Chapter 326: Gene Optimization

Ronis stared intently at the four people. The most eye-catching one was the guy in the black windbreaker in the center, but he wore a mechanical mask on his face, concealing all his expressions.

The man on the left had a cold and stern expression, like someone who had experienced many battles, his eyes filled with murderous intent. On the right was a valiant and spirited woman with very short hair, looking highly capable.

And the man on the furthest right surprised Ronis the most.

"Saad, you're not dead!?" someone beside him asked in astonishment.

Saad looked at his group of teammates with complex eyes and imperceptibly shook his head, gesturing for them to quickly leave.

Actually, there was no need for his warning. Ronis had already reached out his hand, stopping the teammates behind him from continuing forward, and was constantly retreating, his eyes vigilant.

Rustling sounds came from the surroundings. A large number of figures appeared from all directions, surrounding them in the center.

"Don't be in a rush to leave, come over and chat." Li Yu sat straight backwards. The armor on his back unfolded, and mechanical structures swiftly extended.

They perfectly formed a tall mechanical seat, overall silver-white in color, with a very high backrest covered in complex patterns, giving off an extremely strong sense of oppression.

The other party was an A-Tier Lifeform!

A sense of despair unavoidably rose in his heart, while simultaneously being very confused. Although he didn't know who the other party was, how did the other party find them?

He cast his gaze towards Saad. Could it be that he betrayed us?

No... only Oaks knew the flight coordinates beforehand. Betrayal was absolutely impossible to exist.

In fact, Saad was far more shocked than Ronis. He didn't expect that this group of people could actually really find traces of Ronis.

Moreover, he had been following beside this group of people the entire time, and they didn't seem to view him as a threat either; he could move around freely.

However, even so, he still didn't understand exactly how they tracked Ronis and the others.

It was as if this group of people were extremely clear about Ronis and the others' destination, even knowing exactly where they would stop to resupply.

Ronis and the others had vigilant expressions. They formed a tight circle, back-to-back, staring at the Iron Fist Squad surrounding them.

"Who are you guys!?" he said in a deep voice.

"You don't need to know who we are, hand over that item." Stanley's voice was cold. As long as Li Yu gave the order, he would charge forward and tear the group of people in front of him into pieces.

Sure enough, they came for that item. Ronis's heart sank to the bottom of the valley. He secretly clenched the compression device in his hand tightly.

I'd rather destroy it than hand it over to the other party!

"Careful, don't squeeze it till it breaks." Li Yu slightly raised an eyebrow.

Ronis felt stunned in his heart. He suddenly discovered that his hand began to raise uncontrollably and slowly opened up, revealing the bracelet-like Space Compression Device.

Then, the Space Compression Device seemed to be pulled by an invisible force, flying towards the direction where Li Yu was located.

"No!" Ronis's body abruptly loosened, and he subconsciously charged towards the Space Compression Device in mid-air.

Seeing this, a cold light flashed in Stanley's eyes. His body instantly disappeared from the spot, and when he reappeared, he was already in front of Ronis, covered in silver armor.

Bang!

A muffled sound came out. Ronis's body flew backwards at an even faster speed, plowing a trench in the ground.

Fresh blood flowed from his nostrils, the bridge of his nose already shattered. Severe pain swept through his nerves.

However, what moved him the most was Stanley's attire.

"It's you guys!"

Seeing this suit of armor, he finally understood. This group of people in front of him were the ones who blocked Theodore.

"It's all thanks to the lord that you guys were able to keep your lives. Instead of dutifully offering the item, you actually dare to resist," Stanley said coldly.

"You make it sound so high-sounding. Isn't your goal also that item?" Ronis struggled to stand up.

"The reason you protected us was merely to send that item out of the Tabli Star System."

Ronis finally understood the whole story. The other party hid in the dark just to send the item out of the Tabli

Star System, and then snatch the spoils.

Avoiding the possibility of their identity being exposed, hiding in the dark, unknown to anyone.

"So what? Didn't your lives get preserved precisely because of this?" Stanley retorted.

Ronis stayed silent for a moment. What Stanley said was right. No matter what the other party's goal was, the fact that they survived because of it was one of the results.

But subsequently, he sneered again: "But aren't you still going to silence us now?"

