Homo Sapiens

After a two-day stay at Xu Manor, Yang Tianci bid farewell to the Xu Brothers on May 25th and prepared to head to Bangkok Airport for his flight back to Yangcheng.

The motorcade encountered no traffic on the way.

In the airport lounge, Xu Xue Meng and Yang Tianci shared a reluctant farewell.

While Yang Tianci waited for his flight, a middle-aged man in a flat cap sat expressionlessly a dozen meters away. His eyes were fixed on the airport’s flight information display, but then he picked up a copy of *Les Misérables* and began to read with relish.

Half an hour later, the plane arrived.

Yang Tianci and his entourage boarded the plane directly.

Watching the figures disappear down the jet bridge, the middle-aged man smirked, then returned to reading *Les Misérables*. His flight to Manila wasn’t for another hour and a half.

「Aboard the flight to Yangcheng.」

Having just taken his seat, Yang Tianci rubbed his temples. He’d been feeling exhausted the past few days, with little appetite. ’Am I just not used to the climate here?’ he wondered, puzzled.

Seeing a flight attendant approach with a cart, he raised his hand. ”Could I have a bottle of mineral water, please?”

”Of course, sir.” The flight attendant smiled and handed him a bottle of mineral water.

Yang Tianci opened it and took a sip.

’Huh? Why does it taste like metal?’ He didn’t swallow, quickly spitting the water aside.

His assistant asked nervously, ”Boss, is something wrong?”

The first-class flight attendant was also confused. ”Sir, is there something wrong with the water? I’ll get you a new bottle right away.”

The assistant took the new bottle, and along with the one Yang Tianci had drunk from, shot a meaningful glance at a nearby bodyguard.

The bodyguard understood immediately. He poured a small amount from each bottle into a cup, pulled out an expensive, professional-grade poison testing kit, and used three different strips to test both water samples.

Looking at the color reaction on the strips, the bodyguard shook his head. ”Boss, they’re clean.”

”They’re clean? ’Am I just imagining things?’” Yang Tianci muttered to himself. He picked up the second bottle and took another small sip.

’Huh?... What’s happening? Still a metallic taste. Is there something wrong with this brand of water?’

Seeing Yang Tianci’s brow furrow again, the assistant quickly asked, ”Boss, is this water not to your liking? Flight attendant, bring a bottle of purified water.”

The flight attendant, already scared witless, hadn’t even processed the request before the purser hurried over, smiling. ”We are so sorry for the poor service. We’ll bring purified water for Mr. Yang right away.”

But when Yang Tianci took a sip of the purified water, his expression changed dramatically.

That damned metallic taste was even stronger.

He handed the bottle of purified water to his assistant. ”Take a sip. Tell me exactly what it tastes like.”

’What?’ Though completely baffled, the assistant steeled himself and took a small sip. He carefully savored the flavor before replying cautiously,

”It doesn’t taste like anything. It’s just plain water.”

”No taste?” Yang Tianci was skeptical. He had his three bodyguards try it as well, but none of them could taste anything out of the ordinary.

’What’s going on? If they can’t taste it, does that mean the problem is with me? A metallic taste... Don’t tell me I’ve been poisoned?’ Cold sweat beaded on Yang Tianci’s forehead.

He quickly turned to his experienced head of security. ”Ah Hu, what does it mean if water has a metallic taste?”

”A metallic taste in water?” The head bodyguard, Ah Hu, thought for a moment. ”That symptom isn’t very specific. Boss, are you experiencing anything else unusual?”

Yang Tianci’s brow furrowed. ”Unusual... I’ve been tired and I’ve lost my appetite the last few days. My limbs feel weak, too.”

”Er...” Hearing this, Ah Hu looked a little awkward.

After all, Yang Tianci had been flying for days and had attended several banquets and business negotiations. Feeling tired, having no appetite, and having weak limbs was completely normal under the circumstances.

The assistant first dismissed the flight attendant and the purser, then suggested, ”Boss, maybe you should go to the hospital for a check-up after we land.”

”Fine.”

But a faint sense of unease lingered in his heart.

What he didn’t know was that the middle-aged man he had passed by earlier had already activated the ”bomb” hidden inside his body.

The poisoned mosquito had only released a fraction of its toxins. A much larger portion was carried by the Malaria Parasites, which had entered all parts of his body and lain dormant.

It wasn’t until the Soldier used pheromones to activate the genetically modified Malaria Parasites, causing them to release their payload. Part of the toxin was released inside Yang Tianci’s brain, which was causing his headache.

After dozing in his seat for a while, he suddenly felt a pain in his stomach. The weakness in his limbs grew more pronounced. Yang Tianci’s lips turned pale. ”Help me... to the restroom.”

The assistant was startled. He ordered the bodyguards to help Yang Tianci to the restroom while simultaneously calling for the purser and telling them to prepare for a medical emergency.

The plane landed at Yangcheng Airport.

Yang Tianci was carried off the plane on a stretcher. The purser had already contacted the control tower to have an ambulance waiting.

In the ambulance, Yang Tianci was unconscious, his body twitching intermittently, displaying clinical symptoms similar to an epileptic seizure.

The paramedics in the ambulance were highly experienced. One look at the clinical symptoms told them the patient’s central nervous system was affected.

They quickly asked the assistant a few questions.

The doctor pried open Yang Tianci’s mouth to check his tongue, then shone a penlight into his eyes. ”My preliminary diagnosis is poisoning, specifically a neurotoxin. We’ll need to run detailed lab tests to identify which one.”

In truth, the doctor was almost certain what the poison was, but he couldn’t make any guarantees.

The ambulance sped to the Sun Yat-sen University First Affiliated Hospital.

Yang Haibo and his wife, Chang Mei, arrived outside the hospital room, their faces grim with worry.

The attending physician spoke with a grave expression, ”Mr. Yang, your son’s condition is not optimistic. The thallium poisoning has already reached his central nervous system. Right now, our only options are an emergency blood transfusion and an intestinal injection of Prussian blue.”

”What was my son poisoned with?” Chang Mei asked hysterically.

The attending physician explained, ”Thallium poisoning. The poison is called thallium. It used to be an ingredient in rat poison.”

Yang Haibo quickly asked, ”Can he be cured?”

The attending physician shook his head regretfully. ”If it had been discovered immediately, treatment might have been possible. But now... it’s too late. We can only do our best to save his life, but in the future, your son might...”

”Might what?” Chang Mei asked, her voice trembling.

The attending physician didn’t dare hide the truth, lest they think it was a failing of the hospital. He laid out the possible outcomes directly:

”He could experience patchy or total hair loss, dementia, neurological damage, limb weakness, impaired vision, or even blindness.”

”...” Chang Mei collapsed.

Yang Tianci’s wife quickly caught her mother-in-law.

Although Yang Haibo didn’t completely lose control of his emotions, his trembling body betrayed his inner turmoil.

He whirled around and violently grabbed the collar of Yang Tianci’s assistant. ”How did Tianci get poisoned? What kind of assistant are you?”

Then he turned on the bodyguards, roaring, ”The Yang Family spends tens of millions a year on you, and this is how you protect him? You’re all a bunch of worthless trash!”

The assistant and the bodyguards all hung their heads, not daring to react.

The attending physician quickly slipped into the ward to check on his patient. He couldn’t manage these powerful figures, nor could he afford to offend them, so he simply pretended he hadn’t seen a thing.