Xu Ze opened the door and, seeing the beaming General Staff major standing there, smiled and asked, “Is the medication ready?”
“Yes… they just notified us. It’ll be delivered to the hospital in a little while, so please come back and oversee the treatment,” the major said excitedly. “Major Xu Ze… let’s head back now. Professor Luo and the others will be getting anxious.”
“Alright, let’s go then.” Sensing that his energy reserve indicator had reached about 60%, Xu Ze nodded. That much wasn’t too bad.
The helicopter that had been waiting on standby rose into the air again, with Captain Li seeing them off, and headed back the way they came.
Xu Ze pushed open the door and walked into the intensive care unit. Seeing Professor Luo Qimei’s delighted expression, he asked, “How’s it going? Has the medication arrived?”
Professor Luo Qimei quickly smiled and said, “Major… we just got word that it’ll be here in five more minutes.”
“Oh… not here yet?” Xu Ze looked at Professor Luo, whose old face was beaming like a flower, and asked in puzzlement, “If it’s not here yet, why are you so happy?”
Seeing Xu Ze’s confused look, Luo Qimei said excitedly, “Major… your silver needle technique really works! We just measured a slight decrease in the W1 toxin levels in General Zuma’s blood compared to earlier. If the medication takes effect, can we get rid of these toxins for the General soon?”
“Of course… as long as the medication works, we can wake General Zuma within three days, and he’ll be fully recovered within a week,” Xu Ze said with a light laugh. “Otherwise, would I dare say all this?”
Just as they were speaking, two officers hurried in carrying a small alloy case, about eight inches wide and a foot long, and reported, “The medication has arrived!”
The General Staff major quickly stepped forward, took the case, and placed it on the table. He then pressed his hand onto a light screen on top of the case.
With a flash of green light, a click sounded from the side, and a keypad popped out.
Without pausing, the major quickly entered a password of over a dozen digits. As he finished typing, another click came from the case.
Hearing that sound, the major nodded, then gently opened the case and carefully presented it to Xu Ze. “Major Xu Ze… all twenty vials have arrived. Please inspect them.”
Xu Ze looked down at the twenty vials in the case and couldn’t help but marvel at the quality of what the state produced.
The case held twenty beautifully crafted alloy syringe-style vials, neatly arranged, their contents clear and transparent. They looked sturdy enough that you could drop one on the floor without breaking it.
“Alright… let’s begin.” Xu Ze nodded and turned to the nurse beside him. “Add one vial to 250ml of 5% glucose solution. Administer at a rate of forty drops per minute, once every eight hours.”
“Yes, Major,” the nurse nodded. She carefully took out a vial, opened it gently, injected it into a 500ml glucose bag, and hung it up for General Zuma.
Once the nurse had hung the IV, Xu Ze stepped forward and, under everyone’s puzzled gaze, removed the three acupoint-fixing silver needles from the Tanzhong, Qihai, and Neiguan acupoints.
These three needles had been restricting the body’s functions and lowering metabolism, but they would also hinder the medication from taking full effect. Now that the drugs were here, the acupoint-fixing needles were no longer needed.
After removing them, Xu Ze moved back to the head of General Zuma’s bed and gently pinched the silver needle at the Yuzhen acupoint. He now had to clear the brain cell toxins again and, at the same time, stimulate the recovery of those cells.
Among the three acupoints, only this one still had a relatively high toxin concentration. Once he took care of this spot, the rest wouldn’t be much of a problem. The remaining toxins, with the help of the medication, would no longer be a major issue.
The Yuzhen acupoint was located near the neck. Although the two needles at the neck and the bioelectric energy control had kept most toxins at bay, a small amount had still seeped in, making the toxin concentration here much higher than at the other two sites.
Xu Ze took a light breath and began channeling bioelectric energy into the needle. The W1 toxin concentration here was extremely high, and removing it would require a tremendous amount of mental energy and bioelectric power—far more than the previous two sites. But Xu Ze had no choice but to grit his teeth and press on.
After all, he had to clear these toxins to achieve the desired effect. Relying solely on the medication would be much more difficult and take far longer. Having assessed the situation, Xu Ze clenched his jaw and forged ahead. He had no other options, no other way out—he just had to keep going and finish this session.
