manynovel Chapter 1308 The Mad Doctor's Proposal
Chapter 1308 The Mad Doctor's Proposal
The retreating contractors of Holy Light Paradise ran very fast, but no matter how fast they ran, they couldn't outrun the pursuers from Reincarnation Paradise.
After defeating the Holy Light Paradise's lines, the dozen or so Reincarnation Paradise Contractors did not stop to catch their breath, but instead chased after the fleeing soldiers.
The middle-aged man chased the furthest, all the way to the bushes near the edge of the wasteland. During the chase, the blade of his short knife chipped and broke, leaving several nicks. The blade was covered in dark red blood, some of which had dried, while some was still dripping.
His leather armor had several new tears, one of which stretched from his right shoulder to his left rib. The leather at the edge of the tear was rolled up, revealing a white shirt underneath and a thin bloodstain on the shirt.
The bloodstains on his shirt were his own blood, left when he was attacked by a melee class from Holy Light Paradise during a chase.
He didn't stop to treat the wound, or even glance at it.
He stopped his pursuit at the edge of the bushes, stood on a rock about half a person's height, watched the contractors of Holy Light Paradise disappear into the gray mist in the distance, and then turned and walked back.
On his way back, he passed several corpses of contractors from Holy Light Paradise, each in a slightly different pose.
The middle-aged man stopped beside a corpse, squatted down, pressed his hand on the person's carotid artery, and only after confirming that there was no pulse did he stand up and continue walking back.
The other pursuers also returned one after another.
Someone limped back, with a deep wound on his thigh. With each step, dark red blood would ooze from the wound, flowing down his trouser leg and dripping onto the sandy ground.
However, after he was within the range of Lin Yi's healing spell, the bleeding from the wound slowed down significantly. By the time he reached Lin Yi's side, the wound had basically healed, leaving only a pink scar.
Some people were carried back by their companions. Their left arm was severed from the elbow down. The muscles and blood vessels at the break were burned and sealed by the high temperature, forming a charred, bowl-shaped scar. The skin at the edge of the scar was wrinkled, and the white bone fragments could be seen underneath.
When he was carried to Lin Yi, he raised his right hand and waved at Lin Yi, as if to say hello.
Lin Yi's healing technique landed on him, and the charred scar tissue at the cut began to peel off. New granulation tissue grew wildly at the cut, and tender red tissue extended outward little by little from the charred scar.
However, the regeneration of severed limbs is much slower than the healing of ordinary wounds, and each inch of new granulation tissue requires a large amount of life energy to grow.
Lin Yi's healing technique lasted for nearly a minute before stopping. The new arm that had grown from the severed wound had reached the wrist, but the fingers had not yet fully grown out. The five fingers looked like five tender sprouts that had just emerged from the soil, pink and delicate, with skin so thin that the blood vessels underneath could be seen through.
He moved his newborn wrist; the joints were still not very flexible, and his fingers lacked grip strength, but at least his arm was back.
He nodded to Lin Yi without saying thank you; on the battlefield, the word "thank you" was too insignificant.
The pursuers returned one after another. After counting the number of people, it was found that all of the dozen or so men sent out had returned alive.
The middle-aged man walked up to Lin Yi, took out a crumpled cloth from the leather pouch at his waist, and began wiping the bloodstains on the short knife as he spoke.
"About seventy or eighty ran away, the rest stayed here."
Lin Yi nodded without saying anything more.
The Holy Light Paradise army of over 150 people was routed by less than 20 Reincarnation Paradise contractors, with nearly half of them killed and the remaining 70 or 80 fleeing into the depths of the wasteland.
This victory would be considered a glorious achievement in any Paradise's war record, but none of the Paradise Contractors present cared about the number, and there were even few who spoke.
Some people were squatting on the ground wiping their weapons, some were leaning against rocks with their eyes closed, and some were tending to their wounds.
After the clamor of the battlefield subsided, all that remained was a calm, a calm that was not one of relaxation, but rather a state of heightened tension, like a bowstring that had been drawn back to its original position after the arrow was shot, but without loosening, still maintaining the tension that could be drawn again at any moment.
The middle-aged man wiped the short knife clean, put it back in its sheath at his waist, and looked up at the distant wasteland.
He looked at it for a while, then looked away and turned to look at Lin Yi.
What's the next step?
Lin Yi glanced at the map and found that the headquarters of the Samsara Paradise was located directly above the fall zone. According to the map, the headquarters of the Five Paradises formed a circle, with a large open space in the center, which was the fall zone of the condensed spacetime power.
