Chapter 457: Hodge

This was a three-story bungalow located in the Windhoek villa area.

The towering European-style building, the grassy courtyard, and the iron fence with gold trimmings in front of the door all illustrated the wealth of the owner of this bungalow.

In Namibia, this house undoubtedly represented the identity of its master.

At this time, Hodge was looking at everything in front of him in confusion. This was his home.

He could not remember when he came to the door nor why he stood here. In his memory, he had been driving after several murderers when he was hit by his opponent on the right side of the vehicle.

Then, there was a whirl of heaven and earth...

Hodge took a breath subconsciously, but suddenly he noticed a pungent burnt stench. Something seemed to be charred, but when he looked around, he found that there was nothing.

There was no fire, nothing burning.

Had I been rescued?

Hodge looked at all this in confusion. He did not remember when he appeared here or even how long he stood in front of his door. It seemed that he had just arrived home and it seemed that he had been standing for a long time...

Just when Hodge was a little puzzled, he saw the door slowly opening behind the iron fence. A stern middle-aged man appeared behind the door. His gaze toward Hodge’s carried both anticipation and disappointment.

“Father.”

Hodge hurriedly waved to the man, then directly opened the fence’s door and walked quickly into his home.

“Father, I’m back!”

Hodge said loudly, but before he finished speaking, he was taken aback because he discovered that his father had disappeared at the door somehow. Not only that but all his relatives were gathered in his home and the atmosphere was buzzing with activity. They seemed to be having a party.

“Jenny, is there some celebration today?”

Hodge asked the babysitter next to him, but she did not even look at him and walked directly past him. Hodge yelled, but she still ignored him.

“Okay!”

Hodge spread his hands and made a helpless gesture, but then he saw his mother and grandmother huddled together, walking toward him.

“Hey! Mom, what happened at home?”

Joy erupted across Hodge’s face and he asked his mother like a little child, but in the next second, he watched the two pass by him.

What surprised him even more was that not only his mother, but even his grandmother who loved him the most, was acting as if he did not exist.

The joy on Hodge’s face suddenly froze and he gradually noticed that something was wrong.

He did not know when, but the room was filled with a trace of smoke, with a pungent scorched stench that made it difficult for Hodge to breathe. He coughed and at the same time, an inexplicable panic seized his heart...

Why was no one able to see him?

With this in mind, Hodge was just about to desperately find his father to clear things up, but he saw his father in formal wear suddenly leading a girl in a wedding dress to the living room.

The moment he saw the girl, he was immediately stunned.

“A, Amanda...”

Hodge looked at her blankly. The girl in front of him was wearing a white and gorgeous wedding dress, with an aura that was ethereal and pure, as flawless as a pearl in the sea.

The girl was none other than his fiancée — Amanda.

“My son, today is your wedding day, don’t you remember?”

His father’s voice was rich and booming, and he broke into a slight smile, and finally looked in Hodge’s direction. “I’m proud of you, Son!”

Following his father’s words, Hodge’s mother, grandmother, and even a group of relatives appeared all around the living room, applauding ceaselessly. The room, for a while, was filled with a warm atmosphere of joy.

“Father...”

At this point, Hodge finally relaxed. He wore a hearty smile. It turned out that everything just now was a prank for him planned by his family?

Solemn music gradually drifted in the air. With everyone’s blessing, the girl in the wedding dress walked toward Hodge step by step, with a shy blush, slowly taking Hodge’s hand in the hazy smoke of the house.

Then, with the crowd watching, Hodge and the girl performed a western ballroom dance.

At this moment, an immense sense of rapture enveloped Hodge. He closed his eyes, intoxicated, and only hoped that the world would linger at this moment forever...

“He’s smiling, maybe he’s having a good dream...”

“Preparing to bring the patient out of the protective drowsing state. He has been in this dream for three months, it’s time to wake up...”

“Starting to lower the dopamine. Start the electric shock device, prepare for electric shock...”

Just when Hodge was immersed in endless happiness, a series of conversations was faintly heard all around him. The noises seemed to be right in front of him and also seemed to come from a distance. In short, it was very inconsistent with his dreams.

“What’s going on...”

