At dusk, after being sprayed with a wave of alcohol, Li Qing returned home at midnight.
"The distance is a bit too far, it's inconvenient to observe the evolution and development of that civilization."
Li Qing began to consider moving.
After all, he was already planning to vacate and return to Hua Country, so with such an incident, he decided to move near that workshop laboratory.
In all likelihood, a great flood might not completely wipe out this ward, because modern scientists in a certain country had already, years ago, cultivated alcohol-resistant super bacteria in laboratories, contributing to the free and diverse existence of bacteria, filling the gap where no bacteria could survive in an alcohol environment. Humans made it happen, so wouldn't these bacteria themselves cultivate it?
Thus, Li Qing planned to establish a revolutionary base and have a tough battle against them.
As for living in those rooms next to the sealed bedroom?
No way.
Li Qing found it uncomfortable, inconvenient, like living with a tiger. He already had light sleep at night, and as a psychiatrist, he always had a lot of stress.
The next morning.
Li Qing got out of bed and started calling friends, "Were you able to borrow it?"
"You think I'm the all-powerful Doraemon? It's not that fast," came the response, "In the afternoon, alright? I'll help you borrow it."
There was no way around it. Li Qing admitted he was a bit anxious, after all, he felt it was better to get things done quickly, in case a Pillar Man escaped from the lab.
He hung up the phone and went downstairs to have breakfast.
He knew clearly, there was no right or wrong in this, just different standpoints.
If it escaped, it would really cause big trouble. Until he took down the other side, he'd establish a controllable cell evolution pool, the prototype being his own neck.
Alas, the task was arduous and long-term.
After breakfast, he drove to the vicinity of Ning Guochang's sterile workshop but didn't go in, wandering around the area.
He wandered around for most of the day and found a house not far away. After all, the country was sparsely populated, with many unoccupied suburban houses. He soon negotiated to rent it.
The landlord was a kind-hearted, plump old lady, "Ah, you're a psychiatrist, working at that psychiatric hospital in the city? So young and promising."
Studying medicine is one of the high-paying groups here. The old lady was quite talkative, seeing that Li Qing had decent conditions; she even wanted to introduce her daughter. Li Qing politely declined, unable to handle such passionate matchmaking, with a foreboding sense of becoming a scapegoat.
Soon, he began moving.
Although he didn't set up a sterile workshop like Ning Guochang, he tried to minimize furniture, regularly cleaning, to avoid discomfort if his eyes fully turned into microscopic ones, seeing the micro world densely.
No furniture, and not many clothes for a man, mainly some bottles and jars for the new lab. After moving them, he bought a dishwasher and placed it in the house.
Whirr!
The dishwasher started operating.
It rinsed the bowls and chopsticks inside, cleaning this new frontline base. After he finished all this, the ultraviolet instruments had not yet arrived.
Li Qing knew there was no rushing it.
He started a new round of tests:
To face true fear straightforwardly!
He had to keep staring for seventy seconds for something to happen, meaning as long as he paid attention not to blink, he would be safe…
He removed the eye patch, wearing only sunglasses, and walked onto the street.
Walking on the foreign streets as crowded as flowing water, blond-haired, blue-eyed men and women strolled by. On the street, some were performing, a crowd surrounding, with some youths practicing parkour on bridge piers.
He activated his microscopic vision, and the whole world seemed to become high-definition.
The previous world, if compared to a large mosaic with 480p quality, instantly turned into 408000p ultra-high-definition.
What kind of world is this?
Like the indescribable distortion and evil of Cthulhu.
The streets and humans were all covered with densely packed organisms, writhing like microbial blankets, resembling the scenes from the Demon Realm Abyss.
"Truly disgusting."
Witnessing the deeper layers of the real world, Li Qing had his hands in his pockets, watching the people on the streets without panic, but instead, he fell into deep thought:
"If there really were deities in the world, they must also look at things microscopically, with the pores full of tiny crawling insects among humans. How would the deities descend to deal with such mortals?"
"Gods and mortals are separate, just like humans cannot deal with lizards."
He muttered in bewilderment, "Speaking of which, if mortals were all these supremely ugly men, how could Weaver or the Three Holy Mothers even intervene."
However, he himself was like this too, covered in microorganisms.
According to his current imaginative classification, he was at most a mixed-blood demigod, able to see the 'real world' but covered in worldly filth.
Since humans rely on microorganisms to survive.
Just a dysregulated gut microbiome could cause acute gastroenteritis.
Just a dysregulated facial microbiome could lead to a severe acne outbreak.
Throughout human civilization's history, humans have coexisted with microorganisms, and perhaps, human civilization will inevitably evolve at some future point, hundreds or thousands of years from now, to completely rid itself of microorganisms?
After all, free from microbial parasites, with a spotless, purely clean body, equals freedom from viruses as well.
Li Qing thought on and couldn't help but delve into a profound soul-searching thought:
"And in this sense, what exactly are present-day humans?"
He wasn't considering the ultimate philosophical question but from a biological perspective: What is a human?
"The definition of humans is given by us, the definition of bacterial microorganisms is given by us, maybe humans plus bacteria are the truly defined complete modern humans."
