“Let go of me! Who are you people? Let me go! What you’re doing is illegal confinement! It’s a crime… let me go!”

Through the glass, several medical staff could be seen struggling to hold down Dr. Franky’s hands and feet. It wasn’t that the staff couldn’t control Dr. Franky; rather, they were afraid of injuring him, making the task particularly difficult.

This was already the third day since the expert team’s first meeting.

Mr. Alfie had a scruffy face; he hadn’t left the hospital during this time. His bloodshot eyes and dark circles made his appearance look terrible.

“Mr. Alfie, Dr. Franky’s memory has regressed again… but his brain activity is actually stronger than yesterday,” the lead doctor said while looking at the report.

Mr. Alfie replied softly, “His memories right now should be from around when he was twenty-six.”

The lead doctor was taken aback and quickly flipped through various reports. “Around twenty-six?”

Mr. Alfie sighed, “He just mentioned wanting to take me to see Boston’s championship event, which was something he promised to take me to when I was eight… it was a birthday gift.”

In order to diagnose Dr. Franky’s condition more thoroughly, Mr. Alfie had revealed that Dr. Franky was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. He had also used various means to find the doctor who had been secretly treating Dr. Franky and obtained his medical records from the past two years.

However, these records still could not explain the issue of Dr. Franky’s current brain activity.

Due to his brain’s frantic extraction of nutrients from the body, Dr. Franky woke up only for short periods each day, but his memories regressed each time he did.

He was becoming “younger” as he lived… This led some members of the expert team to propose a hypothesis: would Dr. Franky’s memory eventually regress to his infant years, ultimately turning him into a confused “baby”? Furthermore, perhaps when his memories regressed to the very beginning, it would coincide with the end of his life.

“Let go of me… let go of me…”

The medical staff were injecting Dr. Franky with a sedative to slightly suppress his brain activity. However, once he regained consciousness, the activity would intensify again, creating a cycle that was merely a stopgap measure.

Seeing Dr. Franky’s half-closed eyes, Mr. Alfie suddenly shuddered. “Stop… let them stop!”

“Mr. Alfie, if we stop now, we won’t be able to inject the nutritional solution, and his body won’t be able to withstand it much longer…”

“I said stop it!!” Mr. Alfie tightly gripped the lead doctor’s collar, the imposing demeanor he’d cultivated over the years making the lead doctor gasp for breath. He could only quickly call for the medical staff to cease their actions.

Mr. Alfie then directly barged into the intensive care unit, releasing the restraints on Dr. Franky’s hands and feet. Looking at the half-conscious Dr. Franky, who was on the verge of collapse from the body’s frantic consumption, Mr. Alfie reached for a bottle of synthetic nutrient solution nearby.

“Listen, you want to leave here, right? You want to take your son to see the Boston game, right?” Mr. Alfie fixed his gaze on Dr. Franky. “If you want to go out, I can take you, but you have to finish this stuff! If you agree, nod your head!”

Dr. Franky struggled to nod his head, and Mr. Alfie carefully fed him the nutrient solution, making sure he swallowed it.

The nutrient solution contained a sedative, and after Dr. Franky consumed it, he quickly entered a drowsy state.

At that moment, the lead doctor walked in, wiping his forehead, and sighed, “Finally, he managed to take it… But the known nutrient solution is about to fall short of Dr. Franky’s consumption. Mr. Alfie, perhaps we should consider a backup plan…”

Each time, they used more advanced nutrient solutions, yet Dr. Franky’s body was rapidly adapting to these external energy supplements.

Soon, the nutrient solutions that current technology could produce would no longer suffice for Dr. Franky’s needs… At that point, if a solution had not yet been found…

Therefore, the expert group proposed a final method—cryogenic freezing of Dr. Franky.

In the face of technology’s limitations, the only option was to freeze Dr. Franky and wait for the day when technology could break through.

Just then, Mr. Alfie picked up Dr. Franky, seemingly intending to leave the intensive care unit. The lead doctor was taken aback, “Mr. Alfie, what are you doing?”

Mr. Alfie took a deep breath and said, “Help me contact the cryogenic company in Europe.”

Had he already made the decision in his heart?

The lead doctor stared blankly as Mr. Alfie carried Dr. Franky away. In a moment of instinct, he shouted, “Where are you taking him?”

“To see a game.”

…

A sedan sped down the highway, followed by several identical cars, and then a white ambulance.

In the front car, Mr. Alfie glanced at the box in front of him, which was filled with high-concentration nutrient solutions brought from the hospital.

