Chapter 161

Looking at the radiation counter in front of him, Su couldn't help but smile helplessly. "But at this rate, it probably can only maintain its effect for less than half a day."

"There's no need to be too pessimistic."

Mobius shook his head. "The energy contained in these crystals is limited, so the radiation range they can generate is also limited. They cannot penetrate outwards indefinitely. Therefore, the lead-panel house is sufficient if it is simply used to block these crystals."

"However, we also need to consider the issues of carrying and transferring it."

Ai Yue added, "So it's a good time to upgrade the Soulium recipe again."

"I'll leave the materials to you; it's none of my business."

Mobius was clearly not interested in the project, so he simply waved his hand, his gaze still fixed on the lead box in the center of the room. "I'll study this thing some more, and I'll also be responsible for moving it to that lead-paneled room... Don't worry, I'll be careful this time."

"You'd better be."

Ai Yue said, half-jokingly and half-warningly, "I'll have Number Two keep an eye on you, so be careful about your safety, okay?"

Ai Yue knew Mobius's nature all too well. If he didn't say something tough, he had no doubt that Mobius would wait until they were both gone and then swallow the energy sample to test the body's tolerance to this kind of radiation.

Don't worry.

Upon hearing Ai Yue's words, Mobius turned around, raised three fingers of his left hand to his face, and said, "I swear, okay?"

Ai Yue nodded in satisfaction, and then left with Su. Although making a vow seemed meaningless, the fact that Mobius was willing to do it proved that she had indeed taken his words to heart.

Once the two people were out of his sight, Mobius turned around and stared intently at the lead box in front of him.

She hadn't been entirely truthful just now—the crystals did make her feel somewhat uncomfortable, but if she had to describe the feeling accurately in one word, it would be more like...

My body was being drawn uncontrollably to the energy within those crystals.

33

Chapter Thirty-Three seems to have learned something extraordinary.

"I didn't expect Dr. Mobius to listen to you so much, Doctor Ai Yue."

As Ai Yue and Su walked toward the Soulium Laboratory, Su couldn't help but say, "I remember my teacher once said that Dr. Mobius was the most talented and unruly genius he had ever met. He was always worried that Mobius would use his talent to do something that crossed the line of human morality and cause a disaster, but now it seems that such a thing will not happen again."

Su's attitude towards Ai Yue was the most respectful among all of them. After all, he had personally witnessed a terminal illness that had troubled nearly three generations of medical experts being easily cured by Ai Yue. The shock he felt, like seeing the clear sky after floating on air, was something Su could never forget.

For this reason, Ai Yue's position in Su's heart even surpassed that of his Esteemed Teacher, Dr. Spasi.

"Your teacher's concerns are not without merit; at least half of them are correct."

Ai Yue smiled and said, "She probably won't cause any major disaster, but the bottom line of human morality... has probably been left far behind by now, by half an equator."

"Huh?"

Seeing Su's astonished expression, Ai Yue didn't continue the topic, because he didn't want to think about it either—after all, he might have gone even further than Mobius on the path of crossing moral boundaries.

So the two of them fell silent. Fortunately, the Soulium Laboratory was right in front of them, so Su finally changed the subject. "We're almost there. It's just a pity that the research on Soulium is basically done by Artificial Intelligence according to the plan you provided, so I'm afraid I can't help much."

"It's alright, I'm here to help."

Ai Yue responded, "I happen to have a new idea that I'd like to try."

After Su left, Ai Yue took out several materials and placed them on the lab table in categories.

The Soulium, which he and Vill-V jointly developed, was fundamentally different from the liquid metal composed of nanobots that was created in the original story. Now, in its second generation, it has surpassed the original performance and limits, reaching an absurd level.

Therefore, in theory, there is no need to continue iterating on the second-generation Soulium. On the contrary, it would waste too much time and energy. Ai Yue believes that what needs to be done now is to optimize the cost and manufacturing difficulty.

However, these were all thoughts before encountering the unknown energy sample—this unexpected surprise made Ai Yue realize that the preparations he had made were far from sufficient to defeat the Honkai.

Therefore, it's time to develop the third-generation Soul Steel.

Ai Yue subconsciously tapped on the experimental table, his mind rapidly sketching out the initial form of the plan.

Without the intervention of nanobots, Soulium has lost its most important "soul," making the name Soulium sound somewhat undeserving.

If we disregard the extremely costly approach of nanorobots, are there other ways to give Soulium a degree of adaptability and variability?

