Chapter 780: Unimaginable

Shen Lang was talking nonsense, and Ji Xiang listened with keen interest, completely forgetting that he was currently undergoing surgery.

Time flew by.

The sterile drape was removed, and Ji Xiang saw that a plaster cast had already been applied to his left thigh.

The cast was applied exquisitely; from Ji Xiang's perspective, it was nearly flawless.

This was the best-applied cast Ji Xiang had ever seen in his life.

There is still a difference between manual techniques and machines; one can see the big picture from small details, Ji Xiang thought to himself.

"The surgery is finished," Shen Lang said with a smile. "Go back to the ward to rest for a few days, and then you can be discharged and go home."

"That's it? And then? Back to the ward? No one is coming to take a look?" Ji Xiang was slightly stunned and asked a myriad of questions.

"What else? What more do you want?" Shen Lang asked.

"..." Ji Xiang was silent.

A car accident—although he was only sent to the hospital for a Femoral Shaft Fracture, the surgery was completed in less than two hours, and he basically didn't suffer much.

This level of treatment and emergency response completely crushed the reality he lived in.

But from start to finish, he hadn't even seen the doctor's face, and Ji Xiang was very unaccustomed to that.

What if the machine malfunctions?

This thought immediately surfaced in Ji Xiang's mind.

"Lang Ge, what if there is a treatment error and a Medical Dispute occurs?" Ji Xiang didn't hide the thought and asked Shen Lang directly.

"Medical Dispute?" Shen Lang was taken aback for a moment. This term hadn't appeared for many years, so Ji Xiang's question left Shen Lang somewhat bewildered.

Ji Xiang was also a bit bewildered, looking at Shen Lang.

Could it be that Medical Disputes had already become a thing of the past? That shouldn't be.

Standing from the perspective of reality, Ji Xiang believed that Medical Disputes could never disappear.

A few seconds later, Shen Lang smiled. "The Intelligent Systems all over the country—no, it should be all over the world—are fed with the latest data. Artificial intelligence is constantly researching, and new technology changes with each passing day."

Ji Xiang found Shen Lang a bit long-winded, but he could roughly understand what was being said.

It was already the top level of medical care; if it truly couldn't be cured, then it was fate.

This was equivalent to getting Appendicitis in his own era and being sent to Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking University Third Hospital, or 912 for surgery; there was basically no better choice, and if there were any problems, it was something existing technology couldn't solve.

What's more, machines are colder, calmer, and more rational than people.

"Do Medical Disputes really not exist anymore?"

"I haven't heard that term in a long time. Xiao Ji, why are you so fond of the trash heap of history at such a young age? Those are all in the past; forget them, forget them. Think of something happy," Shen Lang mocked.

While speaking, the machine covered Ji Xiang with a sterile drape, and he was moved onto a gurney smoothly and without feeling a thing.

The gurney exited the operating room in "self-driving" mode, moving slowly along the corridor of the Emergency Department.

"The trash heap of history... I suppose so, it is indeed trash," Ji Xiang thought for a moment and said in a low voice.

"The current problem is that many Family Members want to come in to accompany the patients, and in the process of recovery, there needs to be enough understanding and communication between the Family Members and the patients; these are things the Intelligent System cannot do."

Shen Lang thought for a moment, felt he wasn't being rigorous enough, and added, "At least, the current Intelligent System cannot do it."

"Oh," Ji Xiang replied.

"Don't think so much, just focus on recovering," Shen Lang patted Ji Xiang on the shoulder. "The laboratory data is still waiting for you to go back and analyze."

The injury to Ji Xiang's leg was no longer a major issue, although it hadn't reached the point of Mechanical Ascension, and he wasn't a Transformer who could stride like the wind after being repaired.

But from the injury to the end of the surgery, his condition was stable; the "hospital" had used only a little over an hour of treatment to pull Ji Xiang out of a near-death state.

Getting into the elevator, a middle-aged couple was inside, and they habitually made room for the gurney.

Looking at their expressions, they seemed accustomed to all of this and didn't find it strange at all.

"Injured?" the man asked curiously while standing in the corner of the elevator.

"Car accident, it's fine," Shen Lang replied. "The surgery is already done, just need to rest for a few days."