Hodge opened his eyes subconsciously, but he was taken aback because he discovered that the girl in front of him had disappeared some time ago, and vanishing at the same time were the relatives in the room who were wishing him well.

Father, mother, grandmother, and Amanda... Everyone disappeared!

“No, no, this isn’t real!”

The smoke in front of Hodge’s eyes became thicker and thicker, almost blocking his vision. He subconsciously wanted to escape this weird room, but found that at some point, his home began to fill with endless flames!

Hodge looked desperately at the flames rapidly surrounding him and at the same time, the burnt smell reached its peak. Then there was a sudden sting!

This tingling pain came from his abdomen as if he had been shocked by an electric jolt. There was a burning prickling sensation in his abdomen.

“Agh! Ah ah ah agh agh!”

At this moment, Hodge suddenly roared. His voice was filled with anguish as if everything had exploded at this moment!

“The patient has woken up!”

Currently, in a sterile laboratory full of high-tech equipment, several doctors were looking solemnly at a person lying on a special instrument in front of them.

This person only had a bare head exposed and his body was covered by a set of matte black armor. The gaps in the armor interlocked with each other, but in accordance with the structure of the human body, it produced the shape of the chest and abdominal muscles, which looked very attractive.

By looking at this face, Chen Chen could immediately recognize that he was Hodge who was burned before.

However, at this time, Hodge’s skin and facial features had been completely repaired. Not only that but his hands and feet had also reappeared on his body. The only dissonance was that his hands and feet were wrapped in the same layer of black armor as his body. There were even red and blue patterns on the surface, like some kind of artwork.

Even so, at this time, Hodge was lying on a special instrument made of metal and at the same time, he kept snarling with a deafening cry.

“What’s the matter, is he out of control?”

“The timing of his waking up is wrong. The patient is releasing too much adrenaline. At the same time, his blood pressure is rising rapidly. Get ready to inject a tranquilizer!”

“No, wait a minute!”

Just when the nurse was about to follow the doctor’s command, a gray-haired middle-aged doctor suddenly spoke with a solemn expression, “Don’t interfere with him, let him vent first. This is good for his psychology and physiology!”

This doctor had a very high status even among the many authoritative experts. As he spoke, everyone suddenly fell silent.

Hodge screamed for half a minute and stopped when he was completely out of breath. He gasped heavily while opening his eyes blankly.

“You’re awake.”

A group of doctors quickly gathered around, looking at Hodge one by one, revealing irrepressible delight as if they were sculptors looking at a perfect sculpture created by their painstaking efforts.

“Where... Where am I...”

Hodge looked at the people above his head with a glimmer of horror. He subconsciously wanted to sit up but found that he could not move a finger. Not only that, there were a lot of unfamiliar numbers and tables in his vision. As his gaze wandered, these squares in his eyes were still shifting constantly...

Could it be that he was still dreaming?

“Your current location is the Biological Research Center of Eco Science City under Blacklight Biotechnology.”

The gray-haired middle-aged man displayed a gentle smile. “We’re your chief physician and designer of bionic prostheses. My name is Sheridan Todd. You can call me Doctor Todd.”

“What happened, why can’t I move?”

Hodge asked suspiciously, “Also, why can’t I feel my body?”

“Please relax, Hodge.”

Doctor Todd replied slowly, trying to get Hodge into his own rhythm of conversation. “Your body is still there, but something has happened... A little problem, but it’s okay, it’s fixed now.

“However, we still need to do some tests before letting you resume movement. For example, do you still remember your last memory?”

“My last memory?”

Hodge’s face was blank. He silently recalled the fragments in his mind before he woke up, but after thinking about it, there were only the bits and pieces of dreams in his mind, but he had long forgotten how he got here...

“I’ve forgotten...”

Hodge shook his head.

“It’s fine.”

On the contrary, Doctor Todd appeared to be relieved. “Please rest assured, this is just a type of post-traumatic stress disorder. The fact that you’ve forgotten may not be a bad thing, but on the contrary, could be a good thing. At least it delays and reduces the extent of further damage to your heart.”

“So what the f*ck are you talking about? What the f*ck happened to me?”

Nonetheless, even when he heard these words, Hodge became furious. He began to yell and at the same time, began to struggle with his head as if he wanted to sit up again from his lying position.

