Chapter 183

To his surprise, the first report was actually from China.

Hua isn't Fused Warrior yet, so what's so special about her report?

Ai Yue glanced at the girl beside him with some surprise, then began to browse.

He quickly adopted a serious expression and looked at the girl beside him again.

There's a reason why Prometheus prioritized this report—according to the report, no trace of distorted energy was detected in the body in China.

Chapter 63 has been updated; the era of cultivation is about to begin.

Although there are now three cases in the Aberration Event where the aberration energy has not affected the individuals, in reality, only Vill-V is the only person who can have no detectable traces of aberration energy in their body.

Both Elysia and Mobius have unique waveform data of residual distorted energy that can be detected in their bodies. However, due to their special circumstances, the distortion has no effect on them.

What's going on with Ke Hua? As an ordinary person, she shouldn't theoretically have this ability... It can't be because the protective measures here in Shenzhou are better, right?

Ai Yue reviewed several more data reports on ordinary humans and found that they were also affected by the distorted energy. Moreover, Hua's casual attire did not suggest that he was wearing any protective gear, so he ruled out this possibility as well.

So, in the end, the problem still lies with China.

"What's wrong, Doctor Ai Yue?"

Noticing the subtle glances Ai Yue occasionally cast his way, Hua couldn't help but look down at her outfit. "Is there something strange about me?"

Ai Yue didn't rush to ask Hua, because he himself had no clue at the moment, and asking rashly would only be passing the question to someone else.

Ai Yue then re-examined all of Hua's data and noticed another special case.

Since distortion can also affect a person's mental stability, everyone undergoing the examination also needs to undergo a mental assessment, using the equipment previously invented by Ai Yue to detect the value of mental fluctuations.

However, this item was not included in Hua's test report.

"Didn't you have a mental stability test?"

Ai Yue realized he might have found a breakthrough, and then asked, "Why isn't there any data on mental fluctuations here?"

As he voiced the question, Ai Yue had already formed his own prediction—could it be related to the Divine Tone Project?

The Divine Tone Project allows Hua to manipulate Honkai Energy through willpower, or mental strength, without relying on Honkai Beast genes. This means that if Hua were to become a physically enhanced Fused Warrior one day, she might become the second person to have all six attributes maxed out.

Incidentally, the first one is Kevin, who theoretically completed the "Brahma Project".

It was precisely because of this that Ai Yue thought of Divine Tone Project after discovering that Hua lacked data on mental stability.

However, if the Divine Tone Project only affects mental strength in theory, could it also interfere with the spread of distorted energy?

"Uh, I actually had a check-up."

Upon hearing Ai Yue's question, Hua suddenly remembered something, "It's just that the machine didn't detect my mental fluctuations, so there was no data."

At this point, Hua's expression became somewhat awkward. "I'm sorry, I felt that my own affairs shouldn't interfere with important matters, so I planned to tell you after everything was over... Could it be that this matter is actually quite special?"

"Undetectable..."

Upon hearing this somewhat familiar statement, Ai Yue couldn't help but reveal a subtle expression. "During this time, have you tried to train the Divine Tone Project again?"

He vaguely remembered that after Mobius achieved the fusion of mind and body, Aponia had said something similar.

Could it be that Hua is in the same situation?

"Well, after parting ways with Doctor Ai Yue and the others, I stayed at the Moth to Fire branch in Shenzhou to help out."

Hua nodded somewhat uneasily, then said, "Later, due to the occurrence of the aberration phenomenon, the Fused Warrior were unable to participate in the battle, so I used the power of the armor and the Divine Tone Project to help everyone fight against the Honkai Beast's attacks."

At this point, Hua raised an arm, palm up, as if showing Ai Yue something. "Later, after a rather dangerous battle, I was able to do this."

Although her palms were empty, they exuded an overwhelming sense of oppression. Relying on the power of restraint, Ai Yue could clearly see an energy gathering in her palms.

But the most crucial point is that this energy is not Honkai Energy —it doesn't even belong to any type of energy that Ai Yue knows of.

Combined with the fact that Hua's mental fluctuations could not be detected, the answer seems quite obvious—this is a new power generated by Hua after fusing his mental strength with Honkai Energy.

If that's the case, then being able to resist the effects of distortion seems reasonable. After all, distortion affects the human body through energy radiation. If such power is constantly surging within Hua's body, then the energy of distortion would probably have been absorbed by her unconsciously long ago.

The only thing that needs to be confirmed is whether the distortion will affect Hua's mental state, but at least from our current interactions, Hua seems to be quite normal.

"After mastering this power, I will not only be able to unleash..."

Hua was still describing her experience when she was startled by Ai Yue's burning gaze. "Uh, Doctor Ai Yue? Are you still listening?"

