Chapter 10: The Strengths of Xu Changsheng_1
People died, yet their brains continued to work!
Witnessing this scene, everyone's eyes bulged, and they were at a loss for words for quite a while.
Having been a doctor for so many years and dissected bodies for just as long, never had they seen anything so inconceivable as a dead person's brain still functioning.
No, that can't be right!
Could it be... the patient wasn't dead at all?!
For a moment, there was chaos at the scene.
The first to regain composure was Zeng Qiang, who, with a darkened expression, mercilessly interrogated,
"Yang Huancheng, what is going on here? Can't you even handle this simple task?"
At this moment, Yang Huancheng's eyes were wide with shock, staring at the patient's cranial cavity, without snapping back to reality.
Soon after, Yang Huancheng began to explain frantically,
"No, no, no!"
"Director, he is definitely dead, I assure you! Spontaneous breathing ceased, heartbeat stopped, bilateral pupils dilated and fixed, cranial nerve reflex and brainstem reflex disappeared, and the brainwaves ceased during the electroencephalogram test!"
"These are the signs of whole-brain death!"
"He was certainly dead!"
"But... but..."
Clearly, faced with such facts, Yang Huancheng couldn't explain why the patient, who was clearly brain-dead, still exhibited cerebral blood circulation!
Not just Yang Huancheng, but everyone present was baffled by this problem.
Despite the films clearly showing the patient was brain-dead, with both electroencephalogram and intracranial imaging indicating death, the reality before them argued otherwise.
For a moment, everyone looking at the skull in front of them felt a surge of fear.
If it couldn't be explained, then could it only be... supernatural?!
Supernatural?! This term surfaced once again in everyone's minds.
It also raised everyone's guard by quite a few notches.
Right at this moment, Wang Yue suddenly spoke,
"Director, the texture of the pia mater has changed!"
Upon hearing this, Zeng Qiang, hesitated for a moment but then bent down to take a closer look.
Indeed!
There was something off about this pia mater.
The brain actually has several protective membranes.
The outermost, next to the skull, is the dura mater, below that is the arachnoid mater, and the closest to the brain tissue is the pia mater!
The pia mater is a transparent thin membrane that clings to the surface of the brain and extends into its sulci and fissures!
Compared to the arachnoid mater, the pia mater has more blood vessels!
This is the brain's last layer of defense!
Normally, the pia mater is thin and fragile.
But now, the texture and thickness of the meninges had undergone a significant change!
At this moment, Wang Yue's left hand revealed an electronic dashboard, and when the probe touched the pia mater of the brain, there was no reaction from the instrument!
Wang Yue said with a peculiar expression, "This pia mater has anti-electromagnetic and surveillance camera interference capabilities."
Wang Yue's statement clarified the reason!
Why, despite the presence of intracranial circulation, the various imaging methods and radio waves showed brain death.
Zeng Qiang's eyes lit up upon hearing this.
Had they discovered a clue?!
Just as he was about to report,
suddenly, the big screen lit up and a mechanical voice announced,
"Attention to all the dissection rooms!"
"In C1 section, Zhang Mu, while working on an autopsy, found that the patient was not completely dead, the brain tissue protected by a mutated pia mater! It possesses electromagnetic interference capabilities."
"During the dissection by Professor Zhang, similar peculiar growths were discovered in the third ventricle and pineal gland area!"
"It is highly probable that the patient is under some unknown supernatural invasion!"
"All departments take note, please proceed with caution during removal!"
"Kudos to C1 section's Zhang Mu, rewarded with +50 Points. Contribution Value +50."
The announcement echoed several times!
Upon hearing this, Zeng Qiang's expression changed!
50 points!
How much did he earn for one surgery after all that effort?
More importantly, 50 Contribution Value!
If points could be likened to a company's internal currency, then Contribution Value was the sole path to increasing one's access privileges.
When Xu Changsheng heard this, he too became curious—could it really be possible to earn points and contribution?
Xu Changsheng had long been aware of C1 section.
C1 section wasn't a department name but the ranking of C District.
C1 section was the most powerful department in the clinical area!
By the same token, his own C6 section was an average-capability department.
There are a total of 10 departments in C District, each vying against one another.
This was a unique competitive mode of the August Research Institute.
Each department, like a small company, had the department head as the person in charge.
All resources had to be fought for by oneself.
For instance, surgeries; patients with supernatural conditions sent from the outside were first selected by C1 section, and only after they finished choosing, would it be the turn of the remaining sections, and so on.
To climb up in this ranking, there's only one way!
To gain Contribution Value!
And how can one obtain Contribution Value?
All tasks published by the August Research Institute can earn Contribution Value!
