I Am Diagnosed as a Medical Titan

Chapter 390: Chapter 255: The Climber Before the Grim Reaper (3)

Jiang He’s expression grew solemn. ”Professor Kang.”

Kang An rose to his feet and simply stared at Jiang He for a long time.

No one knew what he was thinking. It felt as though he had a million things to say, yet the words were caught in his throat, and he couldn’t utter a single one...

In the end,

Kang An squeezed out a smile and gave a thumbs-up. ”Incredible, Jiang He. I saw your press conference. Developing an early screening method for pancreatic cancer at such a young age... You’re truly remarkable...”

Jiang He responded politely.

’He was still a little confused, not understanding why the professor had asked to see him.’

After some praise,

Kang An paused. His tone suddenly turned somber as he said, ”I came here specifically to advise you: it’s best if you don’t touch KRAS.”

Jiang He blinked but said nothing.

Yang Xu sighed beside them and explained to Jiang He, ”Jiang He, Professor Kang has been banging his head against the KRAS gene mutation target for fifteen long years, from 1993 until the beginning of this year.”

’So that’s how it is.’

Jiang He understood instantly.

In fact, humanity had discovered this primary culprit behind pancreatic cancer and many other fatal cancers as early as 1982.

By the early 90s, the global pharmaceutical community was swept up in a frantic race to conquer it.

All the top scientists believed that if they could just inhibit KRAS, they could end cancer.

But reality was cruel.

KRAS was too smooth. Its surface had no indentations, no pockets for small-molecule drugs to bind to...

With the technology available at the time, it was destined to be a bottomless pit.

Kang An gave a strained laugh. ”Director Yang is right. Fifteen years... our lab burned through countless funds. Three hundred and twenty thousand times. We performed three hundred and twenty thousand high-throughput compound screenings...”

”I’m sure you can guess the result.”

”Three hundred and twenty thousand failures.”

”Not a single compound could leave a trace on that smooth protein.”

”We couldn’t even make it to Phase I clinical trials.”

Kang An’s tone wasn’t agitated.

It could even be described as calm.

But beneath that calm lay a profound despair... a despair...

Kang An said wearily, ”At the beginning of this year, the project was shut down, and the lab was disbanded. Fifteen years... all for three hundred and twenty thousand sets of useless, failed data. The state was right to shut it down. It truly is a bottomless pit.”

”Jiang He, you have a limitless future. Take my advice and choose a different path.”

”This is an unclimbable mountain.”

”You will waste all your talent, burn yourself out in this bottomless pit...”

The atmosphere in the room was incredibly oppressive.

The cold reality, built upon three hundred and twenty thousand failures.

But could it break Jiang He?

The answer was no...

On the contrary, it only made the kid more excited.

Jiang He spoke up. ”Professor Kang, where is the data from those three hundred and twenty thousand failed attempts?”

Kang An was stunned. ”Uh, it’s all in the abandoned archives at headquarters. It’s just junk data on compounds that were ruled out as ineffective. It’s worthless.”

”That’s not right, Professor Kang. Eliminating the wrong options is just as valuable. You spent fifteen years proving to all of humankind that those three hundred and twenty thousand paths were dead ends. That’s incredibly useful! I need your data!”

Kang An: ”?”

He glanced at Yang Xu.

Yang Xu was just as dumbfounded.

’How did the story take this kind of turn?’

’This isn’t right!’

”Uh...”

Yang Xu said hesitantly, testing the waters, ”Elder Kang, since Jiang He put it that way... uh, how about... uh... you provide him with the data and let him give it a shot? I mean, that data isn’t being used for anything anyway...”

The moment he heard this,

Kang An’s whole body trembled. His lip quivered with indignation, and it looked as if he was about to cry.

Yang Xu quickly tried to explain. ”No, no, that’s not what I meant when I said it wasn’t useful! Goodness, I meant that the data *is* very useful! See? Jiang He really needs it, right?”

Kang An let out a shaky breath, his eyes red as he looked at Jiang He. ”You... you really want it that badly?”

Jiang He said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, ”Of course. It’s important. It’s incredibly important.”

He thought for a moment before adding:

”Even if I ultimately fail to climb this great mountain, at the very least, standing on the shoulders of those who came before me will help me avoid some of their detours. And then, I can pass the baton to the next runner.”

”Professor Kang, medicine is the science of life. We are all just climbers, struggling desperately against the specter of Death.”

”We keep passing the baton, carrying on the legacy, all for the sake of conquering this mountain.”

”If we do succeed, it won’t be because of one person’s effort. It will be the culmination of the work passed down from one generation to the next.”

”So your efforts were absolutely not in vain. To me, this is...”

”...incredibly important.”

After Jiang He finished speaking,

tears were streaming down Professor Kang’s face.

Though it was hardly the moment for memes, his inner thoughts were startlingly similar to a certain kind of dramatic cry for validation popular in a later era: ’Does anyone even get it?! Fifteen years of hard work, and someone finally recognizes it! *Waaaah*...’

”You...”

Kang An’s breathing grew ragged. He struggled to keep his voice steady. ”What... what else do you need? I can help. I... I have so much experience!”

Yang Xu scratched his head.

’This wasn’t how he intended for things to go, but... oh well, it works, I guess.’

’Jiang He was always the one to create miracles.’

’What if?’

’Just like Jiang He said, it’s not about conquering pancreatic cancer in their lifetime.’

’If he could just solve one piece of the puzzle and pave the way for those who come after, that would be an amazing accomplishment in itself.’

Jiang He nodded. ”Professor Kang, bring the data to Yangcheng. I have great need for your experience as well. Join my team.”

Tears streamed down the old professor’s face as he nodded vigorously.

The tears of fifteen years of frustration and bitterness... how could they possibly stop flowing?

Jiang He didn’t disturb him any further and took his leave politely.

Yangcheng.

A city brimming with vitality.

But in the hospitals, the King of Cancers was ruthlessly and indiscriminately reaping lives, destroying one happy family after another.

’Why do people have to get sick?’

KRAS.

The undruggable target.

Three hundred and twenty thousand failures.

It was a declaration of war from the King of Cancers.

Even Jiang He couldn’t say he was completely confident.

He could only repeat a single phrase in his mind three times.

’I’ll fucking take you on.’

’I’ll fucking take you on.’

’I’ll fucking take you on.’

Just then, Yang Xu, having finished consoling Elder Kang, came out and said, ”Elder Kang needs some time to compose himself. Minister Lin and the others have arrived in the main hall. Let’s go.”

”Okay.”

Jiang He exhaled slowly.

’One step at a time. For now, I should think about something happy.’

’This afternoon at the airport, Minister Lin said there was a huge surprise waiting for me tonight.’

’What could it be?’

’The Distinguished Young Scholar award? A Changjiang Scholar title? Deputy Director? Or something else?’

’He could have just told me outright, but no, he had to keep me in suspense. This Minister Lin... what a troublemaker...’