To the left is the Apocalypse Paradise, and to the right is the Holy Light Paradise. Below the Apocalypse Paradise and the Holy Light Paradise are the Sanctuary Paradise and the Death Paradise, respectively.
The five forces surrounding the fall zone can, to the greatest extent possible, prevent forces within this world from seizing the condensed spacetime power.
This arrangement is not a coincidence; it was intentionally planned by the Void Tree during the teleportation process.
The Five Directions Paradise's headquarters formed a circular defense perimeter around the fall zone, with each side responsible for guarding and defending a specific direction.
If anyone wants to enter the crash zone from the outside, they must first break through the base defenses of one side.
If anyone tries to seize the condensed power of spacetime from within, they will have to face the siege of the Five Paradises.
Lin Yi put the map away and looked in that direction in the distance.
"Let's meet up at headquarters first."
The middle-aged man nodded and turned to wave to the others.
A dozen or so people gathered from various corners of the wasteland and silently stood behind Lin Yi, forming a loose formation.
Some scouted ahead, some stood guard on both sides, and some covered the rear. The division of labor was clear, and the cooperation was excellent.
These people were complete strangers just minutes before, but on the battlefield, the contractors of the Paradise of Reincarnation don't need to know each other; they only need to know that the other person is on their side.
The group began their journey towards the base camp.
The wasteland was uneven, with pebbles and dry cracks everywhere. You had to watch your step carefully, or you would trip over a pebble or fall into a crack.
The air was filled with an indescribable humus odor, which was quite unpleasant to inhale.
After walking for about ten minutes, the terrain ahead began to change.
The grayish-yellow sandy soil was gradually replaced by a patch of low shrubs. The shrubs had grayish-green branches, small leaves, and a layer of fine hairs on their surface, which shimmered with a dull silvery-gray luster in the dim light.
Among the bushes were some herbaceous plants whose names I didn't know. Their leaves were large with serrated edges, and their stems were covered with fine thorns that would prick you if you accidentally touched them.
After walking for about twenty more minutes, the bushes thinned out and were replaced by a wide open meadow.
The grass was a grayish-green color, and the blades were short, just ankle-high, and felt soft and spongy underfoot.
At the edge of the meadow, a huge black outline appeared on the horizon.
A colossal spaceship.
A blood-red Φ mark is visible on one side of the spaceship, the symbol of the Paradise of Reincarnation, standing out starkly against the black hull.
The spaceship was surrounded by a flat open space, where many tents and temporary buildings had been set up. Some people were walking around, some were sitting on the grass to rest, and some were leaning against the hull of the spaceship with their eyes closed to relax.
We've arrived at base camp.
As Lin Yi and his group approached the edge of the base camp, more than a dozen gazes were cast upon them from different directions.
Those gazes were cold, like unsheathed knives scrutinizing anyone who approached.
Their gazes lingered on Lin Yi and the others for a few seconds, and only after confirming that they were not contractors from other amusement parks did they look away and return to where they were originally focused.
Lin Yi's gaze swept over the owners of those gazes, recognizing several familiar faces.
Lin Yi looked around but didn't see Su Xiao. However, he did see Bubuwang.
Bubuwang ran over from the direction of the spaceship's landing gear, its four short legs digging a shallow mark in the grass, its tail wagging behind it like a small fan.
It sniffed the air with its nose, then buried its head in Lin Yi's leg and nudged his calf with its head.
Benny followed behind Bubuwang with elegant steps and her tail held high. When she reached Lin Yi, she stopped, looked up at him, and then patted Bubuwang's head with her paw, signaling it to move aside.
Bubuwang stepped back from Lin Yi's legs, squatted on the grass, raised its head to look at Lin Yi, and let out a low growl.
Lin Yi squatted down and reached out to rub Bubuwang's head. Bubuwang's ears curled back, its eyes narrowed into slits, its tongue dangled from the corner of its mouth, and it was panting heavily.
"Wang."
Bubuwang patted the grass under its paws, then looked up at the vast grassland in the distance.
It barked twice and then drew several lines on the ground with its paws.
Lin Yi understood what it meant—before the spaceship landed, the cult of the Holy Land Paradise arrived in the vicinity, and the two sides confronted each other for a few minutes without fighting.
This information is very important.
The Holy Order's strength and audacity in confronting the Paradise of Reincarnation right from the start is quite rare.
