Chapter 74: Collecting Bone Marrow

Chapter 74 Collecting Bone Marrow

Zhou Qin had been quite busy. Initially, he had planned to shift his focus toward the orphanage and gradually relinquish his role as Deputy Commander.

However, after everything that happened, especially after Gu Jinsheng and Ji An both lost their superpowers, Zhou Qin’s outlook changed dramatically.

In this apocalyptic world, losing a superpower was far worse than losing a leg.

Yet, Ji An didn’t complain at all. His emotions remained remarkably stable. Even when facing Zhao Zhen’s mockery and ridicule, he faced it head-on, challenging Zhao Zhen and his own uncertain future.

Suddenly, Zhou Qin realized why, among all the researchers in the world, Ji An was the only one who repeatedly achieved miracles.

It was likely due to this indomitable spirit—never giving up, never being defeated by anything.

Inspired by this, Zhou Qin dove back into his work. Though there were many inconveniences, once he overcame them, he realized it wasn't as difficult as he'd thought.

Despite rushing over as soon as he received the message, it still took Zhou Qin an hour to arrive.

"Sorry for being late," Zhou Qin apologized immediately upon entering. He then noticed, "Boss Ji and Miss Xiang are here too."

Gu Jinsheng and Xiang Xintong nodded in greeting. Ji An said, "I asked you here to help with an experiment."

"Boss Ji, no need to be so formal! Between us, there’s no need for formalities!" Zhou Qin assumed Gu Jinsheng was also participating in the experiment, while Xiang Xintong was there to assist with healing.

He didn’t think too much of it, believing Ji An had invited them simply because the experiment wasn’t suitable for outsiders.

"Alright, whatever you need me to do, I’ll fully cooperate," Zhou Qin agreed readily.

Ji An said, "I need detailed measurements from your body, as well as a small surgical procedure—possibly collecting bone marrow."

Before the apocalypse, without healers with superpowers, bone marrow extraction was a major surgery that harmed the body. But with the emergence of healers with superpowers, such procedures became much simpler.

"Okay." Though Zhou Qin didn’t understand why Ji An needed his bone marrow, he didn’t ask why. He trusted Ji An completely, knowing he wouldn’t harm him.

Ji An had Zhou Qin lie on a bed and began collecting complete body measurements using instruments.

This included Zhou Qin’s height, weight, waist size, and especially detailed measurements of his legs. His intact leg was measured meticulously, with measurements taken nearly every centimeter.

At first, Zhou Qin didn’t pay much attention. But when he saw the 3D model of himself on the computer, with his leg’s measurements more detailed than he’d ever imagined, his breath caught.

Most strikingly, the 3D model showed him with both legs intact.

Based on the measurements of his good leg, Ji An had extrapolated the data for his missing leg.

Logically, Zhou Qin knew it was just a simulation, but seeing the little figure with two complete legs made his heart pound wildly.

He didn’t know if he was going mad, but a wild hope began surging uncontrollably in his chest, spreading like wildfire.

Unable to suppress his growing excitement, Zhou Qin croaked out, "Boss Ji, you—"

"Shh." Ji An smiled playfully. "Miracles can happen when you least expect them!"

Zhou Qin shut his eyes tightly, feeling like it was all some unreal dream—one he hadn’t yet woken from.

After recording Zhou Qin’s precise body measurements, drawing his blood, and having Xiang Xintong perform a full-body superpower scan, Ji An administered anesthesia, knocking Zhou Qin out.

Then, Ji An personally extracted Zhou Qin’s bone marrow—along with some bone fragments.

Yes, Ji An deliberately shattered Zhou Qin’s intact leg to collect bone fragments. Looking on, Gu Jinsheng and Xiang Xintong winced in sympathy. Xiang Xintong, who had previously admired Ji An’s gentleness and secretly wished for a boyfriend like him, instantly gave up on that idea.

Xiang Xintong unconsciously touched her intact calf, feeling a phantom limb pain. Her gaze at Ji An was filled with terror, suddenly feeling as if he were a mad scientist straight out of a horror movie, capable of anything for the sake of research.

Xiang Xintong got goosebumps!

Ji An placed the extracted bone marrow and bone matter into a culture dish for cultivation and said to Xiang Xintong, "Miss Xiang, please heal Zhou Qin."

"Alright."

Zhou Qin woke up quickly. Upon waking, he seemed to sense something and instinctively scanned the lab with his eyes, almost immediately spotting the bone marrow and tiny white fragments being cultured in the isolation chamber.

Soon, Zhou Qin realized what those white fragments were. His eyes widened as he looked at his intact thigh.

"Alright, we've collected all the data. Commander Zhou can return to work now, but you’ll need to come back in about a month."

Zhou Qin’s voice was hoarse. "Okay."

