Anomaly Hunters

There were many types of worlds connected to anomalies. Take medieval worlds, for instance: their technology was woefully underdeveloped. If the Environment Adjustment in such a world was also "harsh," then there was no point considering any further action there.

Even if there were castles or towns near the anomaly, the most they could get out of going there would be some valuables. Those were exactly what An Qi's side needed least. It would be a waste of time, and the Anomaly Hunters she sent over might get stranded in that world if the anomaly disappeared.

It wasn't worth risking their lives for gold, silver, and jewels from a backward era.

There were other worlds worth investigating, though. The era might be backward, but the limits imposed by that world's "Environment Adjustment" were low. When her Anomaly Hunters explored the area, they could feel their bodies becoming much more active. Someone whose strength had only been enough to shatter bricks with a punch could suddenly smash a slightly bigger rock.

That meant the world had a high Strength Level. In worlds with a high Strength Level, ordinary people were still ordinary, but training produced much more noticeable results. Even things like minerals were more likely to have unusual levels of strength.

Worlds like that probably had all kinds of special training and Cultivation Methods. After all, the advantage lay in their Strength Level, so naturally there would be capable people developing their physical strength. Those worlds had the right conditions for it, just as some experiments could only be conducted in specific environments.

The training methods and Cultivation Methods brought back by Anomaly Hunters, as well as special ores from those worlds, were all valuable. The things they brought back would be weakened to varying degrees by Environment Adjustment, but they would still be special in Longcheng.

Take a training method, for example. In its world of origin, it could let someone Wall Crawl and jump a dozen meters. In Longcheng, it would only be about a fifth as effective. But once someone had mastered it, they could go to another world with a similar Strength Level and immediately be able to jump a dozen meters again.

As for the difference between their Martial Force and that of the natives... They didn't just go in and act however they pleased.

If people from their world could only shatter bricks with their fists, and after going over, they could smash slightly bigger rocks, that was manageable. But if they could punch apart rocks as tall as a person, then there was nothing more to discuss. They would lie low and swipe whatever they could. If they couldn't manage that, they would just act like ordinary passersby and use hard currency like gold or silver to buy whatever they could. They had come all this way, after all; they couldn't return empty-handed.

If the "adjustment" wasn't that drastic, they could decide whether to throw their weight around or act more normally. Projectile Weapons were barely affected by Environment Adjustment, so they were genuinely useful in worlds with a low ceiling. In worlds with a high ceiling, though, someone might be able to reach out and squeeze carbon into diamonds.

Guns would feel like someone was scrubbing you with a loofah. Special Weapons were a different matter.

There was another type of world where Anomaly Hunters' bodies didn't change much after going through the anomaly, but they could sense the special forces in the environment much more clearly. These were worlds with a high Energy Level.

Worlds like that usually had many special powers. The people and other creatures there might not have absurd physical strength, and there might not be minerals with unusually high strength, but the minerals in those worlds could contain a great deal of energy.

The anomalous powers there could also let someone launch attacks as powerful as a missile explosion with a wave of their hand, like a sorcerer or an Esper.

In these worlds, the main strategy was still to lie low, unless the Anomaly Hunters could become top-tier or high-level combatants there after the Environment Adjustment.

Generally speaking, that was difficult. It depended on a person's "aptitude." But even with good aptitude, they still needed to improve and develop it. Simply changing environments wouldn't put them at the peak, even if they had trained hard in their own world.

But worlds differed, and environmental factors determined how effective training was. Someone who had become the strongest in this world might be only average, or even below average, in a world with a better environment. The exception would be someone whose training method for their Strength Level was already a top-tier method in a high-environment world.

In that case, they would still improve slowly after reaching their limits in their own world, but they could take off immediately in a world with a high Strength Level. There were also worlds with both a high Energy Level and a high Strength Level.

These were the results of Longcheng's years of research. Because of Environment Adjustment, making contact with other worlds through anomalies and obtaining all sorts of special items or Cultivation Methods wouldn't cause a situation where a boss appeared in their world and required heroes from all over to band together to defeat it.

Once people mastered those methods, even the most skilled among them could only learn more abilities. The strongest could ignore most firearms and survive having their hearts blown apart, but a direct hit from a missile would still kill them. If it didn't, they could just fire a couple more.

Technology was the least affected by Environment Adjustment. The trouble was that the power of technological weapons was fixed, so in a high-environment world they would basically have the same power as ever. There might be some variation, but it wouldn't be much.

Another effect was that technological development could be smoother and easier in high-environment worlds, especially those with a high Energy Level. Developing Energy Weapons was much easier in worlds like that.

But that didn't mean worlds with a low Energy Level couldn't develop Energy Weapons. It was just that those weapons would be weaker, and the research more difficult and their production requirements more stringent.

As for whether technology could break through these effects after reaching a certain level... Well, there was no record of that in Longcheng's research so far, and none of the information An Qi knew mentioned it either.

At first, some people in Longcheng had chosen to "emigrate." As research advanced, there were still people who wanted to do so, but unlike before, not everyone who knew about those worlds wanted to enter one with a better environment.

Going there really did let them enjoy the advantages of a better environment, but a person's aptitude wasn't affected by the environment. A genius from a low-environment world would still be a genius, or at least exceptionally talented, in a high-environment world. An ordinary person from a low-environment world would still be ordinary in a high-environment one.

At most, their physical fitness might improve a little, so they could go from carrying eighty pounds to carrying a hundred...

Besides, it was hard to bring many resources with them when they went over. If they brought a lot while lacking the strength to protect it, they could easily become easy prey in the other world's eyes.

More importantly, Longcheng's environment had a unique advantage: it was a hotspot for anomalies. The other worlds connected to anomalies didn't necessarily have any such regions, and Longcheng had been researching ways to keep anomalies stable for a long time. So far, though, there had been no substantial progress.

Longcheng was a hotspot for anomalies, but it really wasn't very dangerous. Their environment was on the low end, but not the lowest, and their technological weapons were reasonably advanced. They weren't afraid even if someone from a high-environment world forced their way through an anomaly.

Anyone who forced their way over might not be able to adapt. If they passed out from the pressure of crossing the anomaly, then Longcheng could take them without shedding a drop of blood... If a powerful person with a high-environment adaptation came to Longcheng, then they could just welcome them with artillery. Firearms and cannons weren't very effective in high-environment worlds because their power was fixed, but it was a different story in a low-environment world.