Chapter Nine: Inhuman Intelligence (Part Two)

Chapter Nine: The Wisdom Beyond Humanity

“From my recent investigation, I’ve discovered that the categories for exchange offered by the Main God are far too numerous,” Jingchen said.

Zhang Jie looked astonished. “You mean you know?”

“I once tried asking the Main God to add a numeric code before each exchange item. I found that the list reached eight digits—after ten million, it’s all question marks…” Jingchen sat to one side, twirling her hair around her finger as she spoke.

Li Xiaoyi, thoroughly confused, asked, “So we still don’t know what they all are? Does this even matter?”

Zheng Zha looked equally puzzled. “And even if we knew the total number, what difference would it make?”

For a moment, everyone around them stared with that “are you stupid?” look, leaving Zheng Zha and Li Xiaoyi feeling utterly awkward.

“Of course it matters.” Jingchen continued playing with her hair, still explaining, “If the Main God’s exchange list were infinite, we’d have to search through an endless number of items to find what we want. But if it’s not infinite… in theory, we could compile a complete list of all available exchanges, and then select the most suitable or cost-effective ones. More importantly, if the total is fixed, we can—”

“Determine the Main God’s limits!” Schuster and Loretta pushed their glasses up in unison, speaking as one. A glimmer seemed to flash across everyone’s eyes as if reflected on a mirror.

Jingchen kept twirling her hair, a habit when she thought deeply. “I once tried to exchange for ‘a power that transcends all, absolute invincibility’—the Main God gave no response. Then I tried for Aladdin’s Lamp, which can grant any three wishes—again, no response. I tried to exchange for ‘Saiyan bloodline’—the Main God provided exchange conditions. I asked for the ability of ‘absolute freezing’ from the American comic character Iceman—no response. I tried for the Philosopher’s Stone from Fullmetal Alchemist, which ignores the laws of alchemy—no response. But for a ‘weapon that can destroy the sun in one blow,’ the Main God gave a list of options.”

Schuster and Loretta added, “So, it seems the Main God’s exchanges do not include abilities that tamper with the world’s fundamental laws. Perhaps any ability involving such laws is simply unavailable.”

“But that doesn’t mean the Main God’s powers can’t touch upon ‘laws,’ right?” Zhan Lan asked.

Jingchen paused, then went on, “True, the Main God isn’t obliged to offer all its powers for us to exchange, and besides—you were originally eight people, weren’t you?”

The group fell silent.

“I heard your memories were directly implanted. After that fat guy and the middle-aged woman died at the very beginning, the mercenaries who’d seen them were completely unconcerned about their disappearance…” Jingchen mused, wondering if she needed glasses herself—she had nothing to push up, and it felt off.

“In other words, the Main God might have used ‘memory manipulation’ to alter their recollections, or perhaps… resorted to the ultimate ‘causal interference!’” Schuster and Loretta, again adjusting their glasses, spoke one after the other.

“Hey, hey! Isn’t it overkill to use ‘causal interference’—something powerful enough to destroy the world—just to erase a bunch of ordinary humans like us?” Zhan Lan shouted, stunned by the idea.

“Believe whatever you want. It doesn’t really concern us,” Jingchen remarked from the side.

Zhang Jie looked utterly defeated. “You three have already outdone me. As your so-called senior, I’ve spent ages thinking about these things but came up with less in ten minutes than you just did. I’m not the one to ask!”

“But have any of you thought about why the Main God brought us here?” Li Xiaoyi chimed in, as if suddenly recalling something.

“When each of us arrived, our memories said this was a game,” Schuster added.

“That’s right, it is a game—a brutal one where we struggle for survival in endless cycles, for the amusement of who-knows-what beings looking down on us… Don’t get it twisted…” Zhang Jie shouted, visibly agitated.

Loretta restrained Zhang Jie, then gestured for Schuster to continue. Schuster glanced at Zhang Jie and said, “When I say ‘game,’ I’m not talking about attitude, but about our future development. Each of us has strengths in different areas. Have you ever wondered why we’re put together as a team? If the aim was just to force us to struggle for survival in dire straits, they could have simply made things a bit easier and tossed us one by one into different horror movie worlds. The reason we’re grouped is just like team quests in online games—different talents, different enhancements, and through complementary abilities, we cover each other’s weaknesses. This is the usual form of an RPG. Thus, each of us should enhance ourselves in ways that suit our talents, not just for individual survival. Do you understand?”

