Chapter 43 Doubt

Mu Baixing: "Want to see it?"

Mingyu fully mobilized his imagination, thought carefully, and shook his head again.

"Forget it," he said. "Black is already handsome enough! There's no need to spend all that money to dye it blonde!"

Mu Baixing stood beside the bed, his eyes moved slightly, but he didn't say anything.

"drop--"

The countdown for the infusion on the nearby medical robot's screen returned to zero. The robot then extended its mechanical arm and helped Mingyu remove the needle.

Mu Baixing: "Are you still feeling uncomfortable?"

Mingyu shook his head.

"I'm just a little tired." He shook his arms, which were a little stiff from maintaining the same posture, and jumped off the bed.

"I have another question for you," Mingyu asked. "You've only been physically active for a few days, and you've been putting so much mental strain on your body...are you feeling any discomfort? We're already at the medical center, do you want a mental health check?"

"No need." Mu Baixing refused bluntly.

"But Red Hair said you often vomit blood."

Mu Baixing: “…”

He frowned and repeated, "Hong Yi said? Often?"

The man's voice was cold. Mingyu couldn't help but mourn for Red Hair for three seconds in his heart.

"Not really." Mingyu helped Hongmao fool him. "Last time you were injured in the mining area, I spoke to Hongmao on the phone, and he told me that you had also had this at the Explorer Base..."

Mingyu: "That's too scary, Brother Mu..."

Mu Baixing shook his head.

"It's nothing serious," he said. "I've seen this before."

"How long ago was that? If it wasn't a big deal, was it a medium-sized thing? A small matter?" Mingyu chased after Mu Baixing and asked, "A checkup won't take much time. They're all at the clinic. And now mental health checks are so convenient! Look at this medical robot in the room. It can do self-service checks. Just swipe your card like this—just like that!"

"Ding--" The medical robot issued a prompt sound indicating that the payment was completed. The metal plate originally used as the top of the head popped open, revealing an examination helmet.

"Look! That's it!" Mingyu held out the helmet and looked at Mu Baixing eagerly, "I've already swiped the card, so we can start!"

Mu Baixing: “…”

He sighed inaudibly, closed the open door again, and sat back in the chair under Mingyu's gaze.

Mingyu put the helmet on his head: "Brother Mu, relax——"

"drop--"

A light screen popped up, the data at the top constantly changing. A mental scan chart appeared, the color of the indicator representing the mental health status shifting for a moment before finally appearing in a pale green that was almost yellow.

"The mental domain is basically healthy, but the fatigue level is high. It is recommended that you reduce the intensity of your mental power..."

Ming Yu had just breathed a sigh of relief when a glaring red warning appeared on the screen.

"Part of the mental domain has been detected to be in a necrotic state..."

Mingyu: “!!!”

A dark gray area appeared around the light green mental domain scan image. As the scanning time prolonged, the area became wider and larger, and the outer edge of the area transitioned from gray to black. The final area was much larger than the light green area.

Mingyu: “…”

The size of the spirit realm is not fixed.

Generally speaking, the larger the area of ​​the spiritual domain, the more energy that can be mobilized and the higher the level of spiritual power.

Mingyu: "Brother Mu..."

"I've dropped a level." Mu Baixing took off his helmet.

Mingyu's thoughts didn't turn to this direction at all for a moment. He just asked softly, "Does it still hurt? ...Does it hurt from time to time?"

When using mental power, the energy will sometimes penetrate into the necrotic area, and then lose control and release disordered and chaotic mental power flow outward, which will impact human organs in severe cases.

"Let's have another physical examination." Mingyu swiped the card again, pulled out various testing instruments from the medical robot, lifted up Mu Baixing's clothes and was about to stick the patch on him.

Mu Baixing tried to stop him, but when he saw Mingyu's tense expression, he subconsciously relaxed the strength on his wrist. While he was hesitating, his clothes were lifted up and he was touched a few times by the designer's fingertips.

Mu Baixing: “…”

Mu Baixing's back tensed, his Adam's apple slid, and he pursed his lips.

The muscles on his body were well-defined yet not exaggerated, a level that would normally make Mingyu's mind explode with excitement. However, Mingyu had no time to pay attention to the beauty at the moment. He found the right spot to apply the patch, then turned his head and stared at the screen.

Fortunately, Mu Baixing's organs were still healthy, but several special reminders of overwork and trace element deficiency appeared on the light screen. Mingyu transferred the nutritional medicines recommended by the medical robot into his communication bracelet one by one.

