It only took a few seconds for all the parasites to be sucked back into Er Qiu and Tie Dan's bodies. Their skin began to sink in one spot, then bulge out in another, as if something were slithering frantically beneath the surface. The sight was enough to make even the seasoned doctors hold their breath.
People quickly snapped out of their daze and rushed to pin the boys down again, their hands gripping small shoulders and legs to prevent them from thrashing off the narrow cots.
But before long, everything went quiet. When the last drop of IV fluid entered their veins, both boys finally calmed down, breathing heavily but steadily. The violent writhing beneath their skin subsided into a dull, motionless swelling.
Everyone in the room let out the breath they had been holding, their hearts still pounding against their ribs. The silence that followed was heavy with the smell of ozone and disinfectant.
Then suddenly, Er Qiu started coughing violently again, making everyone tense right back up.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
"Urgh!"
They both doubled over at almost the same time, their bodies racking with spasms as they vomited a dark brown liquid. It was mixed with long, thread-like clumps that looked like coarse hair, slick with bile.
At first glance, everyone thought they had just puked up a pile of tangled mane hair.
"They are parasites! Dried-up, dead parasites!" someone shouted, pointing at the dark, shriveled mass on the floor.
"Don't let the air contaminate it!"
The two boys threw up so much they looked visibly thinner, as if the very mass of the infection had been carved out of them. But their eyes were clearer than they had been in days, and their faces no longer held that deathly, translucent pale tint. Finally, everyone could truly relax.
"How do you feel?" Boss Zhang asked, his voice trembling with an emotion he couldn't quite suppress. His heart was still racing. Er Qiu was the only heir of the Zhang family, and if anything happened to him, the family's legacy would end right there.
"I feel like my whole body has been hollowed out," Er Qiu said with a weak, tired grin, wiping the corners of his mouth with the back of his hand.
"You brat! Look at you, still cracking jokes." Boss Zhang couldn't help but laugh, a rough, wet sound. The relief in his voice was obvious to everyone standing nearby.
Minister Zhao was so thrilled he could barely contain himself. He had already been shocked that morning when the suppression rate hit ninety-nine percent in the trials, but this... this was something else entirely. Once the lab confirmed the results, they would finally see the absolute truth of it.
Still, he couldn't afford to get careless. Those kids had been infected for days. Their organs and delicate tissues had probably taken serious damage, and even if the parasites were gone, the recovery would be a long, arduous road. Even if they healed completely, there would definitely be lasting side effects from the trauma of the infestation.
The vomit was quickly cleaned away by staff in hazmat suits, samples were whisked off to the lab, and doctors moved in to perform follow-up treatments. But everyone else stood there nervously, waiting for the test results to flash on the overhead monitors.
Minister Zhao and his team were particularly on edge. When the lab reports were about to come out, no one dared to look at the screen. The closer they got to the answer, the more terrified they felt. They wanted to see the results right away, but at the same time, they were scared of a final disappointment.
The tension was so thick that Jing Shu, watching from the side, couldn't help but find the researchers' frantic pacing a little funny. She knew what those pills contained.
Just as everyone stood there waiting in the stifling quiet, the silence was broken by sudden, panicked shouts from the other side of the hall.
"It worked! Our medicine worked! It can completely kill the parasites!"
That cry sent shockwaves through the entire stadium. People immediately rushed over to the far wing to see what was happening. But before anyone could celebrate, strange, animal-like roars echoed from the testing area, a sound that didn't belong in a human throat.
Jing Shu followed the others to check it out, her eyes narrowing as she sensed the shift in the air.
The scene that met their eyes was horrifying. In what should have been a calm testing room where sedated children were being treated, one child had suddenly gone completely berserk. Nobody could even tell if it was a boy or girl anymore.
The kid had torn out all the IV tubes, leaving trails of blood across the white sheets, and their eyes were rolling wildly in their sockets. Their cheeks were deeply sunken, and patches of long, wiry hair were sprouting from their face and the backs of their hands. They hunched over on the cot, moving on all fours like a cornered beast, darting around the room with inhuman, jerky agility.
