Chapter 279 - Extinction (I)
Word count: 5214 Update Time: 2012-12-23 20: 03: 00
After four days, they reached the middle age of Asgard. After a bumpy journey, they finally reached the heaven like city of the Divine Kingdom. After the four of them went through the report and the holiday at the Doomhammer's military office, Zero said goodbye to them for the time being and drove to an open area in the western suburbs of the city by himself. There was an abandoned factory, a small derelict power station, and two working dormitories.
This was originally a member of the Asgard's many food processing plants, owned by merchant Pross. But a year ago, when Proce was unable to repay his debt due to a large debt, he mortgaged it to Asgard. The factory had been empty until now because there was no reason to find the right person to take over. After learning that Zero was looking for an experimental site, under Ben's instructions, this factory was rented out to Zero at a very low price, and the required apparatus and related personnel were added to it.
At present, the factory is ready to be put into use after a simple renovation. People and equipment were arriving, and by the time Zero arrived, the last truck was leaving. He parked his car in front of the factory entrance in time to see Victor directing the workers to assemble the equipment. The doctor's radiant face was very different from the drunken face Zero had when he first met him.
"Move the trough a little, gentlemen, and be careful."
"Damn it, why is there no electricity? As for the electricians, quickly turn on the power, all instruments must be tested for the first time! "
Victor was shouting and shouting in the factory. The factory's contents had been remodeled and it had been established a cultivation area, an office, a machine room, a disinfection zone, and other areas of work. But cables of all colors were everywhere on the ground, and staff were careful not to trip over them as they walked. Even though it was messy, it made people feel busy and angry.
In addition to assisting Victor's techies, Asgard had also specially assigned a team of six guards to this lab. They were drawn from the city's security system, but the guards, the technicians, and the equipment had to be paid for every month. Thus, looking at this busy laboratory made him feel like he had just started a new career. At the same time, he knew that the burden on his shoulders had become heavier.
In this way, he was glad that he had time to make a trip to the Blue Ridge Mountain Range. Although it would take at least three months for Parkland's fiscal dividend to refund the first funds, it was a good start. However, in these three months, there were still a lot of things that Zero had to do. In addition to the fees to be paid for the scheme, a general account is to be opened for foreign exchange funds.
In addition to developing domestic demand, Asgard also had economic contacts with other cities in the wilderness. To that end, Asgaritel provided banking services. Therefore, the general account is not difficult to do, let zero headache is the income problem. Apart from the loan of the site, the collateral for the equipment, materials and the salary for the first quarter, there is not much left of the loan.
Even three months from now, when Parkland received his first bonus, it would not be enough to sustain the plan's later and mid-term needs. Therefore, Zero was currently very poor and was also in need of money.
As he quickly analyzed the situation, Victor finally noticed his arrival. The doctor called out his name, bringing Zero back to life. Victor strode forward and gave him a firm hug.
"I didn't expect such a city to exist in this world. Oh my god, this place is like a paradise." Victor said excitedly.
While waiting for the others to leave Angry Reef City for the Blue Ridge Mountains, Zero applied to Asgard for Victor's temporary right of residence. Because Ben had said hello, the application was approved quickly, and on the third day an Asgard staff member came to pick up the doctor and take him away. Arriving at Asgard, the city of the Kingdom of God, Victor's shock was greater than the zero of the day.
Zero could understand how he felt. In Asgartree, people were like old times. The environment in which this city is trying to operate is something that no other city has. Victor liked it at first glance, and in fact, very few people left Asgard, and Victor was no exception. In response, Zero said that he could find a way to grant Victor the right to live permanently.
Victor was pleased to hear Zero's words and hoped that once he settled down, he would be able to move his wife's ashes here so that she could rest in heaven. The doctor's request was insignificant, so naturally, Zero had no reason to refuse. In fact, Zero had considered keeping Victor in Asgaritri for a long time. In addition to the rebirth plan, Victor could also become the team's personal doctor.
After the plan was completed, the laboratory could be maintained. In the future, the laboratory could be used to research and manufacture drugs. If Zero could get more resources, it could even research and produce genetic drugs. Originally, Zero was worried that Victor would not like to live here. Once the plan was successful, he would take his leave. Now, however, the problem was solved.
Next, Victor took a brief tour of the converted lab. When he arrived at the culture area, Zero saw that the culture tank had been set up and was in the process of disinfection. This was the core area of the laboratory. After Leah's blood had been separated and released with the various genes, it would then be combined and exported, eventually giving her a new life in the incubator.
The cloning techniques of the new era were already very advanced. As long as the gene samples were kept, they could construct a clone that was no different from a clone. As for the biochemical techniques of the Heroic Spirit Hall and the Dark Council, they could even clone capable people. The cloned esper was not different in personality, physique, or abilities, so it was regarded as another way to live forever.
