Zhuang Fan was fixed to the operating table, his entire body bound so tightly that he couldn’t move a muscle.
“My young friend, it will be over very soon.”
“Not for you, it won’t.”
“Heh.”
Xu Renyi was in a rather good mood.
The blond doctor flattered him, saying, “Mr. Xu, everything on my end is ready. We can begin at any time.”
Upon hearing this, Max immediately ordered all unrelated personnel to withdraw from the scene.
Xu Renyi did not speak.
He slowly stretched out his five withered fingers and examined them carefully before his eyes, feeling the dull heartbeat in his shriveled chest, like a broken bellows. At last, he let out a long breath of turbid air.
The scene was utterly silent. Everyone was waiting for his instructions.
He nodded solemnly. “Begin.”
The blond doctor bowed again, then shut the heavy alloy doors of the operating room.
He and the six doctors present officially took up the scalpel.
Max led a large number of heavily armed soldiers to stand guard outside the doors, forbidding anyone from approaching. Not even Xu Lanshan was allowed in.
The intense glare of the shadowless lamp fell on Zhuang Fan’s face, dazzling to an abnormal degree.
The memory transfer device had been placed in the center of the operating room. It was an enormous black cube, with both ends connected to a large number of auxiliary facilities and thick black cables.
The medical staff placed dense clusters of patches on Zhuang Fan’s temples and forehead, then slowly inserted a sharp needle-like object into his skull.
He frowned slightly as a bearable stabbing pain came from within his skull.
On the other side, Xu Renyi’s body had already been placed under general anesthesia. The blond doctor personally took the scalpel and opened his skull.
Afterward, the medical staff removed the brain that carried four hundred years of memories in one complete piece and carefully placed it into the black cube.
The cube slowly closed, sealing the misting liquid nitrogen inside as well.
The next step was the transfer of the soul.
But before the machine started, the blond doctor still had one final thing to do.
He pushed Xu Renyi’s brainless body into a corpse-dissolving furnace at the side.
This was Xu Renyi’s order—regardless of whether the operation succeeded or not, his original skull and body had to be completely destroyed, to prevent anyone from making use of them.
The doctor pressed the button, and highly concentrated acid surged out along the pipes.
“Hiss—”
Xu Renyi’s body was soaked in the corpse-dissolving furnace, carbonizing and blackening at a speed visible to the naked eye. Before long, not even bones remained.
It could be said that the original Xu Renyi had been declared physically dead, while the new “Xu Renyi” was still in the process of being born.
After dealing with the corpse, the blond doctor stepped aside and stared closely at the instruments.
The black cube emitted a low-frequency hum. The lights in the room dimmed along with it, instantly filling the atmosphere with an overwhelming sense of horror.
Zhuang Fan’s heart began to pound wildly beyond his control, as though he were about to be sent to the execution ground. A powerful sense of helplessness welled up inside him.
He felt he ought to struggle a little more. Even if it was merely flailing before death, he absolutely could not let that old bastard successfully seize his body.
Xu Renyi had once said that eerie mist would interfere with consciousness transfer.
Thinking of this, he mobilized that tiny bit of faint mist he had painstakingly gathered inside his body, compressed it into dark mist, then slowly transferred it into his own head and spread it evenly throughout.
Zhuang Fan didn’t know whether this would be effective, but he had to try. Perhaps he could make that old beast walk right into the trap.
But suddenly, an extremely sharp burst of pain shot straight into his mind like a steel needle.
Fuck, what the hell was that?
The pain from his soul made his whole body tremble uncontrollably. He was in so much agony that he couldn’t even speak, nearly suffocating.
This was bad!
His fingers clutched the edge of the bed tightly, his muscles spasming, his fingernails turning white from congestion.
“Hahahaha, this old man is going to live!”
The old man’s exaggerated, unrestrained laughter thundered in his mind, but the blond doctor and the others could not hear it.
Was Old Devil Xu really inside his head?
Just as wild thoughts flashed through Zhuang Fan’s mind, he felt his eyelids grow as heavy as a thousand catties. Unable to hold on any longer, he passed out completely.
At this moment, the machine was still rapidly heating up, and the humming grew increasingly shrill.
