I Run Away with the Earth to Save the World [Unlimited Flow] - Chapter 130

Once the idea emerged, Jing Qizhen began carefully recalling every detail since they entered the erosion area.

Even back when they were still in the real world, the information they received about the erosion area was peculiar and strange.

In the two previous domestic erosion areas, whether it was the Yunhai Wancheng Department Store or the remote mountain village in Shennongjia, before the erosion area formed, the Seismic Monitoring Center detected unusual energy fluctuations different from earthquakes. They used that data to establish a relatively complete mathematical model for predicting the time and location of erosion area formation.

With that preliminary model, the usual practice was to gather more data, fit it to the model, and then fine-tune it based on real data to make the model more accurate.

Previously, Russian experts had specially come over, not only to conduct field investigations at the Shennongjia erosion area but also because the preliminary mathematical model for predicting erosion areas seemed reliable. Like earthquake monitoring, the data from the model could be applied globally.

However, when the erosion area at Binhai City’s Second Municipal Hospital formed, the Seismic Monitoring Center detected the same unusual energy fluctuation. Yet, when the data was run through the mathematical model, it concluded that the formation time of the erosion area was three times faster than the previous ones.

By the time Jing Qizhen and his team arrived at Binhai City’s Second Municipal Hospital, the actual time of entering the erosion area was nearly four hours earlier than the model’s prediction.

Given that the previous predictions were highly accurate, the four-hour gap was a significant deviation.

At the time, they were worried that future erosion areas on Earth might become more complex, possibly rendering the newly established prediction model obsolete.

But now, Jing Qizhen thought it was more likely that the erosion area itself was unusually special.

Next to him, Wang Feizhou continued explaining to Yun Shuanghua, “However, hydrochloride chlorpromazine has significant side effects, affecting the brain, heart, liver, and even the stomach. Generally speaking, psychiatric patients often have poor stomach health.”

Yun Shuanghua, seemingly interested in the topic, asked, “You mentioned this was one of the earliest psychiatric drugs? Have replacements appeared since then?”

Feeling somewhat pressured, Wang Feizhou nonetheless answered, “They’re not exactly replacements… Drugs like risperidone, aripiprazole, paliperidone, and quetiapine are newer atypical antipsychotic drugs commonly used in recent years. Compared to hydrochloride chlorpromazine, they have fewer side effects. I once heard from my teacher that psychiatric medications are chosen based on patient feedback. If a drug has minimal adverse reactions and effective results, it’s used. If not, they try another. Everyone reacts differently to these drugs.”

Although Yun Shuanghua barely understood, he still nodded earnestly and thanked Wang Feizhou.

Wang Feizhou waved his hand. “No need to thank me!”

After they finished talking, Jing Qizhen suddenly said, “I need to go to the pharmacy.”

Yun Shuanghua looked at him. “Huh?”

Jing Qizhen replied, “I have a rather far-fetched hypothesis. I’ll verify it at the pharmacy and then check with the survivors.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Jing Qizhen asked Wang Feizhou, “Do you know how to communicate with schizophrenia patients without provoking them?”

Wang Feizhou replied, “Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness.”

Jing Qizhen: “So?”

Wang Feizhou: “They’re easily provoked. Even without external stimuli, they can become agitated from their own delusions. Avoiding triggers is quite difficult for outsiders. Plus, I’m in general surgery, not psychiatry. I can only explain basic principles, but for more specialized knowledge, you’ll need a psychiatrist.”

Jing Qizhen patted Wang Feizhou’s shoulder. “Just know that you’re the most professional among us.”

Wang Feizhou: “QAQ!”

He suddenly felt uneasy.

In Jing Qizhen’s mind, the Earth asked, “What’s wrong? Why did you suddenly mention schizophrenia? Who’s sick?”

Jing Qizhen: “I don’t know who’s sick.”

Then, Jing Qizhen had a sudden idea and discussed with the Earth, “Babyball, why don’t you go outside and see if you can find medical records from the psychiatry department of Binhai City’s Second Municipal Hospital? Maybe you’ll find someone who looks like one of the survivors.”

The Earth thought for a moment and said with some difficulty, “But Yan Hong and Gu Leshan are only looking into major incidents at the hospital itself. I haven’t seen them go through any medical records.”

