Chapter 189: Rejuvenation

Seeing her son return home, Martha cheerfully called out to Castle to come over quickly. She wanted her knowledgeable son to take a look at a product recommended by a friend today. She hoped he could give her some advice on whether this "Rejuvenation Elixir" was reliable.

Castle, sitting on the sofa, examined the pamphlet more closely. The Ouroboros symbol on it looked eerily familiar. After some deep digging through his memories, he was utterly shocked. Wasn't this the same concoction from the series "Forever," which was extracted from human pituitary glands? This stuff could be fatal. People who took it would suffer from severe amyloid plaques in their brains and die in excruciating pain. Could it be that his mother had already taken this stuff?

"Mom, don't tell me you took this Rejuvenation Elixir? I'm telling you, this stuff can kill you!"

Castle was extremely worried. Although his mother could be troublesome, she was still his mother.

Martha was startled by Castle's sudden worry and his alarming words: "What did you say? This Rejuvenation Elixir can kill people?"

Castle felt exhausted all of a sudden. He was just an ordinary person, albeit one with a bit of an edge from his system. But no matter how powerful his system was, it couldn't strengthen his spirit. His mood had already been quite low today because of the confrontation with the elderly Mrs. Wellesley and her son Winston. After all, in his past life, he was just a regular person. In this world, which was a mishmash of countless movies and TV shows, he was still fundamentally just an ordinary person, stripped of his system and the bizarre skills it granted him. He had hoped to come home and relax, but his troublesome mother had found yet another issue to drag him into, and this time, it was a big one!

Castle had to patiently explain to Martha: "The police are currently investigating the mysterious death of a 67-year-old man. According to their findings, the deceased had been taking this so-called 'Rejuvenation Elixir'. And you know, I have a friend who's the chief medical examiner at the New York Medical Examiner's Office. So, some inside information has reached me. This elixir's main ingredient is the human pituitary gland! Taking this stuff is essentially cannibalism!"

"What did you say..."

Martha's face turned pale instantly. She knew her son wouldn't joke about such things. So, her friend who had been claiming to feel great after taking the Rejuvenation Elixir had been consuming human-derived substances?

Seeing his mother's frightened expression, Castle solemnly continued: "Mom, this stuff is absolutely off-limits. Initially, it makes you feel younger and more energetic, but once you start taking it, a peculiar virus in the elixir begins to invade the brain. Eventually, it causes severe brain damage. So please, don't even think about it!"

Martha no longer dared to even consider using the elixir. Castle had made it very clear that taking it was essentially committing suicide. She wasn't ready to die; why would she fall for the lies in that pamphlet?

Having successfully dissuaded his mother from wanting to regain her youth through such a dangerous means, Castle had no choice but to put on his coat and prepare to head out again. Martha watched him curiously, puzzled as to why he was leaving so soon after coming home.

Castle, with a resigned expression, explained to his mother: "Seeing you look into this Rejuvenation Elixir made me realize that if I don't take down the clinic selling this harmful product, they'll end up hurting more people. So, I need to head to the police station and handle this.

I might be back late, so you and Alexis don't need to wait up for me."

Leaving home, Castle wasn't actually heading to the 12th precinct. Beckett was probably busy interrogating Frank right now. Besides, the Rejuvenation Elixir case was being investigated by Detective Joe Martinez and Henry together. He didn't need to interfere. His goal was to meet with Henry to see how far along they were in their investigation. If they were making good progress, he wouldn't need to intervene. But if Henry and Joe were still struggling to find clues, as Henry's friend, he could give them a nudge in the right direction. After all, if the pamphlet had reached his mother's hands, who knew what might happen if this went unchecked?

Considering the time, Castle figured Henry might still be at the medical examiner's office. Henry, being an old-fashioned guy, stubbornly refused to carry a mobile phone. If he wasn't in his office and was out investigating with Joe Martinez, finding him wouldn't be easy. It wouldn't be appropriate to call Detective Martinez just to ask for Henry.

Luckily, when Castle called, Henry was indeed at the medical examiner's office. Hearing that Castle needed to see him, Henry agreed without hesitation and hung up quickly, seemingly busy with an autopsy.

Not wanting to waste time, Castle decided to head over to the New York Medical Examiner's Office, which wasn't far from his home. As he entered, he saw Henry's humorous assistant, Lucas, fretting and mumbling to himself in the hall. Castle, knowing the plot of the original series, guessed that Lucas had probably discovered a few unclaimed bodies missing and was desperately trying to figure out what to do.

Castle felt that he had come at just the right time today. After discussing the case with Henry, he could perhaps help the distressed Lucas out of his predicament.

Entering the autopsy lab, Castle saw Henry, fully suited up, standing by the corpse of an elderly man, looking puzzled. As Castle recognized the muscular physique of the corpse Henry was examining, he realized he had arrived at the very beginning of Henry and Joe Martinez's investigation into the Rejuvenation Elixir case. The body on the autopsy table was the first victim of the elixir, Bill Sayles, who was 67 years old but had the body of a robust 30-year-old man.

"Henry, I'm here. Are you busy?"

Castle interrupted Henry, who was deep in thought, trying to understand the discrepancy between the age and physical condition of the body before him.

Even in surgical scrubs, Henry Morgan looked as dashing as ever. Hearing Castle's voice, he looked up, quickly removed his gloves, and covered Bill Sayles' body with a white cloth before inviting Castle: "Rick, you're here. Come on in and sit in my office. You said on the phone you had something to discuss? What's up?"

The close relationship between Castle and Henry meant there was no need for formalities. Instead of heading to Henry's office, Castle walked straight over to the autopsy table and pointed at the covered corpse of Bill Sayles: "Henry, I came here today because of this man!"

Henry's eyes brightened at Castle's unexpected words. He knew his friend wouldn't say something like this without reason. Calmly, Henry asked, "What is it? Was he your friend?"

Castle shook his head: "No, he wasn't my friend. I'm here because of his cause of death. You've started the autopsy, haven't you? Are you puzzled? No external injuries, no apparent cause of death, and his age doesn't match his body's condition?"

Castle's words directly addressed Henry's doubts. Henry's eyes lit up with curiosity, knowing Castle must have some insight: "Rick, do you know what's going on? Tell me, what do you know?"

Castle held up a hand to stop Henry's excited questioning and seriously said: "Henry, the cause of this man's death is of utmost importance. Mishandling it could lead to a public health crisis. I suggest you call your partner, Detective Joe Martinez, immediately. We should discuss this matter in detail once she's here."

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