Chapter 6
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Chapter 6: Medical Soldier?
At the recruitment medical examination site, the officer responsible for verifying information glanced back and forth between Wang Xiao’s sharply defined face and the photo on his file.
“Is this photo you?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Wang Xiao remained calm, glancing at the photo on his file and explaining, “I was much heavier back then.”
The officer frowned slightly, his right hand moving toward his gun holster.
“Stop pretending. I was on duty yesterday, and that kid has a terminal illness. He won’t be around for long.”
Several soldiers on guard nearby gathered around, and the officer’s tone grew unfriendly:
“Tell me, what happened to that kid?”
—
An hour later, the officer held the medical report, looking at Wang Xiao in the Interrogation Room with disbelief.
“It really is you?
“Just one night, and your ability awakened, and your illness is gone…”
He pondered for a long time, unable to find the appropriate words to describe his feelings, finally saying, “You are truly lucky…”
“So about my enlistment?”
What Wang Xiao cared about most was this point.
“We need to conduct a certain level of testing on your ability so that we can classify and file it. I hope you are as powerful as you described, as this kind of Ability Testing is quite… painful.”
Wang Xiao nodded calmly and entered the testing room accompanied by several staff members in Isolation Suits.
For Physical Enhancement superheroes, especially those with Rapid Healing abilities, the methods of testing have always been simple and straightforward. It was almost identical to Wang Xiao’s own experiments but more professional and meticulous in the Creation of Injuries.
Wang Xiao willingly contributed his left arm, allowing them to proceed. After securing his arm, several Syringes and various Knife Heads dropped down from the device above…
Half an hour later, he was pushed out of the testing area, having obtained his Ability Testing report as desired.
[Ability: Rapid Healing
Rarity: Low
Growth Potential: Low
Overall Rating: E
Ability Description: A common Rapid Healing ability. 80% of those with physical abilities possess or encompass this effect.]
Wang Xiao raised an eyebrow at the report, clearly a little surprised.
What to say?
Although having abilities is better than not having any, isn’t this a bit too weak?
The officer noticed Wang Xiao’s expression and took the report to glance over it, quickly understanding Wang Xiao’s feelings.
He thought Wang Xiao was somewhat disappointed and patted his shoulder, saying,
“The average awakening rate for superpowered individuals is less than 2%. Many people have abilities that are not very useful. You are already among the best of humanity.”
Wang Xiao paid no attention to his comfort, simply feeling that his ability should not be as simple as described in the report. After all, he had yet to try experiencing cutting-type injuries…
Seeing that Wang Xiao didn’t react much, the officer continued,
“I carefully reviewed your resume during the ability test. You even have some medical training.”
“I didn’t graduate, so that doesn’t count.”
As Wang Xiao spoke honestly, he felt that the officer bringing it up was not without purpose.
Sure enough, the officer continued,
“You just need less than half a year. You could be considered a talent. Why not be a Medical Soldier? My unit has lost quite a few doctors in recent battles.”
“Ah?”
Wang Xiao’s reluctant voice slipped out. His machine gun was unexpectedly turning into a scalpel, which he found hard to accept.
The officer noticed his reaction and grew serious, saying formally,
“Your medical examination has passed. I am your officer and have the right to decide your future.
“Besides, do you think a battlefield doctor is a safe position?”
He patted Wang Xiao’s shoulder again, his tone softening,
“The truly safe positions always have enough personnel.
“Train well. You’re a lucky young man, and I hope you can live a bit longer.”
—
Wang Xiao was sent to a crash course boot camp to begin training, while Lin Qingliu was out in the outer city purchasing cement and some daily necessities.
In the market area, he saw many humans with various colored hair. Combining this with his memory, he realized that the people who fled to Hope City came from multiple nations of the Old Era.
At first, they were divided based on their original countries, but after decades of evolution, they gradually became organized around controlled domains.
Today, Hope City is firmly controlled by three major organizations:
The military, factories, and research institutes.
On the surface, the “Hope Council” seems to be at the top, but it is tightly held by all three factions, responsible for setting specific policies and resolving conflicts.
Just thinking about these names made Lin Qingliu want to laugh.
It was like how he had never thought of naming his own divine persona. Apart from that somewhat extravagant council, the only thing needing no extra name was a specific term.
The three major organizations were quite similar.
The military is responsible for resisting the beast tide on the outside and maintaining law and order on the inside. Factories manage the daily needs of all residents in Hope City and are also responsible for military manufacturing. The research institutes focus on advancing technology and education.
They have clear divisions of labor, each with its own emphasis, and humanity’s last city managed in this manner struggles forward awkwardly.
After careful consideration, to save fifty information coins, Lin Qingliu finally chose cement from an unqualified local workshop.
The saved fifty coins were added to one hundred to exchange for a small piece of zombie meat that had been frozen for who knows how many years and a bundle of already-dead dried vegetables.
Having just experienced a transformation, though Lin Qingliu’s health status was off the charts, he still felt hunger.
No matter how strong his regenerative ability, he couldn’t eat himself, could he?
Thinking further, Lin Qingliu realized that this approach might not be entirely impossible, aside from the loss of energy…
Half an hour later, with cement on his shoulder and vegetables and meat in hand, Lin Qingliu opened the door to the clinic, deciding to treat his hungry stomach (even though his hunger sensation was blocked by now).
While slicing the meat, Lin Qingliu lamented the terrible prices in this world. With limited resources, both meat and vegetables were extremely valuable, and their prices had soared to levels his former self couldn’t understand.
Therefore, he couldn’t afford to eat such “delicacies” every day; at least for the short term, Lin Qingliu would have to rely on nutritional paste as his staple food.
As for the ingredients and components of that food, having watched "Snowpiercer" in his previous life, Lin Qingliu chose not to think too hard to avoid making himself sick.
When he opened the electric pot to pan-fry the meat, Lin Qingliu couldn’t help but think of this world’s technological advancements.
First, electricity must be very abundant. Based on the original owner’s school memories, Hope City is located east of the Sea, boasting a rich foundation for tidal power generation. The underground geothermal sources are also good, making it feasible to maintain daily electricity and water supplies for millions of people.
Other aspects were less impressive. Comparing memories from both lives, Lin Qingliu felt that before the disaster, the technology in this world was at least slightly more advanced than his hometown.
Of course, it might also just be that the new era in Hope City is beautifying the Old Era’s reality, giving its people a bit more hope…
But the disaster forced humanity to abandon all fields except military technology. Even technology in the military domain has reached a bottleneck in recent decades; without the emergence of superpowered individuals, which opened up the technology tree of biotechnology, the research institutes might have to close down.
As for people’s daily necessities, the only principle in Hope City is:
Save where you can, use what you have.
No mobile phones—there’s only a city, so if it’s not urgent, why not just take a trip? It won’t kill you. For important matters, go find a landline.
No televisions—there’s only a city, so where are all the news and shows? Here’s a radio; go find your own channels.
No computers—at least not for civilian use; the staff of the three major organizations still uses them.
In summary, Hope City has concentrated all its resources, striving to minimize all waste and unnecessary production.
All of humanity has entered a state of tightness and scarcity.
