Growth Trait

"I must obtain this data, and I won't hesitate to create containment items for it!"

Bai Ge made a decision instantly, as knowledge was very important to him.

The knowledge explored in reality was too useful. Just enriching his brain hole and making it closer to reality was something Bai Ge had to strive for.

He firmly believed that developing his brain hole to the same level as reality was theoretically possible.

"I need to manifest a permanent trait. It's not just for this time; I'll be using it often in the future."

There were over two hundred encrypted projects in the database. Using one-time traits for all of them would be foolish.

And this was just from DARPA. The US alone had more than a dozen similar databases, and there were even more globally.

Setting up a permanent trait was Bai Ge's inevitable choice.

It would solve the problem once and for all, and only one containment item would be created.

"Random Trait is useless for quantum cryptography. Universal Unlock it is!"

Quantum cryptography systems, before being physically measured, were essentially in a superposition of all possible states.

In other words, quantum cryptography had no actual password! It was linked to a specific quantum-locked system in reality. Only when the locked system was interfered with by an external force and collapsed into a definite quantum state would a password appear.

Random Unlock could only open locks that already had a password.

No matter how coincidental or random, it was impossible to crack this encryption method.

Bai Ge was in China. He couldn't travel to a secret US base to find the quantum cryptography system and secretly activate its measurement mechanism just to unlock something.

Therefore, the only way to crack quantum cryptography remotely was through Absolute Trait.

"Bell, bring me my appendix!"

"No matter what kind of lock it is, as long as I can influence it, I can unlock it by silently reciting 'Universal Unlock'."

In his brain hole, Bai Ge had set this for his Earthling body, but when he manifested it, he found no consumption.

"Failed... I have nine hundred thousand degrees of electricity now. Isn't that enough..."

Bai Ge pondered and modified the setting.

"No matter what kind of lock it is, as long as I can see it, I can unlock it by silently reciting 'Universal Unlock'."

The result was still failure.

"Hmm... As expected, it's still not working. The range is too broad."

Bai Ge mused. Clearly, the cost of permanently realizing this trait was still too high.

After all, this was a permanent absolute trait, and it was a supernatural forced unlock.

It could crack any lock on Earth, any lock in any corner of the universe, and even conceptual locks.

"Ah, it seems to include conceptual locks too!"

"Let's try excluding conceptual and metaphysical locks..."

A few seconds later.

"Tsk, still no good."

Bai Ge sighed and said, "There's no other way, then it has to be..."

"No matter what kind of lock it is, as long as I can see it, understand its principle, and know how to unlock it normally, then by silently reciting 'Universal Unlock,' I can forcibly crack it without needing to physically perform the action!"

"Success!"

Bai Ge felt the electrical energy in his appendix instantly disappear. Out of over nine hundred thousand degrees of electricity, only a few thousand remained.

The prerequisite he had set for the Universal Unlock trait was understanding.

This greatly narrowed the scope of locks that could be cracked.

Bai Ge couldn't crack locks he didn't recognize, know, or understand.

However... Bai Ge had actually found a loophole here!

That is, this trait had growth potential!

Because theoretically, this trait could still crack all visible locks!

The scope of what it could crack depended on Bai Ge's observation skills! His knowledge! His comprehension ability!

"A trait like this only costs nine hundred thousand degrees. After all, the locks I know now are insignificant compared to all the locks in the vast universe; it's just a very small amount."

"But its future value will increase step by step with my knowledge, far exceeding the traits that nine hundred thousand degrees of electricity can manifest."

Bai Ge's eyes lit up, and he became excited.

"So, I can also set growth traits... Traits like these won't become obsolete in the future."

Growth traits would become another way to save energy.

They could grow not only with knowledge but also with physical strength... with resources...

There could even be traits that grew with 'number of exercises,' 'number of uses'!

"Often, when I add some consumption or cost to abnormal traits and increase their interaction with reality, they are more likely to be recognized."

"The 'principle' behind anomalous traits shouldn't be too isolated."

The Shadow Person was a clear example of an isolated trait.

Even adding something like solar energy absorption to the shadow state, to gradually offset the 'damage' absorbed by the bow tie, would be better than its current state.

That's why such a massive amount of mysterious energy only manifested as this 'moving target,' easily subdued by Bai Ge.

If that energy were available to Bai Ge, its usefulness would be far greater.

"Universal Unlock!"

Bai Ge naturally understood the principles of quantum cryptography and how to break it.

It required someone to personally go to the quantum cryptography system's secure vault and activate the measurement mechanism.

In other words, it needed to be unlocked from both the online and real-world sides simultaneously.

However, the power of the Universal Unlock command lay in the fact that Bai Ge didn't actually need to do that.

