Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 847: Chapter 91: The One Who Grants Dreams and Futures (6)

——Sir, I just remembered, this prefix area code has been out of use for over twenty years.

——I won’t say more, I have to go back to the ward now, it’s almost time for the nurse’s rounds.

——You should hurry back too.

Dr. Ferenc stood by the railing at the mezzanine level, and it had been a while.

He looked at the city in front of him… Skyscrapers were everywhere, and the process of urban development was completely different from the city he remembered. Overall, it appeared to be much more developed.

In his impression, the area ahead should have been quite barren.

“Out of use for over twenty years? Impossible… impossible…” He muttered to himself, gradually falling into a state of mental chaos.

He suddenly felt that the world had become so unfamiliar, leaving him in a state of complete unease. Dr. Ferenc abruptly turned around and headed towards the ward he had come from.

The middle-aged man sleeping in the ward should be able to give him the answers he wanted… At this moment, he shouldn’t care that the man was a stranger.

Dr. Ferenc quickly found the original ward and pushed the door open. But he didn’t find the sleeping man he had seen after waking up.

He only saw a suit jacket fallen under the sofa; if he remembered correctly, this jacket had been covering the man as he slept.

Dr. Ferenc slowly sat down, instinctively grabbing the cushion next to him and holding it to his chest… This seemed to offer him a tiny bit of security.

Yet subconsciously, Dr. Ferenc felt he needed to accomplish something very important, but he had no specific memory of what it was.

He was desperately trying to remember what that thing was, but it was as though his brain had been implanted with a pressure pump, inflating wildly, causing him to clutch his head in pain.

It was as if his body was resisting recalling what he needed to do. Dr. Ferenc seemed trapped in a vicious cycle—the more he wanted to remember, the more intense the pain—and because of that he felt even more urgent to recall—more pain—more desire to remember…

Until the hurried sound of a door opening came. Because it opened too quickly, the door lock struck the wall with a bang.

This sound was like a needle piercing a balloon, and the insane buzzing in Dr. Ferenc’s brain quieted immediately. He instinctively looked up, only to see a stranger—a middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man was panting heavily, his head soaked with sweat, and his face deathly pale. He held a notebook in his hand, pausing at the door.

He seemed to exhale with relief, then with a somewhat hostile expression, quickly walked in and said angrily, “How can you wander off somewhere without saying a word?”

Dr. Ferenc opened his mouth, hesitating as he said, “Who are you…?”

Plop.

The sound of a notebook falling from the man’s hand… Mr. Ofi’s anger vanished, and he looked incredulously at Dr. Ferenc, who appeared confused.

…

The doctor was sending Dr. Ferenc’s body into a sophisticated machine for examination—he was at the director level of this hospital, supposed to be resting at home at this hour, yet had been dragged out forcibly.

There wasn’t any special reason—compared to Mr. Ofi, someone of his director level was just resigned to fate.

The examination had been going on for over two hours, and Mr. Ofi stood silently behind the doctor, not uttering a word—this gave the doctor unprecedented pressure, as if in an important exam with the invigilator standing right behind him.

Finally, the machine’s transfer bed released Dr. Ferenc, and the doctor pressed a button, calling for two medical staff, “Alright, take the patient out.”

In fact, Dr. Ferenc had already fallen into a coma—he had passed out halfway through the examination.

The doctor stared at the screen showing various images of Dr. Ferenc’s body, cold sweat dripping down, unable to speak for a moment. Mr. Ofi, not waiting long, frowned, “Any results?”

The doctor swallowed, hesitating as he said, “I’ve never seen such a strange condition before. The patient’s various bodily indices are alarmingly low… Honestly, it’s a state bordering on death.”

Saying this, the doctor stealthily glanced at Mr. Ofi, seeing the national minister’s expression was so somber it gave him chills, yet he was forced to continue, “But… but the patient’s brain is extremely active, with values dozens of times higher than normal. It’s almost as if… almost as if…”

“Speak,” Mr. Ofi demanded in a deep voice.

The doctor gritted his teeth, “It’s almost as if his brain is mobilizing all the body’s energy to sustain this change and maintain this super high activity.”

“Can’t it be stopped?” Mr. Ofi pinpointed the crucial question.

Cold sweat dripped down the doctor’s face as he replied, “Given the current situation, even if he is in a coma, this state cannot be stopped; it will just continue… I haven’t found any signs of anything like cancer in the brain sketch; it looks like a natural change in the body… But how could the human body produce such a change? We know the brain has protective mechanisms; during extreme danger, the brain might even sever some connections. For example, if the pain exceeds the limit of endurance, the brain will actively shut down.”

“I asked, can it be stopped?” Mr. Ofi pressed forward at the control panel, staring hard at the doctor whose hair was already graying.

“I can’t think of a solution at the moment,” the doctor had to cautiously say, “But I can gather some brain specialists to research and discuss in a meeting… but it takes time!”

“Didn’t you say his situation is very dangerous? Do you still have time for a meeting?” Mr. Ofi’s eye twitched.

The doctor hastily said, “Although we can’t stop this life-threatening depletion temporarily, we can slow it down… I can use medication to supplement the patient’s consumption. It should… it should sustain for a while.”

Though anxious, Mr. Ofi remained rational, his gaze increasingly menacing, “Quickly! Tell me who you need, and I’ll send them over.”

The director-level doctor had no reason to doubt such a promise… Even if it means digging someone out of prison who had been sentenced to death, right?

After all, this was Mr. Ofi!

