Inserting a single silver needle and causing the brainwave activity of a deeply comatose patient to fluctuate so dramatically—in Professor Luo Qimei’s eyes, this was truly an astonishing feat. Because according to conventional medical wisdom, patients in a deep coma or a vegetative state exhibit only extremely faint brainwave activity.
And intense brainwave fluctuations only occur in a normal person, and even then, only when their thinking is extremely active.
The fact that Xu Ze could make General Zuma’s brainwaves—which had only been showing the faintest ripples—spike so sharply with just one silver needle was, by modern medical standards, almost unbelievable.
So now, Professor Luo Qimei was standing quietly to the side, like a child, staring with wide, innocent, curious eyes at Xu Ze’s movements, and then at the bizarre fluctuations on the EEG monitor.
Doing this kind of work was truly exhausting. Sweating profusely, Xu Ze pinched the silver needle at the Shenting acupoint, pouring his bioelectric energy into it with all his might, clearing out the W1 toxins inside. It took him over ten more minutes just to barely finish clearing them out.
Relatively speaking, however, the price he paid was considerable. The energy reserve, which had been full, was now down to less than 20% after these two treatments. There was no way he could continue with another session; he’d have to wait for his energy to recover first.
By now, about two-thirds of the poison in General Zuma’s brain had been cleared. If he could get rid of the remaining third in one go, General Zuma would wake up quickly, even without medication.
But there was no way to do that right now. Xu Ze couldn’t handle that last third, so he had to wait until his energy was full again. However, by the time his energy was fully recharged, the residual W1 toxins in the brain would have spread again, requiring him to go through the whole process once more.
Still, it wasn’t entirely useless work. At the very least, it effectively protected General Zuma’s brain cells from being completely destroyed by the toxins. And achieving that was precisely why Xu Ze was putting in all this effort.
Wiping the sweat from his brow, Xu Ze let out a soft sigh. He could see that General Zuma’s condition was now relatively stable. With his silver needle acupoint-fixing technique, the general’s physiological functions had been reduced to their lowest levels, ensuring that at least no problems would arise for the next few hours. Relieved, he turned to the major who had been standing guard nearby and said, “General Zuma’s condition is temporarily under control now; there shouldn’t be any issues. Have a helicopter take me to the outskirts, to the National Security Special Operations Base. I need to rest there. Notify me when the medication arrives.”
The major, seeing how exhausted Xu Ze looked, quickly smiled and said, “Major Xu Ze, we have quiet resting areas here. You don’t need to go all the way out there.”
“No, the environment here isn’t good. I have to go there; otherwise, I won’t be able to recover properly,” Xu Ze replied without hesitation, declining the major’s suggestion. Hospitals have the worst spiritual energy environments, even one as scenic as the PLA General Hospital.
They’re all filled with murky, heavy energy. Resting and cultivating there to recover one’s bioelectric energy would not only be a waste of effort, but it could actually mess up his training.
“The environment isn’t good?” The major twitched his lips. The PLA General Hospital’s environment wasn’t good enough?
But he couldn’t go against Xu Ze’s wishes. Having a helicopter shadow him was fine; the National Security Special Operations Base was only about ten minutes away, and going back and forth was quick. So he smiled and nodded, saying, “Alright, Major, please come with me. I’ll take you there.”
Upon receiving the notice, Captain Li of the National Security Special Operations Base quickly made his way to the helipad to wait for the arrival. He’d only been ordered to arrange a quiet place to stay because someone was coming over to rest.
This left Captain Li quite baffled. He muttered to himself, wondering which leader had lost their mind, choosing to come to this godforsaken place of his to rest.
Places like the State Guesthouse—wasn’t any one of those more comfortable than his rundown military camp? Why on earth would they come all the way here to his place? Could it be that the feng shui was better here?
What Captain Li didn’t know was that the feng shui really was better here—plenty of spiritual energy. Otherwise, Comrade Xu Ze wouldn’t have traveled all this way by helicopter just to get here.
Watching the helicopter slowly descend, Captain Li sighed again. This leader really was something else. Not only did they have peculiar requests, but they also arrived by air. Look at that show of style. He’d probably never have that kind of flair even if he made major general someday.
He then quickly stepped forward to greet the leader. But when he saw the two people getting off the helicopter, he was stunned.
The one in front, an army colonel in uniform, looked somewhat familiar. He seemed to be a major from the Foreign Liaison Office of the General Staff Department. It wasn’t surprising that he was accompanying someone, so the person behind him must be a chief from the General Staff Department.
But that chief from the General Staff Department looked so familiar. And so young. Were there really chiefs that young?
