Infiltrating, taking control, and eliminating the Mutated Zombie—the whole process went off without a hitch.
Afterward, Qi Suian obtained another medium-concentration Deep Virus Crystal, this one C-grade.
'It's probably because of my luck boost that the whole plan is going so smoothly,' Qi Suian thought.
However, before he could head to the warehouse at the branch of Material Lab No. 15 to get the materials needed to evolve the Tai Sui God, the AI alerted him that a higher-level authority was interfering with the lab and wrestling for control.
To make matters worse, they had taken a more drastic step: they had locked down the warehouse right away. With its current computing power, the AI couldn't bypass it.
Therefore, the AI recommended that Qi Suian leave immediately.
"Too late..." Qi Suian heard the whine of a fighter jet landing on the helipad of Material Lab No. 15. Over a dozen fully armed combatants quickly and skillfully established a physical lockdown of the entire area.
"They got here so fast." Qi Suian was suddenly at a loss for what to do.
'Just a few days ago, I was an ordinary person. It's a miracle I haven't had a complete breakdown after the apocalypse hit. And now I'm supposed to deal with over a dozen well-equipped, experienced soldiers?'
'If I really had that kind of power, I'd be one of those legendary super-soldiers from the stories.'
[Recommendation: Use the Plasma Cannon to forcibly melt through the warehouse door. Acquire the Rock-Solid C03 Alloy and complete the Tai Sui God's evolution as soon as possible.]
[After acquiring a new module slot, install the Plasma Cannon as a module. Your chances of victory will be much higher after obtaining an SSS-grade weapon module.]
Qi Suian was stunned. 'Use the Plasma Cannon as a weapon module?' He had never considered it. 'Can you even choose your own modules?'
However, with things as they were, he gritted his teeth and agreed.
Three consecutive overloaded shots from the Plasma Cannon blasted open the warehouse door. It was also clear that the cannon was now half-wrecked.
It was only rated for two consecutive overloaded shots at most, but the AI had fired it three times. This meant that unless he could turn the Plasma Cannon into an SSS-grade weapon module, he could forget about ever using its overload mode again.
The weapon didn't even have an overload mode to begin with. The AI had jury-rigged it by force-feeding high energy from the Tai Sui God's Supernova Strong Nuclear Reactor, a process that damaged the cannon itself.
The damage was just barely within tolerable limits.
The commotion helped the soldiers pinpoint his location, but he couldn't worry about that now. He charged into the warehouse without hesitation and started searching for the Rock-Solid C03 Alloy.
This was a special synthetic alloy used by the Watchman Morning Company in its aerospace and chemical engineering divisions. It was known for its high hardness and resistance to corrosion and wear.
In fact, it was the hardest alloy the company had ever developed.
The AI began directing the Tai Sui God to fuse with the Rock-Solid C03 Alloy. Meanwhile, Qi Suian wondered, 'If the Plasma Cannon can be a weapon module, can this Rock-Solid Alloy be one too?'
So he asked the AI directly. After all, the AI was part of the Tai Sui God.
[It can be used as a module, but I do not recommend it. The Tai Sui God's evolution is based on its armor stat. The Rock-Solid C03 Alloy is best used as an evolutionary material rather than wasting a module slot.]
Qi Suian checked the stats. After fusing with only about ten pounds of the alloy, the armor value had already increased from 1 to 1.1.
"Hold on, I have a question. If the Tai Sui God fuses with ten pounds of alloy, doesn't its weight increase by ten pounds too? If this keeps up, won't it become incredibly bloated and heavy?" Qi Suian asked.
[Yes, but it's not a one-to-one conversion. During evolution, ninety-nine percent of the evolutionary energy will be prioritized for the module system, not the Tai Sui God itself. This ensures the modules receive priority power.]
[Also, rest assured. Through the Subspace Stable Pocket, the Tai Sui God's weight can be offset via certain technical transfers.]
"Okay, I get it. So it's not a direct 'you are what you eat' situation. I don't have to worry about the weight, but I do have to worry about the physical size, which can be fixed with modules later on, right?" Qi Suian quickly relaxed.
'Otherwise, it'll become a clumsy behemoth later on.'
[Correct. Therefore, for this initial stage, the first evolution will be complete once the Tai Sui God's armor reaches 2 points.]
'Hearing this, Qi Suian started to wonder about something. For future evolutions, could he use the Deep Virus Crystal or the Ancient Dian Kingdom Jade Seal? He hadn't considered it before because he desperately needed a weapon right now.'
'But wouldn't it be even better if those two became modules?'
'But on second thought, that might not be the best idea. The Tai Sui God was lacking too many basic functions, like reconnaissance and defense, which were more critical.'
'After all, he already had the Deep Virus Crystal and the Ancient Dian Kingdom Jade Seal. He could install them later. Ensuring his own survival was the top priority.'
The armor value quickly rose to 2.
And this had used up a hundred pounds of the Rock-Solid C03 Alloy.
'The armor value had doubled, sure, but it was still pathetic. A D-grade Viper Armor, for instance, had an armor value of 100.'
"It really is a Gold-devouring Beast. The consumption rate for an SSS-grade module is insane."
Essentially, all the materials required for evolution were fed into the module system; the Tai Sui God itself received very little.
'So in reality, the evolutionary materials weren't for the Tai Sui God, but for the module slot. The whole point was to add one SSS-grade module and unseal some of the power of the existing SSS-grade modules.'
'When you put it that way, it was completely worth it. The low armor could be ignored for now.'
'The armor value was basically just an evolution progress bar.'
[Recommendation: Install the Plasma Cannon as a weapon module immediately. Based on my calculations, the enemy will arrive before the Tai Sui God can evolve again.]
[Furthermore, you lack sufficient Rock-Solid C03 Alloy for the next evolution. You will need to acquire other materials, which will further increase the time required.]
[Your priority should be to annihilate the enemy.]
Qi Suian knew good advice when he heard it. With the AI's help, he used his own weakened body to install the Plasma Cannon into the Tai Sui God's module slot.
'Please let this work,' he prayed. 'If it doesn't, I'm well and truly dead.'
The AI couldn't handle the installation itself because, despite being part of the Tai Sui God, it didn't have sufficient permissions to control the module slots. Only Qi Suian had that authority.
[Module: Plasma Cannon - Installation Successful]
A line of text appeared. Qi Suian couldn't contain the joy spreading across his face.
The text read "Plasma Cannon," but when he opened the status panel to check, he saw it had transformed into an SSS-grade module.
[SSS-Grade: Interstellar Psionic Floating Cannon Swarm]
A single, highly futuristic Floating Cannon materialized beside Qi Suian. Unfortunately, the Tai Sui God wasn't powerful enough to support a full swarm; it could only generate one.
Before Qi Suian could give it another thought, the fully armed soldiers arrived.