SCOM - Chapter 68
Chapter 68
The thought had just surfaced in Zuo Luohuan's mind when, in the next second, she found herself in a dim basement. Overwhelming pain swept through her entire body. Someone had blindfolded her with a black cloth, and a cold needle pierced her arm. After the drug was injected, Zuo Luohuan's consciousness gradually faded. No matter how she struggled, her awareness kept sinking.
"It failed again."
"Double the dosage."
"...The concentration is too high. It'll kill her."
"Just bring her back. Keep adding it."
Zuo Luohuan desperately tried to open her eyes but could only vaguely see a single white light above her—a surgical lamp. Her chest ached, and there was a thick taste of blood in her mouth.
Even at a time like this, Zuo Luohuan had a somewhat detached thought. Had she eaten someone?
"Her thoracic vertebrae are broken!"
"Continue the electrocution."
"Sh-she's smiling?!"
Zuo Luohuan was groggy and couldn't clearly hear what the people around her were saying, but her fingers were clenched tightly as she tried to stay awake.
"Wait... what's wrong with her face?"
"Report it, quickly!"
...
"The plan has changed."
Zuo Luohuan could no longer hear anything clearly. She had been drugged again.
In the hypnosis room, Zuo Luohuan, lying on the chair, gripped Ji Yuezhi's hand so tightly it felt like it would break. Yet, Ji Yuezhi didn't struggle, his face pale as he looked at her.
Just a simple hypnosis could cause such a huge emotional fluctuation in her, making the veins on her neck stand out. What had she gone through back then?
The hypnotist wanted to wake Zuo Luohuan, but Ji Yuezhi stopped him. She wouldn't want to wake up at this moment; she hadn't reached her limit yet.
Ji Yuezhi wearily rested his head beside Zuo Luohuan's hand. He wanted to walk the path ahead with her. No matter how difficult it was, he would only feel at ease if he was by her side.
When the Zuo Luohuan in the hypnotic dream woke up again, she was being kicked in the abdomen by Hong Tongdao. He had probably failed to extract any information from her, so he waved to two men beside him, signaling them to take her away and bury her behind the mine.
Zuo Luohuan was barely breathing, so she didn't even need to pretend. The two men threw her onto a cart. The elevator went all the way up to the deserted mine. The two men were digging a pit, preparing to stuff her inside.
After getting off the electric chair, Zuo Luohuan's hands and feet were no longer bound. Hong Tongdao's two subordinates thought she was on the verge of death, so they let their guard down completely.
Zuo Luohuan's eyes were severely bloodshot, probably from being hit at some point. She opened her eyes and looked at her hand. After a moment, she gathered a bit of strength and tightly gripped a piece of sharp, broken rock from the ground, with only a small, sharp corner peeking out from between her fingers.
The two men came over, roughly grabbing her by the head and feet to throw her into the pit. At that moment, she suddenly burst with strength, kicking one man away with both legs. Propping herself up, she thrust the hand holding the sharp rock into the other man's throat.
The man who had been kicked down struggled to get up, trying to grab Zuo Luohuan. She simply pulled out the sharp rock and threw it at him, striking him squarely in the temple, a fatal blow.
After doing all this, she collapsed to the ground and passed out. She didn't wake up until twenty minutes later, when she dragged her body into a mineral transport vehicle and buried herself among the rock fragments.
From this point on, Zuo Luohuan suddenly felt detached, watching herself buried in the rock fragments from mid-air. She finally realized her memory was flawed: Hong Tongdao wasn't the only one torturing her during those days. There were other people present, and they had even discovered that she had done something to her face.
...A part of her memory had been tampered with.
The intense pain of defying her own consciousness made Zuo Luohuan's body stiffen on the recliner. She was drenched in a cold sweat from the pain, yet she didn't struggle to wake up or even make a sound.
Ji Yuezhi's expression was no better. He sat beside Zuo Luohuan, watching her without blinking, subconsciously softening his breathing.