“Oh… I don’t like this taste. Is there any with orange flavor?”

In the passenger seat, Dr. Franky frowned, trying to spit out a capsule he had just swallowed, but Mr. Alfie covered his mouth. “You need to swallow it; otherwise, I won’t take you to the stadium.”

“Alright, nagging Matthew,” Dr. Franky said, shaking his head reluctantly as he swallowed.

It seemed that not only was he experiencing memory regression, but his memories were also becoming confused. Dr. Franky currently recognized Mr. Alfie as one of his old companions—Matthew, the director of the Science Museum.

“Hey, Matthew, are there so many buildings around here? Why don’t I remember any of them?” Dr. Franky said, looking out the window with excitement.

Mr. Alfie had no idea how Dr. Franky’s world was constructed; he could only follow along with Dr. Franky’s words. So, he helplessly replied, “The world is changing rapidly; you’ve been cooped up in the lab all day, so of course, you wouldn’t know about the changes in the outside world.”

Dr. Franky scoffed, “Nonsense! The changes in the world come from technology. If it weren’t for us scientists who spend all day in the lab developing technology, where would the changes in the world come from? We understand it better than they do!”

“I’m not denying your point,” Mr. Alfie shook his head.

But Dr. Franky frowned again, “Matthew, are we going to miss the time? Is Alfie really waiting for me at the stadium? Oh no… It’s my fault for forgetting about this! If you hadn’t reminded me, I’d still be grading papers in the office!”

At this “time,” Dr. Franky should still be a teacher at the National University, far from the period when he was called to the National Research Institute.

“When did I remind you… oh right, it was me who reminded you,” Mr. Alfie sighed. “You really often forget about family because of work.”

“Isn’t that unavoidable? Our professor plans to choose an assistant, and this will be very helpful for my future.” Dr. Franky shook his head. “You, with no family, wouldn’t understand.”

Mr. Alfie smiled wryly, “But have you considered that Alfie… he might not be happy to see you so busy. Perhaps he hopes you’d stay at home to spend more time with him, even if it’s just kicking a soccer ball around for an afternoon?”

“Speaking of this, it makes me angry. That kid said his birthday wish this year was to watch a soccer game and even said he wants to become a great soccer player when he grows up!” Dr. Franky gritted his teeth.

Mr. Alfie was taken aback, “Becoming a soccer player is a great dream. Aren’t kids like that?”

Becoming a great soccer player… that was his dream from many years ago.

Dr. Franky shook his head, remaining silent, just squinting his eyes and leaning back in his seat, not saying a word. Mr. Alfie noticed this and quickly opened the box filled with nutritional medicine, pushing Dr. Franky’s shoulder. “Dr. Franky, Dr. Franky, don’t sleep! We’re almost there! Dr. Franky, have some candy… Dr. Franky!”

“Matthew! Don’t disturb me.”

Dr. Franky suddenly opened his eyes, gave Mr. Alfie a hard slap on the arm, and complained, “I was so tired; it took me a while to doze off… Do you know you just ruined my good dream? I dreamt that Alfie grew up and got a beautiful bride, and he was taking the wedding ring from my hand, you jerk! You woke me up at this moment! You’ll incur the wrath of every father in the world! I curse you to be a bachelor for life!”

I… I’ve already taken it from you once… father.

“Really… I’m so sorry.” Mr. Alfie suddenly choked up.

At that moment, Mr. Alfie’s Bluetooth headset suddenly rang. He glanced at Dr. Franky, who had squinted his eyes again, seemingly wanting to continue dreaming about Alfie’s wedding.

“Sir, it’s all arranged. However, due to time constraints, we can only ask the club where Alfie used to play to select a team of reserve players; their starters are currently playing elsewhere… after all, recreating the match from back then is quite…”

Mr. Alfie glanced at Dr. Franky again, lowering his voice. “Listen, I’ll arrive in fifteen minutes, so have the players ready.”

…

The soccer field wasn’t crowded. Mr. Alfie suddenly felt a sense of luck—fortunately, the player he liked as a child played for an obscure club that had always been stuck in the lower leagues. Otherwise, he really wouldn’t know where to find a large audience.

Even so, they had managed to gather a significant number of extras, preventing the place from feeling too empty—just like back then.

“Oh… has it started already?” Dr. Franky opened his eyes.

In fact, he now seemed like a patient suffering from hypersomnia, falling into a near-sleep state after taking just a few steps, but for some reason, he always managed to wake up.