In past wars, the cult of Sanctuary Paradise was known for its fearlessness, but its tactical style was more inclined to be steady and cautious, and it would not go to the vicinity of the enemy's headquarters to provoke them at the very beginning of the war.
This time was different. Not only did they come, but they also confronted the contractors of the Reincarnation Paradise for several minutes.
Although no fight ultimately broke out, this incident itself demonstrated the Holy Order's attitude towards this war—they weren't just there to watch; they were there to compete for first place.
Lin Yi straightened up and turned his gaze away from the vast grassland in the distance.
Another thing that puzzled him was who had restrained these lunatics on his side.
Under normal circumstances, with the enemy already blocking their base, these lunatics wouldn't care about the struggle for the spacetime power condensate; they would definitely kill the enemy first.
The fact that this situation hasn't occurred only proves one thing: our side has a super cunning strategist who used his tactics to prevent this from happening.
Ordinary old foxes can't command respect in the Paradise of Reincarnation; you need at least the Sphinx level to get these lunatics to follow your orders.
Note that it is command, not order; no one can order them.
Lin Yi turned his gaze toward the interior of the main camp.
Near the base camp, some of their lunatics were resting on the grass, basking in the sun, while others were chatting idly. Some were even standing on top of the spaceship, giving impassioned speeches.
An old man stood atop the spaceship, wearing a faded white robe with the hem trailing on the ground, stained with mud and grass juice.
His hair was sparse and gray, his face was etched with deep wrinkles, and his eyes were cloudy but still bright.
He spoke with great excitement and in a loud voice that echoed across the open grassland.
"Brothers, we must unite." The old man stood at the edge of the spaceship's hatch, hands on his hips, chin held high, like a general inspecting troops on a city wall.
But his image has absolutely nothing to do with the word "general".
His face was covered in bruises, his left eye socket was swollen so much that his eye was squeezed into a slit, there was a band-aid on the bridge of his nose, and a dried bloodstain at the corner of his mouth.
The white robe was covered in mud and grass juice, and in several places it was torn, revealing the bluish-purple skin underneath.
He looked like he had just crawled out of a brawl, and was clearly the one who had been beaten.
No one paid him any attention. Some people lay on the grass with their eyes closed, pretending to sleep; some gathered together to play cards; and some leaned against the spaceship's landing gear to clean their weapons.
Occasionally, someone would look up at the old man, then lower their head and continue doing what they were doing.
The old man seemed to be used to this treatment. He was not discouraged, but instead became even more determined, raising his voice several notches higher.
"We need to unite and first take down the Holy Light Paradise next door, then take down the Apocalypse Paradise on the other side. Look at the Holy Light Paradise, what kind of people are there? A bunch of cowards who only know how to hide behind their shields and shoot cold arrows. And look at the Apocalypse Paradise, a bunch of miners who only know how to mine. What's there to be afraid of? When have we, the people of Reincarnation Paradise, ever backed down?"
Before he could finish speaking, a stone flew up from below and hit the old man squarely on the forehead.
The stone wasn't big, about the size of an egg. It hit the old man's forehead with a dull thud, and he swayed, almost falling off the hatch.
He steadied himself, wiped the blood from his forehead with his sleeve, and looked down in the direction from which the stone had come.
"Who threw this? Step forward if you dare."
No one stepped forward, but some people below laughed.
The old man jumped a few times on the hatch and continued shouting, his voice louder and his tone more agitated than before. Stones flew up from below, some hitting him and others whizzing past his ears, but he neither dodged nor stopped shouting. He was like a piece of meat thrown into a pack of wolves, torn and bruised all over, but he just wouldn't fall.
“Dean.” A gentle voice came from below.
The old man stopped shouting and looked down in the direction from which the sound came.
A man in his early thirties, dressed in blue, stood on the grass. He wore frameless glasses and gave off a refined and cultured air.
His blue clothes were spotless, without a single wrinkle. His hair was neatly combed, and his chin was clean-shaven. He looked like an intellectual who had just stepped out of an office, a stark contrast to the blood-soaked lunatics around him.
"This is no longer a rehabilitation center." The man in blue said calmly, as if stating a fact.
"Bullshit." The old man waved his hand forcefully. "You are all patients. As the hospital director, I will not abandon you."
The man in blue smiled, a gentle smile like the tolerant smile a pediatrician gives to a disobedient child.
