Chapter 41
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Chapter 41: Critical Use
“What does not going mean?”
“Report! It means not going!”
Inside the military camp in the eastern outer city, Wang Xiao was reporting his final decision to the officer who had recruited him into the army.
He chose to give up the excellent opportunity to join the inner city’s direct superpowered group under the military.
His reason was simply to guard the same wall as his father.
This excuse sounded so passionate that it verged on silly, and it was no wonder his officer didn’t believe him…
After a moment of silence, the officer pushed the form back to Wang Xiao.
“You have two more days; you can think about it some more.”
Wang Xiao pretended not to see and turned to leave the officer’s room.
“Ah, Young Man.”
The middle-aged officer had become an acting leader due to a misjudgment in the last wall defense incident.
He silently tucked the form into his drawer, hoping that Wang Xiao would change his mind.
He genuinely wished for this capable, brave Young Man to step onto a bigger stage.
But knowing Wang Xiao’s past well, he also understood that the Young Man was not joking.
Wang Xiao’s performance on the wall had proven everything, and he trusted Wang Xiao’s loyalty immensely.
—
In the inner city, in a secret laboratory.
“This is truly astonishing…"
The elderly man in a white coat gazed at a floating kidney in the culture solution, marveling at it.
“The results of this experiment far surpass all the previous hundreds of attempts.
“With just the guidance of bioelectrical signals, it can undergo reverse differentiation, and the rejection is nearly nonexistent. This is simply, simply… a gift from the divine!
“Imagine, if we could possess and Control this power, what the future would look like.”
The old man crossed his arms and gently placed his right hand on his side.
A tube extended from under his skin, connecting to a soft bag strapped to his thigh.
The soft tube and urine bag had accompanied the old man for ten years; he had grown accustomed to the pitying gazes of others, to the sound of water flowing when he walked, and to the faint, unpleasant odor…
Yet, when such an opportunity presented itself, he found it hard to suppress his excitement.
This made him reevaluate himself; he realized he had never truly gotten used to all this.
Looking at the kidney, the old man’s gaze transformed from longing to greed.
His condition had worsened.
He needed this kidney as much as humanity needed him.
Deciding often takes only a moment; the old man had already resolved to use his own body as a culture dish for the next phase of the experiment with this kidney.
He couldn’t wait any longer.
The old man turned to his assistants,
"Prepare for the surgery; the sooner, the better."
"Boss, are you really going to…"
"Someone has to pay the price."
The old man’s face was filled with solemnity as he firmly stated,
"So I’ve decided to use it critically.”
—
The two observers quietly watched Zhou Zhuo read their investigation report and Lin Qingliu’s life log from the past three days.
Despite being battle-hardened, they felt exposed in front of the incredibly insightful Deputy Director of the research institutes.
After a quarter of an hour, Zhou Zhuo set down the documents,
"So, aside from your overly harsh words, there is no issue with that psychologist?"
The man responsible for recording stepped forward and said,
"Yes, based on our observations, aside from the fact that the fee for psychological treatment is higher than that of typical outer city doctors, he has no problems at all."
"Tell me about the fee."
"Sure. Before returning to the inner city, the two of us decided to try him out ourselves.
"We conducted three sets of tests and spent five hundred information coins, but found nothing."
Zhou Zhuo scoffed and asked,
"What did the doctor say?"
"He said I’m perfectly fine and not to scare myself.
“He also mentioned that if I was really worried, he had a special treatment package that costs two thousand information coins for a session and guarantees free follow-up visits for the next few years."
"Did you agree to that?" Zhou Zhuo asked.
"Of course not!"
The man sounded anxious, as if he hurried to clarify that he wasn’t a fool,
"Deputy Director, that’s two thousand information coins! Isn’t that a pure scam? If I spent that money, my wife would scold me for a month when I got home!"
Zhou Zhuo nodded,
"That makes sense. In that case, it seems there’s no major issue. Perhaps I was overthinking; Young Man may just fall for this kind of thing…
"This task ends here; you two can take two days off and then return to work as usual."
The two veterans nodded and turned to leave, only to be called back by Zhou Zhuo. They turned around as a note was handed to them,
"Take this, and remember to get reimbursed for the consultation fee."
—
In the research institutes’ conference room, Ji Yongxing was participating in this type of meeting for the first time, focusing intently on taking notes.
A closer look revealed that he mostly recorded the poorly constructed sentences from the speeches, with little actual content.
The elderly man speaking at the podium was named Liu Jihang, around fifty years old, and he was currently the top figure in managing superpower technology development at the institutes.
Liu Jihang had been born just as the disaster began, during a time when disasters plagued the Earth, and man-made calamities were rampant due to survival pressures.
At that time, human territory hadn’t shrunk to the extent it has now, and the tall walls had yet to be built.
His parents died in a beast tide, and their last words were "Run!"
Later, Liu managed to escape into Hope City, and while in school, he changed his name to Jihang to sound more normal.
For decades, Liu Jihang has remained on the front lines of research, helping Hope City to revive much of the technology lost during the disaster.
After superpowered individuals emerged, he dedicated himself to exploring the nature of superpowers and their applications and replication.
His speech today was a combination of the report Ji Yongxing previously delivered to Zhou Zhuo.
Following him, Zhao Kai, who was responsible for biotechnologies, provided further information.
He, too, was an elder, seemingly older than Liu Jihang.
Zhao Kai held Ji Yongxing in high regard, frequently expressing a desire to personally mentor this rare talent, but Zhou Zhuo had always rejected this.
The Deputy Director felt it was best for Ji Yongxing to become a well-rounded individual, so he shouldn’t immerse himself in one research direction too soon.
Zhao Kai had no rebuttal, understanding that the other was the Deputy Director, whom one could not argue with.
Upon learning that Ji Yongxing would be studying for a while, Zhao Kai even went out of his way, despite his frail physique, to personally welcome him, leaving the curly-haired young man feeling somewhat flattered.
Zhao Kai slowly spoke about some recent achievements and thoughts, occasionally glancing at Ji Yongxing.
Seeing him writing quickly brought a smile to Zhao Kai’s face, and many in attendance cast envious glances at Ji Yongxing, sitting in the front row.
