Healing Doctor

Chapter 778 The Future of Cyberpunk

"Spend some time chatting with the old folks." Ji Xiang patted Lin Jiuze on the shoulder. "Go home and visit more often when you have time. Your dad is quite interesting."

"Heh." Lin Jiu's face was gloomy, and he gave a cold snort.

"Just washing your feet? You're a professor at MIT, are you worried the old man will bankrupt you?"

"It has absolutely nothing to do with spending money."

"Hey, take it easy, you're getting on in years," Ji Xiang comforted him. "Old people just want to have fun, talking to them is good too. By the way, did your dad build a ternary computer when he was young?"

"Um."

"That would be a real shame."

Lin Jiu had something he wanted to say, but he hesitated for a moment and didn't say it.

Ji Xiang also sensed that Lin Jiu was about to say something, but he didn't ask, and went back to the hotel to wash up and rest.

Lying on the hotel bed, Ji Xiang held his breath and entered the system space.

After greeting the system NPC, Ji Xiang told the system NPC everything that Lin Jiuze's father had said that day.

Especially since Lin Jiuze's father said they were among the last few generations of doctors, Ji Xiang was determined to get to the bottom of this.

The system NPC remained calm. "Oh, we're on two different paths. You know, a country can't bet all its resources on one path. After all, if one researcher goes in the wrong direction, it's just their problem; but if the country goes in the wrong direction, it's a problem for over a billion people."

Ji Xiang's expression shifted slightly.

"Doctors will be replaced sooner or later, he's right, it's just that the description of the third and fourth generations is slightly off." The system NPC gave Ji Xiang an affirmative answer.

"Teacher, what exactly do you mean by different routes?"

"Hehe." The system NPC chuckled without saying a word, but in an instant, he asked with a smile, "Dr. Ji, your skills are getting better and better. Will artificial intelligence eventually surpass you, and will you then use all the resources at your disposal to do everything in your power to prevent the emergence of artificial intelligence?"

"what?"

Ji Xiang didn't understand.

"With the advent of artificial intelligence, your importance will inevitably decline." The system NPC looked at Ji Xiang and stated a fact calmly.

"From being highly influential and universally welcomed to being forgotten after leaving, many retired leaders cannot stand this change, and it is common for them to even fall ill because of it."

"I don't think so." Ji Xiang knew the topic was serious, so he didn't laugh but said very seriously.

"Hehe, that's not necessarily true." The system NPC looked at Ji Xiang with a smile. "People always get old. The boy who once fought the dragon will eventually become the dragon himself."

"Teacher, I have a question I shouldn't ask, what about you?" Ji Xiang asked, somewhat unconvinced and with a slightly sharp tone.

"Hehe." The system NPC wasn't angry; instead, he looked at Ji Xiang and smiled kindly.

Ji Xiang knew he had been too blunt, so he steered the conversation back on track, "Teacher, what will healthcare be like in the future?"

The system NPC asked, "Want to give it a try?"

"Uh..." Ji Xiang hesitated for a moment, then looked up curiously, "Teacher, is it really possible to live without doctors in the future? I always feel that cold machines can't replace us."

The system NPC smiled without saying a word.

"Teacher, were there really no doctors left in your time?"

"And another thing," the system NPC said, "but it's completely different from my current job."

"Teacher, I'll go take a look!" Ji Xiang was even more interested in this.

"It's actually quite boring, just like you said, the machines are cold."

Ji Xiang remained silent, simply staring longingly at the system NPC.

"Let's go take a look." The system NPC understood Ji Xiang's meaning. He smiled slightly and slowly led Ji Xiang to the next room.

"I really miss the days when there were doctors."

"Why, teacher?"

The system NPC did not answer Ji Xiang's question; he continued to ramble on like an elderly person.

"But there were also many advantages back then; you'll see when you go."

A flash of light appeared, and a familiar voice suddenly rang in Ji Xiang's ears.

"Xiao Ji, hang in there! Don't fall asleep! Wake up, you fucking wake up!!"

It's Shen Lang!

At the same time, a sharp pain shot through my left leg.

"Damn it!" Ji Xiang cursed.

"You still have your phone. While you're still conscious, hurry up and reflash it!" Shen Lang handed over the phone and said urgently.

