7: World order and capabilities

Fifth Temporary Survival Zone, Manhake Camp.

This is the headquarters of the Dark Annihilation mercenary group, and also one of its most prosperous camps.

Stationed with tens of thousands of elite soldiers and guarded by two complete small fleets, its safety coefficient is second only to the Imperial Mining Zone.

At this moment, near the northeast of the camp, a young man wearing a black protective suit walked out of a building that hung a sign reading "Dark Annihilation Information Integration Center" and occupied an area of tens of thousands of square meters.

It was exactly Zhang Huaiyuan, who had returned with "Lord Dark Annihilation." His face was filled with irrepressible excitement.

Ten days ago.

A total of 187 people participated in the Transcendent awakening, of which 184 failed to succeed within three attempts.

Except for himself and the young master of Dark Annihilation, only one person underwent a fourth awakening and obtained the Transcendent ability "Float."

Its effect was naturally useless in this world where mechas are popularized, and it was rated as bottom-tier.

In the end, among those who went, only he was invited to join Dark Annihilation.

And he was granted the status of a one-star Researcher by "Lord Dark Annihilation," allowing him to freely enter and exit all non-confidential data storage areas.

These days, he has been immersed here, cramming common sense about this world and knowledge related to Transcendent powers.

"It really is an eye-opener... Just a mercenary group in a remote galaxy actually has such rich collections."

Zhang Huaiyuan sighed in his heart.

He finally had a general understanding of this world.

In the records of the "Dark Annihilation" library, there are three known powerful forces remaining.

They are the Star Dome Empire here, the Orr Empire in the west, and the Free Star Alliance in the south.

And in the north of the starry sky, there was originally a powerful country.

But 372 years ago, unimaginable changes occurred across the entire sea of stars overnight.

Those Galaxy Beasts that were originally kept in captivity for viewing mutated one after another; some powerful ones were even the size of stars, and being hit by high-yield nuclear bombs was like a tickle to them.

The northern country that most commonly kept Galaxy Beasts in captivity was destroyed by hundreds of millions of powerful monsters and has now become the lair of the Galaxy Beasts.

Fortunately, this mutation did not only occur among the monsters; powerful Transcendents capable of destroying stars with a snap of their fingers also appeared synchronously among the other three major forces.

Not only that, the technological barriers that originally hindered the three major forces seemed to have collapsed overnight, and technology began to grow rapidly.

Products that only existed in science fiction, such as portable micro-fusion reactors, nano-tactical mechas, star aircraft carriers, and even folding jumps, were manufactured and put into use within a short hundred years, thereby slaying the monsters in their respective territories and restricting the northern herds to a certain area.

But the disaster did not end.

The power that prompted the mutation of the Galaxy Beasts seemed to have evolved again.

It would suddenly appear in any corner of the starry sky, sometimes even causing an ant or a green worm to become a monster capable of confronting powerful Transcendents.

These corners affected by the mutation power are also called Disaster Zones.

According to the intensity of the monsters that appear, they are divided into six levels: Catastrophe, Death, Large, Medium, Small, and Micro. Among them, Disaster Zones of Large size or above would see terrifying existences comparable to S-Class Transcendents.

Due to their vast territories, the three major empires were exhausted and suffered heavy losses.

In the end, a hundred years ago, they decided to open up some combat armaments, allowing forces everywhere to possess them and use them to fight against monsters.

This is also one of the reasons why there are countless mercenary groups between the stars.

And the Blackstone Star System is located in the territory occupied by the Galaxy Beasts in the north, and it was only cleared out of safe areas bit by bit by countless mercenary squads more than twenty years ago.

These safe areas are not stable.

Disaster Zones often descend, and Galaxy Beasts destroy nearby mercenary squads and safe areas; these are also known as Temporary Survival Zones.

Nevertheless, because this sea of stars in the north has not been mined for hundreds of years and possesses rich mineral resources and various treasures, countless mercenary squads and treasure hunters still flock to it.

"No wonder the Blackstone Star System has no fixed routes."

Zhang Huaiyuan thought thoughtfully.

I am afraid that in addition to making money, the disasters that may appear at any time are also an important factor.

"I must master the power of self-preservation as soon as possible."

A sense of crisis arose in Zhang Huaiyuan's heart.

The more he knew, the more he feared.

Previously, in his cognition, joining a powerful mercenary group like "Dark Annihilation" as a logistics Researcher was at least safe and worry-free.

But now, he dare not think so.

In case a Disaster Zone of Large size or above suddenly appears, let alone a mere "Dark Annihilation," even the mining areas controlled by the empire would suffer heavy losses.

"Fortunately, my ability seems to be more powerful than I previously thought."

These days, besides studying world history, he has also been trying to use his awakened Transcendent power.

Thinking of this, Zhang Huaiyuan felt a bit more encouraged.

He took a thick tome from his bosom and focused his mind on it.

"Feasibility Study on Transcendent Modification of Firearms", current mastery progress: 23%.

Unmastered content: Conjecture on Force Compression Interval (requires prerequisite mastery: 3 books including Critical Point Distribution of Particle Repulsion), Compatibility Ratio of Transcendent Power (requires prerequisite mastery: 9 books including Alternative Application of Transcendent Power)...

That's right, this power not only allows him to master various knowledge faster but also clearly feeds back knowledge that has not yet been mastered or requires prerequisite assistance to understand.

This "Feasibility Study on Transcendent Modification of Firearms" was written by a Master-level Star Mechanic of the Star Dome Empire. It is incredible that he, a mere apprentice-level Star Mechanic, could master more than one-fifth of the content in just a few days.

At least in the database owned by "Dark Annihilation," there has never been such a perverted learning-type Transcendent ability.

"At this rate, it should take at most a week for me to become an entry-level Star Mechanic, and I can see through all things. When modifying, especially when compressing Transcendent power, I can accurately grasp the best ratio... Wait! See through all things... come to think of it..."

While pondering, Zhang Huaiyuan's eyes suddenly lit up. He thought of the situation when he saw Doke, the deacon of the Transcendent Association.

Since other things can be clearly fed back, if he applies the power to himself, he might be able to understand the true effect of his ability!

Thinking of this, he did not hesitate to try to focus his mind on himself.

Soon, pieces of information were fed back into his mind.

[Zhang Huaiyuan]

Classification: Carbon-based life form.

Mastered ability: Playing in the mortal world (Current world assimilation progress: 1%).

Effect 1: Can digitize all existence in an understandable way, and ignore all world-level barriers.

Effect 2: Master super-speed learning ability, and it grows with the improvement of ability. Significantly improve brain domain strength and comprehension ability.

Effect 3: Not yet unlocked...

Ability level: Unknown.

extraordinary level: F (87 / 1000).

Current profession: Star Mechanic.

Professional level: Apprentice-level (1721 / 300, still need to master 11 basic tomes such as "Firearm Adaptability Research").

"So that's it... This is my true ability."