Mu Baixing: “…”

"There are limited treatments for mental damage. There are only one or two recovery products that sell for exorbitant prices. Most people can't afford them..." Mingyu also sent a copy to Mu Baixing. "Even if you have strong self-healing abilities, repeated organ damage is not a good thing. You need to replenish what you need..." He paused, "Don't just send me supplementary nutrients."

Although he had sent Mu Boxing a list of supplements, he felt he probably wouldn't follow it. So he decided to follow the list he had saved and send him a copy, just like Mu Boxing had sent him the supplements.

In order to avoid being rejected, Mingyu had already decided to ask Hongmao for the address of their exploration team's base.

Mu Baixing didn't know what Mingyu was thinking.

"You're different." He took off the patch, stood up, pulled up his clothes, and relaxed his body.

However, the places on his waist, abdomen and chest that were touched still felt hot, as if Mingyu's body temperature and touch were still there.

Mingyu: “…”

Mingyu came to his senses when he saw his actions. He twisted his fingers and his cheeks turned slightly red.

In order to find the location of the patch, he just touched Mu Baixing back and forth several times!

That feel...

...The touch is simply perfect! So perfect that... one would want to touch it a few more times.

The expression on his face was so difficult to conceal that Mu Baixing almost laughed out of anger when he took a look at him.

"What are you thinking about?" Mu Baixing walked past him, opened the door, and said unhappily, "Shut up."

Mingyu blushed and nodded repeatedly: "Oh oh oh... OK... Okay... So, Brother Mu, how did you practice?"

"Combat practice."

"I'm also practicing fighting!" Mingyu followed him out of the clinic, turned around and pinched his arm, "Mine is just a little bit off, hey, brother Mu, let me pinch yours to compare——"

His outstretched hand was blocked by Mu Baixing and failed to succeed.

Mingyu walked beside Mu Baixing, still scheming, "Just for a moment, hey, it was just your arm—I didn't mean to touch you there…"

Mu Baixing: “…”

Mu Baixing didn't know where that was, nor did he want to know. He just felt a headache. He took a few quick steps, relying on his height and long legs, and left the designer behind.

"Hey, Brother Mu! Don't walk so fast! I have something else to ask you...an important matter!" Mingyu caught up with him in two steps.

"Your mental power has transformed into many forms." His face was still slightly red, but he got down to business. "My mental power plasticity is S, but I don't know how to use it. It's not mentioned in your experience summary."

"Brother Mu, can you teach me?"

Mu Baixing slowed down his pace, tilted his head to glance at him, and after a while, he said concisely, "Depend on imagination and practice."

Mingyu: “…”

"Concrete the things in your mind, and temporarily focus your mental control on transformation rather than extension." He looked at the designer, who nodded in understanding, then paused for a moment before saying, "Mingyu."

Mu Baixing changed the subject: "Do you know what 'devour' means?"

Mingyu nodded, then shook his head.

"It's not mentioned in the encyclopedia," he said honestly.

While humans already have a set of methods for basic mental power training, due to the highly individual nature of mental power, a comprehensive system of research on it has yet to be established. Relevant books are numerous and diverse, and Mingyu, due to his low mental power level, had previously not paid much attention to it. He only read the most extensive mental power encyclopedia and had never taken a mental power cognition course.

After returning from the mining area, he had to design a starship and attend courses in the fighting club. Although he had already started basic mental training, he did not have time to make up for more relevant knowledge.

Ming Yu: "Like you said, it can absorb any form of energy?"

"However, when your spiritual realm absorbs energy, there is also the risk of being 'assimilated' by the other party's energy."

"It's like when you absorbed the black tide's energy, you had the illusion that you were being devoured by it."

Mingyu nodded.

Mu Baixing looked at him.

"Many people have sought this ability before." He spoke in a deep voice, carefully explaining what he knew to Mingyu. "The conditions for developing 'devouring' are demanding. Unless one's spirit is naturally extremely thirsty for energy, it can only be acquired through acquired stimulation."

"Using drugs to hinder the awakening of the spiritual realm, suppressing and delaying the awakening of the spiritual realm. When the spiritual power awakens, due to the lack of necessary nutrition and energy, an extreme thirst for energy will erupt."

"The consequence of failing to obtain it by force can only be death due to the instantaneous explosion of energy."

"Even if someone awakens naturally, the survival rate is less than one percent. And it's expected that the higher the awakening level, the more likely they are to fail."

Mingyu widened his eyes slightly.

"Out of a hundred people who forcibly obtain 'Devour', only about one will survive."

"There hasn't been a single instance of an A-level spiritual force with the ability to devour in the past hundred years."

Mingyu: “…”

Mingyu's fingers tightened slightly.

His mental power awakened because one day he had a sudden idea and used the energy stone his parents prepared for his younger brother Mingzhuo without authorization, wanting to see if he still had the possibility of awakening his mental power.

