ATDIWR Chapter 67

Chapter 67 Gou Chong is Alive Source of Inspiration

After Phillimon left, Wan Xueying asked almost immediately, “Ji boss, please forgive my intelligence which is not as high as yours, I still don’t understand. Cloning, isn’t cloning using DNA to replicate a clone? But a new clone only has the same DNA as the original body, but ‘they’ cannot inherit the original body’s ability.”

Ji An nodded, his gaze distant, “‘They’ don’t need to inherit the original body’s ability, as long as ‘they’ exist, that’s enough.”

Gu Jinsheng instantly understood something, his eyes cold. Wan Xueying and Zhou Qin seemed to understand partially. Kong Zhongcheng sat on the sofa, looking at one person then another, feeling completely lost.

“Clones infected with the zombie virus,” Gu Jinsheng said.

“Yes,” Ji An said. “There are few Power Users, but Power Users have genes. As long as there are genes, countless clones can be replicated.”

“Actively infecting clones with the zombie virus, if successful, they become Power Users, adding another strength to the M Country.”

“If unsuccessful, it doesn’t matter, they just become a zombie.”

“Zombies created from clones are not useless either. As zombies are raised, there is a certain probability they can evolve abilities.”

“These are ready-made Zombie Crystal Cores!”

What more was there for Kong Zhongcheng to not understand when he heard this? He only felt goosebumps all over. “If they want high-level Zombie Crystal Cores, they just need to raise all the zombies together, like raising poisonous insects in a jar, and finally they can get high-value Zombie Crystal Cores.”

Wan Xueying said coldly, “At that time, they just need to dig out the Zombie Crystal Cores for Power Users to absorb, then with an unlimited supply of Zombie Crystal Cores, the speed of Power Users’ advancement can be greatly increased, far exceeding ordinary people.”

Zhou Qin also said, “The side effect is nothing more than energy accumulation from not absorbing it, leading to Power Users whose levels have risen but their abilities are unstable and unsolidified, and their combat power is far weaker than Power Users who advanced steadily step by step.”

“That’s right, but a high-level Power User is a high-level Power User. Even if their strength is weak, they are still a high-level Power User,” Ji An said. “This is the M Country’s top-secret weapon for rapidly enhancing Power Users’ abilities.”

Ji An stood up and walked to the window. From there, he could overlook the entire Jing Shi Base.

“Another benefit of this cloning method is the ability to directionally cultivate ability attributes.”

“If you want a Space-type Power User, you just need to find a Space-type Power User as the original body.”

“Clones and the original body have exactly the same genes, so since the original body awakened a Space-type ability, the clone also has a high probability of awakening a Space-type ability.”

“If one doesn’t awaken a Space-type ability, then continue with the second, the third one, there will always be one successful!”

Gu Jinsheng drew a parallel, “Similarly, after a clone awakens an ability, they can also use the crystal cores of other clone Power Users to absorb and advance, finally obtaining high-level Power User crystal cores.”

“I think these crystal cores are eventually sold all over the world through special means.”

“The M Country intends to completely destroy all Power Users in other countries from the root.”

Kong Zhongcheng felt goosebumps all over his body. He said in horror, “I remember that although clones are artificial humans, ‘they’ have their own independent thoughts just like humans. They do not inherit the original body’s thoughts and memories. ‘They’ are independent individuals with their own thoughts, memories, and perceptions.”

Ji An let out a short, cold laugh, “So what? Talking about human rights with the M Country?”

Wan Xueying said calmly, “Even before The Apocalypse, clones were just prohibited from being created as artificial humans. They didn’t have human rights.”

“So the M Country can be so reckless and casually trample on human rights?” Kong Zhongcheng said angrily, “We have no way to stop it?”

“Yes,” Gu Jinsheng came to Ji An’s side, overlooking the entire Jing Shi Base with him, “Destroy the M Country.”

Kong Zhongcheng gasped, and Wan Xueying also looked at Gu Jinsheng in shock, never expecting her boss to have such an idea. Zhou Qin was also stunned speechless. If he wasn’t sitting on the sofa now, his walking stick might have fallen, and he would have fallen down.

It seemed only Ji An accepted it well, not feeling that Gu Jinsheng had said anything shocking.

Ji An turned around, looked at everyone’s shocked expressions, and said with a smile, “Why does everyone have such shocked expressions, as if the zombies have already occupied the earth? It’s not like I’m asking you to fight the M Country tomorrow.”

“To fight the M Country, we still have a long way to go and heavy responsibilities.”

