ATDIWR Chapter 77

Chapter 77 Ability Recovery Without an Ability User Crystal Core

At this moment, the people in the Research Institute hall began to leave one after another. Even Han Yaokun, who left the earliest, had only just reached the entrance of the Research Institute. Suddenly, he heard a scream and was startled. Just as he was about to turn back to see who was screaming, he heard Gu Jinsheng shouting “Little An” in terror.

Han Yaokun’s face instantly changed. Regardless of any personal grudges between him and Ji An, Han Yaokun did not want anything to happen to Ji An. After all, Ji An’s talent was undeniable. As an ordinary person, he could even develop treatment pods and targeted cultivation technology. Such capability was simply defying nature!

“It’s Ji An!” Han Yaokun heard Zhou Fanxiu’s worried voice. Just as he was about to tell Zhou Fanxiu to check on Ji An, he suddenly felt a powerful surge of mental power attacking him.

This mental power came from somewhere unknown, incredibly powerful, like a tidal wave, deep and unfathomable.

It filled the entire hall, equally invading everyone’s mind. It seemed that no one had secrets before it, nowhere to hide. It could know anything it wanted to know.

Han Yaokun felt a chill down his spine, desperately mobilizing his mental power to resist this inexplicable force, but it was still useless. He could feel that the secrets in his heart were being rapidly flipped through.

It wasn’t just Han Yaokun. Many people around him were already in a state of numbness unique to being mentally controlled, their eyes vacant and dull, saliva dripping from their mouths.

Even many high-level power users in the Command Center who were not mental-type were controlled. Some even fared worse than lower-level mental-type power users.

Han Yaokun struggled to resist this mental power reading his mind and shouted, “Commander-in-Chief Gu, this is bad! Someone is using mental power to invade everyone’s minds. It’s likely a max-level mental power user from Country M or Country R. Please think of something quickly!”

At this time, Gu Jinsheng was sitting in the hall, holding Ji An. He seemed to hear Han Yaokun’s words, and yet he didn’t. He only felt Han Yaokun’s voice coming from a very, very distant place, as if they were one in the sky and one on the ground, or perhaps one in two dimensions and one in three, separated by a spatial barrier.

Gu Jinsheng turned his head and saw Ji An sitting amidst a field of blooming flowers. The brilliant sun shone down, enveloping Ji An entirely, dazzling yet captivating. And Ji An was smiling brightly at him at that moment.

Ji An reached out to Gu Jinsheng, making an inviting gesture. He said, “Jinsheng, look how beautiful the sea of flowers is here, and the ocean over there. Look, it’s boundless, reaching the sky. Isn’t it beautiful!”

Gu Jinsheng quickly glanced around. It was indeed beautiful, but he wanted to say that even all of them together weren’t as beautiful as Ji An.

Ji An today was truly beautiful, different from every other day, but Gu Jinsheng couldn’t articulate what was different about Ji An right now.

But it didn’t matter. Now that Ji An was reaching out to him, Gu Jinsheng just wanted to hold his hand back and never let go for the rest of their lives!

“Commander-in-Chief Gu, Commander-in-Chief Gu…” An anxious voice came from a very, very distant place. Gu Jinsheng couldn’t hear it clearly.

However, just as his hand was about to clasp Ji An’s hand, Gu Jinsheng was suddenly attacked by a powerful force. Then he felt something placed on his head. This thing was like a spatial barrier, standing between him and Ji An. The brightly smiling Ji An, who was reaching out for him to take his hand, instantly disappeared.

Gu Jinsheng was furious and immediately unleashed his power with full force to counterattack.

“Boss, Boss, it’s me, Wan Xueying!” Wan Xueying’s terrified voice sounded. At this moment, Gu Jinsheng also broke free from that trance-like state. He recognized the power user he had pinned to the ground, whose eyes were filled with terror.

“Wan Xueying?” Gu Jinsheng questioned, then turned to look around. He found that at some point, the entire Research Institute hall had been put under strict guard. The power users from the Command Center were all wearing helmets made of special material, facing a formidable enemy, controlling their respective abilities, ready to fight at any moment.