While Ai Yue was struggling with his decision, Pardofelis found Eden and Aponia on the other side. The two of them had already left the Space Bridge used for teleportation between the Earth and the Moon and had disappeared somewhere.

"Sister Niya? Sister Eden?"

Pardofelis followed the trail left by the two people until she finally saw the familiar figures again. "How did you get here... What is this?"

At first, Pardofelis only noticed the figures of Aponia and her companion, but it wasn't until she got closer that she noticed the dilapidated wall in front of them, shrouded in the shadows of the ruins.

On it, a magnificent and exaggerated mural was depicted using special techniques. The content of the mural looked so complex and gorgeous that Pardofelis felt somewhat dazzled.

If this weren't the moon, such murals probably wouldn't have been able to survive for so long under the same conditions. And across the vast expanse of time, ancient and contemporary civilizations have met in this way—the feeling is truly indescribable.

"Oh, it's Little Pardo."

Hearing Pardofelis's call, Eden turned around and greeted her, "Are you here to visit the ruins too?"

"Haha, I guess so,"

Pardofelis scratched her head. "Brother Yue sent me to check on you guys... so what exactly is drawn on this?"

"We haven't fully understood it yet either,"

Eden shook his head slightly, focusing his attention on the mural once again. "However, it seems to contain some kind of information that is very important to humanity."

"Silk."

Aponia, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke softly, gently stroking the wall as she murmured something incomprehensible, "This is... the thread of fate."

"The threads of fate?"

Upon hearing this, Eden leaned closer and said, "Could it be what you can see..."

"Yes."

Aponia nodded slightly, her voice tinged with complex emotion, "So, it turns out, this isn't something only I can see..."

Aponia has been troubled by this ability for a long time. She has been thinking about what the meaning of this ability is if fate cannot be changed, and where everything she has comes from.

Seeing this mural made her vaguely realize that perhaps "seeing the threads of fate" is the very meaning of this ability.

What she had to do was not to try to change everything, but to witness—to witness the moment when the "threads of fate" were severed.

After all, if no one has ever realized the nature of fate, how can we prove it when someone changes everything?

Aponia gazed at the scene before her, as if trying to imprint it all deeply into her mind.

Gradually, she seemed to understand something.

"The destruction of the planet, the arrival of the Finality, the threads of fate..."

She murmured, a long-dormant emotion gradually appearing in her eyes, "A never-ending cycle, unless, unless..."

"Nia, Nia?"

Eden called Aponia softly by her nickname, his eyes filled with worry. "Are you alright? Your voice is trembling."

As a singer, she could clearly perceive the emotions expressed in other people's words. At this moment, Aponia's voice was filled with fear... and even a trace of despair.

"Sister Niya, calm down,"

Pardofelis looked at Aponia with some concern, "No matter what happens, isn't Brother Yue still here?"

"...Um."

Pardofelis's words stirred Aponia's thoughts, allowing her to snap out of the information she had just received. "Yes, Ai Yue, and Ai Yue..."

Repeating Ai Yue's name, Aponia finally calmed down. She nodded to the two of them to indicate that she was alright. "Sorry, I was just... a little distracted. I think it's necessary to explain to everyone what happened here."

34

Chapter Thirty-Four: Metal with a True Soul

When Ai Yue walked out of the laboratory, a full twenty-four hours had passed.

However, this level of continuous work is not a challenge for Fused Warrior, so despite the huge consumption, Ai Yue still looks energetic, obviously having gained a lot.

Su happened to be checking the situation at the laboratory entrance when she saw Ai Yue come out. She went up to say something, but Ai Yue grabbed her wrist and dragged her into the laboratory. "You've come at the right time, come and help."

Su subconsciously struggled, but was no match for Ai Yue. She could only let him drag her into the laboratory, a confused expression on her face. "What kind of help?"

Then he saw the metal ingot, which looked rather lonely, placed alone on the experimental table.

It was a rectangular metal block, only about half the size of a palm, with a dull gray color. It looked like just an iron ingot, seemingly nothing special. However, under the laboratory lights, it would be coated with a brilliant pale purple sheen, which was perhaps the only thing that distinguished it from an iron ingot.

Su didn't realize at first that this metal ingot was the result of Ai Yue's busy day. It wasn't until it looked around and found that this was the only thing on the table that it focused its attention on the metal.

It was only then that he gradually realized that the metal was not as ordinary as it looked—under the light, the pale purple sheen seemed to be slowly changing.

But even so... it doesn't seem like anything particularly remarkable? 1.

