Chapter 79: Longlin Tower: A Gamble with Wei De's Life
"What method?" Su Jin’s eyes sharpened, his exhaustion vanishing in an instant.
"An MRI... that parasite isn't small. An MRI will definitely spot it. We pinpoint its location, and kill it with a single strike!" Sun Ya threw a hard punch into the empty air.
The desperate hope in Su Jin’s eyes immediately guttered out.
"Don't be an idiot, Old Sun! Where the hell are we going to find an MRI?" Wei De roared, forcing out every word. "Don't waste time! The notes are what matter! Do you want me to die for nothing?"
Sun Ya opened his mouth to argue, but Su Jin’s grave voice cut him off. "Elder Sun... I know you're desperate to save him, but using an MRI is flat-out impossible. The grid is dead. It’s been dead for way too long. Even if I dragged a machine out of a hospital, would it even turn on? Not to mention, the hospitals must be badly contaminated by now."
"No... you're wrong! I'm desperate, yes, but I'm not so foolish that I've forgotten our circumstances." Sun Ya’s eyes gleamed with a manic edge. "A hospital won't work, but there is one place that absolutely will!"
"Where?!" Su Jin demanded.
"Longlin Skyscraper! The tallest building in the city! The top three floors aren't for the general public. Floor ninety-nine is residential, ninety-eight is medical, and ninety-seven is logistics," Sun Ya explained rapidly. "The ninety-eighth floor has some of the best medical facilities in the world. The MRI machine up there is a custom build."
"What?!" Su Jin balked, his mind racing. "But the power has been out for so long! Even under perfect conditions, cold-starting an MRI takes at least a week or two! The machine needs more liquid helium, and we have absolutely zero access to that right now."
"Oh? You know your stuff," Sun Ya remarked, blinking in mild surprise.
"I used to sell medical equipment. I know the basics. Just get to the point, Elder Sun," Su Jin pressed, grinding his teeth.
Sun Ya nodded. "That MRI at Longlin Skyscraper is a bespoke model. I personally calibrated it. Its temperature control system far exceeds military standards. The machine features an automatic failsafe, dual helium reservoirs, and an off-grid thermal stabilization system. With top medical staff maintaining it, the machine should still be in good condition. There is a strong chance it has remained superconducting."
"After Cold Vault was launched, the outside temperature plummeted well past minus fifty degrees Celsius. The ambient temperature at the summit of Longlin Skyscraper has to be even colder. The cold would slow the loss of liquid helium considerably. More importantly, the building has its own local liquid helium reserves and an independent backup power grid."
"Under these ideal conditions, we only need three hours to restart that MRI!" Sun Ya’s voice dropped to a gravelly register. "We can operate right there. A major surgery is a pipe dream, but Old Wei's body must have grown much stronger by now. Otherwise, with a foreign object that massive inside him, he would not be acting so normally."
"We find the parasite, pierce it with a needle... and Old Wei just might survive."
"Jesus Christ..." Su Jin breathed, staring at the old man. "Who the hell lives up there? What kind of wealthy magnates are we talking about?"
Sun Ya looked at him, one bushy eyebrow twitching upward. "Money? That means nothing. The place is for the most powerful people."
"How powerful?"
"The most powerful."
"Fine!" Su Jin abruptly sprang to his feet, a feral energy radiating from his tense muscles. "Then what the hell are we waiting for? Let's do it! We have no idea what that parasite is doing inside Elder Wei, so the clock is ticking. I'll take a car out to scout the route and draw the zombies away from the streets. Once it's clear, I'll circle back, pick you two up, and we head for Longlin Skyscraper."
"You two are absolutely out of your goddamn minds!" Wei De screamed, his face flushed with impotent rage. "Do you have any idea what's out there? Stop wasting time on me! You can't base this plan on ideal conditions! What if it's a dead end?"
"Old Wei... do you still not understand Little Li?" Sun Ya sighed heavily. "Even if you refuse to cooperate, he's not going to just let you die. Just live, okay? You're still somewhat useful to us."
