“Crack!”
The section of alloy railing Shen Xingchen was holding snapped cleanly into two pieces in his hand.
His stern face became grave.
“Save her. We have to save her, no matter what it costs!”
Dr. Jiang shook his head, his expression troubled.
“Her life is like a thread that could snap at any moment. It could break at any time.
With the current medical technology available on Blue Star, including the most advanced life source fluid, trying to save her would be like dropping a grain of sand into the ocean.”
Shen Xingchen loosened his grip on the broken alloy railing.
Crack…
The next moment, the railing was reduced to fragments.
“There’s really no way?”
He was unwilling to accept it.
Dr. Jiang was puzzled. He had never seen the commander lose his composure like this before.
He could not help becoming curious about the woman’s identity.
“Commander, who exactly is she?”
Shen Xingchen suddenly raised his head. His dark eyes shifted like a deep vortex that seemed capable of sucking a person inside.
“Don’t ask what you shouldn’t. Your only job is to save her. This is Number One Commander’s order, and it is also the order of the entire Ninth Base!”
His attitude confirmed some of Dr. Jiang’s suspicions.
“Perhaps…”
“Stop wasting time. Speak!”
Shen Xingchen’s brows were drawn so tightly together that they almost formed a knot.
“Her body contains an enormous amount of dark energy, and it is very similar to the energy contained within the demon beast cores outside.
Based on my observations, whenever she breathes, she forcibly absorbs traces of certain dark substances floating freely in the surrounding air.
Although the efficiency is extremely low, it is still slowing down the rate at which her body is collapsing.”
“Dark energy? Is that what ability users use to activate their powers?”
“No, Commander Shen. You are a space ability user, so you should be able to sense the source of the energy your ability requires.
We usually call it qi. It is something that appeared in this world after the apocalypse.
But what she absorbs seems to be something more like order.
Or perhaps, a law.”
A sharp glint flashed through Shen Xingchen’s eyes.
Energy?
Inside the hospital room, Yun Xingwan calmly finished the entire bowl of egg noodles and shredded potatoes.
“Sweetheart, are you full? If you’re still hungry, Mom can go home and make you some more.”
Yun Xingwan shook her head.
“Mom, I’m full.”
Yun Dequan happily gathered the dishes. Even while cleaning up, however, his eyes never left Yun Xingwan.
Liu Chunhua proudly pulled a comb and a green hair tie from her pocket.
“Sweetheart, look! I brought your favorite hair tie! Let Mom tie your hair up for you.”
Yun Xingwan stared blankly at the hair tie.
A tiny white Hello Kitty cat was attached to it.
Although its color had faded with the passage of time, it remained completely intact.
Liu Chunhua skillfully picked up the comb and placed it against Yun Xingwan’s withered silver hair.
Scrape…
The moment the plastic comb touched her hair, it was as though it had encountered strands of steel.
It became stuck in the tangled hair and could not be pulled through no matter how hard Liu Chunhua tried.
Tears once again welled up in Liu Chunhua’s swollen eyes.
Her daughter must have spent twenty years as a beggar, which was why her hair had become so badly tangled that even a comb could not pass through it.
“Sweetheart, don’t worry. As long as your father and I have food to eat, we will never let you become a beggar again!”
Yun Xingwan was about to explain, but from the corner of her eye, she noticed Shen Xingchen lingering outside the doorway.
“Mom, Dad, I want to speak privately with Commander Shen.”
“Alright, alright!”
Yun Dequan was reluctant to leave, but he still pulled the tearful Liu Chunhua out of the room.
“Old woman, let’s go home first and see what our daughter is missing. We can get whatever she needs.”
Liu Chunhua put down the comb.
“Sweetheart, don’t worry. Mom will exchange for some good shampoo and wash your hair properly. We’ll definitely get it untangled!”
“Alright!”
Yun Xingwan agreed with a smile.
Her hair had been tempered for three hundred million years.
