Chapter 73-I Clean Up Garbage in a Wasteland World
Chapter 73 The Black Dental Clinic-4
How do dentists handle teeth after extraction?
Just like how a hair salon must have a large amount of hair, if a private dental clinic wants to collect teeth, after more than ten years in practice, they would possess an unimaginable number of teeth.
Now teeth fell through Zhu Ning's fingers onto the ground. She couldn't even hold them.
Each tooth came from a different owner. They had various forms. Professionals could even tell what a person had experienced through their teeth.
Those teeth raining down on her body seemed to be caressing her. Thinking that these things once came from someone's oral cavity, she instinctively felt horrified.
[Sanity decreased by 10%]
The system announced a sanity decrease. Perhaps because she recalled the fear of seeing a dentist as a child, Zhu Ning had already lost 10% sanity before even entering the Contamination Zone.
This tooth rain lasted about three minutes. After three minutes, a layer of yellow teeth accumulated on the pitch-black corridor, about three centimeters thick.
When people stepped on it, it made rustling sounds. Teeth rubbed against shoe soles, as if the sensation could transmit up through the soles of the feet.
Zhu Ning took a deep breath. The sanity fluctuation was already very obvious. She didn't panic. She couldn't panic at this moment. The more panicked, the easier it was to become confused.
She threw away the teeth in her hand, as casually as throwing away a handful of hail.
Stay calm, Zhu Ning told herself. Stay calm.
This aerial corridor had no windows and no voice-activated lights, so whether day or night, it was pitch black here.
Moreover, the ceiling was very low, only two meters high. Slightly taller people, like Chu Ling, might have to walk with their heads against the ceiling.
This corridor was very oppressive. Walking inside, one would feel squeezed. A corridor was about two hundred meters. Actually, Zhu Ning didn't quite understand this structure. Each building was a thin, long strip with only one household per floor. The corridors in between were completely wasted.
A slum that truly wanted to save money and accommodate more residents should be built like the Hive type, where one floor could accommodate more people. But why did this Ant Nest do the opposite?
What was the original intention of designing the Ant Nest?
Zhu Ning walked across the corridor, stepping on teeth. At the end was another emergency stairwell door. All the doors here were square—two meters wide and two meters high. Zhu Ning was like she had just walked out of a standard rectangular data block.
Behind the emergency stairwell door was another door. The door plate read 35-35-01, with a larger sign next to it: Little White Rabbit Dental.
Black twitching lines appeared before her eyes. The background color of the Contamination Zone appeared. As soon as Zhu Ning stepped in, the helmet automatically announced.
[Confirmed that cleaner Zhu Ning has entered the Contamination Zone. Estimated contamination level: B-level. Please choose whether to report to the Federal Sanitation Center technical department. Current maximum contamination concentration reaches 170. Contamination Zone size is 25,000 cubic meters. Unable to detect whether there are contaminants inside.]
She found the real Building 35. This was truly a Contamination Zone.
B-level Contamination Zone. The aquarium was also B-level. At that time, it required a five-person Demon Hunter team. Now Zhu Ning was actually going to enter a B-level Contamination Zone alone.
The overall area of the Contamination Zone was much larger than Zhu Ning imagined. Based on her judgment of this place, each household's area shouldn't be very large, definitely not exceeding the size of a swimming pool. But the area announced by the helmet's automatic detection was the size of 10 swimming pools.
In other words, this Contamination Zone might not just be the dental clinic but also include most of the complex. The dental clinic was just one point within it.
This complex was too eerie. Zhu Ning's exploration range suddenly expanded, adding much difficulty for her. It meant she would likely have to shuttle through the Ant Nest.
Zhu Ning pushed open the door of Little White Rabbit Dental. Just inside the entrance was a rest area with a whole row of rabbit plush dolls. On the table were colorful educational toys. The bar counter nearby also had candy and tea prepared.
Many dental clinics had this structure. Some children would be scared when coming to have teeth extracted. Nurses would generally be responsible for soothing the children's emotions. They would let the children choose a favorite plush doll to accompany them during the extraction.
This should have been an ordinary residence, but it had been renovated. The owner bought five floors above, interconnected them, and turned it into a dental clinic. Looking at it this way, this dental clinic was unexpectedly legitimate.
There seemed to be people inside. The sound of people talking came through, as if a dead area had suddenly come alive.
Zhu Ning didn't rashly go in. There was an employee lounge next to her with a row of white coats hanging. This should be where doctors prepared for work. They would change out of their clothes here, then get ready before going in.
Zhu Ning thought for a moment, took down a white coat, and put it on. After entering a Contamination Zone, one had to choose an identity. She chose for herself—dentist.
Wearing a helmet, she couldn't possibly choose to be a patient, or she would be forced to open her oral cavity.
