Chapter 181
Original and most up to date translations are posted at volaretranslations.
Chapter 181: Tico and Her White Rabbit [Part 1]
There were plenty of doctors dressed in white work uniform rus.h.i.+ng over from other areas of the recovery center. Despite the sweat all over their heads they did not even bother wiping it and simply charged straight into the ICU, looking a lot more rushed than they normally would when performing an emergency rescue. Some nurses had even broken out in tears due to sheer anxiety.
The building was probably filled with people. Some of the doctors and nurses who failed to force their way in were all walking circles with an anxious look on their faces. From time to time they would look inside and inquire the situation inside from the surrounding people.
"What happened over there?" Cary asked.
They all turned to look at the white dressed beauty. The question was directed at her to begin with.
However, the white dressed beauty spread her arms and expressed that she did not know as well.
Cillin and others looked at the strange expression on the white dressed beauty’s face before turning to look at the rabbit that was nibbling its radishes. They couldn’t shake the feeling that they knew what was going on.
The gray cat stared at the white rabbit not far away on the table. It could confirm that this little white rabbit was almost the same as a normal rabbit. Its const.i.tution could only be considered as healthy, but it was not as special as s...o...b..ll’s. Moreover, it could not detect any unusual energy fluctuations from the rabbit at all. To sum it up, this was just a normal miniature lop. However, it was this fellow that looked no different from a normal rabbit that gave the gray cat a strange feeling. The gray cat could not tell what this strange feeling was, but it felt absolutely strange regardless.
Cillin was also staring at the rabbit on top of the table. If his eyes weren’t mistaken earlier, the rabbit’s eyes were slightly reddened when it returned. It was only when it jumped up the chair that they slowly returned to black. This rabbit was definitely connected to the incident going on the other side just now, but since the white dressed beauty wasn’t willing to admit anything, they would not probe into this further.
A s.p.a.ceplane flew over ten minutes later. No one said anything even after it knocked off a corner of the building. Then, a long-shaped object was carried out from inside the building. Cillin and the others could only see that the container-like object was carried up to the s.p.a.ceplane, but because there were a lot of people in the way they could not see exactly what it was.
"What’s that?" Xiao Shang asked.
The white dressed beauty did not explain. Rikulab took the lead instead.
"Commonly speaking, it is a device that could seal off a near dead person inside, but preserve the state of the person prior to the sealing. Sometimes the place a wounded was at lacked certain necessary life saving medicaments or equipment, and the doctors were incapable to do anything to save a life. In that case, they would seal the wounded inside a container like that one and transport them to another place with the proper qualifications to perform a follow-up rescue."
"So, you mean that container is holding someone who’s about to die?" Cary said.
Rikulab looked at the departing s.p.a.ceplane, "It can be someone who’s about to die. It can also be someone whose heart had just stopped not long ago."
"That&h.e.l.lip; could it be that’s&h.e.l.lip;" Xiao Shang saw the service robot who had left earlier returning and thus, did not voice out the latter half of his sentence. Instead, he gave everyone a meaningful glance.
They all knew who Xiao Shang was going to say.
He was referring to that arrogant young man who choked on water and was rushed into the ICU.
While speaking, Cillin caught the glimpse of a figure.
"Dias is coming over!"
"Where? Where?"
Cary, Xiao Shang and the others stopped discussing upon listening Cillin’s words. They hurriedly looked at their surroundings.
Two people was walking over to them from afar. It was a man and a woman holding onto each other. They were none other than Dias and Asiya.
"LC&h.e.l.lip; ahem, big bro Dias." Cary called out to Dias the usual way out of habit, but then noticed that he had made a mistake. He hurriedly changed the way he addressed him, got up and ran towards Dias.
Cary, Beaver and the others went over to greet Dias. Cillin ordered a few more meals that were suitable for recovering patients and added a few extra stools to the table.
"Long time no see!" Dias came over and gave Cillin a big hug, "We went out on a walk and missed you."
His ripped arm had completed its process of directional induction and differentiation. He was recovering well too.
There were a couple of ways to regain a ripped arm. One could perform a tissue culture using a specific tissue on one’s body, and reconnect the arm with an operation once the arm was fully grown in vitro. One could also choose to perform a localised mono clone* and so on. However, these choices were all in vitro induction. Dias chose the most painful method of them all so that he would acquire the most perfect reconstruction of his arm, and that was the directional induction and differentiation of cells from his own body.
*referring to the adjective ‘monoclonal’ for those who are interested. I cannot find a noun to ‘monoclonal’ so I did the next best thing that preserved the original wording.
