Chapter 46: The Angel Project

The "Infinite" quietly departed North Bay Station under the cover of night, heading eastward. Along the way, KIKI asked Lin Xian, “Why are we rushing so much? There are still plenty of places we haven’t searched.”

“Resources are endless. Being too greedy could lead to great losses,” Lin Xian replied calmly.

“That Tang Hai doesn’t seem to be dead yet. I’m worried there might be other troubles.”

“Not dead!?” KIKI furrowed her brows. “I thought he was already dead.”

“He’s not...” Lin Xian sighed and recounted what he had observed.

“I have a feeling Tang Hai might possess some kind of supernatural ability, and what happened earlier was probably a change in that power.”

At that moment, he turned to Lou Shasha and Lou Ye and asked, “How much do you two know about supernatural abilities?”

Lou Ye was momentarily stunned but shook his head earnestly. “I’m not really sure...”

Regarding his own ability, Lou Ye seemed to know very little; he only realized one day that his strength had significantly increased.

“By the way, brother, did you forget?” Shasha suddenly revealed a crucial detail. “When that Feng Yuming turned into a bug to attack you earlier, he said you were still low-level trash and even mentioned that you don’t know that after killing strange creatures and other ability users, your power can evolve...”

Lou Ye scratched his head. “Seems like it.”

“Really?” Teacher Chen exclaimed, “Abilities can evolve?”

“Probably,” Lin Xian said with a sigh. “If there are levels, then Feng Yuming shouldn’t be the lowest. He’s very strong and, knowing there are three of us ability users, he shows no fear. That means he’s very confident.”

After speaking, he noticed that KIKI, usually the most talkative, was silent. When he looked up, he saw KIKI squinting with a strange smile and a peculiar glint in her eyes.

“Speak up!” Lin Xian said, knowing this girl knew a lot. Her smile alone was enough to give him a headache.

“If I told you I know how abilities evolve and that they fall into many categories, would you want to know?”

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at KIKI with surprise.

Lin Xian frowned. “Sounds like you have some conditions?”

KIKI raised an eyebrow, then leaned close to Lin Xian’s ear and whispered something. Hearing this, Lin Xian immediately rubbed the nerve beside his temple in frustration and reluctantly said,

“All right, I agree.”

“Hehe, words are bonds~” KIKI said with satisfaction.

“First,” she raised a finger, “after the first polar night, tens of thousands of cases of humans with mutations were discovered worldwide. This is only a small fraction of those recorded post-disaster. To cope with extreme calamities, the Federation government urgently established a special research bureau called the ‘Angel Project’ to study these ‘altered humans.’ Besides research, I think they want to harness this power to explore the mysteries of the Star Abyss and find a way to save the world...”

“How do you know all this?” Chen Sixuan asked KIKI in astonishment.

KIKI pursed her lips proudly. “Hacking into the Federation’s intranet isn’t hard. Besides, it’s the end of the world—who’s going to bother with me?”

“Go on.”

Lin Xian watched KIKI carefully. Since this girl managed to board a rescue helicopter after the polar night, whether or not she was from the Linglong Group, her identity was undoubtedly special. But since she knew useful information, Lin Xian didn’t press for trivial details.

Ahem—

KIKI cleared her throat.

“This ‘Angel Project’ recruited some of the remaining top scientists after the first polar night. Their research found that all survivors who didn’t mutate into zombies had a very similar kind of energy that repelled external threats. They called this energy the ‘Spiritual Resonance Value.’ Even the weakest survivors, like women and children, had a value of at least 1 after the polar night. In contrast, zombies and certain dark mutated creatures have a value below zero, negative.”

“At first, this was thought to be some kind of selection mechanism, but since no clear pattern was found, it was simply regarded as the survivors’ ‘life energy.’”

“Then, here’s the interesting part: all ability users and physically strong adults had significantly higher values, especially ability users. The Angel Project categorized 34 similar ability types after the polar night, evaluating them based on functionality and destructiveness, and positively correlated these abilities with the Spiritual Resonance Value. The findings confirmed this.”

