37: if

[Consciousness Space]

In the outside world, Lu Jianchuan was in a dim room, digesting the cruel truth of the world. Meanwhile, within this consciousness Domain composed of streams of deep blue data, Han Chengyu's thoughts were like a boiling ocean.

After the conversation with Lu Jianchuan ended, the cold Law governing the bottom of the world—revealed by the evo factor—continued to echo in his consciousness. Yet, at the same time, an even stronger will arose: he couldn't just passively watch Lu Jianchuan risk his life; he had to do something to provide him with more protection.

"System," Han Chengyu's consciousness focused, his tone carrying a hint of decisiveness, "is the data analysis of the White Whale's bio-electrostatic and energy absorption mechanism complete?"

[Analysis complete. Relevant bio-meme libraries have been integrated, including its high-voltage tolerant cellular structure, bio-capacitive energy storage principles, and efficient energy conversion pathways.] The System's electronic voice responded instantly.

"Good." Han Chengyu's spirits lifted as the familiar and complex armor design interface unfolded before him once again, with the silver-white basic framework suspended in the Void Realm.

He didn't wait for the System to automatically generate a plan, but immediately began to actively conceptualize, injecting his own ideas into the design. "We need to give the armor an upgrade. The next time we encounter something that discharges electricity, or an even worse environment, we can't just rely on tanking it. What do you think about integrating this ability to actively absorb and utilize electrical energy?"

[Recommendation: Highly feasible. Integrating active electrical energy absorption and storage modules can significantly enhance the armor's combat effectiveness and sustained combat capability in specific environments. Furthermore,] the System analyzed calmly, proposing a further concept.

[If this System can be linked with the Aptitude Holder's normal physiological structure, allowing them to pre-store bio-electrical energy in human form and use it directly to construct armor matter or drive its activities during transformation, it will effectively reduce the consumption of physiological energy such as sugars and fats, greatly alleviating the severe physiological load after de-transformation.]

"Adding an 'organ' that can store electricity... inside Lu Jianchuan's body?" Han Chengyu was stunned for a moment, but then an excited light flashed in his eyes as his thoughts immediately became active. "That's right! If there could be a built-in 'battery' that accumulates energy normally and calls upon this stored electricity directly to transform biomass armor or act as driving energy during transformation, it would greatly reduce the extraction of his own energy! This is a brilliant idea!"

He quickly thought about potential "idle" spaces within the human body and proposed his preliminary idea. "What do you think about... modifying the appendix? It doesn't seem to have much use."

[Warning: This plan carries risks.] The System's feedback was cautious.

[According to modern medical data, the appendix is not a useless organ. As part of the gut-associated lymphoid tissue, it plays an auxiliary role in maintaining the balance of intestinal flora and local immune defense. Performing major functional modifications involving energy storage on it may lead to unpredictable risks of immune disorder, and its physical structure may not be able to withstand the stress brought by high-load energy storage and release.]

Han Chengyu calmed down; the System's analysis was always so incisive. "Mm... you're right, I didn't consider it thoroughly. It's not worth compromising his own immune System for an uncertain function."

He pondered for a moment, and a new, more ingenious concept emerged. He continued to lead the design direction. "Since modifying the old one won't work, we'll 'build' a new one! Within the abdominal cavity, guided by the evo factor, we'll specifically generate a brand-new, specialized 'Bio-Armature' organ for safely storing electrical energy. And then..."

He paused, emphasizing his core design philosophy, "Establish a stable biological link between this new organ and the appendix's lymphatic and neural networks! This way, wouldn't the new organ be able to borrow the appendix's immune monitoring function to effectively avoid inflammation or rejection caused by high-energy activity? At the same time, it could more accurately interface with the body's neural control network!"

[Re-evaluating... Evaluation complete.] The System's electronic voice seemed to carry an extremely subtle fluctuation, akin to admiration.

[Plan Optimization Suggestion: Extremely high feasibility. Creating a dedicated Bio-Armature organ can avoid the risks of modifying existing organs, achieving functional specialization and maximum efficiency. Establishing bio-neural links with the appendix's lymphatic tissue can effectively solve the immune compatibility and neural control precision issues of the xenogeneic organ. This design is highly consistent with the 'Survival Priority' Law in biological logic and is the current optimal solution.]

"Great!" Han Chengyu's consciousness body seemed to brighten a bit. He immediately began to adjust the design blueprint. "Then it's settled! I'll lead the architecture, using the White Whale's energy storage organ structure as a blueprint to optimize the design of this brand-new 'Bio-Armature,' plan its linkage pathways with the appendix, and integrate it into the next generation of the armor's energy core System! The goal is to achieve normal state energy storage and transformation energy usage, reducing his own consumption!"

[Command confirmed. Auxiliary design programs fully open, providing real-time structural mechanics and energy flow simulation feedback.]

[Next-generation armor upgrade blueprint—'Thunder Accumulation System'—design work, officially initiated.]

The deep blue data torrent surged once again, more turbulent than ever before. Han Chengyu threw himself into it with full concentration, personally sketching every structural detail and adjusting energy circuits, while the System faithfully provided massive data support and feasibility verification.