“What’s going on?” Gu Jinsheng immediately realized something was wrong. He might have been affected just now.

“A high-level mental power user has invaded the Research Institute. It’s suspected to be a max-level mental-type power user. Such powerful and vast mental power can only be achieved by a max-level mental-type power user,” Wan Xueying explained the situation to Gu Jinsheng, her eyes revealing deep anxiety.

Gu Jinsheng also understood why all the power users had helmets on their heads. The helmets were made of special material that could block the invasion of mental-type power users’ mental power.

Wan Xueying handed a helmet to Gu Jinsheng. “Boss, quickly put this helmet on Boss Ji. Boss Ji’s value is too great. I suspect this max-level mental-type power user might be targeting Boss Ji, possibly for spatial storage items, nutrient solutions, or even the treatment pods!”

When questioning the human traffickers before, they had learned that there might be spies from Country R or Country M hiding in the Command Center or other important base departments.

The news about the treatment pods had caused such a stir; it was possible that the spy was mixed in among them at the time and quietly transmitted the information without anyone knowing.

Thinking of this, Gu Jinsheng’s face instantly became very grim. He took the helmet and quickly returned to Ji An’s side.

At this time, Gu Jinsheng also noticed that Ji An’s face was very pale, his lips completely bloodless.

Gu Jinsheng immediately thought of what Wan Xueying said. Seeing Ji An’s state, it was clear that he was suffering a mental invasion.

Gu Jinsheng no longer hesitated and put the helmet on Ji An’s head.

Then… the powerful and domineering mental power that had filled the hall and refused to dissipate even when the Command Center power users arrived suddenly disappeared.

Gu Jinsheng and Wan Xueying were both stunned. The rescue personnel from the Command Center, who were rushing to put helmets on the affected power users, also stopped. One of the power users carefully took off his helmet and felt around. He didn’t feel any mental invasion or prying. He wondered, “What happened? The vast mental power is gone?”

Han Yaokun was indeed a high-level mental power user. He managed to maintain a sliver of consciousness within that mental force. At this moment, holding his head, he said, “Yes, that mental force disappeared suddenly.”

Wan Xueying and Gu Jinsheng looked at each other, neither speaking.

“What’s wrong?” Just then, Ji An also woke up. The newly awakened Ji An knew nothing, completely unaware of what had happened. He held his head and sat up from Gu Jinsheng’s arms. Feeling uncomfortable with the helmet on his head, he wanted to take it off.

Wan Xueying cried out in alarm, “No, Boss Ji, don’t take it off!”

“Huh?” Ji An looked at Wan Xueying blankly, not understanding why her reaction was so strong.

Wan Xueying was both speechless and helpless. “Boss Ji, look at the tragic scene before you. It’s very likely caused by you!”

“Huh?” Only then did Ji An notice rows upon rows of people lying down throughout the hall, inside and out. Everyone looked very pained, as if they had just suffered some brutal torture.

However, there were no external injuries on these people, not even a small cut, yet they were all pale, holding their heads, and some were even vomiting directly.

Ji An suddenly remembered something. Before he fell into the dream-like state, his brain had suddenly experienced a violent throbbing pain.

That soreness was as if someone had suddenly stuffed a large amount of things into his brain, causing the severe pain from his brain capacity rapidly expanding.

Ji An suddenly realized his head wasn’t hurting anymore. It didn’t hurt at all. He wasn’t referring to the sudden burst of pain earlier, but the headache aftereffect left from his ability being crippled. Now it seemed to be gone too.

Ji An’s heart suddenly pounded twice. He thought of a possibility. Ignoring the mess in the hall, he sank into his Sea of Consciousness.

This time, what Ji An saw was not boundless desert, but lush green oasis, vast ocean, and blooming, vibrant roses.

Ji An’s mental domain was as beautiful as a fairyland. Ji An mobilized his mental power. His mental power seemed somewhat obstructed, limited by some external object, but Ji An felt it clearly. His mental power had recovered!

