Chapter 9: Variant – You Are My Brother
The mercenary training base was diagonally behind the mercenary main residential building, and directly behind the mercenary residential building was the experiment building. Behind the experiment building was the No. 2 zombie/variant breeding base.
The first day, Liang Huan was tied down facing up in the back seat and couldn’t see clearly. This time, he finally got a clear view.
“The experiment building is an institution dedicated to researching zombies and variants. The breeding base is where humans raise zombies and variants.” Li Yao answered him vaguely after hearing his question. “The zombies and variants in the training base are all purchased from the breeding base.”
Liang Huan was puzzled: “Aren’t you guys eliminating zombies and variants in the outer areas? Why do you need to specifically breed them?”
Li Yao looked down at his Dawn Chip, and chuckled when he heard this: “Because we need the crystal cores of zombies and the brains of variants as raw materials for power fuel. Most mecha fuel now comes from these two things. They are more durable than traditional fuels. After humans began taming zombies, research found that their crystal cores can regenerate as long as they aren’t completely removed. Low-level variants can continuously split into new entities in special environments. Now, each district has dedicated breeding bases and experiment buildings.”
“Aren’t there any in the outer areas?” Liang Huan asked.
“The radiation levels in the outer areas are far higher than in the base. The zombies and variants there have undergone round after round of mutation and have long become uncontrollable. Now, it may take the military mobilizing mecha and special forces to successfully eliminate a single Level 1 variant.” Li Yao raised his head, his gaze darkening. “This is the reason why the expansion of human bases outwards has been particularly slow in recent years.”
“In that case, why don’t humans mutate?” Liang Huan said.
Li Yao looked at him with some surprise: “You know, you’re actually quite suitable to be a mad scientist.”
Liang Huan leaned back: “I have always been cautious and conservative, which is not suitable.”
The fully automated hover car slowly landed at the back gate of the training base.
Liang Huan followed Li Yao out of the car. During the electricity restriction period, even the street lights were turned off. The surroundings were pitch black, with only the faint blue light emitted by the anti-radiation protective shield covering the entire East District base overhead. The occasional flashing currents on it blocked the night sky.
Liang Huan looked up: “Can’t you see the stars here?”
“No, even in the outer areas without protective shields, the times you can see the stars are pitifully few.” Li Yao stood in front of the base gate and took out his Dawn Chip. “You can see a lot of them on spaceships in the universe, some are very beautiful, but it’s different from seeing stars on the ground.”
Liang Huan felt a little lost, but he didn’t know if this loss was because he couldn’t see the stars, or because he couldn’t return to North Liang for the time being.
“What are you thinking about? Come on.” Li Yao called to him.
Liang Huan looked in the direction of his voice and saw him clinging to the metal gate, which had almost no foothold, stretching out a hand to him.
“Aren’t we opening the door and going in?” Liang Huan frowned.
“No power, and I’m just an ordinary mercenary, where would I get the authority to enter the training ground in the middle of the night without approval?” Li Yao grabbed his wrist and forcibly pulled him up, grabbed his ankles and had him step on his thighs, sticking two things into his palm. “Quickly climb up, the patrol robot will be here in five minutes.”
Liang Huan stepped on his thighs and easily flipped over the gate with a push.
Li Yao grimaced as he was stepped on, deftly flipped over the gate, and vigorously rubbed his thighs: “You did that on purpose as revenge.”
Liang Huan was puzzled: “Revenge for what?”
He took revenge on Li Yao for stepping on his face on the spot.
“…Never mind.” Li Yao was magnanimous and stuck an infrared shield behind his neck. “Stay close to me.”
Li Yao’s speed was very fast, but he didn’t use his full strength, obviously because he was afraid that Liang Huan behind him couldn’t keep up. This was indeed the case. Liang Huan’s mental strength was too high, and the electromagnetic waves in the training ground were interfering with him, making him a little dizzy. He almost got lost several times.
“Are you alright?” Li Yao raised his chin to make his breathing smoother, frowning as he vigorously rubbed his neck, then sprayed a bottle of spray on him. “Liang Huan?”
“I’m fine.” Liang Huan once again used his internal force to suppress the dizziness and nausea. “What did you spray on me?”
