123: Chapter 123 Breakthrough in Mental Power 18

"By then, the quality of those things won't just be limited to mid-to-high grade."

When Yan Zheng finished saying this, the subway turnstile swallowed his ticket, and the metal barrier popped open then jammed for a moment; he reached out and pushed it, and the barrier let him pass with a sound of old friction.

Yan Zheng: ( ꐦ Ծ ‸ Ծ )

"The skeletal state of New York City's public transportation is even worse than the Agents of Project Purity."

An old man holding a paper bag next to him glanced at him, then looked at the white glove peeking out from his pocket, and finally hugged the paper bag tighter to his chest, pretending not to hear.

A week later, at an abandoned quarry in the northern suburbs of New York.

The gravel slope had been crushed by treads, leaving several old ruts, and snow water accumulated in the depressions. Yan Zheng's leather shoe slipped when he stepped on it, and the heel sank into the mud. He lowered his head to look at the gray mud on his shoe; the scalpel was already clamped between his fingers, but he didn't scrape it off immediately.

"Mr. System, begin the ninth round of joint attack testing."

[Test target locked. Abandoned armored vehicle wreckage, distance seventy-two meters.]

[Participating units: Knight, Gunner, Thunder Guard, Frost Archer.]

"Gentlemen, the target is the same steel plate, do not fight over the order."

Four pulses lit up in the Mental Link one after another. The Gunner's purple phosphorus fire was pressed to a low frequency first, silver-white arcs wandered across the Thunder Guard's shoulders and back, the Frost Archer half-crouched behind a pile of gravel, and the Knight stood at the very front, the mud spots remaining on its alloy bone armor dried by the cold wind.

Yan Zheng used the scalpel to scrape the mud off his shoe. When he was halfway through, the tip of the blade got stuck in the seam of the shoe. He paused for a moment and simply left that bit of mud there.

Yan Zheng: ( ˵ ꐦ ㅍ _ ㅍ ˵ )

"Forget it, today is not the day for fussiness."

[Countdown begins.]

"Mr. Gunner, first shot."

A purple sonic beam pushed out along the ground. The steel plate on the left side of the armored vehicle wreckage collapsed inward, the broken sheet metal curled up, emitting a sound like grinding gears.

"Mr. Thunder Guard, follow up."

Silver-white arcs struck from the flank, sparks erupted from the gaps in the steel plate loosened by the sonic wave, the internal circuitry remains were lit up, and several burnt copper wires popped out, hissing as they landed in the snow water.

"Mr. Frost Archer, seal the temperature."

Icy blue mist covered the breach, thermal expansion and contraction caused fine cracks to appear on the edges of the steel plate, and the cracks spread outward along the dents created by the previous sonic wave.

"Mr. Knight, finish it."

A pale blue beam pierced through the center of the cracks, a dull tearing sound came from inside the armored vehicle wreckage, the entire steel plate fell off the vehicle body, smashed into the pile of gravel, and splashed up a semi-circle of gray water.

[Joint attack test complete.]

[Damage stacking abnormal.]

[Mental Power load has entered a critical state.]

Yan Zheng was about to lift his hand to push up his glasses when the dull pain that had been lingering in his temples for days suddenly shifted, pressing from both sides toward the center of his brow. The scalpel in his hand slipped, the handle hit the edge of his leather shoe, and it rolled into the muddy water.

He didn't bend down to pick it up.

Yan Zheng: ( ꐦ ✧ ⌓ ✧ )

"It's here?"

The pulses of all the Undead Creations in the Mental Link lit up simultaneously, not as a response to receiving commands as usual, but as a kind of reflux converging toward the center. Gold, purple, silver-white, icy blue, dark red, and dark green overlapped at the edge of his vision, and the plastic sheets blown by the wind in the quarry suddenly slowed down.

[Total Mental Power increased.]

[Current Mental Power: 18.]

[Control slot limit increased.]

[New function unlocked: Undead Resonance · Primary.]

Yan Zheng bent down to pick up the scalpel from the muddy water; the blade was stained with a thin streak of black mud. He wiped it twice with his white glove, but couldn't get it clean, so he put the knife into his pocket.

"Explain."

