I Have A Super USB Drive

by <unknown>

  She was a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl with a face full of freckles and a head of soft, light, golden hair.

  At present, she was lying prone on the operating table, seemingly in deep sleep. Her lips were curled into a slight smile and she looked tranquil.

  She wore a blue surgical gown that exposed only a small, smooth area of her back. Under the surgical lights, her skin glowed like ivory.

  Anyone who saw a girl like this would think that she should be strolling freely on the green grass instead of sitting in a cold wheelchair.

  At the moment, the girl's entire body was hooked up to machines monitoring her blood pressure, heart rate, bispectral index, and so on. An oxygen mask covered her mouth and nose. It seemed that she had entered deep anesthesia.

  As Samuel observed all of this, he wore a complicated expression.

  Just three days ago, his mysterious Eastern boss dug up his national-level file for some bizarre reason. Moreover, in exchange for treating Annie, his boss had asked him to sign an agreement.

  At that time, Samuel's first response was to refuse.

  Although Chen Chen was his boss, with wealth, talent, and influence, Samuel himself was a figure in the industry. Of course, he understood the severity of his daughter's injury.

  If that injury could be treated so easily, he would not have to wait bitterly for ten years.

  Nonetheless, when he saw the confidence and conviction in Chen Chen's eyes, Samuel could not help but be swayed…

  Of course, most people could not do it. However, if it was this mystical youth before him, perhaps it was not impossible?

  As if he understood Samuel's doubts, Chen Chen proposed that he would first cure Annie's disability. If it worked, Samuel must sign the agreement.

  Thus, for the sake of his daughter's future, Samuel had agreed at last.

  When he thought back to that situation, the corners of his mouth twitched involuntarily.

  It was a very peculiar agreement.

  The agreement was an invitation letter, inviting Samuel into an organization called "God's Forbidden Zone".

  According to the agreement, this was a secret organization that lurked in the depths of the world, even older and more mysterious than Freemasonry.

  The name of God's Forbidden Zone reminded Samuel of a saying that had circulated in pseudoscience:

  [Human brains typically only use 10% of brain cells. Even those scientific geniuses such as Einstein, only used 20%. More than 70% of the brain cells are in a dormant state.]

  [Some speculate that the reason for this dormancy is that God was afraid humans would become too clever and break the taboos of heaven. Thus, He specifically blocked off most functions of the human brain.]

  Of course, pseudoscience and religion could not be trusted in things like this. There was no need for nature to evolve an organ structure that required a lot of energy, yet was useless. More energy expenditure would result in a lower probability of survival. The same was true for the human brain.

  In the end, Samuel found out that the source of this phrase, "God's Forbidden Zone", was a marketing advertisement for health products.

  Even so, although this organization was called "God's Forbidden Zone" as well, it was not for the reasons stated above. Rather, it meant literally —

  "This is a sacred place for science, a forbidden zone for God!"

  The agreement explained that this organization was co-founded by a group of people who were committed to the development of biotechnology. They attempted to break the Hayflick Limit of humans to obtain a longer lifespan. They even tried to seize a right reserved only for gods —

  Immortality.

  Clearly, this was a bunch of lunatics.

  The agreement also stated: "If you join the organization, you must abide by the confidentiality regulations. You must not disclose the existence of the organization to any third party nor do anything detrimental to the organization. You will even be subject to personal restrictions and be implanted with a chip called 'God'."

  God — just like in the organization's name.

  However, they were called God's Forbidden Zone, yet they named the controlling chip "God". Was this the arrogance of theology or a provocation toward religion?

  Of course, all of these did not matter.

  The agreement had described the consequences of betrayal: Once someone joined God's Forbidden Zone, the God chip would be implanted in them. From then on, their every word and deed would be monitored by the chip.

  In the chip, there was an artificial intelligence named God, which monitored the host at all times. If the host had any intention of revealing this secret, God would detect it and issue a warning.

  If this first warning was ineffective, God would seize control of the host's body and contact the organization headquarters, waiting for them to send an arbitrator to deal with this.

  If the host was under restriction of freedom or movement, and the chip was about to be forcefully disassembled, God would initiate a self-destruct sequence, killing the host at the same time.

  Although Samuel was rather shocked at the technological capabilities of Chen Chen and the organization, God's Forbidden Zone, which allowed them to create such a terrifying chip, the conditions put forward by Chen Chen left Samuel with no other choice.

  Samuel could still remember when Chen Chen proposed that "he could join the organization after his daughter was healed". There was a warning glint in Chen Chen's eyes.

  If Samuel suddenly changed his mind after his daughter was healed, the consequences would be unbearable…

  Still, there was nothing else more important than Annie being able to walk again. God had deprived her of ten years of youth. Even if she was being punished for some previous sin, she must be absolved by now.

  Otherwise, let him, as her father, pay for the rest of her sin!

  With this in mind, Samuel looked into the operating room with anticipation in his eyes.

  Just then, from the preparation room beside the operating room, in walked Chen Chen wearing a surgical gown.

