Ling Xiao’s first cryogenic sleep finally ended. Ou Zhanpeng personally helped him out. "How do you feel?"
Ling Da Shao shivered and forced a smile. "Alright, just a bit cold, cold from the inside out."
"It's fine, you'll get used to it after a while," a technician explained with a smile.
"Are you sure it's okay?" Ou Zhanpeng frowned. "We can't tell now, but will it leave any lingering problems?"
Many illnesses and hidden injuries feel fine when you're young, but they all come back with a vengeance when you're older. You can't stand straight, can't walk properly, the cause is unclear, treatment is ineffective, your quality of life plummets, and living is more painful than dying.
The technician explained, "Don't worry, the injected medication contains preventative components, so it'll definitely be fine."
Ou Zhanpeng thought to himself, "As if I could be reassured. You say it's preventative and it is?"
He had a vague feeling that this technology was not perfect, and it was only because the Mars expedition required it that they had to push this technology forward with gritted teeth.
"Ou Zhanpeng—" a technician called out guarding an empty sleep pod. "Who is Ou Zhanpeng?"
My turn!
Ou Zhanpeng gave Ling Xiao a few instructions, took off his coat, revealing a well-proportioned, muscular physique. "I am!"
Several technicians swarmed around him, some attaching sensors to his temples, others placing patches on his chest. He was covered in all sorts of equipment.
He really wanted to complain, "Can't they make a form-fitting suit that integrates all the sensor equipment?"
With everything ready, the technicians first measured Ou Zhanpeng's physical state, then signaled him to lie down in the sleep pod.
Ou Zhanpeng lay down casually. The pod lid closed, sealing him off from the outside. The technicians were surprised to find that his physiological state hadn't changed at all.
A good sign!
"Administer the soporific agent!" a voice said.
A light green fluid flowed into Ou Zhanpeng's veins. A group of technicians stared intently at the screens, constantly monitoring his various physiological indicators.
Three minutes passed, but Ou Zhanpeng showed no signs of falling asleep.
Five minutes passed, and Ou Da Shao, who should have been fast asleep, was still staring with his eyes wide open.
One technician, impatient, leaned towards the pod lid and made a victory sign. "How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Two!" Ou Zhanpeng replied clearly.
The technicians present were in an uproar. Li Hui, who had rushed over after hearing the commotion, urgently asked, "What's wrong? What's wrong?"
"The soporific agent is ineffective!"
Li Hui gritted his teeth. "Increase the dosage!"
"By how much?"
Li Hui hesitated. "Ten percent!"
Soporific agents couldn't just be increased arbitrarily. The dosage had to be precisely calculated based on weight. The maximum increase was no more than fifteen percent; any more could cause brain damage.
All medicine has side effects, and even human respiration produces harmful free radicals. No matter how safe a soporific agent is, it's still a drug, so how could it be without any side effects?
Another five minutes passed. All eyes were focused on Ou Zhanpeng, but he still showed no change. He pouted boredly, wishing he could ask if his personal terminal could be sent into the sleep pod.
Li Hui was overwhelmed. The soporific agent was ineffective on this person? What kind of anomaly was this?
He fell into hesitation. Only five percent of the dosage remained. He wanted to continue the injection, but Ou Zhanpeng in the sleep pod showed no signs of drowsiness. Continuing to increase the dosage likely wouldn't help.
At this point, others also noticed the anomaly. Several people, led by Ling Xiao, gathered around and interacted with Ou Zhanpeng through the pod lid.
They were having a great time, which nearly drove the worried Li Hui to the brink of madness. "How can these people be so unreliable?"
Not long after, Shan Qiuyu and Zhan Wenyi heard about the abnormality and rushed over to take a look.
Li Hui almost burst into tears on the spot. "They're not here to watch the excitement; they're here to watch me!"
More than half an hour had passed, and all the technicians present were looking at Li Hui.
Li Hui hesitated for a long time, then sighed helplessly. "Let him out..."
Before he could finish speaking, a technician suddenly exclaimed, "Hey, hey, it's working, it's working!"
Li Hui froze, then immediately leaned closer. He saw that Ou Zhanpeng's heart rate and blood pressure were indeed dropping comprehensively. He was instantly relieved.
Shan Qiuyu's poker face appeared behind him. "What's going on?"
Li Hui quickly explained, "He might have had an adverse reaction to the soporific agent, so his sleep onset was delayed... but it's fine. We'll know what happened after a thorough examination when he comes out."
"You can rest assured, there will be absolutely no problems!" Li Hui guaranteed with certainty.
The technicians precisely controlled the temperature inside the pod. Before long, Ou Zhanpeng's body temperature successfully dropped to 17 degrees Celsius, the smoothest of everyone that day.
Li Hui couldn't have been happier. But just as he displayed a satisfied smile, the number representing body temperature suddenly jumped, changing to 16 degrees.
He was startled. "What's going on?"
All the technicians looked utterly innocent. "We don't know!"
Before they finished speaking, the number changed again, becoming 15 degrees.
Li Hui was truly anxious. He shoved aside the interfering technicians, examined all the physiological data, and cross-referenced the equipment information. All the data showed no problems.
15 degrees was already the limit, but the temperature was still dropping. He began to pray inwardly, to God, Jesus, the Jade Emperor, Buddha, anyone he could think of, hoping for a miracle.
However, reality dealt him a heavy blow. Ou Zhanpeng's body temperature continued to drop to 14 degrees with unstoppable momentum.
"Increase the temperature, increase it immediately—" Li Hui's shout became distorted, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
A group of technicians immediately sprang into action.
"Is this what you meant by 'absolutely no problems'?" Shan Qiuyu's face turned ashen. "Open the pod immediately! I don't care how you do it, you must rescue him, or you'll face a military court!"
Li Hui was truly crying now. "I... this... alas, no, this isn't logical..."
He finally regained some semblance of reason. The external temperature was consistently higher than the body temperature. This was not a normal phenomenon, neither from the perspective of energy conservation nor human physiology. Moreover, the body temperature had dropped to 9 degrees, yet all other physiological indicators remained normal.
"The sleep pod has a protective mechanism," a technician said. "It won't open unless the person inside's body temperature recovers."
"Smash it!" Shan Qiuyu said fiercely.
"Wait a moment!" Li Hui rushed to the front of the sleep pod, his eyes wide as he stared at Ou Zhanpeng. Finally, he breathed a sigh of relief. "That's right, it must be a sensor malfunction. His condition is very stable, I guarantee it!"
Ling Xiao finally realized something was wrong. He grabbed Li Hui by the collar, his eyes practically spitting fire. "Tell me clearly, what exactly happened?"
Li Hui quickly explained, "It's nothing, really nothing. The sensor patches just came loose!"