107: Chapter 105 The Theory of the Extraordinary

Chapter 105: Theories of the Extraordinary

"The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. I didn't expect you to be the one who finally made a move. You're someone sent by Jumu City, right?"

Researcher Huoling's gaze was filled with scrutiny. To be able to pull chestnuts from the fire, knock her out and take her away silently, and harvest the fruits of Huangyan Town and Heishui Town.

Such means meant that Wang Ting had grasped the dynamics of the two sanctuary towns throughout the process. And this was the most terrifying part; his strength was far more terrifying than imagined.

And in the southern region of Tieling Wasteland, besides Jumu City, what other place could possess such powerful strength?

"I won't ask my question a second time."

Wang Ting's tone was icy cold, completely ignoring the probing of the woman in front of him.

If Researcher Huoling could not state her value or cooperate with him, then pardon him, but human remains could very well be buried under the Blood Vine Corpse Tree.

A strange look flashed across the depths of Researcher Huoling's eyes; she hit a wall on her very first probe.

Even though the fellow in front of her knew that she could make extraordinary potions, there was no excessive eagerness in his eyes, as if she were a dispensable thing. This point was completely different from the likes of Huang Yanwu and Liao Shan.

She took a deep breath, calmed her emotions, and said fluently, "I am one of the former researchers of Jumu City, holding the formulas for the Tier 1 gardener potion, painless potion, and I also know the formula for the Drowned Man potion of Heishui Town. I have dabbled in the formulation of Tier 2 extraordinary potions. If you give me sufficient materials, I can formulate Tier 2 potions. Your extraordinary materials have a very high similarity with the gardener potion. If there is enough time, I can also formulate corresponding extraordinary potions, or even a new pathway."

Researching extraordinary potions was Researcher Huoling's biggest bargaining chip. This was also the fundamental reason why she had always been able to maneuver between Huangyan Town and Heishui Town and look for opportunities.

However, Wang Ting didn't buy this act.

"If extraordinary materials are sufficient, how long does it take to make one extraordinary potion? How long about the enhancement potion?"

"That depends on the equipment."

Researcher Huoling was clearly confident about making extraordinary potions, and she calmly replied, "If we have relatively complete equipment and purify through equipment, generally speaking, making a potion might only take between half an hour to an hour. But if there is no equipment at all, extracting the essence inside the extraordinary materials through the most rudimentary methods, then a potion might take more than 3 hours, and the purity will be extremely low with high potency, which will make the person fusing it suffer, and even have a certain possibility of failure."

Researcher Huoling had no doubt that the camp in front of her was definitely in the second situation she mentioned—the equipment was not perfect, the means of purification were extremely rudimentary, and it tested technique.

You must know that every potion had its own characteristics, and how to stabilize and extract the essence of each extraordinary material had its own special features. The methods and techniques used were slightly different. Under such conditions, wanting to complete a potion was not that simple.

Researcher Huoling paused slightly, and then said, "As for the enhancement potion, it is essentially using extraordinary factors and their concentrated energy to activate human cells. Theoretically speaking, as long as there are extraordinary materials, the enhancement potion can be purified and fused. If the equipment is complete and the technology is proficient, a potion can be made in 30 minutes. If you only use ordinary extraction methods, it will take two hours."

Wang Ting showed a hint of surprise: "It's this simple?"

Researcher Huoling was noncommittal: "The scarcity of extraordinary potions has never been a technical problem. Technology has a threshold, but once you cross it, it is an express lane. The reason for scarcity is the scarcity of materials and the artificial control of certain people."

She sneered: "Some people think that only extraordinaries are upper-class people. As for others, they are just replaceable parts at any time. Even if the people on the wasteland were to die out, they still have ways to pull more people out from the habitable floors to act as beasts of burden."

Wang Ting narrowed his eyes slightly: "It seems you are very dissatisfied with some people inside Jumu City. Desperately wanting to live like this, do you want revenge?"

"Yes."

Researcher Huoling raised her head, her eyes staring closely at Wang Ting's face.

A sharpness flashed in her eyes, and her expression was icy: "By keeping me in the camp, some people inside Jumu City would be more than eager to destroy me and the camp I am in. If you want to keep me, you must be mentally prepared."

"Then there's no need to prepare, just bury her directly."

Wang Ting waved his hand directly, and the vines spread all around the room grew rapidly.

Researcher Huoling's expression changed drastically, and the next moment her body was entangled by the vines.

She immediately urged her controlling power, wanting to seize back the control of these vines.

