137: No way, brother, you are so stupid.

Chapter 137: Are You Serious, Bro? You're Even Cheating the Mentally Challenged.

"Are his stats very important?"

Li Mao, not being a researcher, was a little confused when he heard the price.

"Very important. All the data and indicators currently displayed by this Abyssal Kind are unprecedented and hold significant research value."

The person in charge nodded: "Let me explain it in a way you can understand. This Abyssal Kind, with only 10 evolutions, is, to some extent, almost catching up to a normal 30-evolution Abyssal Kind.

The only difference is that its numerical panel isn't as high."

"Is this particular Abyssal Kind special, or—"

"It could be that this Abyssal Kind is special, or perhaps there's something on Shi Li that can stimulate the Abyssal Kind to over-evolve."

Something to stimulate the Abyssal Kind?

Hearing this, Li Mao was somewhat stunned. As far as currently known, Abyssal Kind can only be awakened by new-generation Card Holders with sufficient potential.

Does that mean, from the Abyssal Kind' perspective, Shi Li's potential is higher than previous experimenters?

At this point, through successive evolutions, the Abyssal Kind had begun to take shape.

It was no longer its initial lump of flesh, but had transformed into a twisted monster with disproportionate limbs.

Its panel had also changed once again.

【Abyssal Seed】

Momentum, Attack 100, 2200/2200, 0/100

【Abyssal Combo - Passive】: The Abyssal Seed's attack is divided into 2 stages. In addition to the increased maximum health, an extra entry appeared.

"The Abyssal Kind' evolution is becoming even more disadvantageous for Shi Li."

"A 2-stage attack can effectively reduce the impact of 【Barrier】."

"And if he uses 【Defense】, it will be broken by 【Stun】, dealing 50 points of damage.

If he doesn't use 【Defense】, he will be hit by 【Brute Force】 for 80 points of damage, which is even higher."

"Even the latter's damage is hard to heal back—"

"Theoretically, he can only keep using 【Defense】, but that would only allow him to survive for 2 rounds."

"However, even so, 2 rounds probably won't be enough for him to defeat the Abyssal Kind."

Everyone began to analyze the current situation.

It could only be summarized in one word: grim.

A new round began, and Shi Li's deck showed a change in formation.

The 2-star card 【Fluorescent Vine】 replaced 【Cicada Wing Patrol】 in the first row.

"He wants to endure the Abyssal Kind' damage through sustained ability, right?"

"This method is feasible because the Abyssal Kind' intelligence is limited. Unless the cards in another column are extremely threatening,

otherwise, it will prioritize attacking the column where the ace card is located.

3

"But a mere 30 points of Healing, and it's not even covered every round."

"It can sustain for a bit longer, but it's ultimately a drop in the bucket."

Everyone could understand Shi Li's change in formation.

But it Still didn't look good.

The first 3 rounds of this game were basically unchanged. Shi Li's cards focused fire where they should, and remained Still where they should, while he himself tried to use 【Charge】 to Charge his own cards as much as possible.

After 3 rounds, the Tiao Tiao Guard was defeated as usual.

Again, white mountain was about to face the Abyssal Kind' attack directly.

"This round, I will play this hand card."

But Shi Li slowly placed a hand card on the card table: 【LV1 Shield】.

"He—what is he doing?"

"Is he announcing it to the opponent?"

"But the Abyssal Kind has intelligence, yes, but it doesn't understand human language."

In everyone's eyes, this was a completely meaningless act.

【Roar!】

Unexpectedly, the Abyssal Kind on the other side responded with a low growl.

If Shi Li didn't use 【Defense】, then the Abyssal Kind' optimal strategy would be to use its 2-stage 【Brute Force】.

One stage would counteract 【Barrier】, and the other would deal 80 points of damage.

What's more, 【LV1 Shield】 conflicts with white mountain's own 10 points of 【Shield】.

In the face of 80 points of damage, neither 10 points of 【Shield】 nor 30 points would make much difference.

It would only take a few more rounds to defeat it.

However, when the action phase truly arrived—Shi Li played 【LV1 Defense】.

【Offset】, -25

The Abyssal Kind' 2-stage 【Brute Force】 attack actually only dealt a pathetic 25 points of damage!