He was like a creator shaping life in a microscopic world, meticulously forging a stronger bulwark for his only Aptitude Holder to survive the future storms.

[Real World]

The heavy truth was like ink dripping into clear water, slowly diffusing and staining everything with a gray undertone. That night, Lu Jianchuan didn't know how he had fallen asleep; perhaps extreme mental exhaustion finally triumphed over his churning thoughts. The next morning, he was awakened by his biological clock rather than an alarm. His body still retained the soreness and feeling of overextension from the great battle, but deeper still was a weariness stemming from the cognitive level.

He got up in silence, washed, and put on that familiar police uniform. In the mirror, his gaze was more subdued than before, as if a lot of unrealistic light had been drained away overnight. He carefully hid the cold ring-like object on his left wrist, covering it tightly with his sleeve before pushing open the door and rejoining the flow of commuters.

The next few days were unexpectedly calm.

No new monsters appeared, there were no emergency summons, and even "The Forger" remained silent, as if everything before had been nothing but an all-too-realistic nightmare. Life seemed to forcibly pull him back into his original orbit, but this orbit had already become fundamentally different beneath his feet.

The atmosphere in the Police Station still carried a lingering gloom that hadn't fully dissipated after Li Ming's sacrifice. His colleagues showed him a bit of deliberate care and cautious avoidance, which gave him a sense of out-of-place alienation. He began to take on more routine patrols and call-outs, handling the most ordinary and trivial of urban disputes.

While driving the patrol car past familiar street corners, during the brief silences after mediating disputes, and even in the moments he spent eating with his head down in the cafeteria... those thoughts of "what if" would uncontrollably burrow into Lu Jianchuan's mind.

If only I could have summoned the armor earlier back then... If only my strength had been a bit greater to block that strike... If only Uncle Li hadn't pushed me away to protect me... In his mind, he would instantly construct a completely different future: Uncle Li might have been seriously injured, but he would have lived. He would be enduring the pain while saying in his characteristic tone, mixed with a bit of reproach and relief, "Stupid kid, be sharper next time!"

Auntie Liu and Xiao Zhe wouldn't have to endure this heart-wrenching parting; he could still follow that broad back as before, learning how to be a good policeman... These imaginings were vivid, bringing a moment of false comfort followed by an even deeper, ice-cold sense of reality—none of that was possible. He had failed to prevent the tragedy.

This repetitive, meaningless hypothesizing was like a hidden self-punishment, constantly deepening the brand in his heart and making the pain of loss clearer and clearer.

He could only shake his head forcefully, pulling his attention back to the present—for example, this exhausting "noise complaint" case this morning.

The caller was an older woman living on the third floor. She was agitated, claiming the second-floor residents were constantly banging on the floor late at night, seriously affecting her rest. Lu Jianchuan and his colleague arrived at the scene and went to the second floor first. The door was opened by a young couple who looked equally exhausted, with an infant in swaddling clothes at home.

"Officer, we're being wronged!" The husband looked helpless, lowering his voice for fear of waking the baby. "Our baby is small and fusses at night. We walk on tiptoes; how could we be banging on the floor? On the contrary, we often hear the sound of things falling on the floor from upstairs, thudding away, and the baby always gets startled awake."

Lu Jianchuan listened patiently and then went to the third floor to see the woman who called. She spoke with certainty, insisting the noise came from below. To find the truth, they also visited the fourth floor. The elderly person living alone there complained, "Sometimes the people downstairs watch TV loudly in the middle of the night. I'm a light sleeper, so if I can't take it, I'll tap on the heating pipes to remind them..."

After a round of visits, the truth came out. It was likely that the third-floor woman was sensitive to sound and misjudged normal floor conduction or outside noise as banging from below. Meanwhile, some of her living habits affected the fourth-floor elderly person, whose sound of tapping on the pipes to protest was, in turn, mistaken by the second floor as noise from upstairs... a death loop formed by misunderstanding and poor communication.

There were no monsters, no conspiracies, only people living in a forest of reinforced concrete, experiencing friction and helplessness due to cramped spaces.

Lu Jianchuan and his colleague had to act as mediators, patiently communicating, explaining, and consoling floor by floor, finally reaching a verbal agreement for mutual understanding and reduced misunderstanding.

When he left that residential building, the afternoon sun was a bit blinding. His colleague's sigh of "sometimes this is more mentally draining than catching thieves" made him dazed again.

If Uncle Li were here, how would he have handled such a dispute? He could always say a few words that reached people's hearts, making both parties lose their anger... As soon as this thought emerged, he forcibly snuffed it out. He took a deep breath, pressing the heavy bitterness back into his heart.

He knew that this deliberately maintained peace instead made the strings in his heart tighter. This brief daily routine was both a respite and a slow torture. He was just waiting. Waiting for the next ripple to break the calm, not knowing when it would suddenly spread. And until then, he had to carry this unspeakable guilt and countless "what ifs" and keep moving forward.