“Anti-radiation inhibitor.” Li Yao tested the temperature behind his ear. “Without a protective shield, the radiation levels in the training ground are, on average, two points higher than in residential areas. Ordinary people will experience dizziness and vomiting when they enter, and in more severe cases, they will faint. The first time you came in, you had convulsions and lost consciousness. This time, there’s been progress.”
Liang Huan grabbed the hand that wanted to spray him again: “You just need to tell me what I should do.”
“Endure it, you’ll get used to it.” Li Yao led him around the patrolling robots and entered his lounge with practiced ease, grabbed a protective belt, lowered his head and buckled it on him, pressing the start button.
A layer of light blue protective shield instantly conformed to Liang Huan’s body, protecting him firmly inside.
“This thing can shield 60% of the mental shock from variants.” Li Yao touched his temple, and a virtual screen the size of a lens instantly popped up in front of Liang Huan’s left eye. “The analyzer can monitor your heartbeat, breathing, and blood oxygen in real-time, providing the radiation levels and infection levels of the surrounding environment, and quickly determine the level of variants and zombies. This thing isn’t very accurate in the outer areas, but it’s enough in the training ground. Can you adapt?”
Liang Huan closed his eyes: “Acceptable.”
Li Yao touched his temple again, staring seriously into his eyes to confirm that he had no rejection reaction, before seriously saying: “Mental link is usually used in dual-pilot mecha operation, which requires complete trust and tacit cooperation between the two sides. Teammates usually train together from a very young age. The highest link can reach 83.4%, but very few people can do it. Now my mental strength is C and yours is S, we don’t need to pursue the link rate, as long as we can reach the minimum standard of 15.6% for operating the mecha, understand?”
Liang Huan listened as if he understood, but he couldn’t even feel what mental strength was, but he nodded solemnly: “Understood.”
Li Yao breathed a sigh of relief, and patted his shoulder with rare gentleness: “Don’t worry, with your mental strength level, there won’t be any big problems.”
The inner door of the training ground opened, and the zombies, smelling the scent, surged towards them in the darkness. The variants let out bursts of ultra-high decibel hisses. Liang Huan didn’t use his internal force, he just felt as if he had been punched in the temple, making his movements more sluggish than ever before. The scorching wind from the desert swept over, staggering him backward.
“Liang Huan! What are you doing?!” Li Yao’s violent voice came from the wind. “Use your mental strength!”
He raised his gun and bent his back, shooting through the heads of more than a dozen zombies in one burst. The instant he turned his head, a five-meter-tall variant had already forced its way in front of Liang Huan. Without even turning his head, he smashed the head of the zombie next to him with an elbow, quickly took a few steps and directly stepped on the variant’s tentacles, skillfully switching the gun’s form to reload. When the variant turned its head and opened its hideous mouthparts at him, he didn’t even blink and shot it directly, then rolled to the side to dissipate the terrifying recoil. Before the variant’s brain exploded, he stepped on its head and leaped down, hugging the still-stunned Liang Huan and protecting him underneath, quickly pressing the protective light sphere.
Bang—
The variant’s enormous body exploded above them, and the sharp mental waves stirred up a sand wall several meters high. Incredibly fast zombies swarmed over to devour the variant’s corpse, but even faster than their devouring speed was the variant’s healing ability. The other side was reassembling its broken body in a distorted posture.
An indescribable stench instantly permeated the air.
“Liang Huan? Liang Huan!” Li Yao vigorously patted his face, his hand suddenly being grabbed.
Liang Huan slowly raised his head, his nose and ears bleeding bright red. He coughed, and Li Yao’s pupils instantly shrank. He grabbed his chin and forced him to lift his head, tearing open his clothes and directly injecting a tranquilizer into his heart—
He knew Liang Huan’s physical level was bad, but he never expected it to be this bad!
Fortunately, he brought a treatment device. He switched the device to its other form, turning it into a vest and directly putting it on Liang Huan, his voice strained: “Relax, don’t panic, adjust your breathing, don’t try to endure.”
Liang Huan’s forehead rested on his shoulder, mobilizing his internal force to suppress the bloody taste in his throat, and soon felt the effects of the tranquilizer and treatment device. It was as if his shattered organs were being repaired at an incredible speed.
