"You’re also researching this?" Qi Xing was even more astonished at Nuo Xing’s knowledge of the relevant aspects.
Nuo Xing did not respond to him.
"Indeed," Professor Xia said aloud. "This has nothing to do with luck."
His gaze burning with intensity, he looked at Li Ming, "Such material sensitivity, it’s a pity, such a pity!"
He seemed to think of something, sighed, and said, "You wait here, I’ll go get something."
"He seems to be quite impressive in this area," Qi Xing remarked with a sigh, "Professor Xia must really regret not fighting with Professor Wu for him at the time."
"Trivial details," Roth still shook his head, "His development potential is so high, to waste time on this is akin to suicide."
"Individual evolution is the true path to power."
"Nonsense!" Professor Xia had already returned, holding in his hand a slender black briefcase trimmed with golden thread, nearly two meters long.
Looking angrily at Roth he said, "Individual evolution is indeed the mainstream in interstellar space, but you should also know what supports this evolutionary path."
Roth was silent, his expression unchanged, clearly unimpressed but also not willing to contradict Professor Xia.
"Roth, you should know, the Yitelan Civilization, as a high-level civilization of the Silver Star Cluster that intimidates the entire cluster, what is their source of power?"
"A-class life forms," Roth uttered, as an invisible oppressive force emanated from all around.
"Can A-class life forms shatter a planet? Can they live forever?" Professor Xia countered, "Other than Yitelan Civilization, the Silver Star Cluster has seen the birth of A-class life forms in other civilizations, but why have none of them challenged the position of Yitelan Civilization?"
Roth’s brows furrowed slightly.
"I’ll tell you, the core deterrence power of the Yitelan Civilization is the Subspace Folding Fortress!" Professor Xia raised his voice, "The power of technology, the power of mechanics, a war fortress that deploys in half an hour, capable of turning a planet to waste!"
"Even without A-class life forms, it allows them to prosper indefinitely."
Roth’s face was taut, still disagreeing, but he remained quiet.
The room fell silent. After a pause, Professor Xia’s enthusiasm faded, "Forget it, talking about this is pointless. The power of the individual versus that of the group... Alas."
A Subspace Folding Fortress? Sounds like a superweapon.
Li Ming asked Qi Xing in a low voice, who also had limited understanding; at least since his birth, he had not heard of the Yitelan Civilization deploying such a thing.
It was said to be able to store a vast array of weapons, even warships, and could be folded down to the size of a room, or even the palm of your hand.
Upon hearing this, Li Ming’s pupils dilated slightly. Could this device be controlled?
"I just promised you this," Professor Xia approached Li Ming and handed over the briefcase.
"It was made for a nephew of mine, a pity he can’t use it anymore," Professor Xia remarked with some regret.
Li Ming took the briefcase with both hands, cracked it open, and his expression froze for a moment.
Inside was a slender pale gold metallic longsword, its full shape not visible; he reached inside to feel it.
[Crystal Plasma Longsword--Class C: Created by Mechanical Master Xia Yuanlun, utilizing Crystal Alloy and ion polymerization technology.
Control Conditions: 80,000 points of metal energy
Control Effect: Swordsmanship--Master level
Control Ability--Slicing Charge: Charge for three seconds, boosts speed by 300%, and endows slicing ability.]
Class C weapon, high-tech cold weapon.
Li Ming felt a cool touch. Blue Star didn’t have production lines capable of manufacturing weapons of this caliber; they could only be individually forged.
He now controlled many different items and could roughly categorize them. Some were better suited for covert control, like the [Justice Gauntlets], which provided long-term enhancement.
Others were more apt for materialization, like [Tank Guard 211].
This [Crystal Plasma Longsword] was better suited for materialization. Charging for three seconds was too impactful in battle.
It was this slicing ability that intrigued him.
He indeed didn’t have a suitable close-range cold weapon at the moment; previously, it was either stealth attacks or instant kills.
This item is pretty nice, quite precious, after all, it’s Class C, you can’t buy it on Blue Star, and on the Black Hole Network, the regional prices are all in the tens of millions, seriously shearing the sheep.
