Zhou Yi had learned about Ding Ye's situation from Da Vinci and Lie Hai earlier.

The Beiyang Knight was about to undergo a high-risk surgery. His enhanced body was his spine, which, due to prolonged strain and repeated injuries, was covered with cracks and honeycomb-like holes.

He had managed to hold on until now because he was young, with a bone age of only 15, and by taking large quantities of Suppressant Pills and painkillers.

The longer he delayed, the less hope there was.

Da Vinci said, "A severely damaged enhanced spine will cut off various related physiological functions to maintain itself, which will lead to the host's brain and whole body nerves necrotizing."

"In the end, the host will become flesh encasing the enhanced spine."

"This type of surgery has a success rate of only 0.02%. I have informed the patient, and he still insists on proceeding with the surgery."

Lie Hai, on the other hand, caught a merchant called Baoge—it was this person who had brought Ding Ye here. Baoge said that Ding Ye was a knight who hired him to come to Jade City, and he knew nothing else.

Before the surgery, Ding Ye hoped to spar with him.

Zhou Yi had met him once in the hospital and decided to oblige the other's wish.

However, there was nothing noteworthy about this exchange.

...

Zhou Yi stood in front of a floor-to-ceiling window.

Not far away, the windows of Maria Hospital reflected a white light.

Red Kestrel synced the information from Da Vinci's end.

Ding Ye's enhanced body repair surgery was expected to take four hours.

It had been three and a half hours now.

Zhou Yi knew little about Ding Ye, but he still hoped the other would recover.

Ding Ye was very young, his life had just begun.

Just as Zhou Yi's thoughts were scattered, Red Kestrel broadcasted again, "Latest news: Da Vinci has repaired 32 major cracks on the spine. Under the calming effect of the Wise Mushroom, the enhanced body has maintained relatively high stability throughout."

He breathed a little sigh of relief.

Ten minutes later, the situation suddenly changed.

"Local re-tearing occurred at the repaired site, the enhanced body produced a strong stress response, and the rejection reaction intensified."

"The patient's blood oxygen concentration has drastically decreased, heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure all continuing to drop, the patient's heart suddenly stopped."

"Emergency resuscitation in progress."

...

"Stress response of the enhanced body triggered malfunction in multiple organs such as the heart and lungs, with more than three organs confirmed to have chemical failure."

"The damaged kidney blockade was successful, with reversible signs locally."

"The damaged heart blockade failed."

"The damaged lung blockade failed."

"The enhanced body lost control, causing large-scale internal bleeding."

...

"Resuscitation ineffective, patient confirmed dead."

"The enhanced body has been sealed after being anesthetized due to shock."

Zhou Yi rushed to the Maria Hospital ward. On Da Vinci's operating table lay a young man with his eyes tightly closed, his face bloodless, breathless.

The Mechanical Doctor said, "Unfortunately, the resuscitation surgery failed."

Zhou Yi felt a pang of regret.

Luck wouldn't always descend here.

Relying on Maria Hospital and the Wise Mushroom alone couldn't reduce the high mortality rate inherent to enhancement surgeries.

Da Vinci continued, "Before the operation, the patient signed a donation agreement, agreeing that if the surgery failed and he died, he would voluntarily donate his body for medical research."

"The patient left you a message, do you want to retrieve it?"

Zhou Yi nodded, "Retrieve it."

The Mechanical Doctor's electronic screen flickered, and the voice of the young man came through its speakers.

"Mr. Zhou, by the time you hear these words, I should already be dead."

The other party was very composed, "I am very grateful that you fulfilled my wish to spar with someone as insignificant as myself—calling it a spar is a bit of self-flattery. It's more about giving me a chance to see a higher level of strength. For that, I can only be thankful."

"I would like to recommend someone to you. Her name is Feng Ying, my senior sister. She lost her job as a Pharmacist in Gongneng City because of a fight with a patient, but she is an upright and principled person..."

"After my death, she will go to Jade City to handle my affairs and recover my sword for Sword Tomb. If you think my senior sister is good, you might consider her. This is a very good place, suitable for someone as pure as her."

"Finally, I wish you martial prosperity and victory in every battle."

Da Vinci covered the deceased's face with a white cloth. The tale of the Beiyang Knight Ding Ye concluded at Maria Hospital.

...

