Zhou Ning closed his eyes, struggling to control the tremors of his eyeballs.
Now, his heart was sowhat chaotic. Since the beginning of his ti with the system, and especially in the first year, the system was very palpable. Later, he simply self-studied the various knowledge acquired from the system and did not rely on it.
Accumulating over a long period, the system evaluated the quantity and quality of the cases he solved, grading him, and he gradually built up his score. Because the system’s textual prompts indicated that once he reached level five, he could recover his missing mories.
So,
What exactly was beyond level five?
There were no displays, no level six, no other explanations.
Could it be understood that level five was the top level of this system, the completion of the ultimate goal, the receipt of the reward, the system’s mission accomplished, and then what?
Find a new host?
Or would the system depart from him, to fulfill its mission? Of course, this was already the best possible outco because, from beginning to end, it coexisted peacefully with Zhou Ning, never electrocuting him outside the training ’dark room’, nor did he beco an idiot for failing to complete a task.
But what if it wasn’t about leaving?
What would be the result then?
According to the system’s design, it constantly induced him to beco an excellent forensic doctor, training endlessly every day.
Even on the night of his wedding, when he fell into a deep sleep, he was still dragged into the dark room for different types of dissection training. Anyone who wasn’t steadfast or was prone to anger would have been driven mad.
But Zhou Ning hadn’t been because the reward after level five was too tempting.
In this lifeti, what Zhou Ning most wanted to find was the murderer of his parents, to know the reason behind his parents’ death. If they truly were martyrs, why couldn’t they be interred in the Martyrs’ Cetery?
The people who ca to his ho that year to console his grandfather, which departnt were they from, and what was the aning behind the thirty thousand yuan they left?
But what they wanted wasn’t money; it was recognition, even if it couldn’t be made public. They needed sothing to tell his grandfather, that his child was a hero of their country—a sentence that would be enough.
Zhou Ning opened his eyes, looking toward the distant light, and took a deep breath as if the suffocating feeling just now wasn’t as intense.
Zhou Ning asked himself if he should be grateful to the system. Without it, he wouldn’t have the abilities he had now. Staring at the light, Zhou Ning shouted towards it:
"Are you leaving?"
Zhou Ning’s surroundings echoed with his voice.
Unable to discern his environnt, but sensing vast emptiness around him, the light seed exceptionally far away. With the panic in his heart subsiding sowhat, Zhou Ning sighed.
"I should say thank you. Without you, I might still be a good-for-nothing slacker. Even if my master took in, I might not have matched Sun Gaotie’s abilities, because you have given so much.
I’m more thankful for the goal you set for , this mory—it’s too important to . I know that even if I had never lost my mory, that night’s mory would still be blurred. If not for you, I couldn’t see their faces clearly or get such information, so I need to thank you!
From the day we bonded, I’ve been wondering, what good could choosing soone like , a rookie forensic doctor and a certified underachiever, do for you? I’ve been thinking about that for years and couldn’t co up with an answer.
I felt you had an ulterior motive. After all, I was so inadequate at the beginning that you gave a minus two grade level. I don’t know why I was chosen, but at the mont I regained my mory, I understood. I was being narrow-minded. You just wanted to grow stronger, forcing to learn a variety of knowledge, not to depend on the system.
The ultimate goal you set for was tailored for , to fulfill a dream. I believe it must have been my parents’ love for that moved you and made you do all this. I also know that you’re supposed to leave once the task is completed, and I want to say thank you.
I hope the next rookie forensic doctor you encounter won’t be as incompetent as . You were probably more frustrated than I was when you gave that minus two grade. Well, it’s ti to say goodbye, goodbye!"
Zhou Ning spoke sincerely, for at this mont, these were his true thoughts.
A long ti ago, Zhou Ning had always harbored a mix of fear and anticipation for the day the system would leave.
Because he didn’t know what the system might take with it, after all, the system had always made relentless attempts to "dumb him down," even if it was partly in jest. Such threats didn’t seem fake and were well within the system’s capabilities to enforce.
At that mont, he had no choice.
After all, the system could sense his thoughts, so sincerity was indeed the best trump card. Moreover, if there was a second option now, it would be to wait for the system to erase him.
Thus, Zhou Ning firmly believed in what he said.
The surroundings were still quiet, the light still far away, and nothing seed to have changed.
Fixing his gaze on that light, Zhou Ning took another step forward. The sticky sensation under his feet seed much lighter, and as he walked forward, it nearly vanished. This feeling brought a flicker of joy to Zhou Ning, but he quickly suppressed it.
Walking towards the light step by step, as he drew closer, the light beca larger, and everything that seed empty around him no longer felt vacant. When he reached the middle of the light, Zhou Ning was completely exhausted.
But he didn’t fall, because if he did, everything would truly be over. Being in Ganzhou City, before collapsing, the residential building he saw was the house he lived in as a child. He didn’t know why his childhood ho would appear in Ganzhou City.