“In short, what we need isn’t just individual strengthening, but team strengthening,” Jingchen picked up the thread. “Comprehensive personal enhancement demands a huge amount of side stories and reward points, and the effectiveness of using the same amount for one person’s enhancement versus complementary team upgrades is drastically different… As for side stories used for exchanges—”

“I have two C-grade side stories,” Schuster interjected.

“I have the same—two C-grade side stories,” Loretta added.

“After the laser corridor, I got a B-grade side story for helping rescue people, plus 3,000 reward points,” Zheng Zha said.

Sure enough, the Main God is testing us. Because it can’t gauge our strength, it’s keeping our rewards low. Schuster, Loretta, and Jingchen all thought to themselves.

“We also got our side stories from saving people in the laser corridor, as did Zheng Zha. But I got one of my C-grade side stories from treating the bitten Rain. From this we can conclude: side stories can be earned by altering the plot, and their grade depends on the degree of change, participation, and impact,” Schuster continued his analysis.

“Are you people monsters? How do you analyze things so clearly…” Zhang Jie muttered, exasperated.

“Same here,” said Zheng Zha.

“Li Xiaoyi.”

“Agreed,” echoed Zhan Lan.

Zhang Jie gave a wry smile, patting Zheng Zha on the shoulder. “I risked my life so many times and barely got just over four thousand reward points, and yet in your first horror movie you get a C-grade side story… Damn it, comparing people is infuriating. Guess I’ll just have to stick with you guys from now on.”

“All right, enough. Let’s get back to discussing the exchange,” Zhan Lan clapped her hands, organizing the group and pulling them back to the matter at hand.

“My suggestion is that everyone exchanges for themselves, but for you two who didn’t get any special rewards, it’s best to enhance your physical abilities first.” Upon arriving at the Main God’s plaza, Zhang Jie spoke to Zhan Lan and Li Xiaoyi. Seeing no objections, he turned to Zheng Zha and the other two who’d earned extra rewards. “As for you three, I have two suggestions: first, pool your reward points to make one person strong enough to be a leader or captain, while the others enhance their bodies; second, enhance yourselves individually—your points should suffice for that.”

“…Let’s see what’s available first,” Zheng Zha said after a long hesitation. Neither option seemed safe; it was better to check what each could actually exchange for.

“We don’t need anything for now, let’s just hold onto our points. We have our own ways to deal with spirits—there’s no need to exchange for such things…” Schuster’s words were cut short as a white blur crashed into him.

“Gyawu gyawu!” Suddenly, Snowy darted out from an open doorway and, spotting Little Three, dove straight into his arms.

“There, there, Snowy, don’t be afraid…” Schuster, feeling the little one’s anxiety, quickly tried to comfort it.

“What is that?” Except for Loretta, everyone else stared in bewilderment at the bulge under Schuster’s shirt.

Sensing the mental signals from Snowy, Schuster realized the journey here had sapped its energy, making it uneasy. After all, it was only just born—it was only natural for such a little one to panic.

“Gyawu!” After a moment, Snowy poked its little head out from Schuster’s embrace and let out an adorable sound.

“…Heavens!” Everyone present, male or female, except Loretta, was instantly overcome by cuteness.

“Gyawu gyawu,” Snowy looked curiously at the humans before it, then flew up to perch on Schuster’s head.

“Snowy’s finally awake—come to me,” Loretta called out.

“Gyawu!” Snowy cocked its head, glanced at the group with shining eyes, and fluttered over to Loretta’s shoulder.

“Huh? Why didn’t you tell me you had a pet?” Jingchen was the first to recover, speaking coolly.

“We accidentally forgot about it yesterday, sorry, Sister Jingchen,” Loretta apologized as she fed Snowy a small piece of bread.

“What species is it? I’ve never seen anything like it in any book,” Zhan Lan asked, having come to her senses.

“It’s nothing much, just a mutated Thunder Roc,” Loretta replied casually.

It was as if a thunderbolt had struck the group—everyone present was petrified.

“Um… did I hear that right? Mutated… Thunder Roc?” Zhan Lan asked again, more cautiously.

“Yes, it was a trophy we got after taking down a Thunder Roc—its egg,” Schuster said, idly wiping his blade with a white handkerchief.

“Uh… so, what abilities does this little thing have?” Zhang Jie’s eyes gleamed even brighter.

“It can discharge electricity,” Loretta and Schuster said in unison.

In an instant, everyone felt as if they’d been fried inside and out by a bolt of lightning.

P.S. The next movie is Predator. Personally, I suspect it’s far from easier than Alien.