Chapter 382: Lu Xiao’s Advancement
Lu Xiao happily finished two large bowls and sighed, “When I get old, I’ll retire here.”
“You’re welcome anytime,” Zhuang Mingxu said, handing him a cup of hot ginger tea to balance out the crab’s chill.
“I still need to fight a bit more,” Lu Xiao leaned comfortably on the sofa. In the center of the living room, an old TV played a Japanese film with soft background music. The peace was intoxicating.
“I thought you and Zhao Qiang would separate.”
“Worried Zheng Yi would make a move behind our backs?” Lu Xiao directly addressed his concern.
“Yeah,” Zhuang Mingxu admitted. Their departure was the best opportunity for someone to act—if he were in their shoes, he might try something too.
“I left through the front gate of the base. Zhao Qiang claimed he was going into closed-door training to level up and left quietly.” Lu Xiao brought a lot of people and supplies—it was impossible to hide, so he chose to be upfront about coming to visit.
With that settled, Lu Xiao didn’t waste time. He got straight to the point, asking when he could undergo his upgrade. “Zhao Qiang said he’d keep things covered at the base, but who knows if word will get out to other factions. We should get this done and head back quickly.”
Zhuang Mingxu looked at Lu Weiyi.
“Anytime,” Lu Weiyi replied.
“Then let’s do it now,” Lu Xiao said without hesitation.
Without further delay, Lu Weiyi took him to the South Island. It was pitch-black all around, the roads uneven. The sightseeing cart’s lights swayed with every bump—Lu Xiao felt like he might throw up everything he’d eaten.
“Why are we coming here?”
“It’s remote. If there’s any issue with energy control, it won’t affect the surroundings.”
Lu Xiao had no experience, so he chose to go along with what the others said. Under the dim light, he glanced around and could sense soft rustling noises in the surrounding darkness. “There’s nothing dangerous on this island, right?”
“…There’s a mutated creature on the island. Probably Class A,” Zhuang Mingxu replied.
“Almost S-Class,” added Li Zhuang, who had discovered on a previous mission that ability user crystal cores could also be used for upgrades. He had killed several ability users and dug out their crystal cores to bring back. Lu Weiyi didn’t want to use them on people, so he fed them to a mutated climbing vine. It was now close to an upgrade.
“…Then why the hell are we still here?” Lu Xiao nearly jumped up in alarm.
“It’s under the control of a plant-type ability user from our base,” Zhuang Mingxu didn’t tell the full truth. “It guards certain things here and won’t attack humans without reason.”
Lu Xiao suspected he was hallucinating. “A mutated plant… as a guard?”
As soon as he finished speaking, he caught the shadow of something like an aircraft passing under the light in the corner of his vision. “Am I seeing things? I think I saw… a plane?”
“You’re not wrong. A plane, a helicopter, even a fighter jet,” Lu Weiyi said proudly.
“These things… aren’t usable anymore, right?”
“Not now, but who knows in a few years,” Lu Weiyi said with full confidence. “If they can’t be used then, we can take them apart for metal. Some parts are rare and expensive. Metal-type ability users can recombine them and use them in other areas.”
Lu Weiyi spoke earnestly: “Uncle, every time I go out now, I feel like everything outside is a treasure. The twisted steel in collapsed buildings, alloy window frames, shattered glass — all incredibly useful.”
“…You…” Lu Xiao was silent for a moment, then said, “You’re really good at making do.”
Zhuang Mingxu was thoroughly amused by the comment, unsure whether it was praise or criticism. He then started telling Lu Xiao all about Lu Weiyi’s wild ideas assigning ability users to all kinds of part-time jobs.
“Metal types for machine repairs? Lightning types for power generation? Water types to manage ice cellars?” Lu Xiao was astonished, observing a moment of silence for the squad members. “Xiao Yì, maybe tone it down a bit. If they snap one day and all come after you together, even I won’t be able to save you from a thousand miles away.”
“Don’t worry, Uncle. Abilities are all forced out of necessity. They’re used to it,” Lu Weiyi didn’t think he was being unreasonable at all. He even sighed that he’d become smarter lately.
The vehicle stopped only when they reached near the center of the island. The three of them got out. Lu Weiyi took out a bag of crystal cores.
Seeing that even the lowest grade in the bag was Class A, Lu Xiao quickly took out the ones he had prepared. “I brought mine. Let’s use these.”
Most of his were Class B; Class A ones didn’t even make up half, though he had enough in quantity.
“Let’s trade then. Quite a few in the team haven’t reached Class A yet — these will be perfect for them.” Lu Weiyi accepted his crystals and handed over his own.
Lu Xiao didn’t stand on ceremony. Higher-grade crystals meant less quantity was needed, and a higher chance of survival during the upgrade.
Holding the crystal, he seemed like he wanted to say something, but in the end, he just patted Lu Weiyi on the shoulder without speaking.
“You might sweat a lot, Uncle, so drink something to stay hydrated. It’ll be painful, but once you get through it, you’ll be fine.” Lu Weiyi handed him a peach milkshake.
Lu Xiao drank it without hesitation, then turned and sat beneath a tree.