  He first nodded at Samuel who was staring in from the window. After that, he put on his gloves and took out the necessary surgical instruments —

  The operation was about to begin…

  Chapter 63: No Other Choice |

  Chen Chen stood within the bright, spacious operating room with a tray of medical equipment.

  As he observed the slender back of the girl on the operating table, Chen Chen's eyes remained calm.

  It was as if he was not looking at a member of the opposite sex, but rather, an object, an animal or even a corpse…

  He gently stroked her smooth back before finally glancing at the BIS monitor.

  Upon the screen, the EEG's bispectral index had been hovering between 50 and 55, indicating that the girl was under deep anesthesia.

  After determining that there were no other issues, Chen Chen picked up a No. 10 scalpel.

  Before this, he had used a CT scan to mark out the specific injury site of the spinal cord. It was the 19th vertebra of the spine. A section of the spinal nerve in the marrow cavity had suffered hemorrhagic necrosis due to external compression.

  It was just this small part of necrosis that blocked the nerve signals of the brain from being transmitted to the legs. Thus, this girl had been in a wheelchair for ten years.

  However, she was well nursed, fortunately. Over the years, with continuous directional epidural EES and other auxiliary treatments, the girl's leg muscles and nerves still remained intact, without suffering from atrophy or necrosis.

  At this time, the center of her 19th vertebra had been marked with a cross. The mark was around 1cm long and 0.5cm wide. This was where Chen Chen would operate.

  Chen Chen lifted the scalpel in a pencil grip and slowly made an incision along the cross. The cut was not too deep nor too shallow, reaching the dermis.

  Trickles of blood oozed out from the severed capillaries at once, swiftly running together. Against her
ivory-white complexion, the red seemed strange and garish.

  Outside the operating room, Samuel could not stop himself from clenching his fists.

  He had asked to be involved in the surgical procedure. After all, he had performed various facial surgeries before and was more than qualified to act as an assistant.

  Nonetheless, Chen Chen refused.

  According to Chen Chen, Samuel, being a relative of the patient, would only hinder Chen Chen in the operating room and not be of any help.

  Now, Chen Chen stopped his incision and instead took out a pair of dilating forceps to stop the bleeding and open the wound. Then, he picked up a No. 11 scalpel which was even sharper and started to cut the dermis.

  In this manner, he cut through the layers. There was no hesitation in Chen Chen's hands at all. Each incision was just right as if he had been immersed in this operation for decades.

  From Samuel's point of view, the entire operation was like a performance, one which used his own daughter as the stage…

  Gradually, as if his emotions were soothed by Chen Chen's skills, his fists loosened.

  Finally, Chen Chen had managed to successfully avoid the blood vessels, nerves, and muscle fibers, reaching the endpoint of the operation.

  At this moment, a piece of bone, encased in the periosteum, was exposed on the girl's back. This was the spinous process and the transverse process of the 19th vertebra. Within this bone was the necrotic spinal nerve.

  When he reached this point, Chen Chen picked up the X-ray and took another look, ascertaining that the position was correct. Following that, he took out a needle meant to puncture the bone marrow.

  Chen Chen positioned the needle on the fixator. Then, holding the needle in his right hand, he inserted the needle vertically, twisting it into the bone layer bit by bit.

  When he sensed that the needle had penetrated the bone layer, he stopped the motion, pulled out the needle, and made another puncture a few millimeters away.

  Chen Chen only stopped what he was doing when there were sixteen tiny punctures in two parallel rows at the spine. Soon, he used a pair of tweezers to extract a fingernail-sized chip from the disinfectant.

  He positioned it along the spine and the sixteen electrodes on the chip were inserted perfectly into the sixteen small holes on the spine.

  Next, Chen Chen fixed the chip onto the spine with bio-adhesive glue and began to suture the wound, layer by layer, with suture thread.

  From Samuel's position, he could only see Chen Chen placing an item into his daughter's body. As for what it was, he did not know.

  Around half an hour later, Chen Chen finally straightened up and sighed softly.

  Currently, there was a tiny cross-shaped wound on the girl's back. The wound was minuscule. Although there was some redness and swelling, no one would have guessed that this wound extended to her spine.

  When Chen Chen pushed the girl out of the operating room, Samuel rushed up eagerly. He first inspected the girl's pupils and heaved a sigh of relief after seeing that everything appeared fine.

  "The operation is completed. As for the result, I think that it's a great success," Chen Chen said.

  "That black item at the end, was that the God chip?" Samuel suddenly asked, "Don't try to deceive me."

  "That's not God, just a simplified version of it."

  Chen Chen took off his gloves and said casually, "It won't affect your daughter's life in any way."

  "D*mn it!"

  When Samuel heard this, he erupted in rage. He grabbed Chen Chen by the collar and hollered, "I've never said that she'd also join the organization. If she's dragged into all this, I'd rather she could never walk!"

  "Samuel, please calm down. I won't do anything to her." Chen Chen slowly stretched out a hand and gently squeezed Samuel's wrist.

  Samuel suddenly felt that the young man before him was producing a fearsome force as if a pair of iron tongs had gripped his wrist!

