Liu Chengkai's arm had been bleeding for a long time, the dark red liquid pooling on the floor until the sight of it made everyone's chest tighten with a shared dread. The blood had been pouring out in a unstoppable pulse, exactly as it had from the very beginning. They were honestly terrified that the wound would drain him dry, leaving nothing but a husk behind, just as Doctor Zhang had warned.
The moment the bone powder touched the raw flesh, Liu Chengkai let out a bloodcurdling scream. It was a raw, primal sound, like a pig being slaughtered, and it echoed through the private room and into the hallways beyond.
The noise was so sharp it even drew Li Chenglong over from his patrol outside. He burst into the room with his hand on his holster, convinced that another monster had breached their defenses.
The white powder dissolved into the wound at an astonishing speed, hissing as it met the blood. Then, it began to harden, transforming before their eyes into a layer of smooth, pure white skin that was tightly fused to his body. It didn't look like a scab; it was more accurate to say the powder had become a new, ceramic-like graft.
Just like that, the bleeding stopped.
"The blood stopped!" someone yelled, their voice cracking with relief.
"It really stopped!"
Some shouted in shock while others wept with joy. Jing Shu, however, wasn't so easily reassured. She grabbed his arm, turning it around to inspect the seal from every angle. She even took a small knife from her kit and used the tip to cut lightly at the edge of the new, white skin.
The blade didn't go in. It skidded across the surface as if she were trying to cut through a polished stone.
"Damn, that is insane. Liu Chengkai, you turned into a stone man," a boy whispered, reaching out to touch the unnatural surface.
"How do you feel now?" Jing Shu asked.
Liu Chengkai wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his movements weak and shaky. "It feels numb around there, like I can't feel pain anymore. Other than that, there is nothing strange. It doesn't hurt."
Jing Shu nodded to herself. It seemed her theory was correct; the sludge siren bones really were the antidote. They possessed a property that neutralized the anticoagulant in the saliva and sealed the wound instantly.
The new skin looked ugly and starkly white against his pale flesh, and it might cause unforeseen medical problems later, but it was still infinitely better than losing a limb to a saw.
After confirming that there were no immediate abnormalities and the bleeding had truly ceased, Jing Shu turned to Xiao Liu. "Go get Doctor Zhang," she said quietly. "Tell him I found a way to stop the bleeding."
She didn't mention the bones at all. She had her own plans for the resources she was holding. Thinking about the massive pile of bones currently resting in the courtyard of her villa, a faint, calculating smile appeared on her lips.
Xiao Liu handled the task with her usual discretion. When she arrived at the temporary medical center, she didn't shout the news to the crowds.
On the third floor of the New World Tower, a grim treatment center had been established. More than fifty patients had gathered there, huddling on blankets or directly on the cold floor. All of them had been bitten or scratched by the sludge sirens, and every single one was watching their life leak away through bandages that wouldn't hold.
More than half of them had already agreed to pay the high cost of virtual currency for an amputation. A smaller, more desperate portion chose to undergo the procedure without any post-treatment medicine. For them, simply living was all that mattered. If they didn't cut the infection away now, they would be dead by morning.
The situation was dire. Doctor Zhang no longer had the luxury of bedside manners or gentle words. The most critical patients had to be treated first, regardless of their fears. One man had already lost most of both legs to deep bites; there was no need for complicated surgical steps for him.
Doctor Zhang simply prepared to saw off what remained of the shredded tissue. Two or three other patients had already collapsed from massive blood loss before the medical team could even reach them.
The entire third floor was a chorus of wails and sharp screams, underscored by a heavy, metallic scent of blood that clung to the air. It felt like a line of prisoners waiting for their turn at the gallows. Some had only small, nagging wounds, while others had lost half their bodies to the monsters' jaws, yet all were forced to wait for the same brutal cure. The government wouldn't abandon them, but their survival depended entirely on the cold math of the saw.
There was no time to waste. Faster was always better in these conditions. Patients were laid out in long, neat rows. Doctor Zhang worked at the front of the line with a surgical saw, while the medical team followed behind him to handle the immediate cauterization, injections, and medication.
When Xiao Liu finally found Doctor Zhang, the man was nearly unrecognizable. He was covered in fresh blood, holding a heavy saw and preparing to cut into a man's lower torso. It was a tragic case; the injury had only grazed the patient's buttocks, yet because the bleeding wouldn't stop, the entire lower half of his body had to be removed to save his heart.
"Stop! Stop right there!" Xiao Liu shouted, rushing into the surgical area as if she were carrying a royal decree.
Doctor Zhang frowned, the saw still humming in his hand. The patient on the table trembled violently, and then a foul smell spread through the area. The man had lost control of his bowels from sheer terror.
"I don't want it anymore. I won't do it. It is too scary…" the man sobbed, his voice breaking into a high-pitched wail.
Doctor Zhang looked annoyed. This kind of procedure required speed and total decisiveness. The patient had been mentally ready a moment ago, but now fear had ruined the window of opportunity.
"What is it? Did that guy from the private room finally agree to the amputation?" Doctor Zhang asked flatly. "Then get him in line. We are only halfway through this group. Do not waste my time."
He wasn't surprised that no other solution had been found. His team had tested every drug they had in stock and found nothing that worked. Unless global production returned to pre-apocalypse levels with advanced laboratory equipment, he believed there was no hope for a chemical cure.
Xiao Liu leaned in and whispered directly into the doctor's ear. "My boss found a way to stop the bleeding. She already saved the patient in our room."
"What?!" Doctor Zhang wiped a smear of blood from his cheek, looking completely stunned. "How is that possible? What method did she use? Is it a medicine? Can it be used on the others? There are so many patients here. How did she do it?"
The medical assistants behind him perked up, their tired eyes suddenly sharp. Even the patients lying in their rows stopped crying to listen. The entire floor fell into a strange, heavy silence.
"Please go see for yourself. I do not understand this kind of technical stuff," Xiao Liu said. She had seen Jing Shu casually crush the bones and apply the powder, but she knew better than to speak carelessly. What if there was a secret process she had missed?
Doctor Zhang didn't hesitate for a second. He grabbed his electric saw and ran toward the stairs. His assistants scrambled after him, carrying their heavy gear and shouting for him to slow down. They had no choice but to follow; those machines were more valuable to the government than their own lives.
The sight of a blood-covered doctor sprinting through the building with a running saw caused another wave of panic among the survivors in the hall. Li Chenglong, who had just finished his rounds of the private rooms, heard the commotion and rushed out again, looking utterly exhausted. He wondered if these people would ever calm down.
"This is way too dramatic. It feels like a movie," one soldier muttered.
"Even movies wouldn't go this far," another added, watching the bald doctor disappear around a corner.
Li Chenglong wiped the sweat from his face. These people really knew how to test a man's nerves.
"Where is she?" Doctor Zhang roared as he stormed into the private room, his heart set on seeing the miracle Jing Shu had performed.
Liu Chengkai almost wet himself when he saw the bloody doctor and the saw. He shook his head frantically, pulling his arm back. "I'm fine! I don't need the amputation! I am really fine!"
Doctor Zhang tossed the saw to his assistant and rushed forward. When he saw the white, stone-like texture of Liu Chengkai's arm, his jaw nearly dropped. He reached out and checked the surface carefully, tapping it with a finger.
"It is like stone. So hard. How did this fuse with the skin? How did you do it?"
Off to the side, Jing Shu was already back at work, grinding more material into a fine dust. She wiped the sweat from her brow and said casually, "Oh, Doctor Zhang, you are here. Take this bone powder over there. Just apply it directly to the wounds; it will stop the bleeding."