Mr. Zhao and Xu Dayuan would be scared to death.
Such a frightening fainting spell, Xia Momo must be the most worried, right?
With so many people worried about him, he didn’t have the right to say he was tired, or to give up. After all the trendous efforts, he needed to quickly sketch out the images of those two people he saw.
With this kind of confidence, although exhausted, Zhou Ning was able to hold on.
Step by step, slow but still moving forward, he didn’t know how long it had been; it seed that in a white fog, things gradually beca clear. Although still surrounded by whiteness, it felt tangible, and the scent of disinfectant reached his nose.
This sll was all too familiar. From his childhood mories, his mother always carried this scent, a strangely comforting one. Zhou Ning wanted to close his eyes, but he didn’t dare, afraid that if he closed them now, he might never wake up again.
But his legs felt as if they were filled with lead, unable to lift. In this mont, Zhou Ning was crawling on the ground, his hands moving forward with effort.
Exhaustion attacked him in waves. Zhou Ning’s eyelids could no longer stay open, and he didn’t know how many tis he had bitten his lips and tongue. He closed his eyes slightly, and it seed like he heard a series of shouts.
"Xiao Ning, you’re tired, right?"
"Xiao Ning, co ho to eat!"
"Xiao Ning, wake up!"
The last shout seed not to be his mother’s voice; it carried urgency and worry, sounding more like it was Momo’s voice.
Anxiety hit his heart, and Zhou Ning slowly opened a sliver. The harsh light made it hard for him to focus at first, and he eventually closed his eyes again, trying to lift his hand. That’s when he felt soone holding it. Such a slight movent brought on a wave of shouting.
"Quiet down, everyone! I think I saw Zhou Ning’s fingers move!"
As Mr. Zhao shouted, Momo covered her mouth, moved closer to Zhou Ning, and laid her hand on his face, her tears swirling in her eyes.
"Zhou Ning, don’t scare , please wake up."
Zhou Ning’s eyebrows twitched as if trying to avoid the bright light. Momo wiped away a tear and quickly shielded the light with her hand.
"You think the light is too bright, right? Mr. Zhao, draw the curtains a bit."
Mr. Zhao didn’t hesitate and quickly drew the curtains partway while his eyes remained on Zhou Ning.
And under his instruction, Zhu Xingxing turned to go make a phone call.
The room’s light imdiately grew dimr, and Zhou Ning opened his eyes slightly, seeing Momo’s swollen eyelids, which clearly indicated she had been crying for more than a short while.
Closing his eyes again, Zhou Ning’s hand was held and shaken by Momo, but Mr. Zhao quickly intervened.
"Mr. Xia, that’s enough. I have already called the doctor. Let them check up on Zhou Xiaozhou. We all saw that he woke up."
Zhou Ning knew that if he didn’t speak up now, these people would really start to panic. But his throat was dry and sore, as if it had been coated with shards of glass. After swallowing a few more gulps of water, he managed to speak in a hoarse voice.
"Water... give water. No need... to call the doctor!"
Momo went to get a cotton swab, Mr. Zhao held a mineral water bottle with a straw to Zhou Ning’s lips. After drinking, it seed his throat no longer hurt as if cut by blades.
At that mont, the door opened and a bunch of doctors ca rushing in, led by none other than He Shancun. Momo and the others stepped aside as He Shancun, without a word, pulled up the blanket and checked Zhou Ning thoroughly.
Zhou Ning glared at He Shancun, wanting to say sothing, but since his head was immobilized and a flashlight shone in his eyes, he couldn’t speak. He wanted to lift his leg to kick but could only imagine doing it.
After a while, the examination was over. He Shancun talked with the others, then waved his hand, signaling for them to leave. He covered Zhou Ning with the blanket again before speaking to Momo:
"It looks like there are no problems, but his fainting and waking up were both unexplained. I can’t make sense of it. If I must give a reason, I think it’s exhaustion, or perhaps a sudden psychological stimulus. Zhou Ning, say sothing to . Where do you feel uncomfortable?"
As he spoke, He Shancun stared at Zhou Ning on the bed. Zhou Ning slowly lifted his head. It felt like his arms hadn’t moved in a long ti; now, they trembled as he raised them.
The others gathered around, and Zhou Ning spoke with effort:
"My legs... my legs are numb. Mr. He, massage them for ."
Without a second thought, He Shancun walked to the end of the bed and began massaging Zhou Ning’s legs gently. Momo massaged his arms. After bossing Mr. He around a bit, Zhou Ning felt appeased. His throat gradually stopped hurting after drinking a little more water, and then his stomach began to rumble loudly.
Mr. Zhao slapped his forehead, finally realizing.
"Zhou Xiaozhou, you’re hungry, right? Mr. He, what can he eat now?"
"So porridge, sothing light will do. He can’t eat too much at once since he has been unconscious for four days. If he eats too much all at once, his stomach and intestines won’t be able to handle it. And don’t say one thing to my face and another behind my back. Do you hear ?"
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