Volume Six: What She Lost and What I Gained - Chapter 554: Proportional Conversion
The battlefield gradually expanded, no longer limited to the racetrack.
Not far from the racetrack, in a large, unfinished construction site, Xiao Wu was hiding in the shadow of a half-finished building, her breathing uneven.
(Cough cough... What is this thing...?)
Xiao Wu shook her head violently, clutching her abdomen and chest. Waves of nausea spread through her body, making her feel like she was about to vomit at any moment. Not only that, her vision blurred intermittently, and her skin was incredibly itchy all over. Some of the exposed skin festered and bled profusely, but Xiao Wu's self-healing abilities began to rapidly repair herself, creating a stalemate with the festering skin.
I feel terrible, so terrible that it's making me anxious and upset!
The explosion of what Twisted Trister called a "Dirty Bomb" was much weaker than expected in terms of flash and impact, but it released countless tiny particles that could not be seen but could only be "felt." The moment those particles came into contact with the body, they caused intense discomfort—nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, skin ulceration, severe fatigue, and even signs of hair loss. An ordinary person probably wouldn't have lasted long in there.
"Dirty Bomb"
Trister was unaware that the thing he had his people create was identical in principle, function, and even name to some kind of inhuman weapon on Earth.
A dirty bomb is a completely radioactive weapon. Through its explosive force, it disperses radioactive particles into the air, causing dust pollution equivalent to nuclear radiation and resulting in catastrophic ecological damage. The radioactive dust released by a single Dirty Bomb is enough to turn the surrounding environment into a radiation-contaminated zone that will be uninhabitable for decades or even centuries.
This was the first time Xiao Wu had faced an attack like radiation, which made her feel somewhat uncomfortable both physically and mentally. Although she had indeed been suffering from nausea, vomiting, and skin rotting, that was "that's all." Even with her current limited strength, she could withstand this level of interference with her extraordinary self-healing ability.
The problem is--
(That troublesome dust... it actually drifted downwind to the city! Those bastards!)
Xiao Wu knew perfectly well what the consequences would be if ordinary people without superpowers or superhuman physiques came into contact with them; the corpses would pile up like mountains in just a few minutes!
But what's the point? By only attacking ordinary people, Xiao Wu herself hasn't suffered any real, effective harm. What's the point...?
Think about it carefully, recall what Trister said to her before.
"Technological progress has been forced to advance for four hundred years"—that's what he seemed to have said at the time.
Four hundred years?
If that's the case, this planet has existed for over four hundred years?
But this Trister doesn't look thirty at all... Logically speaking, this planet couldn't have existed longer than he's lived... Or has he also received a reward from the Leader, granting him a longer lifespan?
Furthermore, according to him, all his strange weapons were made by the Trister Star, who then transformed them to an external scale to retrieve them. If what Trister needed far exceeded the technological capabilities of the Trister Star at the time, they would have to wait until the Tristians had made significant progress...
That being said...
(That doesn't quite make sense... If the entire planet's inhabitants were helping him build things, he should be using weapons or armor much more frequently!)
After all, it's a factory the size of a planet. If it were to mass-produce, it could make as many small items as needed, like weapons and armor. But then he mentioned things like "four hundred years of technological advancement"...
The order... to mobilize the entire planet's population... four hundred years... abnormal signs...
"... ah!"
Xiao Wu suddenly understood something.
A somewhat crazy possibility, but it certainly explains everything!
(Scale... scale conversion... what if we're converting not only "size" but also "time"?)
If time flows differently on Trister Star, many years there... even hundreds of years might only be a very short period of time on Earth! This would explain his statement about "advancing by several hundred years"! It would also explain why he could quickly obtain finished products when he gave orders to his people, because even if everyone on the planet worked on it at the same time, the "design" of the props still required a considerable amount of time!
However... although the design process takes time, if it goes into mass production, then perhaps in just a few seconds, Trister could obtain a large number of finished products, and his forces would also...
(... Huh?)
Xiao Wu suddenly realized a problem.
She peeked out from the shadows, watching the soldiers outside searching for her with their lights on. Small, propeller-equipped machines floated around them, probably as auxiliary equipment. If Xiao Wu hadn't suppressed her vital signs, lowering her breathing, heartbeat, pulse, and even body temperature to near-corpse levels, she probably would have been discovered long ago.
Although our forces kept increasing during the previous battles, now... it seems like we still have the same number of people?
(Has the troop strength stopped increasing?)
If you're searching for people, the more people you have, the better, but they...
