If you don't want treatment, get out! This doctor has a terrible temper.

Chapter 153 Physical Salvation and the Truth About "Seeds"

That punch was simple and unadorned, without any fancy special effects, only absolute power.

For the first time, an expression called "bewilderment" appeared on "Zero's" face, which was originally a work of art. It was a kind of blankness after the collapse of his worldview.

She was like a delicate porcelain doll being hit head-on by a heavy truck traveling at 120 mph; her whole body folded at an acute angle that completely defied the laws of physics, and she was sent flying backward.

"BOOM—!!!"

A loud bang, and dust flew everywhere.

She slammed hard into the pipe wall in the distance, her whole body embedded in the concrete wall like a sticker, with spiderweb-like cracks appearing all around her.

The entire underground space trembled violently, as if a small earthquake had occurred.

"How...is this possible?"

"Zero" slid down the wall with difficulty, like a broken doll.

The fluid flowing from the corner of his mouth was not blood, but a black, fishy-smelling mucus.

Her proud absolute defensive force field, composed of high-dimensional spiritual energy, was as fragile as a five-cent plastic bag in a supermarket, easily punctured, in the face of Guan Shan's pure and unreasonable physical attack.

The power of "Mighty Spinach" is so unreasonable, it can cure all sorts of fancy tricks.

"Monster! Where do you think you're going! Take this righteous iron fist from Old Guan!"

Guan Shan, his entire body glowing with an eerie green light, hummed the catchy but off-key Popeye theme song as he charged forward once again like the Hulk.

What followed was a one-sided, aesthetically unappealing... brutal and inhumane beating.

Or rather, it was a physical dimensional reduction attack targeting higher-dimensional beings.

Guan Shan grabbed "Zero's" slender ankle as if he were swinging a scallion or a human-shaped whip.

"Bang!" It slammed against the left wall.

"Bang!" It slammed into the pipe on the right.

"Bang!" It was finally slammed hard onto the sewage-covered ground.

Each impact shook the entire space, accompanied by the cracking sound of bones (if she had any) shattering.

Zhao Shihao hid behind Wang Minyu, covering his ears with his hands, staring at the scene before him that was comparable to a Godzilla vs. Kong, his mouth agape enough to fit an ostrich egg.

"Brother Wang... this is too brutal... but I like it!" Zhao Shihao swallowed hard, his eyes full of admiration. "Brother Guanshan... what brand of protein powder did he eat? Is there any more? I want to try some too!"

"Exclusive formula, the side effect is decreased intelligence, are you sure you want to take it?" Wang Minyu calmly took out a quick-acting heart pill from his pocket, fed himself one, and calmed down the surging blood in his body.

He had expended a lot of energy to withstand the mental shock, and his head was still throbbing with pain.

Zero was completely stunned and had no chance to fight back.

Her mental attack attempted to invade Guan Shan's brain again, only to find that Guan Shan, who was in "Popeye" mode, had only that endlessly looping background music in his mind and no logic whatsoever.

Mental attacks are ineffective, and physical defenses are breached.

Her physical body, which relies on the fungal carpet for energy, can regenerate quickly, but the speed of regeneration is far slower than the speed at which Guan Shan dismantles it.

"Stop...stop...don't hit me..."

"Zero" finally let out a weak plea for mercy, her voice trembling with sobs.

As a consciousness that has lived for hundreds of years, she has never suffered such injustice.

Guan Shan ignored her, grabbing her by the legs and suspending her upside down in the air. His bright green eyes glared like copper bells, and two puffs of white air billowed from his nostrils: "Are you still going to absorb people's yang energy? Huh?!"

"No... I won't smoke anymore... I'll never smoke again..."

"Are you still going to pretend to be a ghost? Are you still going to act as the mother?" Guan Shan shook the humanoid object in his hand.

"No... I'm not pretending anymore... I'm just a parasite, sob sob sob..."

