Da Lou let out a sigh: "The monsters we’re encountering are becoming more troublesome. My superpower growth is too slow. I’m worried I won’t be able to help you and Brother Xian."
"What are you talking about?" Sha Sha punched her brother’s arm: "You’ve gotten much stronger than before. You held off that terrifying monster tide with just a knife for several hours, even stronger than my Sally. How can you say your growth is slow?"
"Besides, didn’t Brother Lin say he’ll make you a set of power armor tailored to your size? You don’t need to worry."
Da Lou nodded at hearing this. He knew his superpower had improved a lot since North Bay, but the monsters they encountered along the way became more fierce, giving him a feeling of growing stronger yet weaker. He thought of Lu Yong, who sacrificed himself beside him. A brave man can’t fend off a pack of wolves...
Sha Sha noticed Da Lou’s somewhat desolate expression, knowing her brother was under a lot of pressure, so she said,
"Brother, the problem in Xilan City isn’t just something a superpower user can solve. So many planes and guns, Brother Lin even drove that large mecha, countless people sacrificed themselves for a hard-earned victory. It shows that facing these dark creatures, relying solely on our current personal means, it’s tough to win. Don’t think too much. Also, didn’t the Nightwalkers teach during the superpower testing that the development of superpowers has a lot of potential? You should delve into that area more."
Hearing this, Da Lou’s brows relaxed: "You’re right."
He immediately got up and walked to Lu Xingchen’s room, wanting to ask him for advice on superpower development since this kid loved researching superpowers. During the Xilan City defense battle, the new skill he used was several times more powerful than before, obviously having gained something.
Unexpectedly, as Da Lou reached the door, he saw Lu Xingchen sitting inside drinking tea, secretly pulling down his sleeve, looking somewhat unnatural as he glanced over and said,
"You need something from me?"
"Oh, I just..." Da Lou scratched his head, noticing Lu Xingchen was wrapped in thick clothing, feeling a bit strange but said nothing, instead stating his purpose: "I just wanted to ask you about any development directions for my Blood Qi Power."
"Didn’t the handbook from the Phoenix Society have suggestions?" Lu Xingchen’s eyes dimmed slightly, speaking with a hint of detachment.
Da Lou opened his mouth, sensing Lu Xingchen seemed somewhat downcast, so he quickly said: "Uh, alright."
With that said, he turned to leave, thought for a moment, then added: "Uh... Brother Lu, if there’s anything bothering you, just relax. Brother Xian gave me a bottle of white liquor before, which I’ve been saving. How about we have a drink?"
Lu Xingchen directly shook his head, refusing.
Seeing Da Lou turn away, a hint of reluctance emerged in Lu Xingchen’s complex expression as he suddenly said,
"The characteristic of your Blood Qi Power is it’s got a very strong self-healing ability. The stronger the Blood Energy, the greater the strength. This indicates your body’s life force is very strong, meaning your resistance to the environment, dark intrusion, and neural paralysis is likely stronger than other superpower users. So perhaps your resistance to the toxins in black smoke and Blood Essence might also be greater. Of course...that’s just my guess."
Da Lou froze upon hearing this, understanding what Lu Xingchen meant. The black smoke from Abnormal Bodies after death, including the dark intrusion power carried in Blood Essence, is highly destructive to both body and spirit. Most people need to seek a balance, but for superpowers like Da Lou’s, the resistance threshold might be higher.
This suggests that although physical-type powers seem to have limited potential, the survival rate in darkness should not be low. Thinking this way, it seems understandable why physical-type superpower users are generally more common and enhance considerably through combat.
Da Lou nodded, looked back at Lu Xingchen once more, and said: "Alright, I got it."
Seeing Da Lou leave, Lu Xingchen let out a long sigh. At this time, he again raised his wrist sleeve, revealing blue-black dark patterns crawling over his wrist, with numerous hyphae spreading across his skin, looking incredibly eerie.
"It seems that my path of cultivation in this life ends here..."
He then looked up at his impeccably tidy room, the makeup mirror, little tea table, the tea maker crafted by Lin Xian, the doll sent by Sha Sha, and couldn’t help but sigh.
"Brother Lin, I’m sorry."
[Scan successful, obtained Super High Temperature Plasma Beam Wire Cutting Array (Blueprint)]
[Devour successful, Mechanical Source Point +120, Mechanical Devouring Skill Proficiency +40]
At the Zero Element Center’s passage entrance, Lin Xian spent over an hour finally sorting out this setup. Strictly speaking, this setup was solely designed for this passage. The scanned blueprint was for a very peculiar rail array configuration, so to use it on the Infinity, Lin Xian would have to modify the blueprint.
Checking the time, it was already 2 AM. Calculating from the time, there were about 20 more hours until the next mycelium activity period.
"I’ll sort out a few more unused devices, then head back to work on equipment."
The materials at the decomposition center were almost ready. Lin Xian intended, after sorting out [Grace], to proceed with the manufacturing of the electromagnetic gun. Besides that, the mechanical arm in Carriage 11 was missing one unit, and there was also the bullet press...
Lin Xian considered that after breaking through from here, they’d integrate the Sunshine Team into the Infinity. Luo Yang and Li Yi were good people; Uncle Wu and Uncle Liao, these retired veterans, risked their lives to protect them. Then Luo Yang and the others chose to join Lin Xian by converting their entire convoy into a train. With such sincerity, Lin Xian had no reason to refuse.