Chapter 45: National Attention

Due to Shi Chan’s display of spatial storage, turmoil brewed outside.

The “alien” who was being heavily guarded in Qingye showed an excited expression upon hearing the news.

But all of this was far from Shi Chan and Xi Ming.

That day, the two were escorted directly to a hospital and placed in a private, spacious room. Armed soldiers were immediately stationed at the door, taking turns to guard it.

Meanwhile, Wu Hongyuan, who was the first to discover Shi Chan and Xi Ming and had now made another significant contribution, was temporarily transferred from the rescue station. He was given the special assignment of handling diplomatic matters with the “alien.”

Anything related to Shi Chan was now classified, and not just anyone could be involved.

The hospital room was a two-person suite. Xi Ming and Shi Chan each occupied a bed, and in front of them was a television placed on a high table, playing a language-learning video for them to study.

Although Shi Chan had spent a few days learning from textbooks, it was far from systematic. He had only been able to guess meanings based on vocabulary. With the video, he could now integrate the language better.

Xi Ming, despite being unable to see, listened attentively and relied on Shi Chan’s explanations, rapidly picking up the new language.

Here, Shi Chan finally felt like he was truly recovering—he had food, water, a quiet environment, and doctors who came three times a day to check on them and change their bandages.

The only thing that troubled Shi Chan was that no matter what he said, Xi Ming refused to let him use spiritual power for healing. Xi Ming insisted that Shi Chan should heal himself first before treating him.

Shi Chan had no choice but to focus all his spiritual power on his own recovery, hoping to restore more energy as soon as possible so that he could later heal Xi Ming.

Since he was already considered an “alien,” Shi Chan decided to use his spiritual power openly for external injuries. As a result, his wounds healed at an astonishing speed.

In just four days, except for the scars on his face, all his wounds had completely healed, with new skin growing over them. The only issue remaining was the internal injuries caused by traveling through the wormhole.

However, internal injuries couldn’t be detected with the medical equipment available here. Even in the Empire, it was difficult to diagnose such injuries, as they were related to cultivation.

Shi Chan no longer had to lie in bed waiting for treatment. The resilience of a cultivator’s body was once again evident.

In contrast, Xi Ming’s condition was worsening.

Xi Ming’s wounds were caused by radiation, making them extremely difficult to heal. The explosion before their wormhole travel had nearly destroyed his body’s regenerative ability.

Although medication temporarily closed the wounds, even a small movement or turn would cause them to reopen. Despite days of treatment and countless bandage changes, his overall condition remained unimproved.

Shi Chan knew that medication alone was no longer enough. A combination of medicine and spiritual power was necessary to see even a slight improvement.

But Xi Ming didn’t care about his own pain or injuries. As long as he knew Shi Chan was getting better, that was enough for him.

“Time to change the bandages,” a doctor entered the room, pushing a cart full of medicine and tools. He looked at Shi Chan like he was witnessing a miracle.

“Doctor, let me handle it,” Shi Chan said as he took the cart and thanked the doctor. “You’ve worked hard.”

Shi Chan no longer needed bandage changes, but Xi Ming did. Even though the treatments weren’t very effective, keeping the wounds clean was still necessary.

However, Shi Chan didn’t trust anyone else to treat Xi Ming, so from the very first day, he had insisted on personally changing Xi Ming’s bandages, despite his own injuries and the doctor’s objections.

On the other hand, when it came to Shi Chan’s own wounds, neither he nor Xi Ming paid much attention to his omega status—it was simply handled by the medical staff.

Xi Ming’s growing possessiveness didn’t flare up in this instance. Seeing Shi Chan’s body covered in wounds, he only felt heartache and blamed himself for his helplessness.

After a simple checkup for both of them, the doctor left, and Shi Chan began changing Xi Ming’s bandages.

Throughout the process, Xi Ming remained silent, only listening and following the faint silhouette of Shi Chan with his eyes.

“All done.” Shi Chan packed up the used materials and pushed the cart to the door, where someone would soon come to collect it.

As soon as Shi Chan finished, Wu Hongyuan, who had been waiting at the door, quickly approached. “Shi Chan, do you have a moment?”

“I do, come in,” Shi Chan glanced at Wu Hongyuan. They had been peacefully recovering here for almost a week, and they had learned most of the new language. It was time for negotiations.

As expected, Wu Hongyuan brought up exactly that.

“…Although we reached a preliminary agreement before, we still need to discuss some details.” Wu Hongyuan spoke a little nervously. “Your… mecha and spatial storage ability, we…”

“You won’t be able to replicate them,” Shi Chan handed Wu Hongyuan a glass of water.

“Thank you.” Wu Hongyuan took a sip but was too preoccupied with his thoughts to focus on the drink. He rubbed the edge of the glass anxiously. “Why not? We just need some information to start researching from the basics.”

Wu Hongyuan had great faith in his country’s scientists.

Shi Chan didn’t hide anything. “Do you know how many planets’ worth of high-grade materials were needed to build that mecha? Your planet hasn’t even developed space travel yet. To be blunt, even if you emptied this entire planet, you might not have enough resources to build half of a high-grade mecha. As for spatial storage, that technology isn’t even public in my empire, and I don’t know the principles behind it. You definitely won’t be able to figure it out.”

Hearing terms like “space travel” and “spatial storage,” which were far beyond their current technological level, Wu Hongyuan’s breathing became heavier. But he forced himself to stay rational. “We don’t expect to build an advanced mecha, but we’d like to study the technology inside it. Even if we use different materials and apply it in other areas, it would still be a huge breakthrough.”

Wu Hongyuan wasn’t expecting to manufacture a mecha—he was more interested in adapting some of its technology for their military. Even a slight advancement could increase their soldiers’ survival rate in conflicts.

Qingye had developed rapidly in the past two years, thanks to the help of that “alien.” Their growing strength was starting to pose a threat to neighboring countries.

Jugu wasn’t directly adjacent to Qingye, but the two nations had always been at odds. Seeing Qingye pulling ahead had put Jugu on edge.

They had even tried to send spies to contact Qingye’s “alien,” but the security was too tight, and they never succeeded.

So when Jugu discovered Shi Chan, they knew they had to act quickly. Initially, they planned to keep his existence secret and slowly build trust with him. But that plan was disrupted when other countries got wind of Shi Chan’s presence and began sending spies en masse.

Now, Jugu had no choice but to negotiate openly, offering benefits to secure Shi Chan’s allegiance.

They had also quickly investigated the attack on Shi Chan and provided him with the details, fearing he would mistakenly blame Jugu.

Indeed, the truth was as Wu Hongyuan had suspected.

Now, the top brass of Jugu were listening to the conversation through a live feed, holding their breath.

Shi Chan, unbothered, shared information about his civilization.

To be fair, he didn’t know any classified information himself. As an omega, his education had focused on general knowledge, and he had never cared to pursue advanced studies.

But even the basic things he mentioned left the officials in awe.

“Their technology is far beyond ours,” a middle-aged officer in uniform frowned.

“Yeah, spaceships, starships, interstellar travel, virtual reality networks, universal interstellar communication, laser weapons, insectoid races… Some of this is beyond imagination.”

“His attitude towards Wu Hongyuan is very friendly,” another officer observed.

“In fact, he’s been friendly to everyone except for that traitor, Zu Jiang.”

“If we want to cooperate with him, the key is to show enough sincerity.”