Chen Xiaolian's first target to find was 38 Bond Street, the 76-year-old Will Rez Belia.
At the beginning of the first phase of the mission, Chen Xiaolian and the Lun Tai team split up, with Lun Tai's target being this 76-year-old individual.
Normally, Bond Street was closer to the starting point for everyone at that time.
And the seven-year-old target Chen Xiaolian was searching for was a bit further away.
However, the result was that Chen Xiaolian found the target person first.
Meanwhile, the Lun Tai team encountered various battles among participants on the city streets during their journey, causing delays and ultimately failing to reach their destination. After Chen Xiaolian found seven-year-old Will, since they had already obtained the target person, they simply abandoned the mission and joined Chen Xiaolian and the others.
But Chen Xiaolian, who was now detached from the group, decided to go see this 76-year-old target!
As the car drove down Bond Street, Chen Xiaolian looked for house numbers along the way. Finally, at the corner of the street, he saw an open courtyard.
The house number nailed to the outside wall was none other than 38 Bond Street!
Chen Xiaolian immediately hit the brakes and stopped.
He sat in the car, furrowing his brow as he gazed at the courtyard.
Clearly, this was a small hospital.
Inside the courtyard and outside the courtyard, it was like two different worlds.
Outside the courtyard, the street was eerily deserted, like a ghost town. Inside the courtyard, there were crowds of people, including doctors, nurses, and patients, as well as people pushing wheelchairs.
It seemed like the system had completely separated the two worlds, inside and outside the courtyard.
Chen Xiaolian's heart skipped a beat, and he took a deep breath before stepping out of the car.
Chen Xiaolian felt a strange sensation as he stepped out of the car and into the courtyard. This strangeness was similar to when he had found seven-year-old Will on that street before.
It was as if... the people here couldn't see him.
(It seemed that the system was still distinguishing between the dimension he was in and the dimension within this courtyard.)
Chen Xiaolian focused and walked inside.
The hospital was not very large— in fact, due to differences in population size and the availability of healthcare resources per capita, European countries rarely had comprehensive hospitals as large as major public hospitals in China, and there were also fewer people inside hospitals.
Chen Xiaolian walked into the hospital building, which seemed to be only five or six stories tall.
The outpatient department on the first floor was quiet, and even in the waiting area, people were reading newspapers or playing with their phones, with little noise.
Chen Xiaolian walked directly into the building.
Five minutes later, in the corridor on the third floor, which was evidently the ward area, Chen Xiaolian walked along the corridor, quickly locating his target.
At the second room on the left side of the corridor, he saw the patient's name on the doorplate.
Will Rez Belia.
Chen Xiaolian took a deep breath and walked in.
There was another person in the room, apparently a hospital attendant, sitting by one of the beds, quietly reading a newspaper, presumably reading it aloud for the patient in the bed.
Chen Xiaolian stood inside the room, observing the room's surroundings.
There were two beds, one of them empty, and on the bed closer to the door, lay a frail elderly man.
An oxygen tube was inserted into his nose, and with each breath, it sounded like the lungs were like an old, wheezy bellows.
On the monitoring equipment beside him, there were heartbeats displayed.
The hospital attendant in the room did not notice Chen Xiaolian's entrance—she couldn't see him in a different spatial dimension. She continued patiently reading a social news article from the newspaper.
Chen Xiaolian stood at the foot of the bed, quietly contemplating the elderly man lying on it.
His hair was completely white and very thin, and his aged, emaciated face had almost lost its shape.
Furthermore, he had his eyes closed, and it was unclear whether he was asleep or in some other state.
Chen Xiaolian walked along the bedside and stood beside him.
There were some other medical devices by the bed, indicating that the condition of the elderly man on the bed was not good. Tubes extended from beneath the covers, connecting to another rack... it was a urinary catheter bag.
The man on the bed also had a urinary catheter.
Chen Xiaolian furrowed his brow.
Just then, the door to the ward was pushed open, and a middle-aged bald doctor in a white coat entered. The hospital attendant in the room immediately stood up, looking courteous.
"How's the situation?" The bald doctor casually asked as he walked to the bedside. He reached out to touch the old man's forehead and then took out a flashlight, opening his eyelids to examine him, and then looked at the chart.
He picked up the medical chart that was placed at the foot of the bed and flipped through it.
"Everything seems normal," the attendant sighed and then smiled bitterly, "Given his current condition, how much worse can it get?"
Chen Xiaolian stood beside the doctor and glanced at the medical chart in his hand.
He saw many terms related to cerebrovascular issues... He wasn't very familiar with the specific medical terminology.
"The situation is stable, with no improvement or deterioration," the bald doctor put down the chart, "He still has no response to the outside world?"
