Angel Project

The "Infinite" quietly departed from North Bay Station under the cover of night, continuing its journey eastward. Along the way, KIKI asked Lin Xian, "Why are we in such a hurry? We haven't searched so many places yet."

"There are endless supplies to find, and being too greedy can lead to a big loss," Lin Xian said calmly.

"That Tang Hai doesn't seem to be dead. I'm worried there might be other trouble."

"Not dead!?" KIKI frowned. "I thought he was already dead."

"No..."

Lin Xian took a deep breath and recounted what he had seen earlier.

"I feel like Tang Hai might have some kind of ability, and what happened just now might have been his ability changing."

He then turned to Lou Shasha and Lou Ye and asked, "How much do you two know about abilities?"

Lou Ye's expression faltered upon hearing this. He shook his head earnestly.

"I don't really know..."

Lou Ye seemed to know very little about his own ability, only that he had suddenly become much stronger one day.

"Oh, right, Brother, don't you remember?"

At this moment, Shasha revealed a crucial piece of information: "When Feng Yuming turned into a bug and attacked you just now, he said you were still low-level trash. He also said you don't even know that abilities can evolve after killing eerie horrors and ability users..."

Lou Ye scratched his head. "It seems so."

"Really?" Teacher Chen exclaimed from the side. "Abilities can level up?"

"They should be able to."

Lin Xian took a deep breath. "If there are levels, then Feng Yuming probably isn't at the lowest level. His strength is immense, and he wasn't afraid of us three ability users at all, which means he has plenty of confidence."

After speaking, he noticed that KIKI, who usually talked the most, was silent. He looked up and saw KIKI squinting at him with a slight, strange smile.

"If you have something to say, just say it!" He knew this girl knew a lot, and her smile always gave him a headache. He immediately said, "If I told you I know how abilities upgrade and that abilities are divided into many categories, would you want to know?"

As soon as she said this, everyone looked at KIKI in surprise.

Lin Xian frowned. "What, it sounds like you have a condition?"

KIKI raised her eyebrows and suddenly leaned close to Lin Xian's ear, whispering something. Lin Xian's head immediately throbbed, and he pinched his temple in exasperation. "Fine, I promise."

"Hee hee, you keep your word~" KIKI said with satisfaction.

"First," she raised a finger, "after the first polar night, there were already over ten thousand cases of humans who had mutated worldwide. And this is just a small fraction of the post-disaster statistics. After Apocalypse Day, to deal with the extreme disasters, the federal government urgently established a special research bureau for superhumans called the 'Angel Project.' Its purpose, besides research, I estimate, is to use this power to explore the secrets of the Star Abyss and find a way to save the world..."

"How do you know all this?" Chen Sixuan asked KIKI in surprise.

KIKI pouted, saying proudly, "Hacking into the federal government's internal network isn't difficult. Besides, it's the end of the world, who cares about this young lady anymore?"

"Continue," Lin Xian said, scrutinizing KIKI. Regardless of whether this girl, who could ride a rescue helicopter after the polar night, was the daughter of the Linglong Group or not, her identity was definitely extraordinary. However, since she had useful information, Lin Xian didn't press for details.

Cough cough~

KIKI cleared her throat.

"This 'Angel Project' gathered some of the remaining top scientists after Apocalypse Day. Through their research, they discovered that all survivors who did not mutate into zombies after the polar night possessed a very similar energy that repelled external forces. They called this energy 'Spirit Purge Value.' Even the weakest women and children who survived the polar night had this value at least at 1. In contrast, when observing zombies or some dark eerie horrors, this value was below 0, negative."

"This discovery was initially thought to be some kind of screening mechanism, but because no pattern could be found, it was considered the 'life energy' of survivors."

"Then, here's the interesting part: all ability users, or strong adult individuals, had significantly high values for this measurement. Especially ability users. After the first polar night, the 'Angel Project' had already compiled a catalog of 34 similar ability classifications. They evaluated these ability users based on functionality and destructiveness and found a positive correlation between these values and the Spirit Purge Value. It was indeed correct."

"The Spirit Purge Value represents vitality or the ability to resist the encroachment of the night. The stronger a person, the higher this value."

"That's the first point," KIKI continued. "The second key point is that abilities are capable of evolution. In fact, the data shows that a small portion of people already exceeded the third or even fourth level when they were first discovered..."