  Extreme pain hit him. Samuel felt that his wrist would be crushed to bits in the next moment. He could not help but bend over, wailing, his face turning beet red from overexertion.

  Having pried away Samuel's hand bit by bit, Chen Chen remained placid throughout. "That chip isn't permanent. In two years, at most, the organization's stem cell project will be completed, and your daughter can get the chip removed."

  "Of course," Chen Chen said after a thoughtful pause, "if you don't mind delaying her recovery by two years, I can remove the chip right now."

  When Samuel heard this, he fell silent, still rubbing his wrist.

  "I know that you'll guess that the chip is God. After all, the agreement explains the God chip's working principle. I wouldn't hide it from you, either."

  Chen Chen continued explaining gently and patiently, "Even so, there was no way around it. Although the organization has made major breakthroughs in the field of stem cells, we're still at the clinical trial stage, after all. I'm assuming you wouldn't want to use your daughter as a guinea pig, right?

  "Therefore, the best solution was to first use a simplified version of the God chip. Allow her to walk first. Then, in two or three years, when the stem cell technology of the organization has been fully developed, naturally, you may remove the chip then, and she'll become a perfectly healthy person.

  "After all…"

  Chen Chen paused, then went in for the kill. "How much more of your daughter's youth do you want to waste?"

  "…"

  Samuel lowered his eyes sullenly as he was cast into an agonizing internal struggle.

  After a long silence, Samuel appeared to have made a decision. He looked at Chen Chen steadily and asked again, "Can I trust you?"

  Chen Chen nodded and simply replied,

  "You have no other choice."

  Chapter 64: Planning For The Nuclear Power Plant |

  What Samuel did not know was that Chen Chen did not have the ability to simplify the chip.

  In other words, that was the complete chip from the movie Upgrade. It was just that the artificial intelligence within was no longer the deceptive "STEM" but "God" instead.

  God was a simplified version of Little X.

  Being restricted by Little X, God was not equipped with very high intelligence. It would only closely monitor the host's every word and deed to prevent them from revealing any secrets about Chen Chen.

  If they discovered the host was considering doing so, God would immediately send a message to Little X, who was in the cloud. Through ubiquitous communication signals, Little X could quickly make a judgment and respond as necessary.

  However, if God found that the message could not be sent out, it would resort to more drastic measures and even self-destruct on the spot.

  In simple terms, this chip was a high-tech communication device that had integrated positioning, monitoring, and control. It was too much of a violation of personal freedom, so it would never be accepted in society.

  That being said, if its other functions were not enabled, it could operate as a nerve sensor without any problems.

  With Samuel's daughter, Chen Chen had simply implanted the chip into her lumbar spine to replace the necrotic nerve bundle and she could stand up again after ten years of paralysis.

  She had an unexpectedly smooth recovery.

  On that same night, after she woke up, Samuel's daughter found that her legs, which had lost all feeling long ago, were experiencing those long-lost tactile sensations.

  On the second day, she could walk slowly with the aid of a walker.

  On the third day, besides walking a little funny, she was not any different from ordinary people.

  From a corner, Samuel watched the blond girl laughing freely with the nurse and he could not help revealing a tender smile.

  "After this, all she needs is two to three months of rehabilitation and she should be able to return to normal life soon."

  Chen Chen's voice came from behind him.

  Samuel nodded without turning back while saying emotionally, "Y
es, thank 'God'. I believe she'll be able to laugh and play with her peers soon."

  Samuel was not a Christian and he was not in a habit of thanking God. Only Chen Chen could understand he was truly alluding to.

  "If you don't want to rope her into this, don't tell her the truth."

  Chen Chen suddenly said pointedly, "You know what will happen if our secret is revealed."

  "I know."

  Samuel nodded. "I won't tell her. She just thought that she had undergone a nerve repair operation. She doesn't know the real reason for her recovery."

  Chen Chen did not say anything else and silently left.

  Only then did Samuel turn around to glance at Chen Chen's departing figure, his eyes filled with a complicated look.

  He did not know whether it was right or wrong to join an organization he had never heard of.

  Although he had not even been to the headquarters of the organization, a mere glimpse of its power was enough to secretly astound him.

  Putting aside a shocking genius like Chen Chen, just that chip which allowed his daughter to walk again already shocked him to the core.

  This was no longer something achievable with current science and technology…

  In addition to their progress in the field of stem cells which Chen Chen had mentioned, it was hard to believe that such impressive technology could come from an unknown organization…

  As he thought about this, Samuel absentmindedly stroked the back of his neck.

  In an area hidden by his collar, there lay a faint scar.

  Although it was a scar, it was nothing more than a tiny wound, one centimeter long. The scab had even formed.

  Perhaps in a few more days, when even the scab had fallen off, there would not be any visible traces left.

  However, only Samuel understood that from now on, he was completely bound to this organization named "God's Forbidden Zone".

  Unless he died, it would be difficult to free himself…

  …

  Chen Chen had invested a lot of effort into creating "God's Forbidden Zone" organization himself. He was extremely strict even in selecting candidates, only accepting elites or talents with potential, not useless trash.