"The human body is an exquisite miracle; humans and microorganisms are like the combination of 0 and 1 in a computer program."
"So, when I shed billions of impurities, cleanse every speck of dust, and become truly independent and unique, could I be the extraordinary deity who leaps out of worldly affairs in Buddhist teachings?"
Sifting through these pieces of information, Li Qing felt excited, thinking he had found his path.
——Clear out the microorganisms on the body, achieve self-independence.
Next, he would continue conducting his own experiments, creating a microorganism civilization within the "test tube world" hanging around his neck, allowing them to develop, evolve, and study the technology of self-evolution.
He wanted his body to evolve, and free itself from dependence on microorganisms!
Not just for the Purity Golden Body, to no longer see the endless creatures crawling inside his body, but also for self-preservation!
As long as there are still microorganisms inside, he's always leaving a secret door, prone to the same accidents as Ning Guochang.
"It's genuinely overwhelming! Every step must be meticulously planned; a single misstep could lead to death's dust."
Suddenly, he laughed.
Despite this, he continued wandering in this eerie world, shopping at the supermarket, buying daily necessities anew, observing this new and real world.
He must enjoy this final farewell moment!
Because, soon, the time he spends staring at Awakening will inevitably shorten, and by then he must seal his eyes completely, unable to see even this scene.
He will also follow the footsteps of Ning Guochang, starting to endure psychological pressure.
Right now, it's about learning to release pressure; no one understands better than he does the importance of maintaining a healthy mental state in this profession.
One must understand that a mental breakdown is terrifying.
Under massive psychological pressure, the mind frequently errs, decision-making falters, leading ultimately to self-demise like Ning Guochang.
"Soldiers at the frontline suffer significant psychological pressures and relax by seeking women; should I seek bacterial women? I can't, I can only burdened march forward alone for now."
Li Qing strolled the streets for a while.
He found that perhaps due to the transformation of his energy and spirit, wearing sunglasses, he attracted notable attention and could hear sounds from afar.
"That person wears sunglasses yet seems incredibly handsome."
"His charisma is astonishing, perhaps he's a major star from Hua Country?"
"He's not human, looks like someone stepped out of a painting."
...
Many oddly shaped female bacterial creatures inexplicably showed favor towards him.
And Li Qing felt strange all over.
His looks were merely slightly above average, though genetic evolution did optimize them a bit.
But this was way too exaggerated.
"Ning Guochang mentioned once, he hid not just to be the clean world's Celestial Dragon People, but also because some female monsters plotted against him?"
He couldn't help but ponder his own changes:
"Is it a hormone issue? Females instinctively pursue genetically superior males… Humans covered in microorganisms instinctively chase godly deities of higher life classes?"
"No wonder Niu Lang stole the fairy's clothes; abroad, I still need to protect myself, don't hang clothes on the balcony to avoid encountering obsessive individuals." He casually bought a hat, and also wore a mask, wrapping his head tightly.
Yet he found women on the street still looking at him.
They weren't drawn by appearance, but by the aura of hormones, by genes, so mystical, no wonder the landlord's old lady just introduced her daughter.
Meanwhile, the pressure surged!
What beauties are these?
Covered in mites, microorganism human-shaped fungal blankets with four-legged mutations.
"No wonder Ning Guochang collapsed, if I had germophobia, a fear of densely packed things, I'd collapse too!" Li Qing glanced around, ignoring some daring blonde strangers chatting up, checked out, and returned home.
Women will only hinder the progress of his biological genetic technology research.
Once he achieves a germ-free self, reaches the Buddha Golden Body Realm of "all impurities do not adhere", and forms a germ-free vacuum protective Buddha Light Shield around him, only then will he consider achieving the "germ-free clean sweet beautiful girl" technology, and revisit conversations about opposite genders.
He returned home and found the dishes in the large dishwasher done.
He took them out to look.
From a microscopic viewpoint, the dishes were exceptionally clean.
"Buddha observes a bowl of water, there are eighty-four thousand insects, if one doesn't use such things, it's akin to eating the flesh of beings."
He felt he bought wisely, this is a Divine Artifact; after dining heartily, he began preparing various experimental tools, studying the test tube around his neck.
But soon, he was interrupted by a call.
Li Qing went out once, at a crossroads, he saw a friend's car, knocked on the door, his friend held an extraordinarily heavy flashlight-type device.
The friend proudly said: "This special item from the lab, strong enough to guarantee skin burns with a moment's exposure, cancer inducing with prolonged ultraviolet light."
Li Qing was shocked to hear.
Indeed, it's you, Doraemon.
Li Qing expressed satisfaction, saying: "Another day, I'll treat you to a meal; let's continue going to restaurants for drinks."
After chatting for a while, Li Qing eagerly headed towards the next ward:
"Originally, I wanted to look at my test tube Cosmos, alright then, the Purple Sky Divine Thunder has arrived, wouldn't I need to chant spells? The Nine Heavens Mystical Holds, transforms into divine thunder, formidable heavenly power, leads by light, predecessors, please transcend this tribulation."