Squeak—
Lu Xun gently opened the door and tiptoed inside, trying to keep his footsteps light so as not to disturb his family's rest.
Suddenly, the light snapped on with a click.
Lu Xun found himself face-to-face with a beautiful woman, caught red-handed.
"Uh, Aunt, you're still up? It's already two in the morning." He scratched his head and offered a sheepish grin.
This was his aunt, Jiang Jingfei, the most gentle and virtuous woman in the world.
"I reheated the food and left it on the table, but when it got cold and you still weren't back, I heated it up again."
She poked her nephew's chest with her finger, feigning a stern face with a hint of playful reproach, "Even though you're young, you can't stay up all night so often, or your body will give out."
"Yes, I'll be careful." Lu Xun nodded and explained, "I had a major surgery today, and afterward, I had to discuss some matters, so I came home late."
Hearing this, a flash of heartache and guilt appeared in his aunt's eyes.
If it weren't for her lack of ability, how could an underage child become the pillar of this family?
The monthly medical expenses exceeding 200,000 have robbed her nephew of his youth.
A middle school student, yet busier and more exhausted than most adults.
Since the age of fourteen, her nephew had become a corporate slave...
This burden was not something he should bear at his age.
She had, in fact, contemplated many times about pulling the plug on her husband's oxygen tube, to relieve him and to spare her and her nephew from such hardship.
A monthly expense of 200,000 would overwhelm even some elite families!
As a family of ordinary means, pulling the plug would have been the most rational decision.
But when she thought about her daughter, she couldn't bring herself to do it.
She felt sad but managed her emotions well, not showing it on her face. Instead, she smiled gently and softly said to her nephew:
"You must be starving. Don't just stand there, go eat."
"Okay."
Lu Xun had already caught a whiff of the delicious aroma, salivating with anticipation.
His aunt's cooking skills were exceptional, always turning simple ingredients into a feast!
He quickly went to the dining table and sat down.
Three dishes and a soup were laid out: sweet and sour ribs, stir-fried meat with green peppers, tomato and egg soup, and cucumber salad.
There were also a few plates of small pickles.
He filled a bowl with rice to the brim and started devouring it hungrily, thoroughly enjoying every bite.
So damn delicious!
Especially the tomato and egg soup, incredibly fresh and savory with just the right amount of saltiness.
One gulp and you could feel your bones melting; he'd been enjoying this dish since childhood and never grew tired of it.
"Eat slower, don't choke." His aunt teased, seeing his exaggerated eating, "Your sister is dreaming, no one's here to compete with you for food."
"That's not for certain. Xiao Yu has a nose sharper than a dog's. She might wake up smelling the aroma." Lu Xun chuckled.
His aunt couldn't help but smile; Little Yu indeed had a big appetite.
"Go rest after you finish. I'll clean up myself," Lu Xun said while eating, "You need to wake up early."
"It's just a little time, don't worry, I'll handle it." His aunt waved her hand dismissively.
Seeing this.
He didn't say anything more and ate in silence.
After satisfying his hunger, Lu Xun offered to help with the dishes, but his aunt playfully shooed him out of the kitchen, claiming, "This is my territory, don't intrude."
"Fine, fine, your place, your rules. Oh right, Aunt, here you go."
Lu Xun playfully slipped something into her shirt pocket while she washed dishes, saying quickly, "I'm so sleepy, going to bed now, goodnight."
With that, he disappeared.
"You cheeky brat, I spoiled you when you were little, and now you're playing tricks on me?"
His aunt shook her head, drying off her hands before reaching into her pocket, only to pause in surprise as her eyes turned complicated.
After a while, she let out a long sigh.
Silently, she resumed washing the dishes.
...
The room door opened.
The thick smell of medicine mixed with the stench of decay rushed out, its intensity was beyond words.
But Lu Xun was already used to it.
Inside, there were various pieces of equipment arranged.
On a fully mechanical hospital bed lay a man resembling a dried corpse, tubes connected to his body.
His body was wrapped in bandages like a mummy, with black pus seeping through.
If it weren't for the monitor showing that he still had a heartbeat, no one would believe he was still alive?!
He was the source of the stench.
Xie Zhenhai, Lu Xun's biological uncle.
A man who had once been very kind to him.
Now reduced to something neither human nor ghost.
Xie Zhenhai was an exceptional neural network engineer.
With his skills, reaching elite status before 40 wouldn't have been difficult.
But fate was unkind.
A few years ago, he responded to the call to join Jinghai City's high-level rift pioneering mission.
That official Pioneer Corps had an impressive scale and formation.
Equipped with advanced mechas, power armor, and various heavy weapons.
As a non-combat logistics technician, Xie Zhenhai never expected to end up like this.
They set off with over six hundred people, a long convoy.
Only a quarter returned…
The rift remains a natural phenomenon that modern science still cannot explain.
They are alternate spaces that appeared with the Celestial Convergence, composed of various wondrous and unusual phenomena.
The Rifts contain all kinds of invaluable resources from the Otherworld, filled with many magical things.
