Chapter 66: Wisdom Close to Sorcery

Chapter 66: Too Clever by Half

"Did you bring the guards assigned to you by the base?" Gu Jinsheng asked again.

Though Ji An was now an ordinary person, his intrinsic value was too great. Concerned for his safety, the base had assigned him two mid-level superpowered escorts after the awards ceremony.

When Gu Jinsheng had been home, their presence was unnecessary, so they'd been given leave. Now that he'd returned to work, he'd called them back to duty.

"I did," Ji An replied.

Gu Jinsheng was swamped, with people constantly seeking his attention. After brief instructions, he hung up.

Wu Youyang was mortified. "Boss Ji, I didn’t mean to report your whereabouts to Commander Gu intentionally. It’s just... given how you’ve been lately, you really shouldn’t be doing research now."

Ji An said, "I understand your concern."

Realizing Ji An wouldn’t hold it against him, Wu Youyang added hastily, "I promise I won’t disclose your activities to Commander Gu again."

Ji An replied indifferently, "There’s nothing about me he can’t know."

Wu Youyang’s heart nearly stopped at the implication—something Ji An himself seemed unaware of.

"Let me introduce my escorts: Yin Fang and Yu Xi. They’ll be with me long-term. When I return, grant them access."

"Understood." After exchanging greetings, Ji An led them to the command center.

The hub buzzed with activity during its busiest hours.

Technically, Ji An was merely an affiliate of the research institute—even Director Han Yaokun lacked unrestricted command center access, let alone him.

Yet Ji An was exceptional. Though not officially staff, he could freely use institute facilities. His projects needed no approval, and he retained complete control over all research results.

Similarly, the command center registered him as a Technical Advisor, granting full access.

"Boss Ji, this way." The moment Ji An swiped in, Gu Jinsheng sent Wan Xueying to meet him.

She guided them to a secure tenth-floor office (soundproof and surveillance-proof), telling the escorts, "Wait here or in the lounge next door. Boss Ji will notify you when finished."

"Understood." Though offered the lounge, both remained rigidly on guard outside.

Inside, Ji An found Gu Jinsheng, Kong Zhongcheng, Zhou Qin, and Fang Rurong already assembled.

Gu Jinsheng explained, "These ten healers were sent by the M government—all Level 7."

Healing-types, alongside psychic-type and space-type superpowered individuals, comprised the three rarest categories.

Zombies with these abilities were even scarcer—exceedingly rare compared to their human counterparts. Superpowered humans restrained their predatory instincts; zombies didn’t.

Early-stage zombies with these rare abilities were weak—perfect prey for zombies too feeble to hunt humans. This made an already scarce population nearly extinct.

For superpowered humans, hunting such zombies became virtually impossible.

Thus, advancement relied solely on training their abilities.

Easier said than done. In practice, it was grueling.

Here is the improved translation incorporating the expert suggestions:

For healing superpowerers, they must treat patients one by one, refining their abilities over years while being careful not to overexert themselves to the point of losing their powers. Thus, advancing as a healing superpowerer is extremely difficult. Yet now, Nation M has nonchalantly sent over ten of them.

The Capital City Base doesn’t even have a single one, while Nation M can effortlessly dispatch ten—enough to show that these superpowerers aren’t particularly rare for them.

Still, no matter how you look at it, why would Nation M suddenly be so generous as to send ten over at once?

Ji An asked Gu Jinsheng, "What’s Nation M’s real motive?"

Gu Jinsheng replied, "Nutrient rations."

Ji An understood immediately and glanced at Zhou Qin.

"Nation M wants nutrient rations, yet they dare to scheme against our Capital City Base’s Deputy Commander? Dream on." Gu Jinsheng said coldly, "If they can pull underhanded tricks, then I can break my word too—no rations for them."

Nation M is already out of food, desperately waiting for the nutrient rations to save lives. But then Dewitt suddenly pulled this stunt. Had it succeeded, fine—but now, not only did it fail, Gu Jinsheng even caught them red-handed.

Naturally, Gu Jinsheng wouldn’t let it slide. He nullified the treaty with Nation M on the spot.

Nation M was never united to begin with. Seeing the promised rations slipping away, infighting broke out immediately.

After endless clashes, they shifted the entire blame onto Dewitt’s base, declaring that unless they gave the Capital City Base a satisfactory explanation, they would unite and attack Dewitt’s base.