“Currently, our base’s primary and most realistic task is to quietly develop.”

Although Ji An appeared relaxed, and Gu Jinsheng was as expressionless as ever, the stormy waves stirred in the hearts of the three deputy commanders could not subside for a long time!

Since they had a suspicion, Gu Jinsheng had Kong Zhongcheng publish it on the public channel. Of course, for some well-known reasons, it was not appropriate to directly name the M Country. He just said that some countries are currently working on a cloning plan to enhance abilities. People with brains almost all knew this was referring to the M Country, and they secretly prepared, increasing the inspection of acquired crystal cores.

Just as Ji An was about to leave after meeting the M Country Power Users, he was stopped by Zhou Qin.

“Ji boss, boss, if you are not busy, could you accompany me to do some private matters later?” Zhou Qin asked.

Ji An nodded, “Okay.”

Gu Jinsheng seemed to know what Zhou Qin wanted to do and didn’t ask further, just nodded.

When Ji An came out, he saw Yin Fang and Yu Xi standing stiffly at the door and asked, “I was inside for so long, have you been standing at the door waiting all this time?”

Yin Fang smiled, “Researcher Ji doesn’t need to overthink it, this is our job.”

Yu Xi followed, “Our job is to protect you.”

Ji An laughed, “I’m not that weak, besides, this is the command center, the four commanders are all inside, there won’t be any danger. In the future, in such situations, you can go to the rest room next door to wait. I will notify you before I come out.”

“Okay,” Yin Fang and Yu Xi replied.

Ji An then said, “You two go to the laboratory to wait for me first. Zhou Qin, Gu Jinsheng and I have some things to handle here. I will go directly to the laboratory after I’m done.”

“Okay.”

From the moment he put on the ability-suppressing helmet, Gou Chong had never expected to wake up.

His head ached terribly, his whole body was weak, his limbs were limp, but he still felt himself moving. He seemed to be in a sack, being dragged by someone.

Gou Chong thought this idea was quite funny and quite fantastic.

How could the situation he imagined happen? He had backstabbed the deputy commander of the Jing Shi Base. People like him are supposed to have their abilities abolished and then be thrown directly into a zombie horde. There was no more cruel punishment than this, but this was also his retribution.

Gou Chong thought drowsily, perhaps he woke up too early, and they were currently on their way to send him to the zombie horde.

Thinking this, suddenly the sack on his head was pulled open, and sunlight shone down, stinging Gou Chong’s eyes so he couldn’t open them.

Gou Chong used his hand to block the direct light and slowly adjusted to the light. Gradually, Gou Chong’s eyes could open.

He blinked, slowly adapted to the light before him, and saw the person in front of him clearly.

Then he froze. A person he never dreamed of seeing again appeared before his eyes.

“Zhou Qin.” Gou Chong’s lips moved slightly, but he only dared to murmur the name silently in his throat, not daring to say it out loud.

Zhou Qin straightened up, looking down at Gou Chong from above. His face was as cold as ice, and his whole body was as cold and hard as iron. It was a coldness he had never shown towards Gou Chong before.

Even when Zhou Qin was zombified, he hadn’t been this cold. After all, the zombified Zhou Qin was particularly enthusiastic towards Gou Chong, emotionally agitated and violently lunging at Gou Chong every day, trying to bite him.

“Are you here to see me off for the last time?” Gou Chong asked in a trembling voice.

Zhou Qin didn’t say anything, just quietly looked down at Gou Chong, like a stone statue. After a long while, Zhou Qin finally spoke coldly, “I told you, if you had told me earlier, I could have cooperated with you in any performance.”

Gou Chong didn’t answer, didn’t say anything, didn’t defend himself, didn’t beg for mercy, just remained silent.

“You are already dead.”

Gou Chong’s brain was hazy, as if he had slept for hundreds of years before waking up, and it wasn’t processing things.

However, Zhou Qin didn’t intend to wait for Gou Chong’s answer. He spoke to himself, “That traitor who backstabbed the deputy commander of the Jing Shi Base has had his ability abolished and been thrown into the zombie horde. He has now been completely devoured by zombies, with no bones left.”

Gou Chong looked at Zhou Qin blankly. No matter how confused his brain was, he clearly knew what Zhou Qin meant.

Precisely because he understood, he was even more incredulous. His gaze fell on Zhou Qin’s broken leg, unable to believe that he had actually escaped this death.