In a 【Defense】 situation, 【Brute Force】 was meaningless.

The 50 points of attack were dealt, 10 points of 【Momentum】 and 10 points of 【Shield】 canceled each other out, and then after 【Defense】, only 25 points remained.

(Note: All damage increases and reductions are calculated before 【Defense】.)

The most crucial thing was that, due to the 2-stage attack, white mountain directly gained 30 points of Charge this round.

All in all, Shi Li seemed to be the one who profited.

After all, he should have lost at least 50 health points.

In the next round, with the 30 points of 【Healing】 from 【Fluorescent Vine】, white mountain's health would be full again.

"Sorry, I made a mistake last round. This round I'm Still playing 【Defense】."

Shi Li once again pressed a 【LV1 Defense】 card onto the card table.

"So, this round, is he playing 【Shield】 or 【Defense】?"

"No, why are you fixating on this? What's the point?"

"The key is that the Abyssal Kind doesn't understand human language at all. Last round was just a coincidence!"

【Roar!】

A new round arrived again, and this time the Abyssal Kind chose the skill 【Stun】.

Because if Shi Li used 【Defense】, 【Stun】 would be the best method.

However, the hand card Shi Li played was 【LV1 Shield】.

One stage counteracted 【Barrier】, and the other only dealt 30 points of damage.

In the third round, Shi Li once again used the same method of declaration.

The 【Defense】 white mountain, under the effect of 【Brute Force】, again only lost 25 health points.

These health losses could be completely covered by 【Fluorescent Vine】.

"What?!"

"How did he guess right again!"

"Don't tell me he can really deceive the Abyssal Kind. That's a bit too outrageous."

Everyone expressed their confusion.

In their eyes, the Abyssal Kind was completely being played by Shi Li.

However, once or twice might be luck, but three times in a row truly couldn't be explained by luck.

In fact, Shi Li could, to a certain extent, communicate with the Abyssal Kind through "language."

This was all thanks to the item card he obtained during the cloud river's second-to-third promotion mission.

【Mind Wave】: Holding this card allows for interspecies communication via mind waves (bound).

Facing targets that couldn't speak human language, this item card was quite useful.

Shi Li had experimented on other people's dogs.

Although dogs' intelligence was not as high as humans', they could communicate effectively to a certain extent.

Huskies excluded.

Although the Mind Wave transmitted from the Abyssal Kind was full of tyranny and destruction, it was undeniable that the other party indeed possessed intelligence.

It just wasn't much, precisely the degree that made it easy to deceive.

To put it more bluntly, it was a bit mentally challenged.

Relying on this tried-and-true method, Shi Li once again successfully won the card game.

The 10th-evolved Abyssal Kind was forced into its 11th evolution by him.

"Comfortable."

Shi Li breathed a sigh of relief.

This way, his subsidy would instantly double from 50,000 to 100,000.

For the 11th evolution, what was somewhat strange was that the Abyssal Kind' appearance did not change at all.

When it reappeared on the card table, even its card face remained untouched.

"?"

Shi Li was a little puzzled by this.

Did this guy get stuck because of him?

But that's fine too; there's no reason not to take the 20,000 bonus.

Since the opponent hadn't changed, he naturally set up the same card game as the previous round without changing anything.

However, what Shi Li didn't know was that the scene outside the glass room was completely different.

"Report! The Abyssal Kind' C-point is showing violent fluctuations!"

"This is an unprecedented peak value!"

The brand new data performance excited all the researchers in the laboratory.

Their observation experiments were about to make new progress.

"Good! Good! Good!"

The person in charge repeated the word "good" three times.

One must know that their experimental progress had actually been severely stagnant for the past month, which had already caused dissatisfaction from above.

Now, discovering new phenomena meant new progress was being made.

This Shi Li was truly a lucky star!

However, when the new card game officially began, Shi Li felt a different situation.

Although the opponent's card face hadn't changed, its behavior had.

In the very first round, the Abyssal Kind directly instantly killed 【Fluorescent Vine】.

【Roar!】

After completing the kill, the Abyssal Kind even let out a boastful roar.

