GETOP CH1

For a doctor, working back-to-back surgeries around the clock is a common occurrence.

Therefore, when the director called him in the middle of the night to come back for overtime, Lu Yan didn’t have much of an objection.

After all, his surgical skills were universally recognized as excellent across the whole hospital. Because he was young and knew many new surgical methods, the director always liked to have him lend a hand whenever there were difficult or complicated cases.

But today’s surgery seemed exceptionally different.

Lu Yan didn’t know what kind of surgery he was going to perform even up until he entered the surgical prep room.

This was clearly unreasonable.

In the surgical prep room, Lu Yan changed into his surgical scrubs with a calm expression, listening to the others whispering among themselves.

“It seems the pollution disease has appeared in the coastal areas again…” The head nurse looked worried. “The internet says that the pollution disease is a genetic disease caused by people from other districts dumping nuclear waste liquid into the ocean a long time ago, causing humans to suffer from nuclear pollution. Now City H has been locked down. Fortunately, this disease only appears along the coast.”

Lu Yan raised his head at this moment: “It’s not just the coast; it’s inland too. The cause is definitely not just nuclear pollution.”

“Ah, how does Dr. Lu know?”

Lu Yan said, “My father also contracted the pollution disease, and he was always in City K. The day after his mutation symptoms appeared, he was taken away by the relevant authorities.”

Lu Yan still remembered that winter many years ago. His father’s head had swelled abnormally, like a water-filled soccer ball. A second face had faintly emerged on the tumor growing from the back of his head.

That was the happiest day of his life.

“…I’m sorry,” the young nurse lowered her head.

Lu Yan replied calmly, “It’s fine. I don’t care.”

Dr. Li, who was in the same operating room, looked around and pulled out his phone somewhat nervously.

“My friend is a reporter, and he just happened to be dispatched to City H. He sent this to me in the middle of the night.”

Lu Yan couldn’t help but lean in to take a look.

The video footage was very shaky; judging by the angle, it looked like a secret recording.

The camera was pointed directly at the ground. It was night, the streetlights were on, and military riot shields reflected a cold gleam. Cries and gunshots could be faintly heard in the background.

The camera slowly panned up.

When they saw clearly what the guns were pointing at, everyone present couldn’t help but gasp.

“What… is that thing?”

In Lu Yan’s understanding, the mutations caused by the pollution disease usually manifested as physical deformities, such as growing tumors, curved bones, and abnormal brain development. But at least they retained a human shape.

However, it was hard to tell if the thing in the video was still human.

Under the dim lights, a shadow stood faintly at the entrance of an office building. It had no head, and tentacles spurted out from its neck. Its whole body looked like a strangely growing tree.

These tentacles spread outwards, and human bodies hung from the end of each one. Blood dripped onto the marble slabs, making a terrifying sizzling sound.

“—Ready! Focus fire!”

Someone roared, his voice carrying an uncontainable fear of the unknown.

Intense gunfire erupted, the bullets as dense as rain.

These munitions pierced through the monster’s body, blooming flowers of blood. Its torso was practically blasted into mush.

The monster collapsed to the ground, motionless for a long time.

“Is it over…?”

The next second, that mass of tentacles broke free from the mush and slowly dragged itself forward one step.

The video cut off there, plunging into pitch darkness.

Everyone present fell into a long silence.

“This is from a movie set, right? How could such a thing exist?” As if to embolden himself, a resident doctor wore a dismissive expression. “This naked-eye 3D effect is pretty well done.”

“But, what if it’s real? Mutants have been appearing for several years now… Although the impact hasn’t been significant each time, but…”

A nurse looked disdainful: “Don’t you know the behavior of those marketing accounts on the internet?”

Dr. Li’s face was pale; he just hugged his arms and kept shaking his head.

…

Lu Yan did not speak. Although his name contained the character for “words” (Yan), he was surprisingly a man of few words.

He was just slipping on his latex gloves when the door to the prep room was pushed open again.

The director walked in, accompanied by three strangers.

With just one glance, Lu Yan realized one thing: these people had definitely been soldiers.

They carried a heavy aura of hostility, their postures were straight, and their every movement was as if cast from the same mold.

The director’s face was always cheerful, like a Maitreya Buddha, but now his expression seemed exceptionally heavy.

He looked around and said sternly, “Surgical gowns aren’t enough. Put on Level 3 protective suits as well!”