Ji An stood up to see them off. Zhou Qin took two steps before suddenly collapsing to the ground. He gave a wry smile at his own weakness. "Miss Xiang, you go ahead. I don’t think I can leave just yet."

"Oh, okay." Xiang Xintong looked completely baffled, not understanding what had happened. Why had Commander Zhou suddenly become like this? Did Ji An go too far? But she had already fully healed Commander Zhou!

The thought never occurred to Xiang Xintong that Ji An might be able to heal a severed leg—nor did she dare think it. It was way too incredible.

Xiang Xintong bounced out happily of Ji An’s lab wearing the Space Necklace he had crafted for her. Just as she was about to leave the research institute, someone stopped her.

Looking up, she recognized a familiar face—Zhao Zhen.

Zhao Zhen was a right-hand man under Han Yaokun. Anyone who had dealings with the research institute knew him.

A flash of confusion passed through Xiang Xintong’s eyes. She didn’t know why Zhao Zhen had stopped her. After all, she wasn’t Han Yaokun’s designated healing superpowerer—there was no reason for him to approach her.

Besides, this man seemed to have some personal grudge against Researcher Ji, whom she currently served.

Xiang Xintong went on guard. "Director Zhao, hello. Is there something you need from me?"

Zhao Zhen glanced at her, his gaze lingering on the jade necklace around her neck. For a split second, his eyes were filled with naked envy that it nearly overflowed.

Such an expensive spatial storage device was worth a fortune on the market, yet Ji An could just hand it out like candy. How could Zhao Zhen not be envious?

His expression twisted briefly before he forced it back into a friendly smile. "I just saw you coming from Ji An’s lab. I wanted to ask if something’s wrong with him?"

Zhao Zhen knew Ji An had the Psychic Zombie King’s crystal core, so he was paying extra attention to any movements from that direction.

That Ji An was like a cockroach you can't squash. Zhao Zhen feared he might use the Psychic Zombie King’s crystal core to cook up something crazy.

It seemed he needed to act quickly—he had to seize the core before Ji An could ruin it.

Xiang Xintong grew even more guarded. She clearly shrank back, taking a step back. "No, I wasn’t there to heal Researcher Ji this time. If you have no other business, could you step aside? I’m afraid I can’t disclose more—it’s classified information. If you keep pressing, I’ll have to report you to the Security Bureau."

Zhao Zhen’s face twisted for a moment before he regained control, forcing himself not to reveal his ugly resentment to Xiang Xintong.

"I don’t have any ill will toward that—toward Ji An. I’m just concerned about his health. After all, he recently lost his superpower and must be very weak." Zhao Zhen spoke as if he genuinely cared, but his eyes and every line on his face betrayed him, screaming jealousy from every pore.

"Surely you can tell me who Ji An asked you to heal, Miss Xiang?"

Wanting to get rid of Zhao Zhen quickly, and recalling that Ji An had only asked her to heal a regular lab mouse—something seemingly harmless to reveal—she said, "It was a mutated white mouse."

As for Zhou Qin, Xiang Xintong automatically left him out.

After all, a commander's business was top secret—even something as trivial as a commander taking an extra bathroom break couldn’t be disclosed. It was need-to-know.

Zhao Zhen looked puzzled, unsure what Ji An was scheming this time. It was just a white mouse in an experiment—if it croaked, big deal. Why bother treating its injuries?

Thinking this, Zhao Zhen asked, "What kind of injury did that white mouse suffer?"

But Xiang Xintong refused to say more. She took out her phone, making a show of calling the Security Office. "Researcher Zhao Zhen, I’ve already warned you, yet you persist in harassing me to pry into the private details of Researcher Ji’s experiments. I’ve got good reason to think that you are a spy, attempting to extract confidential information about the core technology of Researcher Ji’s experiments from me. Now, I’m going to report you to the Security Office!"

Zhao Zhen quickly raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright, I’ll drop it. I was genuinely just concerned about Ji An’s health. As colleagues, isn’t it normal to occasionally check on each other’s well-being?"

Xiang Xintong didn’t actually call the Security Office. She knew these few words alone wouldn’t really do anything to Zhao Zhen—she was just trying to scare him off and stop him from pressing further.

"If I misunderstood, then that’s for the best. Now, Researcher Zhao, can you step aside and let me leave?" Xiang Xintong asked coldly.

"OK!" Zhao Zhen moved aside. He turned to watch Xiang Xintong bolt out of the lab like a shot, which only made him angrier. He kicked over a trash can in the lobby.

The damn trash can had a mind of its own, toppling over and spewing garbage everywhere before rattling off.

"Hey, what’s wrong with you? Why’d you kick it for no reason? Now I have to clean up this mess…" The cleaning lady, who happened to witness it, stomped over angrily, hands on her hips. When she got closer and realized it was Zhao Zhen, she faltered awkwardly. If she’d known it was him, she would’ve pretended not to see it. "Oh! Director Zhao, I—"