Chapter 1666: Super Evolver Team
He reached out again to grab the faint, chaotic lines in the air, but just like before, aside from feeling a breeze-like force, he didn’t actually grasp anything. In fact, during the process, he mistakenly grabbed a Space Ray and overturned a pot of freshly cooked soup.
Yu Qingqing and the others had been watching Xu Huo closely. Seeing him silent, eyes closed, and frowning as he suddenly reached out and knocked over the pot, they were startled.
“Is it poisoned?” Yu Qingqing exclaimed.
Xu Huo snapped out of his own world at that moment and gestured for them to calm down. “I was just a bit distracted.”
“What you said is too profound. How could space and time exist in the form of lines?” Yu Qingqing said. “Just thinking about it feels strange.”
“That’s just a symbolic way to control power. If you have a different understanding, you can imagine them in other forms.” Just as different people have different Spiritual Realms, imagining them as lines makes control easier.
“According to that logic, can Spiritual Power also be described as lines?” Yu Qingqing pressed on. “I once attended a lecture by the Special Defense Department. The old professor they invited, along with materials obtained from the game, all agreed that Spiritual Power is more like a mass.”
“A mass of power can be large or small, thick or thin. Thicker means a smaller range, thinner means a larger range.”
“That explanation isn’t bad either.” Xu Huo nodded. He didn’t know if the country had already produced a qualified Mental Super Evolver player, but even if they had, it wouldn’t have progressed to the point of using the Spiritual Realm to influence others.
Yu Qingqing shook her head. “The way you understand things is completely different from ordinary people, so your experience is useless to us.”
“Whether it’s useful or not depends on the day you undergo Secondary Evolution.” Xu Huo had already set the pot back up and was adding water and ingredients.
“Still cooking? Let’s just eat some dry rations,” Yu Qingqing said.
“Haven’t you had enough dry rations in the game?” Xu Huo pulled a bag of mushrooms from the Luggage Compartment. “Local specialties from another district. Very fresh.”
Da Yu, standing nearby, noticed an abnormal green liquid seeping from the bent parts of the mushrooms and said uncertainly, “Is this poisonous?”
“It’s poisonous, but it won’t kill you.” Xu Huo simply rinsed the mushrooms and threw them all into the pot.
The others, including Yu Qingqing, frowned as they stared at the soup.
It was normal for mushrooms to take a while to cook. When they were almost done, Xu Huo ladled himself a bowl and drank it.
“Smells good.” Yu Qingqing sniffed, then mustered the courage to scoop a spoonful. “I treat you like my own brother. If I really get poisoned and am on the verge of death, please don’t give up on me easily.”
“You talk too much.” Xu Huo finished his soup just as Nie Xuan arrived.
Only two players appeared with him. The three of them wore black trench coats, exuding an imposing aura.
“Having a meal? Good timing—we didn’t get a chance to eat dinner.” Nie Xuan sat down next to Xu Huo as if they were old friends, helped himself to a large bowl of mushrooms, and without saying much, took a bite before telling his two companions to take an Antidote first before eating.
This made the two who had been about to fill their stomachs silently put down their bowls: No wonder so much was left—for the sake of a meal, this was really tough.
“You came quickly. How many people?” Xu Huo asked casually.
“I’m leading a team of ten, plus the logistics unit. The equipment transport is slower, so we’ll have to wait.” Nie Xuan looked genuinely hungry, stuffing mushrooms into his mouth as he spoke.
Xu Huo didn’t ask much about the Special Defense Department’s arrangements. The two of them each had a bowl and finished all the mushrooms in the pot. When they put down their chopsticks, Nie Xuan, whose complexion had slightly changed, gave himself an Antidote injection.
“Game ingredients are delicious, but there are too many poisonous ones,” he said, then paused. “Are these fungi from the district where your cultivation base is located?”
“It’s not that I don’t want the country to advance further, but the fungi’s ability to reproduce after cultivation is very limited. Even if the Special Defense Department finds that place, they won’t have enough Detox Fungus for cultivation. Besides, the effectiveness of the fungal liquid medicine diminishes over time.” Xu Huo added an explanation.
Nie Xuan smiled. “Even if you openly say you’re unwilling to share this secret, the Special Defense Department can’t do anything about you.”
“That wouldn’t be good,” Xu Huo smiled back. “After all, we’re fellow countrymen, with no deep-seated grudges. Why create such misunderstandings?”
Nie Xuan had been having a smooth time lately. On behalf of the Special Defense Department, he verbally thanked Xu Huo and informed him that the matter in Ting City had been settled. A document personally signed by the country’s highest leader would be delivered to his home later.
“Ting City is your territory now,” he said.
“Ting City is of no use to me.” Xu Huo said indifferently, since that city was meant for the Painting Woman.
“It’s all the same.” Nie Xuan said meaningfully.
“Are your legs fully healed?” Xu Huo glanced down. Among everyone he had met and known, Nie Xuan was the only player who had begun Super Evolution after being pierced by a Space Ray.
“You could say that.” Nie Xuan looked at him. “Are you very interested?”
Xu Huo nodded tentatively. In fact, they had already sparred during their last meeting at his home, though it was only a simple frontal push-and-block exchange.
Still, he was very interested in Nie Xuan’s legs. Based on the behavior of the Space Rays, Nie Xuan’s entire body seemed to have been split into two parts—the ray density in his lower body and upper body was completely different.
Space Rays do exist in the human body, but they differ from ordinary objects in density and arrangement. Humans are far more complex than relatively uniform objects. Yet now, Nie Xuan’s legs seemed to have turned into some kind of object, with dense but neatly arranged rays, somewhat resembling Lawrence Li’s Space Rays, taking on a more concrete form.
“Unfortunately, I can’t tell you.” Nie Xuan deliberately teased him. “After all, this is the foundation of my position in the Special Defense Department.”
“You’re joking.” Xu Huo shifted his gaze to the two people beside him. Besides these two, there were eight more nearby, all with high Evolution Rates, each carrying more than one Time-Space Item.
“The military is being generous this time, daring to send out Super Evolvers.”
“The Super Evolvers from District 014 are nothing in front of you and me. The military has studied them for so long and only touched the threshold. If these people don’t make a breakthrough in the upcoming operation, they won’t be as valuable as imagined.” Nie Xuan said ruthlessly.
The group had good mental fortitude, including the eight outside. They showed no emotional fluctuation upon hearing this.
Just then, Nie Xuan received a phone call. After hanging up, he asked, “We’ve been talking for a while. Where is the entrance to the Chaos Space?”
Yu Qingqing immediately stood up. “I’ll lead the way.”
(Chapter End)