The directional induction and differentiation of cells would be performed where Dias had lost his arm during the core treatment. During this process, anesthesia could not be injected in order to accurately induce and mold the patient’s arm into full growth. The main body would have to endure all of the pain brought by the induction, and it wasn’t a kind of pain that anyone could endure. It was also why more people were willing to accept in vitro induction and molding.
However, the advantage of directional induction from one’s main body was that the regrown arm would be more compatible with the main body. As a Hunter, it was obvious that an arm that was induced and regrown this way was more beneficial for Dias.
Cillin gave him a thumbs up, "You are a true man!"
Cary, Beaver, Xiao Shang and the others also echoed in agreement, "A true man!" however, their gazes looked as vulgar as one might imagine, sweeping back and forth repeatedly between Dias and Asiya.
The men grew slightly more serious only after Asiya put on a stern face and glared at them. However, there was an obvious blush on her face, and her stern face was no longer as imposing as it was before. While Asiya wasn’t paying attention, the men winked at Dias with a ‘we completely understand’ expression.
"Aiyo, my beloved little Tang Qiuqiu, I miss you so much!" Dias held Tang Qiuqiu and tossed her up into the air.
"Eh? Wow, this here is actually a real bear. Here I thought it was just a bear-shaped backpack." Dias looked at s...o...b..ll behind Tang Qiuqiu as he rubbed its head strongly and gave its round ears a pinch with a chuckle. Mm, the bear feels pretty comfortable to touch. G.o.d knows how much it ate to grow this fat.
s...o...b..ll grinned while wearing a simple and honest face and said, "h.e.l.lo, big bro Dias!"
This time both Dias and Asiya were surprised. Even the white dressed beauty was staring at it curiously. This bear could actually speak!
Their reactions caused s...o...b..ll’s grin to grow even wider.
"Don’t be fooled by this fellow’s face. In reality he’s just a naughty kid that’s as bad as Dough!" Cary snorted.
Dough opened its mouth wide and hopped once on top of Eudy’s shoulders, seemingly rebuking Cary’s claims, to which Cary had ignored directly. Therefore, when Cary had attempted to scoop a meatball with his spoon, Dough intercepted and stole the meatball with its long tongue in a flash. After swallowing it down his throat, Dough had even smacked its mouth and hid behind Beaver’s neck, poking its head out and showing off to Cary.
"May diarrhea claim your life!" Cary said angrily.
However, Dough was one of the most unusual variants among chameleons. It literally could eat anything be it cooked or raw, or it would not have instigated the gray cat and others to raid Cary’s storage cabinet so often.
Cillin then introduced Udoze, Rikulab and Scarlet Wind briefly to Dias.
*it means what it says; very rea.s.suring.
"Alright alright, come take a seat before we continue talking, boss. I’m treating today, so just order anything else that you want, big bro, sister-in-law." Cillin smiled and said.
"Yeah, what do you guys want to eat, big bro and sister-in-law&h.e.l.lip;"
Cary failed to finish his sentence before Asiya made him swallow the rest of his words with a red-faced glare. Although Cary did not say anything further, the smile didn’t fade from his face.
Translator’s Notes: As a complete newbie in any kind of photo editing and art stuff I dare say this is my proudest work yet.
Chapter 181: Tico and Her White Rabbit [Part 2]
Dias and Asiya did not sit down immediately. Instead, they looked towards the white dressed beauty.
In reality, Cillin had noticed Dias and Asiya’s att.i.tude towards that white dressed beauty who had been sitting calmly at her seat and cared nothing about arousing suspicion at all since just now. The fact that Dias had expressed nothing about her presence informed Cillin that they actually knew each other.
As expected, Dias smiled and pointed at the white dressed beauty and introduced her to Cillin and the others, "This is Merzenich Tico*. She is a very impressive doctor. It is thanks to her that my arm healed this quickly." after he said this, Dias turned to Tico and said, "Let’s join tables, Tico."
*In case you guys have forgotten, the reason her surname is in front of her actual name is because powerful families like Lung or Knight normally have their surnames at the front.
Tico a.k.a that white dressed beauty looked at the white rabbit that was nibbling its last radish and answered, "It’s okay. You guys should go ahead and enjoy your meals. Once Little White is finished I’ll be heading back to my place. I’ve just finished a big operation and I need to rest."
"We’ll talk after you’re rested then."
"Okay." Tico scooped up the white rabbit that had finished its meal and put it back into the big pocket of her white work coat. She left after telling Dias and the people around his table to take care.
"Wow, big bro Dias, is that beautiful lady really that good?" Xiao Shang came closer and asked.
"This is all your b.a.s.t.a.r.ds think about, isn’t it!?" Dias let out a laughing abuse and glanced meaningfully at the same time. We’ll talk later once we get back.
That was why they had had only talked about Dias’ recovery status and how the others were doing at the dining table. The atmosphere of the dining table was rather relaxed once they heard that everyone was recovering quite nicely.
