Chapter 496 - 429: Title Upgrade, The Scarlet Retreats

Chapter 496: Chapter 429: Title Upgrade, The Scarlet Retreats

Upon discovering the Imperial Pioneers entering Celestial Water Star’s orbit, he immediately had Dream Ship One change its course, preparing to leave Terra’s orbit and head straight for them.

However, as the crimson faded from Terra, the previously expressionless Robert suddenly trembled. A glint of clarity flashed in his eyes, and he immediately collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

At the same time, many people on Celestial Water Star who had been driven into a stress-induced state by the Crimson Fear experienced something similar. The light of sanity returned to many of their eyes, only for them to lose consciousness and faint...

...

You couldn’t take a shower or a bath in space, so Guan Tong sprayed a small amount of water pellets on his body and then wiped himself down with a damp towel.

Afterward, he went to the sleeping quarters, lay down on the bed, and closed his eyes to rest.

The mental exhaustion from those fifteen minutes was far more severe than his physical fatigue.

If he didn’t have to go to the main cabin to communicate with ground control later, he would have just pulled the covers over his head and slept.

’Terminal Panel.’

After letting his mind go blank for a moment, Guan Tong mentally summoned the panel.

[Name: Guan Tong]

[Nickname: Shadow]

[Title: Middle-Level Civilization Observer]

[Psychic Power: 1093 (1093) (36251)]

[Sublimation Coins: 6430170]

[Overall Bio-information Assessment: Perfect]

The name of his title had changed. Guan Tong didn’t rush to check its effects, instead looking at the growth of his Psychic Power first.

He remembered officially breaking the 1,000-point cap and entering the second stage of Sublimation on March 1st. Since then, in less than a month, today being the 29th, his cap had actually increased by 93 points!

Such a huge increase was directly linked to entering the second stage of Sublimation and his bio-information assessment becoming "Perfect."

Now, his Psychic Power cap naturally increased by about 3 points every day, which added up to 90 points a month. Combined with the extra increases gained from stimulation, this resulted in such an astonishing growth rate.

This once again verified the "strong-get-stronger" first-mover advantage theory within the field of Psychic Power research. As time went on, the gap between top-tier Ascenders and ordinary ones would only grow wider.

In the past, multiple ordinary Ascenders could still win by using sheer numbers to exhaust a stronger opponent’s Psychic Power. But as the gap widened, this tactic would become less and less effective.

Guan Tong had no doubt that if this trend continued, it would eventually become extremely difficult to overwhelm top-tier Ascenders with sheer numbers. To take them down, one would either need to use humanity’s most cutting-edge technology or have other top-tier Ascenders make a move.

As one of the "top-tier" himself, Guan Tong wasn’t particularly excited. It was probably because he was used to it; after all, he had been in the lead from the very beginning.

Besides, looking at the amount of his reserve Psychic Power, he was far from excited. Instead, he felt a lingering fear.

The reserve Psychic Power he had accumulated himself, combined with what North Star officials had supplied him this time, totaled three million. Now, only a little over thirty thousand remained. The consumption was unimaginably high.

This made him shudder in retrospect. If he had been delayed any longer in that Consciousness Space, he might have truly been in mortal danger once his Psychic Power was depleted.

’This operation was too hasty. The preparations weren’t sufficient.’

Planning this operation only a few days before the Rules ended was bound to cause this kind of problem. If he had started preparing from the first day the Rules were announced, or even from the midpoint, there would have been a greater margin for error.

Guan Tong reflected on this. ’I have to remember this lesson. If a similar situation arises in the future, I must prepare well in advance.’

Then, he opened the title interface to check the effects of the upgraded title.

[Middle-Level Civilization Observer]: Equipping this title grants the passive ability "Eye of True Sight" and the active ability "Crimson Furnace."

[Eye of True Sight]: When your Psychic Power is higher than the observed target’s, you can perceive the effects of the abilities or items they are using.

[Crimson Furnace]: Consume Psychic Power to hijack a target’s consciousness and place it within the Crimson Furnace, where it will be eroded by the fear the furnace generates. The strength of the effect depends on the amount of Psychic Power consumed.

[Remark]: The history of the universe, lost civilizations, gain meaning because you watch over them. Note: This title can be upgraded by absorbing special life forms. Current number of special life forms absorbed: 1.

[Absorbed Special Life Form]: Wailing Furnace

Guan Tong was shocked after reading the effects of the upgraded title.

