FT DR Chapter 51: Organization Sees Potential in You

Chapter 51: Organization Sees Potential in You

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

“Greetings, Director Sienna,” Wu Chenghe respectfully addressed.

Sienna’s achievements in medicine were not as outstanding as her student, Mu, nor did they surpass many of her subordinates, but her esteemed status within the medical community was unparalleled. She remained unmarried throughout her life, dedicating herself to social welfare organizations, traversing the remote planets within the galaxy, aiding the impoverished and assisting physically disabled children. Mu was one of her beneficiaries.

Sienna stood as the sole Arabian female to have been honored with both the Nobel Peace Prize and the Silver Star Medal by former and current presidents, acknowledging her remarkable contributions to medicine and humanitarianism. With advancing age hindering her ability to voyage with the fleet, she accepted a position as director at the Saint Martin Research Center.

It was noteworthy that while the Saint Martin Research Center boasts a gathering of the most exceptional physicians within the Federation, Sienna embodied its true essence, her formidable personality charisma uniting these unruly geniuses.

“Come, let us proceed inside for discussion,” Sienna guided Wu Chenghe indoors, her tone affectionate. “Learn well from Mu; he is an exceptional teacher, and someday you will excel like him.”

“I will endeavor to do so.”

Located in the heart of York City, the Saint Martin Hospital stood as a colossal circular structure comprising four hundred and eighty floors, with the research center occupying the top ten floors, each interconnected by a cross-shaped skybridge. Director Sienna’s office resides on the top floor, adjacent to a series of well-equipped laboratories where Wu Chenghe’s forthcoming project shall commence.

Sienna toured through the prepared laboratories and lounges, introducing two assistants to Mu and gently advising Wu Chenghe, “Interns have weekends off; you may reside in the dormitory here or accompany Mu to his residence.”

“Director Sienna!” Mu sighed, looking at her helplessly. “You have no right to impose strangers into my home!”

“He is your student, Mu. How did I treat you back then?” Sienna cast him a sideways glance. “In your twenties, you used to linger in my house, freeloading, causing rumors to circulate. How did I manage to shape you this way? You’ve learned everything except how to take care of your own students.”

“The entire medical school is my students; can I bring them all into my home?” Mu weakly retorted.

“But Wu and others are different; isn’t he your favored disciple?” 

“When did I say that?!” 

“Oh, you are such a man of contradictions,” Sienna chuckled, shaking her head, addressing Wu Chenghe, “Well, if he refuses to accommodate you, then you shall reside in my home, keeping me company. You wouldn’t dislike an old lady like me, would you?”

“Of course not.” Wu Chenghe realized Mu’s residence was in York City, though uncertain whether he lived alone or… considering his disposition, he likely lived alone; another person would undoubtedly drive him mad.

“Enough, I will take him home on weekends.” Mu said in distress, then shooed him away like a pesky fly. “Why are you still standing there? Go familiarize yourself with those two assistants, have them arrange your access codes, and teach you your duties. We’ll have a briefing at noon, and work begins in the afternoon.”

Wu Chenghe complied and departed with the assistants. Observing his receding figure down the corridor, Sienna closed the automatic door, sighing, “Poor child.”

Mu’s expression grew cold as he gazed at the pigeon-gray sky outside the floor-to-ceiling window, speaking after a pause, “Hannibal treats him well, at least… for now. He hasn’t reached adulthood yet, so he’s safe for the time being.”

“He will reach adulthood soon; I can sense it,” Sienna fretted, “In less than three months, his Icarus butterfly will pupate, and he will emerge as a powerful guide.”

“I am aware, which is why I brought him here.” Mu lowered his gaze, furrowing his brow into a shallow river-like pattern. “Teacher, I must protect him.”

“I will help you,” Sienna’s withered hand gently caressed his shoulder. “The entire research center will assist you. After all, we established this organization to aid those guides who are unwilling to lose their freedom. Moreover, he is your kin.”

Mu leaned against the window, his slender figure casting a black silhouette on the floor. He sighed, saying, “Everything will be alright. The situation is much better now than fifty years ago. Society is progressing, and the Federation is protecting guides, even if it’s through containment methods. It’s far more humane than mass slaughter.”

“Yes, everything will be alright. One day, the laws will be amended, and all guides will attain their freedom,” Sienna smiled, patting his shoulder. “And you, do you intend to continue like this?”

“I plan to have a child,” Mu said lightly. “It’s too lonely, Teacher. I am not as strong as you. I often feel cold… I fear I’ll always be alone.”

“Perhaps you should find that person…”

“No.” Mu interrupted her, pain flickering in his dark eyes. After a while, he shook his head. “Let’s not discuss this anymore. I’ll go check the data; we’ll meet in the conference room later.”

