Chapter 102: Joint Conference

Chapter 102: Joint Meeting

"Commander-in-Chief Gu, you're here?" Wu Yu greeted Gu Jinsheng warmly. Gu Jinsheng found that Wu's fawning demeanor looked oddly familiar—uncannily similar to someone. Wu Youyang's face flashed through his mind. It wasn't just a passing resemblance; it was identical.

Ji An had successfully gained yet another fanboy, and this one was none other than the former director of Luo City Base's research institute—a highly capable psychic super.

Gu Jinsheng felt proud of Ji An.

He gave Wu Yu a slight nod in acknowledgment.

The way Ji An looked at Gu now was entirely different from before. Perhaps after such intimacy, an unspoken closeness naturally surfaced between two people—a bond no third party could ever intrude upon.

Gu himself sensed this change, and it filled him with sweet delight.

Ji An pointed to Wu Yu's psychic superpower manifestation and said, "Lately, I've been researching superpower manifestation. Take a look—this is Wu Yu's psychic superpower manifestation."

Wu Yu's superpower took the form of an ordinary elephant, the pre-apocalypse kind—a large, trunked, hairless creature that were a dime a dozen.

Wu Yu was rather proud of it. Not everyone could materialize their superpower, and being able to do so was proof of his high-tier power.

Of course, it couldn't compare to Gu Jinsheng's Thunder Dragon. Everyone in China knew about Gu's Thunder Dragon—they weren't in the same league.

Gu knew Ji An wasn't showing him Wu Yu's elephant manifestation just for the sake of it. There had to be another reason.

Upon closer inspection, Gu immediately noticed that Wu's manifested elephant was just a static projection of his superpower.

It was "lifeless"—no consciousness or will. Its eyes were dull and unmoving, like a statue locked in whatever pose its creator had molded it into.

Gu glanced at Ji An, who nodded in confirmation.

"Thank you, Wu Yu. You can withdraw it now," Ji An said.

Wu Yu retracted his superpower. "Director, are you starting a new research project?"

"I do have a new study in the works, but it's unrelated to this. This was purely for personal reasons and doesn't involve any experiments," Ji An replied.

Wu Yu's gaze immediately shifted to Gu Jinsheng, a twinge of envy flickering in his heart. "It's because of Commander-in-Chief Gu, isn't it? After he lost one of his superpowers, his Thunder Dragon grew unstable. Are you researching superpower manifestation to help him solve this issue?"

Who wouldn't want a partner so powerful and devoted, always putting their loved one first?

Talk about relationship goals!

How had Gu Jinsheng managed to win him over?

Outwardly, Gu appeared mature, composed, and serious—who'd have guessed he played the seduction card behind the scenes!

Wu Yu recalled some online rumors suggesting that Gu had secured his position as Commander-in-Chief by using his charms to Ji An, thus gaining his full support.

Rubbing his chin, Wu Yu stared at Ji An's stunning looks and got lost in thought. If the rumors were true, then Gu hadn't exactly "sacrificed" anything—after all, Ji An was stunning.

Wu Yu's mind wandered, his thoughts drifting far and wide.

"Wu Yu." Ji An's firm voice snapped him back to reality. "Thank you for showing your manifestation. You've been maintaining it for a while now—you must be mentally exhausted. Go rest."

Wu Yu nodded and let his thoughts slip without thinking, "I get it. The couple wants privacy, and this third wheel's cramping their style."

Only after speaking did he remember exactly who he was teasing—one was the base's Commander-in-Chief, and the other was his superior. Neither was someone he could casually joke with.

Quickly, Wu Yu grabbed his head with exaggerated groans, "Ugh, my head feels all muddled. Must be from overusing my superpower manifestation—I'm mentally wiped."

Wu Yu strolled out of the laboratory, but he wasn’t lying—the prolonged ability manifestation had indeed left his mind somewhat uncomfortable, and his mental energy seemed depleted.

Wu Yu couldn’t help but admire Gu Jinsheng. Thunder Dragon was always unleashed for battles, yet he never seemed to feel the drain from overusing his ability!

