At the same time, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi followed Lu Jiuchuan's car to his residence.
Lu Jiuchuan had been worried about Tang Ci's leg injury. Today, he happened to meet Shao and Ye, and since everyone had time, Lu Jiuchuan privately told Shao Qingge that they should treat Tang Ci's leg tonight. Shao Qingge readily agreed.
Upon arriving at the villa, Lu Jiuchuan locked the door and picked up Tang Ci, placing him on the sofa.
Shao Qingge said, "Xiao Ye, use your card. Mr. Tang, let me take a look at your leg."
Tang Ci calmly rolled up his trouser legs, revealing nothing below his knees. His legs looked as if they had been cleanly severed by some sharp weapon, a heartbreaking sight that made it hard to imagine how he had managed to endure it.
Shao Qingge gently patted Ye Qi's shoulder: "Get ready, let the insects repair your severed limbs." He said gently, "Mr. Tang, you've lost quite a few limbs, so it will take about half an hour for them to grow back. Although the insects don't feel pain during the treatment, the sight might be... a bit disgusting."
Ye Qi said, "Yes, you two should close your eyes."
"It's just a bug, right?" Lu Jiuchuan sat down next to Tang Ci and gently put his arm around her shoulder, jokingly saying, " Xiao Tang, close your eyes, or I'm afraid you can't handle the stimulation."
Tang Ci ignored Lu Jiuchuan's joke, looked at her severed limbs without any concern, and said, "It's okay, come on."
Ye Qi asked, "Shall we start now?"
Tang Ci nodded: "Mm."
Ye Qi takes out the Bug King Card and transforms into the Bug King. Tang Ci notices that Ye Qi's eyes have suddenly turned blood red, which is quite cool.
Then, Ye Qi gently touched Tang Ci's severed limb with her finger. Many insects crawled out from Ye Qi's fingertip and gently clung to Tang Ci's severed leg. Lu Jiuchuan was disgusted by the sight and felt his scalp tingle. Tang Ci, on the other hand, remained calm and commented indifferently, "Your insects are quite cute."
The three of them: "..."
cute?
Lu Jiuchuan sighed and rubbed his forehead: "I forgot he likes insects, and he even made a bunch of mechanical ants."
Shao Qingge chuckled and touched his nose: "Mr. Tang's tastes are indeed peculiar."
Ye Qi looked very serious; he needed to concentrate on the treatment.
Each time the Bug King Card heals a wound, it consumes its reserve of Zerg. Normal wounds consume 1%-10%, but Tang Ci has almost lost half a leg. To fully repair it, the Bug King Card's reserve of Zerg will be consumed by about 50%. The Bug King Card's strength is directly proportional to the amount of Zerg stored; its strength will also be halved over the next 24 hours.
Fortunately, Shao Qingge still had a Bug King Card. Moreover, the Bug King's transformation only lasts 24 hours, and they might not encounter danger during those 24 hours. Even if Ye Qi's card only heals Tang Ci, it's still worthwhile. Because S-level secret chamber data isn't erased, as long as he's healed now, Tang Ci's leg will still be healthy after leaving the secret chamber!
Thanks to the insects' efforts, Tang Ci's severed leg actually began to slowly grow new flesh and blood...
The new flesh was very tender, and the skin on the calves was almost transparently white under the light.
This scene was magical. Lu Jiuchuan watched for a while, then suddenly, some images flashed through his mind, and a headache struck. Lu Jiuchuan clutched his head tightly, his voice hoarse: "The Zerg... that's right, the Zerg..."
Shao Qingge turned to look at him: "What came to mind?"
The Zerg Secret Chamber was the Spade 8 Secret Chamber that Xiao Lou's team cleared. At that time, Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci had not yet joined the team, and they had not experienced the Zerg instance. This was the first time Lu Jiuchuan had seen the Zerg healing wounds, but strangely, this scene... seemed to have been etched into his memory long ago, and it looked particularly familiar.
He took a deep breath, pressing his throbbing temples, and said, "I feel like I've seen this kind of bug somewhere before?"
Tang Ci paused, then looked at the insect on his leg: "I vaguely remember it too."
Shao Qingge squinted and thought for a moment, then said, "You haven't been to the Zerg's secret chamber. Your first Weekly Routine after you all teamed up is Diamonds." "Weekly Routine, Bug King Card is disabled, and Ye Qi and I haven't used it. Logically, you haven't seen the Zerg before. Since you remember them, perhaps you only saw them in this world?"
Tang Ci looked up: "Could it be Hilt No Mans Land? Is it related to our lost memories?"
Lu Jiuchuan smacked his head hard and said, "That's possible. The Zerg are extraterrestrial beings. We're in the interstellar age now, so it wouldn't be surprising to see them on a distant planet."
Shao Qingge said, "The Zerg are from outer space, so it's possible to see them again in an interstellar instance. However, the Zerg in this world should be an upgraded version, different from the ones we encountered. Otherwise, I could use a bug king card to command all the Zerg to obey me and give us millions of Zerg troops for free. I don't think the Guardian would be so kind."
Lu Jiuchuan also felt that Guardian wouldn't just give away a batch of Zerg to Shao Qingge as helpers for nothing.
What exactly were the insects I remember?
Half an hour passed quickly. Ye Qi was focused on the treatment, his forehead drenched in sweat. He put away the insects and looked excitedly at Tang Ci's calf, saying, "It's healed! It really grew back!"
Tang Ci's legs had fully healed, and even her fair toes were clearly visible. Overjoyed, Tang Ci tried to stand up, but because she hadn't stood for a long time, her legs felt weak and she almost fell back onto the sofa.
