Secrets cannot be kept forever.

Sima lay on the cold floor for an entire night. When he woke up, his lower back and limbs ached, his joints felt rusted, and his hands and feet refused to obey him, making it impossible even to crawl. He was in a terrible mood and filled with deep regret, knowing that he had overplayed his hand once again. The vital essence within his body was practically drained to the bottom, even worse than the previous time. A man cannot step into the same river twice; he had clearly prepared thoroughly, accumulating ten times the vital essence of last time, yet he had unexpectedly ended up in this state. Something must have gone wrong somewhere!

Something went wrong! A flash of insight struck Sima's mind—this was the only way to explain it! The first time he used his special ability to actively sense the Gu worm, the "Telepathic Gu" had devoured a massive amount of vital essence, catching him off guard and causing him to suffer terribly. However, the second time, he was treading a familiar path with ease; the initial consumption of vital essence was not heavy, and the sudden mutation only occurred after he had fully perceived the "Resonance Gu." Sima remembered the instant before he passed out, when the "Resonance Gu" stretched its body as if showing submission. Could this action have caused the accident?

Hunger swept over his body and mind like a tidal wave, his intestines were in revolt, and if not pacified soon, he would end up digesting himself! Sima exerted strength in his hands and feet, crawling toward the kitchen. The little leopard cat suddenly trotted over to his side, meowing incessantly and rubbing its head against his face as if cheering him on. He gave a bitter internal smile—meowing, meowing, what use was meowing? It would be much more helpful to go get a piece of cheese from the fridge for emergency relief! The moment that thought crossed his mind, his vital essence plummeted like a waterfall once more; stars danced before his eyes, his ears buzzed, and his limbs went as limp as dough. Terrified out of his wits, Sima thought he was going to kick the bucket right on the spot. Suddenly, the little leopard cat darted toward the kitchen, stood on its hind legs, and lunged at the refrigerator, scratching frantically with all its might. Its paws slipped against the door, looking both pitiful and comical.

The glimmer of hope that had just ignited was extinguished in an instant. The cheese was on the top shelf of the fridge, while the lower section was the freezer, which contained only raw steaks packed inside plastic drawers. Prying the door open was useless. After panting for a long time, Sima mustered his remaining strength and inched forward like a worm. Managing at last to reach the refrigerator, he stretched out his arm to open the refrigerator door. The little leopard cat kicked off with its hind legs and leaped up, clamped a large piece of cheese in its mouth, jumped onto Sima, and shoved it frantically toward his lips.

Sima's eyes lit up. With trembling hands, he tore open the packaging and devoured it voraciously. Feeling a slight return of strength, he leaned against the refrigerator to stand himself up, swept clean the remaining stock in the fridge—high calorie, high sugar, high fat, perfect for temporarily replenishing the body's needs—and then fired up the stove to fry a steak. After tossing and turning all morning, he finally managed to survive this crisis. Checking the time, he had already missed meal hours. After a moment of thought, Sima left the little leopard cat at home, dragged his exhausted body, and hailed a cab to the office. What is done in darkness will eventually come to light; he had prepared a draft along the way and decided to make a limited disclosure of his situation to the organization.

The moment he stepped into the General Office, Zhou Lingri sensed something was amiss with him and asked a few concerned questions. Sima replied that he had felt extremely exhausted last night, went to bed early, and woke up to a severe depletion of vital essence, which should be caused by the Gu worm maturing. Hearing this, Zhou Lingri breathed a sigh of relief. After looking him over carefully—frail as he was, weak as he was—there was no major problem. She instructed Sima to sit for a while on the sofa while she went to fetch someone from the medical room.

After a moment, Section Chief Yang and Ge Ge from the medical room arrived at the General Office—one an experienced veteran "Gu Master," the other an experienced veteran "physician." After examining Sima, they confirmed he was fine. However, out of caution, Ge Ge took Sima up to the fourth-floor medical room and hooked him up to a large bag of milky-white nutrient solution spiked with additives to "nourish the root and fortify the foundation" for the Gu worm. By the time the IV finished, it was nearly dinner time. Sima went to the cafeteria for a hearty meal, after which he accompanied the comrades from the General Office, the Archives Room, and the Medical Room to "work overtime," formally registering his report and undergoing a series of necessary tests.

The entire process took three days. According to the second division's archival records, the Gu worm in Sima's body belonged to a variant of the "Telepathic Gu." It could sense the presence of other Gu worms at close range with an additional consumption of vital essence. The sensing range had expanded, reaching a maximum of no more than three meters, and there was a certain lag, making it of little use in combat. Instead, it was the Gu Research Institute that could make use of his ability. The "Telepathic Gu" was indeed uncommon, but it was not some one-of-a-kind rarity; Lu Lu's research team had similar "Gu Masters" who monitored the artificial breeding of Gu worms, promptly weeding out weak and dead worms to save costs and improve survival rates.

Since Sima was not an "unexpected surprise," the Gu Research Institute was in no rush to recruit him. He continued to stay in the Second Division's General Office to keep Zhou Lingri company, obediently acting as her little clerk while recuperating his body and accumulating vital essence. Youth was truly wonderful; it could take a beating. After resting for about a week, Sima basically recovered, and "White Dove" arranged for him to join Lu Lu's research team to test the "Mountain-Uprooting Gu." Lu Lu's ultimate goal was to overcome the difficulty of declining capabilities in artificially bred Gu worms. At "White Dove's" suggestion, he chose the "Mountain-Uprooting Gu" as the research object, tracking the Gu worm's boost to the host's combat effectiveness from the larval stage. Testing was conducted once every three days to record changes in combat effectiveness until the Gu worm matured and its abilities basically solidified.

Lu Lu requisitioned nine volunteers, including six parallel experimental groups and three control groups. The parallel groups were implanted with artificially bred "Mountain-Uprooting Gu," while the control groups received wild "Mountain-Uprooting Gu." Three samples were tested simultaneously every day, forming a three-day cycle. Sima was under immense pressure and didn't even have time to visit Lu Youyou's place. However, this time he was not "fighting alone"; "White Dove" had drawn five "Gu Masters" with combat capability scores of 8.5, 9, 10.5, 11, and 12 to form a six-member team, with Sima serving as the team leader. They coordinated to test the combat effectiveness of the "Gu Masters," and afterward, through video playback, evaluated and corrected scores to minimize human error as much as possible. Money from the Gu Research Institute was not easily earned. Sima poured a massive amount of time and energy into providing data support for Lu Lu's research. Leaving early and returning late, he spent every day in a rush and hardly ever went to work at the Second Division—naturally missing out on the Second Division's "special mess."

Fortunately, the Gu Research Institute also had a cafeteria exclusively for "Gu Masters," featuring top-quality ingredients and rich nutrition, which made little difference to Sima. However, he could not bring the little leopard cat along and had to lock it at home. When the chef of the Second Division's "special mess" heard that Sima was out on official business, busy to the point of not touching the ground and unable to care for the kitten, he took the initiative to share his worries. Every day, he packed a portion of kitchen scraps, froze them into solid ice blocks in the freezer, and on his way home, took a detour to drop them into Sima's mailbox so Sima could thaw and cook cat food upon his return. Zhou Lingri knew about this as well; she desperately wanted to send cat food to Sima and take a peek at the little leopard cat by the way, but deep down she found the "special mess" scraps too dirty, and after much hesitation, she ultimately gave up.

During the period when Sima did not come to work, she spent her days listless and missing the little leopard cat terribly.