Stanley showed no cowardice: "Allowing you guys to live a few more days is already a blessing."

Li Yu inspected the Space Compression Device; the Gene Optimization Device was inside it.

It was about five meters tall, resembling a medical bay, overall black in color. The manufacturing material was very special, not an ordinary metal. Inlaid at the end was a thumb-sized golden granule.

"I won't kill you guys..." Li Yu raised his head, in an excellent mood. The words he spoke made the other party feel it was beyond their expectations.

Ronis slightly froze, then said coldly: "Give up on it, we will not betray the Reformers."

"Haha..." Li Yu chuckled twice. "The Reformers are close collaborators with me. Why would I make you guys betray them?"

"Ronis... it seems your vengeance hasn't been fulfilled yet, right? Vengeance for your parents' death must be fulfilled. Wouldn't it be too much of a pity to die here?"

Ronis's pupils shrank, looking at Li Yu. This was his secret, and also the reason he defected to the Reformers.

"The other party is an A-Tier Lifeform, you need to work hard!" Li Yu encouraged.

"What... exactly do you want to do!" Ronis shouted in a low voice.

"Sparing your lives..." Li Yu's tone sounded slightly confused. "Why are you making it seem like I'm the villain?"

Li Yu fundamentally didn't need to silence them; this group of people didn't know much.

Moreover, interestingly, through the message transmission of the electronic devices on them,

During this period, Li Yu had learned of various stories of deep bitterness and deep hatred. If it wasn't Vengeance for Father's Death, it was Vengeance for Wife's Abduction...

There was even one who inexplicably joined the Reformers because his own dog was accidentally killed.

Li Yu subsequently took Stanley and the others and left the place.

However, Saad didn't follow them to leave, but stayed here.

Ronis looked up at the direction Li Yu and the others left, pursing his lips, silent for a long time.

The rest of the people also had similar reactions. Even though they picked up a life, they just couldn't feel happy no matter what, looking at each other in dismay.

………

In the continuous mountain range in the wilderness of a certain planet in the Ish Star System, a cave was hollowed out on the mountainside of a peak.

A fully automated environmental cloak was deployed at the cave entrance, disguised as rocks. Outsiders couldn't see the existence of the cave entrance, and simultaneously an energy detection jammer was deployed.

Isolating any possible scanners, it became an invisible area on radar.

Inside the cave was a hollowed-out mountain belly. Li Yu took out the Gene Optimization Device and placed it on the ground.

The crowd all cast appraising glances. Was this the item the lord had schemed with untold hardships for?

"This is?" Stanley inquired. He felt that since Li Yu took it out right in front of them, it also meant there was no need to keep it a secret from them.

"The Gene Optimization Device of the Star Glory Empire," Li Yu casually explained.

"Gene Optimization Device!?" Stanley was somewhat surprised. Naturally, he had also heard of the great reputation of the Gene Optimization Device.

This was one of the extremely important technological assets of the Star Glory Empire. He didn't expect that what was snatched was actually this thing!

And Li Yu was carefully studying this device. This thing was quite complex, set with layers of passwords, and required multi-layered verification to use.

This didn't exceed Li Yu's expectations. After all, it could be considered cutting-edge technology. If it could be used casually, that would be too much of a drop in status.

However, this didn't stop him. He stretched out a finger, and a massive amount of golden runes surged out, gradually covering the body of the Gene Optimization Device.

That's right... he was precisely preparing to directly enlighten this thing into a Transformer, thereby bypassing all verifications.

Stanley and the others looked curiously at Li Yu's actions, not knowing what this was doing.

As time passed, Li Yu's brows gradually furrowed tightly. The Virtual Faith this thing consumed was simply too much.

It was almost even more than what he consumed when modifying the Nano-Core. The Virtual Faith accumulated during this period was about to be consumed clean.

Fortunately, just when there wasn't much Virtual Faith left, the entire Gene Optimization Device let out a violent tremor.

Then it split open from the middle, revealing the extremely precise mechanical structures inside.

Amidst the dumbfounded expressions of Stanley and the others, the entire Gene Optimization Device turned into a tall mechanical body, kneeling respectfully in front of Li Yu.

