"Young people daydreaming a bit isn’t a bad thing." Sun Hang patted Charles on the shoulder, "But there’s no need to let me hear your sleep talk."
"Speaking of which, we’ve all seen this Cheng Ming’s file. Apart from memetic stability, his abilities aren’t particularly outstanding... Why does Bai Lingqiu value him, and even let him serve as the deputy leader of the hunting team?" Candle Dragon suddenly said.
"Good, you found a highlight," Ya Qiaoxi nodded, "Maybe he’s the man Bai Lingqiu really fancies. From the photos, Cheng Ming’s features are quite decent. Even though he appears honest and not the type women might be attracted to, Bai Lingqiu might just have a thing for him... Charles, it seems you’re out of luck."
"I don’t mind being the second wife~" Charles said cheekily.
"Ew..." Ya Qiaoxi gave Charles the middle finger, "Alright, no kidding. I heard Cheng Ming took out a malfunctioning biochemical robot from Bai’s Military Industry during the combat capabilities test."
"Biochemical robot?" Charles was stunned for a moment, "Does Bai’s Military Industry have such products? How come I’ve never heard of them?"
"These things aren’t sold to Free Hunters and civilian mercenaries, so, of course, you wouldn’t have heard about them," Ya Qiaoxi said, "Moreover, this biochemical robot is most likely still in the testing phase, not yet in formal production."
"Is this biochemical robot really powerful?" Charles asked.
"You’d have to ask Sun Hang about that," Ya Qiaoxi shrugged, "This level of intelligence isn’t something someone like me could uncover."
"G09 type special purpose biochemical robot. This robot uses the G09 type humanoid powered exoskeleton as the framework, combined with artificially cultivated creature cells labeled ’Slime II’... Strictly speaking, this type of biochemical robot can be considered an artificial piece of Deceitful Equipment, but unlike conventional Deceitful Equipment, it’s not controlled by a suitable user; instead, it’s accessible to everyone via a ’terminal controller’," Candle Dragon explained.
Sun Hang had been observing that group of ragtag individuals these past few days, trying to find a few promising ones like Jin Hongyi. The main brain information was glanced at briefly before being handed over to Candle Dragon, who was responsible for filtering and refining it before reporting back to Sun Hang.
"The combat capability of the G09 type biochemical robot is determined by the activity threshold of creature cells and the power output of the exoskeleton. However, during the test, the G09 type biochemical robot went out of control. Although the energy supply to the exoskeleton was cut off, the activity containment valve of creature cells was breached... According to Bai’s Military Industry’s report, this state of G09 is at least a target for a Class B hunting task."
Here, Class B doesn’t refer to the classification of creatures but rather the classification used by the Dragon City Hunter Management Association to describe hunting task difficulty. There are five grades - A, B, C, D, E - determined by the difficulty and trickiness of the target, and each major grade is divided into upper, middle, and lower three sub-grades.
A round-up mission like the giant caterpillar hunt is undoubtedly of the highest Class A Upper Grade.
As for the difficulty of Class B lower grade, without considering environmental factors, purely focusing on eliminating creatures, it would require about two or three Hunter teams to complete.
Moreover, these have to be teams composed of experienced hunters with exquisite combat skills.
If someone wanted to handle a Class B lower-grade target single-handedly, they must be an elite with a recognized name on the Hunter rankings.
Cheng Ming obviously does not fall within this ranking.
"Cheng Ming’s previous file has been invalidated. During the combat capabilities test, he displayed previously unseen abilities," Candle Dragon continued, "People from Dubhe Tower watched the footage and concluded that the ability should come from Cheng Ming’s infection source - a creature cactus. Dubhe Tower also commissioned the Bai Group to examine Cheng Ming’s infection progress, resulting in the conclusion that Cheng Ming’s infection progress hasn’t shown any noticeable change and remains at a very safe level."
"So, this guy has been playing the pig to eat the tiger all along?" Ya Qiaoxi muttered.
Although she’s not infected, she has some understanding of infection sources and their abilities.
An infected person’s Meme Ability is somewhat akin to "trading with a demon to gain power"; the stronger the power obtained, the closer the infected person is to turning into a creature corpse or creature...
An infected person’s abilities can be enhanced to a certain extent through training, but such enhancement is very effective. To radically change the intensity of capabilities, besides the development of infection progress, there’s no other way.
So, for Cheng Ming to transform from an ordinary low-tier Hunter to a formidable force comparable to top Hunters without a change in infection progress, it’s almost an impossible feat.
The only explanation is that he had been hiding his strength, from the day he became a registered Hunter, and has been hiding it until today.
"Doesn’t make sense!" Charles said, "Since the infection progress is stable, why didn’t he use his ability? Besides, even if he wants to play the pig to eat the tiger, this sort of trump card should be revealed during critical moments. Revealing it during a combat capabilities test doesn’t make any sense!"
"Maybe for Cheng Ming, the combat capabilities test was already a life-threatening situation," Candle Dragon pondered, "After all, Bai’s Military Industry’s G09 was out of control; if Cheng Ming continued to hide his power, he might genuinely have been killed by G09."
"I actually suspect Cheng Ming’s increase in power might be related to the Blood Feast," said Ya Qiaoxi, "Like what’s written in martial arts novels, surviving a catastrophe, suddenly getting enlightened, and breaking through the governor and conception vessels or something... For instance, he initially had these abilities, but didn’t know how to use them, and the Blood Feast stirred things up, or facing G09’s deadly pressure, he suddenly tapped into these abilities... such incidents have happened quite a few times historically, several times just in the Hexi Corridor."
"Tsk, Mr. Ya’s mention reminded me of someone too," Charles chimed in, "This guy was previously a completely ordinary Free Hunter, whose abilities seemed utterly irrelevant to combat. When he first arrived in Dragon City, he was bullied constantly and couldn’t get good tasks. During one mission, he was betrayed, thrown off the vehicle as bait to hold back the pursuing creatures... In a life-and-death moment, this guy suddenly had a cosmic burst and killed those creatures. What’s crucial is that after his burst, he didn’t mutate but returned to Dragon City like a normal person and reported those who left him behind. If I recall correctly, he’s still in Dragon City now and is considered one of the strongest Hunters in Dragon City... I wonder if he’ll participate in this round-up action."
"I’m more curious about why G09 went out of control," Sun Hang said, stroking his chin, "Given that the G09 is so dangerous, why would Bai’s Military Industry dare use it to test a Hunter’s combat capabilities? Aren’t they afraid of something going wrong?"
"Tsk, Mr. Ya’s mention reminded me of someone too," Charles chimed in, "This guy was previously a completely ordinary Free Hunter, whose abilities seemed utterly irrelevant to combat. When he first arrived in Dragon City, he was bullied constantly and couldn’t get good tasks. During one mission, he was betrayed, thrown off the vehicle as bait to hold back the pursuing creatures... In a life-and-death moment, this guy suddenly had a cosmic burst and killed those creatures. What’s crucial is that after his burst, he didn’t mutate but returned to Dragon City like a normal person and reported those who left him behind. If I recall correctly, he’s still in Dragon City now and is considered one of the strongest Hunters in Dragon City... I wonder if he’ll participate in this round-up action."
"I’m more curious about why G09 went out of control," Sun Hang said, stroking his chin, "Given that the G09 is so dangerous, why would Bai’s Military Industry dare use it to test a Hunter’s combat capabilities? Aren’t they afraid of something going wrong?"