He didn't say anything more, but took out a handkerchief from his pocket, wiped off non-existent dust from his glasses, and then put his glasses back on.
A child wearing a beret walked over from the side. He looked to be only twelve or thirteen years old and was wearing a dark hoodie. The hoodie was not pulled up, revealing his childish face.
He walked over to the man in blue, looked up at the old man standing on the hatch, and then asked in a low voice.
"Brother, if I may ask, what kind of dean is he?"
"The director of the Second Road Mental Hospital." The man in blue smiled gently, a smile devoid of malice, purely gentle, as if introducing an old friend.
The child's lips twitched.
He silently walked away from the man in blue, his steps quick, as if he wanted to leave the area as soon as possible.
He was one of the very few normal people among the more than two hundred contractors.
In his view, he was perfectly normal. The only slightly abnormal thing about him was his ability to enter and control his enemies.
Imagine, with such insane abilities, how could this little brat be normal?
The man in blue turned around, looked at the child's back, and called out to him.
“Friend, don’t go. You can call me Dr. Lan, and the one on the spaceship can be called Dean. The three of us can team up. Isn’t that a good suggestion?”
"Dr. Lan."
The child stutters.
If his extreme behavior was acquired, then the two people he faced were born madmen.
He had certainly heard of the combination of Dr. Lan and the hospital director.
One is a mad doctor, and the other is a super cunning old fox. He wouldn't recognize either of them individually, but if he heard both of their names at the same time, he would immediately know who they were.
The Mad Doctor, a former rule-breaker, was said to have almost been chased into the world by Su Xiao during a mission. Later, he used some unknown means to clear his name and returned to the Contractor System of the Paradise of Reincarnation.
His fighting style is known for its unpredictability; he is adept at torturing his enemies using all sorts of bizarre methods. He doesn't have a good reputation in the Samsara Paradise circle, but no one can deny his strength.
The dean is an incredibly cunning and scheming individual, skilled in planning, scheming, and manipulating people's hearts. His overall perspective is above average, though not top-tier, but among the lunatics of the Samsara Paradise, he is a rare, clear-headed individual.
He's survived this long in this environment not because of his abilities, but because of his intelligence.
Upon realizing this, the child's body stiffened.
He also participated when the dean was being kicked in the circle earlier, and he even jumped up to kick him. After all, the dean was really too noisy, and more importantly, the dean was notoriously vengeful, the kind of person who would be grateful even if he were sold out.
The dean was just bored and was teasing them.
"Young man, you just kicked me in the face, didn't you?"
The principal's voice came from behind the child, so close it seemed to be whispering in his ear.
The child's pupils suddenly contracted to the size of pinpoints, and his body instinctively lunged forward, trying to create distance, but the dean's right hand was already on his shoulder, his five fingers clamping down like an iron clamp on his shoulder blade.
"The doctor has arrived."
The dean's eyes lit up. He released his hand from the child's shoulder and turned to look in the direction of the main camp entrance.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, the child took off running, kicking his feet several times on the grass, running faster than a rabbit.
A notification sound rang in the child's ear.
[Warning: You have been flagged.]
The child stopped in his tracks. He stood on the grass, his body stiff, like a frozen sculpture.
A pale gold mark shimmered on his neck, its fine lines resembling a ray of light woven into a rope, tightly wrapped around his neck.
[The marker has been removed; a disciplinary warning has been issued to Contractor No. 1107.]
The moment the prompt appeared, the dean let out a muffled groan.
He looked down at his right hand, where a Ф-shaped mark appeared on the back of his hand, with tiny arcs of electricity flickering around the edge, stinging his skin.
The dean calmly raised his arm and glanced at the slowly spreading mark on the back of his hand.
Doctor Lan stood beside him, his eyes narrowed, and a cold glint flashed as he ran his fingers along his waist.
Swipe.
Bloodstains splattered on the dean's right wrist, and his hand fell to the ground. The broken bone and muscle were cut so cleanly that it looked as if they had been laser-cut.
There was no large amount of blood gushing from the cut, because Dr. Lan's knife was too fast.
"It was just a joke with the kids." The director looked down at his bare right wrist, his tone calm, as if he were talking about something insignificant.
"However... he's a brat."
As the dean spoke, blood and flesh gushed from the severed part of his wrist.
The entire regeneration process lasted less than three seconds, and a brand new right hand appeared on his wrist.
He moved his fingers; the joints were flexible, the nails had a natural curve, and his entire arm looked no different from the previous one.
