Across the web, immortals and true beings, their thoughts and energy creating the heavens.

Chapter 126 Implantation of Dragoon Cells

The Ninth Training Base of the Dragoons is a large space station located next to a moon of a gas giant planet named "Iron Plain".

As Lin Zhuo passed by the window, the enormous satellite occupied most of the view, seemingly within arm's reach. He could see that the vast, rugged, iron-gray rocky plains covered most of the planet's surface, truly living up to its name.

Iron Origin is an important industrial world, with abundant mineral resources used to mass-produce war machines.

"After I was selected for the Orbital Force, I was sent to Iron Origin Star to train for four years. Later, I performed well and met the genetic compatibility standard, so I was sent to the space station for special training. It was really a tough battle, and I finally managed to stand out from my peers and be selected for the Dragon Cavalry Brigade." Shao Shigang was full of emotion when he talked about this past event.

The maintenance cost of the Dragoon armored warriors is extremely high, so they are selected from the best of the best. Every soldier who can enter this space station has undergone years of hard training and tempering, but in the end only a very few can wear a suit of armor.

In comparison, the training methods of the Giant Enterprise Alliance and other interstellar forces are more crude. They cast a wide net, catch many fish, and mass-produce armored warriors, positioning them as military consumables. Their equipment configurations are also relatively cheap, resulting in lower costs and generally inferior combat power compared to human-human hybrid warriors. Some giant enterprises even package armored warriors as gladiators, cultivating them towards becoming celebrities or internet influencers.

"Comrade Lin Zhuo, we need to go back and report. Please familiarize yourself with the environment first. If anything happens, Comrade Longmen will send you an email."

"Okay, thank you for your hard work on the journey. Goodbye."

The armored warriors floating in the air saluted, activated their jetpacks, and sped away with them.

Lin Zhuo, a newcomer, bid farewell to Shao Shigang and the other two, and then followed the directional arrows on the wall to area A0.

The Starport is located in the core area of ​​the space station. The core area is a huge cylindrical structure about one kilometer long, which is also the central axis of the entire space station and is also known as the "Tianyuan". The other areas are rings that rotate around the axis and are named in order of "A, B, C, D".

The densely populated areas of the space station are located in the outer ring. This is because the centrifugal force generates inertial force, which is like gravity, allowing objects that were originally weightless and floating to fall back to the ground, facilitating personnel movement. Many precision devices also require a gravity environment to operate.

The core area and the outer rotating ring are connected by multiple corridors, like the spokes of a wheel.

The cabins connected to the core by the corridors are called transit stations, which are usually in a rotating state. For untrained personnel, entering these transit stations can cause dizziness and easily trigger nausea and vomiting.

The walls of the transfer station are covered with red-painted handles. If you're quick and grab one, you can secure yourself to the bulkhead and spin around. Then, grabbing each handle, you can move along the walls until you've entered the corridor entrance.

When Lin Zhuoyou entered the transfer station, a group of new recruits from the Orbital Army were undergoing training. Wearing jetpacks, they repeatedly tried to fly to the bulkhead, grab the handrails, and then quickly climb to their designated locations. From a distance, they looked like a group of people climbing a cliff, or somewhat like hamsters running on a roller.

"Hey! You soldier! I'm talking to you, which squad are you in? Why aren't you wearing your training uniform? Does anyone have an extra hopscotch bag? Give him one!" The instructor had a booming voice, and when he saw Lin Zhuo alone in the distance, he immediately started yelling.

Lin Zhu waved his hand, spotted the entrance to the corridor leading to the AO area, gently bent his knees, pushed off the air, and flew lightly over. Just as the entrance turned in front of him, he curled up and adjusted his posture, changing from a prone position to an upright one. He stretched out his feet and stepped on the corridor door frame, stopping steadily.

"Wow, impressive!" The Orbital Force soldiers applauded and cheered in amazement at the agile movements.

The instructor nodded with a smile, thinking to himself, "Looks like a veteran on leave. But I've never seen this guy before."

"How did this person fly so far without using a jump pack?" Many soldiers scratched their heads in confusion, "Does physics not exist?"

""

"Stop shouting! Everyone should learn from this veteran and take him as our role model, do you hear me!"

"yes!"

Lin Zhuo continued swimming deeper into the corridor, and the hustle and bustle behind him gradually faded away.

From the core area towards the outer ring, the gravity due to inertia gradually increases, eventually reaching Earth's standard, which is the most comfortable state for the human species.

The gravity coefficients of different colonized planets vary. For example, the gravity of Emerald Planet is not much different from that of Earth, so Lin Zhuo looks no different from his ancestors on Earth. However, humans on some low-gravity planets are taller and more slender, while humans on high-gravity planets are the opposite, becoming short and stocky.

Along the way, Lin Zhuo had met these two types of compatriots. They joked with each other, calling each other "bean sprouts" and "short people," which was actually a joke about elves and dwarves in fantasy works.

To be honest, Lin Zhuo has never actually met any elves or dwarves in person; perhaps he'll have the chance in the future.