"Rest well, it'll be fine once the surgery is done," the man smiled.

"And you?"

"My wife has RX Cancer, this is her sixth course of treatment, and she will be cured and discharged very soon."

"!!!"

Ji Xiang was stunned.

Although he had some confidence in future medicine, it definitely wasn't enough. At the very least, the unmanned system alone couldn't convince Ji Xiang.

But the man's calm tone and confident demeanor left Ji Xiang in disarray.

RX Cancer?

Although in his own era, aside from triple-negative subtypes, the malignancy was judged to be low-to-medium and could be managed for a long time.

But the man said six courses of treatment, and then she could be cured and discharged.

And the expressions on her and his faces looked very calm, as if she had Pneumonia, just a minor ailment.

Could it be that Cancer is now curable?

"A long time ago, this was a deadly disease," Ji Xiang said in a low voice.

Shen Lang slapped Ji Xiang on the head and said with a chuckle, "We are researchers of history; history is just a list of dead people's names."

"..."

"..."

The couple looked at Ji Xiang and Shen Lang in surprise. They were very polite and didn't say anything else, but one could tell from their eyes that they thought something was wrong with Ji Xiang's brain.

Perhaps it was caused by the car accident, who knows.

After getting out of the elevator, Shen Lang complained, "What are you spouting nonsense for? Say something auspicious."

"Heh."

"Many years ago, Tuberculosis was also an incurable disease, but later it became a minor ailment. Nowadays, Cancer has long since ceased to be an incurable disease; don't always keep flipping through the old almanacs of the past."

Shen Lang urged.

"I know, Lang Ge."

The flatbed cart moved automatically, arriving at the ward.

The ward was very quiet, completely different from the messy hospital corridors in Ji Xiang's memory.

"Lang Ge, where are the Family Members of the Orthopedics Department patients?"

"What Orthopedics Department? It doesn't exist anymore."

"It's gone?"

"Yeah, inpatients are randomly assigned based on the severity of their condition." Shen Lang scratched his head, looking at Ji Xiang with a strange gaze, "The boss said that people have stress reactions after suffering major trauma, but I've never seen one worse than yours; how did you even get amnesia?"

"Get some good sleep, we'll talk when you wake up."

"Slap~~~"

Ji Xiang didn't speak, but heard a crisp sound of a slap, and then a boy's figure stumbled back a few steps, appearing in the corridor.

"What are you doing!" Shen Lang abandoned Ji Xiang, blocking in front of the boy, facing a middle-aged man.

"You little brat, all you know is whining." The man pointed angrily at the child behind Shen Lang and said, "It's just a wisdom tooth, acting like you're dying, are you even a man!"

"Wouldn't it be fine if you just pulled it? Why are you hitting the child." Shen Lang stared at the man, saying very seriously.

"Does it not cost money to pull a tooth at the hospital! Talk is cheap!! It's not your money being spent." The man roared, "It's just two teeth, whining all day long, and now I have to come to pull them."

Ji Xiang sighed.

This kind of Family Member could be considered a rare specimen, but after being tempered by many instances of Empathy, Ji Xiang had seen even stranger existences.

To Ji Xiang, everything had long since ceased to be strange.

It's just that now... although there were no Medical Disputes, the disputes had shifted to the Patient and the Family Member, which left Ji Xiang speechless.

The future world is truly marvelous; the key is that it seems not so far from the reality he is in.

I really don't know when the technological explosion occurred.

"What's wrong with a wisdom tooth? When it hurts, it's life-threatening, and you're not the one who's sick." Shen Lang blocked in front of the child and argued.

His explanation was somewhat weak.

"Move aside." The man said barbarically, "He is my son!"

"I suspect you have violent tendencies; I'm going to call the police."

Shen Lang began to negotiate with the man.

Ji Xiang listened silently; the result of the negotiation was not important, the man would likely back down.

Our Lang Ge is not famous for nothing, and Zhou Jiaoshou also has a tendency to meddle in other people's business.

Ji Xiang's flatbed cart ignored the noise over there and directly sent Ji Xiang into the ward.

The robotic arm moved Ji Xiang onto the hospital bed, and Ji Xiang pressed down on it.

