Looking decent does not necessarily mean being capable.

Collecting cards is one of the three essential tasks.

It was only natural that Wu Chen was eager to read the third card. It must be understood that the nature of the City of Fragments dictates that all "external objects" must first store their memories upon arrival. Just as players must endure the trial of the 404 Road of Destruction to become memory units for the World Guardians, helping them reshape the shattered world before they can reach the other side of the cross-sea bridge, they must become a memory fragment of the City of Fragments.

Plot characters are no exception. That is why it is said that cards are fragments.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Wu Chen inserted the 1-star card into the slot.

The card reader clicked, and the screen lit up successfully.

Before Wu Chen could even let out a laugh, an incredibly hideous, mummified corpse appeared on the glass wall.

"What is happening?"

With a loud bang, the mummy came hurtling out.

Wu Chen scrambled to dodge. The mummy slammed into the glass door, shattering into pieces and scattering across the floor.

The phone booth was suddenly filled with debris.

Enduring the foul stench, Wu Chen bolted out of the booth.

"Master?" An AI-controlled drone arrived to investigate.

Wu Chen pointed at the phone booth, unable to suppress his nausea. "The Onmyoji has turned into a mummy!"

The AI, A.I., calculated rapidly. "Do not worry, Master. There may still be a way to save her."

"How can a mummy be saved?" Wu Chen asked, bewildered.

"Medical needles, gauze, and adhesive bandages." The AI, A.I., referred to the reserve medical kit brought up during the first tier. The kit contained a capsule, a syringe, a bandage, a roll of gauze, a mask, and a pair of gloves. The mask and gloves formed a nano-combat suit, genetically bound to Lin Baiyu. The remaining capsule, syringe, bandage, and gauze had not yet been used.

"Use the bandage to piece the body together, then wrap the entire body in gauze, and finally inject the medical needle," the AI, A.I., calculated the most logical steps. "There may yet be a turning point!"

"Let's try it. It's a last resort anyway!" Wu Chen took the reserve medical kit. As soon as he stepped into the phone booth, his connection with the AI was interrupted.

The process of piecing the corpse together was too gruesome to describe. The female master’s dismembered remains made the tiny bandage look utterly inadequate. Looking at the bowl-sized jagged gap in the mummy's neck and then at the toothpick-sized bandage in his hand, Wu Chen could only apply it to a random wound, better than nothing.

A miraculous change soon occurred. Upon touching the human tissue at the severed neck, the super-regenerative cells within the bandage instantly awakened and began to divide and proliferate at a terrifying speed.

Watching the granulation tissue at the neck wiggle, entwine, and fuse together, a confident Wu Chen wrapped the gauze around her layer by layer. Once the gauze extended on its own to encase the mummy in a cocoon, Wu Chen took the opportunity to inject the medical needle into the mummy's temple.

With these three measures combined, the cells within the mummy accelerated their recovery.

Wu Chen learned afterward that the proliferation of super-regenerative cells has a strict limit and cannot divide infinitely. The medical syringe acts as a "nutrient solution" to promote the division of these cells. The small amount of nutrient solution stored in the bandage was only enough to wake the cells up. The number of cell divisions was determined by the amount of syringe fluid injected.

It is said that a normal person's cells divide 50–100 times in a lifetime. The human body is composed of "somatic cells" and "germ cells," and human cells can be cultured for an average of 50 generations, which is equivalent to one generation renewing every 2.4 years—known as the Hayflick limit. Based on this, the theoretical lifespan of a human should be 2.4 x 50 = 120 years.

There was no need to understand the underlying biochemistry. By the time a sweating Wu Chen finished his work, the card-reading sound, which had been interrupted for a reason, resumed and successfully ejected the card.

Wu Chen did not dare to be careless. Following the AI's advice, he moved the "regenerative cocoon" containing the Onmyoji into the nano-medical bay in the passenger seat of the AE86 to ensure nothing went wrong.