Ji An did not forcibly redirect his mental power. He knew that the obstruction of his mental power was not because there was a problem with it, but because of the helmet on his head. The helmet was made of special material that could block external mental power invasion, and at the same time, it also hindered the wearer’s mental power from being released.

Ji An was overjoyed. Then his gaze fell upon the disheveled crowd on the scene and he said awkwardly, “Well, sorry, this seems to be indeed caused by me.”

Wan Xueying looked at Ji An with an extremely surprised expression. Meanwhile, Kong Zhongcheng and Zhou Qin, who came over holding their heads, happened to hear Ji An’s words and said admiringly, “Ji God, I just want to know, your mental power was gone, so how did you manage to cause such widespread damage?”

“Uh, my mental power has recovered!” Ji An said.

“Great!”

“Really?”

“How is that possible!”

“This is impossible!”

Four voices sounded simultaneously. The first voice, completely without question and simply happy, came from Gu Jinsheng. The remaining ones were Zhou Qin, Zhou Fanxiu, and Han Yaokun respectively.

Ji An looked at the incredulous expressions of everyone except Gu Jinsheng and didn’t explain anything. He just silently took off the helmet on his head.

Then that vigorous and aggressive mental power instantly filled the entire hall again. It was domineering and rampant, attempting to invade others’ mental domains again as soon as it came out.

Han Yaokun was suffering from a splitting headache due to Ji An’s mental power and immediately said, “Quick, put that helmet back on.”

As soon as Ji An put the helmet back on, the overbearing mental power disappeared. Now, there was no doubt among the crowd.

Ji An said awkwardly, “Maybe it’s because I just recovered my mental power and also upgraded my ability. I can’t control it very well yet. After a few days of rest, I’ll be able to control it freely.”

“Little An / Ji God / Boss Ji… your ability has leveled up?” Several people spoke at the same time, but they were all asking the same question again.

Ji An nodded.

Zhou Qin looked at Ji An with admiration. “Ji God, tell me honestly, are you really not a deity who descended to save the suffering masses?”

Ji An laughed with a hint of helplessness. “Commander Zhou, was your brain injured by my mental power? What nonsense are you talking about!”

Zhou Qin, however, looked serious. “I’m not talking nonsense. If you weren’t a deity descended to earth, how would you explain the spatial storage items, nutrient solutions, treatment pods, artificial in-vitro targeted cultivation, and so on? And now even crippled mental power can recover? This is unprecedented!”

“There are no gods in this world!” Han Yaokun rubbed his temples. “Actually, everything Researcher Ji has done is not without explanation.”

Zhou Qin looked at Han Yaokun. Apart from having poor judgment about people, this person’s own capabilities were solid. Perhaps he could really explain something. “How so?”

“It is well known that even among power users of the same level, some are strong and some are weak. Clearly, Researcher Ji’s mental power belongs to the extremely strong type.”

Han Yaokun explained, “I only figured some things out after seeing Researcher Ji recover his mental power.

For example, the last time he came back to life, many people said it was Commander-in-Chief Gu’s deep affection that moved heaven and earth and brought Researcher Ji back to life. Now it seems that was completely unfounded.”

Zhou Qin didn’t understand and asked, “Why do you say it’s unfounded?”

“Since Researcher Ji can recover his ability now, it means his ability wasn’t truly crippled at that time. It was likely just extremely overused. Continuing to use it would have led to complete ability failure.

It just so happened that Commander-in-Chief Gu arrived on the scene at that time. When Researcher Ji saw him, he completely relaxed mentally, which triggered the body’s instinctive mandatory protection mechanism – suspended animation!”

Suspended animation has existed since ancient times, its cause and trigger mechanism are unknown, but it’s never been a single case.

“Although the mechanism of suspended animation is still unknown, it is undoubtedly the best protective mechanism for the human body. In a state of suspended animation, humans have no breathing and no heartbeat, and their brain waves are flat. Naturally, there is no mental fluctuation. This is undoubtedly the best way for mental-type power users to repair their mental power ability.”

