Chapter 1.4 – No Choice
Su had no idea what happened behind him. He was only focused on driving the off-road vehicle into the northwest direction. The two off-road vehicles had already entered the prairie. In the darkness, the surrounding terrain looked exactly the same. If they didn’t bring a navigation system, they might very well have lost their way. Moreover, there was dangerous and hidden swamps, so the slightest carelessness would result in one sinking inside. However, Su had already travelled through the grassland several times and had the route firmly recorded in his memory. Even without any reference, he could safely travel through this place. Even if there were any dangers, they still wouldn’t escape his panoramic view.
His target was base N958, but the basic functions of the base had already been removed by Kane. The base wasn’t far from Dragon City, and even though there were a few Scorpions of Disaster forces in between, the truly high level ability users of the Blood Parliament definitely had the ability to open up a path and chase him down to N958. As one of the two pillars of the Blood Parliament, Bevulas definitely had the ability to summon powerful individuals. He didn’t need to move out many people either; as long as someone like Dyke Avidar was sent out, Su would definitely be forced to escape and avoid battle.
At this moment, an ear splitting whistle rang through the air. Li was still continuously flashing her headlights. Su stopped the vehicle, and then as soon as he got out of the driving position, Li already rushed in front of his face and screamed, “Li Gaolei is dying!”
Su’s heart fell. He quickly walked to Li’s off-road vehicle and made his way into the rear seating.
Li Gaolei was lying there, his body releasing great heat, looking like he was currently experiencing a fever. His consciousness already sank into a half unconscious state, and he continuously muttered about in his sleep. From time to time, his body would unconsciously twitch.
Su didn’t dare touch Li Gaolei’s body. He removed a military blade and sliced apart the clothes on his back. Li Gaolei’s back was covered in black bruises that swelled greatly. Blood oozed below the skin. Stuck to his back was a small medical pouch, the transparent case still having most of its light blue medicinal fluid. The medicinal fluid was currently travelling slowly into Li Gaolei’s body, but this clearly wasn’t enough to suppress his injuries. This was already the highest grade medicine kit Su could find.
Su lightly caressed Li Gaolei’s back, sending wisps of his perception into his body. The final conclusion he came to was that Li Gaolei’s biological systems were already on the edge of collapse. The life force the medicine kit provided and his own body’s recoverative force were not enough to offset the harm these injuries inflicted. If advanced treatment wasn’t immediately carried out, Li Gaolei definitely wouldn’t make it until morning.
If he had Li’s constitution, then everything would be okay. Su sighed inwardly.
“Leader, can you save him?” Li asked. From her expression, it was clear that she didn’t see the slightest bit of hope. Combat Domain ability users’ understanding of the human body was much greater than that of an ordinary person, so Li was extremely clear on Li Gaolei’s current state.
Su’s face continuously fluctuated, as if he was hesitating over something. Only after a pause did he raise his head and say to Li, “I will give it a try with everything I have. You should leave for now.”
Li knew that Su didn’t want her to see his treatment process, so she obediently left the vehicle, and then closed the vehicle’s doors.
All of the lights inside the off-road vehicle went out. Su’s pupil released a dark green light in the darkness. This green light possessed powerful penetrative force, and under its illumination, the skin on Li Gaolei’s back seemed to become near transparent. Large amounts of extravasated blood could be seen, to the extent where fragmented bones could even be seen in certain areas.
Su adjusted the amount of light his left eye released. The bones in Li Gaolei’s body began to appear one after another. By relying on his own body’s composition and extremely precise control, Su’s understanding of the human body already far exceeded most doctors. What he needed to do right now was quickly seal up several dozen areas where Li Gaolei’s bones were fractured.
The military blade gently sliced open the skin on Li Gaolei’s back. The purple black extravasated blood poured outwards, and pieces of flesh could be seen. The blade entered deeply along the muscle fibers, not inflicting much harm to the muscle tissue. Then, Su moved the blade again, and then he unexpectedly sliced open his own left wrist! Blood immediately poured out from the cut. This blood seemed to possess its own life force, moving about in the air in a spiral manner until it entered Li Gaolei’s injury. It quickly entered the tissues within the incision before merging with his flesh.
However, Su’s consciousness could still sense the existence of this blood, even though this feeling was extremely faint. In addition, even though they entered Li Gaolei’s body, they were still under Su’s control. Hints of stinging pain were unavoidably sent back by these blood droplets, the retaliation of Li Gaolei’s immune system to intruder cells. However, no matter what type of human cell it was, in the face of the intruder cell, they were extremely weak. Those droplets of blood were like fish as they quickly moved through Li Gaolei’s blood vessels with a speed several hundred times that of ordinary cells. When they encountered even narrower vessels, Su’s blood droplets would divide into several dozen little blood beads. They then made their way into the vessels, with some even opening up small passageways in the tissue systems. As a result, numerous little droplets of blood would then converge along these passageways to their predetermined destination.