"Third level, fourth level?" Lin Xian frowned. "Did you forget to mention something?"

KIKI shrugged. "Oh, I only skimmed through it. Basically, a group of people in the lab assigned a lot of weight to the Spirit Purge Value, physical strength, energy output, destructive power, lethality to living beings, and so on, to create a grading system. I briefly looked at it. All ordinary people, or ability users, have a Spirit Purge Value within 1-100, called the [Origin Seed level]. For example, the third level, Adamantine level, already completely surpasses human limits. Unless heavy thermal weapons are used, they are difficult to kill. Their Spirit Purge Value is defined as 500-1000."

"The fourth level, Rampage level, is considered a great threat to an entire region, requiring large armies, heavy tanks, and various armored vehicles to suppress. Their Spirit Purge Value is defined within 1000-3000 combat units."

"As for levels above Destruction, there isn't detailed information because they don't have data for it yet. They are just estimated based on exponential growth from the previous levels..."

Lou Shasha's eyes widened. She couldn't help but ask, "Then, KIKI sister, how exactly do abilities evolve?"

"That... might be different from what everyone imagines."

KIKI's expression was complex. "I saw some things in those top-secret documents. They do indicate that ability users who reach the Evolution level (2) can increase their Spirit Purge Value to some extent by fighting and defeating dark eerie horrors or even other ability users. However, since it's an early initial report, there isn't much content."

"After the second level?" Lin Xian's eyes sharpened. "What about the first level?"

"Hey!" KIKI looked at Lin Xian with great interest. "You've hit the nail on the head."

She paced with a serious expression. "The strangest thing is that through the initial data, this superhuman research bureau discovered that abilities of different natures are actually very unstable in their Origin Seed state. These ability users seem to need to go through some kind of ritual, event, or emotional change to evolve. The 'Angel Project' even believes that starting from the second level, true metamorphosis or complete evolution can occur, which is why they call it the Evolution level or Breakthrough level."

"Ritual?" As soon as these words were spoken, everyone reacted in unison. It even sounded a bit like religious mythology.

"That's right," KIKI continued. "Take Feng Yuming, for example. I think he belongs to either number 16, Limb Mimicry type, or number 21, Aberrant Proliferation type, within the Angel Project. Whichever of these two types it is, if they can kill a night-time eerie horror or an ability user and then absorb flesh and blood through their own mutated limbs or bodies, they have a chance to evolve."

"But..." KIKI suddenly turned and looked at Lou Ye. "For someone like you, Big Lou, based on your description, you should be a number 3, Body Strengthening type ability user. You're quite common among all ability users. But strangely, for this type of ability to evolve to the second level, the Angel Project has multiple uncertain assessment reports. The method Feng Yuming uses is completely impossible for you, and it's called a different evolutionary pathway!"

"Really?!" Lou Shasha exclaimed. "That sounds so scary??"

"Who knows," KIKI shrugged. "Whether you look at it from a biological or physical perspective... well, okay, those two disciplines don't exist in this world anymore. Everyone treats it like theology now."

"One more thing, this research bureau believes that ability evolution is two-sided. This means ability users also have weaknesses, just like infected zombies. If they don't meet specific conditions, they will be eroded by this power, gradually leading to evolutionary errors or becoming zombies. In other words, when a person's Spirit Purge Value drops below 1, they call this situation... Degeneration!"

"Degeneration?"

"Then what about Tang Hai?" Lin Xian looked at her. "That situation I just saw, have you seen it in the data?"

KIKI nodded, her expression serious. "Not only have I seen it, but I can confirm he belongs to number 32. This model of ability is called Uncertain Infection type, and it's very interesting." KIKI frowned. "The data shows that this ability is very difficult to detect in its Origin Seed stage because they don't have any physical or mental changes. The only characteristic is..."

"They aren't easily detected by zombies?" Lin Xian thought of the scene, his face darkening.

"Exactly!!"

KIKI nodded. "But this type of ability is precisely the easiest to evolve."

Lin Xian frowned. "Does that mean as long as they are bitten to death by a zombie, they have a chance to upgrade..."

"Yes and no."

KIKI tilted her head, her gaze slightly heavy.

"Based on the statistics from some collected cases, evolution is not inevitable or guaranteed to have a specific outcome. It's also possible... to evolve incorrectly!"

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