Dr. Franky didn’t mention Alfie again. Mr. Alfie had arranged for a child actor to temporarily play “young Alfie,” but it seemed that wasn’t needed for the moment.

The young actor was standing by not far away, bored as he watched a group of extras in front of him raising a banner and shouting energetically. He then tugged at Mr. Alfie’s sleeve, saying, “Even if I don’t perform, I still want my payment.”

Mr. Alfie shot a look at the kid, thinking to himself: This little brat has a future.

He shook his head with a wry smile and then looked over at Mr. Alfie, wondering what his superior and Dr. Franky were discussing at that moment.

“Hey!! Poz! Put in some effort! Haven’t you eaten?!”

Like a young man, from this aging body that was on the verge of collapse, the energy of a vigorous middle-aged man erupted at this moment. Mr. Alfie anxiously held back Dr. Franky, who was trying to rush out of the audience, saying, “Franky, old buddy, can you behave yourself a bit?”

“Oh… sorry, I got too excited.” Dr. Franky plopped back down in his seat and looked around. “Matthew, have you seen Alfie? He seems to be missing!”

Saying this, Dr. Franky hurriedly stood up again—Mr. Alfie was taken aback, realizing that his father had only just “remembered” this matter.

He hesitated for a moment, abandoning the thought of asking the secretary to call the young actor, and said directly, “Did you forget? Alfie went to the bathroom.”

“Oh… is that so?” Dr. Franky nodded and sat back down, shaking his head. “Actually, watching this is making me so frustrated. I’d rather stay at school grading papers or doing experiments.”

Mr. Alfie smiled and replied, “You never liked sports anyway.”

Recalling that when Dr. Franky had taken him to see this match years ago, he had fallen asleep through the entire second half in the chaotic environment, Mr. Alfie instinctively chuckled.

Dr. Franky shook his head, muttering, “Who told Alfie to like it? You’ll understand when you become a father.”

Dr. Franky gently patted Mr. Alfie’s shoulder.

“I don’t understand.” Mr. Alfie looked at Dr. Franky, feeling a string inside him get pulled. “I don’t understand why you often mention Alfie but only leave him with your back, and I don’t understand why, until later, your heart only held satellites.”

“Is that so… you don’t understand, you don’t understand…” Dr. Franky murmured, seemingly recalling something.

Mr. Alfie sharply sensed Dr. Franky’s abnormality and suddenly felt a surge of excitement. But then he heard Dr. Franky shrugging, “Of course, you don’t understand, because you’re not a father, haha!”

“Yeah… I’m not.” Mr. Alfie sighed deeply, watching the players on the soccer field going back and forth. “Indeed, I can say that you… actually, I’m the same way over the years.”

“Why the sudden negativity?” Dr. Franky asked curiously.

Mr. Alfie turned his head, patted Dr. Franky’s leg, smiled, and shook his head, “It’s nothing, just… just suddenly thought of my father.”

“Oh, old Matthew must have brought you many wonderful memories.” Dr. Franky nodded.

Mr. Alfie’s body suddenly shivered. He realized he needed to do something; an almost instinctive impulse made him stand up abruptly. He looked at Dr. Franky and said, “You’re right; they’re playing so poorly that I really should scold them a bit.”

“Oh?” Dr. Franky was taken aback.

Mr. Alfie was now gripping the railing with both hands, almost leaning out, shouting, “Hey! Poz! Dog crap!! Use all your strength!! You useless, soft-legged waste! Dog crap!!!”

He shouted so loudly, with a voice that could shatter eardrums, that even people far away could hear him… The secretary and a group of standby medical personnel nearby exchanged glances, realizing the commotion. The secretary felt a bit relieved that there were no reporters around; otherwise, Mr. Alfie, as a national official, would be damaging his image by behaving like this in public.

“Ah-ha! Dog crap!! Poz, you’re a pile of dog crap!” Dr. Franky also stood up laughing, mimicking Mr. Alfie, leaning out as well, “Dog crap!!”

“Dog crap!!”

“Go die!!” Mr. Alfie suddenly threw the air pump forcefully onto the field.

“Dog crap! Go die!!” Dr. Franky excitedly imitated Mr. Alfie, throwing his own air pump as well.

The two burst into laughter.

…

…

After that, Dr. Franky fell asleep and could not be awakened no matter what.

The accompanying doctor hurried forward and put Dr. Franky onto an ambulance for examination. The conclusion was that his condition had worsened significantly during this outing, so he needed to be taken back to the hospital immediately.

