Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 846: One who bestows dreams and the future (6)

——Old man, I remembered that this area code has been out of use for over twenty years.

——No more talking; I need to get back to the ward. The nurses will be making their rounds soon.

——You should hurry back too.

Dr. Franky stood by the railing in the corridor for a while.

He looked at the city before him... skyscrapers rose high, and the development of the city was completely different from what he remembered; overall, it exhibited a higher level of advancement.

In his recollection, the area ahead should have been quite barren.

"Cancelled for over twenty years? Impossible... impossible..." he mumbled to himself, gradually becoming lost in confusion.

He suddenly felt that the world had become so unfamiliar that he was entirely in a state of unease. Dr. Franky abruptly turned around and headed back to the ward he had come from.

The middle-aged man sleeping in the ward should be able to provide the answers he sought... At this point, he shouldn’t be concerned about the fact that the man was a stranger.

Dr. Franky quickly found the original ward and pushed the door open. However, he did not find the sleeping man he had seen when he woke up.He only saw a suit jacket that had fallen under the sofa; if he remembered correctly, it was the jacket that the man had covered himself with while sleeping.

Dr. Franky slowly sat down, instinctively taking a nearby cushion and hugging it... This seemed to provide him with a small measure of comfort.

Yet, in his subconscious, Dr. Franky felt that he needed to accomplish something very important, but he had no specific memory of what it was.

He desperately wanted to remember what that thing was, but it felt like a pressure pump had been implanted in his brain, inflating wildly and causing him to painfully clutch his head.

His body seemed to resist recalling what he needed to do. Dr. Franky appeared to be trapped in a vicious cycle—he wanted to remember, the pain intensified—he felt that it was urgent, thus wanting to recall even more—greater pain—wanting to remember even more...

Until a hurried sound of the door opening broke through. Because the door was opened too abruptly, the lock slammed against the wall, making a loud bang.

The sound was like a needle popping a balloon, and a maddening roar echoed in Dr. Franky’s mind... but it quickly quieted down. Instinctively, he looked up and saw a stranger, a middle-aged man.

The man was breathing heavily, his face pale, and he held a notebook in his hand as he stood at the door.

He seemed to relax a bit before his expression turned unfriendly, and he quickly walked in, angrily saying, “How could you just leave without a word?”

Dr. Franky opened his mouth and hesitated, saying, “Who are you?”

Clatter.

The sound of the notebook dropping from his hand... Mr. Alfie, now completely calmed down, looked at the bewildered Dr. Franky in disbelief.

The doctor was preparing to examine Dr. Franky’s body using a precision instrument—he was a top-level figure in the hospital and should have been resting at home at this late hour, but he had been dragged out from his house.

There was really no special reason for this—compared to Mr. Alfie, a director like him had no choice but to accept his fate.

The examination had already been going on for over two hours, and Mr. Alfie stood silently behind the doctor, not saying a word—this put an unprecedented amount of pressure on the doctor, as if he were taking a crucial exam with a proctor standing right behind him.

Finally, the examination table brought Dr. Franky out, and the doctor pressed a button to call over two medical staff. “That’s enough; take the patient out.”

In fact, Dr. Franky had already fallen into a coma—he had lost consciousness halfway through the examination.

The doctor looked at the imaging of Dr. Franky’s body on the screen, cold sweat trickling down, and for a moment, he couldn’t find the words to speak. Mr. Alfie didn’t wait long before frowning and asking, “Is there a result?”

The doctor swallowed hard, hesitating to respond. “I’ve never seen such a strange situation. The patient’s vital signs are appallingly low... To be honest, it’s a state close to death.”

At this point, the doctor secretly glanced at Mr. Alfie, seeing the minister’s face darkened with an unsettling chill, and he had no choice but to steel himself and continue, “But... but the patient’s brain is extremely active, with values that are dozens of times higher than normal. It’s almost as if... it’s almost as if…”

“Speak,” Mr. Alfie said in a deep voice.

The doctor gritted his teeth and replied, “It’s almost as if his brain is mobilizing all the bodily energy to support this change, maintaining this super high level of activity.”

“Is it impossible to stop?” Mr. Alfie pinpointed the key issue.

The doctor wiped his cold sweat and said, “From the current situation, even in a state of coma, this condition cannot be halted; it will just continue... I haven’t found any symptoms resembling cancer in the brain scans; it seems like a natural bodily change... But how could the human body undergo such changes? We know the brain has protective mechanisms. In times of extreme danger, the brain can even shut down certain functions. For instance, when experiencing pain beyond a certain threshold, the brain will actively enter a shutdown state.”

“I’m asking if it cannot be stopped?” Mr. Alfie pressed down on the console, glaring at the already gray-haired doctor.

“I can’t think of a solution at the moment,” the doctor had to respond cautiously. “However, I can consult several neurology experts for research and hold a meeting... but it will take time!”

“Didn’t you say his condition is already very dangerous? Do you still have time to hold meetings?” Mr. Alfie’s eyelid twitched slightly.

The doctor hurriedly replied, “Although we cannot stop this life-draining frenzy for now, we can at least delay it... I can use medication to replenish the patient’s consumption. It should... it should help maintain him for a while.”

Mr. Alfie was anxious but did not lose his composure; however, his gaze became increasingly menacing. “Do it quickly! Tell me who you need, and I will send them.”

This director-level doctor did not doubt such a promise... Even someone sentenced to death could probably be dug out of prison, right?

After all, this was Mr. Alfie!

However, it was still dark outside... He felt utterly exhausted.