There was a mirror in the lounge. Written on the mirror was "Appearance Mirror." A very tall mirror that seemed somewhat out of place in this dental clinic. Did this clinic pay such attention to doctors' appearance?
After putting on the white coat, Zhu Ning tidied herself up in front of the mirror. Her reflection in the mirror was very strange—pure black protective suit plus a black helmet, with a white coat over it.
A very eerie doctor, looking like some kind of perverted dentist.
Zhu Ning moved closer to the mirror. The upper right corner of the mirror was damaged. The mirror piece in this corner had already cracked, forming a spider web crack the size of a fingernail.
The crack in this position was a bit strange. Generally, when mirrors get knocked around, it's mostly the two lower corners, forming natural collisions with the ground. How did the upper right corner get hit?
And it was only this small. It was like something awl-shaped had poked it.
Zhu Ning observed carefully. Her helmet had a vision magnification function. For some reason, no matter how much she magnified, she couldn't see clearly.
The tiny mirror fragments kept magnifying and magnifying, refracting countless shadows of Zhu Ning. She could even see the cracks and crevices of the mirror.
It seemed like she could see through the mirror fragments into the world inside the mirror. It was as if there was someone inside the mirror. What a strange thought, and it suddenly popped up out of nowhere, without beginning or end. But Zhu Ning always felt there was someone inside.
Suddenly, one corner of the mirror darkened. A figure appeared in the mirror.
Zhu Ning's body stiffened. The other party stood right behind Zhu Ning. She could hear the other party's breathing. The breathing rhythm was very strange—gasping much slower than normal people. She didn't know when they had come over.
She wore a pink nurse's uniform, holding a medical record in her arms, with a smile on her face.
It was that kind of smile showing eight teeth. Her teeth were very healthy, very white and bright. Her eyes were pure black. Clearly smiling, but there was no smile in those pitch-black eyes. Now she was making eye contact with Zhu Ning through the mirror.
[Sanity decreased by 3%]
Since entering the Ant Nest, her sanity had been dropping rapidly. It had already decreased by 13%. Zhu Ning even doubted whether she could walk out of here alive.
Generally speaking, after a mission ended, her sanity would automatically recover. But if she didn't complete the mission, she might die here.
"Doctor, the patient has been waiting for you for a long time," the nurse said.
Zhu Ning straightened up. Her identity in this area was doctor. The nurse would call her to see patients. Very normal. Zhu Ning brainwashed herself—this was very normal.
Zhu Ning glanced at the nameplate on the nurse's chest. This person was called Xu Mei.
After reading the dentist's post earlier, she had always thought there weren't many people in this dental clinic. She didn't expect there might be more people inside than she thought. The first person to appear now was a nurse.
Xu Mei didn't know if she had undergone special training. She maintained the same expression the whole time, smiling, with the arc never changing from beginning to end. Very similar to the style of this Contamination Zone, like some kind of programmed setting.
Xu Mei walked in front. Zhu Ning deliberately walked very slowly. The first floor was the lounge, reception, and leisure area. The entire area was decorated very warmly, with a light yellow color scheme.
But it was a bit old. Against the background of twitching black lines, it looked very much like a haunted house.
The second floor was the examination room. Some dental X-rays were taken on the second floor. Zhu Ning only glanced hastily as she passed by.
The third floor was the teeth cleaning area and cosmetic area. Customers who came for teeth cleaning or cosmetic dentistry would enter the third floor.
The fourth floor was the real treatment area, with a total of four treatment rooms. This dental clinic must have been glorious once, otherwise there wouldn't be so many treatment rooms.
Xu Mei led Zhu Ning to the fourth floor. Zhu Ning looked up. The fifth floor door was tightly locked—a black door two meters wide and two meters high. That door also looked very strange.
Normal doors have door handles and gaps, but that door didn't. From a distance, it looked like a whole block of black steel. What was the fifth floor for?
Xu Mei: "Doctor? This way."
Zhu Ning came back to her senses. She followed Xu Mei toward Treatment Room No. 2. She had just chosen her identity, and Xu Mei accurately led her here, as if this was her office.
Zhu Ning had a very strange feeling. She had also entered other Contamination Zones, but no matter where she went or what identity she played, she would actually be very clear in her heart that she was playing a role.
But after entering the treatment room, Zhu Ning felt a strange sensation surge up, as if she really was a doctor here, and Xu Mei was her colleague.
They had worked together for a long time, very tacitly. This was Zhu Ning's daily routine.
Every day, cross a pitch-black corridor, then come over and put on a white coat, tidy up her appearance in front of a damaged mirror, then enter the treatment room under Xu Mei's direction and start her day's work.
She seemed to have repeated this behavior countless times. It had been carved into her instinct, forming her muscle memory.