The blond doctor stared nervously at everything before him. He was only responsible for the craniotomy and brain extraction. He could not intervene in the subsequent consciousness transfer process, nor did he know what was happening.
If the operation succeeded, he would be the greatest contributor.
If the operation failed, Max would tear him apart on the spot.
As for Xu Renyi’s self-awareness, it began a wondrous drifting journey.
At first, he was trapped in a pitch-black space without light or sound.
Then he felt his consciousness being torn apart bit by bit, uncontrollably plummeting toward an even darker abyss.
“What… is going on…”
His falling speed grew faster and faster, so fast that his consciousness was nearly stretched into a straight line, at risk of being pulled apart.
But he could clearly sense that he had followed the pipeline and smoothly drilled into Zhuang Fan’s mind, and he could not help laughing wildly.
“My young friend, I truly am sorry. I will take good care of your body.”
Who knew how much time passed before he crashed heavily into a vast and boundless black ocean. The enormous impact nearly shattered his spiritual world.
Before Xu Renyi could recover, he discovered countless black hands tearing at his body. His ears were filled with wails, agony, and screams.
Something wasn’t right. Had he arrived in hell?
Just then, the firmament darkened, heaven collapsed, and earth split apart. A pair of black eyes covered the entire sky, gazing coldly down at him.
“You… young friend?”
Xu Renyi was stared at until his mind and spirit nearly split apart. The terror from his soul made him almost unable to straighten his knees.
He did not even have time to think further before his entire being was torn into flying foam, becoming part of the black ocean.
In the final instant before his consciousness was annihilated, only one thought remained:
I… fucking regret this so much.
……
An hour later, the operation concluded successfully.
Zhuang Fan remained unconscious, his face pale.
Max stared at the blond doctor and said in a deep voice, “Now, what’s the situation?”
The blond doctor was somewhat uncertain. “His physical condition is good. There’s no rejection reaction, but… the electrical signals in his brain region are abnormally active.”
Max continued asking, “When will he wake up?”
“Commander, let’s wait patiently a little longer. Normally speaking, it should be soon… Mm, normally speaking.”
……
Zhuang Fan opened his eyes, looking rather confused.
The intense dizziness in his mind made the world spin around him. It took quite a while before he gradually adapted.
Who am I? Where is this?
After Zhuang Fan recovered, he confirmed his identity clearly. Nothing had changed.
His cognition was normal, his logical reasoning was normal. He was the original goods.
What about that old beast? Had the operation failed?
Wait, something was strange.
Zhuang Fan could clearly feel that in his world of consciousness, a small cluster of unfamiliar, hazy something had been forcefully stuffed inside.
This thing was like a white silkworm cocoon, constantly being unraveled strand by strand, causing its volume to shrink smaller and smaller.
At last, it stopped spinning and hung there in midair.
He closed his eyes and tried to read it, discovering that it was made up of fragmented memories, broken and incomplete, covered in cracks.
Forcibly reading them would trigger a powerful sense of rejection and a headache, so he could only give up for the time being.
But Zhuang Fan could confirm that these were Xu Renyi’s pure memories. As for where the old man’s consciousness had gone, he had no idea.
Old bastard, in the end, I’m still the one who won.
Max noticed movement from the person on the sickbed and immediately stepped forward, probing in a low voice, “Mr. Xu?”
Zhuang Fan slowly opened his eyes and saw Max and Xu Lanshan standing by the bed, both faces filled with unease.
He did not speak first. He was still pondering how to disguise himself.
The moment his gaze met Max’s, it was as though he had touched some mechanism. Memory fragments concerning this man surged forth, assembling into a complete file:
Name: Max Hardy
Origin: German
Freezing date: Year 2380
Thawing date: Year 2680
True age: 58
Current position: Commander of the Nuclear First Legion and Guard Regiment
Service time: 20 years
Faction: Xu Renyi’s faction
All the memories Xu Renyi had of interacting with Max during his lifetime flashed past like a slideshow.
He saw a young German soldier struggling to survive amid the ruins of the twenty-fourth century. He saw the confusion on this man’s face when he was awakened from the cryogenic chamber. He saw every loyal report this man had made over the past twenty years.
This man was taciturn, impartial and incorruptible in public affairs, and strict with himself, making Zhuang Fan understand that his essence was a sharp sword named “loyalty.”