Qi Xing glanced at it and his eyes immediately turned green with envy. In a sour tone, he said, "Professor Xia, we came together, and you’re just giving it to him alone?"
"Almost forgot." Professor Xia chuckled, and Qi Xing’s face lit up with hope.
Soon, an assistant came with a few small boxes and handed them over. Qi Xing couldn’t wait to open his, but then his expression turned rigid as he pulled out a mechanical watch.
"A hand-crafted mechanical watch, it has sentimental value." Professor Xia said kindly.
Qi Xing looked as if he had lost a loved one.
Just then, Ding Hui walked over, his face brimming with spring spirit, and had just taken great pleasure in mocking his fellow apprentices, feeling quite smug, thanks to Li Ming’s face.
"Don’t hurry off, wait a moment and I’ll write you a check, one million, don’t think it’s too little."
Li Ming was surprised; there was still money to be had. This time, he truly hit the jackpot.
"That’s not necessary, Professor’s gift is precious enough." Li Ming lifted the box.
"That’s from the teacher for you, the one million will come out of those guys’ share." Ding Hui explained, "It’s a big contract, just the design fee was five million, and we all shared it.
"You solved this tough problem, exceeded the task, and even managed to lower the overall budget. Giving you one million isn’t too much."
"So that’s it..." Li Ming realized in his heart, feeling like he’s found a clear path.
He had always wanted to use his abilities to make some money, but there was a great disparity between the market price, cost price, and second-hand price, which made it difficult to make money on a large scale.
But Ding Hui pointed out a way for him. He could resolve the "Class Electromagnetic Cannon" in a very short time, and it was very simple too.
First, he would control the item, then remove its conductive materials, and declare it damaged.
Then, with "Mechanical Engineer" skills, he would repair it, and the repaired one would be flawless.
He could definitely use this ability to modify the flaws in the original design items, earn some design fees, simple and efficient, this too was a way.
"Teacher Ding, if there’s something next time, remember to call me." Li Ming was a lot more proactive, "If anyone else has similar needs, they can call me too."
Ding Hui naturally agreed in a heartbeat.
"I’m done for, I come here once and all I get is a watch." On the way back, Qi Xing sighed, then asked, "Are you really planning on delving deep into this area?"
"I advise you, better advance to 100% as soon as possible, Roth is already preparing for it."
"Oh." Li Ming looked towards Roth, no wonder this gentleman appeared so confident today.
Even when making eye contact, he didn’t feel embarrassed.
"The gap between Class E and Class D is huge, huh, he’s going to beat you." Qi Xing said, trying to "stir the pot."
"It’s bound to happen sooner or later, I’m not going to use life level to crush him." Roth shook his head, but you could still see he was in a good mood.
"But it’s also good, your development progress is almost 90% now, right? With that, you should be invincible at Class E, probably no one in the Royal Academy of the Sela Civilization could beat you." Qi Xing calculated, "D, E, F, three levels, at least you can win at one."
"Do we have to fight them? If we don’t, they can’t block our door, right?" Li Ming was puzzled.
"Not necessarily, unless you want to be permanently labeled a coward and get cyberbullied." Qi Xing shrugged.
Li Ming understood, it was that whole issue with public opinion again.
On the way back to the lab, as soon as he got out of the hovercar, he saw Meng Wankui being driven out of the lab with an ugly expression.
Him again. Did Bian Li come up with some new clue?
Li Ming’s mind stirred, and he quickly went forward, "Uncle Meng, what brings you here?"
Seeing Li Ming, Meng Wankui’s face relaxed a bit and he straightened his clothes.
Assistant Zhang Ming said resentfully, "Mr. Li Ming, your senior brother has quite the temper. We were just asking some questions."
"My senior brother does have a temper, don’t take it to heart. Is it about Bian Li again?" Li Ming asked, smiling.
"No..." Meng Wankui shook his head, his face showing frustration: "It’s his dad, his damn father is also dead!"