Chapter 50
Luo Jia Bai joined the Healer Team at the Human Base.
The Leader of the Base personally received him, shook his hand, and awarded him a Badge symbolizing Healing Ability.
The Leader smiled kindly, “Congratulations on joining us. You are the eleventh Healing Ability user in the Base. Accepting this Badge means accepting a responsibility.
Healing Ability users are extremely rare, so you will also need to cooperate with the Research Institute for regular Ability check-ups. Remember, this is not only for the Base, but for all of humanity.”
Luo Jia Bai was flattered. He accepted the Badge and wore it close to his heart.
“Yes, Leader. This is what I should do.”
“Very good.” The Leader looked at him with appreciation, his eyes deep and unreadable. He emphasized, “With the full support of you Healing Ability users, we will eventually defeat the Zombies and welcome a day without the virus. Everything we do now is for a better future.”
Luo Jia Bai felt an invisible burden settle on his shoulders.
But when he saw the warm, pure white Healing Aura glowing in his palm, he nodded firmly.
“I will definitely cooperate. Humanity will eventually overcome everything.”
If not for his sudden awakening of Ability, he would not be who he was now.
Let alone everything he now possessed.
With great power comes great responsibility.
He was no longer the person he used to be.
–
After living in the Base for over a month, Luo Jia Bai felt a bit lightheaded with happiness.
He found this place truly wonderful.
Especially for the Healer Team, who were treated like national treasures.
They were given endless resources. He wore new clothes and lived in a larger room.
Since the apocalypse began, he had never slept in such a big, soft bed.
His status also rose accordingly.
He even became known as Doctor Luo, praised by everyone.
Every day, many people lined up at the Treatment Center waiting for his consultation. It was the first time he had ever been treated like a star, which made him cherish his Ability even more.
The infected all said:
“My Arm was bitten off by a Zombie. The same injury would take Other healers five visits to cure, and others would mutate during treatment and be expelled from the Base. But Doctor Luo cured me completely in one session! He’s a miracle worker!”
“Doctor Luo’s Ability is the strongest among the eleven. I only book his slot.”
“Both my legs were torn apart by Zombies. After Doctor Luo healed me, my legs grew back!! This has never happened before!”
The staff of the Research Institute monitored Luo Jia Bai’s data daily for a month, drawing a small tube of blood each time. After long-term observation, they reached an important conclusion:
He was not only a precious Healing Ability user.
His Healing Ability was even rated S Rating, possessing Secondary Regeneration.
Other healers could only use Healing Aura to treat civilians and soldiers bitten by Zombies, and had a daily usage limit. Overexertion would send them into shock.
But Luo Jia Bai was different.
He could use Healing Aura for extended periods, and the wounded tissues of those he healed would regain regenerative ability-severed limbs would regrow.
And his own body had never shown signs of exhaustion or shock.
He could not only heal others, but also heal himself.
Once this conclusion was released, Luo Jia Bai’s consultation slots became hotter than ever.
Scalpers took the opportunity to drive up prices, making same-day appointments so expensive that only Nobles and those with high military rank could afford them.
From morning till night, Luo Jia Bai met with infected patients, using Healing Aura so many times that he began to feel numb.
When he left the Treatment Center exhausted, a woman pulling a child stopped him.
The woman knelt before him on the spot.
“Mr. Luo, please, help check my child’s infection!”
The woman kowtowed desperately, her forehead hitting the steps until blood stained them.
Luo Jia Bai hurried to help her up. “What are you doing? Get up quickly!”
The woman cried, “He’s only six years old. He was just too naughty and accidentally ran out of the Base, that’s how he was bitten by a Zombie!”
Luo Jia Bai glanced at the time. It was already Early Morning, two o’clock.
The little boy stood silently to the side, hood up, head lowered, his expression hidden. Only his Arm trembled uncontrollably.
“I’ll check his condition first.” Luo Jia Bai couldn’t bear it and handed the woman a tissue to wipe her forehead.
Suddenly, the trembling boy erupted, letting out a beast-like roar from his throat and lunged at Luo Jia Bai, his sharp teeth sinking deep into Luo Jia Bai’s Arm.
Crimson blood stained the white uniform.
Luo Jia Bai’s head slammed hard against the steps, leaving him dizzy. He gasped, “He’s already… mutated, there’s no saving him. Quick, call the Guard Team!”
A wave of intense pain shot through his Arm, as if a chunk of flesh had been bitten off alive.
