Chapter 318: Devolution

【Standard Mission "Anchor Link" Complete】

【Rewards Settling】

【Overall Player Performance: S+. Game coins and experience gained increased to 160%】

【Mission Reward 1: For every unit killed, gain the corresponding game coins and experience】

As the main culprit and chief villain, Dr. Noah provided Li Cheng with 2,600 game coins and 1,500 experience points. Adding the other aberrant monsters, this run yielded a total of 3,130 game coins and 2,130 experience.

After multiplying by the 1.6 coefficient, that comes to 5,008 game coins and 3,408 experience.

Li Cheng went from lv16, experience bar 920/1600,

to lv18, experience bar 1028/1800. Two levels in a row — congratulations are in order.

Incidentally, when summoner-class players direct their demon pets to kill monsters, the rewards they receive tend to be subtly and slightly trimmed, depending on the number of demon pets and their independent action capability.

As for the rewards from monsters killed by Huiyu, the system transferred them to Li Cheng in full without any discount — probably because when Huiyu was beating and slaughtering them, she wasn't running her thinking function and was acting purely on instinct.

【Mission Reward 2: Random Item ×1, quality depends on clear rating】

"My demands aren't high — a Perfect would be just fine~"

Li Cheng hummed a little tune, went to the bathroom to bathe and burn incense, carefully scrubbed his hands clean with soap, and only then returned to the study, vigorously rubbing his palms together and shouting, "Open!"

White light flashed, and in the very last slot of his inventory, a distinctly sci-fi-looking all-metal handgun abruptly appeared.

It had a fair heft to it, and the grip featured a curved guard plate that could shield the shooting hand and wrist.

On both sides of the gun body, there was also a cartoon drawing of an ape-man scratching his head in puzzlement.

【Item Name: Ape-Man Devolution Gun】

【Type: Firearm】

【Quality: Perfect】

【Attack Power: Extremely Low】

【Special Effect: Balance Patch. The Ape-Man Devolution Gun holds five bullets. When a bullet hits its target, it deals no damage whatsoever — it only causes the target to undergo an abnormal change, shifting it toward "worse," "weaker," or "bad" in the broad sense】

【Cost: Each shot consumes 150 Spirit Power and 100 + 10% Sanity】

【Cooldown: None】

【Usage Requirement: Pass a full-effort WAIS-R Wechsler Intelligence Test with a final score less than or equal to 70】

【Note: The same target can receive a maximum of three Devolutions at the same time, and will automatically revert after a set duration. The intensity and duration of the Devolution depend on the target's strength】

【Note: Bullets regenerate one every 5 minutes; they cannot be reloaded early by any other means】

【Note: "Biologists have said: 'Use it or lose it!'" Principal Wang, at the Hundred-Day Pledge Assembly, demanded that the students about to take the college entrance exam memorize and copy the 99 multiplication table every day】

"This gun... why does it feel like a concept-tier weapon?"

Li Cheng's eyes lit up. Weighing the 【Ape-Man Devolution Gun】 up and down, he found the trigger was as if welded shut — utterly immovable.

After thinking for a moment, he went to the bedroom, where Huiyu was sprawled on a specially reinforced steel-frame bed playing a gacha mobile game, muttering to herself.

"September 2020, Anemo Archon banner — in October, Hurricane Delta hit the US.

December 2020, Geo Archon banner — same month, earthquake in Nevada.

September 2021, Electro Archon banner — heavy storm in the northeastern US.

November 2022, Dendro Archon banner — drought in the US Zhongxi Force.

This year, Pyro Archon banner — the Los Angeles wildfires. Cryo Archon's turn to step up next, hehehe..."

I'm over here going "Holy crap, ape," and you're over there going "Holy crap, original," right?

Li Cheng's eye twitched. He walked over and ruffled Huiyu's hair. "Quit the mobile game and come help me."