Through the opponent's behavior and the feedback from the Mind Wave,

Shi Li discovered a fact.

This guy seems to have evolved intelligence.

Which means this evolution wasn't spent on increasing its stats, but on growing its brain.

The Fluorescent Vine was actually a crucial part of Shi Li's tactical setup.

When the white mountain faced the Abyssal Kind directly, he needed to continuously play Defense or Shield.

This process involved losing health, but he had no room to play recovery cards, so he had to rely on the Fluorescent Vine to sustain himself.

Once this sustain was broken, the entire tactic would collapse.

The Abyssal Kind only needed a few more rounds to wear down the white mountain to death.

After all, it had thick health and could afford to be worn down.

So in this round, Shi Li was ultimately defeated.

"A bit of a shame."

He could only walk out of the glass room with regret.

Who would have expected the opponent to evolve a brain?

"I'm sorry, Director Li, I could only make it to the 11th attempt."

Seeing Li Mao walking towards him, Shi Li apologized.

He had failed his teacher's trust and set a new low score.

However, the inherent strength of his card deck was limited, so there was nothing he could do.

"No, Shi Li, my student."

Before Li Mao could say anything, the person in charge came up, smiling, and patted his shoulder: "You've already performed quite well. You should know that the value of your experiment this time is definitely equivalent to the results of four or five rounds during the early stages of our experiment."

The initial stage was the easiest phase to collect new data, so his evaluation was indeed very high.

Seeing that even the person in charge said so, Li Mao naturally had to look at Shi Li with new eyes.

After all, the ultimate goal of this experiment wasn't to compete on who triggered more evolutions, but to demonstrate the value of one's contribution to the experiment.

"Come with me, Curator Xiu wants to see you."

She gestured for Shi Li to follow her.

"Alright."

Shi Li and Li Mao had just left the laboratory when the door closed behind them.

"Report! The first special case has appeared!"

"This Abyssal Kind has not perished!"

The researcher, who had been continuously observing, suddenly raised his voice.

"Oh?!"

Upon hearing this, the person in charge's eyes lit up.

On the upper floor of the base, inside an office.

"Shi Li, your performance was very good."

Xiu Qinghe sat behind the desk, looking at him with an appreciative gaze.

It was only after the other party introduced herself that Shi Li realized there had been a big misunderstanding.

It turned out that the Curator Xiu Li Mao mentioned was not Xiu Qingshan.

However, judging by their similar names, this person, whose specific rank he couldn't even see, must have a close relationship with his teacher.

"Thank you, Curator, it's because of your excellent teaching."

Shi Li lowered his eyes respectfully.

"?"

Xiu Qinghe was momentarily stunned.

This is our first time meeting, what did I teach you?

However, she knew that the current Shi Li had some connection to her.

The reason she showed appreciation was not because of the experiment just now.

Although she was the overall head of this project, only professionals understood the specific data indicators in the laboratory.

What she truly appreciated was Shi Li's card deck.

In fact, that Mech Creation relic card came from her safe.

And she had already learned all the specific details about Shi Li from her younger brother.

Regarding the potential and Talent Xiu Qingshan mentioned, Xiu Qinghe was initially somewhat skeptical.

But the day the Mech Creation disappeared from her safe, she believed it.

Today, seeing the two linked character cards, white mountain and cloud river, she even regretted it.

Of course, Xiu Qinghe would not regret things she had given away.

That didn't fit her style.

So she could only regret not breaking Xiu Qingshan's leg a bit more.

"I heard you have an enrollment agreement with Qingchuan University, and it has already been finalized.

I imagine you'll be a freshman at Qingchuan University in a month, right?"

Xiu Qinghe tried to make her tone sound as gentle as possible.

"Yes."

"Then are you interested in transferring to our Branch Hall in Hua Du City District 5 after you enroll?"

Qingchuan University and Beijin University are both located in Hua Du City.

And Qingchuan just happens to be in District 7, next to District 5, very close to the District 5 Branch Hall.

"Don't be too quick to refuse."

Before Shi Li could speak, Xiu Qinghe continued: "If you agree to transfer to the District 5 Branch Hall, I can immediately upgrade your Healing to an A-level contract."

"..."