Just like today's task: "Investigate the true cause of an employee's death," which is a task released by the August Research Institute.
For every task, August will allocate some Contribution Value and Points to commend outstanding departments.
This is also a key determinant of their rankings!
This time, because there were six victims, other departments had no chance to participate.
This is why Zeng Qiang blamed Yang Huancheng.
If he had discovered it earlier, those 50 Contribution Value and Points would have been his, Zeng Qiang's!
But this is strength!
And at this very moment!
On the 33rd floor of the August Research Institute, seven or eight people sat in a spacious office.
However, a closer look would reveal that those seated in chairs were all virtual images.
Only the skinny man with small mustaches standing there was real. He was in a sharp suit, hair meticulously groomed, but his most striking feature were the two mustaches.
Everyone's eyes were focused on six large screens in front.
The six screens each showed the situation in operating rooms C1-C6.
Clearly, the institute took this emergency very seriously.
However, at this moment, everyone was fixated on C1, paying no attention to the rest. As for the operating room's large screen in C6, it had been relegated to the corner!
...
...
Zeng Qiang looked a bit upset.
When Bei City Research Institute was just established, he and Zhang Mu arrived together, but now the latter was in C1, while he was still in C6.
He understood very well that over time, these rankings would solidify.
Because of the virtuous cycle!
The other side would always have superior resources, and over time the gap would only widen.
However, the surgery was not yet over, and the one who finished first would be the ultimate winner!
Grinding his teeth, Zeng Qiang could care less about anything else, and turned to address everyone:
"Hurry up, let's aim to complete the surgery before C1!"
"The excellent performer can get half of the reward for Contribution Value and Points for this operation!"
However, it was clear that after listening to Zeng Qiang, there wasn't much excitement among the group!
It was because Department C1 was truly formidable, and they all felt that success was highly unlikely!
But Zeng Qiang didn't care about that.
He nodded at Wang Yue and was ready to start the inspection.
Zeng Qiang would still take the lead in surgery, with Wang Yue assisting him.
Xu Changsheng also began to get serious, not missing any detail of the surgery.
After all, it was very likely that the inside of his own skull was identical to the patient's; dissecting the patient's head was no different than examining his own.
Xu Changsheng wanted to know what was going on inside his own brain that caused Soul Stripping!
But gradually, Xu Changsheng's eyes became more and more peculiar.
Because Zeng Qiang and Wang Yue's operations were truly crude!
The tumor between the pineal gland and the Third Ventricle was very sensitive and dangerous.
It could potentially be life-threatening at any time, and any slight mishandling could damage cranial blood vessels.
Doesn't Director Zeng know that recklessly probing could injure the small arteries?
However, Xu Changsheng didn't say anything and just continued to observe.
As time ticked away second by second!
Zeng Qiang, with great effort and using the probe, finally managed to see the tumor next to the pineal gland!
Xu Changsheng even felt nervous for them.
He couldn't help but marvel at their stroke of luck.
What kind of surgical level was this?
It was sheer luck and ignorance like poking around in the bushes blindfolded.
How could they have not damaged any blood vessels or nerves with such intrusions just now?
This level of incompetence wouldn't have been possible even for senior surgeons from his previous life, let alone department directors.
In his previous life, Xu Changsheng would have kicked them out of the operating room long ago.
What a joke!
But if Xu Changsheng said anything now, it was likely that he would be the one kicked out by Zeng Qiang.
Xu Changsheng looked around at everyone's expressions and was surprised to find that they seemed oblivious, even thinking the recent surgery was impressive.
At that moment, he suddenly thought of a possibility: Perhaps the standard of medical surgery in this world was quite limited?
But, after all, the technological development of this era seemed quite good, right?
Yet, when he looked at Wang Yue's Mechanical Arm, he couldn't help but consider a possibility:
For instance, in his last life, people worked hard to preserve the mobility of their fingers, and even a simple tendon surgery was developed in numerous areas, whereas in this world, the more likely solution might be to replace it with a mechanical finger?
People would work harder to create an advanced replacement, rather than studying how to fix the old one.
Similarly, when replacing a heart is much easier and cheaper than successfully repairing one, what would you choose?
In that scenario, would anyone study how to repair a heart?
Just like in his own time, the surge in firearms made cold weapons obsolete; why learn to use them?
Thinking this, Xu Changsheng suddenly felt enlightened.
Maybe this was what they called "technological waste"!
But with these thoughts, Xu Changsheng began to feel excited!
He thought the knowledge and concepts from Earth would be useless after crossing over.
He never expected that the Earth knowledge and ideas would undoubtedly be a natural advantage for him!