The attending experts, now accustomed to Xu Ze’s methods, watched him begin this miraculous treatment again and stood silently to the side, afraid to make a sound and disturb him.
Minute after minute passed. With the massive consumption of bioelectric energy and mental focus, beads of sweat densely formed on Xu Ze’s forehead again and again. But this time, he was taking noticeably longer than in the previous two sessions.
Professor Luo Qimei and the others watched as time dragged on, yet Xu Ze still hadn’t finished. His face was growing more drenched with sweat, and even his complexion was beginning to look unwell. Everyone grew increasingly tense.
They all stared at Xu Ze with bated breath, watching the sweat drops roll down his forehead in large droplets.
At this point, even a faint, steamy white vapor began to rise from the top of Xu Ze’s head, making everyone even more astonished.
“Could Major Xu Ze really be some legendary martial arts master, using inner energy to heal people? His head is steaming, just like in those kung fu movies where someone transmits power to heal injuries…” a younger doctor blurted out in shock.
The experts were taken aback. Looking at the scene, they exchanged glances—it really did look like something out of a movie.
This only made them even more curious, watching as the white vapor above Xu Ze’s head grew thicker.
But then, Luo Qimei noticed something was wrong—Xu Ze’s face was turning paler and paler. And although the hand holding the silver needle remained steady, his body was starting to tremble slightly.
“Is he losing his grip? What do we do? What do we do?” Luo Qimei’s expression changed as well. But even though he sensed the danger, he couldn’t help. He didn’t know how. All he could do was stare with his heart in his throat, terrified that something might happen to Xu Ze.
Xu Ze, for his part, really was reaching his limit. The toxin concentration at this spot was just too high; clearing and neutralizing it consumed an enormous amount of energy and mental focus. But difficult as it was, he had to do it. Having cleared most of it, he now felt his mental energy waning, and his bioelectric reserves had dropped to around 10–15%.
Seeing that most of the toxins in the brain cells had been cleared, with only a little remaining, Xu Ze had no choice but to grit his teeth and push through. Just a little longer, and he’d be done.
He could sense the faint green fluorescent light diminishing, but his head was spinning more and more. Meanwhile, alarms in the virtual space were blaring nonstop.
Strangely, though, Xiaodao was completely silent. This made Xu Ze uneasy. In his dazed state, he thought groggily, Has the energy dropped below ten percent? Has Xiaodao fallen asleep?
Worried as he was, Xu Ze was already past the point of stopping. The toxins were almost completely cleared—just a little more. Even if his energy ran out, he could slowly build it back up. A bitter smile crept onto his face.
So… this situation was trickier than expected. He really had been a bit careless.
The white mist above Xu Ze’s head was gradually thinning, but his body was trembling more violently. Now, not only did Professor Luo Qimei look alarmed, but everyone else realized something was wrong too. They could tell that Xu Ze had been at it too long this time… and that perhaps—maybe—this miraculous Major Xu Ze was reaching his limit.
Just as everyone was growing increasingly anxious, Xu Ze finally opened his eyes slowly and, with trembling hands, pulled out the three silver needles from the top of his head, one by one.
“Is it done? Finally done?” Looking at his exhausted, feeble, yet calm expression, everyone understood—it had been a success.
Luo Qimei and the nurse beside him noticed Xu Ze’s deathly pale face and his body trembling all over, seemingly on the verge of collapse. They rushed forward to support him.
But before they could take two steps, Xu Ze suddenly dropped the needles in his hand, slumped to the floor, and collapsed with his eyes closed.
Startled, Luo Qimei and the nurse hurried over to help him up. The General Staff major, his face pale with fright, rushed over to perform CPR on his philtrum. Several other doctors shouted for oxygen and IV fluids, and the entire ICU erupted into chaos.
But before anyone could apply CPR or administer oxygen, Xu Ze frowned slightly and weakly opened his eyes. He was utterly exhausted—his mental energy was almost completely depleted, which was why he had suddenly blacked out and collapsed. But just as he lost consciousness, a strange new surge of mental energy had arisen in his mind, bringing him back to his senses.
“Take me to the National Security Special Operations Base… I need to rest,” he said. With those words, a wave of relief washed over him, and he drifted back into unconsciousness.
