Chapter 28: Departed from the World

"What is it, Elder Ge?"

"Come closer... listen to me..." Elder Ge whispered weakly. "Take off my ventilator..."

Xu Chen was startled. He stared straight at the blood oxygen monitor; the levels were already dangerously low. If he actually dared to remove it, he would be guilty of murder.

"Elder Ge, I can't take this off. You really need to keep it on," Xu Chen said with a bitter smile.

Elder Ge struggled to draw a breath. He seemed to want to reach out and remove it himself, but eventually gave up, realizing he no longer had the strength to even lift his hand. The exertion left him gasping for air as if he had just run a hundred-meter dash, and it took a long time for him to recover.

During that brief struggle, Xu Chen had been glued to the monitor. The parameters, already abnormal, had spiked wildly. Had they not leveled off, Xu Chen would have summoned the doctors for emergency resuscitation immediately.

"Then... come closer to me..."

Xu Chen complied.

"Let me tell you about... the dreams I've had every time I closed my eyes lately..."

"Dreams?" Xu Chen frowned. "Elder Ge, what you're saying... you..."

The values on the monitor fluctuated.

"Alright, alright, I'm listening. Please, don't get agitated, Elder Ge."

The readings stabilized.

Elder Ge began to murmur: "I cannot describe what I saw in those dreams. It was boundless, chaotic, and beautiful... matter and time coalesced into a tiny fragment, like stars... scattering."

A look of reminiscence crossed his face. "It was truly... breathtaking."

"Elder Ge? Elder Ge?"

There was no reply. Elder Ge seemed lost in his own consciousness, his instincts muttering: "It was like the starlight of the night, a lamp on a lonely road, dazzling and warm... It was the pursuit of my entire life..."

Xu Chen frowned, watching the monitor. Elder Ge’s heart rate was climbing at an unnatural, steady pace. Even with life-support equipment, it placed an unbearable strain on his failing heart.

Just as Xu Chen grew anxious, perhaps triggered by the threshold, the medication pump on the wall beeped twice, injecting a dose of medicine into Elder Ge. The monitor’s readings eased.

Elder Ge seemed to regain clarity. He blinked with great effort, shaking off his daze. "Phew... that was... close..."

"Elder Ge? What exactly are you trying to tell me?"

"I am describing... my dream. Though describing it seems far too dangerous..." Elder Ge looked at Xu Chen with regret.

Xu Chen was utterly confused. What could possibly be dangerous about a dream? He frowned at the old man.

"Let me describe how it felt," Elder Ge said, steadying himself. "When I first saw that indescribable object, I was ecstatic... That feeling... I cannot forget it. It was a joy far greater than when I first successfully created a missile... a joy no one could refuse..."

"I felt an urge to dedicate everything to it... I craved it... No living creature could refuse it..."

"But what is it? What on earth is it...?"

A look of bewilderment crossed Elder Ge’s face. "How strange... I feel as though I’ve forgotten something..."

His condition seemed dire; his consciousness was likely in extreme chaos, leaving him able only to voice his raw, unfiltered sensations. Yet, no matter how hard Xu Chen tried to discern meaning, he could not understand what the old man was trying to express.

"Elder Ge... please, get to the point."

"This *is* what I am trying to say..."

"If you want to talk about this, you could tell Captain Chu and the others. Why call me?"

Elder Ge suddenly fixed his gaze on Xu Chen. "No, that won't do. You are... more resilient than them. You are not afraid of the erosion..."

Xu Chen looked at Elder Ge, his eyes filled with confusion. Resilient? Erosion? What did those mean?

Seeing the bewilderment in Xu Chen’s eyes, Elder Ge grew anxious. He seemed to have something to say, but couldn't force the words out. The heart rate monitor began to alarm again.

Xu Chen glanced at the monitor, his own panic rising. He wanted to help but didn't know where to start. "Elder Ge, please don't get excited. Tell me slowly, I'm listening."

Elder Ge grew even more distressed. His heart rate soared past the threshold, and the pump beeped again, injecting more medication.

Xu Chen expected the medication to bring the heart rate back to normal, but it kept rising. Fearing the pump was malfunctioning, he reached over to administer the medicine manually.

His hand was suddenly seized by a withered, bony grip. Xu Chen looked down to see Elder Ge—who had used the last of his strength to rip the ventilator from his face—staring at him with an intensity that was terrifying. The pressure in his grip was astonishing.

Xu Chen had never seen a look so insane yet so calm—a contradictory, eerie harmony.

The pump beeped twice more.

"Xu Chen, listen carefully. That object is... indescribable... ineffable... beyond sight and sound. Those who understand it shall find all things joyful..."

After saying this, Elder Ge’s lips continued to move, but no sound came out. He didn't seem to realize it, continuing to try to communicate.

The pump beeped again, injecting more medicine.

Suddenly, Xu Chen understood what Elder Ge was trying to convey. Even without hearing the final words, his face turned pale with shock.

Elder Ge saw the expression on Xu Chen’s face and realized his message had finally been delivered. The madness in his eyes faded, replaced by a sense of relief. Xu Chen felt the old man’s arm go limp, like a machine losing power, drained of all strength.

The pump beeped again.

Elder Ge looked helplessly at the medication pump. His arm could no longer hold onto Xu Chen; it collapsed, unable to support itself, as if he had spent his final reserve of energy.

The pump beeped again. Xu Chen noticed the markings on the syringe had shifted, and he realized with horror that if the pump were working correctly, it had just administered a fatal overdose.

He scrambled to grab the syringe, clamping the infusion tube to stop the flow of medication, and called for the doctors...

...

"Elder Ge died of cardiac arrest caused by a propofol overdose. The root cause was a design error in the medication pump. Given the patient’s condition, we... we did everything we could."

Xu Chen didn't respond. He had seen the pump injecting medicine endlessly. He wasn't a doctor and hadn't realized that the machine meant to save lives could also take them. If he had known, he would have cut the line the second time it beeped.

But his silence was mostly due to that faint, lingering sense of crisis, which seemed to have returned.

In the conference room, all the officers in uniform removed their caps one by one. The civilians followed suit, standing in solemn silence.

"Elder Ge... he lived in anonymity for the country for decades. The nation's most critical assets, the Osprey systems, were all his creations. The ocean is many times larger than the land, and the territory he secured for our nation spans far beyond thousands of miles... Lian Gaoming."

"Yes!"

"Contact the central command... tell them Elder Ge passed away today due to illness. The whole nation mourns!"

"Understood!" After the lead officer gave the order, a non-commissioned officer pulled out a communication device. It was far more powerful than a mobile phone—a military-grade satellite communicator that relied on no ground stations, possessing high resistance to interference and electronic warfare.

"Nanhua Military Region calling central command... At 10:24 on the 4th, due to illness, at Nanhua Military Hospital, he has passed away..."

"Heaven and Earth mourn together; the mountains and rivers weep for his departure!"