153 The Mystery of the End Times Part 1
After the picnic, the group returned to the scientific institute before it got dark. As they entered the institute, Zhuang Yao’s assistant informed him that Tang Tingzhi was waiting for them.
Zhuang Yao’s spirits lifted, saying, “Let’s go together and see if it’s related to Shen Changze’s breakthrough to the Second Stage or to the Sea Dragon.”
They immediately went to the laboratory, where Tang Tingzhi and Shen Changze were waiting for them.
As soon as Zhuang Yao entered the lab, he asked, “How is it? Any results?”
Tang Tingzhi nodded, his eyes showing a hint of excitement. His expressive face contrasted sharply with his usual lack of expression. “Yes, it has been confirmed that it is indeed the same species as the Sea Dragon, but we can’t determine for sure if it’s the tendon yet.”
“Didn’t you have a Sea Dragon before to compare with?”
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“Mbl cseu sq vbl Fly Paytsd oyp ryavkyzzu vyjld yoyu cu vbl Gxlaknydp yv vbyv vkxl, yde vbl svbla ryavp olal ekpplnvle zsdt yts ewakdt vblpl vbkavu ulyap. El nyd’v nsdqkax kv ulv, yde ol yal tayewyzzu nsxryakdt kv okvb ekqqlaldv ryavp sq kvp cseu. Uwaaldvzu, ol nyddsv ekpnzspl vbkp kdqsaxyvksd vs vbl Gxlaknydp. Rq ol nyd’v qkde y xyvnb, vbld ol okzz plde vblx vbl pyxrzl qsa nsxryakpsd.”
Hbwydt Zys aykple yd lulcaso, “Gal usw blal vs ypj xl qsa y pyxrzl, vbld?”
Mydt Mkdtgbk pyke, “Kwpv y qlo pzknlp okzz cl ldswtb; kv osd’v vyjl xwnb.”
“Gzaktbv, R’zz cakdt usw psxl vbkp yqvladssd.”
“Rd yeekvksd…” Mydt Mkdtgbk zssjle yv Fbld Ubydtgl.
Fbld Ubydtgl pyke vs Usdt Dky, “R’hl lmrlakldnle vbl ralxsdkvsau pktdp usw xldvksdle. Ls xyvvla bso xwnb R ycpsac vbl qall Uyxcakyd ldlatu kd vbl osaze, vbl ldlatu dwnzlwp ds zsdtla nbydtlp. R nyd yzps qllz vbyv vbl ldlatu dwnzlwp kp yzalyeu qwzz. Uswze kv cl vbyv kv’p alynble vbl nakvknyz rskdv?”
Usdt Dky alrzkle, “Zlp, vbl vos sq wp blal yal ycswv vs ldvla vbl pyxl pvyvl. Vzlypl oykv y qlo xsal eyup. Ubldt Mkydck kp vbl xspv lmrlakldnle, zlv bkx yppkpv usw kd calyjkdt vbaswtb vs vbl Flnsde Fvytl.”
Fbld Ubydtgl dseele, qwaasokdt bkp casop. “Mblpl eyup, R qllz vbyv vbl ldlatu kd xu cseu kp psxlobyv nbysvkn, wdzkjl clqsal obld kv oyp pvyczl. Ps usw yzz qllz vbl pyxl?”
Cheng Tianbi shook his head, and both Tang Yanqiu and Liu Fengyu also shook theirs.
Cong Xia expressed concern, “They have been practicing longer than you, and at least 85% of your energy nucleus is filled by Puppet Jade. However, it’s different for them. I can’t determine the difference between the Cambrian energy released by Puppet Jade and the free Cambrian energy in the world. However, we have seen the results of animals rapidly evolving solely through Puppet Jade. Therefore, we have concluded that relying on Puppet Jade to induce evolution is unsafe, and the method of filling the energy nucleus through cultivation seems to be safer, at least based on Cheng Tianbi’s successful breakthrough to the Second Stage. So, I am very worried that you, and many others here who rely on Puppet Jade for evolution, may be in danger when breaking through to the Second Stage.”