The hospital bed must have been made according to human ergonomics, and it was "tailor-made" for his own physique; it was incredibly comfortable.

Just a single hospital bed contained who knows how much technology.

Ji Xiang even had the thought of dismantling the bed and taking it back.

But this was obviously impossible.

IV drips, treatments—everything a hospital should have was there, and there were even various Auxiliary measures to avoid Lower Extremity Deep Vein Thrombosis and muscle atrophy caused by long-term bed rest.

All the equipment was truly thoughtful; Ji Xiang observed carefully.

After a full twenty minutes, Shen Lang returned, looking indignant.

"It's just too much! I've never seen a father like that. A wisdom tooth, is it worth it? If he were the one growing a wisdom tooth and it hurt like hell, he'd probably be crying for his parents already."

"Finished handling it?" Ji Xiang asked.

"Of course." Shen Lang said, "The man just suspected his child was making a mountain out of a molehill. I looked at the scan; the wisdom tooth had grown horizontally, it was a wisdom tooth that had to be extracted by splitting the bone."

"He didn't know?"

"He's never experienced it; he thinks wisdom teeth fall out automatically, saying his own fell out by themselves when he was a kid." Shen Lang shrugged, sat on the chair beside Ji Xiang, not wanting to talk about this anymore, and asked casually, "What TV show are you watching?"

"What shows are there?"

"I like watching large-scale reality shows, Space Colonization. I guess you won't like it, you can pick something yourself." Shen Lang said, "But I suggest you sleep early. Strange, your brain isn't even clear, why didn't the Intelligent System use some medicine to make you sleep."

Ji Xiang smiled.

The lack of clarity in his brain that Shen Lang mentioned existed, yet it didn't.

The Intelligent System determined his physical condition was normal and did not require treatment with sedatives.

"Lang Ge, I'm indeed a bit dizzy after just finishing surgery, so I'll rest for a while."

"You sleep, I'll go get something to eat, and when you wake up, you can have some porridge." Shen Lang said.

Ji Xiang closed his eyes and began to recall.

Finally, there was a quiet opportunity to allow himself to recall exactly what era this was.

This was an era of interstellar colonization; it seemed not long after his own era. After decades of peace, there was a massive war, and after the war, a wave of technology erupted again, thus the curtain of a new era was quickly pulled open.

The Intelligent System in the medical field was first applied in war, from field hospitals to small Field Hospitals, and then to the smallest Field Hospitals at the squad level.

Although small, the squad-level Field Hospitals could perform quite a few surgeries.

This technology played an extremely important role in the war; although it couldn't be called the deciding factor, its role could not be underestimated.

After the war ended, interstellar colonization began, and what was equipped on every warship was not a Doctor, but an Intelligent Medical System.

Doing this not only saved the burden on personnel but also solved the problem where experienced Doctors had physical limitations, while Doctors with good health who could withstand the pressure of interstellar travel lacked experience and technique.

As time passed, the Intelligent Medical System began to transition from military to civilian use, gradually replacing the hospitals of the past.

Now it is in the final stage where the Intelligent Medical System has almost completely replaced hospitals; there are only a small number of Doctors left in the country and the world, and other Doctors and Nurses are all finding their own way out.

The Intelligent Medical System is also tiered.

There is an initial version, which in Ji Xiang's view is similar to a county-level hospital;

there is an advanced version, similar to a prefecture-level hospital;

and there is the most advanced, highest-level version, similar to the large Grade A Tertiary Hospitals in Shanghai and the Imperial Capital.

The hospital he is currently in is only a standard advanced version, far from being the most advanced, highest-level Intelligent Medical System.

Even this is enough to make his jaw drop.

But what follows is the disappearance of the profession of Doctor.

Machines can do so much that there is simply no use for a Doctor at all.

It is just like Ji Xiang's personal experience today; he didn't see a single medical professional the entire time, as the Intelligent Medical System handled the diagnosis, emergency treatment, and surgery.

It is good, but it has changed too much, making it impossible for Ji Xiang to accept it all at once. Coupled with the rapid progress in basic biology, Cancer is no longer a grim reaper, and the average human life expectancy has exceeded 100 years.

"Damn it, why did I give birth to such a wimp? Doesn't want to go to school, keeps insisting that just because a wisdom tooth is growing, something or other is happening. Damn!"

