Chapter 583: Doctor

The school infirmary is very clean.

The floor had just been mopped, and the smell of disinfectant overwhelmed the sweetness of the tea.

Lu Dou stood by the door, the white umbrella slanted at his side.

The gray mist behind him was compressed to an extremely small range, flowing along the umbrella ribs.

Most of those people outside the door were lying on the ground.

Some had awakened, clutching their heads and sobbing.

Some stared at their own hands, the backs still bearing scratches that had drawn blood.

They had regained a brief sense of self.

Lu Dou lowered his head and glanced at the white umbrella.

Several fine cracks had appeared on the umbrella handle.

Dangerous Smile had undergone countless modifications, and was no longer that low‑level pollution of before.

It can devour emotions, rewrite cognition, and link the lives and wills of thousands into a single network.

Yet upon entering this school infirmary, nothing was left behind.

After thinking, Lu Dou raised his head.

"No, you're not from the Investigation Bureau; otherwise you wouldn't have held back until now."

Chu Che held a glass cup, the petals unfolding in the hot water.

"The school doctor is also part of the Investigation Bureau's roster; how wouldn't that count as being from the Bureau?"

"Don't placate me with that kind of talk."

Lu Dou took two steps closer.

"You show no weird reaction, no traits of a Weird Master, and no protective gear whatsoever."

"But my rules, when they touch you, get erased."

"You are not even weird, nor a Weird Master."

Chu Che pushed his glasses up.

"Your observation is very detailed."

"I actually investigated you. When I was a professor, students must have been quite afraid of you."

Lu Dou did not respond to that.

He gazed at Chu Che's long, fair hands.

Those hands held the cup very steadily.

No defensive stance.

No preparatory movement.

Not even a hint of vigilance.

Lu Dou disliked this attitude.

He had seen many people.

People like Jiang Yuan, who desperately try to save everyone, have their weakness written on their faces.

Su Ming is even simpler.

He calculates the path to survival first, then the cost in lives.

Everyone has a usable part.

But Chu Che has none.

This young school doctor sat there, his breathing rhythm unchanged.

Lu Dou suddenly asked, "Do you think I've done something wrong?"

Chu Che lifted his eyes.

"Which part?"

"Eliminating suffering."

"Human suffering comes from desire, from comparison, from loss, from fear."

Lu Dou looked toward the outside.

"From childhood they are demanded to excel, to obey, to sacrifice; as adults they are pressed down by housing, illness, work, and relationships."

"Every day they say they want to live freely."

"But truly giving them freedom only makes them suffer more."

"I merely end this cycle for them."

Chu Che took a sip of tea.

"Your conclusion is partly correct."

Lu Dou's pupils flickered slightly.

"Part?"

"Human society is sick, and deeply so."

Chu Che set the cup down.

"Power without restraint corrupts; rules unenforced corrupt; goodwill repeatedly drained also corrupts."

"You've seen all this, so you want to send the patients to a sterile ward."

"But you've gotten one thing wrong."

Lu Dou asked, "What?"

"People are not germs."

Chu Che's tone remained gentle.

"You took away their pain, and also took away their qualification to live."

"Happiness is not treatment."

"Just anesthesia."

Lu Dou stayed silent for a moment.

Afterwards, he laughed.

"You said that very well."

"But you are not them."

"You sit here drinking tea, talking about freedom, talking about qualification, of course it's easy."

"People outside live too exhaustedly."

"They have no choice."

Chu Che raised his hand and adjusted the cuff of his Doctor's Lab Coat.

"So you chose for them?"

"Yes."

"Including letting them embrace their loved ones, turning their loved ones into your specimens as well?"

Lu Dou did not deny.

"Short pain is better than long pain."

"Sacrificing a few people in exchange for everyone's peace is a very worthwhile trade."

Chu Che looked at him.

"Your words, many people hearing them will have much resonance."

Lu Dou was stunned.

Chu Che added a sentence.

"But they will not put it into practice."

Lu Dou's smile slowly faded.

He suddenly realized that the man before him did not oppose himself.

Chu Che was merely evaluating the plan.

Evaluating cost.

Evaluating efficiency.

This thought made Lu Dou feel a rare annoyance.

He does not like being placed on an experimental table.

Nor does he like being treated as a case.

Lu Dou gripped the umbrella handle.

"So, who exactly are you?"

Chu Che did not answer.

Lu Dou also did not intend to wait.

He came to Qiu Ce Yuan, not to chat idly with a school doctor.

Outside there are still thousands of Infected.

And also the entire single-consciousness network under construction.

Chu Che is a variable.

Variables should be eliminated or incorporated.

Lu Dou raised his right hand.

Gray Mist contracted from the umbrella surface, all gathering in his palm.

In the Corridor, those infected who had just regained consciousness simultaneously lifted their heads, the pain on their faces again covered by smiles.

Their pupils lost focus.

The remnants of the dangerous smile from thousands of li outside, the controlled rumors within the campus, the emotional fragments left from the manor tragedy, all flowed back along the network.

Sweat seeped from Lu Dou's forehead.

His body bore the backlash.

But he did not stop.

The Gray Mist grew smaller under pressure.

Finally it turned into a visible gray spear.

The spear was only as long as an arm.

Inside it, however, were packed human faces.

There were weeping students, out-of-control security, and the smiling corpses from Lu Chuan Manor.

Those faces struggled inside the spear, mouths open, making no sound.