As soon as the crystal absorption began, a wave of intense pain surged through him. A seasoned front-line fighter like Lu Xiao couldn’t even hold it in — he collapsed to the ground, writhing in agony.
“Hang in there, Uncle,” Lu Weiyi stood to the side watching.
Zhuang Mingxu watched the scene silently. No matter how many times he saw it, he always thought of the pain Lu Weiyi had endured during his own upgrade.
The hardest moments passed quickly, though they likely felt eternal to Lu Xiao. In reality, only a few minutes went by.
Once the pain subsided, his body was drenched in sweat and a putrid stench clung to him. He didn’t even have the strength to sit up.
“Keep absorbing the crystal,” Lu Weiyi handed him the one that had fallen.
Lu Xiao forced himself to concentrate and resumed absorbing the core.
Thanks to the purifying effect of the peach, the rest of the upgrade went smoothly.
Lu Weiyi released his mental energy, driving away the mutated climbing vine that had crept closer, and also scattered the surrounding small animals. He then spoke softly with Zhuang Mingxu about the base’s latest developments.
“How’s Zhu?ng Mòbái doing? We’re almost out of that material,” Lu Weiyi sounded worried — the last of the snow water was nearly used up, and there was still no solution in sight.
“He hadn’t made a breakthrough for a while, but recently Lù X? heard about his project and discussed some ideas with him. Not long after, Zhu?ng Mòbái came up with a new approach. He showed me the results a few days ago — he’s already able to produce the desired effect using machines. It’s even purer than what you achieve by visual estimation.”
“I have to say, your little brother’s a genius. Zhu?ng Mòbái praised him repeatedly. He even wanted to take Lù X? as a student, but Lù X? turned him down flat, saying he’s more interested in weapons development. He’s been telling me what a pity it is ever since.”
Zhuang Mingxu thought that if Lù X? had been interested, he might have developed the whole thing by now.
“So does this mean I won’t have to…” Lu Weiyi asked.
“Not yet. He can make it now, but it’s very slow and entirely manual. It requires constant observation. I’ve told him to try shifting the process toward automation, but that’s easier said than done,” Zhuang Mingxu replied with a frown.
“We need to hurry. My supply can’t keep up,” Lu Weiyi said, and that was with their purified crystals being strictly limited to a few squads and absolutely banned from being circulated externally.
“I’ll find a way.”
The two chatted for quite a while. Meanwhile, Lu Xiao’s upgrade finished quickly. As expected, he couldn’t fully control the energy during the transition, and the resulting burst of power made it seem like a hurricane had swept through the surrounding trees. If Lu Weiyi hadn’t used his abilities to shield them, Zhuang Mingxu might have been blown away on the spot.
“This energy is insanely powerful—it’s no wonder it can be used as a weapon source,” Zhuang Mingxu said with a mix of awe and unease.
“A single uncontrolled explosion from an SS-level crystal core could destroy half a city.”
“How do you know that?”
Because I tried it.
Lu Weiyi didn’t answer. Zhuang Mingxu didn’t press the issue, instead asking, “If our base stores enough SS-level crystal cores, could we eventually replace other energy sources entirely and develop a clean, pollution-free energy system?”
“Not likely,” Lu Weiyi denied. “Think about how many crystal cores an SS-level esper needs.”
“Take me for example. At C-level, I could absorb up to 10 crystal cores a day, 300 a month. I used about 400 to reach B-level. After that, I could absorb over 20 a day, and after four months, I hit A-level, which took over 2,000 cores.”
“Then I could take in over 40 a day, and after six months, I used over 4,000 to reach S-level. Then it went up to 70 a day, and within two months, I advanced to SS-level—it took more than 10,000, close to 40,000 if you convert them all to C-level equivalents.”
“Not to mention, once my level got higher, I barely used lower-grade crystal cores anymore. So just for me to upgrade, it took the equivalent of 50,000 zombies—that’s assuming the shortest possible timeframe and constant access to purified cores. For others, it would likely take 1.5 to 2 times more.”
“Even if zombies are plentiful now, how many SS-level espers or zombies can we realistically raise? As long as humanity continues to progress, zombies will eventually be wiped out.”
Zhuang Mingxu did the math, but then another thought struck him. “Have you noticed an increase in mutated animals and plants?”
“What do you mean?”
“Last time we went to Cangnan, I felt like mutated animals were reproducing much faster. And even those without abilities often had crystal cores inside. Those cores seem more compatible for human absorption than zombie cores. So, what if… in the future, mutated plants and animals became another source of cores? At the very least…”
“Could we try cultivating mutated organisms?”
Lu Weiyi was stunned into silence. He turned in the dark to look at Zhuang Mingxu and realized that compared to his own half-baked clever ideas, this was genuinely impressive thinking.
“Hahaha, Xiao Yi, your uncle is officially an S-level esper now!” Lu Xiao’s laughter broke the moment as a circle of fireballs lit up the surroundings like daylight.
Lu Weiyi snapped out of it, gave Zhuang Mingxu an approving nod, and said, “You should definitely try it,” before walking over to Lu Xiao.
