Chapter 734: Secrets Beneath the Skullcap

“Third Brother, please don’t do this, you’re scaring me.”

After being stuck in the CT scanner for over half an hour, Xia Qing’s head was covered with neural interface patches. Her eyes were covered, while her idol tested her with more than a dozen aggressive Devastation-evolved plants, a couple of Evolution plants, a Devastation Snake, and some animal she couldn’t even identify—for two straight hours. Xia Qing thought she might throw up.

When she was finally allowed to take off the blindfold, she noticed her idol staring at her in a way that sent a chill down her spine.

It was… almost like he wanted to crack open her skull just to see what was inside her brain.

If the person in front of her weren’t her universally adored top-tier idol, Xia Qing would’ve drawn the Black Blade and gone for his head right then.

“Hmph.”

With a cold snort, Zhang San sat back down at his desk and pored over the neural signal data decoded from Xia Qing’s interface patches.

The more he read, the more Zhang San’s eyes lit up, a smile tugging at his lips—until he caught himself and put on a serious face again. “Xia Qing.”

“I’m here, Third Brother—what is it?”

“Other than me, Yang Jin, and Xin Yu, does anyone else know you’re a Magnetic Sense Evolved fighter?”

Xia Qing answered right away, “No one else. Third Brother, you’re such a sharp Brain Evolver. You figured out that Xin Yu and Yang Jin know about my ability in no time.”

Zhang San shot her a look. “Yang Jin went on the Devastation Snake tracking mission with you. Xin Yu was with you for the aggressive Wild Tung search. Anyone with half a brain would figure it out. Of course, folks who don’t know you’re a Magnetic Sense Evolved fighter wouldn’t make the connection.”

Xia Qing replied, “There really isn’t anyone else. I told Yang Jin about my Magnetic Sense Evolution Ability, but not even Luo or Xie Yu know. Xin Yu definitely wouldn’t spill it either. Third Brother, is there something wrong with my ability?”

When it came to business, Zhang San grew even more serious. “Over the past six months, researchers at home and abroad have tested confirmed Magnetic Sense Evolved fighters in detail and split their abilities into four major categories: sensing fluctuations in animals, plants, Devastation Elements, and Evolution Elements.”

Xia Qing immediately understood where she fit in. “I can sense both Devastation and Evolution Elements.”

“Right.” Zhang San nodded, his expression stern. “All published data so far says Magnetic Sense Evolved fighters can only sense one category. Of course, it’s possible some reports intentionally left out data on rare talents, but people like you are few and far between.”

Xia Qing…

……

……

!!!

No wonder her idol was so excited earlier, like he wanted to dissect her brain on the spot!

A wave of dread swept over Xia Qing. She pressed her palms together, begging, “Third Brother, you have to keep this a secret for me.”

Now that she knew how unique her ability really was, shouldn’t she have been pumped before feeling afraid? It was like she didn’t have a drop of strong Evolved fighter’s blood in her.

Zhang San gave her a sideways look. “You’re in the P3 Lab. No data about your abilities is ever leaving here.”

Half of Xia Qing’s tension melted away in an instant. “Yang Jin and Xin Yu only know I can sense aggressive Devastation-evolved plants and Devastation Snakes—not that I can sense Evolution plants too.”

She’d have to remind Yuan Yan about this as well.

Zhang San approved of Xia Qing’s caution. He gave a dismissive snort and went back to analyzing her neural responses to different types of animals and plants.

Advanced Brain Evolvers absorb knowledge and research data at lightning speed. In just a few minutes, Zhang San finished reading. “From these tests, your sensitivity to plants rich in Devastation Elements is quite sharp. That’s a handy skill for anyone looking to farm.”

“Exactly! Super useful!” Xia Qing nodded eagerly. “So, what level is my Magnetic Sense, Third Brother?”

Zhang San tossed the report in the shredder, reducing it to confetti. “There’s no national grading standard for Magnetic Sense yet. Based on what we know, your Devastation Element sensitivity is mid-level, while your Evolution Element detection is a bit weaker.”