Jing Qizhen: “The hospital archive room… no, the records would be sealed. You’d only see the file numbers, not the contents.”

The Earth grumbled, “They can’t hear me talk!”

Suddenly, the Earth had an idea and excitedly said to Jing Qizhen, “I’ll check the psychiatric ward instead! It’s faster to find people than dig through records!”

Jing Qizhen vaguely remembered the Earth once saying that finding a person for it was like looking for a specific bacterium on one’s own body. The difference is that humans can’t see it with the naked eye, but the Earth can!

Gently letting out a breath, Jing Qizhen said sincerely, “Good work, Babyball!”

The Earth grumbled, “I told you every successful team has a ball that’s worked to death and you still argued with me…”

The Earth: Holding grudges.JPG!

Jing Qizhen raised an eyebrow slightly. “Technically speaking, this successful team is running around for you, the ball.”

The Earth thought about it and realized that it was true, instantly changing the topic. “I’m going to help find someone. Off I go, off I go, off I go!”

Jing Qizhen couldn’t help but shake his head with a laugh.

Then, Jing Qizhen called over Wang Feizhou and Lu Lingxi, and together they headed toward the pharmacy on the first floor. Meanwhile, over the wireless comms, he shared his latest deduction. “I suspect the core of this erosion area is connected to a psychiatric patient with schizophrenia.”

Manman and Si Jiayang exclaimed at the same time, “A psychiatric patient?”

Wilcox asked in confusion, “Why do you think that?”

Manman quickly caught on, “The medical records of the deceased you found earlier, and that psychiatric medication?”

Jing Qizhen said, “I just heard from Feizhou that chlorpromazine hydrochloride was one of the first drugs used in our country to treat schizophrenia, and that’s what made me think of it. I’ve read some science articles before that paranoid delusions are a pretty typical symptom of schizophrenia.”

Wang Feizhou nodded beside him. “Yes.”

After receiving this confirmation, Jing Qizhen continued, “The survivors we encountered have always been acting odd. They were extremely sensitive, suspicious, and prone to panic. At first, I thought they were just under too much mental stress, like startled birds, which made them this way. But if you think about it differently, maybe the reason survivors only appear inside the hospital building isn’t because they woke up and escaped, nor because of some mystical blood magic, but simply because they were already patients.”

Following Jing Qizhen’s line of reasoning and assuming the survivors really are patients with schizophrenia, everyone on the comms suddenly felt like they’d had a moment of clarity and began piecing together the logic behind it all.

Wang Feizhou agreed deeply, “Paranoid delusions! Ah, yes! Those survivors really did seem that way, like they were utterly convinced the doctors and nurses were out to harm them…”

Manman and Si Jiayang exchanged a glance. Si Jiayang muttered in a very quiet voice, “An asylum escape is truly the eternal theme of horror games…”

Manman: “……” This conclusion was impossible to argue with.

Jin Guijuan thought for a moment, feeling a bit of a headache, and directly asked another question she couldn’t figure out, “Then what about those ghost doctors and nurses?”

Jing Qizhen said, “This is just a guess, but perhaps the ghost-like state of the doctors and nurses corresponds to the patients’ belief that they want to harm them. The patients refuse to accept the fact that they’re hospitalized and don’t trust the doctors or nurses. So, anyone in a white coat becomes a ghost in their eyes. When we first met the survivors, we were also wearing surgical gowns. We obviously weren’t ghosts and certainly couldn’t float, but the survivors were still terrified.”

In the previous erosion areas they’d encountered, the core of erosion was always inside the area itself.

Usually, once the erosion core dissipated, the erosion area would vanish along with it.

However, this time, Jing Qizhen was beginning to suspect whether the core of the erosion area was actually a living patient.

The memories or delusions within the patient’s mind may have created the interior of the erosion area. But at the same time, the patient still exists in the real world. A human body’s condition can fluctuate at any moment, which could explain why the erosion area has seemed so unusual from the very start.

After reorganizing his thoughts in his mind, Jing Qizhen briefly summarized, “In other words, in the patient’s perception, wearing a white coat is the same as being a ghost.”