Once Wu Yu left, Ji An said, “You noticed it, didn’t you? Wu Yu’s ability manifestation is different from yours and mine. His seems… ‘lifeless.’”

Gu Jinsheng replied, “Actually, in the beginning, Thunder Dragon was in the same state. It only ‘came to life’ after I deliberately dispersed one of my superpowers. At first, I thought it was because I had just lost one ability, making my control over the other unstable.”

“No,” Ji An said. “Over the past few days, I’ve been conducting experiments in the lab and even ran some tests on my Ah Jiao. I realized that Ah Jiao isn’t just a manifestation of my superpower—it’s more accurate to call it my mental projection.”

“Mental projection?” Gu Jinsheng repeated.

“Yes,” Ji An explained. “During my experiments, I found that Ah Jiao knows all my thoughts. We don’t even need to communicate—it’s literally made from my thoughts.

It shares my joys, my loves, and my dislikes.

We’re completely transparent with each other.”

Gu Jinsheng immediately said, “Then Thunder Dragon definitely isn’t a mental projection.”

Ji An thought of Thunder Dragon’s confrontational attitude toward Gu Jinsheng and couldn’t help but laugh. “Release it. I’ll examine it.”

“Alright.” Gu Jinsheng had no reservations and called forth Thunder Dragon without hesitation. The moment it appeared, it grumbled, “This guy doesn’t want me as his mental projection? Well, I don’t want to be his mental projection either!”

Then it flew over to Ji An, sucking up, “An’an, let Ah Jiao come out to play for a bit!”

Ji An summoned the unicorn, and Thunder Dragon immediately hovered around it, tail wagging excitedly and even showing off its lightning balls like party tricks.

Its desperate attention-seeking looked suspiciously familiar.

Gu Jinsheng probably thought so too—his expression turned stormy.

Ji An teased, “Jinsheng, now I’m even more convinced that Thunder Dragon is your mental projection. Look at how it’s showing off to Ah Jiao—doesn’t it remind you of yourself? Didn’t you used to show off Thunder Dragon the same way in front of me?”

It wasn’t just similar—it was identical.

Gu Jinsheng recalled the times he had kept showing off Thunder Dragon in front of Ji An. Had Ji An always seen him as a peacock, strutting around like some show-off in a ridiculous showboating?

For a moment, Gu Jinsheng found it hard to accept.

Ji An beckoned Thunder Dragon. “Longlong, come here. I’ll run a check on you.”

Thunder Dragon glanced between Ji An and the unicorn, reluctant to leave either. Finally, it wrapped its huge tail around the unicorn, bringing it along as it flew toward Ji An, whining eagerly, “An’an, An’an, I’m coming!”

Gu Jinsheng looked ready to vanish on the spot.

Ji An swore he didn’t mean to, but he really couldn’t hold back—he burst into laughter.

After examining Thunder Dragon, Ji An said, “Jinsheng, come look at the test results.”

“Eighty percent spiritual energy, twenty percent superpower,” Gu Jinsheng read.

“Thunder Dragon’s current state is a mix of mental energy and ability. I believe it’s evolving and may eventually transform into a full mental projection, just like Ah Jiao.”

Gu Jinsheng stared at Thunder Dragon’s embarrassing behavior, struggling to accept it. He asked hoarsely, “Is a mental projection what I think it is—a mirror of its owner’s mind?”

“Yes,” Ji An replied, fighting back laughter.

After a moment of thought, Ji An added, “Actually, haven’t you noticed? Thunder Dragon acts just like you when you were four, when we first met.”

Showy, radiant, defiant.

"I still remember when I asked Thunder Dragon to carry someone, and it kept yelling, 'No way!'"

"Perhaps at that time, though it didn’t realize it was a spiritual manifestation, it was subconsciously resisting."

Most childhood memories fade, but Gu Jinsheng vividly remembers every moment with Ji An, recalling every detail.

It was unmistakably identical to the Thunder Dragon before them now.