Li Mao, standing by, couldn't help but be slightly surprised upon hearing this.

One should know that even Chi Xi, the new Talent in the Hall whom the Curator favored most this year, currently only had a B+ level contract.

And issuing an A-level contract wasn't something a Branch Hall Curator could decide alone.

Of course, if the Curator used her connections, an A-level contract could naturally be achieved.

She vaguely remembered that the Curator had never used that connection for a new Talent before.

The fact that she was willing to use it for Shi Li was enough to indicate how highly the Curator regarded him.

Moreover, Xiu Qinghe was famously discerning; in the 10 years since she became the District 5 Curator, she had only issued 2 A-level contracts.

"I'm sorry, Curator Xiu, I need to ask my teacher first."

What surprised Li Mao even more was that Shi Li actually refused directly.

The teacher here, of course, was not a teacher from Twenty-sixth High School; it was undoubtedly Xiu Qingshan.

"It's fine, go ahead and ask him."

Xiu Qinghe, who had been rejected, merely smiled at the words.

Her younger brother seemed to have taken on a good apprentice.

The temptation of an A-level contract was right in front of him, yet he remained unshaken.

However, if Xiu Qingshan was to make the decision on this matter, wouldn't that be the same as her making the decision herself?

So she didn't say anything more, just asked Li Mao to send Shi Li back.

Soon after Shi Li left, the head of the laboratory called.

"Hello, what's up?"

"Report, leader, this experiment has yielded significant new discoveries!"

The head on the other end of the phone was unusually excited, quickly explaining.

"So you think the compensation for the card player in this experiment should be increased?"

"Yes, I'd like to apply for 20,000."

"Approved."

Xiu Qinghe was very straightforward.

"Interesting. When the next Abyssal opening occurs, should I give him a chance to try it?"

Hanging up the phone, she said with interest.

The Abyss, a very special kind of alien realm that had suddenly appeared in recent years.

The Four Card Halls, as well as top universities and forces worldwide, were currently investing heavily in it with human and material resources.

Xiu Qinghe had a premonition that this secret would eventually be made public, and it wouldn't be too long.

"Facing the Abyss, we must seize every minute."

Her gaze gradually became serious: "We must gain the upper hand."

One should know that the Blue Star civilization was merely one of many card player civilizations.

For example, in the eyes of the Gan Territory people, Blue Star was also an alien realm.

And the Space-Time Trace in the Gan Territory was not limited to just the Space-Time Trace connecting to Blue Star.

So the current Gan Territory was actually a product of the integration and coordination of indigenous civilizations with various other civilizations.

Situations like Blue Star, where the indigenous civilization could be protected to the maximum extent, were actually quite rare.

Behind it, the efforts of generations of Blue Star card players were indispensable.

Having ventured into alien realms for so many years, Xiu Qinghe had also made acquaintances with high-ranking figures from other civilizations.

According to intelligence exchanges with them, she learned that traces of the Abyss had appeared in many card player civilizations.

This special alien realm was subtly becoming a widespread phenomenon.

On the surface, the Abyss appeared to be a crisis, but how could it not also be an opportunity?

Whoever understood the Abyss first would be more likely to profit from it.

For the second stage of the Torch Raising Ceremony, Shi Li, having completed the experiment, did not linger.

He immediately embarked on the journey back to Jiangbei Province, following Director Hou.

On the aircraft, he received a message from Li Mao.

"Based on your performance in this experiment, Curator Xiu has specially approved raising the amount to 20,000 bonus for each evolution."

Shortly after this message, a total of 200,000 cubic coins was deposited into Shi Li's account.

"Comfortable."

With this, plus his original small savings, his assets reached 350,000 cubic coins.

With so much money in hand, was he Still afraid of not being able to handle the Tiao Tiao Treasure Guardian Squad?

So Shi Li, who had returned to the base town, did not rush into the Gan Territory.

Instead, he stayed at the base's guesthouse and began working on Tiao Tiao's destined card mission.

The refresh fee for the Tiao Tiao Treasure Guardian Squad was 14,000 per attempt.

350,000 was enough to refresh it 25 times.

After three days and three nights of refreshing, on the 15th attempt.

He finally arrived at the final BOSS's stage.