After scanning the Onmyoji's condition with the equipment in the medical bay, the AI, A.I., made a new discovery: "Master, the Onmyoji is undergoing a genetic mutation and is awakening her potential."

"Is she an Ultra-capable or a Homo-superior?" The cleaning drone had already cleared the remaining mummy tissue for Wu Chen.

"It is too early to judge." The AI, A.I., established a separate database for the Onmyoji. It was clear that the female master had transitioned into a sci-fi genre plot character.

All paths lead to the same destination; just as there is mystical Onmyodo, science fiction has similar corresponding superpowers. Whether it is telepathy or mind control, both Ultra-capables and Homo-superiors can easily achieve them.

"Master's New Hong Kong is truly powerful," remarked the AI, A.I., while analyzing and interpreting the regenerative cocoon technology.

Once upon a time, under the brilliant starry sky of the sanctuary, New Hong Kong—Wu Chen's exclusive home world—earned the reputation of being the "crossroads of plot worlds." It was named for its "thousand years of chaotic dance." Wu Chen integrated technology trees from different plot worlds into a unique technological system exclusive to New Hong Kong, covering organic, inorganic, biochemical, electronic, native, and extraterrestrial branches. The two upgrades of the AE86 alone were proof enough.

In the first-tier medical kit, only the capsule remained, for which he had yet to find a suitable use. No rush; creations from New Hong Kong would surely find their purpose.

Returning to the phone booth, Wu Chen took the third card and stuck it to the glass wall. By the time the female Onmyoji broke out of her cocoon and regenerated, her strength would surely exceed 1 star. At that point, Wu Chen could simply update the card.

After some thought, Wu Chen had the AI email the female player to explain the situation. He sent an email rather than a direct connection to avoid awkwardness. The female player had never read the card and did not know the hidden details. Ultimately, for Wu Chen, it was a close call that ended safely. The AI judged that the reason the female Onmyoji received such a low star rating was inseparable from her condition at the time. A dismembered mummy that could still hold a star rating would surely bring surprises after rebirth—at least 2 stars, perhaps even 3. Based on trading market prices, Wu Chen's profit would far exceed his initial estimates.

Although the first-tier medical kit was exhausted, the second-tier medical box had yet to be opened. Compared to the first, the second-tier box was undoubtedly superior. That was the significance of upgrading. Generally speaking, new tiers are almost always better than old ones. The two upgrades he had undergone proved that Wu Chen's exclusive sanctuary was still far from complete.

The female player replied quickly. Her words were full of apologies, and she expressed a willingness to compensate for Wu Chen's losses. Considering he might need her help in the future, Wu Chen had intended to decline, but the AI suggested waiting until the Nine Chrysanthemum Sect Onmyoji woke up before deciding.

Wu Chen gladly accepted this advice.

In the passenger seat of the AE86, inside the nano-medical bay, the female master had completed the reattachment of her limbs and regained some activity. The AI predicted she would be able to leave the bay tomorrow, coinciding with Wu Chen's estimate of "waking up in a day."

At sunset, the tidal auxiliary plate was finished, and the alien aquarium was restored to its original state. It was a pity it had been destroyed during the Day of Sweeping; none of the alien aquatic creatures in the collection had survived. That unknown player who had painstakingly built the alien aquarium must not have collected so many alien creatures just for display—perhaps there was some alien genetic engineering that players loved. Who could say?

Dinner time.

Having finished her daily simulated special training, Lin Baiyu removed her "Femme Fatale Type I" power armor and came to eat. In the second-floor multi-function hall, the real-time imagery of the Shattered Traveler's Camp was the most moving scenery on the circular curtain wall. Floating cubes piled up as far as the eye could see, crisscrossing floating tracks, and swarms of drones passing by like stars. The four spiral zones passing through the floating cubes were spectacular. Every main building that pierced the clouds and broke through the sky was an exclusive sanctuary for a player. What the architect Zero once poetically called "turning into stars" was changed by players in the City of Fragments to "even if shattered."

Existence was not erased; the plot continued.