Zhou Yi had previously received Light Seeds that were just white spheres of light with no description. After absorption, they could only enhance his body.
This enhancement was very fixed.
One Light Seed could be converted into 10 points of "Life Value," or 0.01 of "Defense," or 40 points of "Energy."
Zhou Yi used a large number of Light Seeds to improve his life and defense, both of which were tangible self-preservation attributes.
It wasn't until his life broke through 10,000 points and his defense reached 425 points that even C-class monsters like the long-necked crocodile couldn't penetrate his defense.
Once his life safety was secured, Zhou Yi began to transition to increasing his energy reserves.
His biggest weakness was his lack of destructive power.
Energy couldn't be converted into a direct force capable of killing the Guangna Species.
Zhou Yi had to find an alternative, using the cultivation and training of the samurai crabs as an extension of himself and as his weapons.
The green Light Seed made him realize that there might have been a slight misconception in his previous understanding.
There were differences among Light Seeds.
Zhou Yi asked Red Kestrel, "Are there many categories of Light Seeds?"
The drone's voice came from the remote control, "Currently, there are three known types of Light Seeds. The first is the most common, the 'Body Species,' which can only act and merge with the body, that is, on the level of vitality."
"Guangna Species often produce Body Species upon death. After the energy structure, which was held together and operated by a strong life force, collapses, energy is released. If it's not collected in time, it will uniformly merge into the environment. The Light Seeds used as universal currency by our electromechanical beings refer to the Body Species."
"The second type is the 'Combat Species,' which is much less common than Body Species. It is a structured form of force that the Guangna Species have accumulated over time and is essentially a type of kinetic mechanism."
"Combat Species are not easily condensed; they require strong bodies to support them and represent the superstructure of the Light Seed system. To preserve and extract them completely from the body of a Guangna Species, the conditions are much stricter, and usually only C-class or higher Guangna Species can produce them."
"Unlike the simple structure of Body Species, Combat Species are very diverse: some have high levels of strength, some skills are secretive, and some mechanisms are outstanding..."
Combat Species are like interchangeable external devices.
But any body can only be equipped with one Combat Species.
"...The external destructive power expressed by Combat Species is one of the three metrics by which we electromechanical life forms are evaluated – 'Strength.' My strength rating is only E, which basically places me at the bottom of the Guangna Species hierarchy," Red Kestrel explained.
Zhou Yi took note silently and said, "What's the last kind?"
"The third kind is called the 'Genetic Species.'"
"Genetic Species... they are very special. First of all, it requires a B-class life or higher to produce them."
"They store the maker's memory, knowledge, and a part of some indefinable power, encompassing the important wealth of the creator's life. It is the rarest type of Light Seed."
Red Kestrel said, "Genetic Species are usually a gift from powerful beings close to death to their heirs or descendants."
Zhou Yi's eyes were opened wide.
Who would have thought that in the Wasteland Era, these top-tier creatures would also engage in imparting their legacy directly?
If this imparting of skills is passed down from generation to generation, then the strong will always remain strong, and the gap between individuals will likely grow larger.
The entrenchment of a Wasteland-style social hierarchy seems inevitable.
Red Kestrel acknowledged, "Upon reaching the B-class life stage, their intelligence, knowledge, judgment, and resources can accumulate over many years. They are completely different from the ordinary Guangna Species that struggle at the bottom."
"The outstanding ones among them are called 'sea lords.'"
"Sea lords have territories in the Dead Sea, commanding a large number of loyal Guangna Species lives, setting the rules and order for their region. Many Human Cities are either vassals or directly controlled territories of the sea lords."
"Above them are the A-class Skywalkers, who rarely appear and are mostly walking in the skies above, which is where their name comes from."
Zhou Yi listened thoughtfully.
B-class Guangna Species, sea lords.
These beings were like lords who had carved out their own domains.
He had been cultivating deep in the sea floor, where low-level monsters roamed, and had not yet encountered such a group.
Skywalkers seemed even more like reclusive experts of another world.
