Chapter 82 - 79: Pleasant Surprise, Striking It Rich!

Chapter 82: Chapter 79: Pleasant Surprise, Striking It Rich!

An Intelligence-type Evolver equaled a Saint-level Martial Artist?

Furthermore, an Intelligence-type Evolver was a must-kill target for all Demon Beasts?

Any Demon Beast that successfully killed an Intelligence-type Evolver would not only receive an audience and favor from the Demon Lord, but could also exchange for a massive amount of evolutionary resources. To say it was a ticket straight to heaven would not be an exaggeration!

Did it really have to be this insane?!

Previously, when his dad awakened his Invisibility Technique, Yao Lingling had merely let out a slight sigh of amazement, saying that Invisibility Cultivators like his dad were favored by the heavens and held extraordinary status even in the Illusion Demon Realm. Though wary, it had been nowhere near as agitated, frantic, and bursting with killing intent as it was now.

From this, it wasn’t hard to see exactly what kind of influence and temptation an Intelligence-type Evolver like his uncle held in the Illusion Demon Realm and among the Demon Race.

This was the kind of target that warranted being hunted down by their entire race!

He thought, "However, their nemesis is my hero! The more frantic and fearful the Demon Race is, and the more they mobilize their entire race to hunt them down, the more it proves just how massive of a threat the existence of an Intelligence-type Evolver is to them!"

Liu Zimo’s expression gradually grew serious, even grave. It would have been fine if he didn’t know, but now, he had to reconsider the issue of his uncle’s placement and safety. Judging by Yao Lingling’s frantic reaction just now, his uncle’s current situation seemed quite dangerous!

Setting aside the Demon Beasts outside the city, they simply couldn’t get in with the tens of thousands of Warriors garrisoned at the defense line. But inside the city was a different story.

Liu Zimo had never forgotten that a Soul-Devouring Insect was still unaccounted for within Luozhou City. If it were to discover his uncle’s identity as an Intelligence-type Evolver, heaven only knew what kind of crazy actions it would take.

"And from now on, I absolutely cannot let Uncle leave the city so easily!" Liu Zimo told himself. At the same time, he couldn’t help but feel a lingering fear. Thank goodness his uncle had only officially succeeded in his transformation this morning. Otherwise, given the frequency of their out-of-city training over the past few days, he would have likely been exposed long ago!

"Mo, why aren’t you saying anything?" Seeing Liu Zimo fall silent and his expression gradually turn grave, Zhao Hongzhang couldn’t help but feel a bit anxious. "What, do you not believe your uncle? Do you want me to solve an 81-grid Sudoku puzzle for you right now? You can write down the initial numbers however you want. Believe it or not, in less than a minute, I can fill the whole thing out accurately without a single mistake!"

The 81-grid Sudoku puzzle, also known as the grand nine-by-nine grid, was currently the most difficult Sudoku game in the world. Although its gameplay logic was simple, the ways the numbers could be arranged were ever-changing, making it the ultimate test of a person’s logical thinking and calculating abilities. Under normal circumstances, people with slower minds and inadequate calculating abilities might not be able to find the correct solution even if they spent five or ten days on it.

The fact that Zhao Hongzhang could propose using this method to verify his thinking and calculation level—even setting a time limit of one minute—showed just how confident he was.

A single minute! Normal people might not even have enough time to lift their hands and fill in the blanks, let alone calculate and deduce.

"There’s no need. I believe in your abilities, Uncle!" Liu Zimo slowly shook his head. "I was just thinking about where I should send you so that you’ll be safer."

"There’s no need to go through so much trouble!" Zhao Hongzhang replied. "Just find me a relatively quiet place away from the crowds. That’ll be fine. Even a basement doesn’t matter. The research on new energy is currently just a concept, so I don’t need a large venue in the early stages. Besides, without electricity and equipment, many experiments simply can’t be carried out properly. Rather than going to great lengths to find some facility, it would be better to settle down quietly, deduce the relevant theoretical foundations first, and then reverse-verify them one by one!"

Tapping a finger against his head, Zhao Hongzhang spoke with brimming confidence, "Right now, I already have a rough outline in my head. As long as you give me enough time to deduce and evolve it, I’ll have results very soon."

Liu Zimo raised an eyebrow. He liked his uncle’s confident appearance right now. However, a relatively quiet place? He really did have one.

The villa he had purchased near the East Suburb before the calamity was actually a good spot. Because it was extremely close to the planting base, that villa complex had been included within the city’s defense line. Moreover, after the planting base was restarted, the Military Staff Department had dispatched heavily armed troops to guard the vicinity, so safety was not a concern.

He just didn’t know if the villa was still completely intact after undergoing two calamities.