However, the highest level cloning technique required an astonishing amount of resources. Hence, only people at the level of the main brain had the right to leave behind their own gene backups in case of need.
Naturally, this lab was unable to perform cloning at the highest level, but it was still possible to clone an ordinary girl like Leah.
He gently caressed the cold isolation cover and thought to himself: Leah, you'll wake up soon.
"Take your hands off the cover!"
Unexpectedly, a loud shout came from behind Zero, and it sounded very familiar. Zero looked back and saw Eva in her work clothes. The dangerous woman was biting a ballpoint pen and holding a folder in her hands. She walked in quickly and slapped away Zero's hand. "You outsider, don't delay our work. If there's nothing else, please leave."
Eve slammed Zero and Victor out of the training area. After sweeping them through the entrance and exit area, she shouted orders to the staff to set up the equipment. Her imposing manner made it seem as if the training ground was her home ground.
"This Miss Eva said she was your friend, and I've talked to her about it. She's really got an extraordinary level of skill in biochemistry, and she has a lot of ideas that I've never thought about before. "So I invited her to join me, and she …" Victor asked Zero.
"She is my friend."
Victor nodded in reassurance. However, he did not see the bitter smile on Zero's face. Eva was indeed his friend, only the one who was put in the wrong place, and the one who was at the highest level of trouble.
When he left the lab, Asgard's holographic board had already reflected the red glow of the evening sun. After saying goodbye to Victor, Zero drove away. The rebirth plan had been carried out step by step. Right now, all that Zero had to do was earn money. In the rearview mirror, the laboratory was a blur of shadows in the simulated sunset, but that was where the hope of zero lay.
What Zero did not know was that this small laboratory was the rudiment of the research institute that was responsible for biochemical research in the future of his kingdom!
It was nine o'clock in the evening when he lay down on his bed in Zero's room. Zero was lying down in his white pajamas in a relaxed posture. The so-called relaxation, is to let the body's 70% of the senses into a resting state, to make up for the long-term stress caused by the loss. This relaxation was a luxury for Zero. He recalled the days he had lived in the wilderness, when his body was resting even in a safe base, but his senses were still working to monitor the sudden dangers.
While he was resting, he closed his eyes and silently calculated the points of evolution that he had obtained in the past few days. The data flowed like water, and the remaining senses continued to work, then quickly gave him a number: 51.
51 evolution points was the result of the battle that he had been accumulating ever since he leveled up. Amongst them, killing off a rank 6 esper like Günabel gave him a total of 13 evolution points!
One must know that killing so many strange creatures under the military base of the Cossacks only gave him 20 points of evolution. Furthermore, taking away Salton's life with a single shot in Parkland's territory only gave him 4 points of evolution. However, profit was often accompanied by risk. If it was not necessary, Zero did not want to do this anymore.
After all, evolution points can be obtained in almost unlimited ways. However, Zero only had one life.
As he willed it, the points of evolution were all absorbed into his strengthening ability. Each enhancement of an ability required a different evolution point, from the first stage to the second stage required 4 evolution points. And every time he advanced, it would double, it was not as cheap as raising one's foundation.
51 evolution points might seem like a lot, but when all four of his abilities had advanced to level 2, he only had 7 left. This was also because he had previously advanced Gale Shot to rank 2, otherwise the remaining points of evolution would have been even lesser.
In any case, the increase in his abilities had brought about a direct benefit to Zero. For example, the restrictions on multiple shootings had been increased from three to four, while the mental mark had been extended from three hundred to five hundred meters. The extent of the improvement didn't seem like it was the end, but in actual combat, even the smallest of improvements would often play a decisive role.
And when he reached the Fourth Order from zero, he would face the same evolution as what Valkyrie had described. By then, without the help of a debugging machine, the genes of zero would be able to deduce high-level occupations and their corresponding abilities in accordance with the planned sequence.
Zero's current profession was the Windwalker. According to the information in the Evolution Tree, when the necessary conditions were met, it would be possible to evolve a high-level profession, Shadow Wanderer. Shadow Wanderer was someone who could enhance the attributes of a Windwalker and then evolve into a high-level profession that had a certain amount of ability to stealth and hide. It was a qualitative leap, with zero expectations.
But now, all Zero needed to do was rest. Then he would enter the headquarters the next morning to take on missions, get paid and strengthen himself through combat. There were no shortcuts in the path of evolution. There was only sufficient potential and talent, as well as the necessary hard work.
To those who had the ability to sleep, this method of rest was already a form of surrogate for a low-level life. For ordinary people, sleep could make up for one day of mental and energy consumption. But for the competent, there are many ways to replenish energy. When one's energy reached a certain level, they could stay awake for several days until their energy level fell. Only then would they be able to restore their body's energy through such a low-level method.
