Jiang Ye mobilized all his troops and worked tirelessly until four in the morning, finally escorting the entire merchant caravan into Binhai City.
The Sophia Merchant Group, true to their reputation as smugglers, had hidden many gold bars in each member's backpack. They cut off a portion and handed it to residents of Binhai City who owned houses, renting out entire buildings and demanding the owners vacate within an hour.
Arriving in the middle of the night to rent houses and demanding immediate eviction was quite an overbearing request.
However, no homeowner refused. After weighing a gold bar, which felt like a pound, and seeing the weapons carried by the blue-eyed individuals, refusing seemed rather impolite.
The genuine "cash" transactions weren't for showing off wealth, but because the merchant group members were undocumented. Unable to transact using facial recognition, they could only use precious metals.
The residents of Binhai City were sleepless throughout the night. The spider-like armored vehicles patrolling the streets and the unfamiliar blue-eyed people made them deeply uneasy. Especially after many residents, having received gold bars, were forced out of their homes, causing widespread panic.
What's more, the troops had issued orders prohibiting any inquiry into the origins of the blue-eyed people.
The luxury villas in the hot spring area were also all booked by the merchant group. Only Jiang Ye's villa remained under his control, as he was the commanding officer and deserved some respect.
The luxury villas were converted into temporary medical stations, with armed merchant group members standing guard around them. One life support pod after another was carried in and powered on.
The life support pods consumed an astonishing amount of electricity. Within minutes of being powered on, they consumed Binhai City's electricity for a week. Fortunately, the power grid was robust; otherwise, it truly wouldn't have held up.
Jiang Ye followed Sophia to the adjacent villa, personally observing the merchant group's doctors operating the life support pods.
The life support pods resembled crystal coffins. Severed limbs and broken bodies of the caravan members lay inside, in a deep sleep. There were even individuals whose bodies were blown apart up to their waists.
Upon being powered on, the life support pods immediately began printing body tissues, gradually recreating a person's arms, legs, and various organs. In less than twenty minutes, the disabled individuals were perfectly restored. They would then lift the pod lids, climb out dripping wet, and sit on chairs for doctors to check their reflexes.
Jiang Ye watched, dumbfounded, as disabled people became whole again, breaking out in a cold sweat.
With such a life support pod, prosthetic merchants and surgeons would be out of a job. If a body was blown apart, it could be directly printed and regenerated. Could there be any more "buggy" technology than this?
"Can I buy one of these?" Jiang Ye's heart was instantly moved, and he asked Sophia.
"I can give you a spare one," Sophia said casually, quite generously.
"Thank you so much! What are its specific functions?" Jiang Ye was thrilled.
"It has only two functions: life support and limb regeneration," Sophia said. "Injured individuals are placed inside, and as long as their brain is intact, they can survive temporarily. The life support pod's internal power can sustain them for 72 hours, and it must be powered on within that time. Once sufficient power is supplied, it can print limbs. The printed body tissues will have slight differences from the original, but there will be no rejection."
"Does printing limbs mean printing arms and legs?"
"It can print everything except the brain. As long as the brain is intact, it can bring people back to life. However, if the brain decays, it's impossible," Sophia said. "Even if someone is decapitated, if the head is immediately placed in a life support pod, a complete, living person can be restored in half an hour."
"Incredible!" Jiang Ye's eyes gleamed.
This single machine could handle most emergency medical needs, a true life-saving artifact!
"However, I'd still like to buy a few more," Jiang Ye said after a moment of consideration. "Name your price."
"I cannot sell them to you at the moment; I must ensure the caravan has enough life support pods," Sophia shook her head. "But once we return and finish our rest, you can contact me again, and I can give you a batch at a low price. Duty-free smuggling, 1.2 billion each."
"Deal! It's a promise!" Jiang Ye nodded vigorously.
Although incredibly expensive, it was truly worth it.
The combined cost of various conventional equipment in a hospital would far exceed 1.2 billion, and they might not even be as effective as this life support pod.
The human body printing process lasted for half an hour, finally restoring all the injured to their full health. Doctors busied themselves with disconnecting the power, cooling the life support pods, and splashing water to clean the dark, smelly printing waste fluid on the ground.
"Now that you are all settled, I will take my leave. You should also get some rest," Jiang Ye said, turning to leave.
"Wait a moment," Sophia called out to him. "I want to stay at your place."
Jiang Ye froze. "Then I'll sleep in the base vehicle?"
"No need. Your residence should have plenty of bedrooms. I'll just take an unoccupied one," Sophia explained expressionlessly. "I don't live with my subordinates, but there are no other houses in Binhai City."
"Alright, follow me," Jiang Ye could only agree.
The two left the villa filled with life support pods and walked towards Jiang Ye's residence.
"We'll be leaving in about three days. I have a locator on me, and other members of the caravan will come to pick us up," Sophia said.
"Okay, if you need anything these three days, feel free to ask me. I'll do my best to accommodate you," Jiang Ye nodded.
"Thank you very much. I will also ensure the caravan members behave themselves; they will be very orderly," Sophia nodded.
Jiang Ye's initial nervousness upon meeting her had completely vanished. Sophia had been very gentle so far. Although she always maintained a poker face, she was polite and did not seem like a person of great malice or evil.
Upon reaching the courtyard gate, Jiang Ye used his facial recognition to open the door and gestured for Sophia to enter first.
Sophia walked into the courtyard, scanned her surroundings, and her gaze fell upon the hot spring in the distance.
"Which floor is my room on?" she asked.
"My bedroom is on the top floor. You can pick any other bedroom," Jiang Ye replied.
"Alright, you go rest. There's too much dust. I'm going to soak in the hot spring."
After speaking, Sophia began to undress as if no one else were present. By the time she approached the hot spring, she was completely naked. Her skin was dazzlingly white in the night.
Jiang Ye stood frozen, watching her enter the water, truly blinded by the sight.
She really doesn't treat me like an outsider...
"See no evil," Jiang Ye swallowed and went upstairs to rest.
He slept until one in the afternoon, waking to the intense sunlight.
Jiang Ye stretched, and his body crackled with pops and snaps.
A buzzing sound announced the arrival of the cleaning robot from the doorway. "Master, you have four unread messages."
"Open them," Jiang Ye said.
Holographic projections appeared, and Jiang Ye reviewed them one by one. They were all non-urgent messages. The first was an invitation to the grand opening of a 4S store for Daizong's flying cars, officially selling them and inviting the commanding officer. The remaining three messages were reports from Che Zhen about the army's situation. Last night had been too hectic, so he had taken it upon himself to give the soldiers the morning off.
Jiang Ye put on his clothes and got up to make breakfast. His stomach was rumbling with hunger.
Just as he was about to write a recipe on the food printer, he suddenly remembered that there was a guest in the villa.
Jiang Ye went downstairs to find Sophia, intending to ask her what she wanted to eat.
As soon as he reached the first floor, he saw Sophia and was so shocked that his eyeballs nearly popped out.
She was completely naked, lying stiffly on the sofa, like a corpse awaiting dissection. Sunlight bathed her from head to toe, making her entire body dazzlingly bright.
Jiang Ye quickly turned his head away. "Uh, you're staying at my place... perhaps wear some clothes."
"I can't wear any. I'm photosynthesizing," Sophia said.