The aircraft landed on the helipad of Raythean Medica.
Only after returning to Columbia did Lucas Reeve finally breathe a sigh of relief.
This body had no memories, so Lucas Reeve didn't know its specific origin. Lying in that sarcophagus, which resembled an experimental vessel, who knew if it was a subject of Chernobog's human experiments, and what kind of torture or experiments it had endured to become so weak.
Knowing that Lucas Reeve's new body was about to arrive.
Jessica had put aside her work early and was waiting on the landing pad.
When a strange figure walked out from under the aircraft, Jessica was stunned for a moment, then she trotted over, her big, cute eyes blinking, and asked tentatively.
"Mr. Reeve?"
"Mhm."
Lucas Reeve walked down and patted Jessica on the head.
"How is it?"
"What do you think of my new body?"
Lucas Reeve said with a smile.
Jessica looked him up and down.
"I feel... it's not as good-looking as Mr. Reeve's original appearance."
"Is that so?"
Lucas Reeve hadn't seen this body's face yet. He had Jessica steady it for a moment, then his soul left the body and looked it over.
This body's appearance could also be called quite handsome.
He looked to be in his twenties, but compared to Lucas Reeve's original body, he was much more mature. In short... it was usable.
After slipping back into the body, Lucas Reeve came down with Jessica and immediately rushed to Silence's lab to have her give the body a physical examination.
"Hmm...."
They performed X-rays, CT scans, blood tests, as well as skin tissue, hair, and muscle tissue analysis.
However.
After getting the test results.
Silence's eyebrows furrowed so much they looked like they were about to fly off her face.
"How is it?"
Jessica asked from the side.
"Um... Mr. Reeve, where did you get this body?"
Silence asked the floating Lucas Reeve.
"From Chernobog. Why?"
Silence explained in detail, "How should I put this... there are too many problems. All of the body's functions are far below the average level for a normal person, even worse than many races that are naturally weaker. Also, this body... I can't see any racial characteristics, you know? Different races of ordinary people all have different physical traits."
"For example, I'm a Liberi, so I have feathers. Miss Jessica is a Feline, so she has little ears on her head. Miss Shining is a Sarkaz, with horns on both sides. But there are no features on this one at all. It's completely bare, not resembling any known race."
"But..."
Jessica suddenly asked, "Mr. Reeve doesn't have any either."
"..."
Silence said no more.
Just then, Shining, who was waiting for other test results nearby, suddenly let out a small cry and hurried over, slapping the test report on the table.
"Miss Silence, Miss Jessica, Mr. Reeve, please look at this blood test report."
"The Originium content in this body's blood is zero!"
"Absolutely zero!"
This one report turned Silence to stone, freezing her on the spot.
Jessica wasn't a medical professional and didn't quite understand, so Liz explained from the side.
"Miss Jessica, on Terra, as long as you're a person, even a non-Infected, there will be trace amounts of Originium dust floating in your body. The principle of Oripathy is that external Originium pierces the bloodstream and activates the latent Originium dust, causing the disease. If a person's Originium content is zero, then this person..."
"It means he is one hundred percent immune to Oripathy. In other words, even if you inject Originium dust into his body or throw him into a place with extremely high radiation, there will be no effect at all."
At this point.
Liz's voice had changed.
Because the body lying here was simply... too outrageous.
If people outside found out, it would definitely cause a huge sensation, because this person's blood was a natural remedy for Oripathy!
The lab was silent.
Everyone now knew how precious this body was. Lucas Reeve also finally understood that... this thing was a treasure. He hadn't expected to stumble upon something so valuable.
"Mr. Reeve, may I draw some blood? I feel that this blood could be of significant help for the third generation of medication and even later generations."
"You may."
Seeing Lucas Reeve agree, Silence immediately drew 400cc and scurried away, clutching it like a precious treasure.
Lucas Reeve got up and stretched his weak body. He wondered who had left it there. Ursus?
