The ambulance sped all the way to Zamri Hospital, and the medical staff were quickly discussing the condition of the girl who was just brought in."Her vitals aren't stable. There's plenty of shrapnel in her body—surgery would decide if she survives, but her chances don't look good…""What about the other two?""Nothing we can do. All vitals lost upon arrival…""Hey, what are you doing?!"Nurse Faith quickly stopped Frank, seeing that he was trying to get inside the ER despite being covered in blood.Turning toward a doctor, she explained, "Oh, he's a patient too, Dr. Zinder—he was carrying the girl all on his own when we found them. He's covered in blood, and there's not a part of him that's fine, but he's somehow still alive and kicking."With that, she started pulling Frank toward an ER, snapping, "You're very hurt yourself. Don't go away—let us help you!"To her dismay, Frank seemed not to understand and was insisting on charging into the ER.Nurse Faith therefore had to m
Frank promptly picked up the box of needles, which he opened beside Kat, while also taking a scalpel from a nearby pile of surgical equipment."Hey!"Nurse Faith finally had enough as she saw that Frank really was going to operate on Kat and pressed Dr. Zinder, saying, "Do something! Are you just going to let him operate on a patient?!""Hmph. How is that my problem?"Dr. Zinder folded his arms before his chest, snorting, "He barged in without a word, ready to cut into the patient. It's obvious he's crazy from the start, and I'm not about to mess around with a nutjob."Then, glancing at the security guards around, he added, "And it's their job, no? The man is holding a scalpel—who's taking responsibility if I get hurt?"Nurse Faith was left further anxious as Dr. Zinder was clearly just shirking his responsibilities. "Are we just supposed to do nothing?""So be it. I'm just a doctor—not those martial artists that people like to talk about. Oh, but you could try the chief and let
As the last of the shrapnel was dumped into the basin, Frank breathed out a sigh of relief… and a mouthful of black blood."Guh…"Frank was clenching his knuckles and sweating all over his face, as he was reaching his limit in body and spirit."Take your time. There's no rush."Nurse Faith came up to him, carefully wiping the sweat off his face.Caught by surprise, he nodded slightly in gratitude.Nurse Faith smiled in turn and looked down to find that she had also wiped off dirt and blood."Gosh…" She clasped a hand over her mouth, staring at Frank in disbelief.How did he last until now?"Affixing acupoints, facilitating the flow of vigor…"As Frank continued to stitch up Kat with one hand, he inserted a needle into the acupoint between her brows, stimulating it so that she absorbed the Celestial Dew he had just fed her.Spoon, the Celestial Dew kicked in—it really was more valuable than the Bloodcrane Spiritbloom.As soon as Frank sewed up the gashes on Kat's skin, blood
However, Nurse Faith flinched in shock at the next instant as Frank abruptly collapsed."W-We have to move him!" She shrieked for other nurses and the security guards to help. "And clear the ER!"Just as chaos ensued, a young doctor in a white coat entered, and Nurse Faith exclaimed in delight when she saw who it was. "Chief!""Chief."Dr. Zinder, the other medical staff, and security guards all greeted her too.However, Winter Lawrence's eyes were fixed on the man lying unconscious on the floor, his body a blood mess."Frank!" she cried, her voice cracking. "What happened here?! How did this happen to Frank?!"What? He's… Frank Lawrence?!"Dr. Zinder and Nurse Faith were both left stunned.But seeing that the usually gentle hospital chief was suddenly snappy and furious, Nurse Faith quickly told her everything that had happened since Frank got out of the ambulance."There were two more? Both are dead?"Winter asked, her voice cracking. "What are their names? Have you found
There were just so many gaping holes on Frank's body that needed stitching, and all his internal organs were shot.Along with his other injuries, Winter basically had to sew up a gunny sack filled with holes if she wanted to save Frank, and without filling those holes.In his state, she would not be surprised if he stopped breathing the next instant.In fact, she could only watch as Frank's breathing turned weak, clawing her own hair and almost suffering a breakdown. "What should I do, Frank?! What should I do?!""Gurk…"That was when Frank suddenly coughed violently and spat out a mouthful of black blood."Frank!"Winter's eyes lit up in delight as she watched Frank open his eyes, rasping, "Winter…"-Seeing Winter was like a dream for Frank. She felt so close, yet so far.At the same time, his body was cumbersome, and he could not even lift a single finger."Frank… What should I do? Tell me how to save you! Please, tell me…"Winter's tears were falling on her fall head, l
It went without saying that Frank's heart had stopped, and Winter almost passed out instantly when she saw the flatlined cardiogram."No, that's impossible… Impossible! Frank, Frank… open your eyes! Look at me…"Winter panicked—she expected the risk, but when she realized that she had killed Frank with her needles, she still could not forgive herself.She was left staring as her hands trembled, and she fell to the floor with a thud. "How… How could this be…?"Seeing her anguish, Nurse Faith quickly tried to comfort her. "Chief, it's alright. You have to let him go…""Yes, I have to let him go…"Winter's eyes turned blank as she laughed miserably. "Could you do the same if you killed the one you love the most? Can you?"Nurse Faith felt pained as she looked into those empty eyes too—she had never seen such despair, misery, and endless helplessness in Winter's eyes.Nurse Faith tried to say something but eventually breathed a long sigh as she had no words that could comfort Winte
And just like how dew appears quietly in the mornings, the Celestial Dew's effect was subtle.Unlike the Bloodcrane Spiritbloom, absorbing it was a mild and withdrawn process, but the effect was just as impressive, if not better.Naturally, Frank only felt that when he woke up.It did not take that long either, as it was just two days later.The instant he opened his eyes in his ward, he felt the difference in his physique.Not only was his physique more malleable, but his senses were also sharper, and he could actually hear someone complaining downstairs when he closed his eyes, talking about how unpleasant work was."The Celestial Dew…"As Frank slowly sat up, he instantly sensed the presence of countless foreign objects in his body—the shrapnel from the RPGs and grenades.Winter did not remove those since it was risky, but it was no big deal for Frank as he was now.He could feel that he had advanced well into the Ascendant rank and could control his physical body at will.
With the three days for gathering evidence having passed, that also meant that the Martial Tournament finals would take place tomorrow…Turning to Nurse Faith, Frank asked, "Is Winter here? I'd like to see her.""The chief…?"Nurse Faith appeared hesitant. "She's attending the commissioner's funeral. All the rich and important figures in Zamri are attending.""The commissioner's funeral?"Frank was taken aback but soon laughed.Funeral? It was just an excuse to tell the world that Frank had failed and that his crime of murdering the commissioner was the truth now.Soon, Lanecorp and Zamri Hospital would suffer because of Frank as well.Still, Frank did some thinking and decided that crashing the funeral right now would be pointless. Since he did not have any evidence, he could not prove his innocence even if he went…That was when he suddenly remembered Blackie.That kid had always been shadowing Tidus after Frank took Tidus under his wings, and he did not expect Blackie's