"What!!"
Gavial was dumbfounded, her eyes wide and her mouth slightly agape in an 'O' shape. Her crocodile tail thrashed about, striking the deck floor with a series of thumps, a sight rather similar to how Zumama used to be.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!!"
"When I left, Zumama was still wandering around the Eunectes Tribe. She couldn't even read a single word back then. How could she have gotten into a university so quickly!"
Lucas Reeve nodded.
Shattering Gavial's last shred of hope.
"It's true..."
"You can check her student records if you don't believe me..."
Lucas Reeve took the phone Gavial handed him and skillfully opened the Columbia University official website. He entered Zumama's account and password for the site. Lucas Reeve had been the one to set up the account for her. After all, it was university, and some elective courses needed to be registered for quickly. At the time, Zumama had no idea how to use a computer and had to ask Lucas Reeve to help her.
After clicking login.
A picture of a stoic-faced Zumama appeared on the screen, with the name 'Zumama' below it, and her college: School of Artificial Intelligence and Mechanics...
"This..."
Gavial was utterly speechless.
It's real!!
That photo is definitely Zumama!
She never thought.
After not seeing her for a few years.
She was actually in university...
"No, I have to take a leave of absence and make a trip to Columbia. Amiya."
Amiya looked troubled. "That might not be possible right now. The aircraft just finished a transport run. However, we now have a partnership with Raythean Medica, so we'll be making frequent trips to Columbia in the future. You can come with us on our next trip."
"Alright!"
The news about Zumama sent Gavial into deep thought.
She never imagined that her old friend had now surpassed her again.
No way!
I want to go to university too! I can't let Zumama beat me in education!!
Gavial secretly vowed to prepare for this year's exams. *A hundred days of hard work, I want to go to Columbia University!!*
After Gavial left in a daze.
Amiya continued to show Lucas Reeve around.
There weren't many doctors at Rhodes Island. Besides Gavial, they didn't meet many others along the way. When they reached the medical area on the third floor, Warfarin was already waiting at the entrance. As the manager of Rhodes Island's blood bank and the one and only designated master of blood testing, Warfarin knew her chance had come, and that Kal'tsit would surely give her tacit approval.
"Doctor, it's time for your physical."
Warfarin smiled sweetly.
White hair, red eyes, black stockings, a vampire, a little girl who was hundreds of years old.
All these elements combined would make many an old-school otaku's eyes light up.
The moment Warfarin's pink tongue glanced at Lucas Reeve, she licked her blood-red lips, instantly maxing out her allure. A pity her figure wasn't up to par; she wasn't quite a glamorous, seductive vampire big sister.
Amiya didn't stop her, so it must have been a standard procedure.
However, unlike other traditional physical exams, the first item wasn't a blood draw for analysis but started with a CT scan. The whole process didn't take long. The final blood test was saved by Warfarin for last. Her expression and habit reminded Lucas Reeve of how predators like to save the tastiest part for last to savor slowly.
Warfarin had Lucas Reeve sit in her office.
She then changed into a very formal outfit and even, like at some high-end establishments in Victoria, tied a bib around her collar. In her hands were not a knife and fork, but a syringe and vials for drawing blood.
Warfarin told Lucas Reeve to extend his arm.
As she came into such close contact with Lucas Reeve, for a moment, she felt a daze. In front of her, Lucas Reeve was like a ginseng fruit, incredibly tempting. Warfarin's face began to flush, and her legs fidgeted and rubbed against each other nonstop.
The black stockings under her skirt made a rustling sound from the constant friction, making one's heart itch.
The needle slowly pierced Lucas Reeve's skin. As a streak of red blood flowed out from the syringe, a fragrance imperceptible to ordinary people nearly made Warfarin lose control. Fearing she'd be hung from the mast's crow's nest by Kal'tsit, Warfarin forcefully suppressed her desires.
After filling five small vials in a row.
Warfarin reluctantly pulled out the needle, and then... did something that would shock Lucas Reeve for the next ten years.
