Lin Yi placed the crystal in his hand. "Take a look first."
Chen Yu eagerly closed his fingers around it. A moment later, the excitement on his face stiffened slightly, giving way to surprise.
"Huh? It's not the Mechanical Dog? 'Frost'—a one-time-use freezing beam emitter. Effective against targets below 300 units of Source Energy. Freezing duration varies depending on the target's strength."
He looked up at Lin Yi. "Brother Yi, this is..."
"You're all joining the rescue team, aren't you?" Lin Yi said. "I might not be able to go out with you every time. You should try to get assigned to the same squad. If something unexpected happens, this thing should buy you some time."
Chen Yu froze for a moment, then understood what Lin Yi had in mind.
This wasn't a weapon meant to kill. It was a piece of life-saving equipment for a critical moment.
Chen Yu scratched his head, struggled for a long while, then finally blurted out, "You really think of everything. Well, I won't stand on ceremony, Brother Yi."
Lin Yi waved a hand helplessly, signaling for him to put it away.
After that, he said no more. He sat cross-legged, took out the Source Energy Crystals he had collected that day, held them in his palm, closed his eyes, and began replenishing his depleted energy.
Early the next morning, Lin Yi had just eaten half a compressed biscuit and was about to head over to the Department Center when Ren Yinuo hurried over to find him.
"Staff Officer Lin, the General Staff urgently asked me to check something with you."
Getting straight to the point, she said, "The General Staff would like you to estimate roughly how much longer you'll need to break through to Stardust Rank."
"And if you successfully advance,