However, this method of recovery was simple and slow. Even for those with low-level abilities, if they slept for seven hours, the amount of energy they could recover would not even reach 20% of their total energy. As for those with high-level abilities, the amount of energy they could recover from their sleep was even lower.
But sleep is more of a habit to zero, and at the same time zero still feels like a human means. From another point of view, though, the capable are out of the realm of humanity.
The sleeping time could be very long or very short. Time lost its meaning when one's consciousness was shrouded in darkness. But Zero had given his body clock seven hours of sleep before he went to sleep, so when the body clock counted down to zero, he opened his eyes and saw the dim light outside the window.
He stretched lazily on the bed, as it was meant to help his body awaken. But now, to zero, this action meant more than it actually did. By the time he woke up, the nerve center had already sent out a huge amount of data to the various nerve endings in his body. After less than a second of synchronization, his body of zero had already entered its optimal state of activity, without the assistance of any other actions.
It was just that Zero enjoyed this action. After all, only ordinary people could enjoy this kind of action.
He jumped out of bed, washed himself briefly, and changed into his new uniform. When the standard Doomhammer uniform was put on, a handsome, upright figure was reflected in the mirror. And against the background of the black uniform, the zero in the mirror and the golden light in the right eye were even more dazzling.
It was just that Zero didn't like being special, so he opened the drawer and put on the eyepatch he had prepared that morning, covering up the special pupil.
After doing all this, Zero left the dormitory. As for his destination, it was the headquarters' office building.
At eight o'clock in the morning, Zero and Maple arrived at the headquarters office building, which had just opened. In the mission hall on the first floor, the electronic board began its work and posted the tasks one by one onto the electronic board to facilitate selection.
The headquarters building in Asgard replaced the common union hall in the wilderness city. Here, you can register the adventurers, receive quests, complete delivery, and so on. Above the third floor was an office area that normal people were not allowed to enter. In addition to the soldiers from the military system, the Adventurer's Team registered at the headquarters was also made up of the most capable members of the civilian population. However, this portion of the espers, whether they were in terms of talent or strength, was unable to compare with the military system born teams. Especially the Doomhammer, which was originally formed in the form of a small team, was a frequent visitor in the headquarters building.
Among the five legions, Doomhammer's soldiers had a higher degree of freedom. Soldiers do not have to undergo regular training to be free to take on tasks in the headquarters during a non-war period. Freedom was the privilege of every single warrior. And the higher the rank, the greater the degree of freedom.
The two of them had come to the headquarters early in the morning to pick up missions and earn money. However, because there were no Quest Records, the party's Level Evaluation was currently at the lowest Level E, so quests that met the inspection criteria were all low-difficulty and low-income quests. This made the two of them lack interest. Just as the two of them were about to accept all the E-class missions, a uniformed office staff member appeared before them.
"Gentlemen, may I ask which of you is Zero?" She was a beautiful woman with long golden hair. Her long hair was tied together, forming a dignified hairstyle. Even in the rigid uniform, the ground did not prevent her large peaks and perky hips from attracting the male creature's burning gaze.
Hearing that he had been called out, he stepped forward and revealed his identity. The woman's expression didn't change at all. She only said lightly, "Please come with me. Officer Kalio is waiting for you in the strategy room."
Upon hearing Caelio, Zero's eyes lit up. However, at the same time, he was puzzled as to why this recruit instructor, Kalio, would appear in the headquarters.
Throwing Feng into the lobby, Zero followed the office girl all the way to the elevator used by the building's staff. The elevator could accommodate fifteen people at the same time, but there were only two people on it now: Zero and the blonde. Whether intentionally or not, the office girl was standing in front of Zero. And she was standing closer, no lower than zero, and when she stood like that, her perky buttocks would inadvertently touch zero.
When the elevator doors opened, the brief "harassment" came to an end. The girl led Zero to the door of an office. Before she left, she whispered to him, "I'm free tonight."
Even the stupidest person would be able to understand the meaning of this sentence. Of course, Zero would be able to understand it. In fact, the Hammer of Destruction uniform he was wearing was already a symbol of his status. The warrior class was already in the middle and lower echelons of Asgard's power class. If an ordinary woman could hook up with a man of this status, it would be equivalent to finding a better home for herself. Especially since he was still so young, he completely fit the needs and image of a husband in a woman's mind.
Zero smiled, but did not put this easy to come across in his heart. Compared to this kind of encounter, Zero believed that Feng Feng was more interested.
He pushed open the oaken door of the office and saw Carrio standing by the window with his back to him. Carío turned around as he heard the sound of the door opening. A smile broke out on his face as he said, "You are here. You are slower than I expected. It seems like the little golden kitten is not going to let you go."