“The Spiritual Resonance Value represents life force or the ability to resist the night’s invasion—the stronger the person, the higher the value.”

“That’s the first point.”

KIKI continued, “The second key point is that abilities can evolve. In fact, some data show that a small number of people were discovered to have values already exceeding the third or even fourth levels when first detected...”

“Third level? Fourth level?” Lin Xian frowned. “Did you forget to mention something?”

KIKI shrugged. “Well, I skimmed through it. Basically, the researchers weighted Spiritual Resonance Value alongside physical strength, energy output, destructive power, and biological threat level to create a ranking system. I saw that ordinary people and ability users fall within a resonance value of 1 to 100, called the ‘Prime Seed Level.’ For example, the third level, ‘Titan Class,’ basically surpasses human physical limits—hard to kill unless heavy thermal weapons are used—with resonance values between 500 and 1000.”

“The fourth level, ‘Rampage Class,’ is considered a massive threat to an area, requiring large military forces, heavy tanks, and all kinds of armored weapons to suppress, with a resonance value between 1000 and 3000 combat units.”

“As for levels beyond ‘Destruction Class,’ there’s no detailed data yet since they haven’t encountered such cases. The estimates are just exponential extrapolations from previous levels...”

Lou Shasha’s eyes widened. “KIKI, how exactly does an ability evolve?”

“Well... it might be very different from what everyone imagines.”

KIKI’s expression grew complicated. “From those classified documents, it shows that ability users who reach the Evolution Level 2 can increase their Spiritual Resonance Value by fighting and defeating strange creatures or other ability users. But since these are early reports, details are scarce.”

“After Level 2?” Lin Xian’s gaze sharpened. “What about Level 1?”

“Hey!” KIKI looked at Lin Xian with interest. “Now you’re asking the key question.”

She paced seriously. “The strangest thing is, the research bureau found that different types of abilities at the Prime Seed Level are actually very unstable. These ability users need certain rituals, events, or emotional changes to evolve. The Angel Project even believes that true transformation or full evolution only begins from Level 2 onward, so they call this the Evolution or Breakthrough Level.”

“Ritual?” At this, everyone reacted in unison, sensing a hint of religious or mythological undertones.

“Exactly,” KIKI continued. “For example, someone like Feng Yuming probably falls into the Project’s No. 16 Limb Mimicry or No. 21 Monstrous Proliferation types. Both types, once discovered, can evolve if they kill strange creatures or ability users and then absorb flesh and blood through their mutated limbs or torsos.”

“But...” KIKI suddenly turned to Lou Ye. “According to your description, you should be a No. 3 Body Enhancement type—relatively common among ability users. But strangely, to evolve to Level 2, there are multiple uncertain assessment reports in the Angel Project that say Feng Yuming’s method won’t work for you. It’s called a different evolutionary path!”

“Really?!” Lou Shasha exclaimed. “That sounds scary?”

“Who knows,” KIKI shrugged. “From a biological or physical standpoint—well, those sciences don’t really exist anymore—let’s just call it theology.”

“One more thing: the bureau believes evolution has two sides. Ability users have weaknesses just like zombie-infected victims. Without specific conditions, the power may corrupt them, causing evolution errors or turning them into zombies. When a person’s Spiritual Resonance Value drops below 1, they call this... degeneration!”

“Degeneration?”

“What about Tang Hai?” Lin Xian looked at her. “The situation I saw earlier—have you seen it in the data?”

KIKI nodded seriously. “Not only seen it, but I’m sure he belongs to No. 32. This ability type is called ‘Uncertain Infection’—very interesting.” She frowned. “The data shows that at the Prime Seed Level, this ability is very hard to detect because there are no physical or mental changes. The only feature is—”

“Not easily detected by zombies?” Lin Xian’s face darkened, recalling the scene.

“Exactly!” KIKI nodded. “But this type is also the easiest to evolve.”

Lin Xian frowned. “So, if you’re bitten and killed by a zombie, you might upgrade...”

“Yes and no.”

KIKI tilted her head, her eyes darkening slightly. “According to collected cases, evolution is neither guaranteed nor does it have a fixed outcome. It can also... go wrong.”