Chapter 280 - 232: Critical State of the Crystal (2)

Chapter 280: Chapter 232: Critical State of the Crystal (2)

Whatever it was, this thing required both electricity and a computer. The only place he could think of to check it was back at the factory. But the moment he thought of the factory, the image of that "colossal pig" materialized in his mind.

’What a headache...’

It was six or seven meters tall at the shoulder and over ten meters long. Its entire body was covered in heavy, metallic armor—an evolution from devouring that Metal Awakened One and the Mutated Zombies. Its weight was conservatively estimated to be dozens of tons.

’Isn’t that thing basically a tank?’

’It would be tough to take it down even with my greatsword. One hit definitely wouldn’t be enough to kill it, and if I wasn’t careful and got swallowed...’

Lin Fan didn’t think he was any tougher than those two Mutated Zombies.

’Maybe I could try blowing it up with gasoline... or stuffing some in its mouth...’

’But even setting aside whether that would actually kill it, the factory would be a total loss. Everyone inside would likely perish in the inferno.’

’Tsk...’

Unable to come up with a way to deal with the monster, Lin Fan decided to clear his mind. ’I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.’ For now, it was better to focus on improving his stats...

He opened the bottle and began counting the crystals one by one, like a miser.

Including the twelve he already had, that made for a total of twenty-four crystals. The difference was that the first twelve were all common-grade, 10% crystals. But among the twelve in his own bag, not only were there five 20% crystals glowing with a blue light, there was even a 30% Concealment Crystal.

’A total of twenty-four diamond-shaped crystals... what a score.’

Lin Fan licked his lips, mentally commanding the system to store the crystals in his inventory slots. Then, he took out one of his original crystals—the most versatile and frequently used of them all, an Activation Crystal.

Lin Fan held the Activation Crystal in his hand. Beside it lay several identical ones, all of them common crystals with a ten-percent channel structure.

’Synthesize...’

As the system command was issued, a common crystal instantly disintegrated. It dissolved into a stream of energy that was forcibly injected into the main crystal.

HISS—

It was like the crystal was being compressed, or perhaps quenched.

The stream of energy scoured the main crystal, squeezing out and expelling the impurities within. The once-murky crystal grew clearer, and the light it emitted became brighter.

Even the color of its glow flickered, shifting as its quality improved.

40%... 60%... 80%... 100%!

Purple, red, then gold, until it finally stabilized at 100%.

With a soft HUM, an invisible ripple swept through the entire vehicle compartment. Even Ye Qingniao, nestled in his arms, frowned uneasily.

The crystal in Lin Fan’s hand, once a solid, polygonal structure, began to turn transparent. Its edges blurred, and the golden light—the sign of Legendary quality—suddenly collapsed upon reaching its peak, erupting in a soft, transparent brilliance.

It seemed to exist and not exist at the same time. It was like a drop of water from a higher dimension—pure and transparent, yet emitting a soft glow that was strangely unnerving.

[Activation Crystal]

[Energy Level: 1]

[Quality: Critical State (Ready for Ascension, 100% Effective Channel Structure)]

[Crystal channel fully open. Level critical state reached. Proceed with Energy Ascension?]

’...Energy Ascension?’

Lin Fan stared at the transparent substance slowly rotating in his palm, a mass of what looked like liquid light. His breath caught in his throat.

"What’s so bright... Huh?"

The glowing crystal was particularly conspicuous in the dim compartment. Ye Qingniao, who had been nestled in his arms, was roused by the light. She blearily opened her eyes, and when she saw the crystal in Lin Fan’s hand, she stared, captivated.

"That looks so tasty... Can I have a lick?"

She asked drowsily, peering up at Lin Fan’s palm.

"Go lick your own fingers."

Lin Fan pushed her head back down with his hand. With a flick of his wrist, he summoned a piece of leather and draped it over her head, blocking her view.

’Good grief. If he’d let her eat that in a moment of carelessness... setting aside whether she could even digest it, the loss alone would have killed him.’

A little farther away, Cheng Qi stared wide-eyed at the scene but didn’t dare make a sound, afraid of interrupting whatever Lin Fan was doing.

Fortunately, Ye Qingniao’s interruption helped Lin Fan regain his composure. For a moment there, when the crystal had reached its critical state, even he had been entranced by its light. It was as if he were peering into another world, on the verge of being sucked in completely.

He could feel that the light contained something capable of breaking through some kind of barrier. Thankfully, he managed to steady his mind at the last second. With a thought, he returned the crystal to his inventory.

He wrapped both arms around the fidgeting Ye Qingniao, closed his eyes, and immersed his consciousness in his inventory.

’That feeling had been a little dangerous.’ He decided it was best not to take the crystal out again; he would perform all future operations within the safety of his inventory.

’Besides, since fusion and ascension were system functions, it only made sense to perform them within the system’s interface.’

’Ascend...’

With a mental command, he executed the order.

[Level 1 -> Level 2, Executing Level Ascension]

[Requires: 1x Level 1 Crystal (any type)]

[Energy Required: 0/2400]

[This process is irreversible once energy infusion begins.]

Lin Fan quickly scanned the prompts. The first requirement was easy enough to understand. It was like needing a catalyst for alchemy or a base item for enchanting; he just had to feed it a junk crystal. But the second requirement...

’Infuse what energy?’

[Source Energy. Current: 420/600]

’420/600? That looks familiar...’

It dawned on Lin Fan. So, it needed *his* energy...

’2,400 points? Is this a robbery?’

Lin Fan cursed inwardly.

’Even if it drained me completely, I wouldn’t have 2,400 points!’

However, Lin Fan quickly calmed down and re-examined the "irreversible" prompt. ’Since the process is irreversible, it must not be a one-time lump-sum payment. It’s more like a progress bar.’ In other words, the damn thing supported partial progress—or, to put it another way, installment payments.