Thankfully, the test area was sealed off with reinforced glass, so the child was quickly caught by the orderlies. But even with several strong adults holding them down, they couldn't fully restrain the struggling. The kid was thrashing, growling, and snapping their teeth like a wild animal caught in a trap.
Minister Zhao strode forward, checking the patient carefully from behind the barrier. "What is going on here? What drug did you use? Who is in charge of this station? Bring me the formula immediately! And run a full scan on this child's vitals!"
In this crowd, no one had more authority than him. As the head of the R&D Epidemic Prevention Department, every experimental drug passed through his hands. He was a seasoned expert, with both the knowledge and the scars of experience.
"It's the medicine from the Yunzhou Medicinal Herb Association," someone answered nervously, gesturing to a group of pharmacists in expensive-looking uniforms. "It must be a side effect of the high dosage."
"A side effect this severe?" Zhao frowned, his gaze fixed on the growling child. "Look at the child! They have lost all sanity. Even if you cured the infection, what is the point if the patient ends up like this? You have traded a parasite for madness."
"I heard they used that new, rare crimson energy in the mix," another voice added in a whisper.
The representative from the Yunzhou Medicinal Herb Association stepped forward, his face pale but his expression defiant. He handed over the digital formula and a small, glowing vial of medicine. "We didn't expect such extreme side effects in the human trials. We just increased the crimson energy concentration a bit to ensure a result."
"Right, here is our result sheet," another team member added quickly, thrusting a tablet forward. "It shows we can kill 99.9% of the parasites in the bloodstream!"
Minister Zhao sniffed the medicine in the vial, then frowned deeply as he scanned the formula on the tablet. "You have increased the crimson energy ratio by over a hundred times the safety limit. The side effects are enormous. Even if it works to kill the bugs, the treatment is meaningless.
First, we don't have enough crimson energy in the national reserves to waste like this, and second, the material is still highly experimental. We don't even know the correct way to use it safely. Third, the patient clearly can't withstand the reaction. This formula is far too dangerous. Stop the trials immediately."
"No!"
"You can't stop us! The rules said that no matter what we use, even if it's crimson energy, as long as it works, that's what counts for the score!"
"The winner is decided by the suppression rate!"
"Exactly! We are using the rarest resource available, sparing no cost to suppress the parasites. That means we are winning this round!"
The Yunzhou team was visibly worked up, their voices rising in anger. They had invested heavily in this project, and they weren't about to let all that effort go to waste. The contest rules were clear, and besides, Yunzhou had powerful political backing in the capital. That's how they had gotten their hands on the crimson energy before the competition had even started.
Someone from another association couldn't take the arrogance anymore. "You call this winning? You turned people into lunatics! What good is curing them if they lose their minds and grow fur like a beast?"
"That's not our concern. The rules are clear—the result is based on the suppression rate. We will test more patients and find the optimal ratio through trial and error!"
"What, you are planning to ruin a few more kids just for a higher score?"
The argument drew a massive crowd, and the shouting echoed off the stadium walls. Even the other judges gathered to witness the confrontation. Boss Zhang, supported by two assistants, finally made his way over to the front of the line. After listening to both sides for a few moments, he nodded slowly and spoke, his voice carrying the weight of his years.
"You are both right," he said. "Since I'm the chief judge for this round, I will make things clear for everyone."
The hall fell silent again, except for the muffled, scratching sounds of the restrained child still struggling against the leather straps on the bed.
The results of this competition will indeed be determined by the final suppression rate," Boss Zhang said firmly, his eyes scanning the Yunzhou team. "That rule won't change. Whoever achieves the highest rate will be declared the winner."
The Yunzhou team smirked smugly, glancing around at the other associations. "Exactly. Early casualties are inevitable in research. Give us a few more samples, and we will do even better. Reaching one hundred percent isn't impossible with enough trials."
"But," Boss Zhang continued.