Chapter 109: Chapter 109: Galaxy Network Communication Hub
"The Tai Sui God has evolved again. AI, what do you think I should use for the new module?"
The Tai Sui God, having reached an armor value of 19 after its eighteenth evolution, would need to reach 20 for the next one.
However, the point Qi Suian was struggling with was what to choose for the new module.
After ruling out the problematic Ashes of the Bottled Sun, Qi Suian was leaning toward his own Ancient Martial Power.
His other options were modules for communication, language, translation, signal, camouflage, mimicry, stealth, radar, and so on.
But what he really wanted were shield and defense modules.
At this stage, material modules couldn’t effectively increase the Tai Sui God’s armor value. A one-hundred-percent boost would only double it.
Even if the 19-point armor value were doubled to 38, stacking a few more percentage-based effects would have limited results.
In contrast, shield and defense modules would be much more effective.
But the thing was, he didn’t have either of those modules—at least, not according to the AI’s analysis.
[Signal module recommended to further enhance the effectiveness of the reconnaissance network and satellites.]
[Alternatively, the communication module is also viable, as it would lay the groundwork for future language and translation modules.]
One option offered a single module enhancement, while the other focused on strengthening a series of modules.
Although neither would directly increase his combat power, they would both improve his chances of survival.
As for adding a conventional melee weapon to better hunt Desolate Beasts...
That was a possibility, but there was a problem. If he chose a conventional weapon, its sharpness, hardness, and other properties would depend on the Tai Sui God’s armor value and any added material modules.
It might be strong, but it probably wouldn’t be enough to handle the high-temperature heat sources inside those Desolate Beasts.
It was far less practical than an energy weapon.
Take the Floating Cannons, for instance. Their predecessor was a half-finished Plasma Cannon. So, if Qi Suian had a choice, he would pick an energy-based weapon even for melee combat.
However, he still hadn’t figured out the Energy Confinement Technique.
A Plasma Cannon didn’t need confinement; it just released the energy directly, making it far less difficult to create than an Energy Shield or Energy Melee Weapons.
"Let’s go with the communication module then," Qi Suian decided quickly.
The AI immediately retrieved a communication module prototype from the Subspace Stable Pocket. Qi Suian didn’t care about its origins and installed it directly onto the Tai Sui God.
[SSS-Rank Galaxy Network Communication Hub]
"The module is pretty good, but it doesn’t seem very useful. After all, there’s no communication network in this world..."
Before Qi Suian could finish his sentence, the AI chimed in.
[Communication system detected. Attempting to connect...]
"Huh? Where did you find a communication system? You can’t just connect to it randomly." Qi Suian looked baffled.
[Connection complete. Commencing real-time monitoring...]
Say what you will, the AI was incredibly efficient.
Qi Suian then heard a long burst of static. There was a pattern to it, but the problem was, he had no idea what the pattern meant.
"Can you detect the source?" Qi Suian asked.
[Searching... Search complete.]
[Source confirmed: The sun.]
"So you’re saying there’s something in the sun, and it’s communicating through some kind of system."
’Are they the Ashen Bandage Men?’ Qi Suian thought. ’My luck is really something else.’
He had originally intended for it to be a preparatory module, but he’d stumbled right onto the core of the issue.
[New frequency transmission detected. Locking on...]
[Lock-on complete. Counterattacking...]
The moment the AI finished speaking, it pinned down an Ashen Bandage Man that had just appeared.
The creature didn’t even have time to react before the Tai Sui God tossed it into the Melting Furnace to be burned as fuel.
"Holy shit! If we calibrate this right, does this mean we can turn these Ashen Bandage Men into fuel the moment they land?"
Joy spread across Qi Suian’s face.
"It seems the Galaxy Network Communication Hub has a corresponding synergy with the reconnaissance network and satellites."
"If I add a signal module on top of this, it’ll be even stronger." Qi Suian understood that synergy between modules could indeed unlock infinite potential in each one.
[The signal module’s function can temporarily be compensated for by the Eternal Morning Star satellite module. You are in greater need of the language and translation modules.]
"I’ve always wondered, what’s the difference between the language and translation modules?" Qi Suian asked.
’Their functions seem pretty much the same.’
[They differ in function. Language encompasses written characters and pronunciation, whereas translation is...]
Qi Suian stopped listening after that. If the AI said they were different, then they were different. It wasn’t like he was losing out on anything.
As for the Ancient Martial Power he originally planned to use, it wasn’t that urgent. It could wait until he became a Tribulation Force Ancient Martial Artist himself.
By then, he might have mastered the Energy Confinement Technique. Combining Energy Melee Weapons with a power module would make them even more potent.
"Speaking of which, can you determine the number of Ashen Bandage Men through the communication hub?"
Qi Suian figured that if they had a communication system, it meant there was definitely more than one of them.
His plan was relatively simple: lure several Ashen Bandage Men at once and toss them in as fuel.
Getting them one at a time was steady, but he wanted more.