Ji Xiang remained silent.

"Hurry! The ambulance will be here soon."

"Brother Lang... there's nothing on my phone that I'm ashamed of," Ji Xiang said, enduring the pain.

"Stop talking nonsense, who would dare show their phone to someone?" Shen Lang muttered as he grabbed Ji Xiang's hand and shoved the phone into his hand.

"Brother Lang, I'm really fine." Ji Xiang smiled bitterly, only saying half of what he meant.

"Don't fall asleep!" Shen Lang ripped open Ji Xiang's shirt and listened to Ji Xiang's breathing. "It's nothing serious, talk to me for a while. There's nothing left to do now, there's no way to save him, so please don't fall asleep."

"Brother Lang, I'll be fine." Ji Xiang felt a sense of familiarity with Shen Lang and comforted him in return.

"I know, I had rabies back then and I was fine, so what's this compared to that?" Shen Lang said, suddenly picking up the jade pendant that had fallen to the ground.

"Damn, Xiao Ji, this thing is broken." Ji Xiang was stunned for a moment, then remembered where the thing came from.

One day, a monk came to the department to beg for alms. Shen Lang asked him to recite the Diamond Sutra, and he would give him money if he could recite it.

But Ji Xiang found it too tedious and spent 100 yuan to buy a jade pendant.

The monk claimed it had been blessed, and Ji Xiang, knowing it was fake, still wore it all the time.

"See? What did I tell you? This thing blocked a way for you," Shen Lang said.

"Brother Lang, you seemed to have said back then that this thing was completely useless." Ji Xiang had nothing to say about Shen Lang's opportunistic style.

"I can't admit I misread it," Shen Lang said nonchalantly, chatting with Ji Xiang about this and that. "I heard from Wen that this stuff costs 400 yuan a ton in Yiwu. Tell me, how long can it last?"

"It's a one-off deal," Ji Xiang laughed. "If we both lose our jobs, Brother Lang, you take me to sell jade pendants."

Huh? Why did I say I was unemployed?

Just as Ji Xiang was about to recall, a sharp pain interrupted his thoughts.

"I've actually done some research on it." Shen Lang chuckled. "What you're selling is all about creating a psychological expectation."

"What?"

"The quality is extremely poor, otherwise they wouldn't be selling it by the ton. It will definitely break down in one or two years, so they can't sell the good quality ones."

"Why?" Ji Xiang saw the light shining in Shen Lang's eyes.

"It breaks down once a year. This is what protects you from disaster. Don't you think you should buy another one... or ask for another one?" Shen Lang laughed. "This is a long-term business. What you're selling is peace of mind."

"Tch." Ji Xiang utterly despised Shen Lang's nonsense.

"Cheer up! You look so listless." Shen Lang patted Ji Xiang's shoulder forcefully.

"It's nothing, I just had a bit of trouble breathing after you hit me a couple of times, I guess it's because... cough cough cough~" Ji Xiang started coughing.

"I checked, no broken ribs. Why are you being so delicate, a grown man like you?" Shen Lang said. "Hang in there, you're lucky today."

Ji Xiang looked at the twisted and deformed car that had been hit not far away and felt a sense of fear.

"You're not married yet, so think more about romantic moments and sweet nothings."

"Brother Lang, what are you saying? You're not married either."

"If you get married, you'll still get divorced. I might as well not get married at all, and that'll be the end of it all." Shen Lang said this inappropriately, his eyes looking into the distance.

An ambulance, much larger than Ji Xiang remembered, rushed over with its siren blaring.

Ji Xiang even felt that the car had no wheels.

Perhaps it was just his imagination, but Ji Xiang's current position didn't allow him to examine the structure of the 120 ambulance closely.

Shen Lang let out a long breath.

"Brother Lang, why does this car look so big?" Ji Xiang asked, puzzled.

But as the ambulance sped over, the snake-and-sword emblem on it clearly came into view, confirming that I hadn't misread it.

"Are you really dazed from the hit?" Shen Lang placed his hand on Ji Xiang's radial artery. "His blood pressure is alright. Let's talk in the car."

The ambulance almost drifted to a stop less than 5 meters in front of Ji Xiang.

The car door opened, and two... two... stiff-looking robots stepped out of the car.

