"It must succeed. My brother’s nerves and muscles have completely atrophied due to the Zerg toxin!"
"Please livestream!!!"
"Brain-computer interface?" At Huimeng Game Company, Jiang Yuanshan suddenly stood up. "Does this mean the virtual game world is hopeful? Zhang, do you know anything?"
"I don’t know, don’t ask me, I can’t say!" Zhang Zhijian, still working for the Academy of Sciences, refused to reveal any information.
"Pretending to be mysterious!" Jiang Yuanshan said, "I’ll see for myself, Academician He is bound to announce it!"
In the south, in a small town, in an ordinary household.
An elderly couple was watching the news while having lunch.
In their sixties, they looked as if they were in their seventies or eighties, with graying hair, deeply set wrinkles, and faces full of worry.
The dishes on the table were very sumptuous, featuring fresh vegetables and clean meat, rare delicacies in the Catastrophe Era.
Neither had much appetite, and as they ate, they occasionally glanced at the photo on the wall.
In the photo was a young man in military uniform with a bright smile.
That was their son, Qiao Feiyu!
Qiao Feiyu enlisted early and rarely came home, initially saying he joined a unit he couldn’t talk about. Later they found out that Qiao Feiyu joined the Xuanwu Army.
The couple felt both proud and worried. Could their son be safe facing those terrifying insects?
Fortunately, after several battles, their son regularly sent messages assuring his safety.
And so it went until three months ago. They received no letters of well-being from Qiao Feiyu, only a plaque honoring a Xuanwu hero.
It informed them that their only child had died heroically fighting the Zerg, earning distinction for the country.
That day, local leaders and a large crowd came to console them and commemorate Qiao Feiyu.
The couple was deeply saddened. With only one son, who now was lost, the pain of outliving their child was devastating.
"I can’t eat anymore." Qiao Dayong put down his chopsticks and sighed, "I’m going for a walk outside."
"Don’t smoke; your body can’t take it." Qiao Feiyu’s mother Zhang Fang reminded.
"It’s fine." Qiao Dayong said, "With today’s advanced technology, I can always get a lung replacement!"
He had quit smoking before, but after his son’s death, he picked it up again, smoking pack after pack, and his health worsened.
"The first neural mechanical transplant surgery is underway. It’s reported that the technology was developed by Academician He Xingzhou, Academician Hao Siqi, and other researchers. Once successful, it will address issues such as physical impairments and nerve atrophy..." the news continued to report.
Mentioning this brought tears to Zhang Fang’s eyes. "I heard from his comrades that he didn’t die on the battlefield but succumbed to a Zerg gene virus. It also caused nerve atrophy, gradually turning him into a vegetative state!"
"If only this technology had been available, Feiyu might still be alive to see us!"
The more she spoke, the sadder she became, and tears fell into her bowl.
"Oh!" A heavy sigh echoed in the room.
On the operating table, the surgery had already begun. Hao Siqi led the team of experts in the operation, assisted by surgical robots working alongside.
He Xingzhou was also present, ensuring the safety of the neural machinery and prosthetic limbs.
In recent years, prosthetic transplant surgery had made rapid progress, but never had someone attempted to replace all organs with prosthetics, leaving only the human brain!
Moreover, past prosthetics were all controlled by machines. Mechanical arms or legs operated entirely on machine detection of human movement, coordinating accordingly, with the human brain having no control or sensation over such limbs.
This time, through neural machinery, the human brain’s commands would control the body, allowing for a more genuine experience of life!
Countless people awaited this surgery, keeping a close watch on the news since the procedure wasn’t broadcasted live.
In the Xuanwu Base hospital, Sun Yi had been glued to the news since regaining consciousness.
His condition had deteriorated to the point where he could hardly control his muscles below the neck, and his nerves couldn’t sense anything.
Even controlling the muscles of his tongue was challenging, making his speech slurred, with his life sustained by nutritional injections.
His fellow patients were in a similar state; those still able to speak were among the less severely affected. Some, as with Qiao Feiyu, could only move their eyelids.
"It must, it must be successful!" Sun Yi stared at the news, knowing it was his last hope in this life!
"Neural mechanical... I hope I still have the chance to wait for it," murmured a nearby patient, this being the hope keeping them alive.
"I believe in Commander He; they can definitely do it!"
The doctors and nurses watched the scene worriedly. The surgery represented the last ray of hope and the means to sustain life for these gravely ill warriors.
"We hope you succeed!" the medical staff prayed inwardly, knowing that the continuation of so many warriors’ lives depended on this surgery!
On the operating table, Qiao Feiyu’s consciousness remained clear. At this time, the neural prosthesis had not yet been activated, so he could not feel the pain of his body being cut and transformed.
"Nerve cell damage has this one benefit, I suppose?" Qiao Feiyu mused bitterly, "No need for anesthesia during surgery."
He could not see the procedure but saw the doctors and robots busily at work.
His failing organs were replaced one by one with artificial prosthetic organs.
Throughout the process, the doctors endeavored to maintain composure. Disassembling a human body had previously only been done in autopsies, and now here they were working on a living person!