He couldn't help but focus on the possibility of forced awakening that Mu Baixing mentioned.

Mingyu shuddered.

He pursed his lips to calm himself down and asked, "The spirit realm naturally craves energy... Can we tell through an examination?"

Mu Baixing: "Difficult."

Mingyu: “…”

He didn't know whether he breathed a sigh of relief or a sigh of relief.

"What about the residual medicine?" Mingyu asked again, "Can it be detected if drugs are used to hinder the awakening of spiritual power?"

Mu Baixing frowned: "It's difficult."

Mingyu: “…”

Mingyu's eyes went dark, and he suddenly found himself in a dark maze.

He began to recall the details of his interactions with his parents frame by frame. After thinking for a long time, he could not find any clues other than that his parents were dissatisfied with him because he could not awaken his spiritual power.

Mingyu unconsciously showed a confused expression.

The conclusion of choosing one of the two options seems to be that it is more logical to naturally awaken the devouring ability. But what if...

Do my parents want to hinder the awakening of my spiritual power?

Mu Baixing knew nothing about Mingyu's growing environment and it was difficult for him to help the designer make a judgment.

He was silent for a moment, then continued, "Whether acquired naturally or by force, a spirit realm with the 'devouring' ability requires more nourishment than an ordinary awakener. If the nutrients aren't replenished properly, the spirit realm is at risk of atrophy and death."

Mingyu was distracted by his years of interaction with his parents, and only uttered a few words in response to Mu Baixing's narration.

Mu Baixing: "Mingyu."

"Take the nutritional supplements I gave you and get some rest." He stood under a roadside tree, its shade falling on his shoulders. The man's black hair ruffled in the breeze as he lowered his head slightly to look at Mingyu. His dark, emerald eyes reflected the virtual sunlight set by the StarNet system, his expression calm.

"This is at least as important as how you acquired the devouring ability." Mu Baixing said.

"If you need my help in any way, just ask."

"But whatever the past, the future is bright."

The man's voice was always cold, with a convincing intensity, as if what he said would definitely come true.

Mingyu came back to his senses and looked at the other person.

"Okay." Mingyu agreed, and after holding it in for a while, he gave up and whispered, "But it's a bit rustic, Brother Mu... It's like the speeches given by leaders at mobilization meetings decades ago."

Mu Baixing: “…”

Mu Baixing snorted and laughed.

"Go offline." He said helplessly, "Rest."

Mingyu heard the indulgence in his tone and couldn't help laughing.

His mood slowly became relaxed again.

Mingyu was very happy that he met Mu Baixing at the Star Navigation Competition.

This was probably the first real friend he had made in his twenty years of life, even though he was just an online friend.

But it seems to symbolize the beginning of a new life.

Just like Mu Baixing said, no matter what the past was like, in the future... he would leave the Ming family.

After the second match, his StarNet account had a bonus. While not huge, it was a tangible increase in assets. Furthermore, he'd been spending every day in the library lately, gaining new insights into starship design and planning to take on some custom designs.

The only problem that lies ahead for him seems to be the Ming family's monthly mental power testing.

Ming Yu originally didn't want the Ming family to know that his spiritual power had awakened. Now, a seed of doubt about the specialness of his spiritual power was planted in his heart, and he was even more determined not to let the Ming family know about this.

There is still more than half a month before the next test, and he will have to find an excuse to get away with it.

Maybe you can ask Mulan.

Mingyu wondered if there was any way to hide his mental fluctuations so they wouldn't be detected by the detector. However, if he did, there might be one more person who knew he was participating in the Star Navigation Competition.

The designer was a little conflicted, but since he didn't have to make a decision for the time being, he put the matter aside and decided to listen to Mu Baixing's instructions and take a rest.

The previous game really made him very tired. Although he had just woken up, he felt a little sleepy again.

Mingyu then waved to Mu Baixing: "You should also pay attention to rest, Brother Mu!"

Mu Baixing nodded and watched the young man's virtual image disappear in front of him.

As if the sun had set, a hint of coldness once again filled his eyes.

After a moment, Mu Baixing leaned back against the tree trunk behind him, pressed his temples with his fingers, and opened the Star Network search box.

"X7 Star Ocean Accident." Slender fingers tapped out characters one by one. "List of casualties."

The man frowned, opened the list of names published in the accident decades ago, clicked the search function, and wrote down his name.

The light screen slid downwards and instantly located the key words he wanted to see.

It was a brief introduction of a few sentences, just like the other victims.

"Mu Baixing, captain of the first squadron of the first fleet in the Northern Star Region."

"Rank: Second Lieutenant."

"Age of sacrifice: twenty-one."