novelraw Chapter 430 - 423: Immortal Species! Talent of Flame!
Chapter 430 - 423: Immortal Species! Talent of Flame!
At the moment of accepting the task, the light blue system’s glowing panel disappeared, and a video clip appeared in front of Su Qiangwei.
As soon as the screen appeared, the girl’s expression became serious.
These were two strange life forms that looked like an amalgamation of an octopus and a human.
Their ears, nose, mouth, and limbs were more human-like, but they each had only one large eye, with something resembling fish gills on the sides of their heads, no hair, just tentacles.
Just by looking at their eyes, Su Qiangwei could determine that these were aliens with ulterior motives, intelligent life forms, not like the brutish but less intelligent Eye-Stealing Monster or Sea Demon Feng Yuji.
These octopus creatures had an aura of superiority that was unpleasant, much like the Extremely Effective Monarch (X9500) during the initial Lotus City Demon Mountain campaign.
They were in a cold, damp, enclosed environment, seemingly inside a cave.
But before these two octopus people, various high-tech devices full of sci-fi vibes were laid out.
Biomanufacturing, chemical reagent preparation, Earth map real-time monitoring...
Just a cursory glance, and Su Qiangwei felt a little alarmed.
The bizarre green water tanks filled with strange biological specimens, some resembling the Sea Demon Feng Yuji that once ravaged Japan, and seemed even more advanced judging by their physical structure.
The technology mastered by these two octopus people, any of which taken at random, would be considered black technology to Earth Civilization.
They stood before a control panel, their tentacle-like hair flailing wildly as if inputting instructions, adjusting the control panel’s display.
The screen flickered rapidly.
In the West, the seven S-level powerhouses were having a standoff with the Seventh Princess Eve...
In the East, six National Guardian-level figures were matched against the Eldest Prince Li Tang and third Prince Adam...
At Wudang Mountain, Profound Immortal Zhao Guanlan battled the Prophet, and a robed young man appeared...
The various major events occurring on Earth seemed to be under the control of these two octopus people.
Finally, the two broke the silence.
"Have you made your decision? Abandon this testing ground, or continue the research?"
"Of course, we continue! Originally, I thought Earth was just an unlucky low-level civilization with exposed cosmic coordinates, attracting many colonizers from other civilizations, enriching our experimental samples. Unexpectedly, it truly produced uniquely rare experimental subjects!"
"Indeed, I’m very interested in that so-called Emotional Tribulation ability."
"That’s just an inconsequential byproduct. The key is Ma Ran’s Soul Completion Divine Techniques and Limited Foreknowledge, Profound Immortal Zhao Guanlan’s divine techniques, and that humanoid creature transformed from a mountain ’Wudang’."
"There are indeed many precious samples, we mustn’t just leave. Who knows how long it would take to find such a great opportunity next time."
"Going in directly? This group, although they have very primitive technology, has strong learning and tool-utilizing abilities, forcing the Eternal Civilization to sign a peace treaty and suppressing the Chuanke Princes, all proof of their capabilities."
"Sea Demon Feng Yuji No.1 was already slain by Zhao Guanlan. According to estimates, No.2 and No.3, though stronger, are still no match for him, and Ma Ran can fight him to a draw."
"You’re too cautious! Beings like us, born with a two thousand-year lifespan, are long-lived, continuously exploring unknown cosmoses, conducting research, lighting up gene points, constantly increasing lifespan, completely different tier from short-lived Earthlings."
"You mean to use the Life Technique, directly burning their lifespan?"
"Using the Life Technique, although it consumes a bit of one’s own life force each time, it can accelerate enemy cell aging and decay by a hundredfold. Given Earth humans’ lifespan, no matter how strong, consuming just a year’s life force in the blink of an eye would make them wither, die."
"Understood! A superpower user like Ma Ran, whose backlash depletes lifespan, is even more restrained to death!"
"Though he established the ’Burning Martial’ system, increasing his lifespan a bit, he’s ultimately just Earth human, gene level too low, account for the Limited Foreknowledge cost, call it a life balance! Even so, spending just a year of life force could make him completely senile, losing all resistance, easily manipulated!"
"One more note—Zhao Guanlan is Cangming Star being, with no gene or cell samples, lacking experimental data, best not to touch him. As for ’Wudang’... the specimen’s too large, could draw other civilization’s attention, best to abandon."
"I agree with your judgment, our main tenet is low-key, avoid being like the Chuanke Civilization! Their hegemonic style lasting 160,000 years is purely due to immense luck! Once luck runs dry, they’ll be swiftly exterminated!"
The footage ended there.
After translating the dialogue of the two octopus people, a hint of reddish cold light flashed through Su Qiangwei’s amber eyes.
These aliens, self-proclaimed long-lived species, made rational judgments after obtaining sufficient information.
So...
The enemy’s listed power was likely stronger compared to Earth humans.
And Ma Ran, though powerful enough, was tightly restrained by his limited lifespan.
This life-or-death critical intelligence must be relayed to Ma Ran at once!
With that thought, Su Qiangwei activated her superpower, quickly translating the alien conversation into Chinese, submitting through the system panel.
[Task complete!]
[Ma Ran: Finished watching. Though the enemy is formidable, with intelligence advantage, we have countermeasures. Trust my judgment, no need to worry too much.]
The girl breathed a sigh of relief.
Who would worry about someone as straightforward as Ma Ran, an "alloy straight man"?!
With his skills and schemes, even if Earth exploded, he might not die.
Instead of fretting over him, better to think about what to eat tonight.
Hmm?
Master Qiangwei suddenly realized things weren’t so simple.
"What about the task reward?"
The girl exclaimed indignantly, "Did you swallow that big bowl of beef noodles?"
[Come and get it yourself.]
[Surely no one expects me to deliver, huh?]
???
Not even pretending anymore?
Before saying that, even just adding "Ma Ran" with a colon, Master Qiangwei could cooperate.
This completely dropping the facade, what’s that supposed to mean?
Besides...
Ma Ran only likes showing off, but never has been so sarcastically weird!
Isn’t he afraid of shattering his image?
Come to think of it, who did he learn this tone from?
A self-unaware Su Qiangwei raged futilely for a while before admitting she might be responsible for it.
The worse news is...
It seems only she knows this side of Ma Ran.
Even if she told others, most likely, no one would believe.
After realizing this, Su Qiangwei held back tears in her eyes, leaped, floating across the male and female dorm areas, lightly landed in front of Ma Ran’s dorm room.
"The door’s open, come in."
With fury, the girl stormed in.
The enticing aroma of beef noodles hit her senses.
On the table, the glowing red broth shimmered with strips of juicy meat, crystalline noodles, and savory soup, instantly extinguishing Su Qiangwei’s anger.
This bowl of beef noodles...
Was glowing!
The chefs in the cafeteria were already considered world-class.
Ma Ran’s culinary talents were absurdly high, surpassing the limits of human imagination!
The Burning Talent indeed was extraordinary!
The girl gracefully approached the table, holding chopsticks, tasting slowly, her beautiful eyes filled with surprise, and a smile surfaced, exposing her true emotions.
The floating golden Little Walnut crazily wiggled its body.
Want to eat!
Could you whip up a bowl for Master 98725 too?
Little Walnut suddenly felt it could answer questions on Zhihu titled ’What is it like to have a pet with extraordinary culinary skills?’
However...
Little Walnut quickly realized it didn’t have a mouth and couldn’t eat human food.