“Alright.” Sienna watched him with concern, wanting to say more but hesitating. Mu’s solitary and frail black figure seemed like a narrow, lonely sword, seemingly sharp but could break at any moment.

Wu Chenghe’s internship officially began, and as Mu mentioned, he could only play the role of a laborer here, handling medical waste, cleaning equipment, organizing documents, and so forth. However, despite this, he felt he gained a lot; this was a legitimate research institution, with equipment far more advanced than those teaching aids in medical school. The database was extensive, containing almost all human literature and documents spanning thousands of years. Compared to that, the databases in hospitals like Gabriel Military Harbor’s first hospital were nothing but rubbish.

What was even more surprising was the existence of many intact guide specimens here. Out of curiosity, Wu Chenghe checked the codes of some of these specimens. Strangely, these codes were empty, meaning these specimens were not registered in the federal specimen database; they were illegal contrabands.

Guides were extremely rare and precious beings, each required to be registered. When they entered guide school, they were assigned a unique code that would follow them for life. Federal law stipulated that even in death, guide corpses must be recovered according to their codes. Thus, acquiring a guide specimen through illegal means was even more difficult than robbing a federal bank.

Unless an institution had been secretly nurturing a large group of unregistered guides, it would be impossible to obtain so many contraband specimens. Wu Chenghe was terrified by this speculation. He tried to ask an assistant about it, but the assistant remained secretive, warning him not to speak recklessly and focus on his tasks.

Wu Chenghe was adept at keeping secrets because he himself was a massive secret, so he wisely kept his mouth shut after a brief struggle.

On the last day of his first week of internship, Wu Chenghe followed the schedule and went to clean the dissection room. As he entered the room, he found a complete male corpse laid out on the dissecting table, and Mu was examining his brain.

“I haven’t finished yet; come back later for cleaning,” Mu said without lifting his head. Just as Wu Chenghe was about to leave, he said, “Come here, I want to show you something.”

Wu Chenghe changed into sterile clothing and approached the dissecting table. Mu pushed the microscope towards him. “Take a look.” 

Through the endoscope, Wu Chenghe saw the brain of the male corpse. At first glance, its structure seemed similar to that of an ordinary human, but upon closer inspection, there were slight differences. The direction of the central sulcus was peculiar, and the reticular formation in the brainstem was more complex.

“He was a guide,” Mu said in a low voice, “An invisible guide.”

Wu Chenghe’s heart skipped a beat. “An invisible guide?”

“Yes,” Mu moved away from the microscope and uncovered the covering over the male corpse’s face. “His quantum beast is an orchid mantis, possessing excellent mimicry. Therefore, he spent his entire life living in the jungle, where he could hide his identity effectively.”

Wu Chenghe was almost stunned, seeing another invisible guide besides himself. He stammered, “Hide? You mean he…”

“Yes, he was an unregistered guide, and he has never attended guide school,” Mu said. “We obtained his body donation through private channels.”

“Why?” Wu Chenghe asked subconsciously. “Why didn’t he go to guide school?”

“Listen.” Mu paused, his sharp gaze piercing into his eyes. He said in a low voice, “Ask the right questions, or get out of here.”

The right question? Wu Chenghe silently pondered his warning, gradually calming down, and carefully observed the guide. Sure enough, he found a dead quantum beast near his pillow. It was a colorful orchid mantis, very small, only the size of an adult man’s thumb, quietly lying on the pale blue dissecting table, like a withered orchid.

“How did he control himself to avoid being discovered?” Wu Chenghe asked softly.

Mu’s lips curled slightly. “He was a forest guardian, living far away from crowds in the jungle, with minimal contact with the outside world.”

It seemed he had asked the right question this time. Wu Chenghe pondered for a moment before asking, “So how did he control himself from going into estrus and releasing pheromones after adulthood?”

“Through medication suppression,” Mu said, “And powerful guides can control their glands, maintaining calmness in the presence of sentinels with compatibility below a certain threshold, without releasing pheromones.”

It felt like entering a new world, Wu Chenghe felt a chill running down his spine. “You mean guides can control themselves… how did he manage to do that?”

“By training their consciousness and control,” Mu said, “It’s extremely difficult, and people with different aptitudes can achieve different levels. For example, this sample can resist sentinels with compatibility of up to 70%, while some exceptionally talented guides can reach over 90%.” He paused and continued, “But everything has its limits. If they encounter a sentinel with 100% compatibility, no guide can escape. It’s fate, like mice unable to escape from cats.”

