binnovel Chapter 155 News of the Strange Beast
Chapter 155 News of the Strange Beast
The next day, Li Chenglong ordered all combat battalions to prepare for battle, and the city defense forces to strengthen their vigilance. However, to his surprise, the expected situation did not materialize. After Feng Tian left, there was no further news. Moreover, through the joint efforts of the Dawn Army's reconnaissance units and the intelligence department of Dawn City, they did discover a force gathering in Jinghai City, but those troops showed no signs of moving out; instead, they moved several dozen kilometers north. Upon learning this, Li Chenglong ordered his men to increase their vigilance and report any suspicious activity immediately.
November 19th arrived on the Gregorian calendar. With just over a month to go before the full-blown apocalypse, Dawn City was preparing for a commemorative ceremony. This was partly to mark the one-year anniversary of the apocalypse, and partly to honor the soldiers and ordinary residents who had sacrificed their lives in battles large and small. Li Chenglong arrived at the central computer room and saw Chen Xiaoke and Han Xiaoling already there. With their arrival, Li Chenglong now handled much of his work directly through the central computer room, significantly reducing his workload in his office and lightening Wang Jie's load.
Li Chenglong was browsing the files that had been sent when Yun Lan contacted him via her crystal phone. It turned out that Erica had arrived. He explained the situation to the two children and then left. When he got home, he saw Erica sitting on the sofa, with Yun Lan holding a first-aid kit, seemingly treating her injuries. Li Chenglong said in shock, "You're injured?" Erica's face was a little pale, and she said somewhat unhappily, "I didn't expect that beast to be so powerful. I was a bit careless and got hurt."
It turned out that after leaving Dawn City, in order to level up faster, she and Alice went to find some high-level exotic beasts. The two of them found a level 10 golden leopard exotic beast in the Taihang Mountains, 270 kilometers west of Dawn City. They originally intended to kill it, but they suffered a loss due to carelessness during the ritual. At this time, Alice also emerged from Erica's spiritual sea: "City Lord Li Chenglong, Miss Yunlan, we came here this time to ask City Lord Li to help us eliminate this leopard. A level 10 exotic beast will definitely have higher-level crystals."
Yunlan was somewhat surprised: "Are there even higher-level crystals?" Erica said, "Yes, besides the eight levels of white, red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple, there are actually seven more levels of crystals. But we only know about these; even on our planet, I've only ever seen a level 13 crystal. For example, a level 9 crystal is a deep pink, a level 10 crystal is orange with some blood red, a level 11 crystal is golden yellow, and a level 12 crystal is dark green. Anyway, following this pattern, the last seven levels are just variations of the colors of level 2 to 8 crystals. However, these crystals are also much larger. The level 13 crystal I saw was as big as a fist. You know, even a level 8 purple crystal is only the size of a ping-pong ball."
Li Chenglong nodded and continued, "Long Ling and Xiao Feng told us before that the highest level was level 12, but there are even higher-level crystals, which means that the highest level isn't just level 12. Also, I asked others before, and it seems that only Yun Lan and I have two Towers of Martial Power. How is that possible?" Erica was also very surprised: "Towers of Martial Power? Let me see."
After saying this, she placed her jade-like hand on Li Chenglong's forehead. After a while, she said, "Logically, this should disappear when the 12 main meridians are activated, but you still have some residue. I'll remove it for you now." After saying this, she took out the blue pendant she was wearing around her neck, recited the incantation of the planet Meral, and then suddenly two beams of light shot into Li Chenglong and Yun Lan's foreheads. Li Chenglong found that the Tower of Martial Power had indeed disappeared, and with the disappearance of the Tower of Martial Power, his spiritual energy output seemed to have become stronger and smoother.
Erica slowly said, "These 12 main meridians are essentially channels for the output of psionic energy. Even among the Awakened on our planet Merar, very few possess them. It's incredibly lucky that you two have obtained them. Generally, when an Awakened has the opportunity to activate all 12 main meridians, a tower will appear in their sea of consciousness. It disappears upon successful activation and also disappears upon failure." Li Chenglong suddenly understood: "No wonder when I asked Li Xue, Han Xiaoling, and Zhao Liying, those other Awakened, if they had any Towers of Martial Power, they all looked at me blankly, not understanding what I was talking about."
