CHAPTER 104: CHAPTER 104 CAMPUS

As a self-proclaimed genius, Li Ang was quite fond of teaching himself medicine. Robert Liston, a British doctor from the early 19th century, was the one who inspired Li Ang to walk this path.

In 19th-century Europe, anesthesia hadn’t been invented yet, so to minimize a patient’s struggling, surgeons had to complete operations as quickly as possible.

Dr. Liston was highly skilled and swift, averaging just two and a half minutes to amputate a leg, with his fastest amputation taking only 28 seconds, earning him the title "The Fastest Knife in the West End of London."

However, while Dr. Liston was fast, his precision left something to be desired.

In one infamous surgery, Dr. Liston skillfully amputated a patient’s leg in just two and a half minutes. He also, as an unintended "bonus," severed the patient’s testicles, castrating him on the spot.

A young boy had a red swelling on his neck. Dr. Liston’s intern asked if it was a skin abscess or a dangerous carotid aneurysm.

Dr. Liston, believing such a young child couldn’t possibly have an aneurysm, roughly dismissed the intern. With one swift cut of his knife, arterial blood spurted out, and the patient died instantly.

In a third infamous case, Dr. Liston perfectly amputated a patient’s leg. However, he used too much force, simultaneously cutting off his assistant’s fingers and slashing a spectator’s tailcoat.

As a result, the patient later died from gangrene (very common at the time). The assistant whose fingers were severed also died from gangrene. And the unfortunate gentleman whose tailcoat was merely slashed was, out of sheer terror, literally scared to death.

One swift cut, three lives lost. This was probably the only "successful" surgery in history with a 300% fatality rate.

Dr. Liston’s "illustrious achievements" constantly inspired Li Ang on his path to medicine.

(In reality, Dr. Liston’s reputation was actually quite positive. He was a pioneer in Scottish surgery and made significant contributions to the development of modern medicine.)

Unfortunately, Dr. Cangxiu was not only unwilling to provide Li Ang with cadavers for dissection but also firmly barred him from entering the school infirmary during work hours.

He feared that one day, his own cerebral blood vessels might burst.

As a normal person, School Doctor Cangxiu always kept a respectful distance from Li Ang. But now, with supervisors, school leaders, and parent representatives watching intently from the edge of the sports field, he had walked up to Li Ang and couldn’t just ignore this "innocently fainted student."

"Student, can you hear me?" asked Dr. Cangxiu, his voice muffled by his mask.

"Yes." Li Ang’s lips were pale. He clutched the school doctor’s collar and said with difficulty, "Ah, Dr. Cangxiu, it’s you? Am I... Am I going to die...?"

Damn it, he recognized me even with a mask and cap on?

Dr. Cangxiu’s expression darkened. "Student Li Ang, don’t be so dramatic... You just fainted from exhaustion."

Li Ang shook his head and tremblingly pulled a few bills from his pocket. "Dr. Cangxiu, this is... my League membership fee for this month."

I told him not to be so dramatic!

Exasperated but maintaining his composure, the upstanding Dr. Cangxiu didn’t pocket Li Ang’s few yuan. Instead, he grabbed a nondescript blue-and-white bottle of energy drink and began to pour it down Li Ang’s throat.

This energy drink, developed by the Academy of Sciences, could sustain an adult male’s daily physical activity with just a quarter of a bottle.

For an exhausted student, an eighth of a bottle would likely be enough.

Dr. Cangxiu was squatting, helping Li Ang drink the energy drink. But Li Ang, who had seemingly collapsed from exhaustion, suddenly found the strength to snatch the bottle and started gulping it down non-stop.

Dr. Cangxiu watched, stunned, as Li Ang downed nearly half the bottle. Li Ang then looked at him, eyes shining, and asked, "Got any more?"

"That’s all."

Dr. Cangxiu snatched the bottle back. He then watched as Li Ang kipped up from the ground, instantly revitalized and glowing with health. While practicing a few punches, Li Ang muttered, "Shaolin Kung Fu is great~ truly great~ Shaolin Kung Fu is awesome, truly awesome!"

Hmm... this unbranded energy drink with no manufacturing date or location listed is actually pretty potent. After drinking almost half a bottle, my head feels much clearer, and most of the fatigue in my body is gone.

The Special Affairs Bureau really has some impressive stuff.

Li Ang finished a set of nameless military-style punches and silently completed his routine.

Maybe, after some time, the Special Affairs Bureau will start selling ’special products’ like this energy drink to independent players who cooperate with them. This would be to foster better relations and recruit players into the Special Affairs Bureau.

An official organization, backed by the entire state apparatus, is always going to be far more powerful than a scattered group of lone-wolf players. There’s never been any parity between them in terms of information, resources, or military strength.

Perhaps only when the combat game reaches its middle or late stages—when players can routinely withstand main battle tank shells, survive carpet bombings, and evade precision missile strikes—will there be any grounds for equal negotiation.

After pondering the future of society against the backdrop of the combat game for a moment, Li Ang saw his classmates getting up from the lawn. He rejoined the group for physical training.

Thanks to the special drink, the high school students managed to get through the two-hour physical education class with a performance that was "ugly but barely passing."

After the grueling P.E. session, even the teenagers who had previously been most enthusiastic about shooting and full-contact armored fighting had lost all vigor. They all hung their heads, dreading the next day’s drill.

During this P.E. session, Li Ang carefully controlled his exertion, maintaining an unremarkable, average performance to blend in smoothly.

When school ended, the gates were crowded with parents waiting to pick up their children.

Having heard about the day’s physical training, they were worried their children might collapse from exhaustion, so they all insisted on coming to the school to collect them.

If the school hadn’t issued strict and repeated instructions not to drive to campus today, the entrance to Experimental High School would likely have been choked by a torrent of vehicles.

Li Ang observed the warm, harmonious family scenes around him as he calmly walked through the crowd, even finding a moment to pull out his phone and browse the web.

The widespread commotion caused by all these changes made even the slowest people realize something was wrong. Combined with the increasingly tense international situation, imaginative netizens began speculating about an impending war. Theories ranged from ’Full-Spectrum Jamming Interference’ between nations, to a ’Terminator’-style war between humans and sentient machines, or even an ’X-Men’ scenario involving humans and mutants.

The moment his left foot crossed the threshold of the school gate, the System’s notification tone sounded in his ear again.

[Task Trigger Conditions Met]

[Task Type: Scripted Mission (Team)]

[Task Name: Campus Past]