She sat down very skillfully. A patient was already lying on the reclining chair. That person's limbs were all tied up. His hands and feet were fixed at four points. Even his neck was restrained by a binding strap.
Why tie up the patient? This wasn't a psychiatric hospital.
Zhu Ning glanced at Xu Mei. Xu Mei had just put on gloves and was watching Zhu Ning from the side.
Xu Mei still maintained her eight-tooth smile, as if tying patients to chairs was very normal. After Zhu Ning saw her, she actually didn't ask.
Zhu Ning originally wanted to ask why, but in an instant, she dismissed this thought and immediately accepted reality.
Tying patients who came for treatment to chairs was too normal. Otherwise, they would run away.
And that patient didn't express discomfort either. He seemed to be frequently tied here.
Zhu Ning put on medical gloves. After putting them on, she was stunned for a moment. Her hands were covered with black protective suit gloves, with another pair of gloves on top. It seemed a bit strange.
"Doctor, my tooth hurts," the patient said.
Zhu Ning's gaze moved from the gloves to focus on her patient. Xu Mei had already completed all the preparatory work. That patient was unshaven, and the clothes on his body weren't clean either. The sleeves were already worn out. He looked like a homeless person.
The computer next to them displayed his dental X-ray. Zhu Ning glanced at it. Most of the teeth were covered with shadows.
The patient's face was sallow. He looked at Zhu Ning with a pleading expression. "Doctor, my teeth hurt so much."
Such a familiar sentence. Zhu Ning always felt she had heard it thousands of times, as if she had been hearing it since birth.
"Doctor, my teeth hurt so much."
Zhu Ning pulled over the cold light lamp and shone it on the patient's face. "Open your mouth."
The patient obediently opened his mouth. Under the bright light, the interior of the oral cavity was fully visible. This person's teeth were all black-yellow. Even Zhu Ning, who wasn't a dentist, could see they were unhealthy.
She had never carefully looked at a person's teeth from this angle before. So this was a dentist's daily routine.
Zhu Ning naturally adjusted the angle and brightness of the light. How strange—she didn't need to learn to use this equipment.
"Doctor, my tooth hurts."
She blinked. This voice felt abrupt because this patient had his mouth wide open. With mouth open, one couldn't speak. So who was speaking?
Zhu Ning turned her head to look. Xu Mei also wasn't speaking.
"Doctor, my tooth hurts."
Zhu Ning heard this sentence again. She rotated the light, then looked more carefully into the patient's oral cavity. When doctors do examinations, they use a dental mirror to more intuitively see teeth from different angles. Zhu Ning extended the dental mirror into his oral cavity, observing carefully.
"Doctor, my tooth hurts."
Zhu Ning's eyes felt a bit sore. A row of black-yellow teeth was arrayed before her. This had become a puzzle game. She had to find that ghost.
"Doctor, my tooth hurts."
The dental mirror Zhu Ning extended suddenly stopped. The mirror reflected the patient's tooth—a black-yellow tooth. It also reflected the person on the tooth.
A human head was on the tooth surface. For a moment, it was hard to describe whether the tooth had grown a head or a person was drilling out from the tooth.
This little person living in the tooth raised his head and shouted: "Doctor! My tooth hurts!"
Not just one person. An adult must have at least 28 teeth. Most people have 28 to 32 teeth.
This patient had 30. Now 30 little people had drilled out from the 30 teeth. They opened their mouths wide and shouted together: "Doctor, my tooth hurts!"
As long as Zhu Ning looked carefully, she could see the oral cavities of the people living in the teeth. Their mouths also had 30 teeth. Their teeth also had a little person. Their little people were also shouting:
"Doctor! My tooth hurts!"
This was a bit wrong, wasn't it? Zhu Ning raised her head. Xu Mei next to her had already turned on a drill-like device. Zhu Ning wasn't quite clear what that thing was called. Xu Mei handed the drill to her.
The drill spun crazily in Zhu Ning's palm, making buzzing sounds. Xu Mei wore her eight-tooth smile, her eyes full of encouragement.
The patient showed a pleading look. The little people in his teeth showed longing looks. Everyone was encouraging her.
She was supposed to... kill these people in the teeth?
Author's Note:
The parts about dental care are all made up by me. If they don't conform to common sense, just consider the contaminated world to be different~ Teeth are structures that exist in many vertebrates. Teeth are the hardest organs in the human body. A person will have teeth erupt twice in their lifetime. The first eruption is called baby teeth—5 on each side of the upper and lower jaws, totaling 20, beginning from 6 months after birth until about 3 years old. Baby teeth begin to fall out at 6-7 years old. The second eruption is called permanent teeth—8 on each side of the upper and lower jaws, totaling 32. —From a certain encyclopedia.
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