Wang Ting frowned slightly, showing a hint of curiosity: "You actually walk the Gardener Pathway?"

"What a pity, it's useless, your control is too weak."

Researcher Huoling wanted to compete with Wang Ting for control of the vines. However, the strength of her contention was like a frail child, trying to rely on her own tender hands to shake Wang Ting, a mature, burly adult.

Wang Ting became slightly more serious, and the vines completely lost control.

Researcher Huoling could only watch helplessly as the vines bound her figure, a vine choking her neck, tightening bit by bit.

A sense of suffocation struck instantly, and Researcher Huoling's stubbornly maintained expression was finally broken. Suffocation distorted her face, and a trace of fear welled up in her heart.

What she feared was not death itself, but the worry that after her death, the hatred and hope she carried on her body would all turn into nothingness.

Wang Ting's expression was indifferent, the vines he controlled were like crushing an insignificant ant to death.

Yes.

In Wang Ting's eyes, Researcher Huoling was just an ant like a tasteless chicken rib.

Wang Ting needed someone to pave the way for the camp's extraordinary pathway, because only by understanding extraordinary pathways could the camp be built better and more perfectly, but this did not mean it was the only pathway.

Wang Ting's foundation would always be the cheat known as the "Monster Collector".

As long as there were enough monster samples, he could even create a system that belonged exclusively to him.

It's just that such a system relied too much on time and luck, and even he couldn't say for sure when he would be able to gather everything.

Wang Ting did not directly snap Researcher Huoling's neck; he was slowly controlling it, tightening it bit by bit.

Researcher Huoling, struggling in near-death, finally cast aside all her persistence.

"I know the research direction of the Tier 3 potion, and I am willing to be obedient, as long as you spare my life."

Researcher Huoling uttered this sentence word by word, trying her absolute best.

Wang Ting waved his hand, the vines instantly dispersed, and Researcher Huoling fell to the ground.

She choked and coughed due to lack of oxygen, coughing incessantly, her entire body curled up on the ground like a helpless fawn.

Wang Ting watched coldly, still sitting unmoved in the chair.

He listened to Researcher Huoling's cough without changing his expression.

Wanting to survive required looking like someone who wanted to survive.

Those secrets or technologies could not become means to threaten Wang Ting; they were merely bargaining chips for Researcher Huoling to survive, and even less could they become Wang Ting's soft underbelly.

This was the bottom line.

After coughing for a few minutes, Researcher Huoling finally caught her breath.

"Sit down."

Wang Ting told Researcher Huoling to sit down.

Researcher Huoling sat obediently in front of Wang Ting.

"You haven't even fully mastered Tier 2 potions, how could you know the research direction of Tier 3 potions?"

"My father once led the research of one of the pathways for Tier 3 mutated planters in Jumu City, but because of factional overthrow, my father became a victim. My father, mother, and younger brother were all killed by them. That's why I want revenge."

The hatred in Researcher Huoling's eyes spread like fire. After Wang Ting shattered her mask, she no longer dared to conceal anything.

She knew that if Wang Ting perceived again that she was deliberately probing or playing tricks, the next thing to be snapped would definitely be her own neck.

This man's vine control was comparable to some Tier 2 controllers, but he was obviously not Tier 2. What a strange pathway.

Wang Ting's methods also made her realize that the man in front of her was not simple.

"Factional infighting would actually involve a researcher. Has the interior of Jumu City reached this extent?"

"Behind every potion, it represents different interest groups. And the potions themselves are different. Even for potions of the same tier following the same pathway, if the core adopted is different, after multiple iterations, some people will find it easier to break through, while others will stall at the bottleneck period. A new potion can even determine the life or death of certain people."

Researcher Huoling's tone was icy, and she thought of her father.

Clearly a pure researcher, her father was targeted because the Tier 3 pathway he wanted to take would make the probability of a Tier 2 extraordinary of a certain faction in Jumu City breaking through to Tier 3 higher, while making the probability of extraordinaries of another ruling faction breaking through to Tier 3 smaller.

Coupled with the different Extraordinary Cores used in making potions, the different resources consumed, and the interests of various classes touched upon, it ultimately provoked suppression from another faction.

Perhaps the original intention of the people of that faction was just suppression, to control the potions in their hands.

But in this process, there was no lack of people hitting a person who was already down. Wherever there were people, there were contradictions, and in the end, their family and some related parties became victims.

The struggle between power and authority is always so cruel.