Ji An looked at Thunder Dragon and suddenly felt a sharp pain—his chest tightened for Gu Jinsheng.

Thunder Dragon was almost the complete opposite of Gu Jinsheng in personality, except for one thing: they were utterly devoted to Ji An.

Gu Jinsheng was calm, reserved, taciturn, and rarely smiled—so much so that many in the base whispered he was an emotionless automaton.

This was the polar opposite of Thunder Dragon’s true nature.

Just what childhood could have molded someone like Thunder Dragon into the person Gu Jinsheng was now?

Ji An said, "Jinsheng, the days we were apart... you suffered just as much, didn't you?"

Gu Jinsheng said tonelessly, his expression unreadable, "It wasn’t difficult. I had a roof and meals. Unlike you in the orphanage."

Every time he thought of Ji An growing up in an orphanage, Gu Jinsheng’s chest constricted with grief.

Ji An ached over Gu Jinsheng’s past, and Gu Jinsheng, in turn, ached over Ji An’s childhood.

Those who love you won’t dwell on your past—they’ll only ache for the suffering you endured.

Thunder Dragon flew over. "An'an, touch me. My heart suddenly hurts so much, like I'm dying. I can barely breathe. It must be because I’m so upset about being Gu Jinsheng’s spiritual manifestation."

Ji An knew that wasn’t the case—it was Gu Jinsheng’s sorrow over his childhood.

But Ji An still kissed Thunder Dragon’s great scaled head, then looked up and, catching Gu Jinsheng off guard, pressed a kiss to his lips—Gu Jinsheng, who had been burning with jealousy at Thunder Dragon.

If Thunder Dragon and the unicorn were spiritual manifestations, many things fell into place—why they had thoughts, likes and dislikes of their own.

When they parted, Ji An suddenly said, "Jinsheng, it was you who saved me. That day... I really did die."

"Don't be absurd," Gu Jinsheng frowned slightly.

"The truth is, that day wasn’t a core explosion. A Superpowered Crystal Core detonation is irreversible, just like a Zombie Core—once it starts, it can’t be stopped."

"So what happened that day definitely wasn’t an explosion," Ji An stated firmly.

"Then what was it?"

"Superpower conversion," Ji An explained. "Without realizing it, you performed a miracle—converting one of your superpowers into mental energy and invading my consciousness."

Gu Jinsheng was puzzled. "Even if you had... even if I converted my superpower into mental energy, I wouldn’t have been able to invade your consciousness. It should’ve been blank by then."

"In medicine, death occurs in three stages. The first is cardiac arrest—often reversible with prompt resuscitation. Cardiac arrest alone doesn’t confirm death. The second is clinical death—when the ECG flatlines, pupils dilate, and spontaneous breathing ceases."

"But within five to six minutes after cardiac death, a person retains flickering awareness, including hearing. Only with the loss of all these signs does the third stage—brain death—occur."

"I remember clearly—I only died after seeing you. So our timeline was in the second stage, prior to cerebral death."

"At that time, if your superpower ability had been converted into mental energy and invaded my brain, I should still have been conscious."

Ji An thought of the Spirit Spring water Gu Jinsheng had fed him back then, and the Spirit Spring water he had given Gu Jinsheng—perhaps that tiny bit of water had saved both their lives.

"What you thought was a hallucination in your dazed state might not have been a hallucination at all, but something that happened when you invaded my mental landscape."

"At the time, I called out to you, but you ignored me. In anger, I bit your arm and poured a handful of Spirit Spring water over your head. Later, that water turned into a downpour that extinguished the lightning flames Thunder Dragon had spewed, and the bite mark I left on your arm remained—no matter what you tried, you couldn’t remove it, because it was branded onto your soul."

Gu Jinsheng’s gaze suddenly turned meaningful, and Ji An remembered how, to verify this, he had once invaded Gu Jinsheng’s dream one night and applied Spirit Spring water to his arm. Only then did the bite mark on Gu Jinsheng’s arm disappear.

But that wasn’t the main point. The main thing was that Gu Jinsheng had seemed intent on making love that night.

