Chapter 139 Drawing a Vial of Your Blood

"Actually, I'm not truly Elder Han's official student. We simply shared a stroke of fate, and before his passing, he entrusted this lifetime's work to my safekeeping. So, I suppose I'm just using his authority as a banner for my own purposes. I figured keeping this thing was useless to me since I can hardly understand it anyway, so I might as well hand it over to you." Cao Fusheng placed the journal directly into Bai Qingchu's hands, and the latter hurriedly opened it to flip through and scan the contents.

This was an abrupt decision made by Cao Fusheng, yet it was also one born of careful consideration.

Bai Qingchu did not seem like the scheming type, and that trace of murderous intent he had inadvertently emitted was genuine. Furthermore, keeping this manual in his own possession would not unlock any of its brilliance—it was simply being buried in obscurity.

Handing it over to him was likely the correct choice.

Moreover, it would win Bai Qingchu's favor. Why not do it?

Profiting from something useless to oneself could never be considered a losing deal.

"This... this is indeed the teacher's handwriting. An in-depth analysis of space... the physiological secrets of the Waste Era's predators... speculations on the source of the infection..." Bai Qingchu closed the notebook, and the way he looked at Cao Fusheng changed entirely.

He drew a deep breath, grabbed the man's hand happily, and expressed his gratitude, "Thank you! Thank you so much! You truly are the lucky star of our Heavenly Pillar. Putting aside the fact that you resolved the energy crisis, just for me personally, this is something I can never repay!"

"Does that mean you still want to use me for experiments now?"

"Yes! Those are two entirely different matters. While personal gratitude remains, work must still go on! But don't worry, if it genuinely threatens your safety, I will definitely call it off." Bai Qingchu said earnestly.

Cao Fusheng suddenly felt a strong urge to punch him to death.

"Actually, my interest in you lies solely in your blood. Once these results come out, I won't lay a hand on you otherwise. As for your act of replenishing energy, in my view, it isn't much of a grand secret. To a certain extent, I can replicate that skill of yours as well."

Seeing the utter disbelief plastered across Cao Fusheng's face, Bai Qingchu remained unperturbed, offering a faint smile instead. "If I'm guessing correctly, your method should be related to space. Although I haven't fully mastered the technology in this field yet, isn't it cut from the same cloth as the 'fish-snatching' trick I demonstrated to you just moments ago?"

"!!!"

Cao Fusheng snapped back to his senses. That was right—hadn't this half-white-haired man just demonstrated a similar technique moments ago? Moreover, what he described aligned almost completely with reality.

With only minor discrepancies.

Cao Fusheng couldn't help but wonder if the so-called dimensional space was also connected to parallel spacetime.

Figuring out such matters was entirely too headache-inducing. It was better to leave that sort of research to people like Bai Qingchu.

"So now you should understand, right? My interest in you is far less than you imagine. Given time, I can research anything into existence! While the Waste Era is undoubtedly a catastrophe for humanity and the Earth, it is also an unprecedented opportunity, granting infinite possibilities to this dark world!" The more Bai Qingchu spoke, the more excited he became, completely adopting the attitude of someone oblivious to the world around him.

"Wake up... Stop indulging in your fantasies. Give you time—how much time can the Waste Era afford you? Take a realistic problem as an example: the amount of metal required to keep the Heavenly Pillar running is astronomical. At this rate, sooner or later, everyone will run out of metal to find. What will happen then? Besides, it's no longer as easy for your people to go out and scavenge for metallic substances as it was in the beginning. Now, you have to travel much further." Cao Fusheng burst his bubble with a dose of harsh reality.

Bai Qingchu let out a melancholy sigh. "Indeed. Everyone in the Heavenly Pillar is aware of this problem, but currently, there is no good solution. We have tried substituting other materials, but none of them work. Therefore, we don't have much time left. We must figure out a countermeasure before humanity can no longer hold on, and the prerequisite for that is unraveling the true secrets of the Waste Era. Otherwise, how can we talk about solving the problem at its root?"

Not much time left, huh?

Cao Fusheng inwardly sighed. Previously, he had believed that as long as he stayed alive, he would eventually reach the end of this path based on the information provided by the genetic ecological lock.

Yet ever since the twenty-four-hour countdown was triggered, he no longer dared to think that way.

The tides of the world changed far too quickly, entirely beyond the control of human effort or material resources.

Back in the dream, that trench-coat-clad man had even admonished him that time was running out and that he needed to quicken his pace. Who on earth was he, and why did he know that time was short?

Currently, Main Quest One, [Save the Heavenly Pillar], was still in an incomplete state, leaving him clueless about how to proceed next or what to target.

Cao Fusheng pondered in silence. Perhaps the reason it remained uncompleted was related to the intelligence regarding the Northern Celestial Kingdom, which he had yet to share with the upper echelons of the Heavenly Pillar.

After all, the moment this quest was triggered, it was explicitly stated to be an important branching mission.

Since this clue existed, his next objective was practically self-evident.

The Northern Celestial Kingdom!

"Alright, let's pause the idle chatter for now and quickly get down to business, or else I'll keep feeling uneasy. If the conclusion really does turn out to be that you're an infected one..." Bai Qingchu said, clutching Cao Fusheng's initial blood sample as he trailed off hesitantly.

Cao Fusheng smiled. "Let's run the test first. Whether or not I bear the traits of an infected individual—don't tell me you can't tell. I'm even more normal than ordinary people."

"Hehe, it can indeed be seen. No matter how one looks at it, you don't look like an infected one. Still, we must let results and data do the talking; relying purely on observation leaves room for bias." Bai Qingchu gave a dry laugh.

As expected of an orthodox scientist who demanded data for everything, yet what he said was also the truth. From certain perspectives, data was indeed more reliable.

"How do I need to cooperate with you?"

"It's very simple. We'll draw another tube of your blood, and then you'll lie inside the lineage scanner for a full-body scan. I refuse to believe that with three approaches working in tandem, we won't unearth the information I want. Right, during the full-body scan shortly, to prevent any harm to your bodily functions, you will be put into a deep sleep. Do not resist when that happens. The results I extracted from your initial sample indicate that you possess extremely strong drug resistance. If you resist, you won't fall into slumber." Bai Qingchu's confident demeanor was genuinely charming, making him look nothing like an excessively aged middle-aged man.

Cao Fusheng nodded helplessly and then lay down inside the scanning device.

"I am Bai Qingchu. Oh, Department Head Tong, the results are out? Everything is normal? Alright, I understand, thank you so much... He hung up really fast..." Bai Qingchu shook his head with a bitter smile, then spoke in a loud voice, "Junior Brother Cao, let me share some good news with you: the medical department's tests show that everything with you is entirely normal."

"Duh, I told you so. If I weren't normal, you wouldn't be able to find a single normal person anywhere."

"Hehe... Then let's begin. I'll draw a tube of your blood first."

Before long, Cao Fusheng felt an irresistible wave of sleepiness wash over him, and he drifted into a deep sleep.