Book 3, Chapter 198: Vitalization

The fort was huge, so the ones in charge sent a military-grade SUV to pick them up. They got inside, and Adviser Pei leaned against the backrest.

“You’ll have a short lesson to sit through when you’re inside to learn about the dangers of the merged space and what to pay attention to. Once it’s over and you’ve adjusted to the place, you’ll be given your missions. By the way, the two members assigned to your unit will also be sitting through the lesson with you. Would you like to eat first or have your lesson first?” he asked.

“It’s late now, so I’ll go for my lesson first. I don’t want to keep them waiting for much longer,” Chen Chuan said.

***

In the open lounge were two martial artists: a young man and a girl. The man was in his early twenties and had well-defined features. His eyes shone with confidence and nonchalance. Despite wearing a uniform, he had unbuttoned his collar and rolled up his sleeves, making the uniform look like loungewear.

The girl was around nineteen years old, had an oval-shaped face, a delicate nose, rosy lips, and slender, curved eyebrows. Even though she had a classically beautiful face, her thick, black hair was combed and tucked neatly into her hat. While sitting, her back was ramrod straight, giving her a heroic air.

Just then, they received a message telling them that their captain had come to the base. The man grumbled, “Our captain sure is full of himself. Can’t believe he made us wait until now.”

They had arrived at 5 a.m., but their captain hadn’t been around, so they couldn’t proceed with the schedule, which led to them waiting until now, unable to go anywhere.

The door opened, and a logistician saluted them. “Officers, Officer Chen is headed to the screening hall. Please head over there as well.”

“Finally.”

The man stretched his limbs and rotated them for a bit before standing up. Unlike him, the girl stood up without a word and just followed the logistician.

“Why’s she so serious?” the man mumbled before rolling his neck and following along.

When they reached the screening hall, Chen Chuan arrived as well. The moment they saw him, they were shocked.

They had thought that he would be in his thirties or, at the very least, in his twenties. After all, he was already a Class One Law Enforcer, so he should be a mature officer with a wealth of experience under his belt.

But Chen Chuan didn’t look like he was twenty yet.

Is he just here to make his resume look fancier?

the man wondered.

He hated people like that, because while he was fine with teaming up with them, having them as his captain would just make his life a living hell.

He could be pissed all he wanted, but he didn’t know the full story, and Chen Chuan was, no matter what, his superior. He couldn’t show him attitude, so he saluted him, albeit slowly.

The girl gave Chen Chuan a standard salute.

Chen Chuan saluted them as well. He could tell that the man was scrutinizing him and didn’t seem to trust him, but he didn’t mind it. Third Limit martial artists were self-centered people, and they didn’t know each other. Chen Chuan wasn’t expecting him to act like they had been friends for years the moment they met.

Those who could put on a friendly face to a stranger and smooth-talk others were actually much more difficult to lead. Chen Chuan would rather his subordinates were honest. At the very least, they wouldn’t pull a fast one on him.

Of course, it would be even better if they were people he knew.

But he couldn’t do anything about that. Martial artists trained through the national education system preferred to team up with friends and classmates after they got themselves up to a certain rank. Chen Chuan improved a bit faster than the average martial artist, though. Because of it, none of his classmates were at his level, nor were any of his upperclassmen. The people he spoke to the most often were his lecturers, so he had to let the Command Center assign team members for him.

Once he became a captain of a law enforcement unit, though, he would have the authority to pick his own team members.

After they greeted each other at the door, the three of them entered the screening hall. The place could house around thirty people, and ahead of them was a large projection screen.

The three of them picked a chair for themselves. Then, they heard footsteps, and a young woman wearing black-rimmed glasses walked in. She wore a white coat and looked quite pretty.

However, she wasn’t very tall, which made her look like a child. Even when she was stern, people couldn’t bring themselves to be serious. Instead, they just wanted to laugh.

The woman bowed and introduced herself. “Hello, Officers. I’m Tian Yu, your teacher for your introduction to the merged space. First things first, we only have a limited amount of domain resources here, so we need to prioritize communications. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, we don’t activate the other functions. That’s why we can only use such an old-fashioned method to teach you about the merged space.”

She then tapped her glasses. “Let us begin.”

The room dimmed. Only the projection screen remained lit.

Tian Yu picked up the teaching stick and said seriously, “This is the first time the three of you are here, so remember to pay attention to your brain. You need to make sure nothing goes wrong with it.”

The man asked, “Are you worried about us losing our minds?”

“Officer Yuan, if you have any questions during the lesson, please raise your hand,” Tian Yu said sternly as she stared at him, but since she was so tiny, no one got scared despite her grim look.

Still, Yuan Qiuyuan said nothing else, and Tian Yu pointed at the projection screen. An image of multiple people who had died horrifically showed up. All of them had lost the top halves of their heads, and only an empty space remained in their skulls.

Chen Chuan got a sense of deja vu after seeing it.

Tian Yu then showed another picture. This time, something resembling a limb or a tentacle crawled out of a person’s orifices, while the person was grinning.

This “person” appeared human, but Chen Chuan could tell that he was no longer the same as he originally was.