Very likely!
Since it was in Chernobog, it must have been left there by Ursus.
Since it belonged to Ursus, Lucas Reeve had no psychological burden at all. In fact, he felt a little thrill. He wasn't on good terms with Ursus anyway, so what was wrong with stealing a treasure?
After showing off to Jessica.
Lucas Reeve then went for a stroll elsewhere, showing off his new body to Zumama and the High Priest.
Zumama's evaluation was that it was too weak...
The High Priest, on the other hand, flapped his wings and circled around Lucas Reeve nonstop, directly praising him for finding a treasure and asking where he found it, as he wanted to find one too.
After that, he went to the villa.
He showed it off to the little cuties, Surtr, and Nian.
Nian saw the mystery of this body at a glance. Her reaction was similar to the High Priest's, clicking her tongue, but that was all. There was no further reaction. After all, besides being special, it was just special. It wasn't strong, just pitifully weak. For Nian, a Divine Fragment, it wasn't of much interest.
Surtr, on the other hand, walked over and actually took the initiative to pull Lucas Reeve's sleeve, saying, "Come with me to buy ice cream."
"Uh... alright."
————————
"Dr. Kal'tsit, are we almost in Columbia?"
Inside Rhodes Island's own Land-runner, the adorable little bunny Amiya was leaning against the window, looking down.
"Yes."
Kal'tsit nodded.
Beside her hand was a case containing the key to their negotiations this time. Traveling with Kal'tsit, aside from Amiya, were Elite Operator ACE, Elite Operator Blaze, and Rhodes Island's head of blood services, the Vampire from Kazdel, Warfarin.
Sigh~
Kal'tsit had been staring at the tablet in her hand for a long, long time. She let out a heavy sigh.
"What's wrong, Kal'tsit?"
Miss Blaze, with her lively personality and fiery, sexy figure, strode right up to Kal'tsit.
"It's nothing."
Kal'tsit shook her head and said nothing.
But Warfarin didn't give her any face at all.
"Probably a tight budget again. Our Rhodes Island funds never seem to be normal."
Kal'tsit shot Warfarin a vicious, icy glare. Warfarin's face immediately changed, and she covered her mouth, terrified of becoming one of the decorations on the bridge's mast when they returned.
ACE was a strong, handsome uncle. He wore a standard Rhodes Island combat uniform and looked very professional, but his actual role at Rhodes Island was clerical. He knew about Rhodes Island's financial problems and said nothing.
Amiya also sighed.
"Or maybe... Dr. Kal'tsit, we could let the Doctor... if the Doctor were here...."
"Don't mention him!!"
At the mention of the name 'Doctor', the frost on Kal'tsit's face grew even colder.
Kal'tsit closed the tablet and said slowly, "Raythean Medica is a new pharmaceutical company in Columbia. They should be short on technology right now. Plus, they're backed by Raythean Industries and have plenty of capital. I will talk to their person-in-charge. If we can achieve a deep collaboration, Rhodes Island's financial problems might be solved."
"Oh...."
Warfarin said "oh" noncommittally, not taking it seriously at all.
About half an hour later, the capital Mobile City of Columbia was visible from the aircraft. After landing slowly on the Raythean Medica landing pad, a dedicated secretary was already waiting outside.
"Excuse me, are you the party from Rhodes Island?"
"Yes."
Kal'tsit nodded.
"Hello, President Jessica has been waiting in her office for some time. Please, follow me."
"Thank you."
The group from Rhodes Island walked through the corridors of the office building.
Blaze whispered to Warfarin in the back, "I heard from Closure that this president is very young, probably only around eighteen. Small and very cute."
"How did she become president at such a young age?"
"I heard she's the heiress to Raythean Industries. Heiress, you know? Super rich, swimming in money."
"Tsk tsk...."
The two whispered in the back. A cross-shaped vein was already throbbing on the forehead of Kal'tsit, who was walking at the front. She was already regretting bringing these two along.