Warfarin placed the tip of the needle, which still had traces of Lucas Reeve's blood, in her mouth and sucked on it. Then, she carefully opened one of the vials, and from somewhere, produced a wine glass. She poured a tiny bit of blood from the vial into the glass and, like a Victorian noble drinking expensive red wine, took a small sip. All that was missing was classical, elegant music and a tuxedo.
Instantly.
The rich taste of blood nearly broke Warfarin's composure.
Her face instantly turned the color of a shrimp in hot water, a shade of red only seen in doujinshi. Pink hearts flashed in her eyes, and white steam began to pour from her nostrils and the top of her head as her whole body started to convulse.
As if...
She had climaxed.
At that moment... Lucas Reeve was afraid Warfarin would transform from a beautiful girl into a lamprey...
Fortunately, she didn't transform, otherwise her beautiful girl image might have been shattered.
After savoring the blood from this body that had nearly made her suffocate with desire, Warfarin clutched the remaining four test tubes as if they were treasure and placed them in the refrigerator in her room.
"Diluted with water, this could last me three years..."
"Alright, Doctor, you can go now. Your body is fine, just a little weak. Your blood still tastes as sweet as ever~ Tsk tsk, it's a shame my fellow Vampires will probably never imagine in their lifetimes that such wonderful blood exists in this world. Even the Vampire Lord is no match for me."
Lucas Reeve was speechless.
He had originally thought the blood test would be like in Columbia, using machines for analysis. He never expected it to be Warfarin having a taste...
Ah, this...
After the physical exam, when Lucas Reeve and Amiya arrived at the second-floor recreation area, they found a large, lively crowd gathered in the hallway.
"Make way, make way!!"
"The second Rhodes Island Office Chair Race is starting!! Kal'tsit's not here, so let's go wild!! In the lead now are Scout and Logos!!"
As Amiya and the Doctor reached the second floor.
Two figures sitting on office chairs whizzed past them, moving so fast they were practically on par with motorcycles.
Amiya: "....."
Lucas Reeve: "....."
"Yeah! I win!!"
After a moment, a very handsome young man stood up and shouted excitedly, then patted the shoulder of the runner-up beside him.
"Scout, you're not good enough."
A large cross-shaped vein popped on Scout's forehead.
Suddenly.
The crowd that had been cheering wildly in the spacious second-floor hallway saw Amiya coming down the stairs.
Instantly.
Like mice seeing a cat return home, they scattered in all directions. It wasn't that they were afraid of Amiya, but they knew Amiya and Kal'tsit had gone to Columbia on a business trip. Now that Amiya was back, Kal'tsit was definitely back too.
Suddenly.
Scout noticed another familiar figure beside Amiya. He frowned slightly, then looked a little surprised.
"Doctor?!"
"Amiya, isn't the Doctor..."
Amiya smiled. "Due to some special circumstances, it seems the Doctor woke up on his own ahead of schedule. However, he seems to have lost his memories."
"Doctor, let me introduce you. This is Scout, also a former colleague of ours from Babel."
"Hello..."
Lucas Reeve looked the runner-up of the office chair race up and down. He was also in the category of Elite Operators, with decent strength. However, the other person was completely different. That operator named Logos... the first time Lucas Reeve saw him, he sensed the terrifying power emanating from him, far surpassing that of an Elite Operator. He never thought that Rhodes Island had such a powerhouse hidden within its ranks.
"Yo, isn't it the Doctor?"
Logos also walked over. According to Amiya's introduction, this handsome and incredibly powerful man was also from the Babel era. His race in Kazdel was Banshee.
Banshee...
Upon hearing this race, Lucas Reeve looked him up and down nonstop.
As everyone knows, it's not uncommon for a Banshee to be male.
Afterward, Amiya took Lucas Reeve to see many other places, including his future dorm and office, and most importantly, the archives. There, Amiya even took out many of the top-tier papers Lucas Reeve had written in the past, hoping they would awaken his former memories.
However.
After reading them, Lucas Reeve had only one question.
*I wrote this?*
*Was I that brilliant?*
It felt like being a senior in university looking at your old college entrance exam paper and falling into a deep silence. *I wrote this? Was I that smart in my senior year of high school? Why can I only scroll through my phone and eat now?*
After touring the entire Rhodes Island, it was almost dinner time.
