It's the cyber age now, and you're still playing traditional villains?

Looking at the experimental results, Xu Shi smiled happily and did not forget to compliment his good brother.

“My abilities have always been there.”

Lu Baiyan was very modest, "Brother Xu deserves credit for coming up with this idea."

The two began to brag about each other's daily business.

"Do you see what kind of person your master is?"

Xie Qingyan couldn't help but tease when he saw this, and poked Pan Ling who was watching the show nearby.

"I knew it a long time ago..."

The young disciple muttered in a low voice, "How dare you hit me on the head just because I said you were a bad person? I think you are just trying to cover up something."

But she didn't care and asked another question.

"Then... what's next?"

The progress made in research is certainly gratifying, but it seems that all they can do is stay at this stage.

Because as Lu Baiyan once said, the "rust fog" half an hour ago is still "rust fog", and there will be no change in essence.

If he wants to completely realize Xu Shi’s long-cherished wish, he would have to go back hundreds of years at least.

The chronicles of Night Sin City recorded the "Rust Mist" for nearly three hundred years, and the annals of the Hualan Empire even longer, at least four or five hundred years.

Of course Lu Baiyan can't do that with his level. They are totally not in the same league, okay?

"That's true."

Xie Qingyan did not comment, "Do we need to forcibly enhance the effect of Lu Baiyan's ability?"

What he meant was to use drugs or brain-computer chips to raise the other party's ability level. S-level takes half an hour, and SS? If nothing unexpected happens, it will definitely take longer.

But the next second, she felt sorry for her unrealistic thinking.

This statement is too stupid.

The reason is very simple. Lu Baiyan's ability is very rare, but the upper limit may not be as high as imagined. Only S-level can do half an hour of backtracking. No matter how you think about it, it is impossible for SS to undergo a qualitative change and jump from minutes to years.

What? SSS?

Please find an SSS. I also want to see how abnormal the level that only exists in theoretical data can be.

And there is another problem involved here. Lu Baiyan's abilities are limited not only in depth but also in breadth.

With his level of skill, the most he could restore at one time was an area the size of the previous mansion. Ordinary people would probably just say wow, that's awesome, but compared to the "rust fog" that enveloped the entire world, it still seemed too small.

In this case, even if Lu Baiyan is lucky enough to enter the SSS-level divine realm, does he have to clear the "rust fog" area by area?

If that were the case, the fact that he wasn't exhausted to death would be the last kindness the world gave him.

Similarly, the same principle also applies to Cheng Gujian.

Xu Shi had actually considered before whether to let Cheng Gujian be the experimenter - if time can go back to the "rust fog", why can't the destructive ability destroy the "rust fog" itself?

But the risk of doing so is actually greater. If you are not careful, it may affect and involve many things. It is also not feasible in the long run. It is even difficult to say whether the destructive ability can be effective against "Rust Mist".

Everyone saw how Lu Baiyan became like a grandson in such a short time. Faced with the absolute number of people, the stupid method would definitely not work.

Going in volume is totally useless for this kind of thing.

"I do have an idea."

Xu Shi pondered for a moment and said, "Only an idiot would really use the human wave tactic. No matter how much effort you put in, there is no guarantee that it will succeed... or it is simply impossible."

"but."

He changed the subject and said, "If we can directly use the power itself to destroy and remove the "rust fog", wouldn't it be more feasible?"

"What do you mean?"

The girls were a little confused when they heard this, and for a moment they didn't quite understand what Xu Shi was saying.

But when Xu Shi roughly explained his idea, their eyes all lit up.

Xu Shi’s meaning was very simple, and it was inspired by the conversation he had just had with Pan Ling.

It is impossible to remove the "rust fog" with personal ability, but they have the technology of "extracting supernatural powers".

So, is it possible to use the extracted superpower samples in this plan?

At the beginning, no one thought of this. Everyone subconsciously felt that superpowers could only work under the control of an "upgrader", and the extracted superpower samples were just superpower samples.

But after talking with Pan Ling just now, Xu Shi also discovered that this long-standing truth does not seem to be correct.

