Lu Zhou was standing in the pure white system space, staring at his inventory, quietly thinking about something.
After he read Vera’s diagnosis an hour ago, he went into the system space. Even though he didn’t know why he came here, his intuition told him that this was the only place to save her.
Stage 4 cancer…
From what Lu Zhou could tell, other than a misdiagnosis, there was no cure for this.
But he knew that cancer cells wouldn’t be a problem for an advanced civilization with high biotechnology.
However, the situation wasn’t as optimistic as he had thought.
Nitrogen shield?
That is no use.
Energy Medicine?
She needs rest, not some steroids.
There are some memory pills left…
But those are obviously no use.
Easter egg?
Lu Zhou saw the colorful Easter egg lying in the inventory and nearly chuckled.
This is the least useful thing I’ve ever gotten from the system…
Okay, one of the least useful.
Lu Zhou closed his inventory and looked at his characteristic panel.
Normally speaking, the survival time for patients with stage 4 cancer was around 3-12 months.
Of course, if the patient was in good health and cooperated with treatment, they would be able to survive longer. There were cases of patients with advanced lung cancer, surviving for more than seven years.
However, that was only seven years.
And the process of chemotherapy throughout the seven years was excruciating.
If that was the case, maybe her father was right.
It would be better to end the suffering.
However, her father had ulterior motives behind all this…
Lu Zhou closed his inventory, and his consciousness returned to the real world.
He stared at his hotel room ceiling and took a deep breath as he tightly clenched his fists.
I am a man of my word.
Even if the system can’t help me…
I will save her!
…
Lu Zhou opened the door, walking out of his room.
He saw Wang Peng in the corridor, who had already returned from the hospital. He spoke.
“How serious is it?”
Wang Peng: “You’re talking about?”
Lu Zhou: “The fight.”
Wang Peng smiled and said, “No big deal.”
Lu Zhou: “What about Iric?”
Wang Peng: “He was warned by the Federal Security Service and left. He said he is going to sue you, but I think he’s just bluffing.”
Looks like everything is fine then.
Lu Zhou nodded and reached out his hand.
“Lend me your phone.”
Wang Peng knew what Lu Zhou wanted. From his inner jacket pocket, he took out the phone Maksim gave Lu Zhou when Lu Zhou first arrived in Russia.
Lu Zhou pressed a speed dial button on the phone.
The phone was soon connected.
“You’re already calling me? What’s wrong?”
Lu Zhou: “I need a favor.”
Maksim: “With the hospital?”
Lu Zhou: “… How did you know?”
Maksim: “Of course, we’ve already arranged her to be transferred to the best hospital in Moscow. She will be transferred as soon as her condition stabilizes.”
This was the least they could do in return for Lu Zhou helping them with the fusion power station.
Apparently, the Federal Security Service investigated the Russian power grid system and found malicious code that was implanted a long time ago.
Regardless, it was nice of Maksim to return the favor.
Lu Zhou paused for a second and said, “Since you’re so happy to help, can you do something else for me?”
Moscow frowned and said, “What do you need… Even the best hospital in Moscow can only slow down her condition and reduce her pain. A complete recovery is impossible even if you put her in the best hospital in the world.”
If this were stage 2, there would still be hope.
But stage 4…
This was a medical problem faced by the entire global medical community, it couldn’t be solved by one single hospital.
“Don’t worry, I’m not asking you to cure her.” Lu Zhou sighed and said, “After her condition stabilizes, transfer her to Beijing.”
Maksim: “Beijing?”
Lu Zhou nodded.
“Yeah, I’ll find a way.”
…
The conference continued as scheduled.
But there was a dull atmosphere in the venue.
Especially after Vera’s report in the morning, most of the listeners couldn’t concentrate on the report. People were discussing the matter during lunch time at the buffet.
“Do you know what she has?”
“Apparently, it’s leukemia.”
“Leukemia? Vomiting blood? I heard it’s gastric cancer… terminal cancer!”
“Really?”
“Not sure, just a rumor. Also, apparently, Shigefumi Mori and her father got into a fight because her father wanted to forgo treatment and take the 15,000 prize money for himself.”
“Jesus, all of this for just 15,000 Canadian dollars… Is he even a father? I’m sure Vera’s salary at Princeton is more than a hundred thousand USD a year.”
“You can never underestimate the greediness of a Russian alcoholic. Perhaps he thinks that his daughter’s savings will belong to him.”
“Hey, not all Russians are greedy.”
“Sorry, I apologize…”
“…”
Lu Zhou quietly ate his lunch, ignoring the discussion around him.
Schultz sat across from him. Schultz wanted to give him a few words of comfort, but after seeing how Lu Zhou was in deep thought, he decided against talking and quietly ate his lunch.
When Lu Zhou nearly finished eating, Schultz suddenly spoke.
“The news is on MathOverflow… I saw a picture posted by someone. You fought someone at the hospital?”
Lu Zhou: “My driver was the one fighting, the other guy attacked first.”
Schultz: “You should explain yourself to them then.”
“There’s nothing to explain.” Lu Zhou wiped his mouth with a napkin and threw the napkin into a trash can. He stood up and said, “I don’t have time to deal with those sheep.”
Cancer had plagued human civilization for thousands of years, and it was far more difficult than solving a mathematics problem.
However, Lu Zhou had two options.
Lu Zhou didn’t stay at the cafeteria for too long. He went straight to the temporary office of the International Mathematical Union. The Secretary-General of the organization committee went to eat lunch, but his assistant was here.
The assistant saw that Lu Zhou was knocking on the door. He put down his utensils and wiped his mouth.
“Dear Professor Lu, how can I help you?”
“It’s fine, you can continue eating, I’m just here to ask a question,” Lu Zhou said. “Is the whiteboard from lecture hall 7 still here?”
The assistant quickly responded.
“It’s here… but the lecture hall was suspended after the incident.”
Lu Zhou: “Can I look at it?”
The assistant was a little troubled.
“The Secretary-General wants to close off the lecture hall, wait for the conference to be over, and communicate with the hotel on the incident… If you want to see the content on the whiteboard, the report is recorded, you can—”
Lu Zhou spoke again, and this time, he spoke in a demanding tone.
“Take me to see it, I’ll explain to the Secretary-General.”
The assistant hesitated for a bit before nodding.
“Oh… okay.”