He never expected that he had actually "seized" the power from this round of Rules by devouring it with his title, turning it into an active skill he could use at will!

By consuming Psychic Power, he could hijack a target’s consciousness and pull it into the "furnace"—that bizarre, red Consciousness Space. The very thought was incredible.

’Could it be... that the "Human Transmission Source" Zhang Minglu mentioned before works on a similar principle?’

’No, that’s not right!’

Guan Tong looked at the Nanomite Swarm Gloves on his left hand. ’The situation with the "Transmission Source" is more like *this*!’

’In other words, I obtained a small portion of the Nanomite Swarm back then, and that small portion’s abilities were limited to shapeshifting and disintegrating objects on contact. Because what I got was incomplete, the abilities were also incomplete.’

’And the Human Transmission Source from this round of Rules was likely just like me back then, having only obtained a tiny fraction of the Wailing Furnace’s power. The result was that they couldn’t control this power at all, and it would activate just by making eye contact with someone!’

’Because I devoured the entire Wailing Furnace with my title’s effect, it’s as if I’ve obtained its complete power. This means if I invest enough Psychic Power, I can also create for my enemies the scene I saw in the Consciousness Space—that terrifying vision represented by thousands of "red dots"!’

’If that’s the case, could I gain a new ability by having my title absorb the Nanomite Swarm now?’ The thought flickered through Guan Tong’s mind, but he immediately dismissed it.

’...No, the Nanomite Swarm I have is just a tiny piece. I’d probably only have a chance of gaining its complete abilities if I absorbed the entire "Nanomite Swarm Intelligence" that descended on Celestial Water Star back then.’

Regardless, the gains he had already made were enough to excite Guan Tong.

Acquiring this new ability was like gaining another powerful trump card!

Moreover, this trump card broadened the spectrum of his abilities.

Until now, his abilities had been almost entirely physical. Shadow, Silver Hunter, and the others all harmed enemies on a material level. But the Crimson Furnace attacked enemies on a spiritual and conscious level—a type of ability he had never possessed before.

Guan Tong also noticed that besides the new ability, the content of the title’s remark had also changed and expanded.

The altered remark now clearly stated that the upgrade path for the title was to absorb special life forms, and it even listed the number absorbed and their names.

Looking at "Wailing Furnace" in the list of absorbed entities, Guan Tong thought, ’What kind of life form is this "Wailing Furnace," anyway?’

Since the Apocalypse Rules descended, humanity had come into contact with quite a few special life forms.

Mother Transformers, Sound Hunters, the Qimo Star Giant Beast, Spore Parasites, the Nanomite Swarm Intelligence... If these life forms had anything in common, it was that they all possessed a physical body.

But this "Wailing Furnace"... Guan Tong didn’t believe that "Red Halo" was a physical entity—because it didn’t exist in the real world at all, but only in a mental or consciousness space!

’Could a mere product of jumbled-together fearful consciousnesses actually be a life form?’

This made Guan Tong sigh with emotion. ’The universe is truly vast and full of strange things...’

After a moment of reflection, he had another thought. ’I wonder if this thing has intelligence?’

He remembered that Zhang Minglu had previously played him an audio recording of that woman from Lu Rui Country. From the audio, it was clear that someone was having a conversation with her.

If the entity conversing with her was the "Wailing Furnace"—this collective of fear-like consciousness—then that should prove it possessed intelligence... But Guan Tong hadn’t heard it say anything the entire time he was in the Consciousness Space.

But he had indeed perceived its emotions. Back in the Consciousness Space, he had personally felt its profound malevolence through [Sensing Malice]. Without that malice, he wouldn’t have been able to locate it so quickly.

’It most likely has intelligence. Otherwise, the [Civilization Observer] title probably wouldn’t have judged it to be a special life form and absorbed it...’

Guan Tong based this conclusion on a previous experiment.

After he obtained the Nanomite Swarm and discovered the title’s upgrade path, he had tried using a Parasite as a source of experience, but the title didn’t recognize it at all.

’Considering the current situation, Parasites don’t count as intelligent life forms at all... That makes sense. Those monsters act purely based on a combination of the spores’ "instinct to spread" and the host’s own "memories and cognition." There’s no real intelligence to speak of.’

After thinking it over, Guan Tong lay down for another moment before getting up and heading to the main cabin to contact ground control.