As he spoke, his gaze dimmed for a moment, recalling something. He covered the body and said, “Alright, put him in the freezer, clean up, there’s one more hour till off-duty. I’ll be waiting for you in the lounge. Let’s go home together.”

“What?” Wu Chenghe hadn’t fully recovered from the shock of entering the new world. It took him a while to realize that Mu was inviting him home, and he was suddenly flattered. “Go… go to your house?”

“Didn’t Sienna say so that day?” Mu frowned, taking off his dissecting gloves and tossing them into the trash bin. He removed the sterile clothing and handed it to Wu Chenghe. “Hurry up and get to work. If you can’t finish in an hour, just stay here and sleep with the corpse.”

“I thought you were just paying lip service.” Wu Chenghe still found it hard to believe.

“I never pay lip service to Sienna,” Mu glared at him, slammed the door, and left.

“You foul-mouthed man!” Wu Chenghe imitated Sienna’s famous saying, calling out to his retreating figure before cheerfully going to clean up.

Mu’s residence was only two blocks away from St. Martin Hospital, located on the mid-level floor of a skyscraper. The apartment wasn’t large, but for a single man, it was quite spacious.

“Feel free to sit. There’s no food at home, only water. If you want to drink, pour it yourself. Dinner is already ordered, it should arrive in about half an hour,” Mu gestured around the house, showing him the rooms. “Living room, kitchen, study, guest room. You’ll sleep there tonight. My bedroom is across from yours. If you have nightmares or feel lonely in the middle of the night, don’t come bothering me. There are no tools here, you’ll have to handle it yourself.”

Wu Chenghe was speechless as he walked around the living room, noticing Mu’s peculiar taste in decor. The walls displayed works of the Wild Beast movement, while Indian-style ornaments adorned the tables. The study had posters in the style of Japanese woodblock prints. It was like a mishmash of styles.

“What’s this?” Wu Chenghe’s gaze was drawn to a levitating bowl, with a metal fragment floating inside. 

The bowl was palm-sized, and Mu, who was taking off his coat, followed his gaze. His expression stiffened for a moment, then returned to normal. “Garbage.”

But Wu Chenghe couldn’t believe that garbage would be kept in such a levitating bowl. He picked up the fragment and examined it closely. It seemed to be a piece of shrapnel from an explosion, with burn marks on the surface and some sharp scratches. With his keen eyesight, he even noticed a suspicious dark brown stain in one of the deeper scratches, resembling blood.

Seeing him pick up the fragment, Mu’s expression turned very bad. He snatched it back and threw it into the bowl. “Private collection, invaluable. If you break it, selling yourself won’t be enough to compensate.”

Wu Chenghe raised an eyebrow, but moved away. When Mu turned his back, he discreetly took a photo of the fragment with his personal terminal. Jin Xuan was knowledgeable about military matters; he could identify the type of shrapnel. It was a good idea to ask him later.

When dinner arrived, Mu was in the shower. Wu Chenghe set the table and went to the bedroom to call him. He found Mu standing by the transparent curtain wall, lost in thought. He was only wearing black shorts, bare-chested, with water droplets dripping from his jet-black hair.

Mu was very thin, with pale skin stretched over narrow bones. There were hardly any visible muscles, except for a slightly stronger chest and upper arms. He looked extremely fragile. The bowl containing the fragment had been moved from the living room to the bedroom and was placed on the drawer cabinet next to him.

“Dean?” Wu Chenghe tentatively knocked on the open door. “Dinner’s here. Do you want to eat?”

“Mm, wait a moment.” Mu seemed to be startled by his voice. He picked up a towel from the floor, wiped his hair, and put on a black robe. Wu Chenghe noticed a long scar on the left side of his chest. It was probably from a long time ago, and it was barely visible, with a faint pinkish hue.

“Is that the scar from your transplant surgery? Why haven’t you smoothed it out?” Wu Chenghe asked.

Mu glanced at his chest, then said, “Is it ugly? Then it doesn’t matter. I didn’t grow up to look good for others to see. I’ll be how I want to be.”

“Oh… no, you’re handsome. Removing it would make you even more perfect.” Wu Chenghe spoke the truth. Although Mu wasn’t as stunning as Jin Xuan, he had a refined and elegant charm. Of course, part of the reason was that he looked somewhat similar to himself, so neither of them was ugly.

“Mm, so you’ve always had inappropriate fantasies about me?” Mu buttoned up his shirt, looking at him seriously. “Wu, I’m mentoring you because you’re stupid, not because I like you. And two men won’t have a future together. Understand?”

Wu Chenghe, trembling with fear, said, “Dean, I don’t have a father complex or a masochistic tendency. You can rest assured that I won’t pounce on you in the middle of the night… And wasn’t your transplant surgery done in one go? Why do you have two wounds?”