"Coming~"

Having just cleared her shopping cart, Huiyu was in a great mood. She cheerfully pocketed her phone and followed Li Cheng into the dimensional warehouse. After a brief rundown of the situation, Li Cheng had Huiyu supervise from the side,

while he himself activated the 【Assembled Puppet】 special effect, split off part of his brain, then downed a load of cold medicine to lower his IQ, and began the WAIS-R Wechsler Intelligence Test.

After growing accustomed to the extraordinary thinking mode of the multi-threaded brain-domain method, the sudden drop in IQ felt utterly miserable — Li Cheng was like someone who had drunk too much and was suffering a hangover.

By the time his cognitive ability returned and he looked up at the clock on the wall, a full four hours had somehow slipped by without his noticing, and his brain held absolutely no memory of those four hours.

"Hiss... feels like my brain grew back."

Li Cheng rubbed his aching skull, pushed aside the intelligence test sheet on the desk — covered in all manner of doodles — and turned his head to see Huiyu holding her phone and giggling like an idiot.

"What's so funny?"

Li Cheng leaned closer. Huiyu hastily tucked her phone away, shaking her head like a rattle-drum. "Nothing funny."

"If it's nothing funny, then you won't let me see it."

Li Cheng vaguely sensed something was off. He snapped his fingers, cast the Familiar Swap skill, switched places with Huiyu, and got hold of the phone.

The phone's photo gallery held over a dozen videos: Li Cheng, with his intelligence drastically reduced — even lower than Forrest Gump's (Forrest Gump's IQ is 75) — being coaxed along by Huiyu with a grilled sausage.

"Want some? Call me Big Sis."

"Big maggot."

Every word, every shot, every bit of content — all here for you to read!

"It's 'Big Sis,' not 'Big Maggot.' Did your IQ really drop? How can you even mispronounce it?"

"Big Sis."

"Can't hear you, can't hear a thing. No energy — do it again!"

"Big Sis!"

"Very good. Come give my shoulders a rub."

Li Cheng stared at the absurd videos in the gallery, his eye twitching wildly, and gave Huiyu a flick on the forehead — not too light, not too hard. "Go play somewhere else."

A forehead flick might work on an ordinary brat, but Huiyu is a liquid-metal robot. Tapping her head only produces a metallic "clang" — a good head indeed.

Tossing the phone back to Huiyu, Li Cheng took out the 【Ape-Man Devolution Gun】 once more. This time, the trigger could finally be pulled.

"Bang!" A metal bullet shot from the barrel and struck the concrete target, vanishing into thin air the instant it hit.

The target's surface bore no mark; after a brief delay, its original concrete structure loosened visibly, transforming into a brick wall.

"Concrete degrading into bricks?"

Li Cheng rubbed his chin with interest, took a stack of brand-new twenty-dollar bills from the shelf, and fired at the bills.

Bang!

The original twenty-dollar bills transformed into five-dollar bills, now wrinkled and worn.

The second shot turned the five-dollar bills into one-dollar bills, some of them torn.

The third shot turned the dollars directly into ten million Zimbabwean dollars.

"Not only does the denomination change—the currency type itself can transform. This is truly a conceptual weapon."

Li Cheng's mind raced, running endless tests.

He fired at gold, and it degraded into silver.

He fired at a KFC Family Meal, and it degraded into a budget fried chicken combo.

He fired at Pepsi, and it degraded into Coca-Cola—and vice versa; apparently, in the system's judgment, these two sodas were nearly identical.

He fired at the 1989 release of the Mobile Suit Gundam 0080 DVD, and it degraded into the 2024 Netflix original anime Mobile Suit Gundam: Requiem for the Vanquished.

Likewise, firing at Fast Five degraded it into Fast X.

Hmm, that wasn't wrong.

The most absurd was when Li Cheng used the 【Ape Degeneration Gun】 on luxury brands—designer bags, shoes, clothing—the items themselves remained unchanged, but the brand logos were simply erased.

(End of Chapter)