This is truly science fiction!

Ji Xiang suddenly remembered that they had just talked about unemployment, and it seemed to be related to them.

Although the robots look clumsy, they are actually extremely fast. They have no human senses, nor do they have emotions. After getting off the robot, they immediately start measuring blood pressure and performing physical examinations.

After examination, no vertebral injury was found, and Ji Xiang was diagnosed with a femoral shaft fracture. He was then lifted onto a stretcher.

It's different; it's definitely different from what I imagined and from reality.

The robot carries the stretcher more smoothly, and there is no vibration even when it is being loaded onto the vehicle or when the stretcher is moving along the pulleys.

This stuff works! Ji Xiang thought.

The joy and pleasure of seeing new and exciting things made Ji Xiang forget his pain instantly.

He estimates that he weighs about 180 pounds. If the medical staff jumping off the ambulance and the stretcher bearers were to carry him up, it would take 3-4 people to get him up there.

And it's not certain... it definitely won't be stable, and you'll suffer some hardships.

The robot wasn't incredibly strong, but it was strong enough to lift itself, and had plenty of strength left over, without any vibration or aggravation of the wound.

Ji Xiang recalls that border guards and food delivery workers had just started using exoskeletons, robotic arms, and the like.

Just as he was thinking, Ji Xiang's train of thought was suddenly interrupted.

In Ji Xiang's mind, an ambulance was just an ambulance, but as he lay on the stretcher, a curved metal object suddenly enveloped him.

A halo of light can be seen flashing inside the curved metal object.

"Brother Lang, what the hell is this thing!" Ji Xiang shouted.

"Is something wrong with your head too?" Shen Lang wondered, but he only muttered one sentence to himself before shouting loudly to make Ji Xiang quiet. In the meantime, Shen Lang put on a lead apron.

"Buzz buzz buzz~"

A buzz of fame arose.

Ji Xiang couldn't see the images outside, but Shen Lang could. He comforted Ji Xiang, "It's okay, the pressure is 90. Right now it looks like a simple femoral shaft fracture. Just go to the hospital for surgery."

"What is this?" Ji Xiang asked subconsciously, then immediately searched for relevant memories in his mind.

It turns out that emergency care is now being conducted on the 120 ambulance using AI to make its own judgments and perform examinations.

Miniaturized CT scanners and other imaging devices can diagnose the vast majority of emergency injuries with a high probability.

All of this does not require the presence of human doctors; all that is needed is for the patient's family members to comfort the patient.

The next second, Ji Xiang felt his arms being bound, followed by a slight stinging pain.

Uh……

The machine has begun to establish an intravenous line for itself and to draw blood.

Most importantly, the blood sample was not kept; it was sent to the emergency laboratory for testing at the hospital. Ji Xiang saw the machine's light flashing, indicating that it was being tested.

Sure enough, less than a minute later, Shen Lang said, "Your hemoglobin is fine, so you don't need a transfusion for now. All the other tests are normal. See, your brother Lang still has the basic skills, right? I told you you're fine."

Ji Xiang was somewhat taken aback; he hadn't expected that his emergency examination would be completed before he even arrived at the hospital.

That speed!

It truly lives up to its reputation as the future of healthcare.

Looking around, Ji Xiang saw oxygen, and even equipment such as ventilators.

They just don't look quite the same as I remember them.

Soon, the ambulance came to a steady stop. Shen Lang didn't go forward to lend a hand; he simply stayed by Ji Xiang's side, comforting him.

The stretcher was lowered, the wheels popped out, and it transformed into a flatbed, automatically cruising towards the emergency department.

Damn it!

Ji Xiang felt like he was a piece of cargo.

A stretcher "drove" out of the emergency room and passed right by Ji Xiang.

However, the patient was not accompanied by any family members, so he was probably an "anonymous" person.

The gurney did not go to the emergency room as Ji Xiang had "guessed," but instead went to the operating room.

Up until this point, Ji Xiang hadn't encountered a doctor or nurse; the whole process felt like a ghost story.

"Brother Lang, where is he?" Ji Xiang asked.

"A person? What person?"

"Doctor, nurses, where are you all? Why is it so quiet here? Are you playing a prank on me?"

