In the early morning, Wang Zhuo was fast asleep in the arms of beauty when an urgent phone call yanked him awake.

“Chairman Wang, the situation is complicated. I’m calling you to bring in the heavy artillery!”

The caller was Wu Zhongsheng, the top agent in Hexi Province, a forty-five-year-old man with a noticeable accent from the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region.

“What happened?” Wang Zhuo’s heart sank as he threw off the covers and sat up.

Wu Zhongsheng spoke with exasperation, “We arrived at Miss Bai’s hospital at four this morning, but the doctors refused to administer the medication once they received it. While we were negotiating with the hospital, a group of people with unknown affiliations showed up. They not only snatched the medicine but also took our people along!”

“They even put them under house arrest?” Wang Zhuo was instantly and thoroughly awake.

“Yes. Luckily, I was sleeping in the car at the time and didn't go in to deliver the medicine, otherwise I would have been arrested too,” Wu Zhongsheng grumbled. “The driver and I are staying at a hotel now. There’s still one batch of medicine in the car, awaiting your next instructions.”

The agent and the supplying manufacturer were essentially partners; the relationship between Wang Zhuo and Wu Zhongsheng was not strictly superior and subordinate. However, Wu Zhongsheng, being shrewd and originating from Jiangsu-Zhejiang, understood that aligning himself with the powerful Wang Zhuo promised limitless future riches, so he maintained an extremely low profile, directly asking Wang Zhuo for ‘orders.’

Given the emergency, Wang Zhuo didn't stand on ceremony. After a brief consideration, he stated in a deep voice, “Manager Wu, please ensure that batch of medicine is kept safe. Keep your satellite phone on and wait for my message in a secure location.”

After hanging up, he immediately called Qin Jingzhong. The elderly man required little sleep, so he should already be awake at this hour.

The situation in that small county called Zhihe was far beyond his initial expectations. They had stolen medication brought by the patient herself and detained personnel—this had moved beyond the scope a mere businessman could handle. He had no choice but to deploy some unconventional forces.

...

A civil flight from Jiangzhou to Lanzhou takes approximately three hours.

From Lanzhou to Zhihe County, using a military helicopter cuts the travel time down to just one hour.

But if one were to rely on a train or road transport, that segment alone—Lanzhou to Zhihe County—would consume an entire day, assuming no road maintenance disruptions.

The power of influence was clearly demonstrated here.

Thanks to Qin Jingzhong’s decisive action, Wang Zhuo boarded the plane directly from Jiangzhou with the medication, rendering Wu Zhongsheng’s backup supply unnecessary.

He hadn't originally intended to travel to Zhihe County personally. However, partly moved by Bai Lu’s tenacity, he wished to meet the endearing and determined girl, and partly because he wanted to investigate the local situation to see if there was indeed an ‘underlying motive,’ as Qin Xue had analyzed.

Naturally, the ever-attentive Siyuan accompanied him; she was incredibly close with Bai Lu, perhaps caring for her even more than Wang Zhuo did.

When an unknown force controls a hospital and obstructs a patient’s treatment, the narrative framing matters immensely, and clearly, the leverage was on Wang Zhuo’s side. Thus, as the helicopter flew into the airspace of the city where Zhihe County was located, Qin Jingzhong had already placed a complaint call to the Provincial Government.

The province governs the city, and the city governs the county. The military helicopter landed at a local People’s Liberation Army unit stationed in the county seat, just as the county received the emergency notification.

Camouflage-painted jeeps barreled their way into the county hospital. By this time, the hospital administration had learned of the commotion and was scrambling to retrieve the dispatched medicine to treat Bai Lu.

Unfortunately, they were too late. Within minutes, Wang Zhuo, accompanied by military doctors, found Bai Lu in a standard ward, currently being administered a common antibiotic.

After years apart, Bai Lu had noticeably darkened; the once fair and delicate girl now possessed skin the color of wheat. Perhaps due to her illness, her complexion lacked luster, yet her graceful features remained. She frowned slightly in her light slumber, an air of worry threading through her brow, exuding a captivating charm that evoked pity.

Compared to An Qi, she was far luckier. An Qi had hovered on the brink of death for many days, facing unpredictable risks with every dosage. Although Bai Lu had suffered three days of high fever without effective treatment here, at least she had pulled through that critical stage and was not still fighting death as An Qi was.

“Don't wake her,” Wang Zhuo murmured softly to Siyuan, then picked up Bai Lu’s medical file from the bedside cabinet.

It was a three-person ward, the windows tightly shut, lacking air conditioning, and permeated with the smell of mosquito repellent and disinfectant—the conditions were quite rudimentary.

Standing beside Wang Zhuo were Siyuan and two doctors accompanying him from the Lanzhou Military Region. While they didn't know that Wang Zhuo was an authority—the foremost authority—on the pathology of the Mad Mosquito Disease, they had exchanged words with him en route and understood that this young man from Jiangzhou possessed considerable medical insight. Therefore, neither doctor tried to take the lead.

