Chapter 54: Ambers of the Long Night (10)
Emmanuel was confused and deeply shocked. Did that mean Seth became a doctor just so he could touch his patients inappropriately!? Even though he had already lowered his expectations of demons’ basic morality, it seemed the reality was far worse than he imagined.
Seth: “? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Nothing, nothing…” Emmanuel took a deep breath, trying to hypnotize himself — They’re your collaborators. They’re your collaborators. After all, demons like Tang Mobai were rare. He couldn’t expect all demons to be decent people. Still, since Seth was willing to help save people, a bit of inappropriate behavior—no! He must still protect the basic personal safety and human rights of the citizens of this world!
“Ment, when you go in later…”
“I understand, Lord Emmanuel.” Ment had heard their entire conversation. “I’ll keep an eye on Lord Seth.”
Seth: “Why are you watching me?”
Both of them fell silent.
After a long moment of awkward staring, the hovercar stopped in front of the hospital. Emmanuel once again pressed a hand on Seth’s chip. A minute later, he removed it.
“I’ve temporarily modified the data in your chip. You’re now an attending surgeon from a major hospital visiting for an exchange program. I’ll handle the real attending doctor. You just need to let them scan your chip.”
In this society where everything was controlled by chips, impersonating someone was both extremely difficult and ridiculously easy. Difficult, because it required bypassing the control of the Super-Intelligent Brain; easy, because once you mastered how to do that, you could move through society without barriers.
If there truly existed someone capable of hacking the Super-Intelligent Brain, that person shouldn’t be called a hacker — but the King of the World.
Seth stared quietly into Emmanuel’s eyes. “I’ve wanted to say this for a long time — Emmanuel, you seem very familiar with chips… no, with the Super-Intelligent Brain itself.”
Whether it was implanting and modifying chips, falsifying Purger data, providing detailed weight systems of the Super-Intelligent Brain, or now forging a new identity for Seth — Emmanuel displayed a level of skill that belonged in a true sci-fi world. He was particularly familiar with the “backdoor” of the Super-Intelligent Brain’s programming.
Tang Mobai might not have noticed, and Yan Wuzhen might not be sensitive to it because of his own world background. But to a robot like Seth — who also came from a sci-fi world — Emmanuel’s behavior felt off. So off, in fact, that Seth suspected Emmanuel’s true rank was far higher than he claimed.
Emmanuel answered calmly, “If I couldn’t even do this much, how could I have the nerve to come up with a plan to seize the Super-Intelligent Brain?”
“Good point.” Seth didn’t press further. They weren’t at the stage of tearing off masks — yet.
When Ment and Seth exited the car, Seth asked, “You’re not coming?”
“No. I’ll wait in the car. In case we’re ambushed again like last time, I can assist from outside,” Emmanuel said.
Seth thought that was fair — though honestly, he doubted he was valuable enough for a guild of demons to bother ambushing.
After the two entered the hospital, Emmanuel stared at the automatic doors opening and closing, a faintly bitter smile tugging at his lips. He’d said he was looking after Seth, but the truth was — he himself couldn’t enter the hospital at all. He had no choice but to entrust the task to Ment.
He quickly looked away and began hacking Ment’s permissions, launching drones to scout the hospital perimeter.
Just as Emmanuel said, even though Seth looked nothing like the attending doctor from that hospital, once the chip verification passed, the staff immediately welcomed him — even complimenting the metallic coating on his arm.
“Wow, that’s cool! Is that part of the new fashion trend?”
“No, actually, I’m a robot.”
“Haha, you’re so funny, Doctor.”
Ment, pretending to be Seth’s colleague, nudged him from behind, hinting that he should get to work.
Seth: “Oh right, do you have any surgeries scheduled today?”
“You just got here and already want to operate?” the nurse said, surprised. “You’ve had a long trip, you should rest at least a day. You can meet the department head tomorrow.”
Normally, that’d be fine. But Seth didn’t have that kind of time — he needed to level up as fast as possible.
“It’s fine. I’m not tired. My hands are itching to get to work.”
“Uh… but today’s ORs are all booked.”
Ment quickly stepped in, “No problem, we’ll just observe for now. Sorry, my friend’s a bit impatient.”
He leaned in and whispered, “You sure you’re okay? Don’t you at least want to see how they do surgery here?”
Seth answered calmly, “No need. Human anatomy doesn’t differ that much.”
Ment: “???”
The nurse who overheard: “???”
Haha… was this doctor joking?
Before they could say more, the nurse’s eyes suddenly went blank for a few seconds. Then, throughout the hospital, a red alert flashed before every staff member’s eyes, followed by a blaring system announcement:
[Attention all medical staff. The Lost City exploration team has returned. Injured: 15. Deranged: 3. Nearby medical resources allocated. Ambulances arriving in 3 minutes.]