"Call me Dad!" Guan Shan roared, his sense of justice overflowing.

"Dad... Dad..."

"..."

The entire room fell silent.

Wang Minyu watched this scene and felt that the style of the scene was starting to go in a strange direction.

He rubbed his temples, stepped forward, and stopped Guan Shan, who wanted to continue the "physical exorcism."

"Alright, big guy, if you keep hitting her, you'll really kill her. I still have questions for her." Wang Minyu patted Guan Shan's arm, which was as hard as granite.

Guan Shan then let out a reluctant hum and casually tossed "Zero" onto the ground like trash.

"Thump."

At this moment, "Zero" no longer resembled "Sleeping Beauty" at all. Her whole body was covered in black slime, her white dress had been turned into tattered rags hanging on her body, her hair was disheveled, and her face was bruised and swollen. She looked even more disheveled than the homeless people under the overpass in Changxiang City.

Wang Minyu squatted down, not bothered by the dirty water on the ground, but his eyes were frighteningly calm as he stared directly into her black eyes filled with fear.

"Now, we can have a proper talk." He took a cigarette out of his pocket, didn't light it, just twirled it between his fingers. "What... exactly are you? Or rather, what's behind you?"

"Number Zero" shrank back, his voice trembling: "You...who exactly are you? Ordinary doctors couldn't possibly have this kind of skill..."

"A kind-hearted barefoot doctor who was passing by and wanted to earn some money for medical expenses." Wang Minyu's answer almost made her vomit blood again.

"Get to the point. What is the 'seed'? Why did the 'S' organization create you?" Wang Minyu interrupted her rambling thoughts, his tone instantly turning icy. "My patience is limited, and Guan Shan's drug hasn't worn off yet. If you don't want to experience 'fatherly love as solid as a mountain' again, you'd better tell the truth."

Zero shuddered, glanced at Guan Shan who was still rubbing his hands together in anticipation, and his mental defenses completely collapsed.

"The seed...we didn't create it," she gasped, speaking haltingly. "It...it came from...the sky."

"From the sky?" Wang Minyu raised an eyebrow. "A meteorite? Or are you guys indulging in feudal superstition?"

"It's a meteorite... Hundreds of years ago, a meteorite fell on this land of Changxiang." Zero's eyes became empty, as if recalling a distant past. "The core of the meteorite is a 'seed.' It is neither a living thing nor a machine; it is a... pure information aggregate. It records all the knowledge and... obsessions of an ancient alien civilization that has already perished."

Wang Minyu's heart skipped a beat.

The cigarette between my fingers almost fell to the ground.

Good grief, I thought it was a biohazard, but it turns out to be the arrival of the Trisolarans?

"That civilization, in its excessive pursuit of spiritual evolution, abandoned the physical body, ultimately leading to the extinction of the race, leaving only pure consciousness energy sealed within the 'seed'."

"The founder of the 'S' organization, that madman... he accidentally discovered this 'seed'. He was lured by the vast knowledge within the 'seed', believing it to be the ultimate direction of human evolution—to transcend the physical body and achieve spiritual immortality. Thus, he founded the 'S' organization and began researching how to 'activate' the seed, how to allow that ancient civilization... to be 'reborn' in this world."

"And I..." A desolate smile appeared on "Number Zero's" swollen face. "I am the first 'perfect vessel' they found. I was originally an ordinary female student at Changxiang Normal University, but I became a vegetable after a car accident. They stole my body, soaked me in this pool full of filth and energy, and used 'seeds' to transform me, making me a 'port' connecting the 'seeds' and this world."

"They thought they were creating a god. In reality, they were just... trying to resurrect a dead, hungry soul."

Wang Minyu fell silent.

The truth was far greater than he had imagined, and also far more... tragic.

The so-called "gods" are nothing more than a group of homeless consciousnesses trying to take over someone else's home.

"And what about that 'symbiote'?"