She saw undisguised excitement and satisfaction in Ai Yue's eyes, which made the girl a little flustered for a moment. She thought that Ai Yue had gotten some inspiration from her description.

After all, he often used to suddenly shout "I see" or "I understand" while chatting, and then leave the people still chatting behind to go do experiments.

"I'm listening, I'm listening,"

Ai Yue also managed to control his emotions slightly and nodded to Hua, "Go on."

"After some experimentation, I can now unleash three different energies: fire, lightning, and ice."

As Hua Shou spoke, his outstretched palm began to switch between three different attributes: flame, lightning, and cold air. "In addition, this energy can also enhance my various abilities."

Hua clenched his fist, and then his entire arm blurred for a moment. The next second, a gust of wind swept through the quiet corridor.

At this point, Hua's words revealed a hint of joy. "Although I haven't been tested by the headquarters' simulated combat system yet, I feel that my current strength is no weaker than that of the second batch of Fused Warrior."

It's not just that it's not weaker than the second batch of Fused Warrior, its strength is almost the same as Cosmo in its normal state, right?

Not to mention that, in addition to physical strength, Hua can also unleash energy attacks of at least three attributes, which alone surpasses the vast majority of Fused Warrior.

Not to mention, in Ai Yue's view, Hua has not even fully explored the full potential of this power.

Ai Yue was still pondering when he suddenly noticed Hua Zheng staring intently at him, and he couldn't help but snap out of his thoughts, "Speaking of which, Hua, have you named this power yet?"

"Name?"

Hua paused for a moment, but quickly realized something. "I haven't really thought about this yet... However, if I could name it, I would just call it 'Qi'."

In Shenzhou literature, whenever "martial arts" is involved, there is always a special power called "internal strength" or "true energy." Although they do not exist in reality, which Shenzhou child has never fantasized about mastering this power one day?

Now I've finally fulfilled a childhood fantasy.

"It's good, very simple."

Ai Yue had no objection to the name; after all, he would probably have given the same answer if he were in the same situation. "By the way, you said before that you gained this power after a dangerous battle, right? Can you describe the situation at that time?"

"Certainly."

Hua naturally didn't hide anything from Ai Yue. She paused for a moment, then began to recall the situation at the time, "It was a migration mission. I led a team of soldiers to cover the civilians as they moved from their original residences to the nearest Fortress City, but we encountered a medium-sized Honkai Beast on the way."

Honkai Beast swarms are generally classified into three levels. "Group, army, and sea". Within these three levels, they are further subdivided into "low, medium, and high". Medium-sized swarms typically consist of between fifty and five hundred beasts.

Since Hua used the word "dangerous" to describe this battle, the number must be very close to five hundred.

Even so, with the aid of armor, Honkai Beast of this size shouldn't pose a significant threat to China.

"In order to ensure the safe evacuation of ordinary people, I led a group of soldiers to stay behind and block the beast horde, trying to buy as much time as possible."

Hua then added, "Normally, I wouldn't need anyone's help, but my armor has been severely damaged in continuous combat, so..."

"So that's why you're in such a tough situation?"

Ai Yue offered his guess. "And then, in a moment of crisis, he unleashed his potential and gained control of this power?"

"Although the outcome was roughly the same, the process wasn't that smooth,"

Recalling the experience, Hua couldn't help but show a hint of relief, "In the battle, I... lost control."

"Out of control?"

Hearing a word he hadn't expected at all caused Ai Yue to frown. "How could it get out of control? This version of the Divine Tone Project should no longer have such hidden dangers."

Upon hearing "out of control, "Ai Yue's first reaction was to think of the "possession by demons" in the original storyline—that is, people who rely on Honkai Energy to fight are corrupted by Honkai Energy, resulting in a state of madness.

However, to avoid such a thing, he made special modifications, even at the cost of reducing the effectiveness of the Divine Tone Project, in order to ensure that there would be no side effects.

"I'm not entirely sure of the specific reason, but it might be related to my state of mind at the time,"

Hua carefully recalled the details of that time, "I was exhausted at the time, but there were still a lot of Honkai Beast, so I had to try to control Honkai Energy beyond my ability to fight. Then a very strange emotion surged into my mind."

"It seemed to be a kind of... anger that wanted to destroy everything after despair, and under the influence of this emotion, I entered a frenzied state where I couldn't distinguish between friend and foe."

"It sounds like you were still conscious during this process?"

Ai Yue frowned and analyzed, "In that case, it doesn't seem like it's simply a matter of being influenced by emotions."

Although he said that, Ai Yue couldn't help but think of the Will Fragment of ??? unknown origin that he had extracted from the Honkai Energy Crystal.

Perhaps Hua was influenced by that lingering consciousness.

"I find it hard to tell now whether there were other factors, but at the beginning I didn't actually have any conscious control."