Wang Ting raised his eyes slightly, casting a scrutinizing gaze: "Talk in detail about how extraordinary potions affect the breakthrough probability. What is the difference between Plant Controllers who are both Tier 2?"

"The essence of extraordinary power is the plundering of the extraordinary power of anomalous entities. Tier 1 extraordinary power is actually parasitism, parasitizing the power that originally belonged to monsters into the human body, so it requires a strong physical body."

"Tier 2 is fusion, completely fusing the extraordinary factor with the extraordinary larvae, enabling the extraordinary to master the power of the extraordinary factor within their own body."

"The essence of Tier 3 extraordinaries is the manifestation of characteristics, manifesting the power structure and other characteristics of extraordinary factors to gain stronger control power."

Speaking of this, Researcher Huoling's tone paused slightly: "Suppose, from the parasitism and fusion of power to the manifestation of characteristics, the extraordinary factor cores fused all belong to the same lineage of extraordinary power, then the difficulty of his fusion and control will naturally be greatly reduced. But if the relevance of the Extraordinary Cores fused and controlled in each tier decreases, then even if they belong to the same extraordinary pathway sequence, the difficulty of fusion will rise straight up."

"Is it the progression of extraordinary power? For example, Parasitic Fungus Vine, Vine Parasite Corpse, and Vine Skull."

Seeing that Wang Ting could understand, but seemed not thorough enough, Researcher Huoling threw out a more vivid metaphor: "A juvenile dog, an adult dog, an atavistic wild wolf—this is the most direct progressive relationship. The extraordinary factor structures and extraordinary factor contents they contain have very obvious inheritability. And another kind is like a tiger, a wolf, and a cheetah; the genes of three monsters are stuffed together. Although they belong to the same animal sequence, it is obvious that this is more likely to cause conflict, unless you are strong enough to force a fusion."

Wang Ting showed a sneer: "No wonder Jumu City doesn't exercise any control over the scattered gardener potions. Are they certain that other people cannot form a potion system with a complete framework?"

"Yes. The Infinite Building of Jumu City has three floors in total, with an extremely large number of monsters inside, and they are basically of the same origin. They can easily combine into a more mature potion system, making it easier to break through, and their power is more comprehensive. As for those Shelters and Shelter towns in the wasteland, they have to rebuild their extraordinary potions from Tier 1 to Tier 2, and the choice of monsters is also different. The conflict of power naturally makes breaking through even more difficult."

If no one could break through to Tier 2, or even Tier 3, then no matter how many extraordinaries there were on the wasteland, it would be difficult to shake Jumu City's position. Jumu City and the Infinite Building it mastered were the fundamental basis for them to establish themselves.

"What if someone walks two pathways together?"

Wang Ting changed the subject. Hearing Wang Ting's inquiry, Researcher Huoling was stunned for a moment: "Then he will die a miserable death."

"How so?"

"At the time of Tier 1 extraordinaries, the power is merely parasitized in the body, which can still be suppressed through a strong physical body. But when it comes to fusing extraordinary power and manifesting the power characteristics of extraordinary factors, two different pathways will inevitably produce conflicts. At that time, either mobilize all resources with all one's strength to suppress this conflict, or abandon one of the pathways; otherwise, the conflict will become increasingly fierce, and in the end, it will only result in paying the price oneself."

Extraordinary pathways are powers humans obtain by stealing from anomalous entities; you cannot have your cake and eat it too. People who often want to do this have paid unimaginable prices. Those who succeed are merely outstanding figures, and they are destined not to go far.

Every potion pathway has its own end, whether long or short. The more pathways you fuse, the higher your demand for potions will naturally be. A pathway leading directly to Tier 6 is still relatively easy to find. But if you want to find two, three, or four extraordinary pathways that can all lead directly to the sixth stage, that is obviously a fantasy.

Researcher Huoling said a lot, telling Wang Ting everything she knew. Only then did she gradually calm down, waiting for Wang Ting to make his final disposal of her.

"Organize the extraordinary potion formulas you know, and tell Ren Chuan whatever is needed for formulation. At the same time, I want you to bring out two apprentices who can formulate potions, and I will give you the opportunity to choose the people."

Wang Ting paused slightly: "I know you want to deal with Jumu City, and you also want to escape from here, but all of that is built on the condition that I have already established a relatively complete laboratory. Before that, you can try to plan an escape, but if you are caught by me, then, I'm sorry, game over."

Wang Ting's icy warning made Researcher Huoling's heart tighten. She was silent for a long time and said, "I understand."