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Chapter 6: 6

Over the next few days, Chen Chen would head to the hotel for two hours during lunch break and two hours in the evening from six to eight o’clock . He would feed the drug to the mice and swap out the mattress .

The eight mice were resilient . There were no incidents such as signs of disease or fighting among them . The experiment was progressing smoothly .

It was not difficult to feed the mice . A fixed daily ration of fodder was enough . Occasionally, Chen Chen would give them peanuts or walnuts, which made them jump excitedly .

However, it cost Chen Chen an arm and a leg . His monthly expense was a thousand and five hundred and a week’s rent alone cost upward of a thousand .

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Chen Chen was only halfway through the month and he could barely afford to eat at the canteen .

“Since there are still no issues, it should be safe to say it isn’t poisonous . ”

Seven days later, at noon, Chen Chen came to the hotel right after his class had ended .

Chen Chen glanced at the two cages . If his situation permitted it, he would have liked to run one more abstinence reaction test, but his living expenses said otherwise .

Not to mention, he had already used a pill over the last seven days . It might not be a lot, but under the circumstance where he was unable to reproduce them, each of them was invaluable .

7

Chen Chen took out the final dinner and let the mice fill their belly .

He then took out the tribromoethanol solution he had prepared beforehand . With his left hand, he scooped the mice up one by one with their belly facing up and injected their lower abdomen with the syringe using his right hand . The potion slowly passed through their abdominal muscles .

3

Tribromoethanol solution was commonly used as anesthesia for animals . Since Chen Chen intentionally used a higher dosage, the mice collapsed in their cage one after another within three minutes . They had entered a completely sedated stage .

After around eight minutes had passed, all of the mice unconsciously died in their sleep due to overwhelming of their central nervous systems .

This was death by anesthesia overdose . It was considered the most humane method of terminating animals used for experimentation .

10

Hmm, at least it was more humane than methods such as decapitation, cervical dislocation, bleeding out, and air embolism .

After making sure the mice were dead, Chen Chen left the room . He bought a bottle of alcohol from a pharmacy and chose an empty alleyway where he poured the bottle of alcohol on the carcasses of the mice .

1

Followed by a faint blue flame rising, the group of mice was entirely engulfed in flames . Their bodies turned black and eventually into unrecognizable shapes .

5

Whatever the drug was made of, whether it was a biochemical drug, Chinese and Eastern fusion drug or even a gene-drug, it did not matter anymore . After undergoing a five to six hundred degree high incarceration, all of the molecular bonds had been completely disintegrated .

7

It could also be considered as a cremation ceremony for the eight heroes .

7

After that, Chen Chen did not head back to the school . He got himself some lunch outside then took the ninth line on the subway, heading toward the most prodigious hospital in the city – Shangdu People’s Hospital .

Even though there were no issues with the animal experiment, it was better to be safe than sorry . What if the drug posed no threat to animals but was highly toxic to humans?

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These situations were not unheard of either, take chocolates for example . When people ate chocolates, not only would they be unharmed, they would probably be in a good mood . However, if a mouse ate chocolate, it would be similar to an old man who was fed up with life deciding to end it all by eating arsenic .

This was the reason Chen Chen decided to take the drug to a hospital . At the hospital, he could still be rescued as long as what he took was not cyanide or paraquat .

Anyone who had experience with the subway knew that the signal reception in the Shangdu Subway was a horrible mess as only emergency calls were available down here . Televisions were installed in the subway to serve as public amenities .

Most of the programs on the television were centered around the news .

Chen Chen sat on the subway and began watching the real-time news flashing one after another on the television out of boredom . There were legal programs and news advertising, it was at least tolerable .

One of the news that caught his attention was a heroic story that had just happened . On Renmin road, a man was repeatedly stabbed three times by a violent criminal in an attempt of stopping a kidnap . He was promptly rescued by the police who arrived at the scene .

4

It was just after the peak hour, therefore, the subway was rather spacious . There were several aunties seated nearby with their church tote bags in hand .

It was rather obvious that these aunties were heading to church for mass .

3

“Ah, Renmin Road? Isn’t it just nearby?”

One of the aunties took off her shoes and crossed her feet on her seat . She rubbed her feet while sighing, “There aren’t many young men like this anymore . ”

“Tch, every time I use the subway, it’s so hard to get someone to give me their seat . It’s always oh I don’t feel well or oh it’s my period . These people are ridiculous…”

7

Another aunty sitting nearby, who was twice Chen Chen’s size, sighed as well .

By the time the train had arrived at the station, it was around two in the afternoon .

Chen Chen walked around the hospital for a lap before arriving at the emergency department .

The Emergency Center was the department responsible for attending an emergency medical situation . Whenever he was here, he could feel the heavy atmosphere .

Ambulances roared past one after another . From time to time, stretchers clanked their way through the long corridor, followed by nurses’ hurried footsteps .

Occasionally, a large group of family members would rush in and gather around the corridor . They would bicker endlessly until eventually, a security guard would usher them to their seats in the waiting area .

In this hectic environment, Chen Chen’s arrival did not draw any attention .

Chen Chen sat in the corner of the waiting area . He retrieved a tablet he had prepared well beforehand and inspected it closely .

Chen Chen shook his head, took a deep breath, and gently put it in his mouth .

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He gently closed his eyes .

One second, two seconds, three seconds…

1

…

“Little Jie, Little Jie, you have to come to the hospital now, your father just passed out…”

…

“Hurry, hurry, hurry! Move it, move it, don’t get in the way, and open the door! Stretcher coming this way!”

…

“Woo… It’s all your fault, would something like this happen if you didn’t drive so fast? If something were to happen to Peng Peng…”

…

“Mum, Mum, what happened to Dad? When will he come out from behind those doors?”

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…

Chen Chen was not sure when it happened but he noticed that his sense of hearing became extremely sharp .

Nearby, there was a lady with a hoarse voice speaking on the phone . She was telling her daughter about her husband’s condition . She was trying to hold back tears as she spoke .

Outside the emergency room, the stretcher produced a grating sound when moved around, the nurses pushed aside the family members who were in the way .

A pair of married couple sat in front of Chen Chen . They were having a hushed conversation . The lady could not stop crying .

The frail little girl kept asking her mother questions as if this young girl seemed to have finally realized something .

Countless voices were mixed together and yet there was a clear distinction between them . The syllable in every sentence and the emotions these uttered words contained were all visualized in Chen Chen’s mind…

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It was all like a grand symphony .

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