Seeing that he still had not spoken, Xu Lanshan couldn’t help glancing at Max before asking softly, “Grandpa Xu, is it really you?”
Zhuang Fan looked toward Xu Lanshan.
Likewise, all memories concerning her appeared one by one:
Name: Xu Lanshan
Identity: Xu Renyi’s youngest granddaughter
True age: 230
Current position: Nuclear Group Chief Financial Officer, Director
Years in office: 82
Faction: Xu Renyi’s faction
With the experience of reading Max’s memories, this time it was almost completed in an instant. All the past scenes of grandfather and granddaughter interacting were clearly displayed before his eyes.
Xu Lanshan had seen hundreds of years of storms and waves, yet at this moment, she could hardly conceal her unease. “Grandpa Xu, do you still remember me?”
Zhuang Fan fully immersed himself in the old man’s identity and spoke in Xu Renyi’s tone. “Shan, it’s me. I’m not dead.”
Xu Lanshan’s eyes reddened slightly. “Grandpa Xu, the operation really succeeded.”
Max, however, was more cautious. He stared at Zhuang Fan and asked, enunciating each word, “Mr. Xu, please state the password.”
This reminder immediately activated Xu Renyi’s memories regarding the “password.”
It turned out that before the operation, Xu Renyi had secretly instructed them: as long as the new “him” could correctly recite the password, Max and Xu Lanshan had to offer absolute loyalty and obey their new master’s orders.
Xu Lanshan had also approved of this plan.
“Mr. Xu, I need the password,” Max emphasized again.
Zhuang Fan nodded and said in a deep voice, “Little Mai, only you and Shan know this password. There is no third person.”
Max’s gaze was firm. “I know. I remember every syllable. I will never forget it.”
Zhuang Fan’s skin was thin. After coughing lightly, he recited in standard Mandarin:
“This old man flips his hair in youthful madness.”
Completely correct!
Max completely lowered his guard and knelt on one knee. “Mr. Xu, please forgive my presumption.”
“Grandpa Xu…” Xu Lanshan excitedly gripped his wrist.
“It’s right for you to be cautious. All right, didn’t I tell you before not to kneel anymore? Little Mai, you need to get rid of this bad habit.”
“Yes!”
As Zhuang Fan criticized him, he silently withdrew his hand.
Wait…
He suddenly realized that he was not wearing a simultaneous translator, yet he could understand the “Esperanto” the two of them spoke without any difficulty and could communicate fluently as well.
He thought of that white silkworm cocoon. It seemed that the first things to be “digested” were basic life instincts from Xu Renyi’s previous life, such as language.
No matter what, that old bastard had finally done him a huge favor. He could die without regrets. He deserved a reward.
“Grandpa Xu, how do you feel now?”
That was a good question.
Zhuang Fan thought for a while, then decided to tell the truth. “I feel… not very good.”
Xu Lanshan and Max both looked over.
“This young friend’s body is now very vigorous, full of vitality, and his thoughts are active. I am very satisfied. However, the aftereffects have arrived as well.”
Zhuang Fan extended his palm and examined it carefully, saying slowly,
“Because my young friend’s memories have completely overlapped with mine, and because there is a very deep obsession that refuses to dissipate, my personality and habits have deviated greatly from the original. I’ve also forgotten many things and will have to slowly recall them.”
Max looked thoughtful.
Zhuang Fan smiled. “For example, I used to hate hamburgers, but now I like them very much.”
Xu Lanshan shook her head. “Grandpa Xu, those are only small matters. It doesn’t matter.”
Max also said softly, “Mr. Xu, limb transplants have rejection reactions. Naturally, consciousness transfer also requires an adaptation process. This is very normal.”
“You haven’t understood the key point.”
With just one sentence, Zhuang Fan made Xu Lanshan hear the implication behind his words. “Grandpa Xu, are you worried… that the group’s shareholders and board of directors won’t acknowledge your new body?”
Zhuang Fan showed a gratified look. “Exactly. That is what I’m concerned about.”
Max checked the information. “Grandpa Xu, the members of the headquarters’ board of directors have already rushed over through the night. Xu Tiansheng is personally bringing the Phantom Eye as well.”
“Very good. It’s time for them to get to know me again.”