The morning sun lit up the land. Unsurprisingly, the most common thing a Phoenix news anchor ever said was that it was another sunny day.
Reporters had already gathered in front of the emergency entrance of Saint Luke Hospital, causing doctors arriving for work to stop and stare.
For some time now, thanks to Chen Yu, Saint Luke had been getting an unusual amount of attention.
After Hardaway was discharged, the number of reporters from China had dwindled somewhat, but there was never a shortage of international press.
Today, it looked like something else had happened.
"Chen!"
In the crowd of reporters, Joumana’s eyes lit up. She quickly waved and shouted, rushing over with her cameraman.
As a rule, Chen Yu rarely gave interviews to reporters, but this was an acquaintance, so he stopped.
Seeing Joumana, a thought couldn’t help but pop into Chen Yu’s head.
’So, does this mean J Kidd slept alone after the game yesterday?’
"Chen, how’s Hill? What’s his condition right now?"
"Did he tear a ligament?"
A barrage of questions came flying at him.
Chen Yu wasn’t the least bit surprised by this scene. This was Hill, after all.
’Who are these people? They don’t know a thing, yet they’re already spouting nonsense. A torn ligament? Where did they even get that fake news?’
He waved his hand, signaling for everyone to be quiet.
Last night, Weisbrod had probably shot out of bed.
Overnight, the Magic made their decision: surgery.
It wasn’t like they had any other choice.
Chen Yu had given them two options, but if he chose the first, Weisbrod was certain that when Hill recovered and was ready to return, Chen Yu would definitely block the approval when they filed the report with the league.
Therefore, no matter how reluctant he was, Weisbrod could only agree to the surgery.
What could they do? It was just terrible luck to get injured again.
And as things stood, if Hill could return for the first round of the playoffs, that would be the best possible outcome.
Since a decision had been made, it was fine for Chen Yu to reveal a few details.
"He twisted his ankle. The steel plate that was inserted for his previous fracture has been somewhat displaced, so it must be surgically removed."
Upon hearing the word "surgery," everyone gasped.
Even the most minor surgery requires a period of recovery, right?
Doesn’t that mean his season is over?
The disaster-prone Magic!
Many reporters were already drafting headlines in their minds.
A new general manager, a new coach, their star player getting injured repeatedly—it was a truly pitiful story, miserable to the core.
Joumana squeezed into the best position and held up her microphone. "So how long will he be out? Is his season over?"
She was J Kidd’s wife, after all, and the Magic would be announcing the news soon anyway, so Chen Yu just nodded and confirmed it.
"That’s right. He won’t be back for the regular season."
The reporters present had already guessed as much. All they could do was shake their heads and sigh.
"So when will the surgery be?" Joumana pressed.
The other reporters all turned to look at Chen Yu.
"The surgery?"
Chen Yu pushed through the crowd and started walking. "The surgery is already done. Alright, I’m going to get some coffee. Don’t follow me."
’It was just removing a plate, a piss-easy procedure. It didn’t require any special treatment effects. Once they decided on it, Chen Yu just went ahead and did the surgery for Hill last night. He’s laid up in the hospital right now.’
Injured again, season over, the star-crossed Hill, on top of the jinxed Magic.
But the commotion outside couldn’t affect things inside the hospital.
However, Hill’s admission certainly livened up the entire orthopedics department.
In the hallway, Ronaldo, dressed in a hospital gown, sat in a wheelchair, while Redondo, also in a hospital gown, pushed him from behind.
These two, who had once been rivals in La Liga—with Redondo having taken down Ronaldo outside the penalty box on more than one occasion—were now getting along surprisingly well, discussing the long line of people outside a hospital room in the distance.
"Fernando, tell me, why don’t these Americans like soccer?" Ronaldo asked, his face a picture of confusion.
He was hospitalized, yet no one paid him any mind. Not a single young nurse had come over to ask for his autograph.
But this Hill guy had just been admitted, and the hallway outside his room was already swarming with people. It felt like the entire hospital had shown up.
What’s so great about Hill? So he’s a "successor to Jordan." Has he even won a championship?
I’m a two-time World Player of the Year!
Redondo watched silently for a moment before saying, "Forget it. You have it better. At least they know your name is Ronaldo. Unlike me, they can’t even spell my name right."
There was a clear note of resentment in Redondo’s voice as he spoke.
In Spain, he was the Prince of Real Madrid, a player who could draw massive crowds. But here in the United States, they couldn’t even spell his name right on the hospital admission form.
’Just how obscure am I here?’
"What are you two chatting about?"
A voice suddenly came from behind, making them both jump.
They turned their heads and saw it was Chen Yu.
"Alright, you two soccer stars, stop staring. It’s no use," Chen Yu said with an exasperated smile.
’Debating who’s more famous, Jordan or Maradona, is completely pointless.’
’Besides, in the United States, Hill has mainstream appeal. He’s treated like a pop idol, so this level of popularity is normal.’
After telling Ronaldo to go back for his treatment, Chen Yu turned to Redondo and said, "Fernando, go back and get ready. Your surgery is scheduled for two in the afternoon."
Redondo froze, surprised. "I can have the surgery now?"
He had always been curious why, after admitting him, they had made him wait so long for the surgery.
’Do they have to wait for the right mood, or pick an auspicious day for surgery?’
Chen Yu nodded.
’I’ve been going crazy with exhaustion these last few days. Never mind running in circles for these patients, I also have that pile of surgeries at the sanatorium, and I still have to worry about the team and the health management department.’
