Mental Illness Evolution Manual - Chapter 33

Yan Xianchuan flew high and landed heavily on the concrete ground. She rolled forward for a few meters before stopping due to inertia. Aside from the emotional damage, her biggest injury was on her forehead. Her head had hit the ground, leaving a mark.

The vengeful woman got up from the ground, her first reaction was to find a handy “weapon” nearby. She rolled her eyes, she didn’t see any weapons, but she did see her companions struggling to get up.

There was also Gold Ring, who had fallen headfirst into the flower bed, and Atmore, whose two legs were sticking out next to him.

Lu Mingqiu was rushing over. Yan Xianchuan judged her thoughts and abandoned her plan to retaliate on the spot. She picked up Dongye He and pulled Silver Ring, letting the latter hold the former, then she went to the flower bed to reach for Atmore.

Thanks to the door panel, everyone only suffered impact injuries, along with some dizziness and blurred vision. The door panel, which had done a great job and stood firm until now, was completely ruined. Gold Ring had used his ability to control it to block an attack, completely exhausting his psionic energy. He was completely exhausted and could only hang on to Atmore.

“How are you? Can you still walk?” Lu Mingqiu quickly checked everyone.

Yan Xianchuan, with her thick skin, was the one she was least worried about.

The individual who had suddenly gone berserk was tangled up with his companions, unable to spare any attention for them. However, a desperate person and one who feared harming a mouse were unlikely to emerge victorious in a confrontation.

It didn’t take long for him to take care of his companions, he threw the broken body aside, the person’s remaining half-body leaked blood like a burst water balloon, the needle in his hand reflected a silver light, the other two were almost instantly riddled with bullets as dense as bee stings.

Then he turned around and looked at the group who were about to leave with bloodshot eyes.

Yan Xianchuan saw the undisguised murderous intent in his bulging veins, she muttered, “Is he crazy? He doesn’t seem quite right in the head.”

“Cyber-crazy, consciousness disorder.” Lu Mingqiu explained quickly, “Run.”

As she spoke, she raised her hand and fired another burst, emptying the magazine.

They thought it was foolproof, the group didn’t bring any heavy weapons, but something unexpected happened halfway through. The combat suits they were wearing were bulletproof, but the kinetic energy of the bullets hitting their bodies was enough to cause subcutaneous bruising, and if it was a larger caliber, it wouldn’t stop their ribs from breaking.

Besides, this cyber-crazy person wasn’t just equipped with machine guns, he also had an RPG.

He raised one arm to block it, the bullet grazed the barrel, making a sound like metal hitting stone. Then he raised his other arm, the red light flickered dangerously, the cannon barrel, as thick as his wrist, began to heat up.

The whistling sound of the projectile and the silver-shining warhead, it was unclear which arrived first. In a flash of lightning, Yan Xianchuan threw herself on top of Lu Mingqiu, pressing her down.

The projectile shattered into dozens of pieces and exploded, scattering with the shattered ground. Then there was another muffled explosion in their ears.

Smoke billowed, dust flew, a drop of blood dripped from the wound on her cheekbone, creating a small pit on the gray stone ground.

Yan Xianchuan turned her head and found that the other party seemed to be out of bullets, he was cursing at his hands. She got up from the ground and pulled Lu Mingqiu up.

The latter’s gaze fell on the large and small cuts on her body, her eyes were complex and unreadable. She pursed her lips, she didn’t say anything, after confirming the cyber-crazy person’s state, she immediately rushed over to close the distance.

Eighty meters, seventy meters… thirty meters, the other party suddenly stopped all movement, his eyes bulged like a frog’s, his entire head quickly filled with blood, turning the color of pig liver, then with a bang, it exploded.

Under Lu Mingqiu’s gaze, it exploded like a squeezed tomato, splattering a pool of red, viscous juice.

She turned around, Yan Xianchuan was brushing the dust off her body, and the rest of the people were lying on the ground, their fates unknown.

Her heart sank, “Black, get the car over here!”

Silver Ring and Dongye He were lucky, the shrapnel didn’t hit their vital organs, Dongye He had two wounds on his back and arm, but the bleeding wasn’t serious, Silver Ring had a leg injury, but he still had the strength to press down on the wound to prevent excessive bleeding.

Before Lu Mingqiu could breathe a sigh of relief, she heard Gold Ring’s intermittent, weak voice, “…Help.”

She rushed over without stopping, in the flower bed where the soil was flying, Gold Ring was half-lying down, he was pressing down on Atmore’s chest, dark red blood was constantly oozing out from between his fingers, as if he had spilled a paint can.

Yan Xianchuan timely handed over the first aid kit she had taken from the car, she also went to move Silver Ring and Dongye He, she sent the two of them into the car, then she came to the flower bed.

Lu Mingqiu was bandaging Atmore’s wound, a tourniquet was wrapped around his chest, like a blue ribbon, red light seeped out from inside.

“He’s bleeding a lot.” Yan Xianchuan said.

“I know.” Lu Mingqiu was calm, like someone who had just been dug out of the snow, she had to be calm, “Get him in the car, go to Minghui Hospital.”

“He was saving me…” Gold Ring stumbled to his feet, his body was covered in the other person’s blood.