In Area A0 of the outer ring of No. 1, which belongs to the medical department, the chief physician and treatment team are on standby and whispering among themselves. Usually, surgeries are arranged in batches, and they have never encountered a situation where a single soldier is prepared for surgery.

"Comrade Lin Zhuo? My surname is He, He Tianyou. We are staff members of the Health Security Bureau of the Ninth Base. I am the chief surgeon for your operation."

"Yes. Hello, Director He."

"I've received orders to perform the Dragoon cell implantation surgery on you. Your current medical record was updated six months ago, showing that your genetic compatibility is approximately 90%, fluctuating by about 5%, which is significantly higher than the average. If you're still concerned, we can do another test now."

"Then let's do it. This was a test I did during my senior year physical exam, and my situation has changed since then."

Lin Zhuo took the lancet and drew a blood sample from himself. His actual size was larger than he appeared, so it was easy for someone else to mismatch the vein.

After waiting for half an hour, the laboratory sent back the results.

The chief physician's eyes were bright, and his face was full of smiles. "Excellent! Excellent! Comrade Lin Zhuo, you are born to be a dragon rider! Look at this estimated value, it's 94%, fluctuating by 5 points, which means it could reach 99%. I've never heard of such a high compatibility."

Lin Zhuo followed the medical team to the operating room.

Director He explained the procedure in detail: "This surgery will involve making six holes in the spine, both to inject the Dragoon armor cells and to later modify them into neural interfaces. We'll give you anesthesia shortly—"

"No need to prepare anesthesia for me. Just start."

"Oh no! This won't do. I'm not kidding. Even pulling a tooth requires anesthesia, let alone drilling into bone! Comrade Lin Zhuo, don't joke around with your health. If something goes wrong, our medical licenses will melt away like butter!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Zhuo waved to the surveillance camera in the corridor. The next second, all the medical staff present received an emergency notification, the content and format of which were similar to the shocking news that Shao Shigang and the other two had received not long ago.

"Director He?"

"Comrade Lin Zhuo," He Tianyou's once energetic face was now full of sorrow as he held Lin Zhuo's hands, "Are you really okay with this? Please don't joke with us. I'm over forty this year, an old man, and I can't take this kind of joke."

"You don't need to take responsibility or feel pressured. Just follow orders."

The illusion disguise on Lin Zhuo's body began to slowly dissipate. His original modern casual clothes transformed into a snow-white martial arts outfit in the blink of an eye. His hair also grew rapidly, cascading down his back, and his figure became taller, with his shadow slightly swollen under the light.

The surrounding doctors were already astonished, and witnessing such a shocking turn of events left them even more dazed, as if they were in a dream.

"Director He, let's begin." Lin Zhuo reminded him, and the chief physician, who had been holding his hands, suddenly nodded in agreement.

After taking off his tight-fitting clothes and changing into surgical scrubs, Lin Zhuo lay face down on the operating table, his back muscles clearly defined like an armored stomach.

The surgical robotic arm dangled from the ceiling, and a transparent gel for disinfection and hemostasis was applied to the spine. A total of six small holes had to be made from the back of the neck to the tailbone. Lin Zhuo specifically requested that the Zhiyang acupoint on the thoracic spine be avoided.

"Are you sure you don't need anesthesia?"

"The anesthetic is ineffective on me."

"Let's begin, comrade, hang in there."

A knife cuts through flesh, a drill pierces bone.

The doctors were amazed that Lin Zhuo's spinal cord was faintly glowing, as if there was a machine under his skin.

The surgery continued. Six syringes were placed against the bone opening, aimed at the spinal cord, and a full bottle of more than 500 milliliters of cell-mixed nutrient solution was injected into it. The solution was dark red like blood, and the Dragoon cells seemed to swim in the liquid like thin snakes, flowing into the spinal cord nerves.

Lin Zhuo could feel intense burning and tingling sensations spreading down his spine. At that moment, he recalled the time he and Dharma King Zanfeng Licheng were tortured together in the Youfeng Cave hell.

However, the pain I feel now is much less than it was back then.

He had originally planned to use his minor supernatural powers to slip into a state of tranquility, but after experiencing it firsthand, he felt there was no need for it.

The Dragoon armor cells and the host have a deep symbiotic relationship and do not directly change the host's genes. However, if the compatibility is not high enough, a severe rejection reaction may occur, which is usually fatal.

However, the dragon rider cells that entered Lin Zhuo's body thrived and quickly replaced his original spinal cord.

This is just the initial stage of symbiosis. With continuous nourishment, the colony cells will continue to spread throughout the body via the nervous system, continuously enhancing physiological functions, improving the defense capabilities of organs, and accelerating healing after injury, etc.

The syringe was lifted, and the hole in Lin Zhuo's back had spontaneously repaired itself. It needed to be reopened so that a semi-permanent neural interface device could be implanted.

The surgery was considered complete once the six iron-gray round holes were inserted into the skin and flesh.