Lu Jiuchuan quickly helped him up, letting him lean against his chest, his voice low and gentle: "Be careful."
Tang Ci looked at Ye Qi and Shao Qingge, seemingly suppressing some emotion, his eyes welling up with tears: "Thank you. I never thought I could... stand up again."
Ye Qi smiled and scratched his head: "Mr. Tang, there's no need to thank me. It's just a card, it's nothing."
Lu Jiuchuan said to Shao Qingge, "I won't stand on ceremony. If you need anything in the future, just let me know."
Shao Qingge nodded: "Yes. Mr. Tang's leg has just grown back, and we've never used the Zerg's limb repair techniques before, so we don't know how effective they are. Let's not walk too much these next couple of days and let him get used to it slowly."
Lu Jiuchuan smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on him."
Seeing that it was getting late, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi said goodbye and returned to their lodgings.
Tang Ci insisted on taking a few steps to try, but his legs trembled after only two steps. Clearly, his new legs were not yet used to it. Moreover, seeing him walking barefoot on the marble floor made Lu Jiuchuan feel a pang of heartache.
Seeing that his face was pale, Lu Jiuchuan simply picked him up and carried him back to the bedroom, sternly ordering, "You need to rest properly. A leg that has just grown back needs time to adapt. Patients recovering from fractures need to do rehabilitation slowly. Besides, you haven't walked for half a year. What's the rush? I'll take you for a walk tomorrow."
Meeting his concerned gaze, Tang Ci smiled faintly, a rare occurrence for him: "Ninth Brother."
Lu Jiuchuan waved his hand: "There's no room for discussion."
Tang Ci's voice was soft: "Thank you for staying with me all this time. I wouldn't have made it this far without you."
Lu Jiuchuan was taken aback: "What?"
Tang Ci crawled into bed, pulled the covers over herself, and rolled over: "I don't repeat myself. If you didn't hear me, then forget it."
Lu Jiuchuan: "..."
He hadn't heard clearly, only vaguely catching the word "thank you." Lu Jiuchuan chuckled and touched his nose, saying, "No need to thank me. When did you become so formal with your brother? You should rest well. We can talk about it tomorrow."
He bent down and tucked the blanket around Tang Ci, his smile widening involuntarily.
It's a miracle that Tang Ci was still able to stand up.
No longer do I need to sit in a wheelchair and pretend to be calm by covering the empty half of my trouser leg with a blanket.
Tang Ci used to have long, straight legs and walked with confidence and ease. For the past six months, however, he's been confined to a wheelchair, finding even going to the bathroom a torment. He's reduced his meals as much as possible, and has lost a significant amount of weight. Lu Jiuchuan sees this and feels deeply for him, wishing he could take Tang Ci's place and suffer in his place.
Tang Ci is back to walking now, that's wonderful.
Lu Jiuchuan sat by the bed, looking at the pale-faced person lying on the bed. He secretly vowed in his heart that this time, he would definitely protect this person and never let Xiao Tang suffer even the slightest grievance again.
***
After Shao Qingge and Ye Qi returned home, they turned on the phone and, sure enough, heard Tang Ci's previous message.
The two were rushing to the prince's birthday banquet and missed the crucial message. Fortunately, " Xiao Lou " in the palace did not do anything to harm them, and Shao Qingge and Ye Qi were not affected by the clone.
Ye Qi was exhausted after a long day. He changed out of his military uniform and went to take a shower, while Shao Qingge went to the study and turned on the smart optical computer.
His father had passed away long ago, entrusting Noah Medical Technology Company to Shao Qingge for management. At the same time, he also gave him a key to unlock the safe deposit box that the Shao family kept in the bank.
It was a sensor ring, which Shao Qingge had always kept locked in a cabinet in his study.
Upon entering the study, he remembered this incident and immediately used his fingerprint to unlock the keypad lock, where he indeed saw the blue ring lying quietly.
He took out the ring and put it on his finger. He remembered that his father had given it to him before he passed away. Many wealthy people rent safe deposit boxes at banks to store gold or cash for emergencies. These safe deposit boxes usually require a special token to open. What could his father have stored in the bank safe deposit box? Surely he wouldn't have been left with just a sum of money?
Could it be related to the Noahs Ark Project?
Shao Qingge frowned, logged into the medical technology company's management system on the optical computer, and entered his identity and password. He was now the highest-ranking person in the company and had the highest system privileges.
He reviewed the company's investment projects over the years and indeed found the Noahs Ark Project from 20 years ago.
Shao Qingge opened the project proposal and read it carefully, discovering several points of doubt.
First, this project is titled "Noah's Ark Reboot Project"—"bootboot" implies there was already a Noah's Ark Project before this. When was the first one? What did they research?
Secondly, the project investment amount, converted to RMB, is as high as 3 billion. Such an important project proposal fails to list any details, including the use of funds, cost budget, profit distribution, etc. This proposal is too brief, only saying that "the gene project will benefit mankind," shouting a bunch of empty slogans, but without any core content.
An investment of 3 billion would definitely require board discussion and approval. The fact that it was approved by the board means that this top-secret research was clearly endorsed by the company's senior management at the time. They were aware that this matter involved too many medical ethics issues, so they dared not publicize it and deliberately made the proposal very vague.
Shao Qingge glanced at the list. The proposal bore his father's signature, and there was also information on some collaborating scientists, including a renowned professor from the Imperial Academy of Sciences... Zhang Shaohua?
Isn't this Lin Yan's mother?
Shao Qingge squinted, copied the document, and planned to send it to Xiao Lou tomorrow.
In addition, the ring on the safe is definitely an important clue. Once the bank opens, he will go there as soon as possible to open the safe left by his father.