91: Chapter 91 Analysis of Legendary Materials

"Wait until I get home, and we'll have a good talk about this bone."

This sentence was brought back from the subway carriage to the Antique Shop Underground Room.

August 16th, 11:03 AM.

Yan Zheng had already been sitting at the workbench for four hours.

He had done three things since returning.

First, he checked Mr. Brute's injuries.

Three dissolution pits reached deep into the inner layer of the stone armor, with the most severe one penetrating the chest scales and exposing the inscribed skeleton beneath.

The inscribed self-repair system was still running, but the speed was calculated in days; it would take at least five days to fully recover.

Second, he confirmed that all Skeleton Soldiers had returned to their places.

No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6 had returned to their niches before 7:00 AM, their skeletons intact and their anchor markers normal.

Third, he took a shower.

He put a bandage on the scratch on his left shoulder, ignored the bruise on his knee, changed into a clean white shirt, and wiped his gold-rimmed glasses.

Now he was sitting at the workbench with two things spread out in front of him.

On the left was the handwritten summary of Operation Termite.

On the right was the X-23 material analysis progress projected by the system panel, with the progress bar just reaching 100%.

Yan Zheng: ( ˵ ꐦ ✧ ᗜ ✧ ˵ )

"It's out."

The back of the scalpel tapped against the tabletop; the sound of metal hitting wood was short and crisp in the Underground Room.

The system panel expanded, its content divided into four sections.

[ X-23 adamantium symbiotic bone fragment · In-depth analysis report. ]

[ Section 1: adamantium properties. ]

[ Alloy molecular structure stability: SS-Rank. Evaluation conclusion: No effective method of destruction has been found among known physical and energy means. Once formed, this alloy will maintain its permanent shape. Applicable directions: skeleton reinforcement, claw forging, core armor layer. ]

Yan Zheng nodded.

"As expected."

"Wolverine's bones can withstand Hulk's fists, so this rating is not surprising."

The panel flipped to the second section.

[ Section 2: Super Healing Factor · Advanced properties. ]

[ Regeneration speed evaluation: A-Rank. Fatal injury repair cycle: 4 to 8 seconds. Non-fatal injury repair cycle: 0.5 to 2 seconds. ]

[ Special note: This Healing Factor is deeply bound to the X-23 project's genetic encoding, with extremely high activity; transplant compatibility is superior to most Mutant regeneration materials. ]

[ Applicable directions: Can bestow near-real-time regeneration abilities to Undead Creation. Performs best on B-Rank and above creations. ]

Yan Zheng picked up his black tea cup and took a sip. Having steeped for too long, the astringency overpowered the aroma, and only after his tongue tightened did a hint of vegetal aftertaste emerge.

"Near-real-time regeneration."

"The Knight takes a cannon shot, and it heals in four seconds."

"Mr. Brute has his armor face dissolved, and it refills in two seconds."

"If this factor can be spread throughout the legion, the overall combat endurance would increase by several ranks, making them unstoppable."

Yan Zheng: ( ˵ ꐦ ✦ ᴗ ✦ ˵ )

Just as he was about to read on, the panel popped up a warning with a red border.

[ Section 3: Attribute conflict warning. ]

[ adamantium characteristics have extremely high exclusivity. After alloy molecules are embedded into the skeleton, they will suppress the expression pathways of other genetic materials within the host. ]

[ Simulation result: If adamantium is used as the base for the entire skeleton, the expression efficiency of other recorded Mutant genes will drop to below 12%, which is equivalent to failure. ]

The scalpel stopped spinning between his fingers.

"Exclusivity."

He repeated the word.

"The alloy is too overbearing; it occupies all genetic pathways as soon as it's introduced."

"If you equip an Undead Creation with a full adamantium skeleton, it will only be left with two functions: hardness and regeneration."

"All other abilities will be scrapped."

He placed the black tea cup back on the tabletop; the bottom of the cup hit the wood with a dull thud.

"Then I can't use it entirely."

The panel then expanded the fourth section.

[ Section 4: Feasible plan simulation. ]

[ Plan A: Partial reinforcement route. ]

[ Description: Use adamantium only for specific parts of the skeleton (claw blades, skull, core spinal segment), while keeping conventional materials for the rest of the skeleton to leave space for gene expression. ]

[ Advantages: Can create an Undead Creation of the assassin type with indestructible claws or core armor. Other abilities remain unaffected. ]

[ Disadvantages: Alloy coverage area is limited, and the overall defense increase is small. Due to the uneven distribution of the alloy, the regeneration efficiency of the Healing Factor drops to 60%. ]

[ Plan B: Healing Factor separate extraction route. ]

[ Description: Abandon the adamantium properties and extract only the Super Healing Factor · Advanced, injecting it as an independent genetic module into multiple Undead Creations. ]

[ Advantages: Can add high-speed regeneration abilities to up to three B-Rank and above Undead Creations, significantly increasing the legion's combat endurance. ]

[ Disadvantages: adamantium properties are permanently discarded and irreversible. ]

After reading the two plans, Yan Zheng started spinning the scalpel again.

