230: Chapter 230 One in Fourteen Million

After writing down this number, he paused for two seconds and wrote another line below it.

SSS Rank: ＜ 100 people.

"SSS Rank."

Zhou Peide capped the marker, his voice dropping half a notch lower than before.

"Tianheng's model has run three times, and the numbers given each time are about the same. There won't be more than one hundred nationwide. In all likelihood, it's even fewer than one hundred."

"What concept is one hundred? Fourteen billion divided by one hundred, that's one out of fourteen million. If you line up all the people in the capital and pick from them, you could probably pick out one or two."

The laboratory fell silent for several seconds.

The assistant raised his hand slightly: "Professor Zhou, what level would the Cultivation speed of an SSS Rank be?"

"I can't give an exact number; we don't have actual samples of SSS on hand."

Zhou Peide said, "But we can make theoretical deductions."

"The Spiritual Qi conduction efficiency of an S Rank is fifteen to twenty times that of a C Rank, an SS Rank doubles it again, and an SSS Rank goes even higher."

"If an S Rank Cultivates in the Yaowu World and matches it with AI-optimized Cultivation Techniques, a Breakthrough to the First Tier takes about two to three weeks. As for an SSS Rank—"

He thought for a moment.

"It might take a few days, or perhaps just a few hours."

No one answered.

For an ordinary Martial Artist in Cang City to go from zero to the First Tier, it takes an average of three years.

An S Rank compressed this time to three weeks, and an SSS Rank was even faster.

On the exact same path, some walked for three years, while others finished it in a few days.

This was no longer a matter of high or low talent; it was the gap between two different 'species'.

Zhou Peide picked up the phone and dialed Su Mingyuan.

"Group Leader Su, the grading scheme is out. Eight Ranks, from SSS to E. The Root Bone testing results for the five hundred samples are also out."

"Good. When can testing be rolled out nationwide?"

The excitement on the other end of the phone paused for a moment.

"I need to make this clear to you." Zhou Peide's tone dropped halfway. "Right now, this prototype has a limitation."

"What limitation?"

"It can only detect people who have been in contact with Spiritual Qi."

Su Mingyuan didn't make a sound, waiting for him to continue.

"The principle of the detector is to send Spiritual Qi pulses and read the echoes," Zhou Peide said. "People who have stayed in the Yaowu World have their Meridians somewhat soaked open by Spiritual Qi, leaving traces on the meridian walls. When the pulses are fired in, they bounce back, and the instrument can read the signal."

"What about people who haven't been in contact with Spiritual Qi?"

"The Meridians are dead." Zhou Peide switched to a more straightforward explanation. "It's like having a row of seeds placed in front of you; some are weed seeds, and others are thousand-year ginseng seeds. Before planting them, looking at them with the naked eye, they are all dry little particles, and no one can tell them apart."

Su Mingyuan understood.

"In other words, the current instrument can only test people who have been to the Yaowu World."

"Correct. Over three hundred thousand garrisoned troops, plus the staff who previously entered and exited the portal, all things considered, the personnel who can be tested now do not exceed five hundred thousand."

Five hundred thousand.

In front of the 1.4 billion people, it was not even a fraction.

That simply wouldn't do.

Su Mingyuan's voice sank a bit lower: "You mean Root Bone testing can only cover these five hundred thousand people? The remaining 1.4 billion citizens won't be tested?"

"No." Zhou Peide quickly chimed in, "The detector can be modified to test ordinary people. But it takes time."

"How to modify it?" Su Mingyuan asked.

"We have the idea, but it's not simple," Zhou Peide said. "The current instrument is passive detection—sending pulses and waiting for echoes. To test people who haven't been in contact with Spiritual Qi, we must first activate their Meridians before testing."

"What to use for activation?"

"Spiritual Qi," Zhou Peide said. "But here comes the problem—the Main World has no Spiritual Qi. Having all 1.4 billion people enter the Yaowu World is also unrealistic in a short period."

Su Mingyuan thought for a moment: "What about crystal cores?"

The other end of the phone paused for a moment.

"Zombie crystal cores?"

"Right," Su Mingyuan said. "The energy sealed inside the crystal cores is highly similar to the Spiritual Qi of the Yaowu World—this is the comparative analysis done by Tao Zhe's team last month; the waveform feature overlap rate exceeds ninety percent. If we extract the crystal core energy and pour it into the activation module of the detector, it theoretically should have the same effect as Spiritual Qi."

Zhou Peide was silent on the other end of the phone for a few seconds.

Su Mingyuan heard the sound of a pen nib scratching paper; this old man seemed to be taking notes.

"crystal core energy extraction, we have ready-made technology for that."

Zhou Peide said, his speaking speed much slower than before, as if he was deducing while speaking. "We made the energy conversion module for zombie crystal cores last month. Miniaturizing the conversion module and integrating it into the detector to release a micro-crystal core energy field before sending pulses can use this energy field to awaken the subject's Meridians."

He paused.

"The logic does work out."

"However, the engineering workload is larger than I just thought."

Zhou Peide said, "First, the current version of the crystal core energy conversion module is too large to fit into the detector. Redesigning a miniaturized plan will take several days just for this item."

"Second, the crystal core energy is after all not completely identical to the Spiritual Qi of the Yaowu World. The waveform overlap rate is over ninety percent, but there is still a deviation of a few percent. Whether this deviation will affect detection accuracy requires a large number of comparative experiments."

"How long will it take?"

Zhou Peide calculated for a moment.

The rustling sound of him flipping through a notebook could be heard on the other end of the phone, probably checking the R&D schedule at hand.

"Hardware modification, five days. Miniaturization scheme processing and assembly, three days. Calibration and safety testing, at least four days—this cannot be rushed, and every set of parameters must be verified on living people. Coupled with final joint debugging and factory inspection—"

He reported a number.

"Two weeks. Two weeks at the absolute fastest."

Two weeks.

Su Mingyuan didn't speak.

Two weeks was twice as long as one week. During these fourteen days, the SS and SSS hidden among the 1.4 billion people still could not be found.

But this was not time that could be compressed just by slamming a table.

Miniaturization required drafting, mold opening, and assembly; calibration required running data group by group; and safety testing could not be omitted even more.

After all, the instrument was going to be used on people. If something went wrong, it wasn't just a matter of recalling a product; it would cost lives.

"Do two things at the same time," Su Mingyuan started.

"First, push forward the improved version of the detector with all your might. Two weeks—I won't rush you to be faster, but when two weeks arrive, I want to see the finished product. If you don't have enough people, pull them from other groups; if you don't have enough equipment, transfer them from other projects. I will guarantee the supply of crystal core raw materials on my end."

"Second, before the improved version comes out, use the existing prototype first. Over three hundred thousand garrisoned troops in the Yaowu World will be tested in full."

Zhou Peide added: "One prototype is not enough. Over three hundred thousand people, thirty seconds per person, running continuously would still take more than a hundred days."

"Can the prototype be replicated?"

"It can be replicated. The structure is not complicated, and the blueprints are ready-made."

"Turn on a thousand units simultaneously."

The other end of the phone paused for a moment.

"A thousand units?" Zhou Peide's voice noticeably rose by half a notch.

"Two days. Have everyone in the Yaowu World finish their Root Bone testing."