“Gah…” Captain Li squinted, finally recognizing the young man in civilian clothes behind the major.
“Instructor Xu? Instructor Xu, is that you?” Captain Li quickly jogged over, grabbed Xu Ze’s hand, and greeted him with enthusiasm and excitement, leaving the General Staff major, who had been about to salute Captain Li, momentarily stunned.
Seeing Captain Li, whom he hadn’t seen in a while, Xu Ze’s mood improved too. He chuckled and said, “Old Li, why can’t it be me?”
“Instructor Xu… I can’t believe you actually remembered to come back and visit us. I was wondering which big shot would bother coming to this godforsaken place of ours,” Captain Li laughed heartily, slapping Xu Ze on the shoulder. “Don’t tell me you remembered our Special Ops’ er guotou?”
“Back when you left, the guys really missed you. They said that after you left, there wasn’t a single leader around who could drink with them properly. It’s perfect that you’re here today. Now those boys can stop looking down on me and the political commissar.”
Hearing Captain Li’s words, the General Staff major was dumbfounded. So Major Xu Ze and Captain Li were old acquaintances, and it seemed Xu Ze had even spent some time here. No wonder Major Xu Ze insisted on coming here.
But right then, he grew anxious and quickly said to Captain Li, “Lieutenant Colonel… Major Xu Ze is here to rest. He needs to sleep for five hours and then leave. He has a critical mission and can’t drink.”
“A critical mission?” Captain Li was taken aback, then looked at Xu Ze. “Instructor Xu, is that true?”
“Yeah, it won’t work today, I’m afraid. The General Staff has something urgent that can’t be delayed,” Xu Ze shook his head helplessly. “Is my old room still available? Take me there to rest. In a few days, once this is all wrapped up, I’ll come back and have a drink with you all.”
“Alright, mission comes first. I’ve already arranged a room. Get some good rest,” Captain Li said. Seeing Xu Ze’s expression, he naturally understood that this mission was no small matter, so he didn’t say anything more and simply nodded.
After Captain Li and the General Staff major had closed the door and left, Xu Ze lay down on the bed. The bed Captain Li had prepared was warm and comfortable, much like his old room. Breathing in the familiar scent, Xu Ze let out a long, relaxing sigh, then slowly closed his eyes and began his energy circulation cultivation.
The spiritual energy here was just as rich as always. As the energy mass in Xu Ze’s Conception and Governor Vessels began to circulate, the dense energy particles around him began to surge toward his body.
Feeling the abundant energy particles penetrating his skin, muscles, and bones, being drawn into his Conception and Governor Vessels, and slowly merging into the energy mass—expanding it further—Xu Ze couldn’t help but let out a comfortable sigh.
He had consumed far too much energy today. He’d never expended this much before. By his estimation, it would take at least a continuous ten-plus hours of circulation to fully replenish it.
But now, he had less than six hours. He should be able to recover about 60% of his energy reserves. With that level, he could clean up the brain cells around the Yuzhen acupoint that had been attacked by the W1 toxins. Even if some poison lingered, combined with the medication, it would be enough to wake General Zuma within three days.
As for the toxins in the rest of the body, those could be taken care of gradually. He’d already ordered twenty vials of the drug, enough for a week’s supply. Although they weren’t a specific antidote, under Xiaodao’s analysis, these drugs should be fairly effective. In a week’s time, the toxins in General Zuma’s body could be cleared, and he’d more or less return to normal.
But even so, Xu Ze didn’t dare slack off in the slightest. He focused entirely on absorbing the energy particles, trying to increase his energy reserves as much as possible. After all, energy reserves were crucial to him—all of the system’s functions relied on energy to operate.
If energy ran low, not only would his healing functions be unusable, but his offensive and defensive capabilities would also be severely weakened. If any accident occurred, it would be a disaster with no way back. So, ever the steady and cautious one, Xu Ze had no choice but to store up as much energy as he could, just in case.
And so, as time passed by, minute by minute, Xu Ze’s energy reserves slowly recovered, bit by bit. Meanwhile, the General Staff liaison officer was waiting anxiously outside.
Finally, his communicator buzzed: “Major… the drug production is complete. It will arrive at the General Hospital in about half an hour.”
“The production is finished?” The major, who had been on tenterhooks, lit up with joy. He shot to his feet and ran toward Xu Ze’s room. He had to wake Xu Ze now and ask him to return to the General Hospital to guide the formal treatment of General Zuma…
“Major… Major…” Hearing the faint calls, Xu Ze snapped his eyes open.
