👤Chapter Six: The Name (1)

"Hey, aren't you happy to see your Uncle Gulaba, kid?"

In the bustling yet orderly Laba Laboratory, only the boisterous Gulaba could shout like that. The renowned sword saint of Time Town was soaking naked in a healing chamber, with only his head exposed, and countless IV tubes inserted into his upper body.

"I've told you, you're not much older than me, not enough to be my uncle," a robotic voice replied from beneath a cyborg's mask. This cyborg looked remarkably similar to the young cyborg Gulaba had met in the Sea of Flowers, only with more modifications.

"True, I'm still so young and handsome, definitely not old enough to be an uncle," Gulaba laughed heartily, his face beaming. "You're truly the chief scientist of the lab! Laba, you've got great taste!"

The cyborg, called Laba by Gulaba, didn't stop his work, but the electronic eyes on his mask flashed, and the pressure gauge on his neck twitched erratically, clearly disgusted by Gulaba's words.

"We owe you for this one. If you and that boy hadn't stumbled upon the lizardmen's ambush, we would've been heavily infected by this black virus," Laba's electronic voice lacked tonal variation, but his gratitude toward the sword saint was evident.

Hearing Laba mention the young cyborg, Gulaba's expression turned serious. "How is that boy doing?"

"The situation is not very optimistic. The boy's injuries themselves aren't too severe—the stabbing didn't damage his crystal engine, and his other organs weren't badly harmed. But this black virus triggers a severe immune response, exacerbating the rejection between his body and mechanical organs, which is deadly for cyborgs like us," Laba explained steadily.

"No wonder I've also been infected with this black virus but haven't felt anything wrong, just a bit warm," Gulaba suddenly understood.

"Your resistance to this black virus is exceptionally high. Besides your robust physique, it might also be related to your infection with the green toxin," Laba said, looking at the data handed over by an assistant. "The black virus has made your immune system more active, which may help you metabolize the green toxin. The warmth you feel is your immune system fighting the green toxin."

"Whoosh!" A long fart, accompanied by a flurry of bubbles, rose from the bottom of the healing chamber. Gulaba laughed awkwardly, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead.

"See, strong detoxification response, that's a good sign," Laba remarked, unbothered by Gulaba's embarrassment, instead pleased to see signs of his patient's recovery.

At this moment, another cyborg entered from the adjacent room, handing a thick report to Laba. "Chief, the patient's condition is not good. The black virus is reproducing in his blood much faster than we expected. His body temperature has been over 42°C, and if it weren't for the physical cooling, his brain would have been fried by now."

Hearing this, Laba immediately headed to the next room with his assistants. Gulaba's situation seemed stable, but the young cyborg's condition was the real concern.

"L323, is his body experiencing severe rejection?" Laba asked the primary doctor of the young cyborg as soon as he entered the room.

"His rejection reaction is currently under control. We've been using liquid nitrogen to continuously cool most of his organs, so there's no widespread rejection yet. But his blood situation is dire. Even in a low-temperature environment, the black virus in his blood is reproducing rapidly. Once we stop the cooling treatment, his immune system is likely to react violently under the high concentration of the virus," L323 explained.

"Is his mechanical part replacement ratio high?" Laba inquired.

"That's the strangest part. His replacement ratio is not high. Only his heart, eyes, and arms have been replaced. And we haven't found any abnormalities in his other tissues," L323 said, pausing.

Laba was stunned, his electronic eyes flickering. After a while, he said, "Are you saying he had no congenital defects and underwent the mechanical replacement surgery while in good health?"

"Unless his congenital defects were extremely scattered and controlled, infecting several unrelated tissues and strictly avoiding other areas," L323 replied with rare humor tinged with anger. "Or his doctor was 564.32 times more skilled than I am, capable of performing perfect lesion removal surgeries and treating his genetic defects."

Laba understood L323's anger. Without dwelling on it, he seemed to grasp something and asked, "Has his genetic testing been done?"

At this, L323 became visibly excited, even the temperature of the reactor in his chest rose significantly. He pulled a sheet of paper from the bottom of the report and handed it to Laba.

"Chief, here is the DNA test report of that boy."

Then he pulled out another sheet. "This is the DNA similarity comparison between him and Gulaba."

"That's impossible!" Laba was stunned.

"These are his DNA similarity comparisons with all members of our lab," L323 added, handing over another set of materials.

Laba flipped through the materials in his hands, his crystal engine in his chest running at high speed, emitting a low hum. His mind raced with the possibilities, years of doubts seeming to find a path to resolution.

Finally, he didn't say much. He just shoved the report into the reactor in his chest, where the paper quickly turned to ashes in the high temperature. He looked at L323, but didn't say anything.

"I conducted all the tests myself, no one else was involved; the report has only one copy, no one else has seen it, and there are no backups," L323 understood the chief's intention and gave Laba the answer he wanted.

Laba subtly nodded. He carefully observed the young cyborg in the healing chamber, deep in thought. L323 wisely remained silent, waiting for his orders.

"I suppose you've already done the blood type matching between the two?" After a long time, Laba finally asked.

"Yes, and not just them. I'm afraid no one here can directly match his blood type," L323 replied, as if anticipating the question.

"So, to save his life, we must proceed with that method?" Laba said.

"Yes," L323's monotonous electronic voice couldn't hide his excitement. "I've calculated it; the success rate is not low. If successful, Chief, your body might be saved too!"

Laba shook his head. "We both know my situation. There's no need to waste a precious opportunity on me."

"But Chief..." L323 protested.

"Don't be impulsive. This is the biggest variable we've encountered in over a decade. We should choose the best option!" Laba said firmly, stopping L323 from further argument. "Go prepare. I can only trust you with this."

“......”

"Yes, Chief!"