……

……

Caroline was awakened by the ringing of the bell outside the dorm—this seemed to be the hospital's way of ensuring that students wouldn’t sleep in, emphasizing that life is about learning.

Of course, for someone like Caroline, who was completely disconnected from studying, this jarring sound felt utterly inhumane.

She yawned and sat up, realizing she had spent the night on the sofa. Caroline glanced at the blanket draped over her, then looked around in confusion.

To her surprise, ‘Arnold’ was still sitting at the desk, with the lamp still lit. It seemed he had been studying all night?

Caroline, with her back to ‘Arnold’, couldn’t help but smirk; knowing his true identity, she found it amusing how hard he was trying to play the role of ‘Arnold.’

“You didn’t stay up all night studying, did you?” Caroline rubbed her face, trying to appear surprised.

At her words, ‘Arnold’ put down his pen, rubbed his nose, and glanced at the electronic clock. “Is it already this late?”

He turned his chair to face Caroline… and she could see the fatigue on ‘Arnold’s face. He clearly hadn’t slept all night, though she wasn’t sure what he had been up to.

While silently musing, Caroline said, “How about you take a break?”

“No, I’m fine. The exam is coming up soon.” ‘Arnold’ shook his head. “I’ll just take a shower and head out.”

“Then… I’ll make you a cup of coffee?” Caroline nodded.

“Thanks.” ‘Arnold’ smiled slightly, said nothing more, and headed straight into the bathroom.

Taking this opportunity, Caroline approached the desk and took a look at the books, finding them densely filled with notes. She rolled her eyes, realizing that this ‘prop’ was well-prepared.

Of course, she couldn’t understand the contents, so she casually tossed the book aside and focused on brewing the coffee—since he was putting in such effort, she couldn’t slack off.

What’s that saying?

Life is like a play; it all depends on acting skills.

……

‘Arnold’ soon emerged from the bathroom, already changed into a new set of clothes. However, Caroline couldn’t help but want to tease him: all his clothes were basically the same—three white shirts, three black ones, and one blue shirt.

As for the pants, they were all identical.

“By the way, here you go.” ‘Arnold’ walked straight to the table, grabbed his backpack, and pulled out a box.

It was a phone box… inside was a brand new phone.

Caroline picked it up in surprise and asked curiously, “Is this for me?”

‘Arnold’ nodded. “It’s not a good brand; I bought it online. But it should be fine for playing games or passing the time. The card is a brand new space card. Even though you’re temporarily safe hiding here, you can’t avoid contacting the outside world forever…”

Saying that, ‘Arnold’ made his first call on the new phone—it rang on ‘Arnold’s own phone.

“This is my phone,” ‘Arnold’ said with a smile. “If you need anything, just call me… Well, I’m off now.”

“Oh… be careful,” Caroline instinctively replied.

……

Angry Birds.

During her boring time, Caroline’s favorite game to play was this wildly popular time-waster.

There was a particularly persistent man who had been with her for two hours, and most of that time, due to her sheer laziness and lack of feeling, Caroline was playing this game the whole time.

Of course, she didn’t remember what that man felt… probably something like despair?

Click.

At that moment, the door to Room 403 suddenly opened quietly, and Caroline quickly put down her phone and looked over, instinctively saying, “Back so soon… 403?”

Caroline’s eyes widened because the person who returned wasn’t ‘Arnold’ but the one who had secretly saved her once—403.

This time, he wore a simple human skin mask resembling a certain former president, known in the underworld as Ao Guanhai.

Although she wanted to roll her eyes, she found this appearance much more pleasing than the bandaged look… Caroline stood up nervously, went to the door, closed it, and pulled 403 inside. “What are you doing here? What if you get caught?”

“If I wasn’t sure, I wouldn’t have come up,” 403 said calmly, his voice still hoarse.

Caroline thought to herself, relieved. 403 sat down and said, “Alright, let’s exchange information. Is there anything special?”

Caroline replied, “Nothing much; I fell asleep last night because I was tired…”

She briefly recounted the events and then asked, “What about you? Any special happenings after the dance last night?”

She remembered accidentally seeing Lucas’s girlfriend walking closely with another man and wondered if 403 felt particularly upset after seeing his girlfriend.

“Nothing much, I left,” 403 said casually. “After all, my appearance isn’t suited for staying outside for too long.”

“Is that so…” Caroline nodded, then suddenly said, “Nothing particularly special, except that guy gave me a phone.”

“A phone?” 403 tilted his head.

“Yeah, this one.” Caroline handed over the phone.

403 quickly disassembled the phone, seeming very familiar with electronic devices.

However, considering 403’s identity, Caroline said nothing—after all, Arnold was a high achiever and apparently had a degree in mechanical engineering. Lucas… as Arnold’s former roommate, 403 probably didn’t perform poorly either.

“Just as I thought.” Soon, 403 pinched a small chip between his fingers.

“What is this?”

“A tracker.” 403 then reassembled the chip back into the phone, restoring everything. Caroline was displeased and a bit angry, saying, “Why put it back in?”

“If you don’t put it back, he’ll know you discovered it. That would put you in a bad position… Plus, putting it back isn’t just to avoid raising his suspicions; more importantly, we can make good use of this tracker.”

Saying this, 403 quickly stood up. “Hmm, I have a good idea… You stay here; I need to prepare some things. By the way, make sure to carry the taser I gave you, just in case.”

“Got it, I’ve kept it on me all along,” Caroline shrugged.

403 looked at Caroline oddly… she was dressed rather lightly, wearing a small tank top and shorts, so where exactly was she hiding it?