Knowing was enough; understanding was equivalent to doing!

Bai Ge didn't even use a computer. He glanced at the screen and mentally recited the command.

The quantum encryption program, which refused all online hacking attempts, even those by the gods of hacking...

Unfolded automatically.

Even the quantum vault in the real world hadn't been touched. The non-interference quantum states within remained in an uncertain, chaotic state.

This resulted in classified files being opened without anyone knowing.

Unless someone had an excess of free time to cross-reference unlock logs and operation logs, they would discover that someone had perfectly bypassed the quantum encryption.

Unlocking quantum cryptography unilaterally was like...

Xiao Ming climbing a tree outside to pick apples, eating too many and being unable to get down, so he went back home to get a ladder, and then used the ladder to climb down the tree...

A standard causal loop, or rather, a violation of an Earthling's linear logic.

"Hiss, such a massive amount of data, and this is just one encryption project!"

"As expected of the Advanced Research Projects Agency's database."

Bai Ge smiled as he downloaded the vast amounts of information. He was accessing it normally, and the unlocking was done 'normally,' without triggering any alarms.

After one project finished downloading, he immediately moved on to the next.

Quantum cryptography, which was unsolvable by outsiders, obediently opened one by one, revealing everything within, allowing Bai Ge to obtain it.

It was as if he were a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Defense, and even more convenient.

Because even high-ranking officials in the Ministry of Defense needed to issue instructions layer by layer to unlock quantum cryptography.

"Quantum computers! Hmm... just immature technology."

"Laser anti-missile satellites... this technology has actually matured."

"Non-lethal incapacitation weapons... they make it sound so mysterious, aren't they just infrasound weapons?"

"Electromagnetic railguns, forty years of research, and still not deployable on the battlefield..."

Bai Ge continuously acquired information, gaining a deeper understanding of America's current defense capabilities.

Overall, many technologies were immature and required several more years of effort.

However, this research data was still extremely important to Bai Ge.

As for the technologies that had already matured, as long as he had sufficient resources, Bai Ge could put them into production in his brain hole right now!

After several hours, when Bai Ge had read ninety percent of the database.

Suddenly, a peculiar project appeared before Bai Ge's eyes.

"Memory Erasure Shredder? What the hell is this?"

Just by the name, it sounded incredibly advanced. When Bai Ge unlocked and accessed it, he was immediately stunned.

Equipment Description: Appears as an ordinary shredder, 0.6 meters high, 0.4 meters wide, 0.3 meters long, brand: Vannuosi.

Equipment Origin: True origin unknown. Discovered in the office of the Chicago FBI's elite hostage rescue team. Possesses unified procurement receipts from three years ago.

Usage Test - Blank Paper: Shredded normally.

Express Waybill: Shredded normally. Afterward, everyone within a 22-meter radius of the shredder completely forgot the content of the paper, and forgot all letters and some numbers.

Paper with only the number 5 written on it: Shredded normally. Afterward, everyone within a 22-meter radius of the shredder instantly forgot the existence of the number 5. When asked to write Arabic numerals, they skipped the existence of 5. However, when faced with 'five,' they could read it normally and understand its meaning.

Portrait of Employee T: Shredded normally. Afterward, everyone within a 22-meter radius of the shredder completely forgot the appearance represented by the portrait. Employee T also forgot what they looked like, saying when looking in the mirror, "I feel like a stranger." Employee T's dog was also within the test range but showed no unfamiliarity with its owner.

Paper with only a circular pattern drawn on it: Shredded normally. Afterward, everyone within a 22-meter radius of the shredder, including a gorilla, forgot the existence of circles. They expressed surprise at all surrounding patterns drawn with circles but were completely familiar with spheres and did not lose the memory of circles in a linguistic sense.

One bizarre experiment after another, many, many more. Bai Ge's expression grew increasingly solemn as he read.

Until he reached the final section.

Test Summary: Any paper with text, numbers, symbols, or patterns printed on it, after being processed by this shredder, causes all living beings within a 22-meter radius of the shredder to forget the corresponding content, precise to every symbol. No method of memory recovery has been discovered so far.

"This is a containment item!"

Without even thinking, Bai Ge knew it was a containment item just from the beginning of the description.

He hadn't expected one to appear so far away in America.

"This is the third containment item I've found, and it doesn't necessarily appear near me."

"No wonder I haven't seen any strange news locally all these days..."

Bai Ge looked at the project's update log. It was first uploaded the day before yesterday.

The subsequent experimental reports were all updated yesterday.

"This containment item is quite harmless on its own, as long as humans don't use it..."

"It could perfectly function as a quiet shredder."