Chapter 116: Medicine Man

"That's the situation, and then I was sent to deliver the message."

Gao Yuan detailed the origins of Xinghe as well as the Serpent People, revealing everything he knew because he feared that if any problems arose, there might be no chance to speak of these matters.

When there was time and opportunity, he didn't mention it, but he would refuse to be in a situation where he couldn't share important information when it mattered most. Such foolish scenarios would not happen to Gao Yuan.

After listening to Gao Yuan's account, the general had been sitting in a chair, but by the time Gao Yuan finished, the general had already stood up.

The general stood up, and all seven people in the meeting room stood up as well.

"You're saying, an alien named Xinghe has come to help us?"

"Yes."

"And you've undergone a mutation, possessing great strength and incredible speed?"

"Yes."

"Prove it to me."

Gao Yuan looked around. He was still in a cave, which was not very big, unsuitable for displaying speed or showing off strength.

In post-apocalyptic times where resources were scarce, wasting was not a good habit. Gao Yuan didn't want to demonstrate his power by destroying something,

Looking up, Gao Yuan found a suitable method. He jumped up, reaching out to touch the five-meter-high ceiling.

"Does this suffice?"

The general took in a sharp breath, then nodded, "Yes!"

The general walked up to Gao Yuan and extended his hand. "Let me introduce myself. My name is Xu Manzhi, Major General, commander of the 12th Division Base. This is the command team of Base No. 12. I want to thank you for bringing the good news."

Gao Yuan shook hands with Xu Manzhi.

In his haste to convey the situation as quickly as possible, Gao Yuan hadn't even mentioned his own name.

"My name is Gao Yuan, sir. We should hurry and bring back Xinghe and the others. Also, you need to take some of my blood. Xinghe said my blood is needed to develop a vaccine capable of resisting the strong virus."

Xu Manzhi turned and ordered, "Have the base hospital send someone to take a blood sample. Tell the person in charge at the hospital that this is a top-secret mission and to send the most reliable person."

After speaking, Xu Manzhi sighed, "The operation to meet with Xinghe should not be conspicuous. We cannot deploy mechanized troops nor can we send a large number of personnel, yet we must ensure Xinghe's safety. We will now hold a military meeting to develop a plan. You must understand the importance of this task. If anyone has any ideas or concerns, they must be brought up. We need a foolproof plan."

"Report, this task should definitely be assigned to our special forces. Sir, we currently lack understanding of aliens. I'm concerned that if we send too many people, it may catch the attention of the aliens. My suggestion is about a hundred people, equipped with melee weapons, departing after dark. Everyone should travel light and move as quickly as possible to Xinghe's location and then escort Xinghe back."

Gao Yuan raised his hand; he was unsure how to interject since the lowest rank among those present was a colonel.

Seeing Gao Yuan raise his hand, Xu Manzhi asked, "Comrade Gao Yuan, do you have something to say? Go ahead."

"On my way here, I observed that the area where they are hiding has many zombies, but zombies are easy to lure away. I can go back with the response team, and it shouldn't be too difficult to bring Xinghe back."

After finishing speaking, Gao Yuan summoned his courage and said, "That's all I have to say for now… May I go eat first? I get hungry very easily, and I am indeed very hungry right now."

Xu Manzhi immediately said, "Oh dear, my apologies for not asking if you were hungry. Here's what we'll do, you…"

An officer stood up and said, "I'll arrange for the canteen to start cooking immediately, Comrade Xiao Gao, please wait a moment."

Gao Yuan exclaimed anxiously, "I eat a lot, you'll need to tell them to prepare more."

Xu Manzhi laughed, "Are you afraid you won't be full? Let Xiao Gao eat in the senior officers' canteen and tell them to prepare extra, unlimited supply. Xiao Gao, the more you eat, the happier we are."

Gao Yuan smiled awkwardly, thinking that he probably was the only one who could bring up needing to eat during a military strategic meeting.

Just then, Xu Manzhi's orderly came in, saluting, "Chief, the people sent from the hospital have arrived. Where would be suitable for drawing blood?"

Xu Manzhi stood up again, "Right here, let them come in."

A male and a female doctor, both in white coats and wearing masks, entered pushing a trolley loaded with all the necessities for blood collection.

Xu Manzhi nodded to the two doctors, "You are doctors from the military, so you should know what a top-secret mission means. First, collect the blood samples. After collecting, make sure to store the samples strictly according to requirements. Then you'll need to be isolated temporarily. Someone will arrange your subsequent work and living arrangements. Okay, let's start now."

Gao Yuan willingly rolled up his sleeve, and the female doctor, holding a very small test tube, the size of a pinky finger, approached Gao Yuan.

"We need to collect three blood samples."

The female doctor said softly to Gao Yuan, disinfected the area, and then attempted to insert a thin needle into Gao Yuan's vein.

The needle bent.

The female doctor paused briefly, switched to a thicker and longer needle, and tried again, but the needle bent once more.

Clearly having never encountered such a situation before, the female doctor looked at her colleague with a sense of panic.

"Use the largest one!"

The female doctor took out the biggest needle, but as she was not paying close attention, the needle bent halfway through as well.

Such incidents were incredibly rare, but the female doctor didn't dare to ask why, because this was a top-secret mission.

The male doctor, feeling somewhat uneasy, said, "Let me try..."

Xu Manzhi frowned as he watched, but soon whispered to someone close by, "The skin strength is too high, the needles can't even penetrate. This mutation effect is too strong."

The male doctor took up the needle, took a deep breath, and thrust it suddenly; the needle finally entered the vein. He let out a sigh of relief and loosed the rubber band tied around Gao Yuan's arm.

As the blood flowed into the test tube, Gao Yuan looked to see that it was still red, which made him let out a sigh of relief as well.

Gao Yuan had thought they would collect a lot of blood samples, but it ended with the three test tubes not even full, and he couldn't help but say, "Is this enough?"

"It's enough, uh, usually it would definitely be enough."

Even now the doctors didn't know what the blood sample collection was for. Xu Manzhi thought for a moment and said, "Comrade Xiao Gao, we'll need to trouble you a bit more to collect some extra samples. They might need to be sent to many places, and there might really not be enough to go around."

Afterward, Xu Manzhi asked the two doctors, "If it's for scientific research purposes, how much blood would you need without affecting his health and high-intensity activities?"

The two doctors exchanged looks, and the male doctor said, "Then let's draw two hundred milliliters, that should definitely be enough."

The test tubes were swapped for a blood bag, and two hundred milliliters of Gao Yuan's blood were drawn. Whether it was psychological or real, he felt even hungrier after the blood was taken.