Chapter 112: The Peculiar Experience of Paralyzing Yourself
Ryan felt strange. He could see himself, as if his soul were hovering around his body, unable to return.
From Ryan's perspective, his physical form was enveloped by golden and dark energies, each battling for dominance.
The golden energy was the cosmic power he'd always used—that was normal. But what was the black energy?
Could it be from the Darkhold that Wanda had used? But Ryan had never directly touched the Darkhold, so why would it manifest within him?
Ryan wanted to ask Wanda, but she couldn't see him at all. After being taken to the hospital, Wanda left. Ryan tried to follow her, but couldn't travel far—as if an invisible tether bound him to his body.
"This is fucking terrible! What the hell is going on?"
Unable to find answers, Ryan began attempting to control the cosmic energy in his body through his astral form, hoping to suppress the dark energy and regain consciousness.
But after several attempts, Ryan discovered he couldn't mobilize the cosmic energy at all. Communication was impossible. Instead, the dark energy responded to his commands.
"What the hell is happening? Can someone explain this to me?"
Ryan's mind churned with questions, but no one could offer a reasonable explanation.
"All right, let's see what you're made of."
Since he couldn't control the golden cosmic energy, he'd control the dark energy to reclaim his body. Perhaps that would wake him up.
Ryan's astral form stood beside the bed, looking down at his physical body. He raised his hand and snapped his fingers. Black mist emerged from his consciousness.
The dark mist coiled around Ryan's astral fingertips, almost seeming to celebrate.
Ryan smiled slightly, intrigued despite himself.
He directed the black mist to enter his left hand, attempting to establish a connection with his body. The next second, the left hand of his physical form actually moved.
Anthony caught the finger twitch and, startled, quickly stood to check.
"Boss? Boss!"
"What's wrong? How's Ryan?" Cassie, who'd returned with fast food, immediately rushed over.
Anthony explained, "Just now I saw the boss's fingers move, but then nothing."
"Maybe it's neurological. Massage might help."
Cassie put down the food, lifted Ryan's left hand, and began massaging firmly.
Astral Ryan continued controlling the dark mist to manipulate his left hand. Cassie, mid-massage, suddenly felt Ryan's fingers curl and grasp her own fingers in his palm.
"Oh! It's really moving! Get a doctor!"
Anthony hurried out to fetch medical staff, but when the doctor arrived and examined Ryan, they found nothing conclusive.
Astral Ryan had discovered how to control the dark energy and began attempting to direct all of it to expel the golden cosmic energy.
The two energies played a game of cat-and-mouse throughout Ryan's body.
When Ryan expelled the cosmic energy from his left hand, it flowed to his right. When he expelled it from his chest, it escaped to his limbs, making complete removal impossible.
After hours of effort, it was already late at night.
Wanda hadn't returned. Anthony, like a statue, stood guard by the bedside. Cassie had fallen asleep in the adjacent bed.
Astral Ryan refused to give up, continuing to control the dark mist in the battle for his body.
As he gradually mastered manipulation of the dark energy, Ryan concentrated all his body's dark energy into a single point.
Wherever the dark energy withdrew, golden energy quickly rushed in to fill the void.
Even after draining all the dark energy and allowing golden energy to permeate his entire body, Ryan still felt no signs of awakening. This meant the golden energy wasn't the key to consciousness—the critical issue lay with the dark energy itself.
"What's the problem?" Astral Ryan studied his body's vacant eyes. "Is it the soul?"
Ryan injected all the concentrated dark mist into his brain, expelling all golden energy from above his neck.
SNAP!
Something seemed to break, and instantly, Astral Ryan was pulled back into his physical body.
"Ahhh—"
Ryan's eyes snapped open. The scream woke both Anthony and Cassie.
"Boss!"
"Ryan!"
Of the two, Cassie felt the most vulnerable in this situation.
Her family had been left behind in another universe, and Ryan was the only person she could rely on. And Ryan had been catatonic.
Ryan's awakening instantly brought Cassie relief.
"Shhh—it hurts!"
Ryan's consciousness had returned, but his entire body was wracked with agony.
Considering his body had undergone repeated genetic enhancement, giving him superhuman durability, the intensity of the pain was unimaginable.
An ordinary person would have died from the shock.
"Does it hurt badly? I'll get a doctor to prescribe painkillers." Cassie carefully helped Ryan lie back down, then stood to find medical staff.
Ryan gritted his teeth. "It won't work. Don't bother."
Normal medications couldn't address Ryan's condition—probably because of that experimental serum he'd injected.
"Anthony, I need a lab to examine my body."
"Boss, what do you need me to do?"
Ryan suddenly regretted his decision. If he'd known how much pain it would cause, he wouldn't have rushed to reunite with his body.
Now he could only force himself to say through clenched teeth, "Find me a biological laboratory or medical testing facility. I need equipment."
"Understood, boss. I'll locate one immediately."
Biological labs weren't common, but medical testing facilities were practically everywhere.
Anthony quickly identified a facility not far away.
At dawn, Anthony returned to the hospital.
"Boss, I found one. There's a pharmaceutical testing company in Brooklyn. Looks pretty well-equipped."
"Good. Take me there now."
