2: Chapter 2: Stealing the Sky and Changing the Sun!

Su Ye appeared calm on the surface, but his hands were trembling slightly.

Holding the bag containing this 'Rudimentary Golden Core', a thread of coolness flowed from Su Ye's hand into his chest. It was like a drop of ink falling into clear water, slowly and silently diffusing within his chest.

There was an indescribable sense of comfort, like taking a gulp of ice-cold mineral water in the middle of summer; the chill slid all the way from his throat to his stomach.

But this was not normal.

Su Ye kept his eyes downcast, mechanically cooperating with the surgical closing procedures. There was nothing unusual about his movements; they were even steadier than usual.

Yet, his mind was utterly shocked.

[Water Embryo · Rudimentary Golden Core]

[A special talent crystal condensed in the kidneys under supernatural environments. It has been removed and will lose its activity within one day...]

That line of translucent, pale blue text vanished the moment he blinked, as if it had never appeared. However, every word was etched into his mind.

He couldn't help but think of that college student.

The anime T-shirt, the look of "clear-eyed stupidity," and the vigorous voice asking, "Brother, is it really not a Golden Core?"

At the time, he thought it was absurd.

Now, he felt that he was the absurd one.

That kid was right.

Damn!

It really is a Golden Core.

How could such a thing appear?

And appearing in the form of... a stone?

In his memory, this was a peaceful and ordinary world. This suddenly appearing 'Rudimentary Golden Core'...

It was far too jarring!

...

The surgery was over.

Zhang Yuanping took off his gloves, stretched his neck, and gave a few post-operative instructions to the circulating nurse. Then he glanced at Su Ye and said, "Send the specimen to pathology for a component analysis. This stone feels a bit off; let's see what's going on."

"Alright, Teacher Zhang."

Su Ye's voice was steady, no different from usual.

He carried the specimen bag out of the operating room and walked down the corridor toward the Department of Pathology.

His pace was neither fast nor slow.

His mind was racing.

He was very familiar with the submission process—seal the specimen bag, attach the patient information label, fill out the pathology test application form, register it at the Department of Pathology window, and hand it to the technician. The technician would then perform a gross observation, take photos, sample, embed, section, and stain the specimen. Finally, a pathologist would issue a report.

The whole process would take at least three days and at most a week.

But the problem was, once this thing was handed over, it would no longer be in his hands.

The people in pathology would cut it open, grind it down, and make sections.

It would lose its activity within one day.

If that line of text was true, then this Rudimentary Golden Core had at most twenty-some hours of "activity" left. Once sectioned and stained, it would be just a dead stone, no different from an ordinary kidney stone.

But if he didn't send it for testing, he couldn't account for it to Zhang Yuanping. Specimens removed during surgery must be sent to pathology; that was an ironclad rule with no exceptions.

Su Ye walked to the stairwell at the end of the corridor and stopped.

He leaned against the wall and looked down at the specimen bag in his hand.

Through the translucent plastic bag, he could vaguely see the deep blue crystal wrapped in gauze.

He scoured the memories of the original host in his mind.

Next to the first-floor lobby of the hospital was a Convenience Pharmacy that sold routine medicines and Chinese herbal medicines. Among the herbal medicines, there were many mineral types, such as ochre, magnetite, talc, and ophicalcite...

ophicalcite.

A mineral-based Chinese medicine containing iron sulfide, it was yellow and white, hard in texture, and its broken fragments were irregular in shape, similar in size to this "stone."

Moreover, ophicalcite had a high density and complex composition. After pathological sectioning, it would likely be identified as a "rare component stone" or "unknown composition," which matched Zhang Yuanping's intraoperative assessment.

It was a bit risky.

But Su Ye felt he had to do it.

It wasn't an impulse.

If this thing really was some kind of supernatural product, its value was far beyond what a pathology report could measure.

After a whirlwind of thoughts.

Su Ye turned and went downstairs.

People were coming and going in the first-floor lobby. Wearing his white coat, he walked into the Convenience Pharmacy and stood before the Chinese medicine counter.

"Hello, I'd like to buy some ophicalcite."

The older woman at the pharmacy looked up at him. White coat, chest badge, young face—it wasn't unusual for a Standardized Resident Trainee to buy Chinese herbal medicine; some senior doctors in certain departments would have their students run errands.

"How much do you want?"

"Just a small piece, about the size of a thumbnail."

The woman took a piece of ophicalcite from the medicine cabinet, broke off a small fragment with a hammer, weighed it on the electronic scale, put it in a paper bag, and handed it over.

"Three yuan fifty."

Su Ye scanned the code to pay, said his thanks, and turned to leave the pharmacy.

He didn't go directly to the Department of Pathology but instead turned into a restroom on the first floor of the Inpatient Building.

After confirming no one was there, he locked the stall door.

He opened the specimen bag and carefully peeled away the gauze.

The deep blue crystal lay quietly in his palm.

Up close, it was even more beautiful than it had been on the operating table—the surface was smooth as a mirror, and within the deep blue, there were faint, darker patterns flowing like miniature deep-sea currents. It felt cool to the touch and had a strange texture, more like something... alive.

Su Ye took a deep breath.

He placed the Rudimentary Golden Core into the inner left pocket of his white coat, right against his chest.

Then, he took out the fragment of ophicalcite, rewrapped it in the original gauze from the specimen bag, stained it with the residual blood on the gauze, stuffed it back into the specimen bag, and resealed it.

His movements were clean and efficient.

He looked at himself in the mirror.

His expression was normal, and his breathing was steady.

No flaws could be seen.

Su Ye rinsed his hands, walked out of the restroom, and headed down the corridor toward the Department of Pathology.

...

The Department of Pathology was at the very end of the third floor of the Outpatient Building, with a line of moderate length always at the window. When Su Ye arrived, there were only two people ahead of him, and it was soon his turn.

Behind the window sat a middle-aged female doctor wearing glasses. She took the specimen bag and the application form and routinely opened the bag to take a look.

Then she froze for a moment.

"Such a large piece?" She squeezed it through the gauze. "Are there kidney stones this big?"

Su Ye's heart skipped a beat, but his facial expression didn't change a bit.

"Yes, Teacher Zhang Yuanping asked for it to be sent for a component analysis."

The female doctor frowned, put down the specimen bag, and picked up the landline on the desk.

"I'll call to confirm."

She dialed a number.

Su Ye stood in front of the window, his hands hanging naturally at his sides.

The fingertips of his left hand curled slightly.

That was his only small movement.

The wait wasn't long, about thirty seconds, but to Su Ye, it felt like three minutes. He could hear the beeping from the receiver, then the click of the connection, followed by Zhang Yuanping's highly recognizable deep voice.

Through the receiver, he could vaguely hear—

"Yes, that's the specimen from my case... Right, it was taken via Percutaneous Nephroscopy. I fired three rounds of Holmium Laser and couldn't break it, so I ended up taking the whole thing out... This stone is a bit strange, the density is too high, CT value of 1847. Help us do a component analysis to see what it actually is."

The female doctor hung up, signed the application form, and placed the specimen bag into the registration basket.

"Alright, the report will be out in three to five working days."

"Thank you, Teacher."

Su Ye turned and left.

As he walked out of the Department of Pathology, the cold air from the corridor's air conditioning hit him.

He Exhale.

In his left chest pocket, the deep blue crystal pressed against his heart, feeling slightly cool.

It was as if it had a heartbeat.

Beating in sync with his own.