Yan Zheng: ( ꐦ ˘ ͈ ꒳ ˘ ͈ )

"Plan A: Make a good blade."

"Plan B: Apply a plaster to the whole army."

"One is depth, the other is breadth."

He stood up and took two steps.

Undead Knight Dawn was in the storage area on the east side, his light sphere glowing dimly.

Mr. Brute was squatting by the west wall, a thin layer of recrystallization already forming on the edges of the dissolution wound on his chest.

"Mr. Dawn, how would you feel if I equipped your right arm with adamantium claws?"

The Knight's light sphere flickered.

"Hmm, you don't really use claws."

"You are a ray-type fighter."

"What about Mr. Brute?"

Mr. Brute sent a low-frequency pulse.

"Right, you are a fist-type fighter; equipping you with claws would be a waste of your advantages."

Yan Zheng: ( ˵ ꐦ ≖ ⌓ ≖ ˵ )

"The problem with Plan A is that I don't have a suitable carrier right now."

"Assassin-type Undead Creations require a high-agility frame; Skeleton Soldiers are too fragile, and the Knight and Mr. Brute are too bulky."

"The problem with Plan B is more direct."

"Throwing away the adamantium, permanently scrapped, irreversible."

"Throwing away half the functionality of a Legendary-grade material like this—my heart would ache longer than Mr. Brute's wound."

He walked back to the workbench, sat down, and tapped his fingers on the table three times.

"So, is there a third option?"

The panel remained silent for five seconds, then popped up a line of text.

[ Plan C: Compatibility bridging route (theoretically feasible, currently unexecutable). ]

[ Description: By introducing a specific "bridging material," establish a buffer layer between the exclusive interface of adamantium and other genetic materials, allowing alloy properties and ability expression to coexist. ]

[ Required bridging material types: Rare metal-type Mutant genes (Metal Manipulation, molecular restructuring) or advanced regeneration materials (Elf blood, Universe-grade adaptation factor). ]

[ Current material library match: 0%. ]

[ Suggestion: Continue collecting the aforementioned types of materials. ]

Yan Zheng stared at that 0% for three seconds.

Yan Zheng: ( ꐦ ✧ ‸ ✧ )

"Metal Manipulation Mutant."

He muttered these words to himself.

"That bunch under Magneto."

"If I can get a high-quality gene of the Metal Manipulation type, the alloy and abilities can coexist."

"An Undead Creation would simultaneously possess an indestructible skeleton, high-speed regeneration, plus one or even multiple abilities."

"That wouldn't just be Elite-grade."

"Even Rare-grade couldn't contain it."

He stood up and walked to the map on the wall, his gaze sweeping over the red circles and annotations.

There was too little information on Mutant distribution; the relevant content in the intelligence provided by Fury had been heavily redacted.

He knew the location of Xavier's School, but actively approaching that fortress was equivalent to handing himself over.

Not to mention Magneto's Brotherhood.

"No channels for now."

"But the direction is set."

He returned to the workbench, switched the panel to the X-23 storage page, and hovered his finger over the seal button.

"Temporarily shelved."

"Wait until the bridging material is obtained before performing the final integration."

"This Legendary-grade item is too precious; I won't accept any discounted plans."

[ X-23 adamantium symbiotic bone fragments have been transferred to long-term storage. Independent gene bank maintaining active maintenance. ]

Yan Zheng picked up the cold black tea; only a mouthful remained at the bottom. It was very astringent, leaving his entire mouth dry after drinking it.

He put the empty cup back on the tea set rack.

"Let's shelve the Legendary-grade matter for now."

"The urgent priority is those nine standard materials and six fillers."

"The quantity is large, the variety is diverse, and there is plenty of room for combination."

Yan Zheng made the first stroke on a white sheet of paper, the tip of the fountain pen pressing out a dark ink dot.

Yan Zheng: ( ˵ ꐦ ≖ ᗜ ≖ ˵ )

"First, let's ramp up Elite-grade production capacity."

"Wait until Mental Power is sufficient before aiming for Rare-grade, and wait until the bridging material is obtained before touching the Legendary-grade."

"However."

"Since when has Yan Zheng ever made a loss-making deal by choosing one of two options?"

"Sooner or later, I will find the complete way to use this alloy."