After dinner was done, the small group gathered at Dias’ sick ward.
They might call it a sick ward, but in reality the sick wards of this recovery center were pretty much the size an apartment. It didn’t feel cramped even though there were a dozen or so people inside.
After they sat down, Dias said, "I heard some rumors when we returned earlier that the young master here was met with a mishap. They said that he was sent to the main hospital for treatment."
"Mm. We were all watching the incident unfold." Cillin retold the situation at the time to Dias briefly, "We and that Dr. Tico were watching throughout the whole thing. However, Dr. Tico’s rabbit ran out once midway."
The moment Cillin brought up the rabbit, Asiya, who was smearing ointment on Dias’ body and giving him a ma.s.sage raised the corner of her lips.
"That white rabbit doesn’t look like it’s anything special." Cary said. His thoughts were mainly focused on the rabbit’s appet.i.te. That plate of radishes wasn’t plenty at all, and it wasn’t even enough to fit in the gaps between the gray cat and s...o...b..ll’s teeth. However, the rabbit had taken unusually long amount of time to finish it. This should be the normal appet.i.te of a rabbit, right?
The others were also paying attention to the conversation.
"If that is the case, then there’s no way that young master will survive." Dias said with certainty.
"Oh?" Cillin was very curious about this. Just like the gray cat, he could not figure out exactly what was strange about that rabbit. Const.i.tution wise, the rabbit was not an alien. It probably couldn’t even jump over a meter, and it could not endure weapons as well. But for some reason, Cillin couldn’t help but think that the rabbit was very strange.
After falling silent for a moment, Dias said, "You all know that I’m an atheist, but there are some things that science could not yet explain in this world. It may be because that our current technology hasn’t reached the level where it can be explained just yet. Regardless, some of the stuff regarding that rabbit is pretty difficult to explain."
It’s that supernatural?!
The crowd grew even more curious. The gray cat sat up on top of Cillin’s body and listened to Dias with straight ears.
Dias did not explain immediately, Instead, he asked, "You all know about the Watchers mentioned in ‘Genesis Mythos’, don’t you?"
Cillin nodded. However, Scarlet Wind, the gray cat and s...o...b..ll did not know about this, and judging from Udoze and Tang Qiuqiu’s expressions, they had no idea about the Watchers either. Therefore, Cillin explained to them, "The Watchers of ‘Genesis Mythos’ would stand guard beside the souls of those people of great sins and s.n.a.t.c.h away their souls, so that they will never be able to commit evil again."
"You&h.e.l.lip; you mean&h.e.l.lip;" Cary felt a slight chill behind his back.
"Of course, it’s not nearly as supernatural as what was stated in ‘Genesis Mythos’, but the outcome of that rabbit’s appearance was about the same. Just as you guys have mentioned earlier, how could that young master possibly have choked on water and pa.s.sed away just like that, and was irredeemable despite having so many medical instruments and experienced doctors around him?"
"If it’s not soul s.n.a.t.c.hing that what is it?" Xiao Shang shook off the gooseb.u.mps on his body and asked.
"A coincidence!"
"Coincidence?"
"Yeah. When that rabbit is around, there would always be all sorts of coincidences. Normally, these coincidences would not seem like anything, but when they are all gathered in one place, you would notice that the rabbit’s influence was far bigger than one might expect. It may be a problem relating to one’s windpipe, throat, lungs, heart or something else. It may also be the body’s drug resistance or allergic reactions. Regardless of the factors, when all these coincidences came together as one, the person involved would not be far away from death."
"Isn’t that rabbit a little too strange? Should we go pay our respects to the G.o.ds or something too?" Cary said.
"I remember a phrase at the back of ‘Genesis Mythos’: An materialistic world, an idealistic man." Cillin spoke up.
Dias gave him a helpless smile, "That is true. We do not believe in ghosts, but there are certain things that we really can’t say for sure. It is just like how people love to emphasise about luck, and that virtue has its rewards and evil has its retributions. That is why Asiya and I were quite conflicted when we first learned about that rabbit."
"That rabbit really didn’t do anything?" Cillin asked.
Asiya’s ma.s.saging hands around Dias’ elbow paused once before continuing its work.
Dias continued, "Let me tell you guys a story. This is something Asiya and I had seen with our own eyes. It was also a night that day, when Asiya and I had walked to the winding corridor beneath the bamboo frame outside because we couldn’t fall asleep. We talked about the Sixth B Squadron. The scenery of the night sky was great, and the planets were plenty and bright. While we were enjoying the nightscape, Asiya suddenly caught the glimpse of a white figure. Then, we saw that little rabbit climbing from the eaves of the first floor to a window on the second floor. It just stayed there until a series of alarm rang from inside the room."