Luo Jia Bai passed out to the sound of a woman’s screams.
When he woke up again, he was lying on a bench in the Research Institute.
He struggled to sit up, but to his surprise, his limbs were strapped down.
A familiar staff member walked over to calm him. “Doctor Luo, don’t be nervous, it’s alright. The straps are just to keep you from falling off the bench while you rest. Now, we’re going to do a routine blood draw.”
Another staff member, wearing a mask, approached, holding a huge, arm-thick syringe.
“After you were attacked by a mutated Zombie last night, it ate your flesh, and by this morning, it miraculously recovered. We checked-the Zombie virus in its body has completely disappeared.”
“Doctor Luo, your blood and flesh actually have healing powers. That’s something we never imagined before.”
The two staff members stood on either side of him, plunging the syringe into his skin and pressing an idea into him:
“Your blood is of vital importance to all humanity. We need to draw more, so we can research a serum that can truly defeat the Zombie virus. We hope you’ll support our work.”
“Alright, go ahead,” Luo Jia Bai let out a heavy breath, repeating, “For all humanity.”
The arm-thick syringe quickly filled with blood.
–
Luo Jia Bai was never able to leave the Research Institute again.
Every day, he underwent routine blood draws, and the dizziness grew worse and worse.
Sometimes he couldn’t even tell whether his memories were from a single day or from several days blurred together.
Even the staff members’ voices began to sound distant.
“What’s the blood draw limit for today?”
“Increase to 2000cc, then he’ll faint.”
“What’s going on? It’s even less than yesterday.”
“His Healing Ability is starting to weaken. Will it eventually disappear…?”
“The Leader said, if there’s not enough blood, cut off flesh. He’ll heal anyway-these wounds mean nothing to him.”
“Isn’t that right, Luo Jia Bai?”
Luo Jia Bai nodded and said yes.
Flesh was sliced from his body, one cut after another. Again, he heard the Leader’s voice.
The Leader took his hand again, the voice coming from high above:
“Luo Jia Bai, you’re going to save the whole world in this apocalypse. You’ll be a great hero! When we develop the serum and the Zombie virus is cured once and for all, people will remember you forever!”
Luo Jia Bai stared blankly upward, his eyes lifeless.
He thought: At the beginning, was saving the world and being a hero really what I wanted?
Just before he lost consciousness, a Researcher shouted angrily into his ear.
“Since last month, his Healing Ability has gotten weaker and weaker. There were warning signs!”
“His Ability is gone! He’s useless now! Throw his Corpse outside the Base! Lately more people have awakened Healing Ability. Even though his rating was high, there are still others we can use for research.”
“Let the Nobles in the Base eat his flesh first.”
“We’ve stored enough of his blood already. It’ll last us until we’re in our coffins!”
“As for whether the next generation of humans lives or dies, that has nothing to do with us.”
–
On a day of torrential rain, Luo Jia Bai was secretly carried out the back door of the Base.
He was thrown into the muddy ground in the rain, staring at his battered Arm, the bone already showing through.
To gain something, only to lose it-
So this is what pain really feels like.
He was still just as weak, insignificant, and stripped of dignity as before.
The group who had transported him squatted greedily at his side, pulling out gleaming knives and scraping flesh off his bones. “Doctor Luo, your Ability hasn’t completely disappeared, has it? Let me have this last bit of flesh. Think of it as one last good deed before you die.”
Luo Jia Bai lay weakly in the mud, gasping as he said:
“No.”
“I won’t…”
“Whether you live or die-what’s that got to do with me?”
Lightning split the darkness, and a mechanical voice, out of place in this world, sounded in Luo Jia Bai’s ear.
[Hatred Value fluctuation detected.]
[Any wish you have, the Necromancer Game can fulfill. Please choose Yes/No to join the game.]
With great effort, Luo Jia Bai raised his hand and pressed “Yes.” He spat out blood and muttered:
“I don’t want to…”
“I don’t want to be the savior.”
“I want to live selfishly.”
Then his body began to shake violently.
Luo Jia Bai woke with a start, realizing he had actually fallen asleep in a corner of the Game Instance Hall.
Lu Li finally managed to shake him awake, tilting his head as he looked at him.
“You can’t sleep here.”
“Luckily, I was keeping watch, or the Players around you would have eaten you by now.”
Luo Jia Bai’s mind began to work again.
He remembered.
He had a new teammate now.
Lu Li was his new teammate.