Yuan Qiuyuan raised an eyebrow at that.

After showing more than ten images, Tian Yu said, “These people ended up this way because they were infected. Their brains became alive and crawled out of their bodies. That’s why when I said that it’s very easy for something to go wrong with your brains, I wasn’t describing going insane. I meant that it’s actually possible for something to go wrong with your brain.

“The human body is made of multiple systems and organs. Hence, while you’re one unified whole, at the same time, you’re not. Your systems and organs have their own independent functions and structures. If you don’t pay attention to them constantly and overlook something for a long period of time, they’ll start forming their own ideas of how they should act.”

“That sounds hilarious. What’s this? A segment of some kid’s cartoon?” Yuan Qiuyuan mumbled.

Tian Yu slapped the screen with the teaching stick. “I’m not joking! Don’t go thinking that you’re an exception just because you’re a martial artist. While martial artists have a higher tolerance toward this, once things start going wrong, it won’t be a small problem. All the victims shown in the images are martial artists.”

Yuan Qiuyuan raised his hand.

“What is it, Officer Yuan?” Tian Yu asked.

“I’m guessing that none of them were Third Limit martial artists,” Yuan Qiuyuan said as he crossed his arms and leaned back against his chair.

“Yes. That’s correct.”

“That’s settled, then.” Yuan Qiuyuan shrugged and tapped his head. “I can take care of my own brain.”

“Officer Yuan, while there aren’t any Third Limit martial artists shown in the images, that doesn’t mean that Third Limit martial artists don’t get infected. It’s just more subtle. If we put this in extreme terms, some of you might already be infected,” Tian Yu said seriously as she stared at the trio.

“What do you mean by that?”

“That’s what I’m going to tell you next. If you could just listen patiently, you wouldn’t be asking those questions.”

Tian Yu tapped on the projection screen, and a brain-like thing with a lot of tentacles growing out of it showed up.

“The brains of Third Limit martial artists have mutated to a large degree. Usually, they have incredibly great mental fortitude, allowing them to be able to control themselves, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t lose control. The moment they do, they show it in a different manner. In most situations, their brains remain in their bodies, even after they gain sentience, but the people are no longer themselves.”

She tapped at the grotesque brain.

“The brains are both cunning and smart. They don’t act purely on instinct. Instead, they observe their surroundings and imitate the original person’s daily habits and actions. They can do it so well that even their friends and family have a hard time telling them apart.

“There’s also one more thing of note: Sometimes, they don’t even know that they’ve transformed and continue thinking that they’re a normal person.” She nudged her glasses up and looked at them.

Yuan Qiuyuan scoffed at that.

The girl raised her hand.

“What is it, Officer Qin?” Tian Yu looked over.

“Ms. Tian, how do we know if we have someone like that around us?” Qin Qingque asked seriously.

“We have a system of metrics that helps us identify them. It’s called the Vitalization Index.

“The index is defined from a scale of zero to one hundred. The normal zone is delineated at thirty. After thirty, the person is in the warning zone, and they get above sixty, they’re in the danger zone. Ninety is the transformation zone, and one hundred is the completion zone. By then, there’s nothing that can be done to reverse the effects,” she said sternly.

She then went to the side to turn on the lights and contacted someone. Three logisticians walked in and went to Chen Chuan, Yuan Qiuyuan, and Qin Qingque. They handed a metal box to each one of them.

“This is the Vitalization Cable. Connect it to your Realm Passes, and you will see your Vitalization Index,” Tian Yu stated.

They opened the boxes and found a pretty, coiled-up jade-colored line inside. When they reached out to it, the line started moving on its own and wrapped itself around their wrists before connecting to their Realm Passes.

Chen Chuan checked it out. This thing was sturdy and wouldn’t affect his movements. After connecting with it, a green number showed up on his Realm Pass.

0.

“The Vitalization Cable can sense vitalization transformations in your body at all times. If you’re in the normal zone, your number will be green. The warning zone will be yellow, and the danger zone will be red.

“You can share your numbers between team members, and I suggest doing so. That way, even if you’re not paying attention, your team members will notice if you’re in trouble.

“Also, I forgot to mention something just now. After a Third Limit martial artist’s brain goes through vitalization, the body is no longer important. After fulfilling certain conditions, the brain will move to another host.

“The team member closest to the brain is the most common choice. The brain will kill the team member, enter the body, eat their brain, and take over the body.”

“That’s disgusting,” Yuan Qiuyuan sneered.

“That’s why you need to pay attention to your vitalization index, along with those of your team members. If it goes past thirty, you’ll need to figure out how to bring it down.

“Third Limit martial artists can usually lower the number by suppressing their minds, but the effects aren’t that great. We have specialists here who can teach you a breathing technique to suppress vitalization more effectively.

“Since you’ll be engaged in intense battles outside, you might not have the time to use the breathing technique, so we will also provide you with special medicine that can help you temporarily suppress vitalization.

“But try not to rely on it too much. Once you get used to it, the vitalized part might also adapt to it.”

Qin Qingque raised her hand again, and once she got permission to speak, she asked, “Are brains the only parts that can go through vitalization?”