"But..." The doctor intended to say something more, but under Ms. Nangong's severe glare, his lips moved slightly, and he finally lowered his head with a hint of guilt.

As one of the doctors belonging to Liu Li's exclusive medical team, he and Ms. Nangong were the two people in this world most aware of Liu Li's physical condition... He was naturally also very clear that immersing Liu Li in zero-degree ice water for fifteen minutes was nothing short of gambling.

No one knew whether fifteen minutes later, he would pull out a near-death infected individual or a cold corpse from the ice water.

Even if Liu Li survived, his body's functions would sustain irreversible damage. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Continue the mission." A man standing in a corner of the bathroom, who had been silent since entering, spoke up, "I just asked the central brain, and it said Liu Li hasn't reached his physiological limit yet... I believe he can persist."

This man was named Liu Zhushi, and like Ye Xuan and Ye Jiu's father, he was one of the Federation Council members. But besides being a council member, he had another identity as Liu Li's adoptive father.

On the day Liu Li was confirmed as an infected individual, his biological parents, upon receiving the notification, were overly emotional and had a car accident due to speeding on the way to the research institute, resulting in both dying. Upon learning this news, Liu Zhushi adopted Liu Li and treated him entirely as his own son.

Liu Li even committed murder at school when others insulted him, and it was Liu Zhushi who tried all possible ways to exempt him.

"Mr. Liu, Liu Li... will die," Ms. Nangong bit her lip forcefully, her clenched fists emitting a cracking sound.

She took several deep breaths to suppress the anger that rose within her.

"Liu Li is an infected individual and a mysterious creature hunter. From the day he became a hunter, he should have been prepared for this realization—to be ready to sacrifice for humanity at any time... in this war between human civilization and mysterious creatures," Liu Zhushi said sternly.

"You are... using hunters as consumables..."

"Correct," Liu Zhushi did not deny it, "In this war, everyone is a consumable, you and I are no exception... Just that, their role is greater compared to ours. Ms. Nangong, although Eternal Night has ended, this world is still shrouded in darkness. If we compare human lives to firewood, burning us can only emit insignificant flickers of light; while burning them releases more light and heat... even igniting a prairie fire."

"When it's time for me to make sacrifices, I will not hesitate," Liu Zhushi continued, "I often wish I could lie in the ice water for Liu Li... But I don't have that qualification, it's a capability only he possesses."

"It has been fourteen minutes, and sixty seconds remain," the doctor glanced at the timer, "Everyone, prepare for the rescue..."

A small cart had already stopped beside the bathtub, and on a sterilized metal tray, several syringes were placed, pre-filled with adrenaline and other emergency medications. The doctor's assistant was holding onto an AED with both hands, waiting for the others to retrieve Liu Li from the ice water for immediate defibrillation.

Ms. Nangong had never felt that sixty seconds could be so long.

The second hand on the mechanical watch on her wrist ticked away, each tick felt like a heavy mallet striking their hearts.

Silence once again enveloped the bathroom like death.

Tick-tock, tick-tock.

Right at the moment when the timer reached fourteen minutes and twenty-seven seconds, Liu Li, lying in the bathtub, abruptly sat up, eyes wide open, and tore off the breathing mask attached to his face.

"I calculated it! I calculated it!!"

Accompanied by his screaming voice, the accumulated blood in his nasal cavity spewed out instantly, pouring into the ice water.

The blood mixed with mucus sank while spreading in the water, quickly dyeing a small patch of water pink.

After two shouts, he began to breathe rapidly, his pale face contrasting sharply with his bluish-purple lips, and the sound of his heart beating fiercely in his chest overshadowed the ticking of the watch.

After a momentary shock, everyone immediately rushed towards Liu Li, several nurses lifted Liu Li from the bathtub with many hands, wrapping his body in a thick towel, while a doctor already sitting prepared grabbed Liu Li's arm, pushing all the syringes into Liu Li's body.

"Quick! Quickly move him to the medical pod!" the doctor shouted, "First stabilize his condition, then send him to emergency care!"

"His heart rate is too fast! Do not inject adrenaline! Replace it with β451! Inject with stabilizers together!"

"Pull off the electrodes on his head! Quickly, check blood pressure and ECG! Body temperature? Forget measuring it, it's so cold you can't feel it!"

"Pay attention to meme frequency! This overload mode is nearing its limit, the infection process may be affected! If any significant changes in the infection process are found, immediately inject four units of meme stabilizer! An additional six units can be administrated if needed!"

A crowd busily surrounded Liu Li, while outside the crowd, Liu Zhushi leaned against the bathroom tiles and slowly exhaled a breath.

He has been married for twenty-two years, but due to health reasons, he never had children of his own—for Liu Zhushi, Liu Li was just like his own son.

He lifted his head, slightly dazed as he stared at the LED light on the bathroom ceiling. For some reason, the soft white light suddenly appeared somewhat glaring, causing Liu Zhushi to instinctively close his eyes.

"This is a war, we are all in a war..." Liu Zhushi muttered to himself in a volume only he could hear, "This war... How much chance do we have to win it..."

...

...

One thousand five hundred kilometers away, the Baikal Remains.

"Oh wow, it seems I didn't misjudge him," Sun Hang looked at the 'dynamic model' sent by the central brain and praised, "This Liu Li actually calculated the patterns of change in the Baikal Remains."

"Calculated?" Yan Yu'an looked at Sun Hang with surprise, she had entered the Baikal Remains many times, and she knew better than anyone how difficult it was.

"Hmm... To be precise, he didn't calculate a standard answer, but rather provided us with a solution, a formulaic approach," Sun Hang said.

"What do you mean?"

"He established a dynamic mathematical model, which calculates the passability of each route based on the real-time changes in the Baikal Remains, and keeps optimizing itself until it guides us to the correct location. I've passed this model to you, and you'll understand once you load it into your powered armor's main control computer."

Yan Yu'an followed the instructions immediately. After a few seconds of loading time, chaotic lines appeared on the inner side of her visor, their quantity and shapes constantly changing, but a few lines remained highlighted.

Yan Yu'an quickly realized that these highlighted lines were the "correct routes" calculated by the model.

The right routes kept changing, but as long as this model kept operating, they could continue walking on that correct route.

"Fortunately, the destination I need to navigate is Victory Avenue, such a large target," Sun Hang sighed, "If I were to precisely target the Veteran's Rehabilitation Center... Liu Li probably wouldn't be able to calculate it even after another hour."