Chapter 425

Vanessa saw Lin Xian's reaction and spoke up.

"You need to use a cultivation device to grow the selected blood essence and the cultivator's DNA; after success, you must consume that blood essence. The process isn't complicated, but the cultivation device is extremely rare, and success isn't guaranteed—you might need dozens of level-three blood essences to get one successful result. You know how valuable such essences are; failure means massive loss."

"And this blood essence must also be compatible with your own ability?" Mo Nika asked at this moment.

"Yes, so the difficulty and cost are both very high," Vanessa said. "But you can cooperate with us. There are two ways to obtain blood essences: first, direct hunting—level-three blood essences require hunting at least an A-rank weird body. Our Rangers know which sea zones have suitable targets unlikely to trigger tidal disasters. Second, black-market exchange—but then you're just gambling on compatibility."

"When you say 'compatibility,' do you mean the weird body's ability and the cultivator's ability share the same nature? Like a fire-spewing weird body and a fire-affinity cultivator?" Shu Qin asked.

"Yes," Gaidi said now. "But all this is rumor. There are many so-called 'experience insights' out there, and they're not necessarily reliable."

She looked at Ding Junyi. "You have professional scientists—you can evaluate it yourselves."

"Then what about that cultivation device?" Lin Xian asked now.

Vanessa replied: "Don't worry about that—we have someone in our Sea Clan who can solve your problem. As long as your destruction level exceeds five thousand, there's at least a 90% chance you'll awaken the crystal lattice."

"OK." Lin Xian nodded, looking at her. "So what do you need me to provide?"

Vanessa looked at Lin Xian, her youthful face flickering with subtle intent, then said to him:

"We want to hunt a group of Special-class weird bodies. We invite you to join. If we succeed, we can get at least five level-four blood essences!"

Lin Xian's eyes narrowed slightly: "A group?"

He wanted to confirm he hadn't misheard the unit. Though Lin Xian had killed more than one Special-class weird body on the Dawn City battlefield, that was while piloting the Gray Mist Emissary. Facing such massive, skyscraper-sized Special-class weird bodies directly as a cultivator was still profoundly suffocating—like the Abyssal Worm of West Lan, which had brought great disaster to the entire city.

"Yes, but not just us—other factions are involved too. At least seven or eight have peak crystal lattice evolution levels over ten thousand. We also have heavy firepower. With you joining, our chances improve."

"Wait."

Xiang Ningjing's expression turned startled: "You're hunting Special-class weird bodies just to get level-four blood essences for crystal lattice evolution?"

"Exactly," Gaidi said. "Sometimes confronting danger head-on is the only way to evolve beyond fear."

Xiang Ningjing fell silent. She understood the logic perfectly—but her team had never considered crystal lattice evolution in this way. With Dark Mark, she could fully grasp the intent; otherwise, their convoy always sought blood essences to trade for supplies, so they only hunted the most common D- or C-rank weird bodies. Special-class ones were city-level threats; no convoy would casually pursue them.

Lin Xian said: "It sounds like you've planned this for a long time. Exactly how many Special-class weird bodies? What disaster levels? Have you considered weird tides?"

Lin Xian shared Xiang Ningjing's thought: actively seeking out Special-class weird bodies was never rational. Though he was deeply interested in the crystal lattice seed, his mind was always clear—he needed to carefully weigh risk against reward.

"The specific details…"

"Vanessa," Gaidi interrupted her, giving her a meaningful glance. "They still don't know what the crystal lattice actually is. They need to understand first."

Gaidi, observing Lin Xian's expression, guessed his thoughts and spoke: "Unsurprisingly, around Haiyan Island, there are many from Shengcheng and other organizations. We'll likely encounter them after dawn. If you don't leave the island tomorrow, come to our maritime safety zone—we can answer all your questions there."

"Alright."

Lin Xian checked the time and said: "Thank you for the useful information. We're not out of danger yet. Rest inside the vehicle. We'll discuss further at dawn."

He gestured to Chen Sixuan and Sun Yuzhen: "Chen Laoshi, Yuzhen, show these two friends where to rest."

…

Deep night. The empty rail station was pitch black. Strange sounds echoed from shadowed alleys. The Infinite Number sat silently on one of the platforms, its armored hull cold and fully sealed. No lights were on; only a faint glimmer escaped through the gaps in the blackout panels.

Inside the carriage, over twenty people rested quietly. Tonight, Qian Dele's squad was on watch. Shu Qin, Lu Chang, Luo Yang, and others were fully focused on observing the darkness outside. In addition, Viola, the AI, had taken over the entire vehicle's sentry system. In Carriage 6, Vanessa and Gaidi rested, watching the well-equipped weapons and drone systems. Gaidi spoke with a grave expression:

"The Infinite Number is truly powerful. These twenty people include at least three Angel-class. The rest, I estimate, are at least Rampage or Destruction-class. Their elite squad model gives them exceptional survival capability."

"I noticed," Vanessa said, wearing headphones and playing with her handheld device. "That fire-affinity cultivator took out three Red Bones in one move. I knew right then—he's Angel-class. I'd need to activate my crystal lattice to match that."

"Vanessa, why did you think to invite him to join the hunt?" Gaidi asked. "He's no ordinary man—he's the Swordbearer of the Phoenix Society."

"I know~"

Vanessa smiled easily. "Precisely because I know he's the Swordbearer, I proposed this cooperation. He must be deeply interested in power growth—he faces only S-ranks or Corpse Drivers. His despair and pressure dwarf ours. To him, Special-class weird bodies aren't hard at all."

"That's not what I mean," Gaidi said. "He's the Swordbearer. His resources exceed our imagination. He has the Phoenix Society and Interstellar Army backing him. Why would he cooperate with our tiny Ranger Sea Clan?"

Vanessa shrugged. "I don't know. But he saved us. He's a good person. I like him. He's cool~"

"Have you considered that Shengcheng might target them because of this?"

"Well, Lin Xian probably thought of that too. But… I'm just seizing the chance to cling to the Swordbearer's leg. This hunt becomes far more promising. And those arrogant White Night Knights—let's see what they think. Ah…" She yawned. "When an opportunity like this comes, grab it."

Gaidi smiled. "If this really happens, Ryan will go insane—suddenly having the Phoenix Society's Swordbearer, Lin Xian, as his ally."

Vanessa put down her handheld device and looked at Gaidi: "Gaidi, have you paid attention to Lin Xian?"

"What about him?"

"You haven't noticed? As their leader, he should be the one with the highest Soul-Resonance value in the group. But I sense nothing from him at all."

"Is mechanical ability really that mysterious?"

…