“Of course, it was fake from the moment you were thrown into the zombie horde. That was a show I asked the boss to help me find people to put on for everyone in the base,” Zhou Qin looked down at Gou Chong, “I said that as long as you told me, no matter what kind of scenario, I could act it out with you.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Gou Chong hugged his head and curled up on the ground like a homeless stray dog. He cried, “But I really didn’t dare to gamble!”

Zhou Qin straightened up, his eyes completely cold. He said, “Leave. Once you leave, don’t ever come back. Also, Gou Chong is dead. From now on, there is no such person as Gou Chong in this world. You can be anyone you want, but you cannot be him!”

“No!” Gou Chong screamed. He suddenly knelt in front of Zhou Qin, his hands humbly grabbing the hem of Zhou Qin’s coat. He roared, “I am Gou Chong, I am Gou Chong!”

No! No one could deny the fact that he was Gou Chong, no one could erase the past they had shared with Zhou Qin!

Those times spent together day and night, relying on each other, fighting side by side, sharing life and death, sharing honor and disgrace, enduring hardship together. Even if it ended in betrayal, those were still traces of his existence in the life of Zhou Qin.

If he was no longer Gou Chong, then all those ups and downs he had experienced with Zhou Qin would no longer belong to him.

He would rather die than give up that past!

“Zhou Qin, kill me. I’d rather die!” Gou Chong pleaded, giving up his dignity and kneeling at Zhou Qin’s feet not to repent, but only to beg for death.

He was willing to trade his death for the memory of the years he and Zhou Qin had shared.

Zhou Qin’s face was completely cold. He pointed with the arm holding his walking stick, “They are over there, go with them.”

Gou Chong followed the direction Zhou Qin pointed and saw four people standing there, he didn’t know when they had arrived or how long they had been standing or watching.

But none of that was important, because the faces of these four people were familiar yet strange, seeming like memories but also not.

But Gou Chong knew clearly that these four people were his parents, little sister, and little brother, who should have been far away in Province T, suffering inhumane torture at the hands of the M Country and R Country people.

“You, go with them,” Zhou Qin’s voice was very cold.

Gou Chong looked at the expressionless Zhou Qin, then at his family who had suffered so much innocent disaster because of him. His knees could no longer remain kneeling. The plea for death could no longer be said to Zhou Qin.

Zhou Qin was a glimmer of hope in his desperate solitude during The Apocalypse, but his family was an unavoidable responsibility, even heavier than life itself!

Gou Chong slowly stood up. He didn’t know when the tears on his face had completely dried. His back, however, was bent, as if burdened by something too heavy to bear.

Gou Chong turned around, his back to Zhou Qin, and walked away from him step by step.

The warm sunlight shone on Gou Chong, but it seemed unable to melt the coldness around him.

Zhou Qin’s voice sounded behind Gou Chong, without any warmth, “Leave West City, go live in East City.”

Too many people in West City knew Gou Chong. After all, he was the well-known close friend of Zhou Qin, the deputy commander of the Jing Shi Base, so many people recognized Gou Chong.

“Okay.” It was just one word, but it felt as heavy as a thousand jin, crushing Gou Chong several times until he could barely breathe, almost making him fall back to his heart’s original intention.

Gou Chong’s feet took step after step away from Zhou Qin, leaving behind all the hardships or sweetness, despair or hope they had experienced together. Slowly fading, slowly dissipating, from now on there would be no memories belonging to Zhou Qin and Gou Chong in this world, whether it was sharing life and death or the terrible betrayal.

And Gou Chong was also dead, dead in the mouths of those zombies, taking with him the memories he had with Zhou Qin.

And he was just an ordinary person, someone who had never intersected with Zhou Qin.

“Dad, Mom, Little Sister, Little Brother.” Gou Chong walked up to his family and looked at their weathered faces. He suddenly realized that so much time had passed, so much that when he reunited with his family, there was a sense of unfamiliarity.

Father Gou and Mother Gou hugged their eldest son, simultaneously embracing their daughter and younger son. “We thought we would never see you again. We didn’t expect our family could still reunite.”

Father Gou said, “That day, those M Country fellows showed us the video of your execution. We thought our family would meet in the afterlife. I even thought it was fine, at least we could keep each other company on the road to the afterlife. Unexpectedly, someone suddenly appeared and saved us, bringing us away from T Base to the Jing Shi Base.”

Gou Chong didn’t know how he managed not to turn back and look at Zhou Qin. He no longer had the right to look at that person. By choosing his family over him, it meant he had given up on that person, losing the right to possess those memories.