A young resident doctor was taken aback: “Is it this serious? Could it be Ebola?”

Next to the director, a tall man stepped forward: “Excuse the interruption. I am Lin Sinan. The patient this time is a member of my team. He was unfortunately infected with the pollution disease during the process of handling pollutants in the coastal area and is currently in a state of mutation. We hope to use surgery to excise his mutated parts. Before we proceed, everyone needs to sign a non-disclosure agreement.”

“Additionally, although mutants do not cause secondary infections, the surgery will involve direct contact with the source of pollution, which may pose certain risks. Therefore, this surgery is entirely on a voluntary basis and is not mandatory.”

Many people present began to hesitate.

Saving patients is a doctor’s bounden duty, but if it meant throwing their own lives away, they inevitably had to weigh the options.

Lu Yan was the first to break the silence: “Where do I sign?”

The director wiped the sweat from his forehead and took out the prepared confidentiality documents.

Lu Yan quickly scanned it. It merely required that the doctors not disclose the details of the surgery to others, take no photos or videos, and absolutely not publicize it.

He signed his name very decisively.

Ultimately, a total of three doctors remained for this surgery: the director, Lu Yan, and Dr. Li.

Besides them, there was a special assistant: Lin Sinan.

Outsiders were normally not allowed into the operating room. But given the special circumstances today, no one questioned it much.

A young nurse complained with dark humor, “If the patient isn’t saved, this guy won’t just pull out a gun and shoot us, will he…?”

Lin Sinan was not wearing a military uniform, but his pocket bulged high, clearly outlining a gun.

The lights in the operating room were on, but the operating table was empty.

A minute later, two military officers pushed in a circular metal pod on a stretcher.

Lu Yan couldn’t help but look at the director.

The director had saved countless lives in his lifetime, and his famous name had long been written into textbooks. Yet, at this moment, his hands were trembling slightly.

The pod door opened, and a blast of frigid air hit them in the face.

The patient was lifted onto the operating table.

The very first second he saw him, Dr. Li couldn’t help but turn his head and throw up.

The young nurse’s face changed drastically, her voice trembling: “What… what is this?”

The patient’s stomach was covered with translucent eggs. Under the illumination of the surgical lights, these egg sacs revealed beating organisms inside, like fish.

Black juvenile fish swam joyfully within the egg sacs, brimming with vigorous vitality.

These egg sacs seemed to be growing out of the patient’s body. On the surface of the fish eggs, you could even see stretched skin tissue and shriveled fat underneath. They were densely packed together.

Like a spoonful of caviar.

Lu Yan thought to himself.

The officers swiftly bound the patient to the hospital bed, their movements highly practiced.

Lin Sinan stood at a distance: “He was parasitized by a Class C pollutant. He has already reached the second stage of mutation. The doctor said that perhaps removing the lesions on his body and supplementing with treatment might give him a chance to recover. The situation is urgent, and there wasn’t time to rush back to the central laboratory, so we can only entrust this to you. Please rest assured, these fish eggs are just ordinary parasites and will not cause secondary pollution to normal people.”

Lu Yan had a very good trait, and that was calmness. This calmness allowed him to complete his task exceptionally well the very first time he picked up a scalpel.

It was the same now. After a moment of shock, Lu Yan was actually the first doctor to dive into the surgery.

This made Lin Sinan take a few extra glances at him.

The patient’s breathing was very weak. Obviously, he also felt pain.

Every time a fish egg was cut off, the patient would struggle as if convulsing. His face was flushed red, and the blood vessels on the egg sacs were clearly visible.

The extracted fish eggs rapidly shriveled, like sea cucumbers boiled dry of moisture, shrinking into small lumps.

These fish eggs were all tossed into a specialized disposal box filled with boiling water. High temperatures couldn’t kill the fish eggs, but they could effectively reduce their activity.

“Why aren’t you administering anesthesia?” Lu Yan couldn’t help but look up to ask. “Even though he’s secured, muscle tremors will also obstruct the surgical field of vision.”

Lin Sinan was silent for a moment before saying, “Our situation is special. We cannot administer anesthesia.”

The First People’s Hospital was the best hospital in City K, naturally boasting the best doctors.

After passing through the initial panic, the surgery obviously proceeded methodically.

The patient’s blood loss was kept within an optimistic range.

