novelraw Chapter 637: Intelligence
Chapter 637: Intelligence
Chapter 637: Intelligence
A few seconds later, Jie Ming withdrew his hand.
The man collapsed to the ground. The other two men and the woman also fell one after another under the influence of the Soul Search spell.
The breathing of all four stopped simultaneously in an instant. Their pupils lost focus, and their vital signs were extinguished like candle flames being pinched out.
Jie Ming squatted down and searched the four bodies.
Weapons held no meaning for him, but currency from this world was necessary.
He found a leather money pouch containing some metal coins and several paper bills.
The coins were made of copper and silver, while the paper bills featured exquisite designs with various portraits and text.
The amount was not large, but it was enough to support one person for a while in an unfamiliar city.
He stored the money pouch into his inner world, stood up, took one last look at the abandoned settlement, then turned and walked into the night. The energy orb in his hand steadily emitted a soft white glow, illuminating more than ten meters around him brightly.
The peering sensations hiding in the darkness retreated far away under the light, not daring to approach.
As Jie Ming walked, he organized the influx of information in his mind.
These four were a special type of bandit unique to this wilderness.
They had originally belonged to a fairly large gang, but a few days ago they were purged by official forces. Only these four remained, barely escaping. In this person’s memories, the most prominent information naturally concerned the Stranges.
People in this world had coexisted with Stranges since ancient times and had developed a rather clear classification system for them. The authorities divided Stranges into five grades based on the maximum destructive power they could produce: Hazard Grade, Threat Grade, Disaster Grade, Catastrophe Grade, and Destruction Grade.
The most common were Hazard Grade. Both the Salty Finger and the Fear Serpent belonged to this level.
These were the lowest tier of Stranges. They killed, but their range was limited and their methods were simple.
Graffiti Stranges were Threat Grade, one level higher. They had greater killing range, more bizarre methods, and often possessed a degree of intelligence.
As for the Night Strange…
Jie Ming’s steps paused slightly.
It was Destruction Grade.
Of course, because Stranges were fused with the laws, if they wished to cause damage to the outside world, they had to follow various rules. In theory, as long as one figured out a Strange’s killing rules and found the corresponding solution, it was possible to survive even against the strongest Stranges.
Therefore, although the Night Strange was high-ranked, because its killing rules had been clearly analyzed, it was not actually that great a threat to regular society.
Naturally, even with the rules clearly understood, it did not mean the Strange was harmless.
Not to mention that many Stranges had no natural “path to survival” within their killing rules. Even Stranges with clear rules could cause enormous losses when deliberately exploited by certain individuals.
Such disasters had occurred in the memories of the man earlier.
A terrorist organization had once cut off the entire power supply of a city.
It was nighttime, so the entire city fell into absolute darkness.
The Night Strange “awakened” within the city.
When dawn came, the city had become a dead city.
Except for a few extremely lucky individuals, over a million people in the entire city vanished, leaving only pets with insufficient intelligence and empty, uninhabited buildings.
This was the destructive power of a Destruction Grade Strange. If conditions were met, destroying an entire civilization would be effortless.
Besides the Strange grading system, the technological situation of this plane also became clear in his mind.
It was roughly as Jie Ming had previously guessed. The overall technological level was roughly equivalent to the late 20th century of the world he came from before transmigrating. However, “roughly equivalent” did not mean “identical.”
In some fields, the developmental paths were entirely different.
The most obvious difference was aviation technology.
The facts proved that Jie Ming’s earlier caution had been correct.
In this plane, high-speed flight was a taboo.
When an object broke the sound barrier, the sonic boom it produced would stir huge “ripples” in the world of Stranges, attracting things sensitive to sound and vibration.
Flying too high was the same—high altitudes had their own Stranges lurking above the clouds.
Thus, this plane had no supersonic fighter jets or high-altitude reconnaissance planes. Aviation technology as a whole lagged behind.
But maritime technology presented a completely different picture.
Massive oceangoing cargo ships shuttled across the seas, and enormous fishing nets dragged tons of catch up from the deep ocean.
One could say the ocean was the lifeline of human civilization in this plane.
The reason was that someone had once tamed a marine Strange and used it as a foundation to continuously tame new ones.
These marine Stranges had varied abilities—some could calm storms, some could drive away dangerous creatures, and some could “bless” ships with extra speed and stability.
However, the deep sea remained forbidden territory for humans.
In the bandits’ memories, descriptions of the deep sea carried an almost religious awe.
There were “big things” in the deep sea. No one knew exactly what they were, because no one who had gone there had ever returned.
In terms of weaponry, this plane’s individual soldier weapons had developed far beyond Earth’s at the same period.
The reason was certain “gene drugs.”
These were physical enhancement drugs developed using the characteristics of Stranges, capable of greatly increasing strength, speed, and reaction ability.
But the side effects were severe. Except for a few particularly expensive varieties, the success rate for most ordinary ones was less than ten percent.
Besides gene drugs, there was an even more dangerous path: becoming a “Spirit Medium.”
Sealing a Strange within one’s body to borrow its power.
The host of the Fear Serpent earlier was exactly such an existence.
The upper limit for Spirit Mediums was far higher than that of gene drug users, but Stranges could backlash at any time, and their lifespans were generally very short.
Overall, however, most people in this plane were still ordinary humans who relied on thermal weapons for survival.
From the bandits’ memories, Jie Ming also learned that besides some well-known Stranges, every city had its own unique Stranges due to differing local conditions.
The original destination of these people was a city called “Mist Capital.”
Mist Capital was located on the eastern coastline of this continent. It was a densely populated, heavy industrial border city plagued by continuous rain.
It was perpetually shrouded in gray fog and black smoke from factory chimneys. The air was filled with a mixture of coal smoke, sea mist, and chemical waste. The city was large and chaotic, with official forces unable to cover every corner.
Numerous abandoned factories, slums, and underground spaces served as hiding places for illegal Spirit Mediums, black market merchants, and fugitive criminals. For those who wanted to “lie low,” it was the perfect place.
These four had originally planned to go to Mist Capital to avoid the heat, then return to the wilderness to resume their old trade after some time.
Jie Ming raised his head and looked toward the northern night sky.
In that direction, roughly another day’s journey away, lay Mist Capital.
His current goal was clear: find an inconspicuous corner in that city to settle down, lie low, observe, and study.
He would figure out the birth mechanism of Stranges in this world, understand how they connected with the laws, and learn the relevant knowledge.
It would be best if he could also capture some Stranges of different grades to accumulate research materials for his upcoming breakthrough to the Dao Integration Realm.