor. The group exchanged glances, all eyes fixed on the location of the operating room. The moment the footsteps grew infinitely close and then stopped, they immediately activated invisibility and layered it with an item to conceal their aura.
The door to the operating room opened fully, letting in a gust of cold air.
The first to come into view was a small cart, followed by a stream of thin nurses. Behind them were several plump nurses carrying electric batons.
Having completed two high-difficulty instances, Song Yan had no shortage of points to purchase items. Even though he was sure they were in stealth mode now, seeing so many NPCs all at once still made him a bit nervous.
The four of them stood as close to the wall as possible to avoid contact with the nurses. Wen Shi quickly counted heads. There were a total of fifteen nurses, nine of them responsible for the deep zones.
Even though they were mentally prepared, their hearts couldn’t help but skip a beat.
Unaware that the corner was filled with people, A’Ao wore a grim expression as he lay down on the operating table. His mood was terrible, having dealt with the troublesome underworld patients waking up.
The thin nurses efficiently prepared the surgical instruments.
Thirty seconds passed, but there were no signs of the surgery beginning.
The atmosphere in the operating room at this moment was highly unusual. Nurses stood motionless and expressionless, with no indication of anyone preparing to perform the operation.
The air was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. Wen Shi and the others held their breath, afraid to breathe normally.
In the attribute panel, the duration of the invisibility item was about to expire in one minute.
Just as everyone was gradually growing impatient, the operating room door finally opened again, accompanied by a flurry of disorganized footsteps from outside.
The thin nurse by the door spoke sternly, “Why did you take so long?”
The plump nurse carried a cooler containing freshly severed wrists. The hint of confusion in her expression was concealed by the red light in the operating room.
A thin nurse approached and took the cooler from her hands. The plump nurse instinctively resisted, gripping the handle tightly. But the next second, her body was controlled by her own brain as a voice in her mind kept saying, “It’s this hand. Hand it over.”
The plump nurse released her fingers and watched as the thin nurse took the cooler and removed the severed wrists from inside.
Having been brainwashed by the host’s deceptive ability, the plump nurse stood there in a daze.
The moment he saw the severed hand, Wen Shi’s eyes in the corner of the room immediately narrowed in a dangerous way.
It was a pale, slender hand, so perfect that it felt more like a model than a real hand.
Originally, a sliver of self-preservation had driven Jian Qingrong to consider shaping the black mist into an ordinary hand. However, fearing that A’Ao, being a pianist, might subconsciously be picky and reject it if it wasn’t perfect, he decided not to make any significant changes.
Wen Shi’s sixth sense had never been this strong. From the first glance at this hand, a name immediately popped into his brain.
There were many beautiful hands, but ones that were both beautiful and exuded a sense of power were rare. Even A’Ao looked somewhat fascinated and satisfied.
Wen Shi recalled his conversations with Jian Qingrong, where the other person had repeatedly steered the conversation toward A’Ao, as if very interested in the pianist’s identity. His lips slowly curled up, but his eyes were devoid of any smile. Instead, they gleamed with a chilling coldness.
Screech, screech.
Song Yan paused. Where was that grinding noise coming from?
Screech, screech.
Song Yan was astonished. Was it a rat?
The nurses’ attention was entirely on the hand. They didn’t hear the faint noise.
The grinding noise disappeared quickly. Song Yan, who had always been close to Wen Shi, felt a chill deeper than the cold wind. He instinctively took a step to the side.
Wen Shi quietly renewed his invisibility item, and at the same time, he poked Yu Xingzhou next to him. Li Nan, who was further away, also looked over.
Wen Shi mouthed a reminder: Don’t attack the hand later.
It would be best if the hand transplant succeeded.
Everyone had blind spots in their thinking. For instance, the rigorous game never considered emotional factors, missing the best opportunity to distinguish between a Lord of Terror clone and the original. If Wen Shi were in possession of a body filled with contaminants, he would have immediately thought of this method. However, when it came to Jian Qingrong, he hadn’t even considered it.
Now, seeing this hand, Wen Shi instantly understood what the other person intended to do.
“We’ll settle this later.” Wen Shi’s expression at this moment was enough to send shivers down anyone’s spine.
The surgery finally began.
A’Ao removed the iron hook and placed it closest to his body.
Unlike what they had imagined, there was no need for the nurses to do anything. The light projected in the operating room transformed into crimson long threads resembling iron wireworms, connecting the hand and the severed wrist. All the unfilled gaps were filled by these red threads, and something visibly wriggled under the subcutaneous tissue. The “red wireworm” was carrying out the remaining repair actions.
Song Yan’s face turned pale, feeling a strong wave of nausea. He couldn’t help but wonder what the consequences would be if he had turned into a small mirror hiding in the surgical light. That was the source of the extensive red threads.
No wonder the hospital didn’t require too many formally trained doctors. The terrifying medical instruments were enough for the nurses to operate, and surgeries didn’t need doctors to oversee them. This position seemed almost redundant.
【00:43s】
Song Yan’s invisibility item, purchased from the in-game store, couldn’t compare to the others’ rare items. He made a hand gesture to signal that time was running out.
Wen Shi and the others had about half a minute more than him. Their gazes locked onto A’Ao one after another.