Li Yao half-knelt on the ground, holding him up, roughly wiping the blood off his face, and gritted his teeth: “This is what you call ‘acceptable’?”
Liang Huan’s face ached from the calluses on his hand. He closed his eyes and smiled: “How would I know if I didn’t try it?”
Li Yao cursed under his breath: “Let’s go back first.”
“No.” Liang Huan grabbed his arm, opened his eyes and said, “Now that we’re here, first teach me how to use mental strength.”
Li Yao’s pupils trembled slightly: “You don’t know?!”
Liang Huan slowly said: “I don’t remember.”
“You dare to enter the training ground before you remember, are you crazy!” Li Yao roared in anger. “If you want to die, I can shoot you! No need to go through so much trouble!”
Liang Huan’s head tilted slightly from his roar. He said slowly and methodically: “I was just curious.”
He just wanted to see the extent to which humans could resist variants without mental strength and internal force. Besides, he mobilized his internal force at the critical moment, so he wouldn’t lose his life anyway, and the treatment device could handle it.
Li Yao’s eyes were scarlet, his body tense like a sharp sword. He seemed to be trying his best to suppress his anger: “Go back.”
“Li Yao, I can do it.” Liang Huan adjusted his breathing and stared steadily at him: “As long as you dare to teach me, I can learn it.”
Li Yao’s jaw was tight, and Liang Huan didn’t back down at all.
The two faced off for a long time. In the howls of the zombies and the mental waves of the variants, Li Yao was the first to lower his eyes. He lowered his head and adjusted the chip, placing his wrist against Liang Huan’s temple.
A subtle electric current stimulated his brain, and Li Yao’s voice sounded deeply in his ear: “Concentrate your attention on the space between your eyebrows.”
Liang Huan did as he said, and immediately felt a subtle fluctuation in the air. It was difficult for him to describe what that feeling was like, but when the other party tried to attack him, he almost instinctively resisted. When the two mental strengths collided, he only heard a harsh clang, like swords colliding, but far sharper than the sound of metal. He even felt that the other party’s mental strength had a struggling feeling of weakness, but it was far heavier than his mental strength. In the increasingly harsh clang, the other party was the first to withdraw its mental strength.
Li Yao half-knelt on the ground, covering his stomach and coughing frantically.
Liang Huan suddenly came back to his senses and grabbed him: “Li Yao.”
“I’m fine.” Li Yao casually wiped the blood from his chin, took out two dark blue pills from who-knows-where and swallowed them. He stared at Liang Huan with a deep gaze: “Are you sure your mental strength is only S?”
Liang Huan realized: “Just now, was that your—”
“Whose mental strength it is doesn’t matter.” Li Yao interrupted him. “If this is your level, then your corresponding physical level is too low. You can still move freely?”
Liang Huan’s gaze paused slightly. He clenched his sleeve and wiped away the remaining blood from his lips: “How do you kill variants?”
Li Yao’s body stiffened for a moment because of his action. He subconsciously dodged, then, after hearing his question, scoffed: “You? Kill variants?”
“It’s us.” Liang Huan said. “These low-level variants in the training ground can be killed with just mental strength, right?”
Li Yao fell silent.
“Your mental strength can’t do it, and my physical strength can’t do it, but maybe the two of us can.” Liang Huan said. “Want to try?”
Li Yao ultimately didn’t refuse.
Liang Huan’s ability to get the hang of things was very fast. After Li Yao taught him how to shoot, even without Li Yao’s help, he could basically hit the heads of zombies. The mental strength shielding device and the variant analyzer were activated simultaneously. Through the mental strength authority granted by the Dawn Chip, Li Yao forcibly bound the mental strengths of the two people. The display showed that the current mental strength link rate between the two people was only 4% – but even 4% was considered very high between strangers who had not undergone any training, after all, the genetic analysis of the population matching center was not just for show.
Li Yao quickly selected a target variant. It wasn’t large, but it was agile, and its mental strength rating was Level 3, which was considered medium level. After discovering them, the variant tried to launch a mental attack on Li Yao. Li Yao stubbornly resisted and didn’t use his gun, but instead dodged the other party’s physical attacks while trying his best to achieve the same frequency as Liang Huan’s mental strength.
