Chapter 1 Special Affairs Bureau, Headquarters Building, Medical Department Experimental Center

*Di*—

Under the gaze of two security personnel, Zhu Xuemin swiped his identity verification card across the card slot outside the ward door and pressed his palm onto the scanner.

This scanner was the latest product of the Special Affairs Bureau's scientific research department.

It could not only scan fingerprints but also scan the unique energy fluctuations, and even soul fluctuations, of every extraordinary individual—which was much more difficult to copy and disguise than fingerprints.

If there truly was an extraordinary individual who could perfectly simulate the soul fluctuations of another... then the security door would seem meaningless to him, and there would be even more stringent defensive measures in place to target him.

After the energy fluctuations and soul characteristics were automatically verified, the isolation door of the ward opened.

Zhu Xuemin entered, went through a full-body disinfection procedure, and then passed through two more isolation doors to arrive inside the ward.

The ward was exceptionally spacious, the floor clean and tidy. The four corners of the room were deliberately made into arcs to reduce dust accumulation. There were quite a few complex and obscure medical instruments placed on the floor, presumably experimental products from the scientific research department.

Around the medical instruments, there were also many talismans and magical artifacts, painted with intricate ritual patterns.

Was this a combination of technology and Xuanxue (metaphysics)?

Zhu Xuemin avoided the bulky medical instruments and the ritual patterns on the floor.

There was already a person standing in the ward.

Han Shuishi.

He was completely wrapped in dark-colored cloth, holding a long saber made of green jade. The tip of the saber was pressed against the surface of a hollow glass cylinder standing in the center of the ward.

It continuously emitted a gentle and peaceful energy, which permeated the surface of the glass and merged into the light blue liquid contained in the cylinder.

Inside the hollow glass cylinder floated Ju Tianfu, whom countless fans were missing.

His condition at the moment could hardly be described as good. He had a respirator on his mouth, and below his neck was a bloody, skinless upper body.

His lower body's bones and flesh were still receiving experimental drugs and the treatment from Han Shuishi.

Zhu Xuemin stood aside and waited quietly for a while.

The electronic clock embedded in the wall made a sound. Han Shuishi glanced at the clock, the treatment time for today was over. He put down the jade saber, nodded to Zhu Xuemin, and turned to leave the ward.

"How do you feel?"

Zhu Xuemin approached the front of the glass cylinder, obeyed the ward rules, and, as a non-medical personnel, did not use extraordinary powers to prevent affecting the Heterodoxy Society's rituals in the ward. He moved a chair and sat down.

"Uh..."

Ju Tianfu's eyes opened slightly, a string of bubbles emerged from under the respirator, and a slightly weak voice sounded through the broadcast above the glass cylinder, "Brother Zhu, why are you here?"

"Someone asked me to come and see you."

Zhu Xuemin helplessly curled his lips. "Since the Doorway Battle, you haven't shown your face. You didn't even personally attend the *Wind Chaser* program special event.

Although the Bureau made a realistic CG of you, saying that you were digesting the results of the Doorway Battle, this can't be done too much—there are still organizations, like Whale Song, that can see through the flaws in the realistic CG."

"Heh."

Ju Tianfu gave a bitter smile. After the Doorway Battle, he teleported back to his personal medical pod in the real world. But before the pod could open, his body rapidly dissolved and rotted.

The medical pod was urgently frozen, but it still couldn't save his body.

To be precise, it was the body made by the Zerg Nest.

Fortunately, the Special Affairs Bureau and the Heterodoxy Society had sufficient technological strength to urgently save Ju Tianfu's life with medical pods and spells.

Ju Tianfu only had a head left. Even Life Potions might not completely heal this "injury"—the healing mechanism of Life Potions was to stimulate the body's self-healing potential to heal wounds, rather than create something from nothing, creating flesh and bones from the void.

If he drank multiple bottles of Life Potion, it would most likely extract the life essence contained in Ju Tianfu's head and forcibly grow a body—the strength of the torso and limbs, as well as their matching degree with the head, would all be problematic.

After repeated meetings and demonstrations, the Special Affairs Bureau's medical team proposed more than a dozen solutions, including sending Ju Tianfu to the game square to receive medical services from other organizations.

Such as the Devil Scientist Alliance, Gen-Sys Biotechnology Company, and a shop called Immaculate Furnace—it was said that Li Risheng opened that shop, and the body modification project was unanimously praised by low- and medium-level players, but it still deviated somewhat from Ju Tianfu's needs.