Stanley could confirm that the Gene Optimization Device absolutely didn't have this kind of function; this was entirely Li Yu's methods.

This lord... who exactly is he!?

This wasn't the first time Stanley had this kind of doubt.

But he carefully matched this lord one by one with the A-Tier Lifeforms in his impression, yet couldn't find anyone who could fit.

"Thankfully it succeeded..." Li Yu breathed a long sigh of relief. He was truly afraid that the Virtual Faith would be consumed completely, yet still unable to thoroughly enlighten the Gene Optimization Device successfully.

"Introduce yourself..." Li Yu had it roughly introduce the functions of the Gene Optimization Device.

This thing could optimize genes; specifically, it manifested as erasing defects and enhancing advantages.

According to what this guy said, even he himself didn't know exactly what the principles were.

He inferred that it should come from the golden granule inlaid at the end of the device; the energy and the device itself merely served a conversion role.

"Interesting..." Li Yu rubbed his chin. Even though it had been simplified into a Transformer, it still couldn't figure out its own structure.

It seemed the origin of that golden granule wasn't simple; nine times out of ten, it came from the Titan Civilization.

"Can you perform gene optimization on me now?" Li Yu asked.

"Without any problems, respected Creator," the Gene Optimization Device respectfully said, then transformed into its main body, opening the blast doors.

"But it requires you to connect external energy."

This wasn't a problem. Li Yu directly had the Titan Colonization Armor supply energy, lay inside the cabin, and prepared to start.

As the cabin cover closed and energy began to be supplied, the metal granule inlaid at the end began to tremble slightly, and a massive amount of golden particles escaped out.

Whoosh—

The next moment, those golden particle streams seemed to have found a target to vent onto, surging towards Li Yu and continuously seeping into his body from the surface of his skin.

Pain!

This was Li Yu's only feeling.

This pain seemed to be born from the depths of his soul; everywhere in his body, there was nothing that didn't hurt.

The golden particles poured into his corporeal form from the surface of his body, passing through skin, muscles, bones, blood vessels, acting on a deeper genetic level.

Li Yu currently only had one A-Class Gene Chain; the rest were still considered lower-tier gene chains, having more defects.

The golden particles were like checking for leaks and filling vacancies, constantly looking for places to merge into at the genetic level, thereby forcibly filling in the defects and shortcomings.

Li Yu's pupils emitted a golden yellow color, electric arcs surged, and flames spewed out, forcing Stanley and the others to step back.

Powerful strength surged out from the depths of his body. Even if the foundational gene chains weren't strong, after the optimization was complete, they could also provide a slight amplification for Li Yu.

And it was an all-around amplification of strength, speed, and stamina!

As time passed, the aura on his body further strengthened, and the severe pain coming from his body went up another level.

Finally, it was Kalaitos's turn. The time spent optimizing this A-Class Gene Chain was far longer than the other gene chains.

The golden electric arcs further expanded, but didn't cause any damage to the Gene Optimization Device itself.

Li Yu's body switched back and forth between a quantum state and an entity, his entire person becoming incomparably blurry.

After roughly half an hour, the golden particle stream stopped pouring in and retracted back into the golden granule.

Li Yu walked out from the cabin, taking a deep breath and swiftly calming his aura.

Only then did he feel the sensation of expanding strength within his body, giving him an illusion that he could blow up the planet beneath his feet if he vented all his energy.

He clenched his fists, and thunder exploded: "No wonder the Star Glory Empire could maintain its hegemonic status. The amplification this kind of Gene Optimization Device has on an individual is too powerful."

Li Yu could intuitively feel that his current strength had a tremendous amplification; it was hard to define specifically.

But his conventional combat power should have already reached around 100,000 calories, the amplification being roughly one-quarter to one-third.

If coordinated with his various methods, the combat power he could erupt with was unimaginable.

Moreover, the benefits brought by gene optimization weren't just this. He opened the Gene Detector. His Gene Chain Development Progress had impressively reached 50%, a direct increase of 15%.

This was a terrifying number, and also one of the reasons why the Gene Optimization Device was coveted by so many people.

Furthermore, the Gene Optimization Device wasn't just a one-time use; in the future, every time he fused a new gene chain, he could undergo optimization.

Tsk tsk... the future is promising!

(End of this chapter)