The nurse’s calm composure broke instantly. “Emergency situation! Sorry, no time to rest — follow me!”
Without hesitation, Seth followed. The once-orderly hospital burst into chaos as doctors and nurses sprinted through the corridors, preparing equipment and operating rooms.
Five minutes later, several ambulances arrived at the entrance.
“Yuu! Yuuuuu!!”
Seth had just changed into surgical scrubs when a patient was wheeled in — but instead of looking injured, he looked insane. His arm was bleeding heavily, yet he seemed unaware of it, thrashing violently on the gurney.
“My arm! My arm is broken! Help me!”
“Your arm’s fine, it’s just a cut! The doctor’s here — see? You’ll be okay!”
“No! No!! The building collapsed — I was buried — my family’s still trapped — please, please save them!”
Seth watched as nurses calmly sedated him and strapped him to the bed, then began cleaning the wound.
“Doctor, can you stitch him up?”
“Yes.” Seth nodded coolly, and under Ment’s nervous gaze, he picked up a surgical needle.
The wound was small — no need for special tools. Under the hospital scanner, Seth’s movements were quick and precise. His suturing was flawless — smooth, elegant, and indistinguishable from a real doctor’s.
Ment quietly exhaled. The nurse, none the wiser, even praised Seth’s steady hands.
As Seth stitched, he asked, “He was rescued from a disaster site?”
“No — he’s from the Lost City expedition team,” the nurse replied bitterly. “There wasn’t even a real disaster there. It’s a virus — it infects the brain and causes hallucinations.”
When the sedative took effect, the nurse gently reassured the patient, “It’s okay now, see? Nothing happened. Your family’s fine — they’re waiting for you at home.”
Hallucinations?
Seth lowered his gaze to the man’s terrified, despairing eyes — the look of someone who had truly lived through life and death — until finally, under the nurse’s words, he drifted into uneasy sleep.
“Thankfully, his case is mild,” the nurse sighed, bandaging him up. “Doctor, you can go help the others.”
Seth nodded. “I haven’t handled many cases like this before — is your hospital near a Lost City zone?”
“Exactly. So we get most of the patients from there.”
“And all infected people show the same symptoms?”
“About 90% do,” the nurse said grimly. “Most scream for help, say their limbs are broken, or beg to save their families. But with treatment, most can eventually distinguish reality from illusion and return to normal life.”
“And the remaining 10%?”
The nurse fell silent for a few seconds. “Some never wake up… and some stay trapped in their hallucinations forever.”
[Viewer chat in the live stream]
[Got it — so that virus is probably what destroyed this world.]
[Nah, I think the real cause is the Lost City itself. Didn’t they say it appeared 20 years ago? The number must’ve grown since then, and the virus leaked out, causing the 60% collapse rate.]
[Makes sense, but doesn’t this world look way too stable for an apocalypse? Usually at 60% collapse, society’s already fallen apart. The authorities here are still super strong.]
[Yeah, weird. And honestly, this world doesn’t even feel like a B-rank one. The tech level’s too low.]
[Maybe it’s because of ancient lost civilizations? Their tech could’ve boosted the average rank.
Could be.]
[Whatever. I don’t care about world lore — I’m just here to see Fuguang and the Merchant Alliance fight. Why haven’t they started yet? Merchant Alliance, do something! What about the Jade Society? They lost their base already — you’re just gonna take that lying down?]
[Yeah, Tang Mobai’s group’s been in this world for days now. What’s the Jade Society doing? Don’t tell me they actually gave up?]
Hidden among the viewers in Seth’s live stream, Red Duke clenched his teeth in frustration. He turned to the woman beside him. “We’ve already located Seth — can’t we move yet?”
“The key figure, Tang Mobai, is still aboard the ship. It could be a trap to lure us out,” the woman replied calmly. “With that airship, they can escape anytime. If we attack and they flee, the NPCs will surely help hide their tracks. We have little advantage here.”
“If we strike, it must be a decisive blow — the kind that redeems our last humiliation,” the woman said evenly. “Besides, the prophesied time hasn’t come yet.”
“Tch.” Red Duke crossed his legs impatiently. “And what if Tang Mobai just stays put forever…?”
“He won’t,” the woman said confidently. “NPC assistance always comes with conditions. If they want to level up, they’ll have to interact with this world eventually.”
“Just wait. It won’t be long now.”
Thank you for reading 🙂 I hope you all liked my translations. If you enjoyed my work, please consider buying me a Ko-Fi 😉