Han Yaokun analyzed, “I reasonably suspect that it was because of this that Researcher Ji was able to retain the last trace of his mental-type ability.”

Wan Xueying asked, “Then why did Boss Ji level up at the same time he recovered his mental-type ability?”

Han Yaokun replied, “Actually, it’s precisely because Researcher Ji leveled up that I thought of the suspended animation theory.

The way for mental-type power users to level up is by breaking through themselves and conducting innovative research.

Researcher Ji has developed a series of completely new and unknown fields such as treatment pods and artificial in-vitro targeted cultivation. If this doesn’t count as breaking through oneself and conducting innovative research, then what does?

In this situation, as long as Researcher Ji had mental-type ability, he should have leveled up!

That’s why I reasonably suspect that Boss Ji’s mental-type ability has actually never been crippled. It was just under the body’s instinctive protection, or rather, it reached the lowest limit threshold for mental-type power users, a threshold that just falls between ordinary people and the minimum value for mental-type power users.”

Gu Jinsheng said, “But this still doesn’t explain why Little An’s ability user crystal core would be missing? Even if his mental power value decreased, the ability user crystal core should still be there?”

This question stumped Han Yaokun. Han Yaokun shook his head. “I don’t know about that. Those conclusions just now were just my temporary speculations.”

Ji An suddenly remembered something and immediately quietly sank into his mental domain. After coming out of his Sea of Consciousness again, Ji An’s eyes flickered.

“I might have guessed a possibility,” Ji An suddenly spoke.

Everyone was surprised that Ji An would speak suddenly and looked at him.

Ji An smiled. “Since it could trigger the body’s instinctive suspended animation defense mechanism, it means my body functions at that time must have determined that the surrounding environment was dangerous to me. And at that time, what was in danger was precisely the ability user crystal core. So, out of instinctive protection for the crystal core, the body likely confused the healing-type power user who checked for my ability user crystal core at the time, making him mistakenly believe that my ability user crystal core was gone.”

Han Yaokun pondered. “This situation is entirely possible. The body’s instinctive protection mechanism sensed the rapid loss of mental power and the possibility of it being crippled, judging the mental-type ability crystal core to be in danger, and would then subconsciously protect it.

When the healing-type power user scanned the crystal core, the body’s defense mechanism would perceive the healing-type power user as wanting to attack the mental-type ability crystal core and would subconsciously hide it.”

Ji An said, “This explains everything. In fact, this seemingly miraculous situation was entirely the work of the body’s protection mechanism. It fooled all of us.”

Han Yaokun sighed, “The human body is truly amazing, with endless mysteries waiting for us to unravel.”

Just then, the ambulance from the Power User Specialist Hospital arrived and took the people who had been mentally invaded by Ji An one by one onto the ambulance to the hospital for examination.

Gu Jinsheng was worried about Ji An’s mental-type ability, so he said, “Little An, you should go for a check-up too.”

Han Yaokun said, “It’s a good opportunity to check the state of your mental-type ability user crystal core.”

Ji An smiled. “Okay.”

Several people were driven to the hospital by Wan Xueying. Ji An’s value had now soared even higher. There was no other way; things like the treatment pod were too revolutionary, and Ji An’s personal value was too important. He didn’t need to queue up with the others, and someone immediately examined his body as soon as possible.

The healing-type ability user’s healing ability scanned Ji An’s brain and suddenly let out a puzzled sound. “Huh, that’s strange…”

“What’s strange?” Ji An looked into the healing-type power user’s eyes. The healing-type power user’s puzzled eyes showed a momentary blank stare, but this state was very brief, less than a second, and quickly recovered, completely unnoticed by anyone.

Everyone looked at the healing-type power user, waiting for him to continue. They heard the healing-type power user continue in confusion, “Didn’t Researcher Ji’s mental-type ability get crippled? How is there still an ability user crystal core in his brain? What’s going on? It’s so strange!”

