302: What a pleasant surprise!

Could it be... A young researcher's body began to tremble uncontrollably as he thought of the only, yet absolutely impossible, answer.

He did it all with just his mind.

He relied entirely on the most primitive formula derivations.

This... what's the difference between this and someone claiming they used only the 0 and 1 keys on a calculator to hammer out a complete operating system without a computer?!

A monster!

This old man isn't human at all!

He's a monster!

Although Feng Rui and Wang Qingxuan didn't understand the technical details, they could guess what kind of terrifying things were hidden in that data tablet from the ghost-seeing, horrified expressions on the faces of these chosen geniuses.

Slap!

Another crisp, loud slap.

Once again, Li Mo used all his strength to slap himself hard.

Feng Rui and Wang Qingxuan were also a bit dazed by this series of sudden developments.

Although they couldn't understand the technical details, they could infer the value of the content in that data tablet just from the reactions of Li Mo and those top researchers.

It was a kind of terrifying knowledge sufficient to overturn existing knowledge and redefine the word "science."

The corridor was deathly silent.

There was only the heavy breathing of those young researchers, sounding like bellows.

Lin Yu's fingertips lightly brushed across the smooth screen of the data tablet.

His movements were very casual, without the slightest ripple of emotion.

It was as if he had known all along what would be inside.

The screen lit up, and rows of file directories emerged.

[Project: Instant Burst Potion (Prototype)]

[Project: Percentage Increase Serum (Theoretical)]

[Project: Life Serum (Purified and Improved Type)]

[Project: Rapid Potion Absorption Catalyst]

...Lin Yu's fingertip paused for half a second on the second file.

[Percentage Increase Serum].

He clicked in.

Detailed data and theoretical models unfolded on the screen, so densely packed they were enough to make an expert in any field dizzy.

But Lin Yu only looked at the conclusion.

[Effect Derivation: For an extremely short duration of ten seconds, provides a temporary 5% increase to all of the user's attributes.]

[Note: Required core materials "Time Worm Condensate" and "Ancient Star Core Powder" only exist in theory and Abyss Domain legends; they cannot be obtained in reality. Cost is immeasurable.]

[Possibility of mass production exists; after experimentation, the core components of these two raw materials can be determined to find substitutes.]

Lin Yu's fingertip stayed on the note for the [Percentage Increase Serum] for less than half a second before lightly sliding past.

Substitutes?

Mass production?

These words didn't mean much to him right now.

His foundation was cards, that near-infinite power of replication and Multiplication. A percentage increase on his base attributes of only five hundred points offered negligible gains.

This thing was prepared for the future.

When his base attributes grew into astronomical figures, even a 1% increase would be a world-destroying qualitative change.

His gaze continued downward, passing over the [Life Serum (Purified and Improved Type)].

Good stuff.

It could clear the side effects of Potions more quickly and thoroughly. This meant he could endure more rounds of attribute infusions in a shorter period of time.

Efficiency was life.

Finally, his fingertip stopped on the first project.

[Project: Instant Burst Potion (Prototype)]

He clicked in.

A completely different set of data appeared on the screen.

There weren't as many obscure theories, nor as many notes about "legends" and "theories."

Instead, there was a frighteningly long list of materials and a set of effect descriptions that were simple and crude to the extreme.

[Effect Derivation: Takes effect within 0.3 seconds, providing the user with a fixed +100 point increase to all attributes, lasting for thirty seconds.]

The corridor remained deathly silent.

Li Mo clutched his face, his body still trembling slightly; the venom of regret had already soaked through his internal organs.

Feng Rui and Wang Qingxuan exchanged a shocked look. Although they couldn't understand the celestial script on the data tablet, they had already pieced together a terrifying truth from the reactions of Li Mo and those young researchers.

This Old Ghost was a buried monster.

And Lin Yu was the god who had fished the monster out of the abyss and given him a new world.

Everyone's attention was focused on Lin Yu, waiting for his final judgment.

However, within Lin Yu's heart, a completely different storm had been whipped up.

Instant Burst Potion.

All attributes +100.

To others, it was merely a "decent" temporary buff.

But in Lin Yu's system, this wasn't an addition problem at all.

This was multiplication.

It was the "exponent" in an exponential explosion.

What was his foundation?

It was cards.

It was the [Ghost Card] and [Multiplication].

Five hundred points of Spiritual Power could support him in using [Multiplication] twenty times consecutively.

Every time, it doubled.

Twenty times was two to the twentieth power.

1,048,576 times.

A figure that could be called terrifying.

And now... all attributes +100.

Spiritual Power would go from five hundred points to six hundred points.

How many more times could an extra hundred points of Spiritual Power let him use [Multiplication]?

Once?

Or twice?

Even if it was just once, to be extremely conservative.

From twenty times to twenty-one times.

Two to the twenty-first power.

2,097,152 times.

It doubled.

Completely and utterly doubled!

From one million times to two million times.

The value of this potion wasn't a mere hundred points of attributes.

It was making his final result skyrocket by double out of thin air!

And what if he could endure more Potions?

What if he could temporarily stack his Spiritual Power to seven hundred or eight hundred points?

The twenty-second power? Four million times!

The twenty-third power? Eight million times!

This was the most authoritative and most unreasonable aspect of exponential Growth.

This potion wasn't a simple tool.

It was a key.

A key that could leverage his entire power system and allow him to step into the next order of magnitude!

Lin Yu's hand holding the data tablet tightened unconsciously.

The force wasn't great, not even enough to make the sturdy metal casing emit a single sound.

But this movement, so subtle it was almost imperceptible, caused the air in the entire corridor to solidify into a physical entity.

Old Ghost's breathing stopped.

He stared fixedly at Lin Yu, his heart gripped by an invisible giant hand, almost ceasing to beat.

Is the boss unsatisfied?

Is this prototype... too crude? Or was the line of thinking wrong from the start?

Wang Qingxuan also noticed this detail.

Her analytical ability reached its peak in an instant.

She didn't understand.

Those previous projects, [Percentage Increase] and the [Life Serum Improvement], far exceeded this simple and crude "+100" potion in terms of theoretical depth and future potential.

Why did the boss only react when he saw this most "primitive" project?

It was illogical.

Unless... hidden within this project was a deeper value that she, and everyone present, could not understand.