"That's... my 'child,' or rather, my excrement." Zero's voice carried a hint of self-mockery. "It's a failed attempt by the 'seed' to replicate itself. It has no independent consciousness, only the instinct to devour. They placed it in the laboratory on the ground to collect data in preparation for my 'full awakening.'"

"So, you're not the real 'mother.' The real 'mother' is the 'seed.' You're just a pathetic wage slave," Wang Minyu concluded incisively.

"...You could say that."

"So, what trigger do you need to awaken?"

"We need... a sufficiently powerful 'mental coordinate'." "Zero" raised his head, his black eyes fixed on Wang Minyu, his gaze complex. "A brain capable of bearing the massive information flow of the 'seed' without collapsing. For example... you. Your mental strength is the most unique I've ever seen."

Wang Minyu's back instantly broke out in a cold sweat.

After all that, I'm the ultimate "sacrifice"? What kind of ridiculous "chosen one" story is this?

"So, what do you plan to do now?" Wang Minyu asked calmly, his eyes already calculating the pros and cons.

"I don't know." Zero shook its head, and specks of light began to appear on its body, like fireflies about to disappear. "My energy was scattered by your savage companion. My connection to the creep network was also severed. Without an energy supply, I, as a 'port,' have lost my value and will soon... dissipate."

Her body began to become translucent.

"Boss, she's going to die! Is she going to turn into a butterfly and fly away?" Zhao Shih-hao shouted from the side.

Wang Minyu looked at the soon-to-dissipate "Zero," and then at the "seed" that had been beaten to the point of near death by Guan Shan, but whose core was still faintly glowing, seemingly waiting for its next host.

A bold, crazy, and highly capitalist idea took shape in his mind.

"Perhaps... I can save you." Wang Minyu suddenly spoke, a smile that sent a chill down "Zero's" spine.

"Save me?" Zero froze, halting its dissipation. "Why? I'm a monster, an enemy who wants to kill you."

"Because you have value." Wang Minyu pointed to the "seed." "I can sever your connection with it, freeing you from the control of that 'ghost' and making you an independent... 'ghost.' I can let you live."

"What's the price?" Zero wasn't stupid; she knew there was no such thing as a free lunch, especially with this man in front of her, who seemed even more cunning than the devil.

"The price is..." Wang Minyu held up one finger, "to be my... 'network administrator'."

"Huh?" Zero thought he had misheard.

"You possess powerful mental strength. As a port for information aggregation, you can freely infiltrate any network world without physical barriers. You are a born hacker, the queen of data." Wang Minyu's eyes gleamed with the greedy light of a capitalist seeing top-tier free labor. "From now on, the intelligence work, cybersecurity, and even ticket-grabbing and order-brushing for Renxin Pharmacy will all be entrusted to you."

"You...you want to enslave me?"

"No, this is called 're-employment,' or 'technology-based equity investment,'" Wang Minyu corrected, his tone full of temptation. "Think about it, if you disappear now, you'll have nothing left. But if you work for me, I can promise to find you a new, clean body that truly belongs to you. I'll let you feel the sunlight, feel the wind, and even... eat a bowl of hot stinky tofu again."

"Start over... as a human being?"

These four words were like a heavy hammer blow, slamming into "Zero's" heart.

Sunlight, wind, and the smell of food... these were irresistible temptations for her, who had been imprisoned in darkness for hundreds of years.

Zero fell silent.

She looked at Wang Minyu, the man who seemed carefree but was actually unfathomable.

For the first time, she saw in a human being a depth of cunning and scheming far surpassing her own.

But she had no other choice.

"I... I promise you." In the end, she lowered her head and made her choice.

As long as she can survive, even working for this devil doesn't seem too bad... After all, compared to that "seed" that only wants to devour everything, this man who wants to exploit her labor at least has a little bit of... humanity.

And she didn't want to just disappear like that.

She also wanted to see just how this intriguing "barefoot doctor" could turn the world into something extraordinary.