Red Kestrel summarized, "Among the three types of Light Seeds, Body Species serve as universal currency, Combat Species come in varying qualities and even if they were for sale, they would require a large number of Body Species to purchase, while Genetic Species hardly ever enter the market."
Zhou Yi processed this new information.
He thought for a moment and decided to focus first on the Combat Species he had just acquired.
"How do I use Combat Species?"
Though he had acquired the long-necked crocodile's combat species, the attributes on his panel were pitifully low.
Damage 1-3, these numbers couldn't even compare to a samurai crab.
Before, Zhou Yi had the samurai crabs attack him to test their damage capability.
The damage value of a common samurai crab ranged between 8–10.
The Black Samurai was a bit stronger, with Double Swordsmen delivering a steady 15 points of damage, the Hammerhead Soldier dealt 27, but their attack speed was slow.
The Weapon Master was the most special; it used various homemade weapons, and the damage it dealt varied with each weapon type—swords, spears, halberds—and there were individual differences. The strongest one could reach a damage of 44, but the latest advanced one only had 11, a substantial gap in the upper and lower limits, indicating some growth potential.
The Red Kestrel replied after calculating, "To explain this issue, we must analyze the properties of the combat species themselves."
"The damage value refers to the extent of destruction that can be caused, some fluctuate up and down, while others are fixed values."
"Cooling represents the time needed for the energy to recharge and the structure to reset within the body after using its strength to attack, before it can attack again."
Zhou Yi understood this.
That meant attack speed.
According to Red Kestrel, a cooling of 2.3 means that after each attack, there must be a 2.3-second interval before launching the next attack.
"Then there's range."
"Range represents the area that an attack can cover. If it's range 1, it basically means the attack can reach within a space of a 1-meter radius."
Zhou Yi moved his hands a bit.
In other words, his current attack range was 7 meters.
But how was he supposed to hit that far?
He aimed at a short red brick wall not far ahead and tried swinging his fist.
Then, suddenly, his arm stretched out, and under the inertia of his strength, he created a small notch in the wall.
The power was touching, but it thrilled him to no end.
In the future, he could join the fight, not just be a cheerleader anymore.
Zhou Yi realized that his energy had diminished by 10 points.
Because it was accompanied by the skill "Stretching," energy was consumed when the skill integrated with the attack.
Zhou Yi had a samurai crab stand still, then hit its carapace with a Stretching Fist, causing the crab to wobble.
The feedback informed him that he hadn't breached the samurai crab's defenses.
He continued to pelt the crab coach with a series of high and low combination punches.
After groping about, he finally figured it out.
The closer the attack range, the stronger the damage was, reaching its weakest at the 7-meter limit.
But with every punch costing 10 points of energy, and a 2.3-second interval on top, it was somewhat frustrating.
Zhou Yi scratched his head.
This combat species wasn't up to snuff, truly a rib of no use.
However, Red Kestrel advised from the sidelines, "It's normal for the initial fitting of a combat species to be weak and ineffective. The extracted combat species will only maintain its basic primitive structure and requires a new body type to enhance it."
"Enhance? With other Light Seeds? Or the same type of Light Seed?"
Zhou Yi instinctively thought it should involve merging several genetic species of the same type to form a Second Rank Light Species.
"Don't ever do that. Even if they are of the same combat species, since they originate from different bodies, their structures will differ significantly. Forced integration can cause rejection reactions, leading to uncontrollable mutations and collapses, which is extremely dangerous. Please don't try it."
"In Recursive City, there was an instance where electromechnical life chose to fuse the same type of combat species to quickly raise their rank, resulting in an explosion of their bodies, causing injuries and deaths among the innocent."
Red Kestrel emphasized the severity of this.
Then it said, "The correct method is to partake in an abundant amount of battles using the combat species. It will be further activated and enhanced until it reaches its limit."
The ★☆☆ behind the combat species meant just that.
The limit was three stars; he was currently at the initial stage of one star.
To level up in combat, he just needed to consume energy.
That was rather simple.
Zhou Yi shuffled his feet back and forth, swinging his fists.
Training mode, activate!