After passing through the long corridor and taking an elevator, they finally stopped at the door of the president's office on the top floor.
Jessica's secretary knocked gently on the office door.
"President, I've brought the guests from Rhodes Island."
"Come in."
"Please~"
The secretary very politely pushed the door open for the Rhodes Island group, then carefully closed it behind them.
The Rhodes Island members walked in.
Kal'tsit was fine, as she had been here once before. But Blaze and Warfarin couldn't help but look around.
This president's office was a bit plain, wasn't it? There weren't many decorations, and it didn't look like a big boss's office, all decked out like a palace. It looked very simple. The sofa seemed to be of good quality, probably costing at least a few tens of thousands. The painting on the wall was very average; they couldn't even tell what it was. At a glance, you'd think it was bought online for a hundred bucks.
Simple!
Blaze judged in her heart.
And when she noticed the petite Feline girl in front of her, she couldn't help but click her tongue.
Indeed...
So tiny...
A rough estimate would put her at just over one meter fifty, no taller. She was probably a bit taller than Amiya, but Amiya was only twelve. This President was said to be eighteen or nineteen.
Jessica smiled and invited the Rhodes Island group to sit on the sofa, while she sat on the one opposite them. Since they were here to talk, and it might involve the medical field, Jessica had also asked Silence and Shining to come.
And Jessica noticed.
Kal'tsit's expression seemed a bit strange when she saw Shining.
Did they know each other?
The secretary came in and served tea to everyone present.
Jessica said slowly, "Could you please wait a moment? My important secretary hasn't arrived yet. He should be here any minute."
"It's no problem."
Kal'tsit nodded nonchalantly.
And just as Jessica finished speaking, the office door opened. A rather handsome man with a pale complexion appeared at the door. He nodded at Jessica, then sat down beside her.
"Sorry, something just came up."
Lucas Reeve casually made up a reason to cover up the fact that he was simply late.
After all, consciousness traveled between soul fragments with zero delay, which made Lucas Reeve temporarily forget that physical travel requires time.
"Um... then shall we..."
Just as Jessica was about to say something.
Suddenly.
She sensed that the atmosphere in the office was a bit off.
No...
Or rather.
The atmosphere on the Rhodes Island side was a bit off.
The vast majority of the people from Rhodes Island, upon seeing Lucas Reeve, looked as if their eyeballs were about to pop out of their sockets. This included Kal'tsit. She, who was always cold and seemingly indifferent to everything, showed such an outrageous expression for the first time.
"Doc... Doctor!!!"
Amiya couldn't hold it in and was the first to cry out.
Although the Doctor usually wore a mask, Kal'tsit, Amiya, and many of the older members had seen the face under his hood. The moment they saw Lucas Reeve walk in, everyone from Rhodes Island except Blaze completely lost their composure.
Lucas Reeve was stunned.
"Doctor?"
He pointed at himself.
"Are you talking about me?"
"No! No way! The Doctor should be sleeping in Chernobog! How is this possible!!"
The little bunny covered her mouth in disbelief, wanting to reach out and touch the Doctor before her, but afraid of being mistaken, or that he was just a lookalike.
"???"
At this moment.
Lucas Reeve was stunned, but he quickly reacted.
Chernobog... sleeping?
It couldn't be such a coincidence!!
Lucas Reeve's eyes widened as well. Could it be that this body wasn't placed there by Ursus, but by Rhodes Island?
Huff... huff....
Kal'tsit tried hard to calm herself down.
However.
The person before her looked so, so similar. He was practically identical to the face under the Doctor's hood in her memory.
But...
The Doctor should be in Chernobog, shouldn't he?
In the sarcophagus. He couldn't possibly wake up on his own unless she called for him. And even if the people of Ursus found him, shouldn't he have been kept in Ursus? How could he possibly be in Columbia, and... as Jessica's secretary?
Impossible!! Absolutely impossible!!