The ground dragon reached the underside of the outermost point-defense cannon and sprayed the barrel with strong acid.
With a deafening roar, like the explosion of thousands of kilograms of aerial bombs, the point-defense cannon detonated. Flames engulfed the surrounding ground dragons, blowing nearby people away like fallen leaves. The entire camp lit up as if it were daytime.
The point-defense cannons within the camp activated and fired again with thunderous volleys, clearing out the last few ground dragons.
The battle was over.
The entire rainforest was a sea of fire, with hundreds and thousands of trees burning simultaneously. The ashes of the leaves fell like black snow. The ground dragons that had fallen in the forest were roasted until they sizzled and oozed oil, shriveling and cracking to reveal their stark white skeletons. The human corpses within the mechs were also burned to a crisp, and the air was filled with the smell of scorching.
Jiang Ye's account was depleted. If there was another wave of ground dragons, they wouldn't be able to hold on.
Fortunately, killing so many ground dragons had earned them a large number of merit points. Jiang Ye gave the order for everyone to submit their merit points, which were then exchanged for money to repurchase the destroyed point-defense cannons.
Jiang Ye logged off and detached himself from the remote control cabin.
He collapsed onto the floor of his home and began to vomit.
Two sweeping robots rushed over upon hearing the sound, vying to clean up the mess like two dogs fighting for food.
Jiang Ye went to the restroom, ate a simple meal, and then left to get into his car, setting his destination for the Binhai City Hospital.
A light rain was falling, deepening the color of the entire plain by a few shades. In the distance, some green could be seen – it was the sand-fixing grass spreading wildly. Rainwater streamed down the car windows, but no water droplets lingered because the windows were made of waterproof material.
Jiang Ye dozed off. When he opened his eyes again, the car had already landed at the hospital entrance.
The car door lifted, and he got out. He suddenly realized he had forgotten to change his clothes and was still wearing his pajamas and slippers.
After a moment of hesitation, Jiang Ye still entered the hospital. Since he was already here, going back to change would be too much trouble.
Upon entering, he encountered a robot.
"Where do you feel unwell?" the robot asked, stopping Jiang Ye.
"I feel unwell all over," Jiang Ye said. "Every time I come out of the remote control cabin, I vomit and can't recover for a long time."
The robot was silent for two seconds. "Go upstairs, turn right, and the second room on your left. Find Dr. Tiffany; she should be able to help you."
"Don't I need to register?" Jiang Ye asked.
"What is registration?" the robot asked, confused.
"It's nothing, you carry on," Jiang Ye said, quickly walking away.
Going upstairs and turning right, the second room's sign read "Non-Acute Special Illness: Tiffany."
He knocked on the door.
"Please come in!" a woman's voice called out.
Jiang Ye pushed the door open and paused slightly. This doctor was so beautiful! She had tortoiseshell eyes, blonde hair, and healthy wheat-colored skin. She wore a white coat, but her long legs were visible beneath it.
"Please sit," Tiffany said, gesturing to the seat beside her. "Where do you feel unwell?"
Jiang Ye sat down. "Do you know about remote control cabins?"
"Yes," Tiffany nodded, her expressionless face belying the intent in her eyes that she was listening carefully.
"Every time I come out of a remote control cabin, I get dizzy and vomit, and my whole body feels weak. It's been getting worse with each subsequent time," Jiang Ye said. "I don't know why. Others don't have such strong reactions when they come out of remote control cabins."
"When was the last time you came out of a remote control cabin?" Tiffany asked.
"About forty-five minutes ago," Jiang Ye said, glancing at his phone.
"Give me your wrist," Tiffany said.
Jiang Ye paused and rolled up the sleeve of his right arm. He had expected Tiffany to draw blood, but instead, she pressed on his pulse, closed her eyes, and began to take his pulse.
Jiang Ye found the scene of a Caucasian female doctor taking his pulse to be incredibly surreal.
Tiffany opened her eyes, pulled over a prescription pad, and quickly wrote a long list of items. She tore off a sheet and handed it to Jiang Ye.
"Go to the top floor to get the medicine according to this prescription. Drink one packet a day, and it should help alleviate the symptoms, but it won't cure it."
Jiang Ye looked at the prescription slip in his hand. It listed over twenty traditional Chinese medicinal herbs. Besides "licorice" and "sour jujube seed," he didn't recognize any of the others, such as "Fu Shen, Ye Jiao Teng, Sheng Long Gu," and so on.
"What exactly is my condition, and where can I get it cured?" Jiang Ye asked.
"Do you know about 3D vertigo?" Tiffany asked in return.
"Feeling dizzy when watching 3D movies or playing games?" Jiang Ye asked.
"Exactly. Specifically, it's characterized by a drop in blood pressure, slow and deep breathing, nystagmus, and severe vomiting leading to dehydration and electrolyte imbalance," Tiffany explained. "Your condition belongs to the same broad category as 3D vertigo. To be precise, it's not a disease but a special constitution, with the underlying cause being certain Neanderthal genes within your body. Do you know about Neanderthals? They were a very early extinct human species. Our ancestors interbred with Neanderthals, hence some of their genes remain."
"Your problem lies in your consciousness being overly sensitive to connection. Spending a long time in a remote control cabin will cause dizziness and discomfort in your brain, producing effects similar to seasickness or airsickness. Of course, this is just my preliminary diagnosis and may not be accurate. If you want to confirm it, you can get a genetic diagnosis. Coincidentally, our hospital has just reached a cooperation agreement with the Genetic Research Institute, and a gene analyzer was delivered the day before yesterday. However, the cost is quite high; a single genetic analysis costs ten thousand yuan."
"Let's do one," Jiang Ye said.
Tiffany stood up. "Come with me."
Jiang Ye followed her onto the elevator and into a spacious room. A large, cylindrical machine, as big as an old locomotive, stood imposingly in the center of the room.
"Would you like a full panel or just the consciousness connection sensitivity test?" Tiffany asked, clicking on the instrument's screen.
"What does a full panel mean?"
"It means testing all your gene loci and exporting all results, including ancestry analysis, tumor risk, mental health, physical appearance traits, disease risks, and daily life, among other things. There are over a hundred major categories and more than 2,000 sub-items," Tiffany said. "A single test costs ten thousand yuan, and the full panel is four hundred thousand yuan, with installment payment options available."
"The full panel, please," Jiang Ye said.
"Please make the payment here with facial recognition," Tiffany said, pointing to the camera on the instrument.
Jiang Ye walked over and heard a beep.
Tiffany looked at the screen and smiled. "You share the same name as the planet's Grand Marshal."
"Yes, it's quite a coincidence," Jiang Ye smiled. "How should I proceed with the test?"
"Pluck a strand of hair, spit out 10 milliliters of saliva, and collect 10 milliliters of urine," Tiffany said, taking out three small collection kits from the side of the machine and turning her back. "You can collect them here."
Jiang Ye felt a bit embarrassed and also turned his back, first collecting his urine. Then he plucked a strand of hair and spat into the container.
"All done, Doctor," Jiang Ye said.
Tiffany turned around, inserted the three collection kits into the machine, and the entire machine emitted a sound similar to a large microwave oven. A progress bar appeared on the screen.
It was faster than expected; it was finished in less than a minute.
The machine printed rapidly, quickly spitting out a thick book of over two hundred pages, with the cover reading "Jiang Ye Genetic Testing Report."