Because it is impossible for "heavenly justice" to find an "upgrader" who can use his ability to influence the "protagonists" in different regions around the world at the same time and provide them with the "protagonist halo". If that were the case, there would be no need to go to great lengths to set up an experimental field. If there is such a heaven-defying existence, can't we just deal with it directly?

They must have used some kind of technology to spread this ability over a large area through "rust mist" to achieve this.

Of course, it's possible that this is just a random analysis between him and his silly apprentice, but how can we know if we don't try it? It may not be impossible, right?

"Rust Mist" itself is the source of supernatural powers for "Ascendants" all over the world. In other words, it is indeed the most natural medium of communication.

"I haven't really thought of doing this... I'm not sure if it will work, but I can try it from this angle."

Jiang Chengcheng said seriously, "But I'm not good at this, so I'll just help Qingyan."

Xie Qingyan did not deny that the technology related to superpower transplantation was of course what she was best at. Extraction, storage, implantation, every step was worked out by her and her team day and night.

only.

"Even if this method is feasible, it only solves the problem of transmission, and the effect will not change."

She was very clear about this, so she continued to analyze, "It's still half an hour of retrospection time, unless..."

"Unless the extracted superpower samples are directly catalyzed or enhanced."

Xu Shi expressed his thoughts, "Apart from the human body's adaptability, you should be able to move your hands and feet more freely?"

"Or maybe we can use the method of supernatural power implantation to directly fuse different samples? I remember that one of Xu Ying's abilities is to enhance the abilities of others. Combining the two might be effective."

"There are still many outsiders' ideas."

Xie Xiaogou smiled with his eyes curved, which obviously coincided with Xu Shi's mood.

She immediately decided to try it from this angle. After all, all kinds of samples were ready-made and she could use them as she pleased.

Yes.

Since she mastered the technique of superpower transplantation, once she captured or encountered a valuable "Upgrader", she would find a way to back up their superpowers. For example, for Xu Ying, Lu Baiyan, Cheng Gujian, and others, she would do this while they were unconscious. This was a necessary procedure.

On the one hand, it was to expand the sample library, and on the other hand, if I did this... even if I couldn't get this person, at least his abilities would be preserved, right? No matter how I thought about it, it wouldn't be a loss.

Lu Baiyan, who was standing by, shuddered. He felt as if he had been hit in the waist while sleeping, and couldn't help feeling a little scared.

Xu Shi didn't say anything else, but suddenly seemed to remember something and looked at Jiang Chengcheng.

"By the way, Chengcheng."

He asked casually, "Speaking of monitoring the Rust Mist and Snake Ring over the years, or in other words, all the records over the past ten years... you should have them, right?"

"of course."

Going out to sea or not, the fact that the Second Wife is the head of the "Snake Ring" engineering department will not change. Since the restoration of communications, she has never neglected the related work and has been controlling it remotely.

Things like monitoring and recording data are part of the engineering department's daily routine, so of course there is information on this.

"But what do you want this for?"

“I want to make a comparison.”

Xu Shi groaned, "Or...it confirms a guess I've always had."

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 316: There is no such thing as a ruined land, only people dying of exhaustion

2023-11-12

Xu Shi’s conjecture is not complicated and has existed for a long time.

That is, is the power of "Tianli" also related to "Rust Mist"?

The first time he realized this was probably when he killed Shen He.

The reason is simple. Ten years ago, for the so-called plot development of Night Sin City, "Tianli" could even use the method of deus ex machina to destroy the two giants in the city, "Refraction" and "Tianhe" overnight.

Being able to do this, one can imagine how terrifying his strength is - to be honest, even Xu Shi himself at present may not be able to do this so cleanly, or even leave a trace.

In addition, the control of "Heavenly Law" over various experimental areas throughout the world always makes people worried.

but.

When he broke or completely changed the direction of the plot, "Heavenly Reason" did not intervene. This seemed to be a very strange thing.

From that time on, Xu Shi began to doubt whether his actions had not broken their bottom line or...

Are they no longer capable of such forced intervention?

He was not in a hurry to draw a conclusion at the beginning, and his original purpose of going to sea was also exploratory - to use further expansion and exploration of the world to try to find the illusory bottom line of "heavenly justice".

however.