Upon returning to Yalong Bay Base, there were quite a few people sitting around the dam. Seeing Jade City emerge from the Dead Sea, these people waved their arms and jumped up and down in great excitement.

As Yalong Bay docked with the Land, Maria Hospital returned to its original location, and the four tall buildings of Jade City resumed their former positions.

Jade City was open again; residents who had been through the trans-oceanic battle came out one by one and recounted the previous fight to those who had remained behind.

Company employees, too, returned to their posts one by one and started busying themselves with their respective duties.

Zhou Yi then began studying the core spoils of war from this trip.

It was a large vessel, 154 meters long and 44 meters wide. It was the largest ship he had seen in the Wasteland Era to date.

At the bow was a circular helipad with an 'H' symbol painted on it, equipped with six white windmills, and beside it, sections of photovoltaic panels stood erected. On the deck were square, large net cages.

Zhou Yi learned from Duke Baili that its official name was 'Zhanjiang Bay No.1,' a floating power positioning aquaculture platform, belonging to the category of Half-Enlightened Electromechanical Life.

Zhanjiang Bay No.1 was unable to communicate, retaining only the almost instinctive basis of operation, relying on absorbing Death Light to maintain the functioning of the entire massive structure.

Duke Baili said, "You just throw shellfish into its breeding area and add some seaweed, and that's enough to keep them alive."

"The platform makes them grow bigger and faster than usual; White Shells that would otherwise take three years to grow can do it in just eight months here, and Wave-shaped Shells that would take two years can mature in just one year on board."

It continued, "However, the Breeding Platform cannot operate without water; as long as there is a large amount of water, it will function. Because of its own defects, it can't move on its own and must rely entirely on external forces for transportation."

"I haven't found any other functions yet."

Getting the aquaculture device in hand, its operation was very simple.

Zhou Yi thought for a moment.

The most suitable place to install the Breeding Platform was the Southern Mushroom Forest; just behind the Beach Area was a river leading into the Dead Sea. Although it couldn't compare with the ocean's depth, it was enough to breed shellfish.

So Zhou Yi controlled Jade City, grabbed Zhanjiang Bay No.1 with its steel arms, and walked all the way to the Beach Area, pushing the platform into the water.

For convenience, he improvised and constructed a transportation dam on the spot, connecting one end to the Mushroom Forest and the other to Zhanjiang Bay No.1.

This allowed the employees of the Mushroom Forest to go directly over the dam to the Breeding Platform to raise shellfish.

The accompanying basic infrastructure was completed.

Zhou Yi took Old Zheng and the Bone Man Sun Chong to board Zhanjiang Bay No.1 for an on-site inspection.

The platform's outer walls and deck were covered with numerous barnacles and shellfish, with seaweed attached in many places that emitted a strong scent of the sea when the wind blew.

The Bone Man happily said, "Chairman, if it comes to feeding shellfish, the Black Hand Mushrooms are very suitable. The Mushroom Forest has plenty of mushrooms, moss, and grass; these should be enough for them."

The agricultural consultant, Zheng Tao, frowned.

Zhou Yi looked at him, "Old Zheng, is there a problem?"

"Everything here is very good; Shell City has already proven the reliability of such a water platform."

Zheng Tao said, "I was thinking, on this basis, should we make some changes? Like raising Bone Fish. Seafood fisheries are not my main business, but I have dabbled in them."

"Sand Port City has a large supply of Bone Fish fry. Although the survival rate is very low, trying here might be effective. Because White Shells and Wave-shaped Shells are also species from the Dead Sea, they're often ignored due to their low harm and lack of aggression."

"Even a small increase in hatching speed over the external environment would be beneficial. Bone Fish aggregate Light Seeds, and a shorter cultivation cycle could yield quite a good profit."

Zhou Yi nodded.

He had been about to mention this.

Duke Baili wanted to take over the Sand Port Region, and part of the plan was to acquire Lord Sha Hai's fish fry technology, thus linking up with Zhanjiang Bay No.1.

The sea lord had already secretly tested and confirmed that Bone Fish fry had a higher hatch rate on the Breeding Platform. Feeding them White Shells could even stimulate the fish fry to be born faster—the key was to obtain the fry.

Zheng Tao didn't know these secrets, yet he had made the same deduction with limited information.

Zhou Yi immediately said, "From today onwards, Zhanjiang Bay No.1 is in your two's hands, with Old Zheng in charge. Start work as soon as possible."

The two employees responded in unison.

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