Mother Gou asked cautiously, “Son, you betrayed the deputy commander of the Jing Shi Base. Did they really let you go like this?”

“Yes,” Gou Chong pretended to be relaxed. He had given up the right to be sad. “I saved Deputy Commander Zhou Qin’s life. He said a life for a life, and he let me go after we were even.”

Father Gou sighed, “Then he really is a good person.”

“Yes,” Gou Chong said softly, “He is a very, very good person.”

“Son, what should we do next?” Mother Gou asked worriedly, “Although we escaped from T Base, we are penniless. How will we live?”

Little Sister Gou, who hadn’t spoken until then, suddenly said, “My ability is still here. I have a Water-type ability. I can sell clean water to support you.”

Gou Chong rubbed Little Sister Gou’s head, then subconsciously reached for his chest. Before, a Spatial Storage Item given to him by Zhou Qin was hung there, storing the joint supplies he and Zhou Qin had.

Now…

Gou Chong suddenly widened his eyes because he felt the Spatial Necklace on his chest, which should have been taken off.

Gou Chong’s ordinary human mental power scanned inside and saw the supplies in the space. They were the same as before.

No, not completely unchanged. There were many more nutrient solutions in the space than before.

Gou Chong wanted to cry, wanted to turn back and take one last look at Zhou Qin, but he knew he had lost the right to look back at him, and also the right to shed tears for him.

Gou Chong raised his head, trying to hold back his tears.

“What’s wrong, Big Brother?” Little Sister Gou looked worriedly at her brother’s unusual behavior.

Gou Chong lowered his head, his tears were gone, “Nothing, just sand in my eyes.”

Gou Chong smiled at his family and said, “You don’t have to worry about supplies. You don’t know how capable your son used to be. I’ve saved up a lot of family wealth. Even if we don’t do anything from now on, it’s enough to live for two lifetimes.”

The Gou family didn’t seem to believe Gou Chong’s words. Gou Chong grabbed a handful of nutrient solutions from the space. “Look, these are the legendary nutrient solutions. Eating one can keep you from being hungry for a day. This larger one can last for three days, and this biggest one can last for a month…”

Mother Gou looked at the nutrient solutions in surprise. “These are nutrient solutions? I only saw M Country and R Country people eat these. Do we have them in our country too?”

“Of course! The M Country and R Country’s nutrient solutions are bought from our country, and nutrient solutions are actually invented by our base’s researchers. Nutrient solutions that cost dozens of credit points in other bases only cost a few credit points here!”

“Really?” Father Gou seemed unable to believe it.

“Of course,” Gou Chong said.

Mother Gou suddenly asked, “Is this place perhaps heaven?”

Gou Chong said, “No, this place is better than heaven. I believe that under the leadership of Deputy Commander Zhou Qin, our base will get better and better!”

“Mm,” Father Gou and Mother Gou sincerely thought so.

Little Sister Gou suddenly tugged at Gou Chong’s clothes and asked, “Brother, did you awaken a Space-type ability? Did they not abolish your ability? Like being thrown into the zombie horde, was the video of your ability being abolished also fake?”

“No,” Gou Chong said, “I was indeed abolished of my ability. How could there be no punishment for doing such a shameful thing? This is not a Space-type ability, but a Spatial Storage Item. It’s another great invention of our base.”

Father Gou murmured, “T Base was supposedly one of the most developed of the major Xia Country bases supported by the M Country, but after I came out of T Base, I realized I was like a country bumpkin entering the city, looking completely inexperienced.”

“And the Jing Shi Base seems to have left T Base a dimension behind!”

“In the future, the Jing Shi Base will become more and more prosperous. It might even enter the intergalactic era, who knows. Let’s go, we’ll go to East City. I’ll tell you about the Jing Shi Base slowly on the way.” Gou Chong patiently spoke to his family.

The figures of the Gou family walked further and further away, until they finally disappeared from sight.

Finally, no longer able to see the Gou family’s figures, Zhou Qin walked out from the corner. Unbeknownst to him, tears streamed down his face. He cried loudly to Ji An and Gu Jinsheng, “In the end, I still couldn’t be so ruthless to him!”

It turned out that after Gou Chong’s ability was abolished that day, Zhou Qin had swapped him out. The subsequent videos were all fake.

The pain of having one’s ability abolished was not something ordinary people could endure. Zhou Qin had given Gou Chong sedatives and kept him alive with a nutrient bag, keeping him like that until the Gou family was rescued by the spies Gu Jinsheng had arranged in T Base.