Shen Changze said, “This is also our concern. I haven’t touched Puppet Jade for the past two months. However, we have been relying on Puppet Jade for evolution for over nine months, and perhaps it’s too late to change anything now.”
Zhuang Yao said, “Don’t worry too much. Firstly, we can’t determine at which stage those animals exploded. We can only speculate that it was a First Stage breakthrough to the Second Stage, but we can’t determine the state of their energy nucleus. Secondly, the experiments we conducted were all on animals; there has been no occurrence of human explosions so far. Although this cannot prove that humans won’t face destruction, the evolutionary speed of humans has always been weaker than other species.
The lower the species, the faster the evolution, and vice versa. This is the law of this end times. Also, other species have not encountered the inability to reproduce; instead, they are accelerating their reproduction. Only humans have lost the ability to reproduce. Since there is such a huge difference between other species and humans, especially in terms of evolutionary speed and manifestation, we have reason to speculate that humans are not as prone to evolve to the ultimate level, at least their speed should be slower. However, even if other animals die quickly, they have offspring to fill the gap.”
Tang Tingzhi nodded, “We have considered all these factors. Regardless, evolution is not something we can choose, and it is irreversible. The Second Stage is a threshold that we will face sooner or later. Right now, we can only give it our all and strive to break through to the Second Stage safely.”
Shen Changze looked at his hand and asked, “After breaking through to the Second Stage, will I be able to elementalize as well?” His expression was filled with anticipation. The complete elementalization of the body represented a tremendous transformation in abilities. Now that news of Cheng Tianbi’s body being able to elementalize had spread throughout Beijing, many people, not just Shen Changze, but also the other five natural force evolutionists, were eager to see the changes that would occur after their breakthrough to the Second Stage.
Zhuang Yao said, “Most natural force evolutionists start elementalizing at the Second Stage. I believe Cheng Tianbi is not an exception.”
Tang Tingzhi said, “Xiao Zhuang Yao, have you thought about what it would be like for Cerebral Domain Evolutionists to break through to the Second Stage?”
Zhuang Yao replied, “I have had many speculations. Currently, Professor Cai from District Five is the most powerful in Domain Evolution, right?”
“Yes, he used to be obsessed with the rapid evolution brought by Puppet Jade, but he stopped touching Puppet Jade after those experimental cases. How much has your energy nucleus developed?”
“About 60% to 70%, what about you?”
“Around 80%, I also used Puppet Jade for strengthening for over half a year.”
Zhuang Yao nodded, “I have allocated more time for cultivation now. I aim to break through to the Second Stage within this year.”
Cong Xia said, “At the latest, within another half year, we should all break through to the Second Stage. You and Xiao Deng might be slightly slower, but it shouldn’t be a problem before the end of the year.”
Zhuang Yao looked at him and said, “Actually, what I’m most looking forward to is the changes that will occur after you break through to the Second Stage and the state of your energy nucleus.”
Cong Xia was taken aback for a moment and smiled, “It’s approaching 90%. In another two to three months, I’ll reach the critical point. As for the changes after the Second Stage, I haven’t really thought about it. First of all, I’m sure the amount of energy I can hold will increase, and secondly, the absorption and output speed will also become faster.”
“At that time, you will surely discover more uses for Cambrian energy.”
Cong Xia’s heart was also full of anticipation because of Cheng Tianbi’s successful example. Every mutant looked forward to the enhancements they could gain after breaking through to the Second Stage.
Zhuang Yao said, “By the way, I heard that Yao Qianjiang and Li Dao’ai have both returned. Did they bring back Puppet Jade?”
“Yao Qianjiang brought back one, which can be considered as saving face after returning empty-handed from the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and suffering serious injuries last time. Li Dao’ai failed and lost the vice-captain of one of his squads.”
“What happened? What did Li Dao’ai encounter in Hunan?”