Thunder Dragon suddenly wedged his big head between the two of them, fawningly ratting out Gu Jinsheng to Ji An: "Xiao An, Gu Jinsheng is having dirty thoughts~ He’s wondering if you two had done it in his mental realm back then, wouldn’t that count as a soul bonding? If physical connection feels so good, a soul bonding must be even more intense."

"Pfft—" Ji An burst into laughter, while Gu Jinsheng’s face darkened.

What did it feel like to be betrayed by yourself?

Probably exactly how Thunder Dragon and Gu Jinsheng felt!

So this was the kind of person Gu Jinsheng was—willing to betray even himself just to please his wife!!!

Driven by a researcher’s curiosity, Ji An tried the soul bonding with Gu Jinsheng that very night. It was indeed a whole other level of pleasure—a pleasure that resonated through his very soul, beyond words.

Seven days later, after Ji An had rested sufficiently, he entered the research lab with several Deputy Directors and high-ranking officials from Luo City Base.

Three months later, Ji An emerged with his team.

As soon as he stepped out, he saw Gu Jinsheng waiting for him outside and flashed him a radiant smile.

Wu Yu was radiating vitality; despite months of seclusion, he showed no signs of fatigue and instead looked bursting with energy.

"Commander-in-Chief Gu, hahaha, wonderful! Did you know our experiment succeeded and came specifically to welcome us? Hahaha." Wu Yu was so overjoyed he couldn’t stop laughing.

Wu Yu added, "Chief Researcher, joining you in the lab was the right decision. In all my life, I’ve never conducted such a smooth experiment."

"This project is undoubtedly a game-changing breakthrough!"

Gu Jinsheng looked at Ji An, suppressing the urge to pull him into an embrace immediately, and asked, "Xiao An, congratulations on the experiment’s success!"

Ji An grinned. "Jinsheng, congratulations to you too. With this research breakthrough, many bases will likely want to rejoin the Jingshi Base."

Though He Tao didn’t yet know Ji An had developed the healing pod, he was aware that the Mental Scanner was Ji An’s creation, so he was full of anticipation for this research. Seeing Wu Yu—the former chief researcher of Luo City Base—so excited, he figured it must be something remarkable and asked, "Researcher Ji, what exactly have you created this time?"

Ji An smiled. "Full-dive VR."

He Tao was stunned, taking a long moment to process it before stammering, "Full-dive VR? As in the full-dive VR from pre-Collapse science fiction?"

"If what you and I both understand is the full-dive VR from those stories, then yes, that’s the one."

Ji An glanced at Gu Jinsheng. "When I was teaching Espers to resist mental invasions, I noticed many subconsciously resisted the training, afraid their secrets might be exposed during the process. This hindered their progress."

"That got me thinking—if we could simulate psychic intrusion patterns with a computer, we could run the training virtually. That way, Espers wouldn’t feel so reluctant."

"But to achieve computer simulation, we first had to crack full-dive VR."

This time, Gu Jinsheng could no longer hold back. He pulled Ji An into a crushing hug. "Xiao An, if this is a dream, I’d rather never wake up."

Ji An responded, "In dreams or waking life, I’ll always be here."

Ouch! Toothache!

Wu Yu clutched his cheek, groaning. Damn it, he was getting older—too much sweetness, and now his tooth ached!

The factories in Luo City Base, which had just halted production, immediately resumed operations, working overtime.

Owen looked at Ji An with a complicated expression. "Now I finally understand where Luo City Base fell short. It wasn’t the Commander-in-Chief—it was you, the game-breaker."

Jiang Fuzhong also grumbled indignantly, "Is Commander-in-Chief Gu the chosen one or something? You actually volunteered to join the Capital City Base, even bringing your whole fortune with you. Researcher Ji, Luo City Base is willing to pay a hundred—no, a thousand times the price if only you’d come to us back then."

Kong Zhongcheng grinned dopily. "A thousand times won’t cut it. Not even ten thousand. If you want to keep someone, the Commander-in-Chief has to personally use his looks. Can your Commander-in-Chief Du Ruanlan do that?"