In reality, after an ability is abolished, giving the person sedatives to make them sleep for a few days to get through the most difficult days is the most correct treatment method. People like Gu Jinsheng and Ji An who endured it directly were the abnormal ones.

Zhou Qin cried and continued, “I once thought we would walk together until we were old, until we both had white hair, until we had many children and grandchildren, or until one of us died at the hands of zombies. I never expected that we would part ways halfway, when we couldn’t even see the shadow of the end point.”

Neither Gu Jinsheng nor Ji An spoke because they knew that what Zhou Qin needed now was not comfort, but just silent companionship.

Ji An and Gu Jinsheng quietly accompanied Zhou Qin like this, not knowing how long they accompanied him. Zhou Qin finally stopped crying. He wiped the tears from his face and said, “Ji boss, boss, thank you both for staying with me. Otherwise, by myself, I wouldn’t know how to face him.”

Gu Jinsheng stepped forward and hugged Zhou Qin, patting his back. Zhou Qin said, “Boss, promise me, you and Ji boss must be well, keep going well… until the end of time, until your hair is silver…”

Gu Jinsheng looked at Ji An, his tone unprecedentedly serious, “We will.”

Zhou Qin’s emotions were very unstable. Gu Jinsheng and Ji An did not take him back to the command center but directly sent him home before leaving.

Gu Jinsheng had matters at the command center, and Ji An had matters in the laboratory, so the two separated to attend to their respective tasks.

Wu Youyang looked at the clock on the wall. It was exactly 4:30 PM. “Ji boss, you’re always so serious. It’s already this late. It wouldn’t hurt to take a day off today and come back tomorrow night.”

Ji An only then realized the time was a bit awkward. He came over after finishing his work there and didn’t look at the time.

“Give me the data, then take Yin Fang and Yu Xi to record the data, and you can get off work and go home,” Ji An said to Yu Xi and Yin Fang. “The rest room is over there. You can go directly to the rest room to sleep after you come back. I won’t leave the laboratory when I’m working, and no one else is allowed in my laboratory, so you don’t need to stand guard at the door. If I leave the laboratory, I will definitely call you.”

“Okay.”

Ji An took Wu Youyang’s experimental data into the laboratory. He quickly glanced at it and knew that Wu Youyang’s records were similar to what he expected, standard and without any breakthroughs.

Ji An put the experimental data aside and didn’t rush to continue the experiment. Instead, he took out the original healing spring liquid from his space for observation and experimentation.

The awakening of Little Stone and Little Rose’s Space-type abilities made Ji An realize again the difference in the healing spring. Ji An planned to re-analyze the healing spring and see if there was anything he had missed before.

He also switched to feeding several regenerative mutant animals the healing spring liquid. As expected, the healing spring had a strong effect of promoting healing and recovery. The regeneration speed of those regenerative mutant animals significantly increased.

Moreover, the levels of these mutant animals were rapidly increasing, and the healing spring also had a significant effect on enhancing abilities.

Ji An knew all this. This time, Ji An mainly observed whether the healing spring was helpful for the awakening of mental power. The answer was yes.

The regenerative creatures fed with the healing spring liquid had significantly stronger mental power than those not fed with the healing spring liquid and showed some intelligent behavior, as if they had opened their minds.

The term “opening one’s mind” is quite frightening. In many cultivation novels before The Apocalypse, when animals developed sentience, they could eventually cultivate into human forms.

Ji An didn’t know if these animals could cultivate into human forms. Currently, the energy system he had observed did not support such cultivation, but it was The Apocalypse now, and no one could say what the world would turn into as it continued to develop.

However, through the observation of the healing spring, Ji An could be 100% certain that if the healing spring could upgrade, it could one day surpass the healing ability of a rumored max-level healing-type Power User.

Even Zhou Qin’s leg was not impossible to heal. In fact, Ji An actually had some ideas for Zhou Qin’s severed leg, and this idea was very feasible, with a success rate as high as 99.99%…

However, this technology might still require the help of a healing-type Power User. If the healing spring could upgrade to a certain level, it might be possible even without a healing-type Power User.

Speaking of which, the source of this inspiration really has to thank the M Country. If it weren’t for them, Ji An might not have thought of this technology for a while – cloning!

Ji An was a person who dared to think and act. He said cloning, and he started it. At the same time, he also applied to Gu Jinsheng for a 3D printer.

Of course, Ji An would also need to make some modifications to the 3D printer.