Emily Shaw, lying inside the medical pod, let out a painful groan.
"Emily!"
Hearing the sound, Victor immediately rushed to the bedside, grasped his daughter's hand, and called out anxiously.
However, the little girl showed no response. She only frowned in pain, with no sign of waking up.
Seeing this, Victor couldn't help but feel at a loss. Staring at his daughter, he muttered unconsciously, "What's going on… why can't I wake Emily?!"
"Let us take a look," Li Hua stepped forward and said.
Victor snapped back to his senses and looked at Li Hua. Realizing that Li Hua and the others were doctors specializing in dealing with the Bugster virus, he immediately felt as if he had grasped a lifeline. He tightly held Li Hua's hands and said urgently,
"Doctor Li, you must save Emily"
Li Hua nodded solemnly.
"This is our responsibility as doctors. Please rest assured—we will do everything we can to cure your daughter."
With that, Li Hua and Elena moved to the control panel beside the medical pod and began checking the little girl's physical condition.
"Judging from the readings, it should be a loss of control of the Bugster virus, just like the other Bugster virus patients," Elena said as she looked at the data displayed on the system screen.
"Is there a way to treat it?" Xiao Feng asked immediately, full of concern.
Li Hua nodded.
"We can perform a Bugster virus excision surgery—separate the Bugster virus, then defeat and eliminate the Bugster itself, allowing the patient to recover.
Just like how we treated all the previous Game Disease patients infected with the Bugster virus."
"I can help you," Victor said seriously.
"Mr. Shaw, don't worry. We're professionals," Gwen spoke up from the side.
"We're already very experienced in surgeries that remove Bugster viruses from patients. Nothing will go wrong."
Elena nodded repeatedly.
"All previous Game Disease patients were successfully treated. This time will be no exception."
Li Hua had already taken out a game cartridge.
"Time is of the essence. Let's begin the surgery immediately, before anything unexpected happens."
"Wait! We can't start the surgery right now." Dan Kuroto suddenly spoke up to stop them.
"What's wrong?" Elena asked in confusion.
"Is this girl's condition different from the others?" Li Hua asked thoughtfully.
Victor's face darkened as well, his gaze turning toward Dan Kuroto on the screen.
Dan Kuroto nodded slightly.
"This little girl's situation is indeed different from other Bugster virus patients.
More precisely, the game corresponding to the Bugster virus inside her is somewhat special."
"What's special about it? Will it affect the Bugster excision surgery?" Gwen asked, her eyes showing sympathy as she looked at the girl lying in the pod.
"A virtual world game. The consciousness of the little girl and the others exists inside this virtual world.
In a sense, all their consciousnesses are bound together with the Bugster virus that constructs the virtual game world," Dan Kuroto explained.
"If we forcibly separate the Bugster virus, what will happen?" Victor asked hoarsely, bloodshot eyes appearing.
Dan Kuroto's tone became heavy. "If we directly remove the Bugster virus like that, it's very likely that the consciousness of everyone inside the virtual game world will disappear along with the excised Bugster…"
"Then are we just supposed to do nothing?!" Elena frowned deeply.
"Mr. Dan should have a solution," Gwen said, looking at him with expectation in her eyes.
Dan Kuroto hesitated slightly. "There is a way, but it may require you to take some risks."
"Please tell me. No matter how dangerous it is, as long as it can save Emily—even if I have to climb a mountain of blades or plunge into a sea of fire, I won't hesitate," Victor said without a second thought, expressing his resolve.
Li Hua also spoke calmly, "Please tell us how to carry out this Bugster virus excision surgery."
He asked only for the method, not the risks—the implication was crystal clear.
Dan Kuroto showed a somewhat helpless expression and smiled.
"I can modify the medical pod to allow your consciousnesses to enter the virtual game world as well.
Once inside, you'll need to open a 'gap' from within the game world to release the trapped consciousnesses. After that, we'll be able to directly perform the Bugster virus excision surgery."
He then warned them seriously,
"But I must remind you—if you fail, your consciousnesses will also be trapped inside the virtual game world, and you will never return."
"So what dangers await us inside this virtual game world?" Gwen asked, her gaze sharp.
"I don't know," Dan Kuroto replied bluntly.
"You don't know?!" Elena exclaimed exaggeratedly.
Dan Kuroto shrugged innocently. "That's exactly why I'm telling you to be careful.
It's a game designed by Parado. Who knows what plans he has, or what kind of setup he's arranged inside the game?"
Elena nodded and looked at the other three.
"Then should we all go in, or—"
"I'll go in alone. This situation was caused by me in the first place…"
Victor said with a pained expression.
After discussion, they decided that Victor and Li Hua would enter the virtual game world first to try once.
They couldn't send everyone in at the same time. If something really went wrong, having Gwen and Elena outside would at least leave a chance for rescue.
After some time…
"Nothing's happened yet… why haven't they come back?!"
Elena said worriedly as she looked at Victor and Li Hua lying motionless in the medical pods, wearing goggle-like devices on their heads.
"If something really went wrong, Mr. Dan Kuroto would definitely notice," Gwen said calmly, trying to reassure her.
Hearing this, Elena calmed down slightly, continuing to observe Victor and Li Hua, trying to judge their condition from their expressions.
Not long after, the game cartridges in their hands suddenly lit up, and the two slowly woke up.
"You're back! How did it go? Was it successful? Did you run into any trouble? Did Parado show up?" Elena immediately bombarded them with questions.
Victor looked visibly relieved.
"We did run into some trouble, but overall, we achieved our goal and successfully freed Yue'er's consciousness."
"As long as everything went well. What kind of trouble did you encounter? Did Parado appear?"
Elena asked curiously.
Li Hua's expression, however, was rather grim.
"It wasn't Parado. It was that person we encountered once when we obtained the Drago Knight Hunter game cartridge—the one who was with Parado and Graphite.
He seems to be trying to fuse human consciousness with the Bugster virus. Although we successfully freed the little girl and most of the others, there was nothing we could do for the first group of people who were dragged into the virtual game world."
The person Li Hua and Xiao Feng encountered was none other than Dr. Otto, the user of the Virus Memory.
The first group who couldn't be freed were naturally the HYDRA agents attacked by Xiao Feng.
"Is he also a Bugster?" Elena asked, her expression shifting.
Li Hua shook his head.
"No. He should be human—apparently using the power of a Gaia Memory to control the Bugster virus."
"A human? How could he work together with Bugsters like Parado? And how could he control the Bugster virus without using game cartridges or Gamer Drivers?!"
Gwen exclaimed in disbelief. "This is probably the handiwork of Foundation X," Elena said with a complicated expression.
(End of Chapter)