Ji Xiang heard that man in the corridor cursing in a low voice again.

"What kind of person is that? His own son is sick, and he acts like it's none of his business, even hitting and scolding the child," Shen Lang said with disdain.

Ji Xiang scratched his head, recalling many experiences.

Every time he was sick himself, he would feel that it was the most serious illness, including even a circumcision or a Clavicle Fracture, which in the eyes of a Doctor could be completely ignored.

Only when the knife falls on one's own body does one know the pain; that saying is truly correct.

"Xiao Ji, tell me, what kind of people are these?" Shen Lang chatted with Ji Xiang.

"Sigh, no way around it," Ji Xiang smiled. "People have their own thoughts. What one hasn't experienced oneself, one will never know just how painful it truly is."

"Didn't Cong Wen once say: 'A man downstairs is dying, in the next room a family is playing a gramophone, opposite them someone is tending to a child. Upstairs there are two people laughing wildly; there is also the sound of playing cards. On a boat in the river, a woman is crying for her dead mother. The joys and sorrows of humans are not connected; I only find them noisy.'"

"The way you put it... the Boss often says that too," Shen Lang smiled. "That's why the Boss researches those things that seem completely useless."

Shen Lang said this casually, then suddenly felt a bit embarrassed and immediately stopped talking.

"The Boss is far-sighted; there are some things I surely can't understand."

Ji Xiang vaguely guessed what Shen Lang meant; he seemed to understand a little about the meaning of specifically setting aside an Operating Room in the System Operating Room.

But Ji Xiang didn't think too much about it; he was still looking around.

A hospital without Doctors or Nurses indeed opened his eyes; everything was so novel.

"Lang Ge, is there really no Medical Dispute anymore?" Ji Xiang asked while examining the novel ward.

"That's right. In the beginning, there were still a few, but as more and more people accepted it and understood that machines almost never make mistakes, they slowly accepted it," Shen Lang said. "But to be precise, one can't say there are none at all."

"Oh?"

"Machines can have malfunctions," Shen Lang said. "However, with the new generation of artificial intelligence coming online five years ago—I don't know about other industries—the medical artificial intelligence system performs a comprehensive background check every 6 hours to ensure that machine obstacles are discovered, repaired, and maintained in a timely manner."

"!!!"

"You... don't you know all of this?" Shen Lang reached out and touched Ji Xiang's forehead. "Sigh, it's been so many years, and I'm still used to touching the forehead to see if there's a fever. Let me tell you, touching the forehead is especially..."

Halfway through, Shen Lang stopped, smiled helplessly, and looked slightly disappointed.

"Then did the artificial intelligence develop self-awareness?" Ji Xiang asked.

"Watched too many movies, haven't you?" Shen Lang laughed. "The Boss said the first generation of artificial intelligence already had consciousness, and it seems many things happened in a higher-dimensional world, but it's all classified. The Boss won't say, and I don't know; it's all just wild guessing."

"Cong Wen knows, but his mouth is even tighter than the Boss's; he doesn't let a single word slip."

Ji Xiang was stunned, not expecting the "Boss" to have had so many experiences.

Those magnificent events were spoken of lightly by Shen Lang, as if there were a vast amount of subtext, further increasing Ji Xiang's room for imagination.

"Lang Ge, those are all big pieces of gossip. Tell me, I promise I absolutely won't tell anyone else."

Shen Lang looked at Ji Xiang with disdain.

"First, I don't touch classified things. Don't you know that curiosity killed the cat?"

"Second, with that big mouth of yours, you blab about every piece of gossip. Do you remember when we went to attend a Patient's wedding a while ago?"

Ji Xiang couldn't be bothered to think and shook his head.

"A silly kid, hospitalized for trauma. There was definitely something wrong between the Boss who came to visit him and his girlfriend; I saw it the moment I glanced at them."

"I think that Boss and the woman definitely have an unspeakable story, so he found his own driver to step in, a fake marriage or something, just to ensure they could keep having their affair."

"We were having a perfectly good wedding banquet, and you insisted on dragging me aside to talk about that useless stuff, saying the Boss and the bride went into the bridal chamber, and when they came out, the bride looked all languid after the clouds and rain. Look at you, such a buzzkill. Sometimes you still have to play dumb."