(Huh? Naked?)
No, the troop strength has indeed increased.
But it's naked.
Among the well-equipped soldiers were many naked people, both men and women, who were also searching for Xiao Wu with serious expressions using the lights and equipment, which looked somewhat comical.
Naked...
In other words... they couldn't afford the equipment; they were just temporary reinforcements.
In other words, the equipment is limited and cannot be truly mass-produced. Even though the flow of time on Trister Star is different from that of the outside world, this problem cannot be solved.
What factors determine whether something can be mass-produced? They are nothing more than limitations in manpower, technology, and resources. Manpower is definitely not a problem; 3 billion people on a planet is more than enough. Technology should be even less of a problem; even if the manufacturing process is not up to par now, Trister can wait a short time on the planet for the necessary advancements to be made.
So... that's what resources are? But an entire planet can't even produce enough resources to make this little bit of equipment? That's incredibly pathetic! Does it mean we have to empty an entire mine to make just one piece of equipment?
... to hollow out a mine?
No, wait a minute.
"Scale, transformation..."
No way! Could it be that--
"You should have realized it by now... That's right, my ability is actually very unsuitable for combat. After only a few rounds against you, who has been weakened, I'm almost out of equipment reserves..."
Trister leaned against a water tank on the rooftop, watching the worshippers come and go below. Would he be able to find Xiao Wu at this rate? Probably not. With her abilities, hiding herself wouldn't be difficult at all.
Moreover... although those believers who didn't receive equipment were instructed beforehand to take anti-radiation medication, its effectiveness was very limited, and some of them had already experienced symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and skin ulceration.
He's been using Xiao Wu's caution and bluffing all along, but it seems he's reached his limit. The clever Xiao Wu has probably already figured out the limitations of his ability. Once she understands these limitations, she'll surely discover that Trister is actually quite vulnerable to a relentless barrage of attacks.
But it doesn't matter anymore.
My task is complete.
The trap has been set; Xiao Wu is doomed.
It's just that his loyal subjects are suffering.
Trister couldn't help but feel a pang of emotion.
880,000 times, that's the rate of time flow on Trister Star.
In other words, one hour outside is roughly equivalent to one hundred years on Trister Star.
In other words, if he orders his people to make an item that "requires another hundred years of technological advancement to complete," he can receive the goods in just one hour; if he orders them to "analyze someone's data with the full force of the world," he can get feedback in a few seconds.
His superpower sounds amazing: he possesses the human and material resources of an entire planet, not to mention the different time flow on his planet compared to the outside world, and technology that surpasses that of the outside world by thousands of years. It seems incredibly powerful.
However, there is a fatal limitation: the scaling of "size".
If we were to bring the "creatures" of Trister Star to the outside world, then they could indeed be converted into "human dimensions on the outside world".
But "objects" are different.
If a life-sized object from Trister Star were taken to the outside world, its size would not be much larger than a bacterium.
A standard-sized shield, when held in hand, would be roughly the size of a city on the Trister Star.
In other words, if Trister were to commission a shield from his people, they would have to mobilize the entire world's manpower and resources to create a colossal shield the size of a city, so that it would be a truly normal-sized shield for Trister to bring to the outside world.
For every item they commissioned, the Trister Star had to expend enough resources to build a city.
This is why none of his advanced gadgets could ever be mass-produced, and why he could not continuously issue orders for customized items.
"Hey, this lovely child."
Upon hearing his call, the soldier protecting Trister, one of his guards, trembled and immediately prostrated himself respectfully at Trister's feet.
"What are your orders, Your Majesty?"
"It's nothing... I just wanted to ask you, if you leave your hometown forever and can never go back, will you regret answering my call?"
"Absolutely not! To fight as a warrior of God is the highest honor for anyone! We will never regret it!"
"What a loyal child... In other words, you would die for me at any time, even if I ordered you to commit suicide on the spot?"
"We will faithfully carry out all the commands of the divine being!"
There was not a trace of confusion in the eyes of this soldier—no, in the eyes of all the soldiers looking this way.
Trister nodded slowly.
"Hmm... good, that way everything is foolproof... ah, she's here."
The entire building was shaking.
The people immediately panicked and protected Trister, many running to the edge of the rooftop to look down.
Boom!!!
With a deafening roar, the unfinished building where Trister was located collapsed entirely.
Instead of a direct confrontation, Xiao Wu destroyed the entire building.
But Trister did not panic.
Xiao Wu lose—he was absolutely certain of it.
The final Extra Weapon is finally about to appear.