But it wasn’t even dawn yet… it was simply unbearably tiring.

…

…

Caroline was woken up by the ringing outside the dormitory—it seemed to be some design the hospital had to ensure students didn’t sleep in, instilling the concept that life depends on learning.

Of course, for someone like Caroline, completely disconnected from studies, such a piercing bell was an outright anti-human design.

Caroline yawned and got up, realizing she slept on the sofa the entire night. She glanced at the blanket draped over her and then curiously surveyed her surroundings.

She discovered that Arno was still sitting at the desk, the lamp still on, making it seem as if he’d been reading all night?

Caroline sneered to herself, knowing the true identity of “Arno,” she found this person’s effort to maintain the role of “Arno” truly tireless.

“Did you stay up all night reading?” Caroline rubbed her face, trying to look surprised.

Arno’ heard this, put down the pen in his hand, rubbed the bridge of his nose, and glanced at the digital clock beside him, “Is it already this late?”

He turned his chair and looked toward Caroline… Caroline looked at Arno’s tired appearance, clearly indicating he hadn’t slept all night, though she didn’t know what he’d done in between.

As she quietly pondered this, Caroline said, “How about you take a rest?”

“No need, it’s almost exam time.” Arno shook his head, “I’ll take a shower and then head out.”

“Then… let me make you a cup of coffee?” Caroline nodded.

“Thanks.” Arno smiled slightly without saying anything else and walked straight into the bathroom.

Taking this opportunity, Caroline walked to the desk and glanced at it, finding books densely packed with notes. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes, finding these “props” well prepared.

Of course, she couldn’t understand the content inside, casually putting it down, and focused on making coffee — since he was going all out with his act, she couldn’t lag behind.

How did that saying go?

Life is like a play, it’s all about acting.

…

Arno quickly walked out of the bathroom, having changed his clothes, but what made Carol want to sass was that this guy’s clothes were basically the same, three white, three black, and one blue piece.

As for the pants, they were uniformly styled.

“Oh right, this is for you.” Arno walked straight to the table, picked up his backpack and took out a box from inside.

A phone box… inside was a brand-new phone.

Caroline was somewhat surprised as she picked up the phone and curiously asked, “Is this for me?”

Arno nodded and said, “It’s not a good brand, just something I picked up online. But for playing some games to pass the time, it’s no problem. The card is a brand-new Space Card. Though you’re safe here for now, you can’t stay disconnected from the world forever…”

As he spoke, Arno made the first call with this new phone — the ringtone was his own phone ringing.

“This is my number.” Arno smiled and said, “If anything comes up, just call me… well, I’m heading out.”

“Oh… be careful.” Caroline said subconsciously.

…

Angry Birds.

In boring times, Caroline’s favorite way to kill time was with this super popular game.

Once, a particularly enduring man was laboring over her for two hours, and for most of that time, due to sheer laziness and lack of feeling, Caroline played this game the whole time.

Of course, what that man thought, Caroline no longer remembers… probably something like despair?

Snap.

The door to room 403 suddenly opened slightly at this moment, and Caroline quickly put down her phone and looked over, subconsciously saying, “Back so quickly… 403?”

Caroline’s eyes widened, because who had returned was clearly not Arno, but 403, who had secretly saved her once before.

This time the simple disguise was a human-skin mask, resembling a former president known on the streets as Aoguanhai.

Though she was speechless in her heart, it was much easier on the eyes than the bandaged look… Caroline stood up nervously and went to the door, closing it, and dragged 403 inside, “Why are you here! What if you got caught?”

“I wouldn’t come up if I wasn’t confident.” 403 said calmly, his voice still hoarse.

Caroline thought he had a point, breathing a silent sigh of relief. 403 sat down and said, “Alright, let’s exchange some intel now. Anything special happen?”

Caroline said, “Not much, I fell asleep exhausted last night…”

Caroline briefly recounted and then asked, “What about you? Anything special after the ball last night?”

She recalled accidentally seeing Lucas’s girlfriend intimately walking with another man and wondered if 403, hiding in the shadows, would feel particularly hurt seeing his girlfriend?

“Nothing much, I left.” 403 said calmly, “After all, my appearance isn’t suitable for staying outside too long.”

“Is that so…” Caroline nodded, suddenly saying, “There’s nothing special, except that guy gave me a phone.”

“A phone?” 403 tilted his head.

“Here, this one.” Caroline handed over the phone.

403 quickly disassembled the phone, seemingly very familiar with electronic equipment.

But considering 403’s identity, Caroline said nothing — after all, Arno was an excellent student, with what seemed like a degree in mechanical engineering, Lucas… 403, as Arno’s former roommate, probably wasn’t doing badly either?

“Sure enough.” Shortly after, 403 was holding a small chip between his fingers.

“What’s this?”

“A tracker.” 403 then replaced the small chip back into the phone, restoring everything.

Caroline was displeased, somewhat angry, “Why did you put it back!”

403 said, “If I didn’t, he’d know you found it, wouldn’t he? That would put you in a difficult position… Plus, putting it back isn’t just to prevent him from suspecting you, more importantly, we can use this tracker.”

As he spoke, 403 quickly stood up, “Hmm, I have a good idea… you stay here, I need to prepare some things. By the way, keep that stun stick I gave you on you, just in case.”

“Got it, it’s been kept close already.” Caroline shrugged.

403 gave Caroline an odd look… This woman was dressed quite lightly, in a small tank top and shorts, so where exactly did she hide it??