The script in the medical file was like gibberish, understandable only to experienced insiders. Fortunately, Wang Zhuo was now something of an insider himself; though it required some effort, error-free reading was manageable.

However, even after understanding the file, Wang Zhuo remained uneasy about the medical standards of this run-down county hospital. He checked the lab reports, handed the documents back to the two accompanying military doctors, and then activated his 'X-ray vision' to examine Bai Lu.

Since that month of frenzied overdrawing of his supernatural abilities, he felt he wielded his micro-vision capacity with much greater dexterity. Furthermore, he noticed a new power of arresting presence when meeting someone’s gaze, seemingly even a brief ability to influence their thoughts—a power he was still exploring.

After reviewing Bai Lu’s condition, he finally felt reassured. Her white blood cell, hemoglobin, and platelet counts were all acceptable. If treated with a transfusion to boost white cells, she would likely recover in about three to four days; relying on self-recovery with conservative therapy, seven to ten days should suffice.

Making gestures to Siyuan and the two military doctors, Wang Zhuo led them out of the ward.

One military doctor adjusted his glasses and commented, “Miss Bai’s condition isn't serious. I recommend a transfer to another hospital.”

“I agree on transferring her for better treatment,” the second doctor added. “Lanzhou has much superior facilities. Miss Bai has good physical resilience; an hour on a plane will be no problem for her.”

Wang Zhuo nodded and stated firmly, “We’ll give her an injection here first before we leave. Besides, I need to see what this ‘country within a country’ situation is all about.”

As they spoke, several people in white coats hurried toward them but were halted mid-hallway by two soldiers who were engaged in a discussion.

“Administer the medicine to her; I’ll go take a look,” Wang Zhuo instructed the two military doctors and walked toward the group of medical staff.

Seeing Wang Zhuo approach, a middle-aged nurse immediately greeted him warmly, “Sir, are you a family member of patient Bai Lu?”

Wang Zhuo nodded slightly. Another male doctor quickly interjected, “Sir, Miss Bai’s medicine has arrived. We are here to change her medication. May we go in?”

In the hand of the nurse beside him were a plasma bag, a saline solution bag, and syringes—all the necessary items. One box of medication was the specialized Wang-formula drug for Mad Mosquito Disease. Yet, hanging by Bai Lu’s bedside was a standard antibiotic drip.

All antibiotics were completely ineffective against the Mad Mosquito Virus, and misuse could even negatively impact her health, perhaps making it worse than a simple bag of normal saline. These people couldn't possibly be ignorant; the Ministry of Health had issued multiple circulars on this matter. Yet, they were still giving Bai Lu this substance. Furthermore, the invoice clearly showed a practice of choosing the most expensive option rather than the correct one—a malicious form of extortion!

“Are you Bai Lu’s attending physician?” Wang Zhuo scrutinized the speaking doctor, his voice level and devoid of inflection.

The male doctor was in his early thirties, fair-skinned and not tall, possessing a rather refined appearance. He nodded. “Yes, my surname is Li. Bai Lu is my patient.”

“Your patient?” Wang Zhuo scoffed with disdain. “A doctor’s heart should be paternal. You give her the most expensive antibiotic while hoarding and refusing to use the specialized Mad Mosquito Disease medication supplied by the state. You profit greedily from her while deliberately delaying her recovery—is this how you practice medicine, how you treat your patients?!”

The male doctor, named Li Shouyi, instantly looked embarrassed and stammered, unable to formulate a response.

Wang Zhuo let out a cold snort and continued, “You should know that antibiotics are useless against Mad Mosquito Disease, Li Shouyi. Surely you are aware of that?”

Li Shouyi was struck dumb. What could he say? Admitting he knew meant admitting to abusing medication and profiteering maliciously; claiming ignorance meant gross dereliction of duty. The first option jeopardized his medical ethics, and the second threatened his livelihood. He was utterly speechless!

“Sir,” a relatively younger nurse interjected tentatively, “Could we discuss this later? The new medicine has arrived; shouldn’t we treat the patient first?”

This nurse’s gaze was quite clear, suggesting she was likely new to the job. Wang Zhuo did not take his anger out on her, merely shaking his head and stating faintly, “Our people are already administering her medication. You should hurry and use the medicine you are holding on other patients.”

The nurse murmured an acknowledgment, and Li Shouyi, thinking he had found a chance to slip away, was stopped by Wang Zhuo.

“Veterinarian Li, don’t go yet. I still have a few questions for you!”

Li Shouyi’s surname sounded like ‘veterinarian’ when spoken aloud. His classmates had nicknamed him ‘Veterinarian Li’ for three years when he was in medical college, so he immediately recognized Wang Zhuo’s deliberate sarcasm.

If it had been a typical case of an angry patient’s relative confronting him this way, he would have exploded long ago. But Wang Zhuo and his entourage had been explicitly flagged by high-ranking superiors who demanded that all their needs be met. Having received this prior notice, and then seeing the men arrive with armed soldiers, he dared not show an ounce of anger.

His best bet was to cooperate diligently, lest he end up beaten and jobless.

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