Su stared at it for a long time but couldn't figure it out, so he turned his attention to Ai Yue beside him. "Is this the third-generation Soul Steel?"

"That's right,"

Ai Yue nodded, but then shook his head slightly. "No, to be precise, this is what can be considered true Soulium."

"True Soulium..."

Su repeated it subconsciously, then seemed to realize something, "Could it be nanorobots? Wasn't that plan abandoned?"

As the chief engineer of the lunar research base, Su had the authority to know about all the projects here. When the laboratory for the second-generation Soulium was set up at the lunar research base, Ai Yue had told him that the ideal Soulium should have been a special machine composed of nanorobots. Therefore, even if the second-generation Soulium was successfully developed, it would not achieve the ideal performance.

But now he says it's real Soulium. Could it be that he was pressured by that unknown energy sample and used an abandoned solution?

Su wasn't used to showing all her emotions on her face, but Ai Yue still realized what the other was thinking, so he waved his hand and said, "Of course it's not nanobots, but another solution that will definitely be beyond your expectations... Never mind, I can't explain it with words alone, let's just have an experiment to let you experience it."

As he spoke, he snapped his fingers, and a robotic arm extended from under the experimental table, picked up the metal ingot, and held it in mid-air.

What are we supposed to do?

Before Su could voice her doubts, she saw Ai Yue lift his shirt, pull out a pistol-like weapon, and fire a shot at the metal ingot.

With a soft sound, a smoking crater appeared on the metal ingot.

At that moment, Su Ye finally recognized what Ai Yue was holding. "Disintegration Gun?"

That was a special firearm created by Ai Yue based on the system's analysis of the Third Herrscher authority. The bullets it fired could trigger the effect of the pseudo-Third Herrscher authority, directly disintegrating the target at the atomic level.

However, the shot only left a dent on the metal ingot, which is enough to show that the metal ingot in front of us has reached a level that can resist the Herrscher authority in terms of density and even atomic arrangement.

Moreover, the metal ingot began to repair itself immediately after being damaged, and within just a few seconds, the dent had faded by more than 50%.

At this moment, the screen next to it just began to display the extent of damage to the metal ingot from the shooting—after quantification, the displayed data was "13.21%".

"The density has become higher,"

Although Su wasn't an expert in materials science, he had some knowledge of it and could understand this level of data. "But if it's only this level, it doesn't seem like true Soulium, does it?"

The ability to repair itself after being struck has actually been present since the first generation of Soulium. The second generation of Soulium further enhanced this effect. Therefore, even though the performance of this metal ingot is better than that of the second generation of Soulium, it is difficult to say that there is any substantial difference.

"Of course, that's not all."

Ai Yue smiled, and once the metal ingot had fully recovered, he fired a second shot. "The real highlight is about to be revealed."

The second shot also left a dent on the surface of the metal ingot, but Su couldn't help but be stunned—because this time the dent was significantly shallower and wider than the last one.

Did the same attack have a significantly reduced effect the second time?

While pondering, Su also turned his gaze to the screen beside him. A few seconds later, the screen displayed the quantitative data of this damage – "10.22%".

The damage has indeed been reduced!

Su looked at Ai Yue with a look of astonishment in his wide eyes. "This metal can... self-optimize?"

Ai Yue didn't speak, but simply raised his eyebrows smugly, his meaning clear without a word.

When Su focused his gaze once again on the metal ingot that had already repaired itself, the emotion in his eyes was completely different from before.

Even if the third-generation Soul Steel only has this one additional characteristic compared to the second-generation Soulium, it is indeed enough to be called "true Soulium" - you should know that self-repair and self-optimization may sound similar, but the meaning they represent is worlds apart.

Self-optimization is not limited to defensive performance; it's just that this method is the most intuitive way to test metal ingots. Since Ai Yue didn't correct the term "self-optimization," it means that the self-optimization of this metal ingot is comprehensive.

This means that if you use a weapon or armor made of third-generation Soul Steel, you can become stronger and stronger in battle. Your opponent's attacks will become less and less effective, while your weapon can more easily inflict damage on them. Anyone with some combat experience will understand what this means.

"Besides the powers of the Third Herrscher, were there any other tests?"

Su quickly recovered and continued to ask her question, "Besides, isn't there a limit to this optimization?"

"I've tested them all, and the results are great."

Ai Yue simply pulled up the test records from earlier for Su to see for himself. "As for the limits, there are definitely some. Theoretically, the upper limit of this self-optimization is 80% of the original performance. Any higher and it will lead to the collapse of the overall structure."