Anthony reached out to carry Ryan. Ryan, through the pain, grumbled, "Can't you find me a wheelchair?"
"Oh, sorry, boss."
It would indeed look strange for two grown men embracing in public. Cassie covered her face, exasperated.
She'd been attracted to Ryan's intelligence and capability. That was natural enough.
But with time, you realize that no matter how competent a man appears, there's always a hidden childish side. The more you know him, the more obvious it becomes.
If one day you suddenly notice a man has matured overnight, it means he's no longer open with you.
Anthony pushed the wheelchair with Cassie beside him. The three of them left the hospital and headed for the pharmaceutical testing company.
They arrived too early—the building was still locked.
Anthony didn't care. He extended his Adamantium bone claws and easily cut through the lock, then wheeled Ryan into the office building.
The alarm was disabled, the surveillance cameras were turned off, and the elevator was out of service, so Anthony carried the wheelchair up the stairs.
Soon they reached the laboratory floor.
The bone claws made short work of the lab door, and Cassie followed, pushing the wheelchair inside.
"Cassie, get me centrifuge tubes and an extraction pipette. Use beakers to prepare solutions—EDTA anticoagulant, crystal violet solution, 2-amino ethanol, and 3-methyl adenine."
Ryan laid out equipment and chemical reagents, instructing Cassie on proper dosages for synthesizing the extraction solution.
He then instructed Anthony, "Use your bone claw to make a small incision in my external jugular vein and draw a 20-milliliter blood sample."
After positioning and marking the location, Anthony punctured Ryan's enhanced skin, and Cassie immediately began drawing blood.
While Ryan's healing abilities weren't as impressive as Anthony's regeneration factor, they were still substantial.
"Sample collected. What's next?"
Anthony wheeled Ryan to the lab bench, where Ryan directed Cassie through the process.
First, a portion of the blood sample was added to the chemical extraction solution, then placed in a centrifuge for serum gene isolation.
The precipitate was filtered out, and the extracted genes were added to crystal violet solution to stain the chromosomes for easier observation and analysis.
"All right, put the genetic solution under the microscope. Bring me over—I want to see it myself."
After positioning Ryan at the microscope, he stretched but still couldn't reach the eyepiece. Anthony finally lifted Ryan's upper body so he could view through the magnification lens.
"Cassie, take notes for me."
Cassie immediately found pen and paper.
"The nucleus has lost activity, cell division has ceased, and the cell membrane shows varying degrees of damage."
In short, Ryan's genes were now severely compromised.
He was only alive because his enhanced genetics prevented complete systemic collapse despite the damage.
Any more severe damage would have instantly destroyed this body.
Even for Ryan, who'd faced numerous dangers, the word "terror" barely described his current fear. His interest in studying Craig Hollis's immortality genes was suddenly renewed.
If he could return home, he'd examine Mr. Immortal's genetic structure again.
Cassie couldn't understand the data Ryan had her record, but it was clear from the numbers that Ryan had suffered catastrophic injuries.
"Ryan, is there a cure?"
Ryan wanted to shake his head but found he couldn't. He sighed. "There's no immediate solution. There are methods, but we lack the raw materials."
"We can buy whatever you need. If we can't buy it, we'll find it."
"It's extremely rare. Never mind that now. Just make me a nerve blocker first."
The best way to repair Ryan's genes would be obtaining a complete Thanos blood sample and using intact Titan genetics to replace the damaged sequences—an immediate cure.
Alternatively, using Eternal genes might work more slowly, but with sufficient time, could potentially repair ninety-nine percent of the damage.
Finally, acquiring higher-dimensional genetics—such as Celestial genes—and replacing existing sequences with superior ones.
Beyond these options, Ryan couldn't think of alternatives.
"What's a nerve blocker?"
Ryan explained, "It's a drug that interrupts nerve signal transmission. Usually employed in extreme experimental procedures."
Ryan was experiencing constant pain, and these pain signals were transmitted to his brain through his nervous system.
Painkillers or anesthetics affected the entire body, including organs and tissue, while nerve blockers targeted only the nervous system.
After injection, Ryan could remain conscious without receiving pain signals from his body.
Fortunately, this was a pharmaceutical testing facility with comprehensive materials for synthesizing nerve blockers.
By the time preparation was complete, daylight had broken, and employees were beginning to arrive for work.
Ryan instructed Anthony, "Make an incision about three and a half centimeters above my cervical vertebral process and insert a catheter needle."
Inserting it there would eliminate the need for Anthony to make fresh incisions each time a nerve blocker required injection.
Anthony followed instructions, using his bone claw to create the incision and inserting the catheter, leaving a small portion exposed for easy syringe access.
After inserting the needle, Cassie immediately injected Ryan's nervous system with the prepared nerve blocker.
"Ahhhh..."
The injection instantly interrupted nerve signals, and the pain vanished. Ryan felt profound relief.
He no longer felt pain—nor did he feel his body at all. Only his brain remained functional.
"Damn it, my luck is terrible! I actually got into a fight with a Celestial."
Cassie packed the remaining solution into a container and was about to leave when pharmaceutical testing staff suddenly entered.
"Uh, who are you people?"
End of Chapter 112
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