Chapter 194: Chapter 194: Strong Radiation Resistance Metal Coating
"So high-maintenance..."
Qi Suian muttered disdainfully as he disinfected his temporary laboratory and cleared it of radiation.
Only then did he remove the combat armor from the pair.
Both had Western features. ’Looks like this version of the Wasteland World is based on the West,’ he thought.
"Combat armor? This is just a tin can. No smart system, no life support, and even the weapons are just externally mounted."
Qi Suian was speechless after dismantling the combat armor.
’The construction isn’t bad, though,’ he conceded. ’It incorporates various mechanical principles, and combined with its unique power system and armor material, mutants at least can’t break through it.’
A deeper analysis, however, revealed that the real key was the armor’s material.
Its ability to resist and block radiation was the armor’s core function; everything else was just a byproduct.
"Damn it, what is this piece of junk? The energy weapon is barely better than a Plasma Cannon, and it doesn’t have the containment tech I need." Qi Suian’s expression soured.
He had imagined the Sanctuary’s technology to be far more advanced.
In reality, it was just a large-scale, slapdash operation. ’Then again, maybe it’s just because this so-called Riveting Knight Sanctuary is a minor one,’ he considered.
After all that work, his gains from the combat armor were limited, to say the least. Aside from the material used for resisting and blocking radiation, it was useless.
"Figures. You can’t squeeze much out of the poor."
"Compared to the so-called Twelve Victory Clans, this small Sanctuary really has nothing of value."
Grumbling to himself, Qi Suian took the material he had stripped from the combat armor and installed it directly as a module onto his Tai Sui God.
The Tai Sui God had already completed its evolution after its armor value reached 44.
Since the evolution had happened after he arrived in the Wasteland World, he had been holding off on installing a new module, waiting for a suitable one.
Now, however, things were different. The Sanctuary’s combat armor was excellent at resisting radiation, so Qi Suian naturally installed it right away.
[SSS-Grade Strong Radiation-Resistant Metal Coating]
"A metal coating? I thought it would be a raw material. Wait, it is a material module. Interesting." Qi Suian examined it.
As long as it worked, Qi Suian didn’t give it much more thought.
As for why he didn’t install the entire suit of combat armor as a module, the reason was simple: it would be useless.
He needed the ability to resist and block radiation. If he installed the entire suit of armor as a module, its primary function would be skewed.
The ability he actually wanted might become a secondary function with reduced effectiveness.
Besides, even if he did install it, it wouldn’t necessarily be that helpful.
For Qi Suian, suitability was what mattered most.
’It’s an SSS-grade module either way,’ he thought.
With that handled, Qi Suian turned his attention to studying the two purebloods.
"Anesthetics are useless. Their bodies have been thoroughly modified." Qi Suian noted as he dissected them. The only reason the two were sleeping so soundly was because Qi Suian had used "physical anesthesia."
Just as he had suspected, the so-called purebloods were far more heavily modified than the mutants.
Mutants were like a class change from the base "human" template. Purebloods were different; they were in another category altogether.
You could say the former was like a player changing their class, while the latter had basically become a piece of equipment themselves.
Their very species had changed.
That was why purebloods were effectively immune to normal levels of radiation.
Only when the radiation intensity reached a certain threshold would the levels in their bodies begin to rise.
That’s right. Their bodies already contained radiation. Due to numerous modifications and mutations, it had formed something akin to a symbiotic evolution.
Their evolution was also guided on a cellular and genetic level, which was why they still looked human and weren’t deformed like the mutants.
This was also why purebloods lacked the powerful regenerative abilities of mutants.
"You... you’re a pureblood too! Why are you doing this?!" Valia’s eyes shot open from the excruciating pain.
He saw the Armored Man dissecting him and immediately began to question him.
"About that... why don’t you answer a few of my questions first," Qi Suian said, his hands never pausing their work.
The procedure inflicted unbearable pain on Valia, yet he was powerless to escape, forced to watch Qi Suian’s every move.
Qi Suian began his interrogation. He asked about the things Boss Jack had mentioned, though he rephrased the questions, hoping to pry some information out of Valia.
At first, Valia refused to cooperate. But as the torturous "experiment" continued, he finally broke.
It had to be said, purebloods were certainly more knowledgeable than mutants.
Qi Suian managed to extract a great deal of information from Valia, including some details about the "Triumphant Edens."
The so-called Triumphant Edens were the twelve major Sanctuaries Boss Jack had spoken of—the origin of all purebloods.
Unfortunately, Valia didn’t know much, as his Riveting Knight Sanctuary was not a first-generation Sanctuary, but a fifth-generation one.
The Sanctuaries that branched off directly from the twelve Triumphant Edens were considered first-generation. Below them came the second, third, fourth, and fifth generations.
The further down the line, the smaller the Sanctuaries became.