Perhaps because of concentrating for too long and getting a bit dazed, in the third hour of the surgery, Dr. Li accidentally sliced open his own glove. The dirty water from a fish egg drenched his hand.

“Help—Help!” Dr. Li’s mental state collapsed in an instant. “I’m not doing the surgery anymore! I quit! Let me go!”

He dropped his scalpel and scrambled out the door.

Lin Sinan frowned but did not stop him.

There were still guards outside. Dr. Li wouldn’t be able to leave the hospital; he would be pulled aside for psychological counseling and tested for the pollution disease. He would only be released once they confirmed he was fine.

The surgery lasted for four and a half hours. The final fish egg located in the chest cavity was finally successfully removed.

The director was getting on in years. Cold sweat poured down his head, and the moment he put down his scalpel, he couldn’t help but feel a wave of dizziness.

“The surgery was very successful…”

The director looked towards the patient’s only “family member.”

Lin Sinan’s muscles, tense for several hours, finally relaxed, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

Lu Yan blinked his eyelashes and looked at the back of the patient’s hand.

Beneath the skin, it seemed like something was flowing through the blood vessels.

The patient must also be a soldier with extraordinary willpower. Undergoing surgery without anesthesia only elicited a few muffled groans. Towards the end, there wasn’t even a hum. Perhaps he was numb from the pain.

Now, his fingers twitched slightly, as if trying to catch the doctor’s attention. Unfortunately, he was tied down too tightly, so the movement was extremely slight.

Lu Yan looked into his eyes. Those were tearful eyes, filled with reluctance and resolve.

Is he… asking for help?

Almost subconsciously, Lu Yan’s scalpel cut open the skin tissue on the back of the patient’s hand.

Tiny golden fish eggs erupted out.

Lin Sinan’s expression drastically changed in an instant.

Bang—

An unexpected gunshot rang out, deafeningly loud.

The nurses screamed and huddled together.

Lu Yan had performed many surgeries, especially resuscitations for some critically ill patients. He naturally had no way to guarantee that everyone would walk off the operating table alive.

It was just that he had never thought an injured patient would die in such a manner on the operating table.

Blood splattered onto the protective suits. Not just blood, but also some internal organ tissue. They were too close to dodge.

The director’s legs gave out, and he sat on the floor.

Lin Sinan lowered his gun, his tone full of apology: “I’m sorry. It was an error in my judgment. He had already entered the third stage. The pollution was inevitable. I could only eliminate the pollutant in advance. Tomorrow, dedicated personnel will contact you all to provide compensation.”

Lu Yan was still staring blankly at the corpse on the operating table, seemingly unable to process what had happened.

Meanwhile, Lin Sinan’s teammates silently stepped forward and began to transport the patient’s body. It wouldn’t be sent to the morgue; it had to be placed in a containment pod and then cremated at high temperatures.

“I am very sorry. Making everyone witness such a scene.”

Lin Sinan looked at the severed limbs on the floor, bowed, and exited the operating room.

The remaining people looked at each other in dismay.

The director didn’t dare take off his protective suit, even though he was already covered in a layer of sweat from the stuffiness.

His mouth tasted bitter as he said, “I’ll give everyone three days off. Go home… and get some good rest.”

The young nurse’s hands still couldn’t stop trembling. She wiped the fog off her goggles: “Director, is the pollution disease really a disease?”

The director smiled bitterly: “I don’t know. But I’ve heard a theory. Those people in the research institutes call this… evolution. And evolution must inevitably go hand in hand with extinction. Without extinction, new species won’t attain empty ecological niches.”

“Prepare more for yourselves.” He was unwilling to say more.

Lu Yan went to the locker room and turned on the faucet in front of the mirror.

He was supposed to wash his hands after surgery, but as the water flowed down, his hand remained clenched in a fist.

Lu Yan looked at himself in the mirror.

It was a calm, insipid face. Without joy, there naturally wouldn’t be panic or fear.

No one knew what he was thinking, and naturally, no one noticed what he had done at the very end of the surgery.

Lu Yan turned off the faucet, shoved his hand into his pocket, and unclenched his fingers.

At that moment, a mechanical voice clearly rang out in Lu Yan’s mind—

[Congratulations to the host for awakening the talent — Omniscience.]

[Congratulations to the host for obtaining the item: King Fish Larval Egg (Unhatched)]