The alarm sound was the alarm system’s automatic response when the patient inside the sickroom was met with life threatening danger.
"The little rabbit left after that, and it didn’t take long before the news that the person inside the room had accidentally slipped on their feet, knocked their head and died while they were heading to the toilet at night. That rabbit had zero contact with that person at all throughout the entire process. After that, we grew more and more familiar with Tico and learned a little about that rabbit."
Even Cillin felt a wave of a.s.saulting chill after listening to Dias’ words.
That really was a just a rabbit; a weak rabbit that anyone could kill with a simple squeeze! But still, wasn’t all this a little too supernatural?
"So, was the person inside the room a bad person too?" Cillin asked.
"They do very much deserve to die." Asiya said.
If even the normally silent Asiya had said this, then this person must be unusually terrible.
"Erm, big bro, as you know people like us have G.o.d knows how much blood on our hands. Do you think that we’d attract that rabbit’s attention?" Cary felt that even the hair on his body had turned stiff.
Dias said amusedly, "Aren’t I the same? But I’ve never seen that rabbit showing anything after such a long time."
Cary and the others all let out a sigh of relief.
"That’s why I thought that this rabbit has its own judgment and standards, just like the demonic beast in ‘Genesis Mythos’."
"Demonic beast?" Cary’s face was odd, "I’ve never seen a demonic beast, but I know several that look almost like one." Cary seemed to be hinting at something.
The gray cat, Dough, s...o...b..ll and Scarlet Wind turned to look at Cary in unison. Cary felt that the hair on his body had turned even stiffer.
"Let’s talk about something else for now." Cillin redirected everyone’s thoughts away from the rabbit and asked Dias, "Big bro Dias, you gave us these prep talk is for a reason, isn’t it?"
Dias nodded with praise and said, "The reason I tell you guys these is so that you will understand Tico and her rabbit a little better, and not act fl.u.s.tered or say something that’s ill-timed. Barring no accidents, Tico would soon become a member of our squad too."
"Awoo! Our squad is finally going to have a new beauty!" Xiao Shang let out an odd cry.
Everyone was pretty happy to hear Dias’ declaration. It wasn’t just because they had a new eye candy in the squad, but also because this beauty was a doctor; a young but very experienced doctor. This was good news for the entire Sixth B Squadron, since a good doctor was even harder to find than a combat personnel.
"Logically speaking, Dr. Tico should be earning quite the high salary with her abilities, isn’t she? Why did she want to leave here and join a Hunter regiment?" Cillin asked.
They had always believed in Dias’ insight. Dias’ insight on people was in fact one of those things that couldn’t really be explained by science. This was because Dias had an exceptionally good eye for people despite the fact that he would sometimes get lost on the streets. In reality, Cillin wasn’t interested in Tico’s reason for joining a Hunter regiment, but that didn’t mean that the rest of the squad wasn’t interested to know. He only asked this so that the answer would clear up some of their doubts and facilitate their future interactions.
"She just doesn’t want to stay here anymore, that’s all. We’ve discussed about this in detail after we came here, underwent recovery treatment and came to know Tico. I’ll skip some of the details in-between. The point is that she seems to be a little tired of this place, and she expressed that she wanted more to become a Hunter instead. However, Tico said that she wanted to give this a trial run before making any commitments, and if everything was fine then she would join us officially. Isn’t our squad lacking a doctor? Rikulab’s main profession is a medicine maker, so it’ll be even better with Tico’s partic.i.p.ation. Speaking of which, what is our little squad’s current combat strength?"
"We’re doing okay. Everyone is improving, and we have new recruits joining us at the same time. Plus, that white fatty isn’t a good-for-nothing glutton, so it’ll be stranger if our combat strength hadn’t gone up." Cillin said.
"I knew you would be more suited for that position than I am." Dias patted Cillin’s shoulder and said sincerely, "With you around, my life is made much easier!"
When he was the lone lieutenant commander of the squad, Dias had spent the majority of his time being gloomy and depressed. In reality, he knew that he was unsuitable for the position not long after he had a.s.sumed the role of a lieutenant commander. He had also been searching for a suitable replacement until Cillin joined the Sixth Squad.
"Hey, Cary, what on earth are you giggling yourself silly about?" Dias smiled and gave Cary, who was bowing his head and laughing quietly to himself a kick.
"Oh. Hehe, I was just thinking that the rabbit will be joining our squad along with Dr. Tico. In that case, well, er&h.e.l.lip; let me give you an example. For example, let’s say that the enemy sniper was aiming to shoot your heart. However, his hands suddenly cramped and so missed the shot&h.e.l.lip;" Cary said happily.
The entire room fell silent.