In truth, the assassination attempt on the Capital City Base’s commander wasn’t just Dewitt’s base’s idea—it was a joint decision by all the bases, and even the execution wasn’t the work of a single base. But now that things had gone wrong, the others quickly distanced themselves, pushing Dewitt’s base forward as the scapegoat.

To appease Gu Jinsheng, they increased the exchange resources again and sent over ten legendary peak-level psychic superpowerers.

The Capital City Base accepted the terms but declared that rations would be supplied to any base in Nation M—except Dewitt’s.

Wasn’t Dewitt’s base merely a pawn? Then let it be used more thoroughly.

Ji An nodded, finally dropping his skepticism.

By then, the superpowerers had finished examining Zhou Qin’s leg injury. The lead healer, Philemon, was a tier-seven peak healing superpowerer.

As a top-tier healer, Philemon had her pride. Even as a hostage in the Capital City Base, she retained an air of arrogance.

With icy condescension, she said to Gu Jinsheng, "His leg bone wasn’t preserved. Had the clean bone been kept, I could have healed it."

Her tone was haughty, as if speaking to a bunch of backwater simpletons. It sounded like she was blaming them for not even knowing something as basic as preserving uninfected tissue.

Zhou Qin had been full of hope, fantasizing about the legendary healing power of a tier-seven superpowerer. But the answer he got was no different from what Fang Rurong and the others had told him. Already disappointed, Philemon’s rude tone ignited his fury.

"If we had a way to preserve clean bone, would we even need your Nation M’s tier-seven healers to come parade your superiority here? Our own superpowerers would’ve healed me long ago!" Zhou Qin snapped. "So much for the legendary peak-level healer—pathetic!"

Philemon seemed stunned that Zhou Qin dared to speak to her like that, her eyes wide with disbelief.

Wan Xueying said icily, "Know your standing. You weren’t sent here to help us out of goodwill—we owe you nothing. Your country owes us, and you’re here to make amends through treating our wounded."

Gu Jinsheng added expressionlessly, "If you’re of no use, you die."

Ji An chimed in, "Perfect. My lab doesn’t have any peak-level healer cores yet. I could use a few for research. Who knows—maybe one day I’ll reverse-engineer it and create a few top-tier healers for our base to deploy."

Seeing their murderously intent gazes, Philemon realized they were dead serious. Before coming, she and the others had known exactly why they were sent. Now, their faces paled in fear, terrified that Gu Jinsheng would really excise their cores for experiments.

Even if the Capital City Base did that, Nation M would be powerless—at most, they’d just extort additional rations.

But by then, they’d already be dead. What would more rations matter to them? Philemon wasn’t foolish. Her earlier attitude hadn’t been mindless arrogance—she’d been probing the Capital City Base’s resolve.

Now realizing that the Jing City Base was unexpectedly tough, they immediately backed down.

Philemon said, "Even max-level healing abilities have their limits. We can heal mortal wounds and regenerate flesh from bones, but we truly cannot create something from nothing. Even a single uninfected cell or tissue can be regrown into a complete structure to heal superpowered individuals."

Ji An caught the loophole. "If superpowered can’t, does that mean ordinary people can?"

Philemon didn’t expect Ji An to be so sharp, immediately spotting the flaw in her statement. She clenched her lower lip in frustration.

"Yes," Philemon admitted. "Ordinary people and superpowered are different."

This was a given. Even if a healing ability could treat injuries, it could only work on superpowered individuals of the same level. Treating those above one’s own power level, even for minor wounds, posed a challenge for healers.

For superpowered themselves, awakening not only gave them extraordinary abilities but also enhanced their physical constitution, practically eliminating their chances of falling ill.

Moreover, it heightened their five senses. Many who'd been severely nearsighted before the apocalypse could discard their glasses after awakening, their vision sharpening to near-superhuman levels. There were even cases of deaf individuals suddenly regaining hearing.

Superpowers also slowed aging, revitalizing the body. Research on cells extracted from superpowered individuals showed their lifespans could extend 10 to 20 years beyond ordinary people's.

As power levels increased, lifespan would extend further.

This finding had been confirmed. Some elderly in their seventies or eighties, nearing life's end, had awakened abilities and now moved with vigor, living in good health.

Ji An immediately thought of the base's heroes who'd lost their powers and limbs in service.

Gu Jinsheng voiced the same thought. "Kong Zhongcheng, pull up the records."

"Yes." Kong Zhongcheng understood, preparing to rank treatment by merit, starting with the highest contributors.

Philemon's face paled further. "Such treatment defies the natural order and demands a heavy price. You must think carefully."

"What price?" Ji An asked.

