27: Self-healing variant

Tian Ming's sudden action terrified Qiu Wuhui, who, despite his weakened state, immediately rushed over.

However, Gouzi and a few others were quick to react, rushing forward and pinning Qiu Wuhui down.

"What are you doing? Why are you hurting my sister?"

Blood gushed from Qiu Qian's palm, her face turning pale, her eyes filled with fear and pain.

Tian Ming watched Qiu Qian's wound expressionlessly. Qiu Qian's body trembled slightly, but she didn't struggle. She just gritted her teeth, silently enduring the pain.

More than the pain, she feared that her actions would make Tian Ming kill her.

A miraculous scene unfolded. Qiu Qian felt a cool sensation emanating from her wound, the pain gradually lessened, and the bleeding slowly stopped. A hint of surprise appeared in her eyes; she didn't understand why this was happening.

Tian Ming looked at Qiu Qian's healed wound and was secretly amazed. This ability was somewhat similar to his Undying Body, but judging by the bloodstains on her palm, it was much weaker than his Undying Body.

When Tian Ming was injured, all the atoms in his body would automatically return to their original positions. Qiu Qian, however, only had a self-healing ability.

Qiu Qian's hand moved slightly; she felt that her hand had completely returned to normal. She looked up at Tian Ming, her eyes full of confusion.

Tian Ming, however, was calm, with no emotional fluctuations in his eyes: "Congratulations, the virus has recurred in your body, but it has granted you a Superpower."

"Brother, I'm fine!" Qiu Qian turned her head and said to Qiu Wuhui.

Tian Ming didn't offer much explanation. He needed to find Shen Yi. His ability seemed capable of neutralizing the zombie virus's toxicity and bestowing certain abilities upon the virus.

After he helped Qiu Qian clear the virus, although the virus in Qiu Qian erupted again, it didn't mutate her into a zombie. Instead, it granted her a powerful self-healing ability.

After finding Shen Yi, Tian Ming told him about his discovery. Upon hearing this, Shen Yi, as a researcher at the institute, frowned slightly.

"Brother Lu, I'm not a biology expert. I don't understand what's going on with this situation either. Besides Qiu Qian, who else have you cleared the virus for?"

Tian Ming fell silent. Besides Qiu Qian, there was one other person, but he couldn't save her.

"Xiaoya, but she's already dead. It was in the temporary Shelter. At that time, I wasn't skilled in controlling my own abilities."

Shen Yi fell into deep thought. After a moment, he continued: "Then did Qiu Qian gain the same ability to manipulate matter as you?"

Tian Ming pulled out his walkie-talkie: "Gouzi, bring Qiu Qian over. I'm with Shen Yi."

Ten minutes later, Qiu Qian appeared outside the door.

Qiu Qian walked in, her face still pale, but her eyes were no longer filled with fear and pain.

Tian Ming motioned for her to sit down, then looked at Shen Yi: "I'm not sure. You can try."

Shen Yi nodded. He stood up, picked up a cup from the table, and handed it to Qiu Qian: "Try to decompose this cup."

Qiu Qian took the cup, closed her eyes, and concentrated, but no matter how hard she tried, it had no effect.

"It's not working!" Qiu Qian shook her head and gave up.

The bloodstains were still on her hand, but the wound had already healed.

"It seems she only gained the ability to heal and doesn't possess an Undying Body like you. If the injury is too severe, she will still bleed to death," Shen Yi stated his conclusion.

From Tian Ming's description, when he was injured, the blood that flowed out would basically return, as if in reverse.

Qiu Qian, however, only had her wound heal, and the lost blood could not be recovered.

After Qiu Qian left, Shen Yi closed the door and said with some excitement: "Although it's only a weaker version of the ability, it's still incredible. This means evolution."

"Do you have any ideas?" Tian Ming asked, looking at Shen Yi's excited expression.

"I'm thinking, could we collect some viruses, then infect some people, and clear it just before it erupts? Wouldn't that allow us to replicate many Superpower Users?"

The moment Shen Yi voiced this idea, Tian Ming rejected it without hesitation.

"I cannot control life forms larger than the virus. Even clearing the zombie virus requires contact to control. Do you know how many people would die if we did that? Before the virus erupts, I can barely pinpoint them. After it erupts, if I'm not careful, she'll become a zombie before I even finish clearing it."

Compared to Shen Yi, Tian Ming was clearer that Qiu Qian was an isolated case. Because when the virus in her body erupted, she didn't exhibit aggressive behavior but fell into a coma.

This indicated that her body's resistance to the virus was different from that of ordinary people. Just like himself, that meteorite killed so many people, yet only he gained the ability to manipulate matter.

Shen Yi sighed; he certainly understood the risks of such an approach.

He lowered his head in contemplation for a moment, then looked up at Tian Ming and said seriously: "What about me? What if I inject Qiu Qian's blood into my body? Would that work?"

"Are you out of your mind? Before the virus even erupts, immune rejection could kill you. Once a rejection reaction occurs, I can't save you. Don't bring this up again. If anyone in the Shelter gets infected, I'll save them. Most people in the Shelter now have antibodies. If I find you secretly experimenting on people, I won't be polite."

Shen Yi gave a wry smile. This experiment, without Tian Ming's cooperation, couldn't be carried out at all. Those conjectures were merely conjectures.

It was a joke. Even if he could replicate Superpower Users, Tian Ming would never replicate Superpower Users.

Besides the uncontrollable failure rate and risks, the most important thing was that if self-healing-like Superpowers emerged within the Shelter, conflicts and struggles would be inevitable.

Although weakened versions of Superpowers posed no threat to him, if there were too many such people, those in the Shelter who hadn't gained Superpowers would be relegated to the bottom.

Where there is oppression, there is resistance. What Tian Ming hated most was this kind of structural internal friction. The Shelter's order, which had been so hard to establish, would collapse. Tian Ming's use of the black and white votes to judge Qiu Wuhui was also a way for him to win people's hearts.

If Tian Ming was the first god, he would only allow the existence of one being of his level. Because one mountain cannot hold two tigers, and a multitude of gods and buddhas would only bring disaster.

But Shen Yi hoped for more and more Superpower Users, because only then could humanity overcome the crisis.

"Don't you hope that we can return to our former lives?" Shen Yi asked.

"No!"

Shen Yi sighed, pulled out a blueprint from a drawer, and said: "This is the structure diagram of a generator. I told Gouzi, and he found some copper wires and permanent magnets from old discarded motors. The specifications are all marked. With your ability, you should be able to build one."

Tian Ming took the blueprint, stood up, and said faintly: "Thank you!"

Bang! Tian Ming left, closing the door heavily. Shen Yi sat still, saying nothing. His ambition was too great; he wanted to use his knowledge, combined with Tian Ming's abilities, to save the world.

But Tian Ming only cared about this small Shelter's limited territory, showing no sense of responsibility or duty whatsoever.