"Yes," the attendant waved the newspaper in her hand, "I read the newspaper to him every day. But I don't know if he can hear it. He can't speak now, can't move, sometimes he opens his eyes but can't communicate."
"Well, let's continue then," the bald doctor sighed, "May God bless him."
Just as the doctor turned to leave, the attendant immediately followed, muttering, "Dr. Kras, the staffing in the nursing team is really tight, now there are only three of us working every day, I'm already overwhelmed. When can we get more staff? I..."
As the attendant followed the doctor out, the room was left with Chen Xiaolian and the elderly man on the bed.
Chen Xiaolian sighed and turned his head, walking back to the old man's side.
He reached out, placing his fingers on the old man's exposed hand.
At that moment, as if sensing something, the old man in the bed slowly opened his eyes.
His cloudy eyes moved weakly left and right, his pupils contracted slightly, and finally, his gaze fell on Chen Xiaolian's face.
Chen Xiaolian's heart raced with excitement. "You... can you see me, right?"
Chen Xiaolian's heart began to race with excitement.
He could see me!!
What does this mean?!
It means... this old man, just like seven-year-old Will, is a special presence!
Chen Xiaolian immediately leaned closer, staring into the old man's eyes. "Can you see me?"
The old man's eyes moved, and his breathing suddenly became rapid, the wheezing sound of the old bellows increasing in frequency!
He couldn't move, couldn't speak, but in his cloudy eyes, there seemed to be a surge of warmth and eagerness!
He was clearly trying to struggle, attempting to send some signal, but his body was no longer capable of doing so.
"Beep, beep, beep..."
The nearby heart rate monitor quickly displayed the old man's rapidly increasing heart rate! Blood pressure was rising sharply!
His breathing became increasingly rapid, his lips quivered, and he seemed to be trying to speak some words.
Chen Xiaolian's heart skipped a beat as he immediately pulled out a vial of treatment potion—this was a hot sauce packet that Chen Xiaolian had prepared himself before the Instance. To prevent any accidents, he had blended the hot sauce into a paste using a juicer in the base and packed it into a plastic tube similar to a toothpaste tube.
Chen Xiaolian squeezed out some of the treatment paste and inserted it into the old man's mouth. Though he couldn't chew, his saliva could dilute some of the paste-like treatment potion, allowing it to flow into his throat and esophagus.
Chen Xiaolian stood by the bedside.
Soon, the old man on the bed suddenly had a special glint in his eyes!
He made a "hoo hoo" sound from his throat.
"Beep, beep, beep..." His heart rate continued to accelerate, and his blood pressure kept rising!
Suddenly, the old man's lips moved, emitting a faint sound.
Just at that moment, the door burst open, and the bald doctor and several nurses rushed in.
"Quick!! The patient is experiencing a change!!"
Chen Xiaolian ignored the people who came in, and the old man on the bed kept his gaze fixed on Chen Xiaolian!
Chen Xiaolian bent down, his ear pressed against the old man's lips.
Finally, this time, Chen Xiaolian heard clearly what the old man said!
And precisely because he heard it clearly, Chen Xiaolian's face underwent a dramatic change all of a sudden!!
It was because he heard it loud and clear, the old man said...
"Guild… Leader..."
"Guild Leader?!"
He actually... called me Guild Leader?!
Chen Xiaolian stood up in a daze, staring at the old man on the bed.
The old man's eyes sparkled with an unusual light, fixed on Chen Xiaolian. In those eyes, there was surprise, incredulity, excitement, and anticipation...
However, a few seconds later, the brilliance in those eyes suddenly dimmed!
"Beep—"
"Cardiac arrest!! Quick, defibrillation!!"
"Dr. Kras, the patient's all vital signs have disappeared!"
"Ah!"
Chen Xiaolian stood by the bed, looking at the old man.
The old man's face retained a final expression.
It was a... satisfied smile.
He had closed his eyes.
The bald doctor picked up a flashlight and opened the old man's eyelids, carefully examined them, and then let go with a look of disappointment.
"Record, time of death 8:38 PM."
The nurse who had entered the room was teary-eyed. The bald doctor patted her shoulder as he whispered, "He's gone, it's God's plan. Perhaps, for him, this is also a relief. You know, living like this is actually very painful for anyone. Most of his internal organs and organs have already failed. To live until today is already quite... sigh..."
The doctor and the nurse began to tidy up.
Chen Xiaolian, on the other hand, had a complex expression. He slowly walked out of the ward, reached the corridor, and sat down on a chair outside.
At this moment, the only feeling in Chen Xiaolian's heart was... shock!
Guild Leader.
He called me, Guild Leader!
This 76-year-old Will Rez Belia called me, Guild Leader!
(I... was right?)
Chen Xiaolian's face grew dark!
Two minutes later, Chen Xiaolian stood up, his expression stern, and swiftly left.