"Is there something wrong with his brain?" Shen Lang muttered to himself in surprise. He then turned around, found the machine, and reviewed the head CT images. After looking at them repeatedly for more than ten seconds, he carefully read the diagnosis given by the intelligent system.

"It's nothing, why are you talking nonsense?" Shen Lang asked, puzzled.

Ji Xiang's mind was in turmoil. He vaguely remembered that there were very few doctors in this era, and they weren't called doctors; they were more like maintenance or upgrade engineers.

There was no sound in the operating room; many items were sliding on the magnetic levitation track, as if it were haunted.

Ji Xiang could "hear" a buzzing sound in his ears. Although he knew it was all an illusion, the place without sound was too strange, and Ji Xiang found it hard to accept for a while.

"Xiao Ji, you only have a broken skeletal bone, it's okay, you'll be discharged soon after the surgery," Shen Lang comforted him.

"Brother Lang, who's going to perform my surgery?"

Shen Lang looked at Ji Xiang as if he were an idiot, and reached out to pat his head.

"If it's not burning, it shouldn't be a problem with the AI ​​system." Shen Lang then joked self-deprecatingly, "In all these years, the AI ​​system has only had 3 suspected cases of problems. Its diagnosis and misdiagnosis rates are much more stable than ours... and even more stable than human doctors."

Ji Xiang was somewhat bewildered.

He immediately saw a bag of fresh, frozen blood plasma "slide" along the magnetic levitation track.

The robotic arm attaches fresh frozen plasma, while a suspension of red blood cells slides over at the same time.

The entire rescue process was carried out silently, and Ji Xiang felt like he was dreaming.

"Brother Lang".

"Hmm, what's wrong, Xiao Ji?"

"Tell me a story," Ji Xiang said slowly, no longer pressing for details, and asked Shen Lang to tell him a story.

As he spoke, Ji Xiang carefully observed the rescue process.

The room should be a complete machine, with its own vital signs and such stored in the main unit, and various actions taken based on changes in the vital signs.

Treatment includes, but is not limited to, blood transfusions, intravenous infusions, monitoring vital signs, and preparing for surgery.

"Don't overthink it," Shen Lang laughed. "We're already at the hospital, I'm not worried about you sleeping. Xiao Ji, why don't you take a nap?"

Ji Xiang widened his eyes and shook his head. A dozen minutes later, a voice came through the walkie-talkie.

It wasn't a cold, mechanical female voice, but a nurse's gentle voice. This must be the person behind it all, Ji Xiang guessed.

The man told Shen Lang through a loudspeaker that they were preparing for surgery and asked the patient's family to leave.

"I'll go sign something, then I'll come back to be with you."

"What should I sign?"

Shen Lang didn't answer Ji Xiang's question; he turned and left in a hurry.

"Of course I need to sign the consent form before the surgery," Ji Xiang thought to himself, cursing himself for being so stupid.

But is Shen Lang qualified to sign? He and I should be colleagues, so even if he did sign, it probably wouldn't have any legal effect.

Ji Xiang was confused.

But before Shen Lang could leave, the machine began to disinfect, and Ji Xiang felt a needle-like pain in his back.

"You are being anesthetized, please be patient."

The woman was still talking.

It was continuous epidural anesthesia, not general anesthesia, Ji Xiang determined.

Moreover, anesthesia does not require positioning the patient; instead, the patient arches their back to open the gap between the vertebrae, making it easier and more convenient for the anesthesiologist to perform a successful puncture.

The intelligent system seems to have X-ray vision, able to "see through" its own body structure at a glance.

After experiencing mild pain, Ji Xiang did not feel too uncomfortable, and as the anesthetic took effect, the pain from the femoral shaft fracture was relieved or even disappeared.

Ji Xiang empathized with the pain of a broken clavicle.

He clearly remembers how desperate he felt when he sat on the makeshift bed in the corridor, too afraid to move while waiting for surgery.

Although the pain was bearable when he wasn't moving, the excruciating pain of having to ask someone for a power bank when his phone ran out of battery was unbearable for Ji Xiang.

Even if they wanted to have surgery, they couldn't. It's said that there's an even more serious emergency in the operating room upstairs—a broken clavicle?

For doctors, it's not an issue at all; even a simple collarbone puncture can heal on its own in a few days.