“Don’t get worked up. We’ll tell you what happened, but not now.”

Doctor Todd waved his hand and all the other doctors and medical staff retreated in all directions. “Hodge, don’t struggle. We have now disabled the mobility function of the XTN-118 police bionic armor. No matter how hard you struggle, it will be useless. But if you’re willing to calm down, we can have a discussion and help you start up your mobility...”

Hearing these words and seeing the attitude of the people, Hodge took a deep breath, suppressed his rising tension, and tried to lower his heart rate at the same time.

“Very good, that’s it, calm down...”

Doctor Todd spoke slowly and at the same time looked at a medical staff nearby. The female nurse immediately reacted. She took up the tablet in her hand and said at once, “The patient’s heart rate and blood pressure are rapidly decreasing. The current heart rate frequency is 120 beats per minute, still decreasing... It has been reduced to 80... No, it’s 75 beats per minute...”

“Very good.”

Seeing this, Doctor Todd finally nodded in satisfaction. He walked slowly in front of Hodge and at the same time placed his hand on the instrument where Hodge was lying, where there was a red button.

“Director Todd, will this...”

The other attending doctors hesitated a little and reflexively stopped him. “Will there be danger?”

“He’s also human and a qualified police officer. He will not hurt us.”

Doctor Todd shook his head seriously, then turned to look at Hodge. “I’m going to release you now, Hodge.”

With that, before Hodge could speak, Doctor Todd pressed the button directly.

“Click, hiss —!”

With the sound of something being unlocked and even a sound of a valve releasing air, Hodge saw only two rows of probes between his ribs being automatically pulled out and his body suddenly loosened!

In the next second, Hodge moved quickly and sat up from the instrument!

Suddenly, except for Doctor Todd and a few doctors in front of him, everyone in the entire laboratory subconsciously took two or three steps back and their gazes toward Hodge were full of vigilance.

It was not like they were looking at a human being, but some other species...

Seeing this scene, Hodge lowered his head dazedly and looked at his body slowly, but realized that he was wrapped in a layer of black armor from head to toe.

Not only that but as he stretched out his hand and curiously touched his body, he also had a strange tactile sensation.

This sense of touch was slower than his original body, but it was unexpectedly acute in the details.

“What is this...”

Hodge slowly raised his head, looked at Doctor Todd, and asked in a low voice, “You placed a suit of armor on me? Is this an April Fool’s Day spoof? A tribute to Iron Man? Or Cyborg?”

“None of those. We’re saving your life!”

Doctor Todd spread out his hands with an excited expression. “You were in a car accident and almost died from a serious injury, but our Blacklight Biotechnology saved you and helped you survive the almost fatal injury, you know?”

Hearing Doctor Todd’s explanation, Hodge fell silent.

The chaos in his brain had gradually become clear from the beginning. It was only now that he slowly remembered that he seemed to have been driving a police car to chase a few murderers, but because he was hit by the opponent’s car, his vehicle flipped over on the highway...

As for what happened next, his memory was blank as if someone had deleted his memory...

The only thing that remained indelible in his mind was the pungent burning smell and the dense smoke that filled his eyes...

“Agh...”

Hodge suddenly let out a scream as if touching something deep in his soul. He slumped to the ground while covering his head and convulsed uncontrollably.

“Director, the patient’s blood pressure is starting to rise again!”

“His EEG has entered the peak stage and is still going up!”

“We can’t control him!”

“Inject a tranquilizer!”

Seeing this, Doctor Todd finally stopped hesitating and gave the order to inject a tranquilizer.

In the next second, under Hodge’s armor layer, an unseen needle swiftly popped out and pierced Hodge’s body directly...

At this point, Hodge gradually calmed down and fell asleep again.

At once, Hodge’s body moved on its own. He climbed back to the special instrument that looked like a bed and slotted his own frame neatly into the groove under him.

Seeing this scene, Doctor Todd could not help sighing and then said with satisfaction, “At present, the patient’s physiological indicators are all standard. There’s also no problem with the XTN-118 police bionic armor. Next, we’ll wait for him to wake up. After he’s calmed down, let’s take the measurements again.”

When everyone heard these words, they all cheered. The result of three months’ worth of work was ultimately not in vain.

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