[Undead Resonance · Primary: When multiple Undead Creations attack the same target within the same combat window, a short-term resonance amplification can be formed.]

[Current amplification effect: Total damage increased by 30%.]

[Trigger requirements: At least three Undead Creations, same target, stable Mental Link.]

Yan Zheng: ( ˵ ꐦ ✧ ω ✧ ˵ )

"Thirty percent."

He said these words softly. A crow at the edge of the quarry was startled by the hot smoke from the armored vehicle wreckage, flapping its wings and flying up; its cawing was so unpleasant that it made one want to replace its throat.

"The quality of individual units remains unchanged, but the gain from concentrated fire increases by thirty percent. This isn't just icing on the cake; this is including the cannon fodder in the multiplication table."

[Judgment established.]

"The six Skeleton Soldiers have limited value when clearing the field separately, but if they encounter an armored vehicle, a giant Mutant, or a heavy firepower position of Project Purity, they can become resonance nodes."

He walked to the armored vehicle wreckage and reached out to touch the spot where the steel plate had fallen off. The heat came through his gloves; the edge was still hot, and a drop of snow water fell onto it, shrinking into white steam.

"Mr. System, rare-grade blueprints that can be unlocked with 18 Mental Power."

[Blueprint library refreshed.]

[Rare-grade blueprint unlocked: Necromancer.]

[Basic requirements: At least two types of energy-based genetic materials, one type of occult material, Mental Power threshold of eighteen.]

[Recommended usage: Long-range energy suppression, area control, friendly unit support.]

Yan Zheng didn't speak immediately. He lowered his head to look at a bit of rust stained on the fingertips of his gloves, rubbing it open with his thumb; that bit of reddish-brown powder left a short streak on the white cloth.

Yan Zheng: ( ꐦ ≖ ᗜ ≖ )

"Necromancer."

The system panel expanded the inventory items according to his mental command: Photon absorption/release, electrocution gene, flame generation, Plasma Mutant release, kinetic energy release—several energy-based materials were arranged neatly in the list.

"The energy-based materials are enough, the occult material can be the Dark Energy residue left by The Hand, and for the skeleton, we can use Number Three, which is the best preserved among that batch of ninja corpses."

[Preliminary plan can be established.]

"Plan one: Plasma Mutant gene as the lead, Dark Energy material as the stability core, flame generation as the auxiliary combustion layer, and the ninja skeleton to serve as the conductive structure."

[Simulating.]

The wind at the quarry blew over, flipping up a corner of the graph paper Yan Zheng had placed on a stone. He reached out to press it down, the edge of his glove was cut by the corner of the paper, revealing a bit of skin.

Yan Zheng looked at the small cut, and halfway through, he changed to using a stone to hold down the graph paper instead.

[Compatibility simulation complete.]

[Plan one: Compatibility 76%.]

"Seventy-six percent, not perfect yet, but it can already enter the operating room."

He turned to look at the creations behind him. The Knight's golden phosphorus fire pulsed steadily in the cold wind of the quarry, the Gunner's half-skull was still covered in the gravel dust shaken off earlier, the Frost Archer's shoulders were frosted over, and the Thunder Guard's arcs attracted a nearby wire, making it stand upright.

"Gentlemen, the legion is missing someone who can stand in the back row to clear the field."

Yan Zheng: ( ˵ ꐦ ✧ ᗜ ✧ ˵ )

"Necromancer, sounds more decent than a skeleton porter."

The Gunner's purple phosphorus fire flickered, as if expressing dissatisfaction.

Yan Zheng looked back at it, took out the scalpel again, and tapped his palm with the back of the blade.

"Mr. Void, don't worry, you are still this shop's first ranged employee."

The crow at the edge of the quarry cawed again. Yan Zheng looked up; the crow was standing on a crooked iron frame, with half a plastic bag hanging near its claws, which was being blown by the wind to hit the iron rod repeatedly.

"Squad, retreat. Return to the Underground Room."

[Assembly plan archived.]

Yan Zheng folded the graph paper and stuffed it into his inner pocket. His fingers paused on that line of simulation results, and the paper surface was creased by him pressing on it.

Compatibility simulation: 76%.