Yunlan had one last question: "When we awakened, we all had marks on our bodies. For example, I was a fire phoenix, Li Chenglong was a golden dragon, and Li Xue was a mermaid. We also had to kill zombies to accumulate scales and dragon scales. But the awakened people and superhumans we saw later didn't seem to have this phenomenon." Li Chenglong continued, "Yes, the Dragon Spirit also told me and my sister to eat 10 crystals a day to promote the growth of our awakened abilities."
Alice burst into laughter after hearing this, and Erica also laughed heartily, a rare occurrence for her. After a while, Alice said, "This is actually a test from Long Ling and Xiao Feng for you. With their abilities, it would be easy for them to materialize any patterns on you or the people around you. They probably want to see your abilities and force you to kill zombies. Once an electronic spirit, or a psionic pet, is bound to a person, it can never be unbound. They also want to see if the humans in front of them are worth entrusting everything to."
After speaking, Alice's eyes flashed red, and a golden dragon pattern appeared on Li Chenglong's body: "Is it this?" Li Chenglong was speechless, finally understanding everything. Li Chenglong slowly spoke: "Then is it possible for them to be resurrected like you, Alice?" Alice shook her head: "No, they have completely merged with you. To be honest, the fusion of electronic spirits and hosts has only occurred a dozen or so times in the long history of Planet Meral. The most recent one is Miss Erica's sister, Princess Cecily. She is an SS-level Seraph Awakener, wielding a Soul-Slaying Blade, and is extremely powerful." Erica added: "At that time, our Planet Meral was attacked by the Dane and Gil people, and my sister and I were separated, but I believe she is still alive."
The conversation lasted a long time, and many of Li Chenglong and Yun Lan's long-standing questions were answered. After a while, Erica removed the gauze and bandages from her arm, which had completely healed without a trace of injury. Erica continued, "Becoming an Awakened or a Superhuman has another advantage: lifespan is extended. The higher the level, the longer the lifespan. Our High Priest of Meral Star was 600 years old when she passed away; she was an 11th-level A-rank Awakened. Another important point is that, whether you're an Awakened or a Superhuman, to meet the demands of combat, you spend 70% of your life in your youth or middle age. Awakened individuals, in particular, age very slowly, only aging rapidly in the last few decades of their lives. Superhumans, on the other hand, age faster and have a shorter lifespan compared to Awakened individuals."
Yunlan asked in surprise, "Then can everyone keep leveling up? What is the highest level?" Alice replied, "We don't know the highest level. The highest level on Planet Meral is level 12, and the highest level we've seen on Planet Dane and Planet Gil is level 13. Most of us Planet Meral people will be stuck at level 10. Only awakened people and those with high potential can continue to level up. Potential is what we call SS-level, S-level, or A-level, etc."
Li Chenglong continued, "Then how is a superhuman's potential assessed?" Alice explained, "A superhuman's potential is generally determined by the number of abilities they've awakened. If it's purely strength or speed-based, it's equivalent to a D-level potential among awakened individuals. If it's elements like fire, water, wood, or wind/lightning, it's equivalent to a C-level potential. If it's dual or triple abilities, it's a potential from B to A. On our planet, there are superhumans who have awakened all five elements, which is equivalent to SS, the highest level of potential. However, in terms of combat power, superhumans generally can't defeat awakened individuals of the same level, since the attribute difference is significant."
After answering her question, Erica spoke again: "Yunlan, I'd like to ask Li Chenglong to help teach that leopard a lesson. I don't know if you'd be willing, it'll only take three or four days at most." Yunlan nodded: "I agree, after all, leaving a level 10 beast unattended will definitely cause harm to humans later, and I don't have anything else to do lately." Seeing that Yunlan agreed, Li Chenglong said: "Then let's do it tomorrow morning. I'll arrange some things this afternoon, and we'll leave tomorrow."