“We have someone injured here!
Help him!”
Logan soon returned to the floor where the operating rooms were, carrying Charles on his back, and shouted at the doctors.
Because of the earlier incident, a large crowd of medical staff had gathered in the corridor.
Seeing Logan emerge, they all looked over, and then…
began to shrink back in terror.
The power that Miles had cut off earlier had been restored, and the corridor was brightly lit.
“Fuck…” Logan cursed under his breath.
Spotting Dr.
Reed, the dean of the medical center, his eyes lit up.
He rushed over and said, “Doctor, please save him…
He’s gravely injured!”
Seeing Logan covered in blood and the dying old man on his back, Dr.
Reed took a deep breath.
With a hint of fear, she said, “I’m sorry, Mr.
Logan…”
“Word came down from the board of directors…
You are not welcome here…”
“What did you say?!” Logan’s eyes widened.
“Isn’t this a hospital?
We need medical attention!”
“We cannot admit him.
Please leave.”
Logan asked repeatedly, but no matter what he said, Dr.
Reed refused to budge.
Recalling the female military agent from earlier, Logan’s heart sank.
He finally realized that they were being targeted.
Just then, the lights in the entire lobby, along with all the lighting fixtures in the corridor, suddenly went dark.
“What’s going on?”
“A power outage?”
Panic-stricken cries echoed in the dark.
A few seconds later, the emergency lights flickered on, casting a dim, flickering green glow.
In the eerie, shifting green light, a faint, continuous rolling sound came from the far end of the corridor.
*Whir, whir…*
The sound drew closer, neither rushed nor slow, yet it felt as if it were stepping directly on everyone’s hearts.
Everyone looked toward the source.
In the shadows of the corridor, a young boy sat in Charles’s electric wheelchair, pushed slowly forward by Laura.
His face was deathly pale, completely devoid of color, and his cold eyes were bloodshot.
He was swallowed up by the oversized wheelchair, looking as though he might fall apart at any moment, yet his gaze held an indescribably chilling intensity.
Beside him, a blood-drenched monster followed silently like a ghost.
The wet blood on his body reflected a dark red glow under the emergency lights.
The pungent, metallic stench of blood wafted over from a distance, causing a few squeamish nurses to gag on the spot.
Then, the wheelchair stopped in front of the crowd.
“Let him through.”
Miles spoke in a low voice.
Though weak and raspy, it carried clearly to everyone’s ears, loaded with an absolute, commanding authority.
Dr.
Her hands began to tremble instinctively.
She could tell that this was no human, but a killing machine fresh from a slaughter, still carrying bits of human flesh.
Facing the invisible pressure radiating from Miles, Dr.
Reed gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, digging her fingernails deep into her palms, using the pain to combat the creeping dread.
Then, her fear turned into anger.
“Damn mutants…
You want to kill me, don’t you?
Go ahead!
Do it now!”
The sixty-something woman screamed at Miles, her voice cracking as it echoed through the empty corridor.
“You have absolutely no idea who you’ve crossed!
That’s a military heavyweight!
With a single word, he can send everyone here to hell!”
Dr.
Reed’s voice began to break, cracking with tears.
Pointing at her colleagues around her, her voice grew even more shrill and desperate.
“Some people here might pity you, but we all have families!
Our parents, our children…
they’re all waiting for us at home!”
“So…
don’t force us!!”
Her final words were almost a plea.
*Ah, so that’s how it is…*
Miles understood.
“Laura, come back.”
Miles called back Laura, who was about to rush forward to strike, and then slowly scanned the crowd, his gaze passing over every face.
He saw fear, he saw conflict, and he also saw a trace of deep-seated guilt buried within their eyes.
Now, he could certainly order X-24 to tear everyone here to shreds, he could completely crash the building’s systems, and he could turn this place into a living hell…
but he could not force a doctor to pick up a scalpel to save someone they didn’t dare to save.
At this moment, an unfamiliar sense of powerlessness seized him.
Miles closed his eyes, his pale face showing no emotion.
A deathly silence blanketed the corridor.
Dr.
Reed’s chest heaved violently.
After screaming those words, she seemed to have been drained of all her strength.
She could only stare fixedly at Miles, her eyes holding a grim resignation alongside her terror.
Miles opened his eyes again, looking neither at her nor at any of the other doctors.
His gaze swept past the crowd, treating them as if they were nothing but air.
“Laura, push me forward.”
His voice was raspy, yet exceptionally clear.
Laura nodded and slowly pushed Miles forward.
The medical staff instinctively parted to both sides like they were avoiding a plague, clearing a path.
“Wait!” Logan asked, completely unable to comprehend the situation.
“What are you doing?”
Miles remained silent, merely having Laura stop the wheelchair in front of the operating room’s glass door.
Then, he raised his head, his bloodshot eyes staring intently at the sophisticated medical equipment blinking inside the room.
“Logan, bring Charles in and put him on the operating table,” he commanded.
“Who’s going to operate on him?
We don’t have a doctor!”
“I will.”
Miles answered.
Everyone froze.
Even Dr.
Reed stood frozen in place, looking at Miles as if he were a madman.
“You?
Do you even know what you’re saying?
Have you ever even read a medical textbook?
You can’t even walk!”
“I don’t need to walk.” Miles slowly turned his head, his blood-smeared face confronting Dr.
Reed.
There was no emotion in his eyes, only an unfathomable resolve.
“And I don’t need a scalpel, either.”
“As for professional knowledge…” Miles gestured shakily toward his own head.
“I am currently browsing the database of your medical center’s main server…
There is a lot of data.
I hope it’s enough.”
Dr.
Reed couldn’t comprehend what Miles meant, but she recognized his absolute determination.
She shook her head, said nothing more, and stepped aside to let them through.
“Miles…” Logan walked toward the operating room and couldn’t help but ask, “If you do the surgery, what are the odds of success?”
“To be frank…
less than ten percent,” Miles said softly.
“…Fuck!!!” Logan glared at Miles.
“You’re playing with Charles’s life!!”
“So?” Miles whispered.
“Do we have any other choice?”
“You could control Dr.
Reed…”
“I can control her movements, but the actual surgery still requires her own hands and mind,” Miles replied, looking at Logan.
“Logan, I’m not Charles.
I can’t warp minds; I can only manipulate physical actions.
I’m only twelve years old, and I only gained my true freedom a few days ago…”
“I’ve thought of other ways…
but Charles can’t wait that long.”
As Laura pushed Miles into the operating room, the surgical shadowless lamp directly above the operating table flared to life, casting a clean, shadowless circle of bright light.
Right after, the ECG monitor on the wall flickered with a soft beep.
Then, the indicators on the vital signs monitor, anesthesia machine, and ventilator lit up one by one.
Their rhythmic beeps interlaced, instantly breathing active life into the once-dead room.
All the electronic instruments began running on their own, as if welcoming their emperor.
“So…
trust me, Logan,” Miles said softly.
“Just as you believe Charles won’t die, trust in me.”