Hua shook his head and continued, "It's strange, but when I first lost control, I was clearly aware of the whole process. However, after I completely lost control, there was a period of blank consciousness. After that, my consciousness entered a very strange 'observer' state."

"In that state, I could clearly perceive every movement of my body, but I was unable to interfere. In fact, apart from basic consciousness, even my emotions were stripped away, as if this was not my body."

At this point, Hua Cai let out a long breath. "Then, it was basically as you predicted—after I regained control of my body through willpower, I felt this special energy flowing through my body... Perhaps, it can only be considered a kind of coincidence?"

"No, although the cause of this matter may be a coincidence, the result you achieved is not."

Ai Yue shook his head at Hua's statement. Looking into the girl's eyes, he said earnestly, "Hua, this is the moment when your hard work and perseverance have finally blossomed and borne fruit."

No one knows better Ai Yue how much effort Hua has put in to get to where he is today. Even if Hua hadn't accepted his offer, with his strength, he would have been fully qualified to be one of the best among the second batch of Fused Warrior. But for his plan, Hua could only participate in the Divine Tone Project, a project with risks and rewards that were almost disproportionate, as an ordinary person.

Apart from Ai Yue, no one could guarantee that the Divine Tone Project would succeed. Even Ai Yue could only offer her empty promises and give the girl hope for the future. But she really persevered. No matter what the circumstances, she never gave up on her training. Even without anyone's supervision, she would meticulously complete the training plan she had set.

Sincerity, composure, self-discipline, diligence... Hua possesses all the qualities needed for success.

And through her tireless efforts, she finally accomplished something that even Ai Yue hadn't expected.

The Divine Tone Project is a program that uses "teaching" to pass on the results of research to a wider audience.

Hua's success means that even without relying on the genes of Honkai Beast, humanity now has a way to control Honkai Energy.

Looking at the girl who seemed a little lost in the face of his words, Ai Yue couldn't help but smile—at this moment, Hua probably couldn't imagine what kind of future he would create for humanity.

However, those are things we'll have to consider later.

"It seems that the arrangements need to be adjusted this time."

After gathering his thoughts, Ai Yue patted Hua on the shoulder. "After we finish our current work, I still have many questions about 'qi' that I need to discuss with you. Is that alright?"

"Of course, no problem!"

Hua subconsciously straightened up, then seemed to come to her senses, revealing a slightly shy expression, "Doctor Ai Yue... did I manage to help you this time?"

From the moment Hua met Ai Yue, she felt like she was always receiving his help unilaterally. When she was ostracized in her original team, Ai Yue directly transferred her to work by his side. As an ordinary person, she lacked combat power, so Ai Yue specially tailored armor for her. She even had her own training room at the Star of Light experimental base. Such conditions were only available to Fused Warrior in the Moth to Fire.

Compared to Ai Yue's help to her, Hua had nothing to do for him. Although Ai Yue kept emphasizing that he valued her potential, Hua did not feel that she was any different from others.

The Moth to Fire gathers many elites and geniuses. It is not lacking in self-disciplined and hardworking people, nor in sincere and steady people. Even the most intelligent people can be found everywhere here. Compared with them, I am as mediocre as a grain of sand on the beach.

The fact that she was chosen by Ai Yue, whom everyone looked up to, made Hua often doubt herself, wondering if she could live up to Ai Yue's expectations.

It was precisely because of these doubts that she worked so hard to hone her skills, fearing that the slightest slackening would betray Ai Yue's trust and expectations.

Today, it seems that this question is finally about to be answered.

"Thank you so much, Hua."

Ai Yue knew that Hua had always been somewhat insecure, so at this moment he looked very seriously into the girl's eyes and said, "What you did far exceeded my expectations. You were really very good."

So, give me a smile?

Seeing Ai Yue's expression, Hua blinked hard before raising the corners of his mouth and revealing a faint smile.

"That's it,"

Ai Yue nodded in satisfaction. "Didn't I tell you that I really like your smile?"

Because of the game's design, it's very difficult for Ai Yue to see Hua smile. Even when he does, it's usually just another child's arrogant face. A smile like this is extremely rare.

Hua was taken aback and was about to say something when the conference room door suddenly opened and someone came out, "Doctor Ai Yue, everyone has already understood the information you provided. Can we proceed to the next step?"

"Okay, I'm coming right now."

Ai Yue turned around and responded, then stretched out his hand to Hua, "Give me the armor driver."

"Huh?"

Hua instinctively clutched his belt. "You... you want to take it back?"

"Didn't you say it was badly broken? Then of course it needs to be sent back to the factory for repair."

Ai Yue looked at the cautious Hua with amusement, "Oh no, considering that it probably can't keep up with your strength now, I'll upgrade it properly when I have time later."