[The number cannot be determined. However, by modifying the special frequency, we can cause them to misjudge the time, shortening their arrival intervals.]
In other words, the number of "bonus" fuel deliveries he received per day was about to change.
"Modify it in that direction. One at a time is fine. As long as they come frequently, the total number will still go up," Qi Suian said with a grin.
[Affirmative. Executing command...]
[One more thing to remind you. The monitored data indicates that the item, Ashes of the Bottled Sun, still has a connection to the sun.]
[It may be an exit from the sun.]
[This is what led the Ashen Bandage Men to lock onto your position.]
"Hold on, let me get this straight. What do you mean, ’an exit from the sun’?"
"Didn’t the sun already get out of the bottle? The way you’re talking, it sounds like it’s still inside."
[You once told me about the theory of Schrödinger’s cat. Do you remember?]
"I remember. So you’re saying the sun is in an indeterminate state? Because we are observing it, it’s in the sky."
"And if we weren’t observing it, it would be in the bottle???"
Qi Suian understood what the AI was trying to say.
[Correct. Because you first observed the sun in the sky, there is no sun in the bottle, only ashes.]
[But if you had not known the sun was in the sky, then the sun would have been in the bottle.]
[That is why, when you dug up the Bottled Sun from the altar, the Ashen Bandage Man said you had desecrated the sun.]
With the boost from the new module, the AI had naturally undergone another qualitative leap, which led to this new discovery.
"Indeed. There are no useless modules, only not enough modules," Qi Suian said softly.
If it was really as the AI described, then the item, Ashes of the Bottled Sun, wasn’t really that problematic.
The issue was just a change caused by the quantum collapse he had observed.
If he hadn’t observed the sun in the sky but in the bottle instead, the item absolutely wouldn’t be D-rank with no effect.
But the problem was, he already knew. This meant the outcome he could observe was already fixed.
Therefore, he couldn’t observe the "sun in the bottle" outcome, only the "ashes" outcome.
"With enough modules, the Tai Sui God should be able to observe both outcomes simultaneously, right?" At this moment, Qi Suian also understood that this SSS-rank item, at minimum, was not destined to be his.
In his hands, it would forever be stuck at D-rank and carry a negative effect.
[Correct. In addition to that, the Tai Sui God would also need a sufficiently high number of evolutions.]
[I recommend you continue using it as a tool to generate fuel, and discard it before leaving this world. Do not take it with you.]
[At that point, there is a ninety-percent probability that the negative effect will be removed.]
It said ninety percent, but that was a conservative estimate. In reality, it was certain that it wouldn’t follow Qi Suian to a new Doomsday World.
Being hunted without the "sun" and having his body temperature rise with it—both scenarios required the Bottled Sun item as a medium.
Once he left the Polar Day World without it, the item would become useless.
It was just like the Profound Virus in Qi Suian’s body. On a planet in the Profound World, it was very potent, but after coming to the Polar Day World, it was like a wilted cucumber.
Its infectiousness remained, but against Desolate Beasts and natives possessing the Power of the Limit, its effects were extremely limited.
After all, humans from the Profound World couldn’t raise their body temperature to one hundred degrees.
---
Qin Sheng was somewhat disappointed. He thought most of the people would go with him, but in reality, only seventeen were willing to leave.
He didn’t say anything about it, merely driving away in the Juggernaut.
The Juggernaut, which he had expected to be packed full, now seemed particularly empty.
But he quickly rallied his spirits.
These seventeen people were his core team. With both men and women among them, it wasn’t impossible to start over.
A slightly awkward point, however, was that four of them were his fiancées in name.
Of course, there was no so-called love between them now, only the camaraderie of comrades-in-arms.
All four of them had given him a great gift. Those four gifts had been instrumental in his smooth breakthrough to the Dan Jin realm.
They were four Secret Techniques that were beneficial to his cultivation.
’The Gang Jin realm is above Dan Jin. Relying on the Liquid Sun to nourish my substance, plus these four great Secret Techniques, I should be able to break through within a month.’
The four Secret Techniques were incredibly precious. They were useful even at the Tribulation Force realm; you could say they were effective all the way from the Ming Jin realm to the Tribulation Force realm.
Not only could they enhance combat power, but they could also speed up cultivation, assist in breakthroughs, strengthen one’s foundation, and even nurture one’s potential.
He didn’t say "thank you," because he knew that only by becoming stronger could he provide a better life for the compatriots who were willing to follow him.
In the apocalypse, aside from natural disasters which were impossible to resist, enough power could help them live longer, even if they couldn’t see a future.
’To think I painstakingly practiced ancient martial arts for over ten years, only to learn rigid, lifeless techniques. Yet in less than a year since the apocalypse began, I’m already at the Dan Jin realm.’
’Ancient martial arts truly are techniques for killing and fighting for one’s life. If you only practice in a greenhouse, progress is incredibly difficult.’
’But for that very reason, countless people have died because of ancient martial arts.’
In Qin Sheng’s eyes, ancient martial arts were a double-edged sword. Their benefits and drawbacks all depended on the user.