As Lucas Reeve and Amiya entered the dining hall, they saw Kal'tsit walking out with a take-out dinner. Upon seeing Lucas Reeve, she gave him a cold look, lifted her white chin, snorted, and turned to leave. Just as she took a step, she seemed to remember something. After a moment of hesitation, she turned back and said in an icy tone.
"Since you've come to Rhodes Island, you naturally have to make yourself useful..."
"Come to the conference room with Amiya at seven tonight. I will be conducting an assessment."
"Dr. Kal'tsit! The Doctor just got back, and he has amnesia..."
Amiya wanted to speak up for Lucas Reeve. After all, she had promised Miss Jessica that she would definitely take good care of the Doctor and not let him suffer any grievances at Rhodes Island.
"Hmph..."
Kal'tsit said nothing, just snorted and turned to leave.
Lucas Reeve stood there, watching Kal'tsit's departing figure. He felt that both Kal'tsit and Amiya were deliberately hiding something, hiding some part of his past. Amiya always described him as a gentle and kind person, but...
Lucas Reeve's senses were very sharp.
Whether it was ACE or Scout, these Elite Operators who were familiar with the past 'Doctor', although their eyes showed respect and trust for him, within that respect and trust, there was a faint hint of fear and apprehension. Combined with Kal'tsit's attitude, Lucas Reeve felt that the past Doctor, which is to say, himself, had definitely done something major and was hiding something.
The food at Rhodes Island was good. The dining hall offered various types of cuisines, a paradise for food lovers.
After eating, Amiya went with Lucas Reeve to the conference room to face Kal'tsit's test.
When Lucas Reeve arrived, Kal'tsit, that ten-thousand-year-old lynx, was already sitting in the office waiting. Besides her, ACE, Scout, and a group of other Elite Operators familiar with the former Doctor were also in the office.
They all looked at Lucas Reeve with a peculiar expression.
Trust mixed with fear and apprehension, two emotions that shouldn't appear together, were intertwined. They had already been briefed on Lucas Reeve's situation by Kal'tsit.
"You were two minutes away from being late."
Kal'tsit glanced at her watch and said coldly.
"First, complete this test paper, Doctor."
"All the questions inside are from the papers you previously authored."
Lucas Reeve was speechless.
For a moment, he already regretted coming here. It was so comfortable in Columbia. Jessica followed him around all day, sweetly calling him Mr. Reeve, and cute little Ceobe chased him, calling him big brother. Wasn't that life comfortable? He never expected to have to take exams upon coming to Rhodes Island!!
As for recovering his memory.
Anyway, Lucas Reeve had toured the entirety of Rhodes Island under Amiya's guidance and hadn't recovered a single shred of memory. Not only had he not recovered anything, he didn't even have the slightest impression of the place.
Lowering his head to look at his own past papers, Lucas Reeve fell into deep thought...
*I don't understand any of it. Was I really that brilliant back then?*
As for the second item, the tactical simulation, the results were also disastrous. Lucas Reeve had no idea how to command in battle. He only knew how to call for armed air support, summon a Titan, or... a full-scale slaughter by a pure-blooded Wendigo.
After several assessments.
Kal'tsit was left speechless.
The original reason for agreeing to let the Doctor return was purely because he might be of some use, able to share her workload.
However...
The result was far from satisfactory.
Not only did the Doctor have amnesia.
He had a complete case of it. He had forgotten everything. Not only who he was and his past, but even the knowledge in his mind and the tactical memories that were once almost second nature to his body were gone. Which meant...
Kal'tsit looked up at the Lucas Reeve in front of her.
This Doctor before her!
Could only eat, and nothing else...
*Damn it!*
Kal'tsit was now completely at a loss for words.
Looking at this innocent, handsome face that she instinctively disliked, even Kal'tsit herself didn't know what expression to make.
Amiya was also a bit embarrassed at this moment. She also hadn't expected the Doctor to have truly forgotten everything, a stark contrast to the battlefield god of death feared by countless people in the past.
But!
Even if the Doctor can't do anything, it doesn't matter. This kind of Doctor is also very cute!!
*I'll take care of you, Doctor!!*
Amiya secretly made up her mind!!