"Uh..."

"You think others don't know? Everyone is just playing dumb," Shen Lang said with disdain.

"..." Ji Xiang followed Shen Lang's words and found that memory in his mind.

"I'm telling you, even the Patient himself knows it full well," Shen Lang said with disdain. "You're just the one who makes a fuss; a dog's belly can't hold two taels of sesame oil."

"Lang Ge, you mean the Patient, the groom, also knows?!"

"Of course. That guy looks a bit muddled and honest, but it's all put on."

"..."

"Don't ask blindly about some things; knowing too much is no benefit," Shen Lang said very firmly. "As for our Boss's affairs, you must ask even less. Did you think I was talking nonsense when I said the Boss was far-sighted just now?"

"Well, I thought you were habitually buttering him up, saying that even when the Boss wasn't around," Ji Xiang said exactly what he thought.

"I'm telling you the truth; the Boss is truly far-sighted and stands on a high vantage point."

Shen Lang's eyes began to shine as he talked about some of his Boss's impressive past deeds.

Ji Xiang gradually became dazed, not expecting the System NPC to be so impressive in another world; it was practically like having a protagonist's halo, similar to the Great Magician Liu Xiu.

Gradually, Ji Xiang fell into a deep sleep, and Shen Lang's voice sounded just like a bedtime story.

Entering dreamland, when Ji Xiang opened his eyes again, he saw that he had returned to the System Operating Room, and the System NPC was standing right in front of him.

"Teacher," Ji Xiang bowed, "The Boss that Lang Ge spoke of... is you, isn't it?"

"Yes, and yet no," the System NPC said.

"Then..." Ji Xiang had just opened his mouth when he remembered the words Shen Lang had cautioned him with.

"Then what?"

"The hospitals of the future are truly too advanced," Ji Xiang remarked with emotion. "Teacher, I never imagined that artificial intelligence would be the ultimate answer to Medical Dispute."

"It doesn't require much computing power, just some minor details that still need polishing; the version you saw is still very rough," the System NPC said, speaking in a strange way.

Ji Xiang really wanted to ask about the relationship between the System NPC and artificial intelligence, and what kind of magnificent events had occurred.

But in the end, he held back and began to discuss with the System NPC the entire process, from his injury to the unmanned Emergency Vehicle, and then to the immediate treatment, which took less than 2 hours in total.

This set of procedures was actually similar to the current hospital Emergency Rescue process, but it was simpler, faster, had fewer errors, and there was no need to wait in line for the System Operating Room.

After all, people are not beasts of burden; human capability has its limits.

Once machines replace the Doctor, everything looks so wonderful.

"Teacher, will the surgical procedures of the future be fundamentally different from those of today?" Ji Xiang asked.

The System NPC smiled, "Correct, this is what you should be focusing on."

"Are there? There must be."

"Of course. For example, regarding the Femoral Shaft Fracture in Empathy, it is currently fixed with steel plates, whereas in Empathy, it is bonded with biological glue."

"!!!"

Ji Xiang knew what he had missed.

"Teacher!" Ji Xiang immediately thought of one thing. "Can it be bought in the mall!"

"What are you thinking?" The System NPC looked at Ji Xiang teasingly.

Ji Xiang felt no shame, but instead stared earnestly into the System NPC's eyes.

"It cannot be bought; products of the future cannot appear in the present," the System NPC gave Ji Xiang a definitive answer.

Ji Xiang felt it was a pity.

"Take it one step at a time. If you were to bring things out, perhaps all it would bring is disaster."

"Sigh."

Ji Xiang had the feeling of entering a mountain of treasures and returning empty-handed.

"Teacher, what about my skills and digital enhancement?"

The System NPC did not answer Ji Xiang's question and lightly waved a hand; light and shadow flickered before Ji Xiang's eyes, and he left the System Operating Room.

Lying on the hotel bed, Ji Xiang recalled this experience of Empathy and compared it to the various rescues he had performed while going out on emergency calls with Meng Qingfei; it felt just like having a dream.

It would be great, only he didn't know if he would be able to see all of this become reality in his lifetime.

(End of this chapter)