Among the smaller Sanctuaries, the Riveting Knight Sanctuary was considered upper-middle tier.
But because the Sanctuary’s Elder was too eager for progress, the Riveting Knight Sanctuary had fallen into a state of resource depletion.
That was why they had sent people out under the guise of "cooperation" to recruit mutant slaves, all to alleviate their resource problems.
As for a permanent solution, they didn’t have one. They could only put their faith in the wisdom of the Riveting Knight Sanctuary’s future generations of purebloods.
"Is your Sanctuary the only one in this situation, or are all of them like this?" Qi Suian asked.
"Judging by your combat armor, your Sanctuary must be of a higher generation than the Riveting Knight Sanctuary. How could you not know?" Valia asked, confused.
That flicker of confusion told Qi Suian everything he needed to know. They were all the same.
The purebloods in the Sanctuaries lived a life not much different from the upper-middle class of a modern society.
They were living lavishly off the legacy left to them. After all, they were the descendants of the victors of old—what was wrong with enjoying the fruits of that victory?
In a normal world, that would be fine. But this was the apocalyptic wasteland. To maintain such a quality of life here could only be described as decadent.
"No wonder your Sanctuary’s resources are depleted. No, wait... all the Sanctuaries must be facing resource depletion," Qi Suian suddenly realized.
Living off their inheritance for this long, they must be about to run out.
’Before now, it wasn’t truly the apocalypse. Once the resources are gone, that’s when the real apocalypse begins.’
’No wonder the apocalypse game brought survivors to a Wasteland World like this.’
’Without the resource problem, the so-called radiation and mutations weren’t that big of a deal.’
’At most, it was just a change in the ecosystem.’
’But now, the depletion of resources... that’s the truly terrifying part.’
Qi Suian suspected it wasn’t just the Sanctuaries facing resource shortages. The mutants and even the irradiated creatures would likely start feeling the pressure soon too.
"Were you also sent out by your Sanctuary’s Elder to find resources?" Valia asked, startled. He assumed Qi Suian’s Sanctuary was in the same predicament.
’Otherwise, why would he ask such a thing?’
"Then do you know where the Triumphant Edens are? The location of any one of them will do," Qi Suian asked.
"I don’t know. Even our Elder doesn’t know. Perhaps only the first-generation Sanctuaries know the exact locations of the Triumphant Edens," Valia said honestly. "Other purebloods have tried to find them in the past, but they all came back with nothing."
"They’re like magnificent treasures. We’ve all heard tales of their existence, but no one has ever found them."
Hearing this, Qi Suian frowned. ’That mysterious?’
’Could it be that these so-called Triumphant Edens, like the Mantle Sanctuary from the Polar Day World, were built with some kind of Extraordinary technology?’
"What about a first-generation Sanctuary, then? Where’s the one closest to here?" Qi Suian asked, settling for the next best thing.
’If he doesn’t know, I’ll just go down one tier.’
"The Elder might know, but I don’t," Valia said quickly. "Maeve is the Elder’s granddaughter. Don’t hurt her. You could get her to help you."
The word "might" was a clear sign of uncertainty.
Qi Suian knew Valia’s real goal, of course. He was just trying to use this as an opportunity to get Qi Suian to take him and the other pureblood back to the Riveting Knight Sanctuary.
Once there, Qi Suian would be a sitting duck.
"Of course," Qi Suian said mockingly. "Which means I only need her, not you. Right?"
Valia’s expression changed. "If you kill me, the Riveting Knight Sanctuary will blacklist you, even if you send Maeve back."
He’d been so focused on using Maeve’s name as a shield that he’d forgotten his own position.
Maeve was just out here to pad her resume, while he was the one doing the actual work. That was why he’d spent the whole trip placating her.
The mission could fail and someone else could be sent to do it. But if anything happened to Maeve, Valia’s life would become very difficult.
"Tsk. Relax, I won’t kill you." Qi Suian mentally added the word ’yet’. "You lead the way. She’ll be the hostage."
"Once I get what I want, I’ll let you both go."
The first part of his promise was an omission; the second part was an outright lie.
After what Qi Suian had done to Valia, their enmity was absolute. There was no possibility of reconciliation.
Therefore, to prevent Valia from ever rising up to take revenge, Qi Suian planned to wipe out the entire Riveting Knight Sanctuary.
Black Heart Town was all alone out here. If the Riveting Knight Sanctuary joined it in its loneliness, neither would be lonely anymore.
Valia immediately agreed to Qi Suian’s terms.
He could see the situation clearly. He had no choice.
It was either agree to Qi Suian’s demands or wait to die.
So he chose the former. And as for betraying the Riveting Knight Sanctuary?
’Wasn’t the purpose of a Sanctuary to protect purebloods anyway?’ he reasoned. ’This is just a different method.’