Originally, Liu Zimo had wanted to use aviation alloy steel to turn the East Suburb villa into an absolutely secure doomsday fortress to shelter his family. But he had never expected that the Demon Calamity, which was supposed to erupt on November 11th, would actually arrive a full twenty-eight days early, directly interrupting all his plans. Otherwise, that place could have definitely been called the safest location in all of Luozhou City.

"Uncle, wouldn’t you consider the Military Staff Department headquarters or a research institute in the University City?" Liu Zimo gently suggested.

Zhao Hongzhang shook his head without a second thought. "There’s no need! What I need right now is to go into seclusion for my deductions. I need to sit in an absolutely quiet and comfortable environment. It’s best if no one comes to disturb me! Once I’ve deduced all the relevant theoretical foundations, it won’t be too late to gather a team for experimental verification!"

This was his true purpose in proactively revealing his Extraordinary intellect to his nephew today. He needed to rely on Liu Zimo’s strength and influence to find a safe venue perfectly suited for his theoretical research. The neighborhood they were in, the Military Staff Department, or any research center in the city—all of them were far too noisy.

When operating his thought abilities at maximum capacity, he could not afford to be distracted by even a single trace of outside noise. Otherwise, his calculation speed and thinking rhythm would be severely impacted, thereby delaying his deduction progress.

"I understand!" Liu Zimo nodded in realization. This was just like when Martial Artists entered Meditation to cultivate. Once disturbed by external forces, all their previous efforts could be wasted, or they might even suffer from qi deviation. It should be a similar situation when his uncle operated his awakened "Intelligent Brain" ability to conduct deduction calculations.

"I know a place that should meet your requirements, Uncle!"

With a thought, Liu Zimo simultaneously enveloped Zhao Hongzhang and Liu Zihao within his Divine Thought.

SWISH!

With a slight flicker of their figures, they instantly appeared in the villa district in the East Suburb.

Having reached the Manifestation Realm, Liu Zimo’s movement speed had multiplied once again. A distance of a dozen kilometers was covered in merely the blink of an eye for him. Zhao Hongzhang and Liu Zihao were no strangers to Liu Zimo’s nearly instant teleportation-like speed and had long since grown accustomed to it.

When they saw that they were standing in front of a luxurious villa, both of their eyes involuntarily lit up.

"This is a villa I bought before the calamity! I originally planned to settle down here in the future. I had even found a renovation company, but I never expected the Demon Calamity to suddenly break out..." Liu Zimo explained softly to the two. Looking up, he saw that the villa’s courtyard was piled high with various renovation materials, and there was no trace of the villa having been invaded or damaged by Demon Beasts. His heart skipped a beat.

SWISH!

He flashed and appeared in front of a massive pile of materials that covered an area of nearly a hundred square meters and stood almost ten meters tall. Raising his right hand, Liu Zimo pulled off the sun-proof tarpaulin covering it, revealing the special metal inside that gleamed with a silvery-gray light.

"It’s entirely made up of aviation alloy steel!! No wonder no Demon Beasts came here to wreak havoc. Aviation alloy steel is a special material that has a suppressive effect on the bloodlines of the vast majority of Demon Beasts. Even if Demon Beasts descended nearby, they would deliberately avoid this area!"

Liu Zimo couldn’t help but take a deep breath, his face revealing a look of pleasant surprise. "I truly didn’t expect this! That renovation company actually only took a day and a night to transport all the renovation materials here! They even piled this most difficult to acquire and precious aviation alloy steel in the villa’s courtyard ahead of schedule!"

Upon seeing these neatly cut alloy steel materials, Liu Zimo knew that he had severely underestimated that renovation company’s ability to take action. He never expected that on the very next day after signing the renovation contract, they would manage to procure and transport the most essential aviation alloy steel required for the renovation! Although the renovation work had been forcefully interrupted before it even truly began due to the sudden onset of the calamity, Liu Zimo was already extremely satisfied with the current result!

A full several hundred tons of aviation alloy steel! How much Military Merit could this be exchanged for? How many Divine Weapons could it forge? He had struck it rich!

In the Post-Apocalypse, without the support of a power grid, such alloy materials were already unparalleled treasures. Every bit used was a bit lost forever, making their future value immeasurable! Liu Zimo remembered very clearly that in the thirtieth year of the Post-Apocalypse, a piece of aviation alloy steel the size of a fingernail could be exchanged for a full one thousand points of Military Merit resources!

And the aviation alloy steel he had here amounted to several hundred tons! If he were to exchange all of it for Military Merit, he feared that even the Military Supply Depot in Shangjing City wouldn’t be enough for him to spend it all!