Chapter 67

Chapter 67: A Sleepless Night for Paparazzi

“Genetic injection?” Li Shutong asked bemusedly, “Are you giving it to the guy inside?”

“Yes,” Qing Chen nodded.

“Why?” Li Shutong wondered, “Genetic injection is quite difficult to get, wouldn’t it be a waste to give it to him?”

“I need to use him to prove to the Outer World that I can get them what they want. And he really should have some ability to protect himself, otherwise, he’ll easily open his mouth if he gets caught and tortured,” answered Qing Chen.

Liu Dezhu had no backbone, he spilled everything the second Lin Xiaoxiao started his interrogation.

Qing Chen was unsure about letting this kind of person be his proxy in facing the people from the Outer World.

So he considered it from another angle; since Liu Dezhu would tattle if he got caught, then make it so that others wouldn’t be able to catch him!

Lin Xiaoxiao thought for a while and sighed, “It’s kind of reasonable…”

Qing Chen turned to face Li Shutong, “I need to build layers of fortresses to ensure I can uphold my disguise and safety. Although Liu Dezhu is not a sturdy firewall, he’s the only one I can use now.”

In fact, Qing Chen still had Jiang Xue, Li Tongyun, and Nan Gengchen, but they were all his friends. Using these people as shields were akin to leading them to die.

Therefore, Liu Dezhu was the best choice at the moment. Liu Dezhu himself had also made the decision.

He looked at Li Shutong, “Teacher, you still owe me an exchange, I’ll use it for a dose of genetic injection.”

Li Shutong rejected him in good spirits, “You’ve already become my student, there’s no need to exchange for a favor.”

“One shouldn’t spend their whole life walking while leaning on others,” replied Qing Chen.

“Makes sense.” Li Shutong felt that, perhaps, the reason he chose Qing Chen to be his successor was ultimate because the boy was clear-headed and unyielding.

Those were excellent qualities that would take him a long way.

Li Shutong insisted, “But you brought me the chess endgames, that means I have one more tally in debt. So I’ll find a genetic injection for you, but I still owe you another favor.”

“Thank you, teacher,” answered Qing Chen earnestly.

…

The metal gate in front of Liu Dezhu opened again on the second day in the middle of the night, with only one hour left in the countdown.

He glanced at the familiar cat mask then at the suitcase held in that person’s hand.

“This is…” Liu Dezhu was inexplicably surprised.

“You better remember what I’m about to tell you,” Qing Chen coldly stared at him, detailing the precautions he would have to take after returning to the Outer World.

It wasn’t until he finished speaking that he opened the suitcase, revealing two frozen syringes inside.

One was for allergy testing, to check for any rejection inside the body.

The other was the genetic injection; blue liquid tightly sealed within the transparent glass case, its ripples enchanting.

The label ‘Li Corporation-FDE-005’ was printed on the syringe.

Qing Chen put down the suitcase and instructed before leaving, “First, take the skin test injection. If you feel a searing pain, that means there’s no rejection, and you can follow up with the second shot. The first shot will hurt for 15 minutes, and the second will hurt for 5 hours. But if you don’t even have the guts to take the injection, then you have no more value to me.”

Li Corporation’s FDE genetic injection had serial numbers ranging from 001 to 005. To continuously strengthen yourself, you had to start with number 005, then progress to number 004, 003, 002, and lastly 001.

Each injection required an interval of one month to allow one to gradually grow stronger and be successively promoted to the next level.

Otherwise, a person injected directly with FDE-001 would instantly die.

At first, Lin Xiaoxiao gave the syringes to Qing Chen without any container. It was only after Qing Chen made a request that he found him a suitcase.

According to Qing Chen, putting the genetic injection in a suitcase would make it look more compelling.

This type of genetic injection had great advantages: low probability of rejection, quick to take effect, and not damaging to internal organs.

But there was also a flaw to it. If 005 was equivalent to Level F, then 001 would be equivalent to Level B.

This was the limit of FDE genetic injection.

Moreover, FDE-001 and FDE-002 injections were very scarce and extremely difficult to find on the market.

Lin Xiaoxiao likened it to the quickest path amongst all the shortcuts in the world, but also the one with the shortest road.

It made Qing Chen realize, at last, that although the road he took might be the most arduous, it was also the longest.

…

“Hey, after the skin test, do you guys think he’ll still take the genetic injection?” Qing Chen outside the confinement room murmured in the dim hallway.

After leaving the room, he didn’t walk away and silently waited.

Liu Dezhu’s blood-curdling screams had not stopped since 15 minutes ago.

To be honest, Qing Chen had initially underestimated the effect of the first injection. He could imagine how much it must hurt just by listening to Liu Dezhu’s wailing.

