As the players had previously visited Pripyat’s medical center, the doctor took this opportunity to collect a batch of medicines that might come as useful. Not only were there anti-radiation medicines like potassium iodide, but there were also some anti-inflammatory drugs and tranquilizers. Now, these medicines had finally come in handy.
About 20 minutes later, the sweating doctor came out of the room, leaving only Kui and Besnova to take care of Coconut.
“How is she?” Zhang Heng asked.
“Not very optimistic.” The doctor took a cigarette from the repairman’s hand and took two puffs. “The deterioration of her body is faster than I expected. Her body temperature is around 38 to 39 now. Hair loss, ulcers, body swelling… but these are all minor. The real problem is that the radiation is destroying her immune system. After that, any kind of bacteria floating in the air could be fatal to her.”
The doctor paused for a moment before asking Zhang Heng, “Did you come into contact with any radioactive sources when you returned this time?”
“There was radiation everywhere at the nuclear power plant, but we met someone from the Ministry of Civil Defense there. He had a detector in his hand, so we followed him. We tried our best to avoid places with high levels of radiation.”
“Is that so? That could be because the amount of radiation accumulated in her body before was already very high. In short, her current condition is very bad. I just thought of a way for her to have some physical cooling, and I also applied some ointment on her festering wound, but this is only to relieve her a little. From the doctor’s point of view, I suggest that we send her to the hospital because, considering the development of her condition, she needs a sterile ward and, if necessary, a bone marrow transplant. This won’t save her life, but it will allow her to live a little longer. If we’re lucky, she might be able to live until we complete the main mission.”
“Wait a minute,” the maintenance man said. “We have to send her to the hospital? But who will be the next interpreter with the Ukrainian woman?”
“Given Coconut’s current condition, we might be able to have a chat with her and ask her to lend us the other earring. We’ll return it to her after completing the main mission,” Zhang Heng said. He then turned to ask the doctor. “Is she conscious now? Can she speak?”
The doctor nodded. “She’s still conscious, but her lips have festered and her skin has fallen off. It’ll probably be very painful for, so if you want to talk, make it really brief.”
At that moment, the uniformed boy interjected, “We… will become like this in the future?”
He also came out of the room after hearing the commotion, and when he saw Zhang Heng and the others standing in the corridor, he asked curiously.
“Yes, it’s very possible, but logically speaking, it shouldn’t have developed so quickly.” The doctor’s expression became unprecedentedly grave. “I don’t know if it’s because of the design of the dungeon or some other reason, but I estimated that we still had a week to move out. But now, it seems that I was a little too optimistic. We need to complete the main mission as soon as possible.”
“You don’t have to tell me. I’ve been dreaming of leaving this place,” the maintenance man grumbled.
Zhang Heng didn’t say anything else. Just as he was about to walk into the room, he saw Master Kui walking out. Not only that, she was holding an earring in her hand.
“You’ve already gotten it? So fast!” The maintenance man exclaimed in surprise. “We were just discussing this matter. How did you convince that self-saboteur to hand over the earring? And isn’t it in her stomach? How did you get it out?”
“What are you thinking? How could it be in her stomach?” the doctor asked. “Coconut kept vomiting. If the earring had been in her stomach, it would have thrown it up a long time ago. Even if she didn’t, it would have gone into the sewer along with the feces. This item is so important to her, so how could she have swallowed it in one gulp? She only used a small trick and showed her attitude in the car.”
“You saw it, but you didn’t tell us?” The repairman asked unhappily. However, when he looked at the faces of Zhang Heng and the young man, he realized that there was no change in their expressions. The repairman was stunned, “No way. Am I the only one who doesn’t know? But didn’t you agree to her request back then?”
The repairman was asking Zhang Heng.
“Yes, she was very emotional at the time, and I just needed an interpreter. It doesn’t matter who the interpreter is, so there’s no need to provoke her anymore,” Zhang Heng explained.
On the other side, the uniformed young man also consoled the maintenance man. “Even if you say that you’re the only one who doesn’t know, that’s not the full extent of it. Mouse probably didn’t notice it either, but I think he likes Coconut a little, or maybe his hormones have dulled his brain.”
“…”
“In any case, Coconut now understands that she can’t continue to act as the team’s translator due to her physical condition. She’s not an unreasonable person, so she agreed to lend her Whispers to us for now,” Master Kui said. “However, there’s a condition. Among all the players, she only trusts Mouse, so she hopes that the Whispers can be placed in Mouse’s hands. Of course, since she has already handed them over, there’s nothing she can do if we disagree.”
“I have no objections,” Zhang Heng said. “Like I said before, I just need a translator. It doesn’t matter who becomes the translator.”
“I support my idol unconditionally,” the young man said quickly. Then, the doctor nodded in agreement.
The maintenance worker looked at the crowd and muttered, “What, do I look like a bad person? “I just don’t like her defensive attitude towards other players. This is not a one-man team dungeon. At least before the main storyline quest is completed, everyone should stick together and stop suspecting each other, right?”
“You’re right.” the youth nodded. “So in order to resolve the small unhappiness between the two of you, I’ll have to trouble you to make a trip and send her to the hospital.”
“I want to send her. Why?”
“Of course it’s because the car keys are with you. Don’t worry. I, Mouse and Besnova will go with you. At least, I’ve helped her with the admission procedures.”
The doctor also said at this time, “You’d better go there as soon as possible. Pripyat Medical Center doesn’t have much experience in treating radiation diseases. I reckon that they will gather the injured together and send them to a big hospital in Moscow. The medical resources there will be better, whether it’s the professional doctors or sterile wards. If there’s enough time, Coconut would be able to catch the flight.”
“What a bother,” said the maintenance man. But in the end, he gave in and went downstairs to start the car.