In the end, the medical team decided to let Ju Tianfu follow a Heterodoxy Society book called *The Emerald Void Mysterious Female Body Refinement Secret Method*, with the assistance of Han Shuishi, medical instruments, and Heterodoxy Society rituals.

He would slowly heal himself using the Profound Nether Divine Power.

*The Emerald Void Mysterious Female Body Refinement Secret Method* was also an ancient book obtained by the front-line reconnaissance team in the Devil Imprisonment Cave.

The principle was to regard the human body as lead-mercury elixir.

Place it in a cauldron for cooking and refining, repeat the return and combination of lead and mercury, wash the bones and cleanse the marrow, refine essence into Qi, clean up the Void Creation Cave, and promote the return of all meridians to their source.

The final refined body was as strong as a body-refining cultivator.

And the spiritual power flowed smoothly, the Qi sea was vast and boundless, and the potential was immeasurable.

The prerequisite for *The Emerald Void Mysterious Female Body Refinement Secret Method* was that the soul had to leave the body. In the Yin spirit state, one could observe the body being re-refined. The strength would be greatly reduced throughout the process, so companions were needed to guard it.

Although it was slightly different from Ju Tianfu's situation.

But times were developing, and Xuanxue (metaphysics) was progressing.

The Heterodoxy Society extracted the essence of the book and, combined with the latest technology, successfully replicated the effect of *The Emerald Void Mysterious Female Body Refinement Secret Method* on Ju Tianfu.

Now, the state of having no skin on his upper body and an empty lower body looked a little miserable.

However, when the body was refined, the strength could still be maintained within the original range, or even rise—the operable range of artificial bodies was much larger.

"In short, you should recuperate with peace of mind."

Zhu Xuemin sighed, "The several projects you participated in before have been taken over by fellow disciples, and there will be no mistakes for the time being.

The most important thing is..."

"Doorways."

Ju Tianfu frowned tightly. After the Doorway Battle, Su Nisheng, who returned to the real world, obtained a C-level Doorway, while Han Shuishi obtained a D-level Doorway.

Regarding the final ownership of the Doorways, there were also many speculations within the Special Affairs Bureau's think tank.

Su Nisheng only won third place. The first place was likely Michael, and the second place... Tai Hao, Truth-Side, Hohenheim, Out of Control, and others who played a significant role in fighting alien players were all possible.

Some other players who were considered to have made lower contributions may also have won second place.

Such as the Ant King, who was suspected of colluding with the Zerg Nest.

After all, the system detector could only see part of the picture.

Some players could use the detector's refresh mechanism to do quite a lot of things in time periods that were not seen, without being discovered by anyone or any organization.

Ju Tianfu himself also received a top-twenty rating and a D-level Doorway for his last-minute burst of Profound Nether Divine Power to resist the tentacles of the mutated starfish.

But because his injuries had not healed for a long time, he had not been able to open this Doorway.

"This..."

The expression on Zhu Xuemin's face was a little strange, "The Doorway thing is easy to say.

Just like what was described in the classics left by the sages,

Doorways are indeed tunnels directly connected to other worlds.

The C-level Doorway opened by Senior Su Nisheng leads directly to the Shangyu Qingping Grotto Heaven. It just so happens to be the cave dwelling of our Heterodoxy Society's predecessors, or rather, a long-abandoned medium-sized experimental base built in the subspace.

The reconnaissance troops have already used the Heterodoxy Society token to lift the security guard puppet system that was still running inside the Grotto Heaven, and they are now entering on a large scale—the degree of preservation of the Shangyu Qingping Grotto Heaven is even higher than that of the Devil Imprisonment Cave. This time, they should be able to find quite a lot of information and treasures.

The D-level Doorway opened by Han Shuishi also leads directly to a new continent with an indigenous civilization. That indigenous civilization is still at the level of the Earth's Middle Ages. They have extraordinary power, but it is not strong, and their history is not long.

The think tank is holding a meeting to discuss how to develop it.

The most troublesome thing now is not the Doorways, but our own planet..."

"Hmm?"

Ju Tianfu was stunned when he heard this.

Zhu Xuemin didn't waste any time, took out his phone, and played a video in front of Ju Tianfu.

The video was taken inside a grotto. The walls of the grotto were painted with magnificent and intricate murals and housed stone statues of various shapes. A group of modern-dressed tourists were walking, visiting, and taking pictures in the grotto.

Ju Tianfu recognized at a glance that this was the Ajanta Caves in Maharashtra, central India.

"What's wrong with this?"

"Look closely."

Zhu Xuemin zoomed in on the phone screen, "The Buddha in the mural is smiling."