In this situation, although I had never met a doctor or nurse before, the emergency procedure was carried out in an orderly manner, and from a doctor's perspective, I could not find any problems.

The diagnosis was made during the ambulance ride.

To put it simply, Ji Xiang felt nothing but coldness.

Correct!

I felt nothing!

Ji Xiang suddenly realized this, and he was surprised to notice that his pain seemed to have started to lessen after he got into the ambulance.

As for when the intelligent system administered the pain medication to him, Ji Xiang had no idea!

Why is this happening!

Ji Xiang's education clearly pointed out that painkillers should be used with caution in patients with external injuries.

He had also seen patients writhing in pain, crying out for their parents, and doctors dared not give them any painkillers, for fear that the undetected symptoms might lead to the patient's death.

But intelligent systems are not afraid.

It's estimated that when the IV drip started after I was put in the ambulance, the fluid contained painkillers to relieve the pain caused by the femoral shaft fracture.

Ji Xiang breathed a sigh of relief.

That's incredibly advanced!

Compared to the medical industry I work in, this cold atmosphere felt like something out of Cyberpunk 2077.

But there's absolutely no background of decay or wasteland; all you see is professionalism and indifference.

"Anesthesia complete. Mr. Ji Xiang, please lie down. The surgery will begin at 1'12" and end at 32'22".

Ji Xiang took a deep breath and calmed himself down.

"Here I am," Shen Lang's voice came through.

He changed into sterile gowns and hurriedly entered the operating room.

As Shen Lang entered, the operating room doors closed.

In an instant, Ji Xiang thought of the system's operating room, which seemed to have some similar deconstruction.

"Brother Lang, can you sign the consent form for my surgery? I don't need an immediate family member?" Ji Xiang asked.

"Hey, are you role-playing?" Shen Lang looked at Ji Xiang with some pity. "Little Ji, I miss the days when I was a doctor, but this thing is really useful. Don't get too attached to it."

"..." Ji Xiang was stunned for a moment.

"I'll go sign the papers and request to be with you in the operating room. Because I have a surgeon's license, it's possible," Shen Lang said with a smile. "Don't worry, I definitely won't faint."

"How many people fainted?" Ji Xiang asked.

Shen Lang thought Ji Xiang was just role-playing, and because he was injured, Shen Lang was extremely tolerant of Ji Xiang.

He watched with a smile as the robotic arm disinfected Ji Xiang, chatting casually with Ji Xiang with his hands behind his back. "At the beginning, when the patients' families came in, some vomited in the operating room, and some even had heart attacks from fright. The most outrageous thing was that one patient's family member wanted to fight against the intelligent system to rescue their loved one."

"So a surgical license is required?"

"Yeah, what else?" Shen Lang shrugged. "Don't worry, the surgery will start soon."

The sterile drape blocked Ji Xiang's view.

This seems to be no different from "before".

"Are sorcerers also intelligent systems?"

"Or what?" Shen Lang smiled disdainfully. "Stop pretending to be innocent!"

"..."

"Doctors have a surgical error rate, get fatigued, and their skill levels vary. But these shortcomings simply don't exist in intelligent systems."

"They are forever cold, forever calm, forever indifferent."

At this point, Shen Lang seemed to recall a joke, and he laughed heartily, "Xiao Ji, when I was in school, my history teacher started a lecture with a sentence that shocked me."

"What are you saying?"

"History is just the names of the dead."

"!!!"

Ji Xiang was taken aback.

This statement, at first glance, seems a bit frivolous, just like Shen Lang's.

But the more you savor it, the more flavorful it becomes.

Ji Xiang was shocked by the seemingly cynical structuralism, and ripples stirred deep within his calm heart.

"Impressive, right? I almost had to kneel down to finish the lecture."

"That's really impressive!" Ji Xiang exclaimed.

"But later, the teacher brought up this sentence again, and I listened carefully. This time I understood. The teacher was saying that history makes people wise."

"!!!"

"At that time, I thought that if I heard a sentence, regardless of whether there was a problem with it or not, as long as it was amazing and unique enough, I would regard it as a golden rule."

Is this the root cause of being "always moved to tears, always deceived, and never learning from mistakes"?

"Haha, you're right, aren't you?"

(End of this chapter)