Even as things have developed to this point, the attitude of "Heavenly Law" is still somewhat ambiguous - the most intuitive point is probably the compromise-like decision they showed when they had a brief contact with me through Miss Saint in the "Threshold Space".

To be honest, as an "outsider", you turned another experimental area upside down, or conquered another experimental area. Such a big thing, but in the end it was just "abandoned". This is a very strange thing in itself.

At least that's what Xu Shi thought. If he put himself in his shoes, and if someone did such a thing under his nose, he would definitely eliminate such a threat at all costs and put the Hualan Empire back on track.

After all, although the protagonist of this generation was destroyed without any honor, the Hualan Empire as a whole did not encounter any major problems. It was still functioning and did not turn into a scorched earth ruin.

In this case, wouldn't it be better to resolve the restlessness of outsiders and restart?

Even if he could take a step back and not be so radical, he would never just leave it alone and give up the experimental area he had worked so hard to build.

This doesn't make sense, right? For the sake of the plot development of area A, a deus ex machina can be used, while area B is completely disrupted and no one cares about it. Is area B the product of a stepmother?

But if we take the lack of "natural power" as the premise, it seems to be explainable.

The "natural law" ten years ago is certainly not the same as the "natural law" now. Perhaps they have encountered some changes during this period of time?

Xu Shi had an idea in his mind. There must be many other experimental areas like them in the world, not just the Night Sin City and the Hualan Empire.

Everyone is under the supervision of "natural law". If a big change really happens somewhere, it is possible to weaken, or even greatly weaken their strength, thus triggering a series of butterfly effects.

Under the premise of insufficient strength, their handling methods will definitely change, and the corresponding standards and bottom lines will be lowered again and again.

It’s a simple truth that you should eat according to the size of your bowl.

So, the question is, what exactly is this change?

This is one of the few things in Boss Xu's life that is difficult to confirm. It can even be said that there is no clue at all - there are few clues about "natural law" and it is not easy to analyze.

But now he has it, and the inspiration comes from his previous conversation with Pan Ling.

Because the situations in each experimental area are different, in addition to the protection of "supervisors", "Heavenly Law" must also have a universal means of supervision, and it must be a means that can deal with various different situations.

This is the so-called master key.

In order to achieve this, it is necessary to use the medium of "Rust Mist" - implanting the protagonist's halo into the chosen one is the best example, and similarly, deus ex machina can actually be achieved in this way.

Or, it seems that it can only be achieved in this way.

The advantage of doing this is that "Heavenly Principle" can be used in this way at any time and in any place, and the technology they have is definitely enough for them to adjust the degree of mechanical deification.

But the disadvantages are also obvious. "Heavenly Law" does not have the ability to completely control the "Rust Mist" - if they have this ability, then no one would play it, and they would not bother trying to clear the "Rust Mist". This is illogical, right?

So, once the "Rust Mist" mutates, or their technology is not enough to control the "Rust Mist", this problem will arise.

Jiang Chengcheng was asked to pull out the "rust fog" monitoring data of the past ten years to support this point, and the results obtained were similar to his conjecture.

The most intuitive data is that in the past decade, the concentration of "rust fog" in the air, or the "rust fog" layer hanging over everyone's heads, has been increasing. So far, the increase has been basically around 7%.

It may not sound like much at first glance, but "Rust Mist" is extremely dangerous. Let alone 7%, even 0.7% is terrifying.

Especially technical experts like Jiang Chengcheng and Xie Qingyan, who need to deal with "rust mist" all the time, feel this even more deeply - it may be okay with ore, but if gaseous "rust mist" is needed as the basic raw material, even the slightest change requires a lot of adjustments, which is simply too tiring.

However, Master Xu Shi and his disciples and Lu Baiyan were still very shocked - the latter two were because their own city-state did not have such high-tech monitoring methods, and the former... How could this guy have ever cared about these things before?

In addition, this kind of growth happens little by little over time, and for those who don't care, it really won't attract much attention.

Even if this is very intuitive and can be found by searching.

However, it was this factor that was so obvious that it seemed like a slap in the face, but it actually strangled the lifeblood of "Heavenly Law" - it was obvious that they were also unable to cope with the increasingly rampant "Rust Mist", which led to the loss of their original advantage.