“Can’t say for sure,” said Lin Xiaoxiao. “The pain caused by genetic injection is piercing to the bones. A lot of people gave up after the first shot because they don’t have the courage to endure five hours of pain from the second shot.”

Beside him, Ye Wan remarked, “Everything in the world has a price. Even if it’s a genetic medicine with the quickest effect, suffering is inevitable if you wish to improve your strength.”

“What about Awakeners?” Qing Chen asked all of a sudden. “Wasn’t it said that Awakeners could become superhuman overnight?”

“Most Awakeners are people who were subjected to extremely strong external stimuli,” Ye Wan explained, “There are also those who were trapped in miserable situations, accumulating pain and suffering over the years.”

Eventually, Liu Dezhu stopped screeching.

The three stood quietly in the corridor, whispering between one another while waiting for the sound of screaming to resume. It would confirm that Liu Dezhu had mustered up the courage to give himself the second shot.

However, Qing Chen overestimated Liu Dezhu’s willpower. After enduring the skin test injection, he no longer dared to take the second shot.

Many people dreamed of becoming stronger, they thought they were ready to pay the corresponding price.

Only when suffering came did they realize what exactly they were facing.

Then they would cower.

Suddenly, Ye Wan fished out a gold bar from his pocket and passed it to Qing Chen. “Here, the boss asked me to give it to you.”

Qing Chen shook his head, “As I said, I don’t want to walk by relying on others.”

Ye Wan crammed the gold bar back into his pocket and muttered, “Just like what the boss thought, you won’t want this.”

“Then why did you still take it out?” This puzzled Qing Chen.

“For a symbolic gesture… The boss said that even if you might not want it, as a teacher, he should still offer it.”

Qing Chen: “…”

Next, Lin Xiaoxiao also took out two thin black colored devices, each half the size of a palm, like a miniature version of a mobile phone.

He stuffed it into Qing Chen’s hand, and Qing Chen asked in confusion, “What’s this?”

“One for you, one for Liu Dezhu. This is a counterfeit communication device. It has an independent channel model, channel estimation, equalizer, detection, decoding, CSI feedback, preceding, modulation, and channel coding functions. But it has only one way of usage, which is to send texts. It’s typically only used by spies in the Inner World to avoid interception of information by people from the base station,” explained Lin Xiaoxiao.

Ye Wan added, “You need to know that it uses the wireless charging technology of the Inner World, there’s no way to charge it in the Outer World. Remember to bring both yours and Liu Dezhu’s devices back every time you transmigrate.”

“How did you know that I would need this?” Qing Chen asked Lin Xiaoxiao.

“It’s not me, it was the boss who told me to give it to you,” Lin Xiaoxiao shrugged. “The boss said that as a teacher, there are things he must consider ahead of his student. According to your personality, something that can help to hide your identity in the Outer World is definitely needed. But the boss also said that this is the payment for your latest exchange. If you require his help in the future, you can trade it with something from the Outer World. As for what’s considered valuable, you can judge it by yourself.”

Trading was like a little game Li Shutong played with his student

He knew Qing Chen had strong self-esteem and would be unwilling to beg for help, so he would gladly find a way to protect this self-esteem.

Qing Chen looked at the communication device in his hand, then turned his head and questioned, “Something I certainly need according to my personality… What’s my personality?”

Ye Wan quipped, “Maybe the boss thinks you have a dark personality.”

Qing Chen: “……”

After a long stretch of silence in the corridor, Qing Chen glanced at the countdown, with only one minute left. “Seems like he won’t inject himself. Let’s move.”

Drenched in sweat and on the verge of collapse, Liu Dezhu could only watch helplessly as the alloy gate reopened.

Ye Wan and Lin Xiaoxiao dashed inside.

“Don’t, don’t! Let’s talk it out!” Liu Dezhu roared.

The next moment, Ye Wan firmly pushed him on the bed while Lin Xiaoxiao grabbed the syringe and ruthlessly pricked him on the ass.

“Fuck!”

Lying prone on the bed, Liu Dezhu’s body immediately tensed up.

As he gaped to let out a cry, Ye Wan stuffed the communication device into his mouth.

Countdown 00:00:00.

Return to zero.

Before Liu Dezhu could unleash his screams in the Inner World, the world of time travelers fell into darkness.

But darkness would not swallow up the pain; it unceasingly accompanied Liu Dezhu back to the Outer World.

Qing Chen believed that his voice would definitely rouse all the residents in the neighborhood.

Tonight was bound to be a sleepless night for the paparazzi in Luo City.

Translated by: Zee

Edited by: Tempest