How could an ordinary comb possibly get through it?
But she did not bother explaining.
After the two left, Shen Xingchen pushed the door open and entered.
He walked to the side of her bed, a complicated look in his dark eyes.
His stern features softened slightly as he stood upright before her and gave her a standard military salute.
“Miss Yun.”
Yun Xingwan leaned against the headboard, silently looking at him with her lifeless eyes.
After a long while, her cracked lips parted.
“Just say what you came to say.”
“I don’t have much time left, so I don’t like beating around the bush.”
The corner of Shen Xingchen’s eye twitched almost imperceptibly.
“Miss Yun, your body has already reached the end of its strength. The methods available on Earth probably cannot save you.”
Yun Xingwan’s eyes remained lifeless.
In the final years of her life as the Great Emperor, her Immortal Platform had become covered in dust and her physical body had decayed.
This was the Five Decays of Heaven and Man.
Forget Blue Star, where spiritual energy was so thin. Even immortal medicines from the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths could not save her rotten body.
“Mm. I know.”
Her voice was extremely calm, but Shen Xingchen felt an inexplicable heaviness upon hearing it.
His tightly pressed lips parted slightly.
“We will not abandon you. You saved the entire base, and you saved all of Huaguo. The country will never allow a hero to simply wait for death.”
She was the one he had brought back.
He would never abandon her either.
“The doctor said that if we can purify the demonic energy inside the demon cores and extract the high purity energy within them, you might still have a chance of survival.”
“Please wait a little longer. I have already submitted a special request for a laboratory, and we are preparing to launch a demon core energy decomposition research project.”
Energy?
Yun Xingwan’s fingers unconsciously tapped against the edge of the bed as she thought for a moment.
When she left Earth, its spiritual energy had already dried up, making it a land where cultivation had entered the Age of Dharma Decline.
Yet now, she could clearly sense traces of spiritual energy within the heavens and earth.
The laws of this world had also undergone some changes.
She studied Shen Xingchen.
“Come here.”
A trace of confusion flashed through Shen Xingchen’s eyes, but he obediently walked over to her.
“Extend your hand.”
“You…”
Without hesitation, Shen Xingchen extended his hand toward her.
“Heh…”
Seeing how obediently he followed her instructions, Yun Xingwan slightly raised her eyelids.
“Aren’t you afraid I might do something else to you?”
“You won’t.”
Shen Xingchen’s tone was certain.
Yun Xingwan said nothing.
She reached out and lightly touched his finger.
The moment her finger touched his, Shen Xingchen felt the dry, warm sensation of her withered fingertip.
There was also a strange feeling of familiarity.
Before he had time to think about it, his entire body seemed to be enveloped by a warm current.
The disordered genes within him, which had been affected when he activated the Gold Stone, seemed to begin repairing themselves little by little.
One minute later, Yun Xingwan withdrew her finger.
Her already pale complexion seemed even paler.
Even the small amount of vitality she had regained moments ago had faded.
A faint smile appeared at the corner of her lips.
Interesting.
“Cough, cough, cough…”
The energy inside her body surged violently, and she began coughing again.
Shen Xingchen had no time to process the shock he had just experienced.
“Are you alright?”
Yun Xingwan waved her hand.
“I’m fine. Cough, cough, cough…”
Seeing that she was still coughing, he quickly poured a glass of water from the table and handed it to her.
Yun Xingwan forcibly suppressed the surging energy within her, and only then did her coughing finally stop.
“No need.”
He obediently put the glass down and stood beside her, quietly waiting for her to continue.
“Try it.”
Seeing that he did not understand, Yun Xingwan reminded him.
Shen Xingchen closed his eyes and carefully sensed the changes within himself.
The shock he had been suppressing could no longer be concealed.
He raised his hand and casually swept it through the air.
A spatial crack appeared.
“I can move freely through space now!”
“If I’m not mistaken, you only became capable of awakening abilities after those monsters appeared.”
“Yes!”