Kingdom of Corrosion
Chapter 401 - 214 Sick_2

Chapter 401: Chapter 214 Sick_2

Lin Ma faced a rather awkward dilemma: Should she return to base or not? If she didn’t, Maya’s condition might worsen, perhaps to the point where she wouldn’t even have the strength to climb the power lines. While Lin Wu could drag Maya along the wires, Maya still had to climb over the electricity towers and manage the safety ropes on her own.

Given Maya’s personality, she certainly wouldn’t give up that easily. After all, it was just a fever caused by a cold, which should pass as long as she gritted her teeth and endured.

Lin Wu finished work early today and made some hot water using garbage as fuel after getting back to the base. Maya’s condition had worsened, showing signs of a physical reaction to both cold and heat. Maya commented on this, saying, "It just goes to show the importance of combat medicine."

Lin Wu didn’t say anything more and contacted Shadow over the radio, with Su Shi answering. Su Shi told Lin Wu that a merchant had visited the previous night, Stone and Wai were playing frisbee in the west parking lot, and the others were shopping in the mall. Lin Wu explained Maya’s condition and Su Shi brought Stone over. Stone told Lin Wu to get lost and spoke to Maya himself.

Maya didn’t want to give up the progress they had made and return to base, so they decided to see how things went the next morning. Maya took the first watch for the night, and Lin Wu didn’t rest right away. Instead, he went to the adjacent office to rip up some scrap cloth and splintered wood to bring back, reminding Maya to keep adding fuel to the fire.

When it was Lin Wu’s turn to take over in the early morning, he could tell Maya was in quite a bit of discomfort. If it weren’t for the absence of vomit and excrement, he suspected she would be both throwing up and suffering from diarrhea. Maya didn’t want to talk and lay down on the bed, covering herself with a blanket, and forced herself to enter system sleep.

The second day of assembly line work, Maya was still not in good spirits. It seemed she only had a low fever, but she stopped Lin Wu from starting work. She felt groggy and her reactions were much slower than usual, which made it difficult for her to precisely follow Lin Wu’s instructions, potentially putting him in danger.

Lin Wu, still inexperienced, didn’t know how to take care of the sick and felt somewhat panicked. Whether it was on Blue Star or in games he had played before, there were always medical institutions or sickbeds to take care of the ill. Seeing how much Maya was suffering, he felt they should return, so he sought Stone’s help. Stone decided to have Maya drink more water and get some sleep, and if she couldn’t continue working after completing system sleep in the afternoon, they would evacuate.

Stone said to Maya, "You’re already familiar with the terrain; it’s only a two or three hours trip to go back and forth."

Maya: "But the building materials and food..."

Stone interrupted, "I know. Shana said that next time we can send three people with you to help carry the materials, leave you and the supplies there, and the other three will come back first. Everyone is worried about you, we don’t ask you for any contribution, we just want you to survive."

Without waiting for Maya’s reply, Stone continued, "Even if you become a burden to the collective, it’s our obligation to ensure you survive, rather than abandoning you or letting you make a final contribution to the collective at the risk of your life. Isn’t the original intention of establishing Shadow to hope that each person can live better in the game? This is my decision as a leader, and it’s a decision I must make. I hope you can understand and cooperate."

Maya didn’t argue further, implicitly agreeing.

...

Around one in the afternoon, Maya got up and touched her forehead for a while, then asked Lin Wu to feel her forehead. Lin Wu lacked experience in this area; if Maya’s forehead had been hot enough to burn him, he would have been sure she had a fever. But right now, it seemed not too hot, yet somewhat hot.

Maya performed a minute of ropeless skipping back at the base, then used tactile perception to judge her physical condition, as a person with a fever usually has impaired touch.

As Maya exercised her body, bending forwards, Lin Wu had a sudden idea and vaulted over her back with his hands. Maya stood upright, looking at Lin Wu in disbelief, who pretended not to see and commented, "Not a bit of femininity."

Maya felt violated and her expression turned unpleasant.

Lin Wu hurriedly said, "I think you’re fine now." Indeed, illness comes on fast like a collapsing mountain but recedes like a turned face.

Lin Wu further explained, "When I was sick, I didn’t care about female nurses seeing my buttocks. But you care about me touching your back, which means you’re probably fine now."

Maya laughed it off, "Would you care if a female nurse saw your buttocks when you’re not sick?"

The look in Lin Wu’s eyes changed immediately. Maya didn’t understand.

Lin Wu said, "When I’m not sick, I only care about looking at the female nurse’s buttocks. Who cares whether or not they look at my ass?"

Lin Wu’s explanation wasn’t great, but Maya somehow understood his point. His meaning was that when he is not sick, he’s a bad guy without interest in being bad when he’s ill. That made some sense, and Maya said, "Let’s get to work."

Lin Wu gave a wry smile, "Anyway, I’m the one who’s going to die."

Maya spoke earnestly, "I wouldn’t survive many days without you." She wouldn’t be able to navigate the aerial passages alone.

Lin Wu said, "Shadow would definitely send someone to save you. Can I say something before we start work?"

"Go ahead."

Lin Wu said, "If I must choose, I choose to die from a fall rather than being bitten to death."

"You’re not going to die."

"I mean in case, in case something happens, don’t just pull me halfway, leaving half my body to be chewed up. Just let go and let me have a free fall."

"I told you, you’re not going to die."

"I’m talking about just in case."

Unable to help it, Maya kicked Lin Wu hard in the thigh, "Let’s go." After doing so, she regretted it internally: The kid would definitely cause trouble later.

Maya was being paranoid this time. In fact, Lin Wu was indirectly probing through Maya’s reactions to assess her condition. In his sophomore year, Lin Wu had been taken to the hospital for food poisoning, and while he was conscious, he couldn’t control his body and ended up soiling the emergency bed. Strangely, he didn’t feel much shame, just a bit sorry for the nurses. Of course, the nurses were well-prepared for such situations.