He noticed another scar on Mu’s left chest, slightly shorter than the surgical wound, only two to three centimeters long, and it appeared to be a few years younger from its color.

“Injury, an accident,” Mu said simply, finished dressing, and said, “Let’s eat.”

As they sat at the table, Wu Chenghe’s mind was still reeling from the events of the afternoon. After hesitating for a moment, he asked, “Dean, can I ask you a question?”

“What is it?”

“Where did those guide specimens come from? I checked the codes, and none of them are registered with the Federation.”

Mu paused, put down his utensils, and said, “They’re all free guides. They signed body donation contracts with the research center after receiving assistance from us.”

“Free guides… assistance…” Wu Chenghe was shocked. “Are you saying that St. Martin Research Center is actually a criminal organization that harbors guides? The center has been helping them evade government surveillance?”

“Yes,” Mu wiped his mouth with a napkin, looked at him seriously, and said, “‘Cocktail Incident,’ you know about it, right?”

“I do.” It was the incident that led to the widespread arrest and imprisonment of guides, resulting in the tragic ratio of two hundred thousand to one.

“After the Federation enacted the law persecuting guides, a clandestine organization was formed by civilians,” Mu said in a low voice. “Most of them are guides, with a few ordinary people and sentinels. They help each other, conceal their identities for survival in a cruel environment.” He continued, “Even after the law was repealed, and guides were protected, many still refused to attend guide school or marry the spouses designated by the Federation. This organization continued to provide protection for them.”

Wu Chenghe was stunned. His chopsticks fell onto the table with a clatter, and he stammered, “So, Dean, you’re saying that the St. Martin Research Center is actually a criminal organization that defies the Federation’s laws?” 

Mu nodded. “Yes!” Seeing Wu Chenghe’s shocked expression, he lowered his voice and said mysteriously, “Remember that shrapnel? The one I said was garbage?”

“…I remember.”

“It’s actually a keepsake,” Mu said in a low voice. “Once, I had a student who found out about the organization’s secret and wanted to report it to the police. To keep it confidential, I killed him. That shrapnel was retrieved from his body. I kept it as a memento.”

Wu Chenghe shuddered, his spine tingling. Mu reached out and hooked his chin, leaning in closer. “I don’t want to deal with disgusting things like that again. Understand?”

Wu Chenghe understood and nodded hastily. “I understand, Dean. I won’t reveal this secret.”

Mu gave him a mysterious smile. “I trust you completely.”

Wu Chenghe thought he would add something like “because you’re stupid,” but to his surprise, he didn’t. Instead, he poured himself a glass of wine and sipped it slowly, smiling lightly like a fox.

Wu Chenghe’s heart surged. He hadn’t expected such an extraordinary organization to exist in this world, openly defying guide schools and federal laws. After his excitement subsided, he thought of an important question. “Dean, are you also a guide?”

Mu tapped his glass and shook his head. “I told you, ask the right questions.”

Wu Chenghe wanted to ask what kind of guide could enter such an organization, what kind of person was eligible to apply for assistance, but he swallowed the words before they left his mouth. This matter concerned his future, his freedom. He couldn’t casually reveal this secret, especially to a stranger like Mu, a sarcastic and inscrutable individual.

After hesitating for a long time, Wu Chenghe didn’t confess to him. Instead, as dinner ended, he asked one final question, “Dean, the story about the shrapnel, is it fake?”

Mu scratched his chin and said, “Yes.”

Wu Chenghe asked again, “It was actually taken out of your body, from that small wound, right?”

Mu crossed his hands in an “X” gesture, indicating that he had asked the wrong question. Wu Chenghe didn’t care and continued, “The person who injured you, was it your lover?”

Mu’s face immediately darkened, and Wu Chenghe, undeterred, added, “Was it a man?”

Mu was instantly furious, jumping up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, and slapped him hard on the head, scolding, “Bastard! Go wash the dishes! Tomorrow, I’ll crack open your skull and sew up all the nonsense in your brain! Why don’t you go write novels? Studying medicine is a waste of your melodramatic nonsense! How dare you imagine things about me? It’s like you’ve eaten the guts of a leopard!”

“Ahh!” Wu Chenghe didn’t expect him to explode like that. He was hit so hard that half of his head went numb, and he quickly covered it and fled to a place where Mu couldn’t see him.

He must have hit the nail on the head, right? When he slammed the door to the bedroom, Wu Chenghe sneaked a sinister smile in the kitchen: Otherwise, why would he react like that? This was completely the rhythm of someone who was embarrassed and angry!

 

 

 

 

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