’Luckily, everything went smoothly. With that batch of surgeries at the sanatorium, especially the experience gained from that old cowboy’s case, I managed to farm another Diamond Level therapeutic effect.’
’This one will be enough.’
’Redondo just has a torn ACL.’
「Two in the afternoon, outside the operating room.」
Redondo was on the phone with his family. Chen Yu wasn’t in a hurry and just stood by, waiting.
Kawagado, on the other hand, looked nervous. He was muttering nonstop, silently praying for something.
After a moment, Redondo hung up, handed the phone to Kawagado, then turned to Chen Yu. His expression was serious and earnest. "Chen, I hope you won’t make me regret this decision."
Chen Yu patted his shoulder.
"Don’t worry."
Inside the operating room, Redondo was already under anesthesia, sleeping soundly.
This time, Chen Yu didn’t invite Wash to assist.
It was a surefire surgery, so there was no need. Chen Yu simply chose Murphy to be his assistant.
At the operating table, Murphy stood with his eyes closed, constantly muttering the surgical procedure under his breath.
He looked a little nervous.
"Relax. You’re just assisting. You won’t even have a chance to mess up," Chen Yu said with a smile as he walked over.
Murphy opened his eyes and gave an embarrassed smile.
’That might be true, but just being an assistant is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.’
"Number 10 blade."
Chen Yu wasted no time and immediately got into the zone.
He located the right spot and cut through the knee, layer by layer.
Across from him, Murphy couldn’t take his eyes off the procedure. No wonder Joseph always used recordings of Chen Yu’s surgeries to teach them. This kind of fluid, seamless technique could only be described as top-tier.
He carefully incised the scarred-over ACL. Under the Eye of All-Seeing, Chen Yu could clearly see the ruptured capillaries. They were like clogged pipes, either stopped short or growing erratically.
Chen Yu had to resect every salvageable capillary he could, along with all the scar tissue, to perfectly suture the ligament.
Having done this kind of surgery many times, it was second nature to Chen Yu.
The Diamond Level therapeutic effect was activated. Chen Yu’s fingers flew, precisely placing needles, suturing, and tightening within the narrow joint cavity.
As time passed, the capillaries seemed to be rejuvenated, growing once more and reconnecting with each other.
Two hours later, Chen Yu stopped, deftly removed all the free tissue, and began to close the incision.
"Alright. Thank you, everyone."
With the final stitch in place, Chen Yu stopped and nodded to the others in the room.
Across the table, Murphy was the first to applaud.
Although he couldn’t figure out how Chen Yu could be so confident in saying the ligament was fully repaired when it was just a standard ligament suture, it didn’t stop him from admiring Chen Yu’s surgical skill.
It was so masterful it was like a work of art.
Chen Yu waved his hand and left to wash up.
The surgery could be described as a perfect success.
’The only downside is that I didn’t gain anything from it.’
’Like my Ligament Repair Surgery skill.’
’I’m actually pretty curious. How many ligaments do I have to repair to level up this skill?’
’It can’t be like massage and Acupuncture, right?’
’I do those things every day, so I can grind out the XP. Even if it takes ten thousand or a hundred thousand reps to level up, I can manage that eventually.’
’But ligaments?’
’I’ll never repair ten thousand ligaments in my entire life.’
As he walked out of the operating room, Kawagado was the first to rush up to him.
"The surgery was a success."
As he accepted Kawagado’s gratitude, Chen Yu was silently worrying.
’Now with Hill, that makes four of them. How many of those recovery effects am I going to need?’
’Even though I found a way to grind for these healing effects, it’s still exhausting work.’
’I can’t help but complain to myself. This system of mine is so thoughtless. Can’t it let me train an apprentice to do the work while I collect the XP?’
’Or is it trying to teach me that you have to break a sweat to get these miraculous results?’
Back in the hospital room, Chen Yu didn’t leave right away. He wrote up his notes while waiting for Redondo to wake up.
"The surgery... was it a success?" Redondo’s voice sounded.
He was awake.
Before Chen Yu could answer, Ronaldo, who was next to him, nodded excitedly. "What do you think? Of course it was a success."
Redondo’s eyes were blank for a moment before he propped himself up and looked at his braced knee with a complicated expression.
’That painful rehab process... I have to go through it all over again.’
’Sometimes, I really wonder... why am I putting myself through all this torture?’
’Money?’
’I’ve already earned more than enough. Why not just retire and enjoy life?’
’Especially since I still want to play in another World Cup.’
’And I’d have to give in to Belsa.’
’Damn it all!’
Redondo looked up, saw Chen Yu, gritted his teeth, and said a sincere, "Thank you."
"No need for thanks. Just focus on resting and recovering."
Chen Yu found a nurse, gave some post-op instructions, and prepared to leave.
’Time to check on Carl. His daily massage and Acupuncture have become part of my required curriculum.’
’The main thing is, I just finished a long surgery, and it’s already dark out.’
’These guys are working me to the bone.’
Just as he was about to leave, Redondo suddenly called out to him.
"Chen, there’s something," Redondo said after a moment’s hesitation. "I saw on the news that you performed cartilage reconstruction surgery on that basketball star, Hardaway. I have a friend who’s also suffering from severe cartilage wear. I wanted to ask if you could treat his condition."
’Another patient referral?’
Chen Yu’s brow furrowed slightly. ’Are they determined to work me to death?’
Still, Chen Yu stopped and asked who it was.
Before Redondo could speak, Ronaldo jumped in. "Fernando, you’re talking about Batty, right?"
Gabriel Batistuta.

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