Turning away from his old friend, Sun Ya looked back at Su Jin. "Little Li, we've all seen what you can do. Scouting the route is priority one, but you need to infiltrate Longlin Skyscraper before we bring Wei De. We can use the fire escape to bypass the lower levels, and the upper three floors have been unused, but I'm estimating about twenty maintenance workers may have been inside. If they've turned into zombies, you need to clear them out before we arrive."
"Understood. I'm moving out." Su Jin threw open the door and vanished into the corridor.
Down in the first-floor lobby, many people were already asleep. Fu Hu, flanked by a few armed men, was standing a tense vigil.
Seeing Su Jin hurry into the lobby, Fu Hu immediately sensed trouble and jogged over. "Director, what's wrong?"
"Elder Wei woke up. We need to take him to Longlin Skyscraper. It has the facilities to treat him. I'm heading out solo to kite the hordes off our path, then I'll loop back. Get me a few working megaphones and several cans of gasoline," Su Jin ordered, not even breaking his stride as he marched toward the main doors.
"Boss, it's pitch black out there! The second you flip on your headlights, the zombies will all come running. What good are megaphones going to do?" Fu Hu asked, panicking slightly.
Su Jin had already reached his vehicle. He opened the car door and glanced back over his shoulder. "I have night vision now. I won't be using headlights."
"Once I've corralled the zombies away from our route, I'll be right back to pick up the two elders. I have to keep them alive while climbing all those stairs, so I'm bringing Cheng Du for muscle. Have Cheng Du and the elders waiting in the lobby. I'm leaving the defense of this base entirely in your hands. It's just a few hours. Do not let this place fall apart."
"By the time it is over, it should be nearly dawn. We might be delayed. The immediate perimeter is already clear, so stage the convoy out on the street and be ready to leave at any moment. This is the final hurdle before we establish our new home. We are all going to reach the military district in one piece!"
Fu Hu licked his dry lips and gave a hard, resolute nod. "Right! Got it! Give me two minutes, I'll get the megaphones... wait, what do you need the gasoline for?"
"Don't worry about it, just move!"
...
"Old Sun, you're genuinely insane, completely unhinged... how is this any different from gambling?" Wei De muttered weakly, staring at the ceiling. "It's not worth it, it's just not worth it... Even if I drop dead right now, I have zero regrets. But if this plan fails, I'll take that shame with me to the grave."
Sun Ya replied with stony calm, "As long as you can still make yourself useful, you stay alive. Your notes do not even finish explaining how to operate the weapons. What happens when the weapons run out? You want these kids to just find a book and teach themselves?"
"You understand military technology and production. When we rebuild and restart the factories, you are irreplaceable. I cannot match your knowledge in that area. That is why you are not allowed to die."
Wei De fell silent. Sun Ya pushed forward, his voice softening just a fraction. "We're both dinosaurs, Wei. Our families have been wiped off the face of the earth... dying is the easy part. You just kick the bucket and go to sleep. But what about the next generation?"
"Look at Little Li. The man came from lightyears away to our planet. He’s an extraterrestrial! He has zero ulterior motives, yet he treats our lives as though they were his own. What kind of sheer, unadulterated nobility is that?"
"He is risking his life to save you, and you want to just roll over and die? How could you ever look him in the eye?"
"Listen to me closely. The most productive thing you can do right now is shut your mouth and stop sabotaging the operation."
Wei De's expression twisted, cycling through a series of complex emotions before settling into a bitter, hollow chuckle. "An alien... he really is a goddamn alien. We actually got saved by an alien."
"Exactly. I can tell you right now, everything he said was true. Even he does not know how he got here. Call it divine intervention... maybe he truly is the savior of humanity."
"Heh heh heh, if he isn't, no one is!" Wei De's rigid features finally relaxed. He rolled his eyes toward Sun Ya. "Old Sun, I missed what you said earlier. Tell me the whole story from the top."
"I was just getting to that. So, on his homeworld, they developed nuclear bombs, and many countries have them... but get this, they never developed a meteorological weapon like Cold Vault. It seems the environment there must be quite different from ours."
"Incredible! Wait, what about Fu Qingdai? Did Fu Hu seriously get cuckolded by our alien friend? And was the alien behind his problems in bed too?"
"Motherfucker..." Sun Ya groaned, rubbing his temples. "You dirty old bastard... you really do deserve to die!"