Mr. Alfie nodded in silence, agreeing.

However, not long after, while the ambulance was still on the road, Dr. Franky suddenly opened his eyes, startling the nearby medical staff into a flurry of activity.

But clearly, this time, Dr. Franky’s memory neither regressed nor progressed; instead, he returned to the state he was in that day at the research institute.

Dr. Franky’s hands were pinned to the stretcher. The doctors tried to calm him down, but he continued to struggle.

His gaze was unfocused, and upon realizing his hands couldn’t move, he quickly ceased his struggle. His lips began to move rapidly, reciting some complex and profound content.

“It’s no good… the sedative has failed!” The attending physician suddenly became flustered. “How could this happen… how could this happen! The dosage administered is enough to…”

“Are you still going to continue giving him more?” Mr. Alfie angrily grabbed the physician’s arm as he reached for another injection.

“But… if we don’t let his brain cool down…” The attending physician looked terrified. “Mr. Alfie, he’s going to die… at this rate, very soon!”

Blood began to slowly flow from Dr. Franky’s nostrils, yet he seemed unaware, his eyes still vacant, continuing to recite calculations verbally.

However, administering too much sedative can also be fatal.

“Materials! Give me the materials! I need the materials… give me the materials!” Dr. Franky suddenly turned to Mr. Alfie, demanding, “Materials… materials…”

“What materials?” Mr. Alfie quickly asked.

“Materials… materials… materials…”

Mr. Alfie gritted his teeth and suddenly shouted, “To the research center… to the research center!!!”

…

He didn’t know what materials were needed, but surely no place could have more materials than a national research center. When the director of the research center heard the news, he was shocked, but it seemed he also realized something.

When Dr. Franky was brought into the research center, the director’s face turned pale at the sight of his old friend’s condition.

Mr. Alfie walked heavily, silently following beside the hospital bed, his head down, not speaking. When the director approached to inquire about the situation, Mr. Alfie directly asked, “Are the materials ready?”

“I don’t know what materials are needed,” the director shook his head. “However, I’ve had people gather everything that can be moved… What does Franky really…”

“Maybe it’s what you want,” Mr. Alfie said coldly, suddenly stopping and looking at the director, saying in a stern voice, “I won’t allow you to miss anything!”

The director nodded heavily.

At this moment, the researchers at the institute had cleared a large area, with the so-called materials sorted and occupying almost two-thirds of the room. They had even prepared various tools.

Under everyone’s different gazes, Dr. Franky went from needing assistance to suddenly moving with surprising agility, diving into the materials and frantically searching for something.

Unlike the last time, when he had written a lot of advanced knowledge on the walls, Dr. Franky was now tossing the materials around carelessly, precious items strewn across the floor like garbage, causing many onlookers to frown in distress.

Suddenly, it seemed Dr. Franky found what he was looking for and quickly placed it on the workbench.

It was a piece of something resembling a wooden board.

“This is… a wooden board?” one researcher looked at Dr. Franky in confusion as he began to hammer the board. In fact, it was indeed a board, a piece broken off from a wooden box that had contained valuable materials.

Next, Dr. Franky began to take ordinary tools like a ruler, a hacksaw, and nails, starting to cut the wooden board.

No one knew what Dr. Franky was trying to do.

After cutting the board halfway, Dr. Franky suddenly stopped, seemingly contemplating something—he picked up a marker and began to write on the workbench.

“Go see what he’s writing,” the director furrowed his brow and instructed a researcher to go over.

The researcher nodded and, under Mr. Alfie’s sharp gaze, quietly approached Dr. Franky’s side, peeking at the surface of the workbench.

At first, he frowned in confusion, but gradually, as Dr. Franky wrote more and more, he began to open his mouth. Eventually, the researcher hurriedly returned, looking flustered.

“It’s… it’s… it’s…”

“Slow down! Don’t panic!”

849

“It’s a blueprint! It’s a design blueprint!” The researcher exclaimed, “It looks like a design for a three-stage rocket… but I’ve never seen a structure like this! I can’t calculate it!”

“Get everyone here!” The director decisively ordered.

It seemed… they had returned to the scene from the last time in the conference room.

A large number of researchers began to gather at the location, scanning Dr. Franky’s drawings on the workbench into the computer and starting to analyze the structure. They even began creating data models to derive some conclusions in real-time.

Mr. Alfie didn’t pay attention to the enthusiasm and gasps of the scientists around him; he simply focused on Dr. Franky’s silhouette.