“A collective fur-evolved army of Yellow Weasels, with an average body length of 1.2 meters.”
Cong Xia frowned, “Yellow Weasels? Fur evolution?”
Zhuang Yao said, “What? Do you think animals only keep getting bigger? They can also evolve new abilities and hybridize with other creatures. The most interesting animal hybrid I’ve seen recently was a mix of a lion and a crow.”
“No, of course not. I know that. It’s just that the entire group has fur-evolved. The effect of Puppet Jade is truly amazing.”
Tang Tingzhi said, “For missions involving Puppet Jade retrieval, the difficulty level is rated at A or above. The failure rate is over 70%, so it’s not surprising that Li Dao’ai failed.”
Zhuang Yao asked, “Can you tell us the difficulty rating for these missions?”
“The mission difficulty is rated from D to SS, with D/C/B/A/AA/S/SS grades. D/C level missions are general tasks, where we send a squad of soldiers or 20 mutants depending on the situation. Missions involving Puppet Jade are rated at B or above, requiring a team leader-level individual to lead the team or one to two squads of armed forces, such as the Puppet Jade incident in Luoyang. A or above requires natural force evolutionists to lead the team personally, or a battalion of armed forces. AA level requires at least a regiment of armed forces, plus two or more natural force evolutionists leading the team. Note that it’s not ‘either/or’; the armed forces and natural force evolutionists must work together. However, in many cases, it’s difficult to meet these conditions because the movement of armed forces over long distances consumes too many resources and is almost impossible to achieve.”
“And what about S and SS levels?”
“We haven’t encountered those levels yet.”
“What about the Big Wild Goose Pagoda mission?”
“AA level.”
Liu Fengyu rolled his eyes, “As expected, we’re seriously below standard. When we went to Xi’an, we were only assigned a single squad, and the weaponry was inadequate.”
Tang Tingzhi said, “It’s unavoidable. It’s precisely because large-scale troop movements are restricted that the role of mutants, being able to take on hundreds, becomes so significant. We are currently working on researching new alternative energy sources, striving to use Cambrian energy to solve the increasingly severe energy crisis. When that time comes, the long-distance movement of armed forces won’t be a problem.”
Cheng Tianbi asked, “Then, what level is Devil Pine?”
Tang Tingzhi said solemnly, “SS level. Devil Pine and the Qinghai Devil’s Domain are currently tied at SS level. As for the threat posed by the Marine Tribe, it’s currently incalculable. I’m afraid it has already surpassed our mission difficulty evaluation system.”
“Qinghai Devil’s Domain?” This was the first time they had heard of this term.
“Yes, in this past year, because we are currently implementing the signal recovery work for large cities nationwide, we have intermittently received some distress signals from Qinghai. These signals were sent out several months ago and were destined for various parts of the country. The information we got from the signals is limited due to the unstable signals and short duration.
However, there are several common points mentioned in all the signals. First, Qinghai has fallen completely, and ordinary humans can hardly survive there, while mutant humans can barely get by. Second, the attack capability of mutant plants and animals is extremely strong, and their level of evolution is very high. Third, Qinghai has a Misty Forest that you can enter but cannot exit. Moreover, there is not just one such Misty Forest. Due to Qinghai’s vast territory and sparse population, there’s hardly any news of people leaving Qinghai. We are currently searching nationwide for anyone who has successfully left Qinghai, hoping to obtain more information, but we haven’t found anyone yet.”
Cong Xia exclaimed, “That’s so terrifying.”
Tang Tingzhi said, “It’s a bit early to talk about that now. We need to be well-prepared before going to Qinghai. At the very least, we need to have some understanding of the Misty Forest there. Otherwise, if we go in and can’t come out, it would be a total disaster. Currently, most of our efforts are focused on researching Devil Pine. We have recently discussed forming a team to gather intelligence on Devil Pine, and that team includes you, the Dragonblood clan, and the Liudao Huangquan.”
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