On the operating table, A’Ao’s narrow eyes remained sharp. Surgery wasn’t a pleasant experience, and his muscles had been tense throughout, especially during the challenging final repair process.
Yu Xingzhou made a neck-slashing motion, initiating a three-second countdown before the attack.
Since they didn’t plan to disrupt the transplant surgery, their focus was on A’Ao’s heart and head.
Three, two… as the last finger bent, all three of them struck at the same time!
Song Yan didn’t possess powerful attack weapons, so he manipulated light reflections to create some visual disturbance for the nurses.
Yu Xingzhou produced a strange iron ruler. Not to mention Wen Shi, even Li Nan had never seen his attack weapon before. When the iron ruler touched the air, it turned semi-transparent, with only the scale markings visible faintly. The ruler extended like a long bridge, and every tiny markings on it resembled shark teeth, leaping off the surface and surging in one direction.
Li Nan’s weapon looked quite standard, a silver-colored gun that only required a trigger pull from a distance.
Wen Shi also drew his【Greenwood Sword】and made a swift slash through the air.
As three forces converged, causing ripples in the air, A’Ao was quicker than all the nurses in reacting. He sprung up from the operating table, emitting a sound from his throat that unleashed a fierce storm, enveloping the approaching forces.
In the past, when Wen Shi clashed with the Earl and A’Ao, he had witnessed the opponent’s sonic attack ability, a roar that almost made him bleed from every orifice. Fortunately, this time, the two forces collided and neutralized each other, so the reaction wasn’t as intense.
Most of the shockwaves were dissipated by the sword energy.
On the purely physical level, A’Ao was indeed very strong, surpassing the estimations of Wen Shi and the others. They had believed that with half his heart missing, A’Ao’s strength would also be halved.
It seemed they had been too naive.
The scale markings and bullets were all intercepted about half a foot away from A’Ao’s chest, unable to advance any further.
Equally naive was A’Ao!
A slight sound of something falling to the ground echoed.
In the moment of the surprise attack, A’Ao had instinctively focused most of his strength on protecting his heart and hands. It was a reflex.
Even a snake, when attacked, would instinctively protect its most vulnerable spot.
This directly led to other vulnerable parts of his body being hit.
Song Yan covered his wide-open mouth. The impact of witnessing this scene was indeed quite overwhelming.
Li Nan’s【Money Pathway】had a time delay, and in the best-case scenario, they could escape with injuries. After all, A’Ao had already identified the direction of the attack, and so had the nurses. It was inevitable that they would have to endure some damage.
However, A’Ao’s mind went blank for several seconds as he lowered his head. On the nearly expressionless faces of over a dozen nurses, their eyes all widened simultaneously.
“!”
Witnessing the hospital director being castrated, who wouldn’t be shocked by such a scene?
“What are you staring at?”
Li Nan pulled Wen Shi and dragged him onto the escape route created by the【Money Pathway】.
They couldn’t understand why, as the mastermind, Wen Shi was so surprised at this moment.
“Oh…” Wen Shi snapped out of it, “I used the wrong move!”
When targeting the heart, he should have used Transcendent Mastery.【One Strike Flattens All】was always a straight-line attack, but he was so used to using this move that he acted on instinct.
The magnificent pathway paved with money unfolded before their eyes, each coin emitting a dazzling light. The crimson light in the operating room was forced to suddenly fade away.
As long as their identity wasn’t confirmed as patients, players could communicate through items. Li Nan had previously contacted Ji Yuanzhi and, knowing the other’s location, set the teleportation point outside Wen Shi’s office.
With a single click, the【Money Pathway】initiated the teleportation.
Wen Shi’s gaze was still fixed on a pool of blood on the floor, unable to imagine that among the four of them, only he had managed to injure the boss.
The bloodstains blurred. Unlike the traditional dark teleportation space, this time, there was a blinding golden light.
When he could open his eyes again, Wen Shi found himself standing in his familiar office.
The sudden appearance of someone behind him startled Seventh Commandment Guild Leader. Upon realizing it was a fellow player, he breathed a sigh of relief.
He immediately inquired about the situation, “How did it go on your end? Did you succeed in disrupting the surgery?”
“No, but we injured A’Ao,” Wen Shi chose his words carefully, “The key is that we shattered his sanity.”
The current A’Ao probably had a determination to go down with everyone together. In a way, a monster without sanity might be slightly easier to deal with.
Seventh Commandment Guild Leader pressed for more details.
Wen Shi pursed his lips. Even if he didn’t say anything, when A’Ao arrived, the other side would witness it firsthand.
Song Yan, as a devoted fan, took the initiative to protect Wen Shi’s reputation, “We used a strategy to misdirect attention. Both guild leaders focused on attacking the heart to distract the Director’s attention, while the rest of us went for the lower body.”
With some embellishment, Li Nan and Yu Xingzhou were brought into the picture, as if this plan had been discussed in advance.
Seventh Commandment Guild Leader hadn’t grasped it yet. “Lower body?”
How much lower?
Song Yan’s icy gaze shifted to Seventh Commandment Guild Leader.
“God da… ” Seventh Commandment Guild Leader realized something, his legs clenching together, his face changing drastically.
What a f—cking brilliant misdirection!
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