"Your power," Philemon replied. "If an ordinary person undergoes regeneration, their lost limbs may regrow, but they'll forever lose any chance of awakening abilities.

If infected with the zombie virus, their resistance would plummet by at least 70% compared to untreated individuals. Even if they survived, they'd never awaken powers."

Ji An suddenly asked, "Then what's the cost to you, the healer, when regenerating limbs for ordinary people?"

Philemon's gaze snapped to Ji An. This man was alarmingly sharp, always pinpointing the crux.

The others looked puzzled until they noticed Philemon's ashen face and bloodless lips—clearly Ji An had seen something they'd missed.

Gu Jinsheng warned, "I suggest you start telling the truth. I've no patience for games."

Philemon had no choice. "The cost is one's power. Regenerating limbs drains an immense amount of energy. Every limb regrown for an ordinary person costs a healer their ability."

Sacrificing a healer's power—capable of treating thousands—for one strategically unimportant ordinary person made no sense. The trade-off was absurd, like cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Especially since the healed person could never awaken powers.

After confessing, Philemon studied Ji An. "Mind telling me, sir, how you noticed I was hiding something?"

Ji An shrugged. "Your precious M Nation's never been benevolent. You're here out of necessity, not goodwill—probably with covert ops to sabotage our base.

If healing ordinary people's limbs permanently blocks their power awakening, that's a huge win for M Nation. Why wouldn't you jump at that chance?"

Ji An scoffed. "People are selfish. You'd only resist if this 'win' for M Nation threatened to hurl you from grace into ruin.

The only thing that could destroy a max-level healer? Losing their power. Nothing else matters."

Here is the edited translation incorporating the expert suggestions:

Philemon asked in confusion, "Such sharpness—are you a mental superpowered individual? But I didn't sense any energy signature from you."

Superpowered individuals have a sort of 'radar'—they can sense each other's energy signatures.

Of course, those who are powerful enough can deliberately conceal this energy signature. However, generally, such concealment can only fool superpowered individuals of a lower level. It's difficult to hide from those with higher-level abilities.

Philemon was already a peak-level superpowered. If Ji An had an ability, there was no reason it could escape her detection.

Ji An smiled indifferently, "I used to be, but not anymore."

A flicker of pity flashed in Philemon's eyes, followed by relief. To be this sharp even after losing his psychic ability—how terrifying would he have been at full strength? If he had grown to peak-level, his power would have been unimaginable.

Someone like this, born in China, was nothing short of a threat to the M Nation.

Gu Jinsheng asked, "Do you have any way to restore the superpower of an individual who lost it due to excessive consumption?"

"Yes," Philemon answered bluntly this time, but before Gu Jinsheng and the others could rejoice, she continued, "Get reinfected with the zombie virus and roll the dice on that 20% chance again."

Reinfection wouldn't just mean rolling the dice on that 20% chance—it would be far lower.

The probability of someone beating the zombie virus twice and manifesting a superpower both times was definitely lower than the initial infection rate.

Ji An couldn't afford that risk, and the Capital City Base wouldn't let him take it either.

Philemon's tone was downright encouraging as she spoke—she was genuinely hoping Ji An would succumb to the zombie virus.

If the M Nation's interests didn't conflict with her personal ones, she would've gladly helped.

Ji An asked, "Actually, I'm curious—is it that the peak-level healers in your nation can't regrow severed limbs, or is it that all peak-level healers can't?"

This question was quite pointed—almost accusing—directly implying that the M Nation's method of enhancing superpower levels was flawed.

With so many peak-level superpowered arriving at once, along with previous high-level individuals like Cruise, it was impossible for the Capital City Base not to notice the abnormality in their abilities.

Philemon said, "I don't know. Our base doesn't have any peak-level healers who achieved it through organic training.

It's said that such individuals can regrow severed limbs in non-superpowered people without losing their own ability or hindering future awakening. But if they heal a superpowered's severed limbs, they would lose their power due to excessive consumption."

Ji An traced his jawline thoughtfully with his pale fingers. "So, it's reasonable to assume that your inability to heal isn't because peak-level healing ability itself can't.

Rather, your abilities are unstable, your power levels erratic.

If that's the case, then harvesting the Superpowered Crystal Core from your minds and absorbing it directly—wouldn’t that work?"

Normally, superpowered individuals can only absorb crystal cores of the same attribute.

But the two rarest abilities—healing and psychic—are different.

These two types of crystal cores can be absorbed across attributes.

