Medical Room.
Ji You approached Dr. Luo shamelessly, pointing to her own face and said, "Dr. Luo... take another look, my face is really cute."
Dr. Luo: "..."
Dr. Luo was speechless for a few seconds, then suddenly reached out, took a surgical knife from beside him, squinted his eyes slightly, and with a very gentle smile, said, "Cute is cute, but I think it’s a tad thick, how about I thin it out a bit for you?"
Ji You: "..."
Ji You was startled and immediately backed away several meters, patting her chest and touching her cheeks, she said with a giggly smile, "That... I think the thickness of my skin is just right now, no need to trim, no need to trim."
Dr. Luo said seriously, "Pain-free, safe and effective quickly, are you really not considering it?"
Ji You shook her head like a rattle-drum.
Dr. Luo squinted his eyes: "What a pity..."
Hearing this sentence from Dr. Luo, which truly seemed to convey endless regret, Ji You suddenly felt a chill around her, shivered to shake off the goosebumps, and obediently squeezed into the diagnostic pod.
About 10 minutes later, Ji You came out of the diagnostic pod.
By now, Dr. Luo had acquired all the data concerning Ji You’s physical condition. Seeing Ji You come out, Dr. Luo’s lips curled into a slight smile and said, "The data looks pretty good."
Ji You leaned in, asking eagerly, "Is the effect pretty noticeable?"
Dr. Luo said, "It’s not much different from what I expected."
Hearing this, Ji You also smiled with her lips pursed happily, "That’s great news. Dr. Luo, where’s my medicine for today?"
Dr. Luo said, "Still adjusting, wait 3 minutes."
After saying that, Dr. Luo buried his head in work, writing and drawing on the Light Computer.
Ji You didn’t interrupt him, so she just sat obediently to the side.
minutes later.
The medicine for the day was ready, and without looking up, Dr. Luo casually pointed and said, "Go and get it yourself."
Ji You stood up, "Okay."
The dosage of today’s medicine was slightly more than yesterday’s. Holding it in her hand, Ji You estimated it to be around 5 pounds. Inside were medicines for oral consumption as well as for the Medicine Bath; the instructions listed were detailed for each application.
Seeing Ji You taking the medicine, Dr. Luo looked up, a little worried, and said, "Today’s dosage is a bit large, any abnormalities during use, you must tell me immediately, understand?"
Ji You replied confidently, "Understood!"
Dr. Luo nodded: "Okay, you can go back now."
As Ji You turned around, she suddenly caught sight of a few words ’Liu Beibei...’ on Dr. Luo’s Light Computer. Startled, she couldn’t help being nosy, and asked, "Dr. Luo, is there really no way to change Liu Beibei’s condition?"
At that time, Dr. Luo was thinking about how to improve Liu Beibei’s Physical Strength based on her body data. He had designed several plans but felt they weren’t up to expectations and was frowning when Ji You asked this question. Dr. Luo let out a slight sigh and said, "It’s a bit difficult."
Thinking of that hard-working girl who might not become a Mechanical Warrior no matter how much she tried, Ji You furrowed her brows and asked, "But... even though my talent is worse than hers, my Physical Strength can keep improving, why can’t she do the same?"
Dr. Luo stopped his work, looked at Ji You and said, "You’re different from her, you are an anomaly, she is just a normal person."
Ji You: "..."
Thickening her skin, Ji You said, "I’ll just take that as a compliment from you."
Really now—
Compliments should be sincere, not half-hearted.
Ah!
Dr. Luo glanced at Ji You and was truly amazed at her thick skin. But the girl’s carefree attitude was a good thing—in her case, it meant she was open-minded and not prone to getting fixated on minutiae.
Ji You, unable to wait, hurriedly urged, "Dr. Luo, you mentioned her condition differs from mine. What exactly are the differences?"
Dr. Luo explained, "Her spiritual power and physical strength are quite low, with a D in physical strength and a C in spiritual power. With such conditions, she fundamentally cannot withstand the burden that piloting a mecha entails."
Ji You could empathize deeply and quickly asked, "Then... can’t it be improved through training and external aids?"
Dr. Luo glanced at her and gestured for her to be patient, then slowly continued, "As I said, your situation is different from hers. The biggest difference is—your spiritual power is mutated! Even though it’s in a semi-crippled state, with only 6 strands of Spiritual Silk, the endurance of your Spiritual Silk is quite strong. With your spiritual strength, you can pilot any mecha in the Alliance!"
Huh?
Ji You looked up in shock, "Am I really that incredible?"
Why hadn’t Dr. Luo mentioned this before?
Dr. Luo looked at her and chuckled, "In theory."
Ji You: "..."
Ahem...
Isn’t ’in theory’ just another way of talking nonsense?
Seeing Ji You’s downcast expression, Dr. Luo smiled and said, "Although it’s theoretical and untested, I have conducted various simulations and believe that you should be able to handle it. However—"
Ji You’s eyes sparkled with excitement, but they dimmed as soon as she saw Dr. Luo’s tone change, feeling anxious.
Indeed—
Dr. Luo continued, "However, you should stop thinking about it. With only 6 strands of Spiritual Silk, even if your spirit could withstand the interstellar’s most advanced tech-crafted mecha, you still couldn’t operate it. Too few strands—it’s not enough, you understand?"
Ji You: "..."
Ji You’s face turned pale, "Then why did you tell me about it?"
Wasn’t this just giving her hope only to plunge her back into despair?
Dr. Luo smiled, "I’m trying to give you some self-awareness."
Ji You: "..."
Dr. Luo waved his hand and went on, "Enough, let’s not talk about that anymore. The reason I said you and Liu Beibei are different is that your spiritual power can withstand various levels of strain. But Liu Beibei can’t."
Ji You didn’t rush to ask more and listened patiently instead.
Dr. Luo said, "Spiritual power and physical strength interact with each other and are not isolated. They are like steel and concrete in relation, indispensable to each other. Reinforced by concrete, steel can be used to construct buildings hundreds of meters tall... You were able to use a multitude of Medicine Baths and continuously train and strengthen your physical strength from an E to a C level because your spiritual power is like a ’steel’ scaffold, inherently strong and thus supporting your ever-increasing physical strength!"
At this point, Dr. Luo paused slightly, his tone tinged with a hint of sigh, "Liu Beibei’s spiritual power is at a C level, very weak, so her spiritual scaffold is fragile, more like a handful of wooden beams. The sturdiness of wood certainly can’t compare to steel."
"Therefore, even if she uses a substantial amount of Body Refining Medicine to enhance her physical strength, it’s futile. Instead, the Body Refining Medicine might cause all sorts of side effects."
"The only way is to persevere with the patience of grinding water, expending decades or even centuries of continuous, relentless effort. Only then can the physical strength and spiritual power slowly improve."
However—
Even after spending centuries trying to improve, the advancement wouldn’t be significant—she could at most reach around a B level.