It is precisely thanks to these things that human technology has been able to advance by leaps and bounds, breaking limits time and again.
Brand new materials, brand new energy sources, brand new life forms... have brought a brand new future!
The development potential of a Self-looping City, whether low or high, needs to be assessed by combining many factors, but "Rift Resources" must be the decisive factor because it directly determines the development limit.
If a city wants to develop, exploring the Rifts is an unavoidable step.
The problem lies in the fact that the Rifts are not free gifts; they contain great terror.
People need to pave the way with their lives, laying down a path of white bones.
Xie Zhenhai was bitten by an evil creature called "Medusa" in a Rift.
Mysterious toxins spread throughout his body, rapid tissue decay, cells dissolving quickly, bones liquefying, skin peeling off in chunks...
If it weren't for the medical personnel acting quickly, he would have turned into a pool of blood on the spot.
Though his life was barely saved, a large area of nerves all over his body has already perished.
Xie Zhenhai became a wreck, all the muscles in his body losing connection with him.
He cannot eat, defecate, breathe, speak... he can't even blink his eyes on his own.
He needs mechanical devices to sustain life.
There is no antidote for Medusa's poison.
It can only be suppressed with medicine, slowing the speed of cell dissolution.
Once the medication is interrupted, he will still turn into a pool of...
Lu Xun has never seen someone so miserable in his past life or this one.
The key is that this person is his uncle, or rather, "foster father."
The only way to save Xie Zhenhai is through prosthetic transformation!
And it's not a matter of implanting one or two prosthetics.
But rather, replacing all body parts except for a portion of the brain with artificial prosthetics!
His body, except for the brain, has completely merged with Medusa's toxins, like maggots attached to bones, inseparable.
Only as a complete prosthetic cyborg can he survive.
Lu Xun once calculated an account.
The cheapest total prosthetic transformation requires over sixty million Human Federation currency.
But for this family, they can't even afford the monthly 200,000 lifesaving fee.
So Lu Xun went to a black clinic at 14.
His original plan was first to preserve his uncle's life.
Six million can be dealt with later; as long as he is alive, there is always hope!
Of course, the "All-Knowing Right Hand" golden finger also gave him the courage and confidence to take on the family responsibility.
"Beep beep——"
Suddenly, the device beeped twice, and the nearby electronic screen suddenly lit up.
This device is connected to his uncle's brain and can automatically capture brainwaves.
A line of regular script slowly appeared on the screen—
[Is it Xiao Lu? Tsk, it really is you. Quickly wipe the camera for me, it's dusty, can't see clearly.]
"It's me, sorry for disturbing your rest." Lu Xun said softly.
[It's okay, what's this about, the thing I lack the least is rest, haha.]
"I have some things I want to talk to you about but don't know where to start." Lu Xun reached out and wiped the camera for him, his expression slightly hesitant.
[Just talk however you want, we're family. If you're willing to talk, I'm willing to listen.]
Lu Xun was silent for a while, suddenly asked: "Uncle, are you tired?"
[Huh? How could I be tired? Laying around all day doing nothing. When bored, I listen to music, read e-books, isn't that quite relaxing?]—this sentence popped up on the screen, accompanied by a [smug] emoticon.
Lu Xun actually wanted to ask him if he was tired of living, mentally exhausted, or if he could still persist?
"It's good that you're not tired." Lu Xun nodded, and smiled: "Just wait a bit longer, at most in four years, you'll get a brand new body, standing up again."
Actually, the monthly 200,000 lifesaving fee isn't that bad.
After all, the prosthetic doctor is a profiteering industry!
And the better the technology, the more you earn!
Lu Xun's pressure is not too great, he even has the leeway to also take care of his aunt and Xiao Yu.
But if he wants to completely cure his uncle, he needs total transformation, otherwise he will forever be a wreck whose presence can only be shown through subtitles on the screen.
To earn six million in four years.
It's hard to imagine these words coming from a civilian high school student.
But Lu Xun has this confidence.
Because he's almost an adult.
Once adult, many fields will be open for him to flourish.
With the help of the "All-Knowing Right Hand" golden finger, making money becomes simple.
Prosthetic doctor, appraiser, mecha pilot, mechanical engineer... anything is possible, doing everything is possible.
Even just by the value Lu Xun creates for society alone, he can elevate the whole family to the elite class, moving to the Inner City District!
[Four years, huh? I understand. Don't worry, the doctors say as long as I don't stop the medication, my life can be sustained at least for ten years. I can wait for four years, hahaha.]
"Yes, the hope is great, and it's very close. As long as you understand that, we're all with you, don't give up." Lu Xun stood up from the chair, waved at the camera: "You keep resting, good night, uncle."
[Good night.]
The monitor dimmed, proactively turned off by Xie Zhenhai.
Lu Xun left the ward, gently closing the door.
After he left, in the pitch-black room.
The monitor suddenly lit up again, showing words that felt like a murmuring monologue—
[...And you? Are you tired?]