Lin Yi withdrew his gaze. He had heard of the combination of the Dean and Dr. Lan. The names of the Mad Doctor and the Dean had been circulating in the Reincarnation Paradise circle for a long time.
The two were partners when they were at the lower levels, and after working together for many years, they had such a tacit understanding that they could know what the other was thinking without needing to say a word.
"I've been waiting for you for a long time, Doctor."
Dr. Lan walked towards Lin Yi. He stopped in front of Lin Yi, pushed up his glasses, and his gentle eyes narrowed slightly behind the lenses, as if he were examining a precious collectible.
He had already seen other people's comments about Lin Yi's buff in the war channel.
The descriptions pieced together a complete picture in his mind—a dozen or so people, surrounded by an enemy ten times their size, not only did not collapse, but instead routed their opponents. The key to this was not how capable those dozen or so people were, but that they had a support behind them who could revive the dying in seconds.
In the mad doctor's view, if they want to win this war, Lin Yi's safety must be the top priority, higher than everyone else's combined.
While the aura of the main camp is outrageous, it is not as comprehensive as Lin Yi's. Moreover, Lin Yi's healing power is not low at all, and he can also heal severe injuries such as severed limbs.
In a real war, Lin Yi would be a highly sought-after asset.
"Doctor." Dr. Lan nodded to Lin Yi without any further formalities, but everyone present could see the deliberate humility in his eyes.
Lin Yi glanced at him and nodded.
Just as Lin Yi was about to say something, a commotion arose from the direction of the main camp entrance.
Su Xiao walked from the direction of the main camp entrance.
He was wearing a dark leather coat with several new rips, one of which ran from his left shoulder to his right rib. The armor plates at the edge of the rip were curled outwards, revealing the black lining underneath.
His hair was wet, clinging to his forehead in strands, with a few strands hanging down and obscuring half of his eyes.
Upon seeing Lin Yi, Su Xiao nodded to him.
Su Xiao stopped beside Lin Yi. Bubuwang darted away from Lin Yi's legs, ran to Su Xiao's feet, nudged his calf with its head, and let out a low whimper.
Su Xiao glanced down at Bubuwang, reached out and rubbed its head, then turned her gaze toward the base camp.
"The night of the beheading has arrived." A gruff voice came from the direction of the spaceship, its tone tinged with a gleeful laughter. "You despicable scum, assemble in the main cabin, hahahaha."
"Idiot." Someone muttered under their breath, the voice not loud, but it carried far on the quiet grass.
A friendly greeting rang out from the crowd. Some people gave the middle finger, some threw stones, and others made a throat-slitting gesture in the direction the voice came from.
But those greetings weren't malicious; they were more like the uninhibited banter of old friends joking with each other.
The muscular gorilla stood on the spaceship's gangway, laughing even more heartily.
He was very large, with broad shoulders and a wide back, standing there like a wall of flesh.
The lunatics near the base camp began to walk into the spaceship.
Ten minutes later, inside the spacecraft's main cabin.
Six people sat around a square table on the strip alloy chairs in the self-service restaurant.
Su Xiao, Mad Doctor, Dean, Ikesi, King Kong, Lin Yi.
Six people sat around a square dining table.
In the cycle of reincarnation, names don't matter; what matters is what you've done and what you can still do.
The mad doctor spoke first.
“I’ve already checked the healer’s buff on the war channel.” His voice wasn’t loud, and he spoke slowly, each word seeming to have been rehearsed several times in his mind before uttering it. “The core of this battle is simple: protect the healer, and we will win.”
The dean's eyes lit up. He tilted his head, looked at Lin Yi, then at the mad doctor, and slowly a smile appeared on his lips.
That smile held a hint of amusement, anticipation, and a kind of excitement that seemed to thrive on chaos.
"You mean we're all going to become the doctor's bodyguards?"
The mad doctor pushed up his glasses.
"They're not bodyguards, they're mobile fortresses. The medic stands in the middle, and we surround them. Whoever comes near gets attacked. If you can't win, you run; if you can't run, you die. It's that simple."
The dean's smile deepened.
He leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms behind his head, stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, then looked away and turned to the mad doctor.
"are you serious?"
When have I ever not been serious?
The dean thought for a moment and nodded.
The mad doctor certainly rarely joked, at least not on serious matters.
Every one of his proposals was carefully considered; even the most outlandish ones were supported by a set of logic. (End of Chapter)