Lu Dou looked at Chu Che.

"Come in."

"Be happy together with them."

The gray spear swept past the infirmary.

The medical record book on the table flipped and flew.

The flower petals in the glass cup were rolled up, hot water splashed onto the tabletop.

The spear stabbed straight at Chu Che's brow.

No probing.

No holding back.

This is Lu Dou's attack after compressing the danger-smile rules to the limit.

As long as it hits, Chu Che's cognition will be dragged into the single-consciousness network.

Even if he is truly a hidden expert, he will become part of the network.

The spear stopped.

It stopped three inches before Chu Che's eyes.

Lu Dou's hand still hovered in midair.

His pupils contracted slightly.

The gray spear was not blocked.

It did not hit any barrier.

It simply stayed there.

Afterward, gray debris began to flake off from the tip, inch by inch.

The faces squeezed inside the spear returned to their original appearance.

Those who were crying stopped crying.

Those who were laughing stopped laughing.

They were erased by some higher-level power.

Just a few seconds.

The spear turned to powder and fell to the ground.

Lu Dou stood in place.

The White Umbrella shattered completely.

Chu Che pushed his glasses, his tone tinged with regret.

"Your theory is perfect."

"Too bad, you picked the wrong subject for clinical observation."

"After all, how can a lab rat observe the experimenters?"

Lu Dou's fingers twitched slightly.

He felt a loss of control for the first time.

It wasn't fear.

It was the blankness after the plan deviated from calculation.

He could control thousands, reshape S Ji rumors, and leave the Investigation Bureau helpless.

But before Chu Che, he couldn't tell what ability the other side used.

Lu Dou lowered his head.

Gray powder fell onto the edge of his shoe.

"You've been observing me since long ago?"

Chu Che did not deny it.

"You are a very valuable sample."

"Having broken free from the danger-smile contamination, you added a sociological framework, collective cognition, emotional unity, and life sharing."

"Your design has many loopholes."

"But the idea is sound."

Lu Dou raised his head.

"Design?"

Chu Che let out a soft sigh.

"Mr. Lu."

"Doctors shouldn't be forced by patients to explain their condition."

After saying that, he undid a layer of disguise on himself.

No extra movement.

He merely removed the covering pressing on his surface.

Cracks first appeared on the walls of the infirmary.

The medicine cabinet doors swung open on their own.

Thermometers, medicine boxes, and record folders slid off the table.

The space began to wail.

All the lights outside the corridor went out.

Lu Dou's legs gave way and his knees hit the ground.

Bones shattered.

His white robe was soaked through with blood.

He tried to stand up.

But every part of his body was pressed down.

The White Umbrella slipped from his hand and rolled to the wall.

Lu Dou lifted his head, his long hair falling across his face.

He finally saw clearly what was in Chu Che's eyes.

No anger.

No killing intent.

Also no pity for life.

That was an attitude toward materials.

Lu Dou's mind flashed with many scenes.

Smiling Dummy.

Midnight nightmare.

Laughing Demon.

Blood Moon.

Six S-Class Anomaly Domains.

Sai Men.

The birth of those Weird things was never accidental.

Behind every disaster, there is a hand.

Lu Dou's throat tightened.

"Is it you......"

Chu Che looked at him.

Lu Dou's breathing became irregular.

"You are not the Federation's hidden strength."

"You are not human."

"You are the one who created the Weird."

"All Weird... research and creator."

Chu Che raised his hand to adjust his glasses.

"This title is too exaggerated."

"I prefer others to call me Dr. Chu."

Lu Dou stared at him, then suddenly laughed.

At first it was just a low laugh.

Then it grew louder and louder.

He laughed so hard his shoulders trembled, and blood spilled from his mouth.

"So that's how it is."

"No wonder!!!"

Chu Che did not answer.

But Lu Dou already had the answer.

He thought of those people he had assimilated.

He remembered the day his sister died, himself standing in the hospital Corridor, listening to the doctor announce that rescue efforts were ineffective.

He remembered those people offering condolences.

He remembered all the explanations the world had given him.

He originally thought he was a rebel.

Turns out, from beginning to end, he was merely an actor pushed onto the stage.

This discovery was enough to make anyone break down.

But Lu Dou raised his head, laughing even harder.

"Very good."

"Great!!!"

Chu Che looked at him.

His eyes gained a bit of interest.

Lu Dou pushed himself up with his shattered knee.

Bones barely held together in his flesh.

His body had reached its limit.

But he raised his hand and grabbed the broken White Umbrella.

"Do you want to be a doctor?"

"Then let's see."

"Doctor, can you heal me?"

Lu Dou opened his arms.

All the Weird under his control in the school emitted a sharp, piercing wail simultaneously.

The emotions of the Laughing Demon Infected, the Rules of the strange tales, the dominating power in the Sinful Crown fragments—all flowed back.

The White Umbrella shattered completely.

Gray mist, flesh, smiling faces, and cries all compressed into Lu Dou's body.

His skin split open, and gray-white threads crawled out from the wounds.

The entire school infirmary began to verge on collapse.

Lu Dou raised his head, a smile still hanging on his face.

I don't accept treatment.

I came to kill the doctor.

Carrying energy capable of destroying half a city, Lu Dou charges toward Chu Che.

Admiration rose in Chu Che's eyes.

He didn't defend.

He simply raised his right hand gracefully and snapped his fingers in mid‑air.