"Akas..."
Upon hearing this familiar na, the man’s movents halted, his hand stopping midway while closing the window. His eyes imdiately filled with uncertainty and even a hint of murderous intent.
But soon, as he noticed Lamia beside Yun You, this wariness vanished instantly, replaced by a touch of astonishnt.
Ti seed to freeze at this mont. Only the sound of condensation dripping overhead, "滴嗒."
The man’s abrupt breathing echoed in the confined space; he swayed slightly, blocking the door gap, grabbing the cold door fra to barely stand firm.
"Who?"
His voice was terribly parched.
"You said... who?"
"Akas."
Yun You stared directly at the stormy waves in his eyes, yet spoke with a remarkably calm tone.
"I am Yun You, one of Jin’s students."
"He... he left, and before he left, he left a letter asking to bring Lamia to see you."
"Jing..."
Akas murmured the na repeatedly, the blood drained completely from his sallow face, leaving only an almost ashen pallor. His fingers trembled from exertion as they clutched the door fra.
"Left?"
He repeated, his voice as light as a feather.
Previously, Jin had co to see him. At that ti, the old man’s condition was very poor, his body aging rapidly, though he masked it with the usual accumulated authority.
Jin never disclosed that he was about to leave, but Akas, both a doctor and a research scholar, could discern so signs.
Yet he never imagined that Jin would leave so swiftly... after all, he was a Tier Seven True God, a unique and great existence. How could he...
The shock in Akas’s murky eyes quickly transford into an indescribable pain.
He seed drained of all strength, his tall figure slightly stooped, leaning against the door fra, unfocused gaze looking out the door.
"Sigh..."
After a mont, a heavy and bitter sigh was squeezed out from deep within his chest.
That sigh contained so much — decades of guilt, hopeless atonent, the absurdity mocked by fate, and the sadness of knowing his brother had passed away without even a final farewell.
"He still didn’t wait..."
Akas’s voice was hoarse, muttering, "It’s better this way, better this way. He doesn’t have to see in this wretched state, nor does he need to hate anymore."
By the end, his voice was almost inaudible.
But soon... as if sothing ca to mind, he suddenly raised his head to look at Lamia, a flicker of almost obsessive determination in his sunken eyes, carrying a sense of responsibility and perhaps a cautious glimr of hope.
"Co in, there are too many eyes here, not suitable for talking."
He turned sideways, pulling open a gap in the heavy door, gesturing for them to co in with a wave, his voice returning to its previous hoarseness, but with less hostility.
Yun You nodded, then quickly pulled Lamia through the heavy iron door, which closed with a thump behind them, blocking out the noise from the outside cave.
Inside, it wasn’t the clinic lobby Yun You imagined, but rather a narrow, dim corridor, the intense sll of disinfectant almost overpowering all other scents, irritating the nose, and the sides of the corridor piled high with tal boxes and junk stained with unknown marks, leaving barely enough space to pass through.
Akas led the way in silence, his hunched silhouette stretching long under the dim lights.
After a while, he reached the end of the corridor and opened another heavy tal door.
The scene beyond the door imdiately ca into view — Akas’s secret laboratory, also where he perford surgeries.
The room was spacious but exceedingly chaotic, walls blotched with water stains and rust, with only a couple of overhead shadowless lamps functioning, emitting a buzzing electric sound as the light flickered intermittently. A gigantic old-fashioned surgical lamp hung askew above the central surgical table.
This surgical table in the secret room was probably the most "standard" and "clean" item here, made of stainless steel, never used but ticulously maintained, though traces of acid mist corrosion dotted its corners.
And surrounding the surgical table, the sight was utterly shocking...
Various models, old and new, even evidently cobbled-together dical instrunts and tools piled together, cables snaking across the floor, so instrunts dismantled to expose complex circuit boards for adjustnt, discarded tal parts, plastic tubes, unknown chemical reagent bottles, and gauze stained with dried dark marks scattered everywhere.
Most striking were the walls and large tal file cabinets densely covered with blueprints and notes filled with frantic formulas and ssy nervous system anatomy diagrams. So blueprints were hand-drawn, written on the backs of discarded packaging paper, crooked lines yet incredibly persistent.
Rather than a "clinic," here seed more like the worksite of a mad scientist.
Though signs of tidying were noticeable in places, proving Akas intended to organize, ultimately he gave up, not wasting ti and energy on these matters.
Yun You had seen Lower City’s black clinics before, where the filth was even more exaggerated, so dicines even started to rot, so she didn’t mind this environnt too much. Besides... she could understand Akas’s actions.
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