Then, with genuine kindness, Zhang San advised, “Evolution plants have huge medicinal value. If you detect any in the Evolved Forest, collect some samples. Also, my walnut trees grown from Green Lantern walnuts aren’t doing so well—must be missing an element from Hill Sixty’s soil. If you get a chance to go back there, bring two tubes of soil from around the walnut trees.”

Xia Qing agreed without hesitation, “Sure. The wolf pack’s due for deworming next month anyway. Give me two hundred Antiparasitic Pills, Third Brother, and I’ll swing by before the Devastation element peak.”

Two hundred? Are you robbing me? Zhang San shot Xia Qing an exasperated glare.

Xia Qing grinned sheepishly. “Besides the Northern Wolf Pack, the Yellow Weasel, Red Squirrel, Honey Badger, Rabbits, and Western Wolf Pack all need them too, so I need a bunch. How many credits will that be?”

If her chickens hadn’t already been vaccinated, Xia Qing probably would’ve bartered for even more pills.

Zhang San…

What are you, running a zoo?!

After handing Xia Qing two bags of pills, Zhang San switched topics. “The new medicine for eliminating super and advanced Evolved Aspergillus—Antifungal No. 3—has already passed the national drug authority’s review. It’s cleared for production. How’s the pharmaceutical factory coming along?”

Before the calamity, it took at least half a year to get a new drug approved. But with the speed at which microbes are evolving these days, drug reviews accelerated too.

As one of the leading developers of formulas nationwide, Zhang San got priority review for any new medicine he created. It took less than a month for the drug authority to confirm its effectiveness and side effects were acceptable, then they issued the license.

Xia Qing answered right away, “The factory was finished ten days ago. Now we have inspectors from the Hui One Drug Authority here for acceptance testing. They’re nitpicking every possible detail, saying this doesn’t meet code or that isn’t compliant—trying not to grant our certificate. But Zhou Zhaoping says they can’t really stall us, and we’ll have our production license in three days. Once we have it, we’ll start rolling out medicine immediately.”

By regulation, Hui Three Pharmaceutical must have a manufacturing license from the Hui One Drug Authority before officially starting operations.

Hui One doesn’t want to approve us because once the Hui Three plant starts up, it’ll become Hui One’s biggest competitor.

But the factory was built strictly to national standards, so whether they like it or not, Hui One will have to give us that license.

What’s more, Hui Three Pharmaceutical isn’t just ahead in equipment—the management team is all set too.

The board of directors includes Zhou Zhaoping of the Alliance, Xie Yu from the Azure Dragon Squad, and Deputy Dean Yu Jinghong of the Hui Three Research Institute. Zhou serves as chairman, Xie Yu as chief financial officer, and Yu as chief technical officer.

The general manager is Shao Xin, formerly the workshop director at Hui One Pharmaceutical. Yang Jin personally headhunted her from there.

Since there were concerns Shao Xin might be a Hui One plant, her interview was held in Section One, Territory Eight up north, with Xia Qing and Xin Yu eavesdropping from the next room.

Xie Yu, a Brain Evolver in the outer room, handled observation duties, while Xin Yu used Magnetic Sense inside. Both confirmed Shao Xin was genuine—she wanted to put down roots at Hui Three and build her career.

To probe her stance on Hui One’s elite team—Fire Phoenix—the board asked her to assess the production challenges of their two latest drugs.

The moment Shao Xin mentioned Fire Phoenix and Dan Ying, her hatred peaked during the entire interview.

Xia Qing later learned from Xie Yu that Shao Xin lost her left eye to an Evolved Insect bite in the second year of the calamity. The burns on her face and half a missing right palm were the result of an “accident” at Hui One Pharmaceutical in year seven.

That accident happened not long after she refused to join the Fire Phoenix formulation team. Afterward, she was demoted from deputy director to workshop manager, struggling just to get by.

Even an ordinary person, after going through all that, would usually show fear, not hatred. Yet after three years of hard work, all Shao Xin felt when it came to Fire Phoenix and Dan Ying was pure spite. Xia Qing couldn’t help but admire her.

Shao Xin was definitely a tough one. No wonder busybody Yang Jin went to the trouble to poach her from Hui One.