The moment the explosion came, Gold Ring couldn’t move at all, his psionic energy was exhausted, it was as if he had been injected with a muscle relaxant, he couldn’t do anything except blink, he could only lie there and wait to die.

It was Atmore who grabbed his shoulder and dragged him to the other side of the flower bed, and he was hit in the chest by the flying shrapnel, the heavy bleeding made him unconscious.

As soon as Gold Ring regained a little strength, he quickly moved his body, using his weight to press down on his wound.

The van carrying everyone rampaged through the streets, the gas pedal was pressed to the floor, ignoring all traffic rules, but the distance to the city hospital was still far away.

The people in the car had bandaged their wounds, no one spoke, Yan Xianchuan quietly wiped the dried blood off her body with an alcohol swab.

Her wound had stopped bleeding.

Black was driving, like a land plane, the tires scraped against the speed bumps, making the car shake, Lu Mingqiu pressed down on Atmore, maybe it was the effect of the hemostatic injection, or maybe it was the jolt, his eyelids slowly opened, after a while, he slowly focused.

“Hiss… it really hurts.” His mouth twitched, his features slowly wrinkled, his skin, which was already white, now seemed transparent.

“Mission… successful?” Atmore said, his voice was as light as a feather.

“It was a success.” Lu Mingqiu said, “We’re on our way to the hospital.”

“That’s good.” He said, as if he wanted to smile, but because of the pain, his expression seemed like he was about to cry.

“Hold on.” Lu Mingqiu felt his weakening mental fluctuations, she tried to keep her voice steady, “When you get out of the hospital, you’ll become a full member, now you can think about what kind of fake face you want.”

“Ugh, actually, I, my current face is pretty handsome.” Atmore said intermittently, “This is… a face that could be a movie star.”

After saying this, he fainted again.

“Can you go a little faster?” Gold Ring couldn’t help but urge.

“This is already the fastest speed.” Black said, “It’s estimated to take another ten minutes.”

Minghui Hospital was a low-cost hospital for ordinary people, it wasn’t in the city center, they were going to the nearest North Branch.

Ten minutes, a time that seemed to pass in a blink of an eye, now seemed so long.

Five minutes, Atmore’s chest rose and fell gradually, it took a long time for him to catch his breath.

Two minutes, he opened his eyes again, as if he wanted to say something, but he only moved his lips.

One minute, his pupils dilated and lost focus, his breathing stopped.

The car stopped at the hospital entrance, the group of them carried him to a stretcher and sent him to the emergency room. Another minute, the doctor came out and expressed his regret, the patient had died when he arrived.

He had a superficial look of pity and sympathy, no one answered for a moment.

The wind blowing through the hall carried the lingering smell of disinfectant, it brushed past everyone’s bodies, a nurse ran over and called for the doctor to go to the emergency room, a patient needed an amputation. He followed the nurse hurriedly, leaving the group behind.

It was summer, the high temperature in Night City could cook an egg, but maybe the air conditioning in the hospital was too strong, it felt like a chill was coming from inside out.

“…Let’s go, take care of your wounds.” Lu Mingqiu said softly.

She led them to the elevator and went downstairs, to the morgue on the fifth floor below ground. She pushed open the door next to the stairwell, went through identity verification, and took the elevator to the underground base.

Dongye He was sent down from another entrance and entered the medical room with the injured people.

In the rest room, Yan Xianchuan watched Lu Mingqiu, who was silent, for a while, and said softly, “I’m sorry.”

The latter didn’t respond.

She sat down next to her, her tone was flat, “Atmore was an interesting person, it’s a pity.”

It was the truth, and Lu Mingqiu recognized it. She didn’t resort to empty pleasantries or a feigned tone of regret; her sincerity was evident.

“I’m fine.” Lu Mingqiu said, her voice was a little low, “This isn’t the first time I’ve seen a teammate die in front of me.”

“And it probably won’t be the last.”

She sighed softly, her eyes were like a white pear blossom about to wither, “It’s just…”

For a moment, a faint light flashed in her eyes, but when she looked again, it was just the reflection of the lights.

“Too sudden? Or too bland?” Yan Xianchuan picked up her words. Her eyes were calm, like a frozen sea.

“Both, I guess.” Lu Mingqiu said, a sigh escaped her lips, “He was a truly good person, he deserved a better ending.”

“That’s what he chose.” Yan Xianchuan said, “He chose to save people.”

Lu Mingqiu couldn’t help but turn her head to meet her gaze, her lips moved a few times, “…You’re right, my thoughts don’t matter, he thought it was worth it.”

—So is your choice?

This person always took care of her face, the wounds on her body healed quickly, the parts where she had been cut were already scabbed over, red streaks, they looked so abrupt.

The force of the explosion was too strong, the protective suit couldn’t block this level of sharp cuts, the bloodstains were faintly visible through the torn fabric, like spiderwebs.

And she herself wasn’t injured at all.

She stared for a while, Yan Xianchuan leaned back slightly, “What are you looking at me for?”

“Did I get disfigured!” She jumped up from her chair in a panic, she turned off the facial projection, she looked at her face in the reflection on the window, she twisted and turned, she stared intently for a while before muttering softly, “My face is alright.”

Lu Mingqiu: “…”