In her dream, it was as if time was flowing backward for Zuo Luohuan. She returned once more to that Hong family mansion, on the third-floor corridor, looking at Hong Tongdao opposite her.
"You're Hong Tongdao?" Zuo Luohuan saw herself asking the person across from her.
Anyone who came to Xijiang Exile Star knew of the Hong family. The Hong family was enlightened, employing people based on ability alone. They had adopted a son who was more capable than their biological son, so they had boldly entrusted the family business to an adopted son with no blood relation.
Zuo Luohuan wasn't interested in other people's affairs, but the adopted son controlled the family business and made friends externally, while the biological son rarely showed his face. Who would believe there wasn't a hidden story in that?
There were also rumors that Hong Tongdao was not only incompetent but also in poor health, forcing the Hong family to hand over the business to their adopted son.
"There's..." Hong Tongdao's gaze shifted toward the study behind him. Before he could finish, he fled as if escaping.
Before leaving, he glanced at Zuo Luohuan.
It was a complex look, filled with expectation, fear, a plea for help, and an incomprehensible despair.
Zuo Luohuan watched herself reach out to him, but Hong Tongdao dodged her, disappearing once again down the third-floor corridor.
The Zuo Luohuan in the dream entered the study again. On the desk was still that Silver-Blue detection report.
This time, she didn't reach out to open the report file. Instead, she stared motionlessly at its cover.
Under Zuo Luohuan's gaze, the words 'Silver-Blue Detection Report' gradually peeled away and transformed. Finally, the line of text on the document changed, becoming 'Silver-Blue Reserve Report'.
Reserve?
So they already knew about the existence of Silver-Blue. To use this term in a report meant they were already using it.
Zuo Luohuan frowned, wanting to open the file, but at that moment, the study door was suddenly pushed open...
"You're awake?" Seeing Zuo Luohuan suddenly open her eyes, Ji Yuezhi had so much he wanted to say, but it all got stuck in his throat. In the end, he only managed to ask this one question.
Waking up from the hypnosis, the splitting headache still lingered, but Zuo Luohuan paid it no mind. She looked at Ji Yuezhi, wanting to reach out and touch the faint redness at the corner of his eye, to ask him what was wrong. Only in the next second did she realize she was still gripping his hand tightly.
Zuo Luohuan knew how strong she was. Ji Yuezhi's skin had always been fair, and his knuckles were marked with one red line after another from her grip. She immediately let go of him and sat up from the recliner. "...The current Hong Tongdao is a fake."
Before Ji Yuezhi could even ask, his optical computer received a call from Luo Shaoyuan. "There's trouble at the hospital."
...
Ever since Fang Yong discovered that Yan Yan's mother had been drugged, Yan Yan and the others had been guarding her day and night, but they hadn't specifically changed her room. A private room might offer better protection, but if something happened, few people would notice.
Most of the people in this hospital were from the 377th Army and would protect their own, but it was also possible that the attacker was hiding among them.
Luo Shaoyuan, Jiang Hong, and the others had never left, taking turns with Yan Yan to watch over Sun Long.
Compared to doctors in regular hospitals, Fang Yong had seen many more strange and unusual conditions. Although he had never seen this particular drug before, he could deduce its type and immediately began preparing an antidote.
It was also a stroke of luck for Sun Long. The needle of the drug probably wasn't fully administered; only half a dose was injected. That was why she was in a coma instead of being brain-dead.
Fortunately, Xijiang Exile Star once had the largest underground black market, making it convenient to find many things. Fang Yong quickly had someone procure several drugs and began experimenting with combinations.
It was at this time that someone suddenly began to attack the hospital. With armies from the Northern and Western districts present, no one expected someone would still dare to cause trouble.
Jiang Hong had thought the people behind this would launch a sneak attack, not that they would charge in directly through the main entrance.
