Free Web NovelChapter 67: Chapter 67: Salute to the One Who Marches to Death
Chu Bamboo was well aware that Li Xuan was secretly currying favor with the various major Factory Directors.
Indeed, Li Xuan held Chu Bamboo in the highest regard—a level of reverence that surpassed even Zhou Ze’s. In Real World terms, he was practically a simp!
If Chu Bamboo issued an order and Zhou Ze spotted a flaw in it, he would debate the point. But Li Xuan would simply carry it out without a moment’s hesitation, regardless of whether he thought the order was problematic or not.
Yet, Chu Bamboo didn’t view Li Xuan any more favorably for it. In fact, he was extremely wary of him.
Li Xuan lacked Zhou Ze’s firm principles; his moral compass was highly flexible. He was an egoist who put his own interests above all else. The only reason Chu Bamboo had made him deputy director-general was to use him as a mediator to manage relations with the major Factory Directors and maintain a balance.
’What a headache! A real headache.’ Chu Bamboo ran a hand through his hair. ’Forget it. If worst comes to worst, I’ll just bring in a batch of students. Hmm... It’ll be messy, and their inexperience is bound to cause a lot of trouble at first... but I’ll be there to provide a safety net! A few small problems are acceptable.’
Five years ago, after establishing the union in the shantytown resettlement area, Chu Bamboo had also created a suitable educational system. The conditions were a world away from the education the citizens in the city proper received, but to go from nothing to something was, in itself, an earth-shattering breakthrough.
Five years had passed. The students should have completed their primary education by now. Even if they were a bit subpar, they would be good enough. After all, the average caliber of people in the Dream World couldn’t compare to the Real World to begin with—
Chu Bamboo had copied their textbooks, bit by bit, from the Real World... Back then, he had found the task tedious, and being at an age in the Real World where one isn’t exactly fond of studying, the transcriptions weren’t entirely complete...
But at the very least, he had copied some parts of the Dragon Slaying Skill. Even if their learning was incomplete, having learned something was better than nothing... The rest would come through gradual refinement.
"It’s settled, then!" Chu Bamboo stretched his body, a smile returning to his face. frёewebnoѵēl.com
"Next up!"
Chu Bamboo’s expression grew serious. "Nuwa No. 17!"
"I am here." The silvery-white walls of the base glowed once more.
"First, introduce me," Chu Bamboo said, his mind racing. ’Over in the Real World, I didn’t choose to work with the government this time, so I should still just be a sports superstar, right? That means my clearance should still be Level 1...’
"Name: Chu Bamboo. Gender... Clearance Level: Level 2 Citizen."
Chu Bamboo froze for a moment. ’It’s changed again?’
’Why?’
"Nuwa No. 17!" Chu Bamboo said after a moment’s thought. "Display Chu Bamboo’s entire life history."
And then...
’Hmm, the early years are fine... I still became a sports superstar? Wait a minute...’
Chu Bamboo stared at the long list of titles that followed, momentarily stunned.
"Profile: The Pride of the Chinese People, the Light of the World, master of classical music, vocalist, the undisputed megastar of the post-internet era, master painter, master of the classical zither, master filmmaker, and pioneer of artificial intelligence. Hailed as one of the most brilliant minds of the 21st century!"
Chu Bamboo: "???"
’Classical music, singing, painting, and movies on top of that? What the hell is all this... Oh, I see!’
It dawned on Chu Bamboo. He had listened to vast amounts of classical and instrumental music in the base and watched countless movies. Furthermore, after his life in the Dream World synchronized with reality, he had gained mastery over the numerous skills he’d learned in his dreams!
The four arts of zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting—aside from chess, which didn’t exist in the Dream World—Chu Bamboo could be considered a master of them all. He was an unparalleled genius!
’He must have used his superb skills to reproduce all those songs he’d heard, creating them in the Real World, right?’
After all, the Real World Chu Bamboo’s physical condition had clearly been trained to its absolute peak. He had also managed to get out of his obligations to Yuan Qiang, freeing him from the need for constant training.
In his spare time, without the Superpower of traveling to the future in his dreams, he would naturally choose to cash in on everything he had learned in the Dream World.
And once he started cashing in...
’Well, this is really something!’ Chu Bamboo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. It was a pleasant surprise. But his expression quickly turned grim when he saw the time of death.
"Time of Death: 00:24 on June 7, 2054."
"Cause of Death: Exposure to ultra-high-intensity radiation. Bodily mutation. Euthanized by injection."
"Note: In the fourth year of the ●● War, Chu Bamboo resolutely volunteered for an experimental trial to cure radiation sickness, exposing himself to high-intensity radiation."
No one knew why he made such a decision, nor why the leadership agreed to it. No one knew why he was so steadfast in his belief that his body held the cure for radiation sickness.
At the time, radiation sickness had afflicted ninety percent of the entire human population. No cure had ever been found.
However, the final, unexpected conclusion was that his body was indeed exceptional. It could withstand nuclear radiation over fifty times the normal human tolerance without suffering mass cell mutation and death.
And yet, despite surviving, he descended into madness within a short period. Parts of his body mutated into monstrous forms, while at the same time, his various physical metrics skyrocketed, surpassing the previously calculated limits of the human body (Note: this limit was established by Chu Bamboo himself).
"In accordance with his last wishes, he was euthanized by injection. Research on his remains led to the startling discovery that his physical constitution was two to three times greater than that of a normal human." freewebnoveℓ.com
"He was a hero. We salute those who walk toward death."
Chu Bamboo: "..."
Chu Bamboo felt a complex mix of emotions. He wanted to laugh, but couldn’t bring himself to.
’Was this death basically me asking for it?’ Chu Bamboo shook his head. But as he was the same person, he could understand his other self’s decision.
With ninety percent of the population afflicted with radiation sickness, it was safe to assume... humanity was on the verge of extinction.
Unwilling to risk artificially cultivating Moon Grass, which would involve gene editing and completely contaminating the human gene pool, the only option left was to see if a final cure could be found within his own mutated body.
’Still, he was probably making a desperate gamble,’ Chu Bamboo mused. He was certain his other self wasn’t acting out of pure altruism. He had been pushed to the brink and wanted to test a theory—could direct exposure to high-intensity radiation make him even stronger?
He even suspected his other self might have already collected and tested every medicinal ingredient except for Moon Grass. As for Moon Grass, because of the pitfalls of gene editing, that was something Chu Bamboo would never dare to touch.
But clearly, in the end, Chu Bamboo had failed.