Everyone was relieved. Zhou Qin said, “Boss Ji’s ability has recovered. Otherwise, why would we ask you to check the ability user crystal core in his brain? And I just specifically told you about Ji God’s ability recovering.”

The healing-type power user laughed heartily. “Yes, I remember now. I forgot for a moment just now. Maybe I’ve treated too many people today and I’m a bit muddled.”

Ji An smiled. “I can understand that. I’m also like that when I’m too busy. I often forget things I just said or did, and only remember them after being reminded by others.”

“Even a powerful mental-type power user like Researcher Ji is like this? I always thought only we were like that, and mental-type power users had photographic memory?”

Ji An said, “Although that’s generally true, everyone has moments of relaxation. Mental-type power users can’t be tense all the time. There might also be times when their minds are particularly relaxed or dazed.”

“That’s true.”

After confirming that Ji An was indeed as they had speculated, Han Yaokun said, “Since everything is alright, I’ll leave first. Just now, I thought that powerful mental force was an invasion by a max-level mental-type power user from Country M or Country R. I desperately mobilized my mental power to resist, which resulted in severe exhaustion of my mental power. Now my head is splitting. I need to go home and rest properly for a while.”

Ji An apologized, “I’m sorry. It’s all because I just recovered my mental power and leveled up and couldn’t control it well, which caused Director Han’s mental damage. I’m willing to compensate Director Han.”

Han Yaokun shook his head. “No need to apologize. The fault is not yours. This was completely an accident. Besides, this incident also serves as a reminder to me. As a high-level mental-type power user, I was actually mentally invaded by a mental-type power user lower than me in level. I do need to improve my mental resistance techniques.”

After Han Yaokun left, Ji An’s body was completely fine, and his ability had recovered. There was no need to stay in the hospital; he could go straight home.

Before leaving, Ji An said to Kong Zhongcheng, “Although this incident was an accident, it did happen because of me. Kong Zhongcheng, make a list of everyone who was mentally invaded. Based on the severity of the impact, they can apply for compensation from me. This compensation will be from me personally.”

Kong Zhongcheng knew that Ji An was not short of money, so he said, “Okay, Boss Ji, don’t worry. I will tell them. Not a single person will be left out, but absolutely no one will be allowed to take advantage of the situation!”

Ji An said, “Thank you for the trouble.”

After arranging everything, Ji An went home with Gu Jinsheng. It is worth mentioning that Ji An was temporarily unable to control his newly recovered mental power very well and could only go home wearing the blocking helmet.

With Ji An and the others leaving, the Research Institute and the Command Center were buzzing with excitement. There were too many rumors today. People hadn’t even finished marveling at the news about the treatment pods that had just come from the front lines when the second rumor eagerly landed in their mouths.

“Latest news, passed on by my classmate who was eating melon at the scene.” Not everyone at the Research Institute went out to watch the excitement. Many people still had work to do and couldn’t leave, or simply didn’t want to get involved in the messy situation, so they didn’t go out to watch.

But this didn’t stop them from eating melon. Everyone had a few acquaintances, and these acquaintances passed on first-hand information through messages.

“That powerful mental force just now wasn’t an invasion by max-level mental-type power users from Country R and Country M, but caused by Researcher Ji recovering his ability and leveling up!”

“How is that possible? Wasn’t Researcher Ji’s ability crippled?”

“No, it wasn’t. It’s said that the body was in a state of instinctive defense at the time, and the mental power confused the healing-type power user who examined him, and Researcher Ji’s suspended animation at that time was also for this reason. Even Researcher Ji himself was fooled by the body’s defense mechanism.”

“I have to say, Researcher Ji’s body defense mechanism really understands Researcher Ji. If it hadn’t done this, with Researcher Ji’s personality, he definitely wouldn’t have stayed at home resting quietly. He would have gone against the norm, doing something crazy like researching more the more he was told to rest.”

“Isn’t Researcher Ji doing something crazy now? When someone’s ability is crippled, don’t they just rest quietly? But Researcher Ji insists on doing research, even with a splitting headache, even if thinking makes him vomit, he still does it.”