It was still that same silhouette… one that had always given him this kind of view from behind.

Beside him, the lead doctor grew increasingly anxious and couldn’t help but whisper in Mr. Alfie’s ear, “Mr. Alfie… aren’t you going to stop Dr. Franky? He’s maintained this state for a long time, and if it doesn’t stop soon, I’m afraid… I’m really afraid it’ll be too late.”

“Haven’t you already run out of options?” Mr. Alfie replied, looking at the lead doctor.

The doctor couldn’t find the words to say… the time given to him and the team of experts was far too short, and there had never been any reference cases before.

Faced with Mr. Alfie’s gaze, he could only shake his head in despair.

Mr. Alfie ignored the lead doctor and continued to watch Dr. Franky’s back, murmuring, “Is this… what will satisfy you?”

He sighed, feeling it was no longer necessary for him to stay… at least, he couldn’t bear to watch Dr. Franky fall before his eyes again.

At the very least… let his greatness remain in his heart.

Bearing the weight of an entire team’s lives, including his daughter-in-law, the guilt that tormented Dr. Franky was something Mr. Alfie understood better than anyone else. Because he and Dr. Franky had lived under the same roof, sharing the closest relationship in the world.

Yet because of this, he couldn’t forgive Dr. Franky… nor could he allow himself not to forgive him.

Maggie… is she watching too?

In a daze, Mr. Alfie seemed to see many figures that didn’t belong here… his wife’s figure, the colleagues of his wife Maggie—those who had lost their lives in the disaster long ago.

Mr. Alfie knew this was a vision conjured by his own mind, a manifestation of his spiritual torment.

They were all around Dr. Franky, by the workbench… the spirits of those who had left lingered on Dr. Franky.

Their spirit… their will.

“Is it these that have been supporting you all along?” Mr. Alfie murmured.

He seemed to see Maggie looking at him, giving a slight smile, and making a shushing gesture, then turning her full attention to Dr. Franky, as if saying: Look, this is our pride.

Mr. Alfie wanted to say something, but he stopped abruptly. He closed his eyes, struggling to remember the scene where reality and illusion intertwined.

“Let it be,” Mr. Alfie offered his blessings to Dr. Franky.

He suddenly felt the urge to knock on the long-empty office of the research institute—his wife Maggie’s office. He remembered that there was a family photo on the desk in that office.

Perhaps it was time to bring this keepsake back home.

“Hey, this model, why doesn’t it match the design blueprint?”

“Let me see… Strange, isn’t the structure of this rocket model a bit outdated? I feel like I’ve seen this somewhere before?”

“M901 satellite… This is the model for the rocket booster used in the M901 satellite program; I remember now!”

Amid the chaotic voices, Mr. Alfie suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned back… looking at the elderly figure carefully assembling an old-fashioned model.

This model…

“What is the doctor doing? While pushing the latest rocket design, he’s working on the oldest model? They don’t match at all!”

Mr. Alfie walked step by step toward Dr. Franky… The silhouette grew closer, closer than when he used to watch him leave for work as a child, closer than when he hid outside the study and watched him leave, impossibly close…

“Hmm… I remember now, this rocket was Dr. Franky’s entry for the science competition back then. It was because of this rocket’s design that he won the championship, which led the research center to recruit him while he was still teaching at the university… Yes, this model is definitely it.” The director of the institute recalled memories from long ago but was utterly puzzled by Dr. Franky’s decision to assemble this model now.

But Mr. Alfie had already arrived at the workbench.

— Alfie, what do you want for your birthday this year?

— A rocket! I want a rocket!! I want to go to space; I want to be an astronaut!

— Alfie, our country can’t make something like that right now… How about a new soccer ball instead?

— I don’t care, I don’t care! I want to be an astronaut! I want to ride a rocket!

— Okay, okay, Dad will make you one!

…

— Alfie, look what I made for you! Ta-da, the rocket is here!

— I don’t want this; this rocket can’t go to space!

— Well, making a big rocket takes a long time. You can use this one for now, and later, Dad will make you a real rocket that can carry people and satellites, okay?

— Really?

— I’m not lying to you.

— It’s a promise!

— It’s a promise!

“It’s a promise…” Mr. Alfie gently placed his hand on the back of Dr. Franky’s hand and tightened his grip, “It’s a promise…”

Dr. Franky trembled slightly but quickly continued to focus on assembling the model on the workbench. Everything was for you.

“Dad… don’t go! I don’t want to!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep