ATDIWR Chapter 75

Chapter 75: Treatment Pod. Deity?

Zhou Qin rested with Ji An for another half an hour before leaving with Gu Jinsheng.

After everyone left, Ji An continued to cultivate the bone marrow and bone fragments collected from Zhou Qin.

With these two things, the first reaction many people would think of is having a Power User accelerate growth.

But this actually doesn’t work.

It’s widely known that the principle behind healing-type Power Users is restoration.

In other words, if a healing-type Power User were to accelerate growth, they would get a section of Zhou Qin’s healthy leg bone from the good leg.

However, the left and right leg bones of humans are completely opposite in terms of curvature, direction, and joint details.

A leg bone grown by a Power User would be a 100% restoration of the original leg bone, but Zhou Qin needed the opposite lower leg bone, making it completely unusable.

Otherwise, Power Users wouldn’t be foolish and would have used this method long ago.

Power Users even once thought of a method: growing the bone to an infinitely large size.

With an infinitely large bone, they could surely cut out a shape and size suitable for the owner’s leg if they wanted.

Power Users did indeed try this, but it was simply not feasible in practice.

Because the bone grown to an infinite size had its bone density and other properties changed, resulting in severe osteoporosis.

The osteoporosis was so severe that it couldn’t support the Power User’s body, or if it barely held up, the bone fragments would rattle inside the flesh when the Power User walked.

So it was completely unfeasible.

Ji An, however, used directed culture technology.

This involved his modified 3D modeling technology. Through 3D modeling, he obtained specific data for directed culture of the lower leg bone.

Although the description sounds simple, each word represents a brand new technology.

Ji An took Spirit Spring Water from his space and added it to the culture medium.

The effect of Spirit Spring Water is similar to healing-type abilities in that it can accelerate culture, but unlike healing-type abilities, it can accelerate growth without being limited by the restriction of restoration.

It was the perfect choice for accelerated growth!

As for widespread adoption after successful experimentation, Ji An had already thought of a solution for the problem of major hospitals not having Spirit Spring Water.

Firstly, directly selling Spirit Spring Water was definitely out of the question, as it would expose the fact that he possessed a water source with miraculous effects.

Instead of directly selling Spirit Spring Water, he could directly sell culture fluid.

The composition of the culture fluid wouldn’t need to change; as long as the basic water was replaced with Spirit Spring Water, the efficacy would be greatly enhanced, and no one would be suspicious. People would only think that Ji An had developed a new culture fluid, which was why its effects were better than others’.

As for why others couldn’t detect the difference in composition, that was simply due to their lack of technology. It was like space storage items and nutrient solutions! How could something developed by a big shot be so easily deciphered!

Ji An happily hummed a tune, taking a few headache pills with the Spirit Spring Water.

In less than three weeks, several days earlier than the expected one month, Ji An successfully completed the bone cultivation.

Ji An was in a good mood and sent a message to Gu Jinsheng, asking him to bring Zhou Qin over as the cultivation was successful.

When Gu Jinsheng saw this message, even though he was prepared, his heart still pounded twice, and he had to close his eyes to calm down.

At this moment, Gu Jinsheng was in a meeting with several high-ranking officials of the Jing Shi Base. Although he quickly calmed down, his expression remained as impassive as ever when he spoke again, but the high-ranking officials present still noticed something unusual.

Wan Xueying and the others immediately thought something had happened to Ji An, but seeing that Gu Jinsheng could still continue the meeting, they immediately dismissed this guess.

Their boss was a lovesick person who would detonate his crystal core if Ji An died. If something happened to Mr. Ji, how could he sit still?

The others couldn’t guess what else could make Gu Jinsheng change his expression, but since Gu Jinsheng didn’t say anything, it was likely a private matter, so they didn’t ask.

However, Zhou Qin, who was nearby, saw this scene and his heart began to pound wildly, even more unsettled than Gu Jinsheng. His face turned visibly pale, and his lips lost their color.

Everyone quickly noticed. After the meeting adjourned, Wan Xueying asked worriedly, “Zhou Qin, do you have some secret with the boss? Why did both of you suddenly become so strange during the meeting?”

Kong Zhongcheng said boisterously, “Old Zhou, you didn’t do anything to betray the boss or the base, did you? Let me tell you, you can’t be ungrateful. The boss is very good to us, especially to you. You can’t betray him!”

Zhou Qin said, “How could I? How could I betray the boss, betray the base? I can only say, if this truly succeeds, then from now on, this life of mine belongs to our boss and Mr. Ji!”

Gu Jinsheng called out at this moment, “Zhou Qin, come with me!”

“Okay,” Zhou Qin replied, his voice trembling. He himself didn’t realize his two arms and his only good leg were shaking.

This appearance made Wan Xueying and Kong Zhongcheng even more certain that Zhou Qin had done something wrong to Gu Jinsheng or the base and was caught by Gu Jinsheng, hence his fearful look.

Wan Xueying’s worry deepened, “Could Old Zhou really have done something to betray the boss and the base?”

Kong Zhongcheng said, “It looks a bit like it, huh? Old Zhou seems quite guilty.”

Before Kong Zhongcheng could finish speaking, Zhou Qin plopped down onto the ground with a slap and couldn’t get up after several attempts.

Zhou Qin looked at Kong Zhongcheng for help and said bitterly, “Old Kong, I’m afraid I can’t get up on my own. Help me up.”

Kong Zhongcheng became even more worried. When he helped Zhou Qin up, he found that Zhou Qin was trembling all over, almost paralyzed.

This made Kong Zhongcheng nervous as well. Kong Zhongcheng asked, “Old Zhou, how big of a mistake must you have made to be so scared?”

“I didn’t,” Zhou Qin also knew that his current state wasn’t very convincing. He said to Gu Jinsheng, “Boss, I can’t walk on my own right now. Let Old Kong help me.”

“Alright,” Gu Jinsheng agreed.

As they were leaving, Wan Xueying whispered to Kong Zhongcheng, “Looking at Old Zhou’s pathetic state, the matter he’s involved in can’t be small. You’ll have to play it by ear. If possible, no matter what, save his life.”

Kong Zhongcheng made an OK gesture, “Don’t worry about that. We’ve worked together for so many years, I can’t just watch him die.”

That being said, Kong Zhongcheng didn’t dare to ask for anything once they were in the car.

It was only because Gu Jinsheng still had the headache aftereffects from his ability beingrendered useless, likely referring to losing his previous abilities which required compensation via crystal cores that he couldn’t drive and needed Kong Zhongcheng to drive. Only then did Gu Jinsheng tell him, “Go to the Research Institute.”

Gu Jinsheng didn’t manage anything at the Research Institute; the only person who could get Gu Jinsheng to make a trip was Ji An. It seemed this matter must be related to Mr. Ji, Kong Zhongcheng guessed secretly.

At the same time, he glanced at Zhou Qin in the rearview mirror.

Suddenly, he felt that Zhou Qin was quite bold to dare to provoke Mr. Ji. If he had provoked Gu Jinsheng himself, their boss might still spare his life, but daring to provoke Mr. Ji meant it would be Boss’s extraordinary leniency if he was left with a whole corpse.

Kong Zhongcheng didn’t dare to open his mouth to plead for a single word now and drove the car directly into the Research Institute.

And all the way, Kong Zhongcheng didn’t speak, nor did Gu Jinsheng or Zhou Qin say a word. The atmosphere was terribly oppressive.

The three of them walked into Ji An’s laboratory. Ji An was already waiting. Seeing the three of them, he wasn’t in a state of fury as Kong Zhongcheng had imagined, but smiling happily.

“You’re here, come in quickly. The M Country healing-type Power Users are already here,” Ji An greeted the few people with a smile.

And Gu Jinsheng’s icy aura, like an iceberg on the way, completely dissipated, instantly becoming so gentle that Kong Zhongcheng felt like he was being bathed in a spring breeze. However, Zhou Qin, whom he was supporting, seemed to be collapsing even more severely, leaning on him like a noodle, putting all his weight on Zhou Qin.

This made Zhou Qin even more confused. He looked at everyone blankly.

They walked into the laboratory and saw Filimone, a max-level healing-type Power User from M Country. Her hands were tied behind her back, her eyes were covered, and her ears were blocked with special material earplugs, ensuring she couldn’t see or hear anything. Beside her stood several tall and burly bodyguards escorting her.

Gu Jinsheng walked in, and the bodyguards escorting Filimone nodded to Gu Jinsheng and the others.

Ji An said, “Take Filimone into the soundproof room next door first. I’ll have someone call you over if needed. During this time, no matter what reason Filimone gives to ask you to untie her or remove her eye mask and earplugs, don’t pay attention.

Even if she uses going to the bathroom as a reason, don’t pay attention.”

The escorting personnel didn’t answer Ji An immediately. They looked at Gu Jinsheng, waiting for his instructions.

Gu Jinsheng said, “From now on, in this laboratory, everything you do will prioritize following Ji An’s instructions.”

“Received, Chief Commander Gu,” the escorting personnel then said to Ji An, “Received, Researcher Ji.”

“Kong Zhongcheng, pick Zhou Qin up and put him on the bed,” Ji An patted the treatment bed in the center of the laboratory.

Although puzzled, Kong Zhongcheng followed the instructions and put him in.

Kong Zhongcheng, Gu Jinsheng, and Zhou Qin had been disinfected by the machine at the door and changed into sterile clothes before entering the laboratory, so they didn’t need to change clothes again now.

Ji An put on gloves and took the cultivated lower leg bone out of the sterile box. Kong Zhongcheng finally realized something at this moment. His eyes widened so much they almost popped out of their sockets.

Ji An held the lower leg bone and placed it on Zhou Qin’s severed leg. Without Ji An saying anything, Zhou Qin could see for himself that the shape and size of the lower leg bone perfectly matched, as if it had been cut from his leg before he was injured.

“It seems the experiment was very successful!” Ji An said with a smile.

Kong Zhongcheng finally had the same feeling as Zhou Qin: weak legs. He couldn’t stand up.

Kong Zhongcheng didn’t get a chair. He just sat down on the ground with a plop to avoid being scared off the chair by a bigger, more reality-defying display from Ji An later, which would be even more embarrassing.

The only people still standing and calm in the entire laboratory were Gu Jinsheng and Ji An.

Ji An said, “Alright, now I can have Filimone help you heal.”

Ji An opened the laboratory door and was about to go next door to call people when he saw Wu Youyang walking in beaming with joy. “Boss, I have good news for you. Just now, someone delivered uninfected, non-mutated sea stars, jellyfish, octopuses, dolphins, and seaweed. There are over twenty kinds in total.”

Wu Youyang laughed heartily, “So many good things, and they only asked for a year’s supply of Power User nutrient solution plus a space storage item, hahaha…”

Wu Youyang felt like he got a great deal, and the treasure hunting team who delivered the items also felt like they got a good deal.

This timing was truly coincidental. Ji An couldn’t help but sigh that Zhou Qin had a good life.

Ji An said, “The items have been tested?”

“Yes, they’ve been tested. All qualified.”

“Okay,” Ji An directly collected these marine creatures into the Spirit Spring Water inside his ring space.

When the Spirit Spring Water encountered these things, it surged like the ocean affected by tidal forces, immediately becoming tumultuous. Ji An could feel the vigorous life force of the Spirit Spring Water.

Ji An genuinely witnessed the transformation of the Spirit Spring Water. The Spirit Spring Water seemed to have suddenly broken free from some kind of restraint. The water in the spring suddenly rose dozens of feet, as if wanting to connect with the sky, and then water splashed everywhere, spraying in various directions within the ring space.

Ji An focused his gaze and saw that where the Spirit Spring Water landed, streams of varying sizes formed depending on the amount of water splashed.

The small streams meandered, flowing quietly. The stream water was clean and clear, and small stones and seaweed were vaguely visible at the bottom.

The small animals were the most perceptive. The kitten and the white mice immediately ran towards the stream when they discovered there was a stream in the space.

The kitten twitched its nose and sniffed, stuck out its small tongue and licked a few times, its small cat eyes wide. It suddenly found that this stream water was much better to drink than what Ji An had been feeding it, and it started drinking eagerly.

Ji An had previously fed the kitten diluted Spirit Spring Water, fearing the kitten couldn’t handle the energy of the Spirit Spring Water. Now, seeing the kitten happily drinking, he was afraid something unexpected might happen, but the kitten adapted well.

Ji An immediately smiled.

Indeed, everything has its own laws. It seems that after the kitten entered the ring space, it was protected by the space’s rules and could no longer be measured by the rules outside.

Ji An watched for a while and found that the white mice also adapted well, so he stopped worrying.

Ji An looked back into the Spirit Spring Water and saw that the marine creatures that were not adapted to freshwater life were still in the Spirit Spring and were not sprayed out.

At the same time, Ji An also felt that the energy contained in the Spirit Spring Water and the sprayed streams was different; the Spirit Spring Water had upgraded.

The upgraded Spirit Spring Water contained greater energy, and Ji An could feel the source of life it radiated.

Ji An’s heart pounded, and he immediately took out a few barrels of Spirit Spring concentrate from his space.

Ji An walked back carrying the barrels, and Gu Jinsheng quickly came over to take them, asking curiously, “Didn’t you go to call Filimone? Where is she? Why did you come back alone?”

Ji An smiled and said, “I suddenly remembered that Commander Zhou should also contribute to science for once and shouldn’t always receive conservative treatment.”

Gu Jinsheng, Zhou Qin, and the others didn’t understand what Ji An meant, but that didn’t prevent them from following instructions.

Ji An directed Gu Jinsheng to pour the two large barrels of water into a pod of some unknown material.

The pod was very strange, made of an unknown material that looked somewhat like an alloy, but Gu Jinsheng seemed to have never seen this alloy before.

The volume of the pod was neither large nor small; it could easily accommodate an adult.

The pod contained half a level of liquid, which was very viscous and transparent.

Gu Jinsheng recognized this liquid. Previously, this stuff was casually stored by Ji An in a cheap inflatable bathtub, but now it had been completely upgraded into something Gu Jinsheng didn’t recognize.

Ji An turned back and smiled at Zhou Qin, “Commander Zhou, strip naked and lie inside.”

“Ah?” Zhou Qin felt a bit uneasy at this moment, suddenly feeling that Ji An was very scary, even scarier than Gu Jinsheng.

With Kong Zhongcheng’s help, Zhou Qin trembled as he took off his clothes, feeling quite shy being completely naked in front of so many people. However, before he could finish feeling shy, Gu Jinsheng kicked him in.

This kick sent Zhou Qin face-first into the liquid in the pod. Zhou Qin thought he would choke, but miraculously, he didn’t.

He flipped over to face upwards. Just as he was about to say something, the transparent pod lid closed with a bang.

Then Zhou Qin heard a voice in his mind say: “Treatment Pod 1 activated… Activation successful… Serving you… Scanning host now… Head… Level 4 mid-stage Power User, crystal core intact… Head healthy… Neck… Legs… Right leg healthy… Beep, left lower leg below the calf bone is severed, determined to be an old injury, detected a section of lower leg bone… Data comparison… Data comparison in progress… All values and genes match the host… Starting treatment now…”

At this point, Zhou Qin felt a mist suddenly release in the treatment pod, and then he knew nothing more.

But the people standing outside the treatment pod could clearly see that an energy appeared from somewhere in the treatment pod, precisely cutting open the flesh that had grown on Zhou Qin’s severed leg. Then, that section of leg bone was pushed towards Zhou Qin’s thigh by an invisible force, and after that, the flesh grew rapidly, as if an invisible Power User was helping Zhou Qin heal.

Kong Zhongcheng was just grateful that he had the foresight to sit on the ground. Otherwise, he would have definitely fallen off the chair by now, hitting his head and bleeding, making a complete fool of himself.

He now understood how Zhou Qin felt just now. If he had known beforehand, he would also be trembling with excitement.

Kong Zhongcheng looked at his hands. His hands were trembling non-stop. It seemed, perhaps, he was also trembling right now.

Suddenly, he was very envious of Zhou Qin. He also wanted to just faint like that.

Kong Zhongcheng didn’t faint. He just pinched his arm fiercely, fiercely. “Ouch!!!”

A scream suddenly rang out, startling Gu Jinsheng and Ji An, who were watching intently. Gu Jinsheng asked dissatisfied, “Did you turn into a beast?”

Kong Zhongcheng said tearfully, “No, Boss, I just wanted to see if I was still dreaming and hadn’t woken up. How can all this be so unreal?”

Gu Jinsheng said with a bit of pride and contempt, “You’re not doing the research, why are you unreal? When you feel it’s real, the space storage items and nutrient solutions will already be in use.”

Kong Zhongcheng looked at Ji An, “Mr. Ji, no, Immortal Ji, you’re really not a deity descended to specially save us ants struggling to survive in the Apocalypse, are you?”

Gu Jinsheng suddenly looked at Ji An, something crazy surging in his eyes.

Ji An immediately laughed, “No way, Jinsheng, with your intelligence, would you believe such absurd nonsense?”

Gu Jinsheng’s Adam’s apple bobbed. His voice suddenly became hoarse within a few seconds, “Little An, you don’t act like a human, but like a deity!”

Ji An laughed heartily, “I’ll take that as a compliment from you. I’ll accept this praise, and I really like it!”

Gu Jinsheng’s hands wanted to reach out, but he didn’t dare. In the end, he just tightly clenched them into fists. His Little An was clearly within reach, yet why did he seem so far away, so far that it felt like what separated them was no longer thousands of mountains and dangerous peaks, but a barrier of time and space, a chasm between three dimensions and two dimensions. It was a gulf Gu Jinsheng could never cross in his lifetime, yet it was a thin veil Ji An could gently push aside with a mere gesture.

Gu Jinsheng looked at Ji An’s freely smiling face and suddenly realized that it had always been that Ji An could only walk towards him. Otherwise, even if he risked his life and shed all his blood, he would never find him, never locate him.

It had always been this way, it was this way before, it seemed to be this way now, and it seemed it would remain this way in the future.

A sudden violent palpitation made Gu Jinsheng bend over instantly. His heart was so flustered he couldn’t stand still.

“Jinsheng, what’s wrong? Where do you feel uncomfortable? Should I ask Filimone to take a look?” Ji An quickly walked over and supported Gu Jinsheng. Gu Jinsheng suddenly showing signs of heart discomfort out of nowhere made Ji An anxious.

Gu Jinsheng wanted to tell Ji An he was fine, but the panic in his heart made him unable to speak at all. Ji An was completely flustered now, and even Kong Zhongcheng jumped up.

Ji An said to Kong Zhongcheng, “Stay here and watch. The treatment pod will alert you if there’s a malfunction. If it doesn’t alert you, everything is normal, and you don’t need to do anything. As for Zhou Qin, he will wake up on his own and can open the treatment pod himself. I’ll take Jinsheng next door to find Filimone to have a look.”

“Okay,” Kong Zhongcheng agreed.

Ji An supported Gu Jinsheng and walked out. Just as they opened the laboratory door, they heard a commotion outside. There was no one inside the research room itself.

Ji An didn’t want to bother with them. He took Gu Jinsheng towards the room next door, but was met by Rong Fan running in in a panic.

As soon as Rong Fan saw them, he pleaded, “Mr. Ji, Chief Commander Gu, please come out and take a look quickly. Zhao Zhen has brought several researchers outside and is making a huge fuss, demanding Chief Commander Gu give an explanation!”

Ji An had never felt Zhao Zhen was so annoying before. At this moment, Ji An really wanted to turn Zhao Zhen into an idiot.

“Jinsheng is a bit uncomfortable and needs treatment right now. We’ll come over after we’re done treating him,” Ji An said.

Gu Jinsheng, however, seemed to have recovered. He gently patted Ji An’s hand, comforting him, “I’m fine. I was just too shocked just now. I’m better now. I’ll go out and take a look. Wu Youyang is just an ordinary person. Even with Yin Fang and Yu Xi helping, they can’t handle it.”

It wasn’t that those researchers were powerful fighters. In fact, except for Ji An, Yin Fang and Yu Xi weren’t afraid of all the researchers in the entire Research Institute combined. The difficult part was the identity of these researchers. This was a shield. Yin Fang and Yu Xi couldn’t easily hurt people.

But if they didn’t hurt people, those researchers wouldn’t be afraid and would only make more trouble.

Ji An was unhappy, so Gu Jinsheng could only comfort him. As the two walked out, they heard Zhao Zhen shouting loudly, “You let Gu Jinsheng and Ji An come out! Today we demand fairness! Why did the Base give the Mental-type Zombie King’s crystal core they hunted to Ji An? Ji An is already a useless person without his ability. Is his value comparable to us mental ability Power Users?”

“I’m laying it all out here today. From now on, any one of us here could come up with research, but that waste Ji An never could! So, from the perspective of creating value, any one of us is worthy of possessing the Mental-type Zombie King’s crystal core, but that waste Ji An is not!”

“So in this situation, why can that waste Ji An possess a Mental-type Zombie crystal core? What kind of shady deal did he make with Gu Jinsheng? Or is it simply because he’s Gu Jinsheng’s paramour? Is it as simple as one selling himself and the other buying?”

“That’s right! Chief Commander Gu must give us an explanation today! Give us back our fairness!”