Soon after, in every location of the bone fractures, a lump of Su’s blood would gather. A series of commands were released from Su’s consciousness, and then these blood droplets immediately started a complex and strange transformation. They released powerful energy to change their own genes, even changing their own fundamental structure. Little by little, a layer of new tissues that resembled bone matter began to take form on these fracture points, connecting these cracks together. The nerve damage on his vertebra also received some restoration.
When the final bone fracture was repaired, two hours had already been used up. Su’s face was extremely pale. Even though the weather was cold, his forehead and temples were covered in fine beads of sweat. 200 milliliters of blood loss wasn’t that big of a deal, but controlling the blood to treat Li Gaolei’s body was what left him the most exhausted. After this strange surgical process was completed, Su’s body seemed to be completely devoid of energy, feeling no less exhausted than after he had just carried out a great life and death struggle.
Li Gaolei’s breathing became calm and unhurried, and his body temperature slowly decreased. Under the effects of the continuous infusion of nutrient-filled liquid and antibiotics, his body’s functions were currently reviving from their lowest point. His heart’s pulsing was currently becoming more and more powerful and forceful. There was still a small amount of blood that did not finish transforming, but most of them died under the attacks of Li Gaolei’s immune system, with most of their genes becoming meaningless fragments that were absorbed by his body as nutrients. A portion of the fragments entered Li Gaolei’s cells and merged with his original genetic sequence. With the powerful offensive characteristics of the intruder cell genome, soon, this bit of genes would duplicate itself onto every part of Li Gaolei’s body, replacing the corresponding parts of his original genome.
Su was quite clear on the fact that this process would affect Li Gaolei, but as for exactly how it would affect him, he had no way of knowing right now. In reality, even if there were any negative effects, he didn’t have the luxury of worrying about them, because in the end, survival was the most important.
Su meticulously dealt with Li Gaolei’s injuries, properly dressing him, and only then did he walk out from the rear seating of the off-road vehicle. Li who was currently pacing about the vehicle immediately rushed over and nervously asked, “Leader, how is Li Gaolei?”
“There shouldn’t be any more problems as long as he gets some proper rest.” Su said.
Li noticed how weak Su appeared. She hurriedly supported him and said, “Leader, are you ok?”
Su struggled free from Li’s support, and with a chuckle, he said, “It’s nothing, just a bit tired. I’ll be fine soon. When you drive later, remember not to turn off the heating. Li Gaolei’s body still cannot handle the cold.”
As soon as Su wanted to take a step towards his own off-road vehicle, his body swayed, almost falling onto the ground. Upon seeing this scene, Li no longer cared about Su’s opposition and directly pulled him up, half clasping and half supporting Su to his off-road vehicle. Her strength had pretty much recovered, so it could be said that she pretty much carried the extremely weak Su to the side of the off-road vehicle. However, as soon as her eyes made contact with Madeline, they immediately darted to the side. In the end, she tossed Su aside and turned around to walk towards her own off-road vehicle.
Su didn’t seem to have sensed anything. He crawled onto the off-road vehicle, started the engine, and then continued towards Base 958. Even though he was extremely tired, driving didn’t exhaust much strength. In addition, after ingesting a tube of nutrient-filled food, his stamina began to quickly recover.
The off-road vehicle sped along the grassland in the darkness. Madeline who sat quietly this entire time suddenly said, “Your Li doesn’t seem to like me.”
Su released a grunt agreement, and then he said rather absent-mindedly, “It’s not that serious. Li just has some misunderstanding towards you. You will quickly find that she is actually quite a good girl.”
“Misunderstanding…” Madeline said to herself. Her voice was extremely soft, to the extent where not even Su could clearly hear what she was saying.
“Su!” Madeline’s voice suddenly lightly sounded.
“Hm? What is it?” Su seemed to be preoccupied with something, so his reply was a bit slow.
“No, nothing, I just wanted wanted to say your name.” Madeline revealed a faint smile as she replied.
Madeline hugged her knees and stared into the boundless darkness in front of the car window. After her shout, she no longer gave Su’s direction a single look. Su was a bit bewildered by her sudden actions, but in the darkness and silence, with her sitting at his side, he instead felt a rare peacefulness and calmness.
What awaited them was something not even Su knew. After passing N958, what rested ahead was darkness. However, what he was sure of was that apart from the Black Dragonriders, there was no lack of powerful organizations on this continent, and even less of a lack of powerful individuals. The Holy Crusaders and Scorpions of Disaster were definitely not the only organizations apart from the Black Dragonriders. Moreover, he had no idea what type of terrifying creatures hid within the boundless great earth.
After passing N958, where were they supposed to go? Su couldn’t find a single destination. He could only bring Madeline and his subordinates far away from Dragon City and wander about. However, what was different from eight years ago was that back then, Su was putting up a brave fight alone, while now, he had three capable subordinates, as well as the crushing weight of responsibility.
Before smashing apart the intelligence system, Su received two pieces of information. One came from Persephone, the contents being: ‘Leave Dragon City, don’t worry, I can take care of myself.”
The other piece of information came from Helen: ‘Preparations have already been made, you don’t have to worry about Phoney.”
While driving in the darkness, Su released a light sigh. How could he not worry? However, right now, he didn’t have a choice.