There were no army groups nearby; they were all at the mine, the port, the Hong family estate, and the administrative center—all key strategic points. Luo Shaoyuan had contacted the Winter Army, but it would still take some time for them to arrive, and the attackers had already broken in.
"Little Yan, you and Uncle Lu take your mom and leave the hospital first," Yan Yan's father said, standing at the door of the hospital room.
Yan Yan looked down at his mother, who was still unconscious on the bed, and gritted his teeth as he prepared to pick her up. "Okay."
"No, we don't know if there are defenses outside. Leaving might be walking into a trap." Luo Shaoyuan stopped Yan Yan, disagreeing. "I've already contacted the Winter Army. Someone will be here to rescue us soon."
Luo Shaoyuan was right; there could be an ambush outside.
In the end, Yan Yan and Sun Long both stayed in the hospital room. Yan Yan's father and Lu Hui went out to fight against the people who had stormed the hospital.
There were many soldiers in the hospital, so they could mount a defense, and for a time, the situation reached a stalemate.
"Senior Luo!" Yan Yan, who was guarding his mother, suddenly realized something and his eyes widened. "Doctor Fang's side!"
Luo Shaoyuan glanced at him. "Not completely stupid. Jiang Hong has already gone over, and An Yingjing sent another small team to hide in the hospital."
Yan Yan was stunned. When Jiang Hong had said he was going out to eat earlier, he had thought only a few people were guarding Doctor Fang.
Just as Yan Yan thought, the attack on the hospital was merely a diversion. The real experts sent by the force behind this had all gone to attack Fang Yong's pharmacy lab.
Jiang Hong and the team sent by An Yingjing were fighting with those people in the surrounding area. Fang Yong stood in the middle, his expression unchanged, even instructing, "Don't ruin my medicine."
"Doctor, you just focus on your work. No one will touch it," Jiang Hong said, wiping blood from his face, nearly out of breath.
Sure enough, those people began to attack frantically in that direction, directly flipping over the table. The medicine spilled all over the floor, flowing towards the attackers' feet.
Fang Yong stuck his hands in the pockets of his white coat and looked down at their feet. "I told you not to ruin it. You brought this on yourselves."
The group finally noticed that the liquid was corroding their shoes, and for some, it was so fast it was already burning their feet.
"Hurry up and get me out of here!" Fang Yong yelled at Jiang Hong. "You're so slow on the uptake."
Jiang Hong immediately led his men to charge out. "Doctor Fang, you didn't give any warning! I almost tried to grab those medicines just now."
Fang Yong cursed, "You're just slow. Hurry and take me to Sun Long."
"Is the antidote ready?" Jiang Hong asked excitedly.
"Nonsense."
Jiang Hong, deciding to go all in, directly hoisted Fang Yong over his shoulder and ran downstairs.
Fang Yong: "..."
The pursuing people were all intercepted by the team An Yingjing had sent. Jiang Hong charged all the way to the corridor outside Sun Long's room before putting Fang Yong down.
Half of the people in the corridor saw them and rushed over.
"Damn it!" As capable as Jiang Hong was, he couldn't handle so many people while protecting Fang Yong.
Fortunately, at that moment, a Winter Army squad arrived. They didn't even stop their aircraft, crashing directly through the window. It didn't take long for the attackers to be suppressed.
Jiang Hong quickly escorted Fang Yong into the hospital room.
Fang Yong took the syringe from his tightly clutched pocket and leaned over to inject it into Sun Long's arm. "She might wake up in a moment, or it could take an hour or two."
In reality, Sun Long woke up just over ten minutes later. The attackers in the hospital were captured but committed suicide immediately, so fast that the Winter Army couldn't even stop them.
Yan Yan noticed his mother's eyelashes flutter. His heart leaped as he watched her slowly and strenuously open her eyes.
Sun Long's eyes met her son's face. She turned her gaze to see her husband, and then the strangers beside them. She showed no joy or excitement. Instead, she cried out in a hoarse voice, "Why am I not dead?"
Her voice was so mournful it made everyone turn to look.
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