Roger stood there, stunned, for a full minute.
Not until Lin Xinghai patted his cheek did he snap out of it. "Old Luo, you havenât gone stupid, have you?"
"Youâre the stupid one." Roger slapped Lin Xinghaiâs hand away, his expression complicated. "How did you do it? Of course, if youâd rather not say, just forget I asked."
"Itâs not really a secret," Lin Xinghai said, stroking his chin.
"Then how did you do it?" Roger asked hurriedly.
Lin Xinghai replied, "Arenât all geniuses like this?"
"...Fine! Whatever you say." Roger knew he shouldnât have asked.
"Letâs go. Donât overthink it." Lin Xinghai patted his shoulder, then added leisurely, "The more you think about it, the more hurt youâll be."
Roger was speechless.
Lin Xinghai continued toward the second floor, but as he neared the stairs, he noticed a figure in the gravity room frantically attacking a punching bag.
The equipment here was all custom-made. The special leather of the punching bag could even withstand shots from an ordinary bullet.
But Lin Xinghai could see that cracks were already starting to appear on the bag. At this rate, it wouldnât last much longer before it burst.
Of course, the attackerâs fists were starting to bleed, staining the surface of the punching bag crimson.
Lin Xinghai took a closer look and was startled to find that the person was Xu Haishui.
"Uh... whatâs with him?" Lin Xinghai asked, turning his head to Roger.
"He got provoked!" Roger replied, then opened the door to the gravity room and shouted inside, "Thatâs enough! If you wreck your body, your progress will only be slower. Something big has come up. Letâs all go to the second floor!"
Xu Haishui glanced at Roger, then at Lin Xinghai, before finally nodding and walking out.
"What exactly happened?" Lin Xinghaiâs curiosity grew.
"He went to recruit new members today, too, but he was mocked by people from other Mercenary Corps. They said someone with a D Level Genetic Assessment wasnât fit to be a Squad Leader in a Mercenary Corps," Roger summarized the situation concisely.
"Thatâs bullshit! Iâve awakened a Rare Superpower! He just cultivates a little faster than me. Once I break through to the Blood Qi Realm, Cultivation wonât depend on Genetic Assessment anymore. Iâll be able to take on three of him at once," Xu Haishui said indignantly.
"Cultivation in the Blood Qi Realm doesnât depend on Genetic Assessment?" Lin Xinghai was a little curious.
"Right. Once you reach the Blood Qi Realm, you cultivate Blood Qi Power, which really has nothing to do with Genetic Assessment."
"However, at the current stage, the higher your Genetic Assessment, the better your awakened Superpower will generally be. The probability of having a Special Physique is also greater. And these are things that benefit you for life."
"He got lucky as hell. With a D Level Genetic Assessment, he still awakened a Rare Superpower. If he can really break through to the Blood Qi Realm, with his Werewolf Transformation Superpower, heâll truly be stronger than the vast majority of people, and his shortcomings will disappear."
"Of course, thatâs assuming he *can* break through." Roger sounded a bit wistful as he said that last part.
Upon hearing this, Xu Haishuiâs expression dimmed.
Because breaking a Genetic Lock was also related to oneâs Genetic Assessment.
Here in the Star Shield Shelter, no one had ever heard of someone with a D Level Genetic Assessment managing to break the fourth Genetic Lock and advance to the Blood Qi Realm.
Of course, just because it hadnât happened in the Star Shield Shelter didnât mean it hadnât happened in other Shelters or large-scale bases. But it was an indisputable fact that the lower the Genetic Assessment, the harder it was to break through.
Even for someone like Roger, the probability of breaking the fourth Genetic Lock in the future was absolutely no more than fifty percent.
Seeing the atmosphere suddenly turn heavy, Lin Xinghai chuckled and said, "Donât think so much. Donât you guys think itâs a bit early to be worrying about all this?"
Feeling inexplicably looked down upon, Roger suddenly had the urge to beat the crap out of Lin Xinghai. But his reason told him that even though only a few days had passed, he probably couldnât win against him now.
Xu Haishui also broke free from that mood. He had to admit that Lin Xinghai was right. What he needed to consider now was the problem of breaking the second Genetic Lock.
Now that the Mercenary Corps had reached the Second Level, there were far more resources available to him than before.
He was confident he could break the second Genetic Lock within half a month. When that time came, with the addition of his Rare Superpower, he would truly deserve the title of Squad Leader.
Soon, the three of them went up to the second floor. Fang Tianhe, Shen Han, and Wu Yan were there, discussing something with grave expressions.
Thanks to the significant improvement in his Genetic Optimization Level, Lin Xinghaiâs hearing was much better than before. He could faintly make out words like "Morgan Conglomerate" and "Wild Wolf Mercenary Corps."
Just then, Fang Tianhe and the others noticed Lin Xinghaiâs group and called out, "Youâre just in time. Come over here, letâs discuss a countermeasure together."
"Leader, letâs not rush that. Why donât we discuss it after Ah Xing breaks his second Genetic Lock!" Roger cut in with a wide grin.
And just as he had guessed, astonishment, surprise, confusion, and bewildermentâthe expression on each personâs face was different.
When he saw Fang Tianheâs mouth move as if he were about to ask something, Roger grinned again and said, "No need to doubt it. You heard me right."
Those words were like a Silence Technique, instantly plunging the room into a deathly quiet.
Seeing the spectacular expressions on everyoneâs faces, Roger felt much more gratified.
Three minutes later, after confirming the truth of the matter with Lin Xinghai, Fang Tianhe couldnât help but laugh. "Good, good, good! Your breakthrough comes at the perfect time. The combat power youâll gain from this breakthrough alone is probably more than what weâd get from recruiting ten new members."
Next, accompanied by the others, Lin Xinghai went to the third floor of their headquarters. There were temporary rest rooms here, which were perfect for making a breakthrough.
"Pick any of these rest rooms you like. Weâll stand guard for you outside. Itâll be completely safe."
"Also, about the breakthrough potion. With your B Level Genetic Assessment, your success rate for breaking the second Genetic Lock is about 90%. While thatâs high, thereâs still a risk."
"But with this potion, your success rate can be raised to a full 100 percent." As he spoke, Fang Tianhe took a bottle of red potion from Shen Han and handed it to Lin Xinghai.
During this time, Lin Xinghai had been cramming a lot of common knowledge about Cultivation. He had heard of this breakthrough potion before. It was said to cost at least a thousand Points, and even then, it was something that had a price but no market.
He took it without hesitation and drank it down.
But immediately after, a strange look appeared on his face.
"Whatâs wrong?" Fang Tianhe asked, puzzled.
"Itâs nothing. Iâm going to start my breakthrough now." Lin Xinghai waved his hand and casually picked a rest room.
These rest rooms were all small rooms, a little over a hundred square feet, furnished with a sofa, a coffee table, and a bed.
Lin Xinghai sat down on the soft sofa and looked at the system prompt that popped up in front of him.
"Ding! Special Energy detected in the body. Convert to Blood Qi Power?"
âThis prompt is exactly the same as when I absorbed the Genetic Potion.â
However, Lin Xinghai thought for a moment and selected "No."
He wasnât short on Blood Qi Power right now; what he needed was a one-hundred-percent success rate for his breakthrough.
Yet, just as he selected "No," another system prompt popped up.
"Ding! The Special Energy contains impure Blood Qi Power, which will weaken the intensity of the Superpowerâs second awakening. Absorb anyway?"
Lin Xinghai: ???