"Well shit, we lost," Jiang Fuzhong muttered resentfully. "Our Commander-in-Chief can’t do that—he’s got Owen. Can’t we swap someone else?"

Kong Zhongcheng asked, "Do you think anyone can compare to our Commander-in-Chief?"

Jiang Fuzhong scrutinized Gu Jinsheng carefully. Indeed, the guy was seriously good-looking.

Owen looked exasperated. These two idiots!

Turning to Gu Jinsheng, Owen said, "Commander-in-Chief Gu, T Base, Q Base, Y Base, and others have jointly initiated a nationwide video conference for all of China this Saturday at 9 AM. Should we attend?"

Gu Jinsheng asked, "What’s the agenda?"

"Discussing how all bases in China can unite to survive the apocalypse together."

He Tao frowned. "That’s strange. Did the sun rise from the west? Weren’t these bases always loyal lapdogs of R, M, and H Bases? Before, they acted like clinging to those bases was their only way to survive. They never even attended the joint meetings we organized—or if they did, they’d send some junior flunky with no authority, who’d just sleep through the whole damn meeting like we were spouting nonsense. Why the sudden enthusiasm?"

Owen sneered. "They've got ulterior motives."

Kong Zhongcheng added, "Look at who’s backing these bases, then think about who we didn’t share the core technology of the Mental Scanner with. That’ll tell you the real purpose behind this video conference."

He Tao cursed, "The fucking nerve! Weren’t they happy sucking up to the capitalists? Why come begging to us now?"

"They don’t see it as begging!" Jiang Fuzhong retorted.

He Tao fumed. "Boss, since we know their intentions, why play along with their game? Let’s not attend!"

"Why not attend?" Gu Jinsheng’s eyes went cold. "Of course, we’ll attend."

He Tao didn't get it. "Why?"

"Holography," Gu Jinsheng said.

Ji An chuckled. "Talk about perfect timing to promote our holographic tech! Now that we’ve developed it, of course, we should sell it to make bank."

He Tao asked, "Wait, sell it to those assholes? To help them train against psychic invasions? If it weren’t for them sending that damn Psychic Zombie King after us, wouldn’t all the bases in China have suffered far less?"

Ji An shot back, "Did they get the core technology of the Mental Scanner?"

"No."

"Then they won’t get holography either. You'll see."

Gu Jinsheng said to Owen, "Reply that we’ll attend on time."

This whole setup had been prepared specifically for the Capital City Base. When Gu Jinsheng agreed to attend, the three bases all breathed a sigh of relief. The star of this show was the Capital City Base—anyone else could skip it, but if the Capital City Base didn’t show, there’d be no show.

Bases that initially refused to participate withdrew their replies and agreed to join again upon seeing Beijing Base take part.

By Saturday, the video conference commenced on schedule.

Gu Jinsheng attended in person, and the moment his face appeared in the meeting room, it instantly drew the attention of all base Commanders-in-Chief—including those from T, Q, and Y bases, who had previously disregarded both Beijing Base and Gu Jinsheng entirely.

After exchanging a few insincere pleasantries, Wan Hong, the Commander-in-Chief of T Base, spoke up: "First, congratulations to Commander-in-Chief Gu Jinsheng of Beijing Base for recently reclaiming multiple bases, including Luoshi Base and North Base."

Gu Jinsheng remained expressionless, his gaze icy. "What is there to congratulate? R Base and M Base deployed numerous Psychic Zombie Kings into our territory, leading to countless deaths among our people. What exactly are we celebrating here?"

Wan Hong hadn’t expected Gu Jinsheng to address this openly in the meeting and was momentarily at a loss for words. He surreptitiously glanced to his side.

Seated beside him was Dewitt, whose expression darkened as he whispered, "Don’t let Gu Jinsheng control the narrative. Ignore his remarks and directly ask him about the Mental Scanner."

Wan Hong gave a barely noticeable nod, believing his gesture went unnoticed. Unbeknownst to him, his every move was being watched by everyone.