[Awakened]

Su Luo put her things away and, with her powerful Control, began to manipulate her body's hormones and organs.

Supernatural powers are now blocked, but the fundamental logic of the human body in the original world remains. Hormones, enzymes, neurotransmitters, cellular respiration, and other processes have always existed.

Although they have completely become mortals, and their physical and spiritual qualities have become a jumbled mess, a large part of the human body is driven by the subconscious. It's just that human protective mechanisms prevent mortals from controlling the subtle aspects.

To prevent the body from overloading, the brain actively limits the upper limit of muscle exertion, controls hormone secretion, and inhibits cell metabolic rate.

So Su Luo caused the adrenal glands to secrete more adrenaline, the thyroid gland to increase its metabolic rate, the pituitary gland to release growth hormone, and muscle fibers to automatically begin tearing and remodeling... Body temperature rose, heart rate increased, and blood surged through the body.

After loosening her Control somewhat, Su Luo hastily devised a Scientific Body-Tempering Method without any extraordinary elements. It mainly relied on hormones and organ function, allowing Xiao Luo to control and begin cultivating her body while walking, with very small movements.

"Take the time to understand this world. The world itself is the most important thing; even the Survivors are secondary."

The main objective is survival, which indicates the world is very dangerous. Furthermore, the annotations explicitly state that the world will be destroyed, making the danger even greater.

"The Large Dungeon is named: [The Era]. This world appears to be the Steam Age, but its secrets and special aspects require me to discover them myself."

Su Luo her shilling and three pence at a roadside vendor's stall, buying some black bread and rusty-tasting water to replenish her energy.

Standing beside the mottled wall covered by layers of newspapers, Su Luo ate while gathering information.

The walls were covered with all sorts of notices: missing person posters, reward notices, job advertisements, flyers for clown performances...

So the information was a mixed bag: sellers of aphrodisiacs and date rape drugs; promises to Resurrection the dead, money back if they didn't; public bounties for Killing and the search for Xingnu; and propagators of new doctrines...

From various scattered pieces of information, Su Luo pieced together some information about this world.

The key points of this information can be summarized in three words: [tax], [military], and [disaster].

There is only one country in the entire world—[Empire].

It has many names, but official documents refer to it as the "[Empire]", not any other country.

This means that the territory of an empire is the territory of civilization, and the borders of an empire are the end of civilization. There is no diplomacy, no trade, no immigration. The empire is everything, and everything is the empire.

The Empire has an organization that reigns supreme over all others— the Church, which believes in the all-knowing and all-powerful Holy Light.

Empires are roaring Steam, smoky chimneys, and ever-flowing granaries and ledgers; cities Gray Fog year-round, their chimneys spewing the blood and flesh of the poor; Steam airships block out the sun, carrying nobles and armies.

The empire's strength was built on the overexploitation of its people, demanding their labor, taxes, and even death, while rarely providing them with basic necessities or dignity in return.

This is what Su Luo sees from her perspective. After all, the aristocracy and feudal society are unpleasant to look at, and gangs and oppression are unpleasant to look at.

The comment mentioned something called "[World Influence]", so should I pursue the path of changing the world through technology and liberating humanity through industry?

Su Luo had a vague feeling that [World Influence] was related to the liberation of Essence.

Perhaps he needs to leave a mark on this world, to let the world "remember" him, to become a part of this era?

If individual skill is completely useless in Large Dungeons, Ye Zizhen wouldn't have suggested allowing only the top players to Dungeon.

"One point that cannot be ignored is the external threat facing the empire—[calamity]."

The information on the wall is scarce: "Holy Light protects, calamity does not reach the countryside," "Church Knights went to war to quell the disaster and returned in triumph." There are no specific images, no specific harms, and no specific scale.

Su Luo only knew that this was a creature that instilled extreme fear in the common people, and even official reports were wary of it, providing little information about it, yet it absorbed the vast majority of the empire's military resources.

Su Luo finished the food in her hand, and then borrowed some money from a few thugs.

"Thank you for your generosity; I will repay you later."

A man with red hands and a fierce expression sat on the ground in a daze, while his business partner knelt or sat on the ground beside him.

"Who are you?"

He was somewhat incredulous; the four or five strong men with him had no idea what had happened before they collapsed to the ground.

Your Excellency from the Church?!

No, the people of the Church wouldn't dress like that. Even Apprentice Knights wear silver-white armor, fully enclosed helmets, and are embroidered with emblems of Holy Light.

This person was wearing a worn-out brown trench coat with frayed edges at the collar, clearly someone from the lower class.

"A detective."

Su Luo took out a crumpled business card from her pocket and handed it over.

"Detective? Detective, with your skills, you could easily steal something. You could steal one thing from Rich District and it would be worth a hundred of us."

"No, I don't steal or rob, unless I can't resist. I just borrowed it from you."

Leaving the alley, Su Luo bought some carbohydrates and meat to replenish the energy consumed during her physical training. Bread, bacon, eggs, milk... After all, her body was rapidly consuming energy, and every bit of nutrition would be converted into muscle and nerve growth.

Then he found a newsstand and ate something while compiling information on the development levels and power dynamics of the entire world.

About an hour later, after being chased by the newsstand owner, Su Luo's Attribute increased from 4.2 to 7.6, almost reaching the human limit.

The Scientific Body-Tempering Method is like transforming a useless college student into the greatest strongman of all time in one's hometown environment.

"Retaking the course felt pretty good, very rewarding. It would be great if I had Mana to build a foundation."

Having memorized the entire city map, Su Luo began her operations in this Steam city.

This world has no supernatural elements in its environment or on the surface, but it contains beings whose abilities surpass those of ordinary people.

That is, [the Awakened].

[Awakened], according to vague information in newspapers and books, possess power bestowed by the Holy Light. Lower-level Awakened can skillfully use Steam Mech weighing several tons and fight against [Calamity].

High-level powerhouses can suppress a region and protect human cities from the invasion of [calamity]. They are the backbone of the empire, the sword of the Church, and the saviors that countless commoners look up to.

Most of those Awakened come from the [Church's] [Awakening Ritual].

As for their specific abilities and performance, Su Luo didn't actually know. Every information channel used exaggerated language to describe these superhumans in order to highlight the orthodoxy of the Church and the greatness of the Holy Light.