Mental link is usually carried out between parties of the same level. After all, for low mental strength, forcibly linking to a high frequency is a very torturous thing.
Liang Huan could feel his mental strength depleting, like the dry desert under his feet. At the same time, Liang Huan also clearly felt his physical strength gradually running out. His excessive mental strength began to cause his muscles to spasm, uncontrollably falling from the variant’s body. Just a split second before the variant was about to devour him, Li Yao suddenly appeared, grabbing his arm and dragging him behind the variant.
There were giant thorns more than a meter long in front of the variant. As they rolled away, those giant thorns directly pierced towards them. The mental fluctuations in the air suddenly increased. Li Yao’s consciousness blurred for a moment, but Liang Huan reacted quickly, dragging him to avoid the attack of those giant thorns.
The elusive mental wave from before reappeared, forcefully and frantically plundering his mental strength. Liang Huan watched the mental strength link rate between the two people on the analyzer increase rapidly, finally stopping at 6.9%. The returning variant hissed, rapidly approaching. Opening its hideous mouthparts towards the two of them.
Buzz—
Liang Huan’s brain went blank for a moment, his consciousness concentrated to an incredible degree. He couldn’t remember who he was, nor could he remember what they were doing, but a tyrannical force took his consciousness at an incredible speed and shuttled it through a flowing source full of refractive light sources, until finally it penetrated those noisy consciousnesses. In a certain crisp sound, that mass of flowing solid vitreous substance shattered into countless fragments, condensed into countless pale blue light spots, and then disappeared like dazzling fireworks.
The variant, only a few inches away from them, stopped in place, maintaining its attacking posture. After a few seconds, it crashed to the ground, completely silent.
Liang Huan slowly blinked his eyes and turned to look at Li Yao.
Li Yao’s face was pale, but his eyes were shockingly sharp. He stared intently at the completely annihilated variant in front of him, and it took a long time before he regained his consciousness. He couldn’t remember how long it had been since he had touched the variant’s mental source. He thought he had forgotten how to kill the other party the fastest, but all of the movements just now were like instincts, deeply engraved in his bones and blood. The blood in his whole body was boiling. He bit his teeth hard, trying to force himself to calm down.
“…Li Yao?” Liang Huan raised his hand and waved it in front of his eyes, caught off guard by his arm being grabbed and pulled into his arms.
Liang Huan’s back stiffened. He subconsciously wanted to resist, but his physical strength after killing the variant had already been exhausted. Li Yao was so strong that he almost wanted to rub him into his bones and blood. He almost couldn’t breathe. At first, he thought he was shaking, but after a while, he realized that it was Li Yao who was shaking.
“I…” Li Yao’s voice was hoarse, as if he was holding blood in his mouth. “I just killed a variant with mental strength.”
Liang Huan grabbed his belt in suffocation and said with difficulty: “First… let me go.”
“With mental strength.” Li Yao hugged him tightly, murmuring incoherently. “I can still use mental strength, I can still operate the mecha, I can do it for them—”
Liang Huan mobilized his internal force and pulled him back hard, finally breathing in fresh air. The look in his eyes when he looked at Li Yao carried a bit of anger: “I almost got suffocated by you.”
But Li Yao didn’t seem to hear what he was saying, staring at him with burning eyes: “6.9%, in just one hour, our mental strength link rate has increased by almost 3%. Liang Huan, do you know what this means?”
In the few days he had known Li Yao, although this person seemed very normal, Liang Huan always felt that he rarely had emotional fluctuations. His smiles and scolds were all superficial. This was the first time he had seen Li Yao’s emotions fluctuate so much, but he didn’t feel anything. Liang Huan frowned, brushed away the pieces of corpses and sand from his body, and said coldly: “I want to bathe.”
“This means that our mental strengths can be highly matched, maybe we can match up to 80%. That way, I can completely independently operate the mecha, you just need to give me mental strength assistance by my side.” Li Yao hugged him again, then quickly let go, suppressing his excitement and punching his shoulder hard. “We will become the best partners! From now on, you are my brother!”
Liang Huan raised his eyes to look at him: “Brother?”
Li Yao looked at him now with great satisfaction. He hooked his neck and patted his chest with affection, laughing heartily: “Baby, let’s go back and treat you to roast chicken!”
