48: Ability Advancement

"G3-grade metal wreckage..."

"TR-3 particle cannon phased out by the Free Star Alliance 140 years ago (damaged)..."

"Intrepid-class mecha second-generation semi-finished product..."

"They really are all treasures..."

In the storage room beneath the castle, viewing the piles of junk stacked high in the warehouse through the robot's vision, even Zhang Huaiyuan, despite being mentally prepared, couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.

This... doesn't seem much better than when he was wandering before.

The only consolation was a small pile of standard energy stones stacked in the corner.

There were about 3 million, worth approximately 2.7 million Star Coins.

"Where did you scavenge all these things from? Are you Interstellar Pirates... really that indiscriminate with what you eat?"

"Ahem... Master. Although these things aren't worth much, they are all testaments to the glory of our Lightning Pirate Gang. The instructor at the Interstellar Pirates training class said that when you succeed, looking back at the road you traveled will be very meaningful, hehe."

"Interstellar Pirates training class... I see..."

Zhang Huaiyuan looked at York, who still seemed quite proud of himself, and suddenly realized.

No wonder pirate culture is so prevalent in the Free Star Alliance, and even such weak Pirate Groups can live perfectly well; it turns out they are all intentionally raised leeks.

"Since that's the case, you can keep these glories as mementos; I'll just take those."

Zhang Huaiyuan shook his head and immediately ordered the construction robot to move that pile of energy stones into the storage space in its abdomen.

Three million standard energy stones, although not much, were enough to maintain the energy consumption of all his current robots for one year.

"It's a pity there are no usable mineral resources. I wonder if there are any usable hidden mineral veins inside this planet."

"And the control issue also needs a foolproof solution."

Zhang Huaiyuan's gaze returned to York, who was standing to the side.

In the future, there will likely be more and more captives, including some powerful ability users. Killing them directly would be too wasteful.

The combination of a thought wave monitor and a micro-bomb can only ensure that these people have no chance to leak secrets; it is not foolproof.

It works fine against a novice like York, but if he encounters some ruthless people who aren't afraid of death, and they suddenly detonate themselves during inspections like the one through the wormhole just now, even if it can't hurt him, it will cause huge trouble.

As a Researcher, Zhang Huaiyuan preferred everything to be under his control.

"The safest method is to modify memories. It seems necessary to design a biological modification experimental center."

Zhang Huaiyuan's brain, which had been enhanced many times, began to run at high speed, flashing through various feasible plans and concepts.

"Master, a small black crystal mineral vein has been discovered 700 meters below!"

Just as he was deep in thought, Asroth's slightly excited voice suddenly rang out.

"What! How much are the reserves?"

Zhang Huaiyuan's eyes suddenly lit up.

Black crystal, similar in performance to the titanium alloys of his pre-transmigration world, is one of the basic materials required for the vast majority of high-grade alloys and is extremely valuable.

"Preliminary estimates suggest no more than 300,000 tons, but the grade is extremely high. In the collected samples, it averages about 10 grams per ton."

"That means a total of about 3 tons of black crystal can be refined. This is truly good news."

Zhang Huaiyuan did a quick calculation, couldn't help but reveal a smile on his face, and ordered:

"Very good, continue the exploration."

...

Three months later.

On an experimental table displaying silver robot wreckage, Zhang Huaiyuan was carefully manipulating several high-precision robotic arms to dismantle parts of the core.

A moment later, the light in his eyes gradually faded, he let out a soft sigh, and exited his work state.

"Huh... it actually pushed Creatology progress to 25% all at once."

A smile he couldn't suppress appeared on Zhang Huaiyuan's face.

After this period of study and research, the remaining progress for his extraordinary level was finally filled, and he successfully advanced to Rank A.

Taking advantage of the ability advancement, his brain expanding once more, and the moment of bursting inspiration, he immediately threw himself into the research of this robot wreckage.

Sure enough, many things he couldn't understand before now had a lead, and his mastery progress increased significantly.

The algorithm that previously seemed perfect now appeared full of loopholes, and in an instant, he had dozens of improvement plans.

"But there's no rush for this; I was in such a hurry to study before that I didn't have time to research the changes after the advancement."

Zhang Huaiyuan stretched, loosened up his muscles a bit, and then focused his mind on himself.

Classification: Carbon-based lifeform.

Ability Mastered: Playing in the mortal world (Current world assimilation progress: 25%).

extraordinary level: A (19721 / 5000000).

Ability gained secondary advancement effect: Now, you can further see deeper-level data.

"Deeper-level data... Asroth, pull up the surveillance view of York and the others."

Zhang Huaiyuan commanded thoughtfully.

Soon, a slightly nervous face appeared on the light screen.

In addition to the previous information like "Ability" and "Favorability," two more lines of data appeared below.

Luck Value: 13 (Average for an ordinary person is 0-5).

Can activate True Sight.

"Luck... looks like he's a guy with pretty good luck. No wonder he could discover a black crystal mineral vein on the planet he chose to lease."

Zhang Huaiyuan instinctively looked at himself and discovered that his luck was not displayed.

"Does it only apply to others again..."

Zhang Huaiyuan switched the monitoring equipment to look around at the other members of the Lightning Pirate Gang; almost all were below 5, with only one reaching 7 points.

"This data is important... at least I won't let the tiger return to the mountain due to underestimating the enemy. If I encounter an enemy with high luck, even if they have no power to truss a chicken, I'll arrange a full set of orbital cannon meals for them regardless."

"What 'thirty years east of the river'... just fast-forward to 'the dead are supreme'..."

Zhang Huaiyuan thought with a wicked sense of humor. A moment later, his gaze returned to the last line of data—Can activate True Sight.

"Activate."

He silently recited in his heart, focused his will on the ability, and suddenly felt a flash before his eyes as a bizarre world slowly emerged.

"This... this seems to be refined down to the microscopic level of every cell in the body; even the arrangement of the constituent molecules, atoms, and even neutrons is clearly visible. Wait... if that's the case, perhaps..."

A flash of inspiration suddenly struck Zhang Huaiyuan's mind, and he quickly switched his focus to the extraordinary ability gene chain maps he had collected earlier.

In an instant, the structure that was originally complex and difficult to understand broke down into more detailed analysis.

It was just like a complex calculation problem; originally you were only given the answer, but now every step of the calculation process was displayed in detail.

"So that's how it is... it's truly beautiful. To think it could be combined in this way; why didn't I think of it at the beginning!"

For a time, Zhang Huaiyuan felt as if he had found a treasure, and with an obsessed expression, he began to study the extraordinary maps stored in his mind.

The professional rank and Transcendent Deconstruction Theory, which had been stagnant for a long time, also rapidly improved at an unimaginable speed.