A healing crystal core, when absorbed across attributes, can heal latent injuries in a superpowered individual.

A psychic crystal core, when absorbed across attributes, can enhance one's power level.

Philemon was stunned. She couldn’t fathom how Ji An had pieced this together without her mentioning it.

"You can't do that! Absorbing a Superpowered Crystal Core causes violent mania! Do you want your superpowered to spiral into insanity and end up with mental disorders?" The truth was, the moment Ji An floated that idea, Zhou Qin’s resolve had wavered for a split second.

But then Philemon's words knocked him back down to earth.

To be a cripple with a broken leg or a lunatic with intact limbs—that's a good question.

Ji An shrugged nonchalantly, "Don't panic like that. I was just taking a shot in the dark. Seems like I hit the mark."

"One last question—what special method did the M Nation use to rapidly enhance superpower levels?" Gu Jinsheng asked.

At the auction, the M Nation had already produced a large number of Psychic Superpowered Crystal Cores, all high-level. Even if they wanted to target China, such a move was way over the top.

Originally, Gu Jinsheng thought the M Nation only had a method to quickly boost Psychic Superpower. But now, seeing Philemon and recalling Cruise—who had been executed by the Capital Base for having artificially inflated powers that didn't match his supposed level—Gu Jinsheng realized they didn’t just have a way to rapidly increase Psychic Superpower levels, but a method to enhance all superpowers.

Philemon never expected that just by visiting the Capital Base without saying anything, she’d be stripped bare of all secrets.

How was she supposed to explain this when she returned? If she claimed she hadn’t said anything, and that these people—especially that beautiful man who had lost his Psychic Superpower—had deduced everything with almost supernatural deduction skills, would anyone believe her?

Philemon was about to burst into tears. "I don’t know, I really don’t know anything! Ever since I awakened my Psychic Superpower, someone has been regularly providing us with Psychic Superpowered Crystal Cores. All we had to do was consume them daily to enhance our abilities."

Ji An smiled. "Did you forget to mention that what you absorbed were Zombie Cores? And that another group absorbed Superpowered Crystal Cores, and the cores from their brains were eventually sold to our country, to China, in an attempt to genetically cripple our superpowered individuals?"

Gu Jinsheng, Wan Xueying, Kong Zhongcheng, and Zhou Qin all turned to look at Ji An. This time, they truly had no idea how he had pieced together so much intel from just one of Philemon’s statements.

Philemon was convinced his Psychic Superpower hadn’t actually been lost—that he had even used Mind Control on her without her realizing it, extracting everything she knew. She refused to speak another word to Ji An.

Ji An showed no urgency. He sat leisurely on the sofa, sipping his tea with ease. "I truly appreciate your visit. Not only have you answered many of my questions, but you’ve also given me inspiration from your nation’s methods of cultivating superpowered individuals. It’s provided new direction for my stagnant experiments. I’ve now opened another door."

This made Gu Jinsheng's blood run cold. Others might not know what experiments Ji An was conducting, but he did—it was the human tissue regeneration experiment!

If successful, humanity would achieve a quantum leap in the medical field, entering an entirely new era—just like spatial storage devices and nutrient solutions. It would be another paradigm shift of historic significance.

Philemon didn’t know how terrifying Ji An’s current experiments were, but a Psychic Superpowered individual—even a former one—was enough to unsettle her deeply.

She glanced at Ji An quickly before lowering her head again, as if afraid he might pry more secrets from her eyes.

Ji An chuckled. "You really don’t need to be like this. I already know your nation’s method for rapid superpower enhancement."

Philemon’s head snapped up, her eyes locking onto Ji An’s. She felt as if his clear gaze could lay bare everything—her hidden secrets, even her very soul. Abruptly, she shut her eyes.

Her voice trembled slightly. "That’s impossible. I don’t even know—how could you?"

"*Cloning*," Ji An dropped the word casually, and Philemon went limp, collapsing to the ground.

"No… that’s impossible…" she muttered. "You must have used Mind Control on me. Otherwise, there’s no way you could know!"

Ji An shrugged. "That’s the unfortunate part—for both you and me. I really have lost my Psychic Superpower."

"Then how could you know? How is this possible?" Philemon shouted in disbelief.

Ji An spread his hands. "Another unfortunate thing for your nation—I just happen to also be a scientist."

As Philemon was led away, her eyes were wide with shock. Before leaving the room, she said, "It's a mercy you lost your Psychic Superpower. You’re terrifying!"

"Thank you," Ji An accepted it as praise and replied politely.