The First Order

Chapter 840: Salute

Ren Xiaosu’s principle was that if he could not solve a problem when it arose, he would take care of it by getting rid of the person who caused it.

A very pointless thought experiment had once been proposed. Suppose there was a child on one side of a forked trolley track and five children on the other side. The question posed was that if you had a track switcher in your hands, which side would you choose to let the trolley go down?

If Ren Xiaosu were asked this question, he would simply beat the shit out of whoever asked it.

However, Ren Xiaosu was not in a hurry to join the battle. After all, he and Yang Xiaojin had worked over the operating table for over 20 hours. Moreover, they would definitely face a tough battle after they went to the battlefield, so what Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaojin needed most right now was some rest.

Before they arrived here, the forward operating base had prepared their accommodations for them. They were supposed to live in shared dorms. But after the incident of them treating the wounded soldiers had alarmed the entire forward operating base and caused a sensation, their assigned dormitories were switched to single-person rooms.

Honestly, Ren Xiaosu would like to tell the P3 commander in charge of the forward operating base that in this situation where resources were lacking, he didn’t mind sharing a room with Yang Xiaojin.

But in the end, he did not manage to say it as he was unable to locate the major.

After an entire day of surgery, a total of 190 patients had been treated. This figure might not sound like a lot, but it would be considered exceptionally impressive for other doctors if they could even treat 10 seriously injured patients in a day. After all, surgeries were extremely complicated procedures, and other doctors would still need to disinfect their surgical equipment and ensure they had a sterile environment to work in.

Wang Jing told him that the number of wounded soldiers could not really be counted as a lot at the moment. Once the war ramped up to total war, they would probably have to set up many makeshift tents outside the medical center. At that time, no one would care if the conditions were sterile. It would all depend on the patients’ own will if they survived or not.

It was not that the doctors’ medical skills were not good enough, but that the conditions just did not allow it.

However, an entire day of surgery had not only brought Ren Xiaosu all those gratitude tokens and unlocked an achievement for him, he had also earned the respect of the Pyro Company soldiers and officers here in the forward operating base.

Everyone had already heard that the Trinity Institute group who had just arrived at the medical center was extremely capable. As long as the wounded were sent to them for treatment, they would definitely survive!

Not only would they survive, but they would also be able to actively move around after a few hours.

The only thing that was puzzling was why most of the patients got an erection after they were operated on…

In normal circumstances, the nurses were not separated by gender while they were on duty. But faced with such events, even the most experienced nurses would find it a little embarrassing.

When Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaojin woke up in the evening and went to the chow hall at the forward operating base, a soldier suddenly stood up and saluted them.

Off to the side, someone asked, “What’s going on? Who are they?”

Everyone who knew about Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaojin’s deeds had mostly only heard about it. They’d never met them in person before.

The soldier explained to the others who were eating, “When I carried our platoon commander back today, he was the one who saved our captain. He’s that young doctor from the Trinity Institute.”

When he said that, the thousands of soldiers eating in the chow hall slowly rose out of their seats and saluted in the direction of Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaojin.

This sight was so shocking that Ren Xiaosu was unable to react for some time.

The Pyro Company soldiers all stood to attention with their arms firmly locked in salute. Some of them had just returned from the front lines in defeat, while others were lightly wounded and wrapped in bandages.

But none of this stopped them from expressing their respect.

To a soldier, it was too important that doctors possessed good medical ethics and expertise. Although their commanders were unable to prioritize their lives due to tactical and strategic considerations, doctors would.

In the past, Ren Xiaosu always felt it was too difficult to earn the respect of others in this era, so he decided it was better to make them fear him. So he spent most of his time solving problems with his fists.

But now he had gained the respect of others.

To be honest, he never thought he would get respected by so many Pyro Company troops. After all, this was the Pyro Company everyone regarded as cold-blooded animals.

Suddenly, the voice from the palace in his mind said, “Received the sincere respect and trust of 999 people in a single day. ‘Respected by All’ achievement unlocked. Awarded two allocatable attribute points.”

Ren Xiaosu’s Strength and Dexterity were suddenly raised to 16.5 and 16.1 respectively.

Ren Xiaosu asked his mind palace, “So the quests to help others were assigned because you wanted me to become a good person? It seems that I’ve approached them using the wrong mindset in the past…. But what’s done is done, and I don’t plan on changing my ways either….”

Yang Xiaojin elbowed Ren Xiaosu. “Aren’t you gonna say something?”

Ren Xiaosu thought for a moment and said, “If any of you get stretchered to me in the future, I will make sure I do my best to treat you….”

The soldiers burst into an uproar. Did he just curse all of them?!

Ren Xiaosu touched his head in embarrassment and thought it was indeed inappropriate for a doctor to say something like that. It was equivalent to a funeral parlor organizing a group visit to volunteer at a nursing home. It was rude just hearing about it.

But very quickly, loud laughs burst through the chow hall. Someone shouted, “Doctor, we aren’t allowed to have drinks during wartime. But after we win this war, you’ll have to raise your glass for saying that!”

With that, the atmosphere in the chow hall turned cheerful. It was a 180 from the heavy atmosphere just now.

When Ren Xiaosu went to collect his meal, the chef serving him gave a flick of his wrist and shook off the vegetables on the ladle, leaving only meat behind.

Ren Xiaosu raised his eyebrows. “You must’ve trained for decades to be this skilled.”

“Haha, eat more meat to replenish your strength,” the chef chuckled. “Capable doctors like you deserve our admiration.”

While they were having dinner, the P3 commander in charge of the forward operating base also came by to visit Ren Xiaosu and shook hands with him excitedly.

Ren Xiaosu said, “Oh yeah, I was just looking for you. There’s something I need to tell you. Both me and her need to make a trip outside.”

P31921 was taken aback. “Where are you going?”

“Into the mountains to gather some medicinal herbs.” Ren Xiaosu said, “You should know that my treatment method depends entirely on my secret ancestral remedy. But there’s simply too many patients, so the herbs have been completely used up in one day. We have to go out and gather some more so we can treat the patients who get sent here later.”

P31921 got anxious at the words. “You don’t have to personally do that. Just tell me what herbs you need, and I’ll get my men to gather them for you!”

“No, no, no.” Ren Xiaosu shook his head and said, “I wish I could get y’all to help me too, but my family has ordered me not to spread the remedy’s formula since it’s how we make our living. No outsiders can learn about it. So please be understanding. I really have to go out for a while.”

P31921 immediately understood. “I can’t stop you from going out, of course, but I have to warn you: Don’t head in the direction of Mt. Dashi. That’s where our main forces and the northern foe are battling.”

Ren Xiaosu nodded. He had a clear idea of where he should head now.