“Researcher Ji’s body defense mechanism had already anticipated the host’s crazy actions, so it avoided the risk in advance. But it never expected that even with its anticipation, it would be useless. Its host’s crazy actions were even more than it imagined.

What, his ability was crippled? Even crippled, he still did research.

This is the most terrifying thing. In a state equivalent to an ordinary person, or perhaps even worse than an ordinary person, after all, ordinary people wouldn’t be in a state of splitting headache, Researcher Ji actually managed to research technologies like the treatment pod.”

“Honestly, I really don’t know where Han Yaokun got the courage to compete with Researcher Ji. With Researcher Ji’s ability, in the state of an ordinary person, all values compressed to the minimum, while Zhao Zhen’s values are upgraded to the maximum, as a mid-level mental-type power user, he couldn’t even defeat Researcher Ji in an ordinary person’s state. What face does he have to compare himself with Researcher Ji!”

“It’s good that Zhao Zhen was taken away. He should be properly taught a lesson.”

“Let me tell you something even more face-slapping.”

“What?”

“It’s that when Commander-in-Chief Gu was about to take Zhao Zhen away, Director Han pleaded for him. Before, when Commander-in-Chief Gu wanted to publicly release the technology about the simultaneous existence of zombie virus antigen and antibody in ability user crystal cores, didn’t Director Han disagree, fearing that people with ulterior motives would use this technology to harm others? Now he wants to exchange this technology for Zhao Zhen.

But what happened? After Commander-in-Chief Gu went back, he told Researcher Ji about this.

When Researcher Ji heard about it, he wouldn’t stand for it. Since we ourselves developed this, we can’t suffer this injustice. He immediately cracked the technology on the spot.

I heard the high-level meeting at the Command Center has finished, and they are just waiting to announce it directly on the public channel tonight.”

“Wow, this level of protecting your partner is too Domineering! Isn’t this the domineering CEO my significant other always talks about?

Indeed, not everyone can be a domineering CEO. Only those with real power are domineering CEOs!

The legendary domineering CEO and his little wife!”

“Come on, our Commander-in-Chief Gu is not a little wife. That’s a strong alliance, a showdown between kings.

I heard from a friend of mine who went on a mission outside the base this time. Although one of our Commander-in-Chief Gu’s abilities was crippled, the other one became stronger. Just the thunder dragon that Commander-in-Chief Gu manifested to please Researcher Ji became even more lifelike.”

“Commander-in-Chief Gu’s ability is already lifelike enough, almost like the real thing. If it becomes even more lifelike, it will have life.”

“Yes, that’s what my friend said. He said that although Commander-in-Chief Gu temporarily has insufficient control over his other ability due to losing one ability, the other ability has definitely improved. The thunder dragon that Commander-in-Chief Gu manifested is more agile and realistic than before.

The previous thunder dragon, although vividly portrayed, you could tell at a glance that it was fake, being controlled by someone.

The current thunder dragon seems to have been given life, completely an independent entity with thoughts.

Just tell me how strong you have to be to achieve this!

Let alone a thunder dragon that looks like it has life and is agile, even a lifeless, dead thunder dragon, there are only a few people in the entire Jing Shi Base, or even the world, who can manifest it.”

“That’s true. The only manifested ability I’ve seen is our commander’s.”

“This couple is powerful.

However, Researcher Ji’s actions are already god-like!

No wonder Zhou Qin said Researcher Ji is a deity descended to earth and called him Ji God. Now I want to call him that too.”

“I’m regretting it terribly now. Not only did I not pledge my loyalty when Researcher Ji first came, but I also missed such a good opportunity to offer help when he was in need. I wonder if he would accept me if I were to go pledge loyalty now.”

Everyone fell silent, their hearts fluctuating.

Meanwhile, Ji An returned home with Gu Jinsheng. Ji An said to Gu Jinsheng, “Jinsheng, actually, I don’t have an ability user crystal core. I used my mental power to confuse the healing-type power user just now.”