Chapter 334: The New Medical Teams

Chapter 334: Chapter 334: The New Medical Teams

On the third day it snowed on the Border Defense Star, two more medical teams arrived from the Imperial First Hospital and the Imperial Central Hospital.

The Imperial Central Hospital was affiliated with the military, but the medics on the Border Defense Star were sourced from various hospitals after a rigorous selection process; it wasn’t restricted to just the Imperial Central Hospital.

The Imperial First Hospital was similar to the director’s Zhenxin Hospital, in that both were relatively private institutions. But in this world, a doctor’s technical skill wasn’t the main distinguishing factor; what mattered most was their spiritual power and promotional reach. Previously, the Imperial First Hospital had always been ranked ahead of Zhenxin Hospital because it had two S-level doctors and a larger promotional presence.

That was until Shi Lan appeared. As the only 3S Female, Zhenxin Hospital’s patient flow now far exceeded the other two.

Eight people arrived from the Imperial First Hospital and ten from the Imperial Central Hospital. Vina was once again tasked with showing them around. Since the number of Insect Clan had plummeted recently, Shi Lan and the others didn’t have much to do, so they tagged along to see what was happening.

She immediately spotted a few familiar faces.

Bai Rao was part of the team from the Imperial First Hospital. She seemed to be the leader, standing at the very front.

Meanwhile, Doctor Zheng and the two doctors who had gone to Black Star to help with the treatment were with the group from the Imperial Central Hospital.

They had clearly seen her, too.

When Bai Rao’s gaze met hers, her eyes flickered, and for the first time, she looked away.

Doctor Zheng gave her a polite smile, but her eyes were filled with regret. ’If only I had known Shi Lan’s spiritual power was higher than S-level,’ she thought. ’I would have done anything to recruit her. Especially now, seeing how well Zhenxin Hospital is doing... Our own facility has lost more than half its patients, even with the military’s backing.’ Only someone who had experienced it firsthand could understand the jarring difference.

After all, doctors were paid based on their workload, not a fixed salary. The more males they treated, the higher their pay. And no one would complain about making more money.

Shi Lan could sense the complicated emotions in both their expressions, but she didn’t dwell on it and simply returned their smiles.

Vina continued to show the new arrivals around the Border Defense Star and the medical station, while Shi Lan and the others went their separate ways to attend to their own tasks.

The salary structure for military medics was different from that of regular hospitals. Here, soldiers received treatment for free, and medics’ salaries were paid primarily by the government. As volunteers, their pay was slightly less than that of the permanent medics—around twenty to thirty thousand a month—but their hospital director also provided them with an additional stipend.

Compared to the compensation on the Capital Star, the money was indeed much less. However, Shi Lan wasn’t short on cash. Her main hope was to do her part, and being here allowed her to treat He Hanshi frequently, preventing his spiritual power from collapsing to a High Level again.

She felt it was all worth it.

The heavy snow on the Border Defense Star fell for five consecutive days. The medical station wasn’t as busy as it had been, but there were still a considerable number of males who needed treatment each day.

Everyone shared an understanding: by using these quiet days to restore their spiritual power, they would be in peak condition to face the Insect Clan.

Admittedly, the arrival of Bai Rao and the others was a great help. The medical station could now treat more soldiers, and the female doctors were able to get more breaks.

However, Shi Lan noticed that the soldiers’ spiritual power collapse values increased very slowly, which seemed different from He Hanshi’s case. As she recalled, his collapse value had often risen very quickly.

She found it puzzling. ’With his collapse value increasing at this rate, how did He Hanshi ever manage back when he was a Major General?’

He told her that it used to increase very slowly, perhaps only by three or four points a year. It seemed that after his spiritual power had collapsed to a High Level, contact with the Insect Clan accelerated the increase significantly.

Of course, now that Shi Lan was treating him daily, he felt the rate had slowed down again.

’Perhaps once spiritual power collapses to a High Level, the impact on one’s overall spiritual state is greater,’ Shi Lan guessed. ’Now that he’s getting more treatments, his spiritual power is slowly stabilizing.’

’With a few more treatments, he might return to his previous, normal rate of increase.’

She didn’t give it any more thought.

None of the other doctors at the medical station could reduce a patient’s collapse value to zero, so this task always fell to Shi Lan.

Shi Lan often drew shocked and excited looks from both the doctors and the males she treated. The original doctors at the medical station were used to it by now, so it was the two new teams’ turn to be stunned.

Doctor Zheng was incredulous. "You... you really lowered their collapse value to zero?"

"But I thought no female could do that."

Vina, smiling off to the side, had the male run a scan of his collapse value on his chip for everyone to see. Sure enough, it was zero.

The soldier’s face flushed with excitement. "Haha, this is incredible! My friend told me about this, but I thought he was exaggerating. I can’t believe Doctor Shi is really this amazing."

Doctor Zheng was also dumbstruck.

Vina said with a smile, "I think perhaps our Spiritual Power Levels are just a bit too low. Lanlan is 3S Level, so she can do it. If another 3S or 2S female appeared someday, maybe she could do it too."

Doctor Zheng gave a bitter laugh, digging her nails into her leg in regret.

’Why didn’t I try harder? I should have started back on Black Star. If I had, maybe Shi Lan would be a doctor at our hospital right now.’

’A 3S Female... what an incredible asset. Not to mention she can bring a collapse value all the way down to zero. It’s completely unprecedented.’

’Shi Lan was creating one miracle after another.’

As she was thinking, her gaze suddenly shifted to Shi Lan’s stomach. "Lanlan, you’re pregnant, aren’t you? Is it a boy or a girl?"

"You and your Beast Husbands all have such high spiritual power. Your children will surely have high spiritual power as well, right?"

’If the child is a female, maybe I can still make an effort and recruit her later on.’

Doctor Zheng’s mind was racing, but Shi Lan just said, "I haven’t had the gender checked. I’ll love the baby whether it’s a boy or a girl."

"As for their spiritual power, I haven’t thought too much about it. After all, you can’t predict everything from birth. My children will have their own paths to follow. As their mother, I just hope they’ll be happy."

Doctor Zheng sounded a little disappointed. "I see."

Bai Rao was watching from a corner. When Doctor Zheng’s gaze swept over to her, she saw the same look of frustration in her eyes.

’She didn’t know what was going on. Why were all the promising candidates choosing not to join their Central Hospital anymore?’

’She had invited Bai Rao, too, but she went straight to the Imperial First Hospital.’

In truth, the Imperial Central Hospital had once been Bai Rao’s first choice. However, she disliked indecisive people. Adding to that the brief time they had spent together on Black Star, she resented Doctor Zheng and her team for extending an olive branch to the F-level Shi Lan instead of prioritizing her.

She had never underestimated her own worth; she knew she was exceptional. ’Why should I let Doctor Zheng and her people dither over me?’

So, she had decisively chosen a different hospital.

Between the environment she was raised in, the era’s reverence for females, and her own impressive spiritual power and Fertility Value, Bai Rao had always been an exceptional individual, often the center of attention.

She refused to be a backup option.

It was just that now, she seemed to have unintentionally become someone else’s replacement.

Bai Rao looked toward Shi Lan, a complicated expression in her eyes.