Xu Xiaoyou marveled that Dr. Xu was practically a superhuman; any normal person would have been lucky to last a few minutes with so many negative status effects, yet the doctor had stubbornly hung on for two hours while she was offline!
Xia Li and the others had already left, but the main quest "Antidote Research" had not yet been marked as a failure. It seemed they hadn't reached the noble carriage yet, so there was still time.
At that moment, she noticed she had two persistent positive effects in her buff bar.
[Current Buff Status: Astral Blessing, Life Elegy.]
Wait,
Astral Blessing and Life Elegy??
Xu Xiaoyou froze in place. She knew these were unique buffs belonging to a Starry Singer, and she didn't know a second Starry Singer besides the blue-haired girl.
She couldn't imagine how the other person had crossed spacetime and broken through the barriers of the data torrent to cast these buffs on her.
Was this the power of a "Starry Singer"?
Xu Xiaoyou shook her head, her gaze quickly calming as she focused her attention on the present.
It seemed these two buffs had held Dr. Xu's life back from the edge of the cliff, preventing the virus infection from deepening further.
Xu Xiaoyou pondered for a moment, waiting for her health to slowly recover. When it reached 7%, she forcefully pulled the small knife out of her abdomen, her entire body tensing and twitching from the pain.
Xu Xiaoyou leaned her head against the wall, one eye half-closed. Her violently heaving chest gradually returned to a steady rhythm. Turning her head, she saw a crystal-clear piece of bitter melon candy rolling into the corner, its translucent sugar coating covered in thick dust.
Heaven knew how a real-world item had appeared here, but it had. There were too many bizarre occurrences already.
Xu Xiaoyou didn't bother to think about it anymore. She picked it up and, ignoring the dust, popped it into her mouth, using the bitterness to distract her mind and reduce the perceived pain.
As the intense pain subsided, she let out a sigh of relief. She reached into her research coat and pulled out a lighter, a silver embroidery needle, and a small bundle of thread.
[Item: Medical Sewing Kit.]
[Quality: dim (white)]
[Power: 1—1]
[Damage Type: Piercing]
[Usage Requirements: field medicine mastery, sewing handicraft entry-level.]
[Item Description: An ordinary sewing kit; improper use will lead to wound deterioration.]
Xu Xiaoyou crunched the bitter melon candy. First, she grabbed her arm and slammed it against the wall; with a sharp crack, her dislocated left arm popped back into place. Then, she bit down on the medical thread, used the lighter to heat the needle until it was glowing red, and focused her vision to thread the eye of the needle.
Taking a steady, deep breath, Xu Xiaoyou pushed the silver needle through the hideous wound in her abdomen. She stitched her own wound as if she were repairing a rag doll or knitting a sweater. The red-hot silver needle made a sizzling sound as it contacted her flesh, cauterizing the area and stopping the bleeding.
Once the bleeding stopped, her health began to recover significantly faster. As for the fracture, she found two wooden splints nearby, tore her research coat into strips, and wrapped them tightly around the broken area to secure her right leg.
Only after finishing all this did Xu Xiaoyou exhale a long breath of stagnant air, wiping the cold sweat from her forehead as she leaned against the wall with a sense of relief.
She closed her eyes to rest for a while until she regained some of her spirit. She was in no hurry to chase after those children,
With a few taps of her finger in the air, the clue notebook provided by the dungeon manifested before her. She scrolled down to find "Dr. Xu's Diary" and clicked it open.
Having a rare moment of leisure, she intended to use this time to clear up the truth behind the plague and see what exactly this doctor, who had drawn the ire of both gods and men, had done all those years ago.
"July 16, 1376"
"That blood-red monster attacked Lena and me. I am fine, but Lena's hand was scratched."
"Furthermore, she has had a persistent high fever since last night. I do not believe it is a simple wound infection."
"Forgive me for being unable to write these words calmly, for crimson crystals have appeared all over her body, forming vivid red patterns like flowers. I watched as her fingers began to melt, and then strange red flowers bloomed across her entire body. The thorns of those flowers are rooted deep within her flesh, writhing deeper and deeper."
"God, someone tell me, what should I do?"
"July 21—22, 1376"
"These days have been like a nightmare. Everything is a nightmare. I watch Lena's body grow thinner by the day. At first, she could still eat some liquid food, but now normal food makes her nauseous and causes stomach spasms. In her moments of delirium, she whispers in my ear that she really wants to eat soil."
"Lord, why punish me like this? My mental state is also deteriorating; my consciousness is drifting, to the point where my concept of time is becoming blurred."
"Louise Banks spoke with the leader of the wilder tribe about our attack. They expressed deep regret for what happened and promised to catch the culprit and punish them publicly."
"Later, the elderly tribal chief took us to a cave. It was their grotto. I saw many crimson flowers there. They had brought them from the Temple of the Sun deep in the mountains and planted them on a large scale."
"They are identical to the ones on Lena. I am gradually approaching the truth."
"The old tribal chief does not have many days left. Their tribe is eager to elect a new leader. The selection method involves crushing and grinding these flowers, known as 'Akabane camellia,' mixing them with herbs to brew a soup, and giving it to the young men of the tribe who wish to lead."
"This flower is extremely toxic. Those who consume it suffer at best from a persistent fever and coma; at worst, their bodies fester and their skin dissolves—a manifestation of a completely destroyed immune system. The skinless, blood-red monster we saw that day was a tribal youth who failed to survive the soup."
"However, those who rely on tenacious will to overcome this virulent poison through their immune system will survive."
"Their physical bodies will become stronger than average men, and they may even gain extraordinary power to become the tribe's leader."
"July 28, 1376"
"Those wilder people never mistreated us; rather, they hosted us with great hospitality. The sages among them believe that the moment one civilization makes contact with another does not symbolize destruction, but signifies rebirth. They hope that through simple contact, the seeds of enlightenment will be planted in the minds of their youth, granting them wisdom in the future."
"In return, we paid the highest respects of human civilization. We taught them our language, which has a higher information entropy, and shared ancient stories, music, dances, and poetry. We did not inform the Traidy Commercial Alliance of their existence."
"The magnetic field over the strait has recovered. According to our survey data, we are above the Glensen Strait of the South Lija Continent, at 3° North Latitude—a strait that has not been registered in any geological database to date. We have named it after this archaeological team: the Wright Strait."
"The geological magnetic field here becomes chaotic every six months. Coincidentally, the flowering period of the Akabane camellia is six months. That is to say, every six months, they collectively wither or bloom. This is perhaps why this place has never been discovered."
"Perhaps this is a divine providence that allowed us to find it, enabling a great contact between two civilizations."
"The St. Punier will restart soon. We have bid farewell to those wilder people."
"I stand before the cryogenic medical pod, looking at Lena's increasingly terminal body. I understand that I must do something."
"I cannot stand by and watch my lover die in agony. She suffered for me, endured hardships for me, gave up her degree, gave up her family business, and abandoned countless paths to a better life. I love her..."
"I love her..."
"Regardless of youth, regardless of the era."
"Even if she opens her eyes again and sees me as a withered old man with white hair at my temples, and she no longer wishes to embrace me, I will still love her deeply with tear-filled eyes."
"And so, I secretly brought back the seeds of the Akabane camellia."
Rate on N.U.
