HBWnovel Chapter 330: Energy-Gathering Slate, Miraculous Redstone!
Chapter 330: Energy-Gathering Slate, Miraculous Redstone!
After using the intelligence five consecutive times, the intelligence on the Stone Sunflower People analyzed from the Trait had exhausted its uses.Within the accessible intelligence records, the information belonging to the Stone Sunflower People fragmented bit by bit before dissipating completely.
This was the first time a piece of intelligence had been directly analyzed to depletion in such a short period.
Yet Cheng Ye still felt somewhat unsatisfied, because the valid information he obtained from it was simply too scarce, and the entry descriptions on the System Panel had not changed in the slightest.
He could only see the superficial image of the Stone Sunflower People absorbing sunlight at the cave entrance in a specific time slice, but none of his core questions had been answered.
Where did the sunlight they absorbed ultimately go? Did it turn into new Stone Sunflower People, or was it fed to a special Infection Source within the mine?
If it was the latter, could the mysterious existence deep within the mine have already reached the level of a Transcendent Mother Source?
Setting aside the mysterious existence, exactly how much energy reserve did an ordinary Stone Sunflower Person possess?
How could the Biological Deconstruction Ray be countered? What was the magnitude of its range and duration?
All these questions hung in the air, much like the dilemma the Research Institute faced when confronting an Infection Source. Currently, humanity simply had no means to truly touch upon the essence of these monsters.
'Should I kill two more Stone Sunflower People and collect more Traits?'
This thought had barely surfaced before Cheng Ye immediately extinguished it.
The current problem was not a lack of analyzable Traits, but that his Recharge Value was already stretched thin.
Because he had previously used his storage space, the value in the top right corner only had 49.5% left. It could support one more intelligence analysis at most.
Although the Armored Vehicle had a portable solar panel for emergencies, its 160W power output was pitifully low. It would take until the afternoon just to accumulate one kilowatt-hour of electricity.
More fatally, the Armored Vehicle was currently engulfed in red light. Let alone going down to fetch the panel, even driving out of the Red River Gathering Place to escape would only be possible after the red light faded at night.
Then...
Cheng Ye's gaze fell on the "Sunlight Absorption" Trait, which still displayed 100%. He decided to take a gamble.
Being trapped in the mine by the Stone Sunflower People at this moment, even if he could escape from the air using the Flying Wings, where could he possibly go in the vast Wilderness without the Armored Vehicle?
"Extract Trait, Sunlight Absorption, convert into an Item!"
"Do not add extra Recharge Value."
When it came to Trait conversion, Cheng Ye did not rashly risk all of his Recharge Value.
Because as long as the converted item could fill the 0.5% recharge gap, he could extract a Trait one more time.
The System Panel began to flash. Following the extraction of the Living Water Essence and the Sponge Controller when containing the Immortal Object, this was the third time he had used a Trait to exchange for a physical object.
Half a minute later, a positionable selection box appeared in his field of vision. Judging by the size of the box, the materialized object was quite small, roughly the size of a palm.
Cheng Ye simply extended his right hand to confirm. The air above his palm twisted slightly, and a slate dropped down with a clack.
'A slate?'
He raised his hand in astonishment; what his fingertips touched was indeed a stone surface.
The material closely resembled the grayish-white rock of a Stone Sunflower Person's face. The surface was carved with dense, spiraling patterns. Its weight was no different from an ordinary stone—not heavy, but definitely not light or flimsy either.
'How is this thing supposed to be used?'
Cheng Ye examined it over and over for a long time but couldn't find any interfaces or switches.
After some thought, he decided to mimic the Stone Sunflower People, sticking the slate out of the cave entrance to let the sunlight shine directly onto the spiraling patterns on its surface.
Hum.
The slate in his hand suddenly trembled slightly. Immediately after, a dim light began to gradually illuminate from the spiraling patterns on its surface.
Although the brightness was far inferior to any of the Stone Sunflower People on the opposite cliff face—looking gloomy and murky like an old lightbulb used for years—it was enough to attract attention.
Cheng Ye's heart stirred. He tried taking out his Pendant and pressing it against the slate.
The next second, a prompt indeed popped up on the System Panel:
[Escaping energy detected. Energy recovery in progress...]
[Current recharge efficiency: Extremely Weak (Lv.1 Energy)]
[Estimated recharge time: 495H]
'Huh?'
'Lv.1 Energy?'
Cheng Ye's gaze narrowed. Since acquiring the Collector, he had only seen two types of energy.
The most frequently used Lv.3 Energy, which was electrical energy.
And the Lv.5 Source Energy he had directly recovered last time when he cut off the Demon Eye Sponge's tentacle.
As for the Lv.4 in between, and the Lv.1 and Lv.2 below, he had never seen them until now.
But now, this slate had actually filled in this gap.
This thing could indeed recharge, and its recharge efficiency was actually...
Calculating based on the Collector's remaining 396 kilowatt-hours of electricity, if it took 495 hours to fully charge, then the hourly recharge rate would be...
0.8 kilowatt-hours, an 800W power output?
'That high?'
Cheng Ye was startled. A solar panel of the same size couldn't even achieve a tenth of this power output.
'What exactly is the principle behind this? How can it convert solar energy so efficiently?'
'Based on this recharge efficiency, doesn't that mean it would only take five hours to fill the four-kilowatt-hour gap and perform another Trait materialization?'
Thinking of this, Cheng Ye looked up at the Biological Deconstruction Rays engulfing the Red River Gathering Place.
'With an 800W power output, can it really support such terrifying rays covering the entire area for so long?'
'Is the ray itself extremely energy-efficient, or... does the true issue lie with the Energy-Gathering Redstone?'
It seemed that he had stumbled upon an incredible secret from these Stone Sunflower People. Cheng Ye placed the slate upside down at the cave entrance to pin down the Pendant, then turned and walked back into the cave.
The flickering faint light at the cave entrance immediately drew the attention of Liu Bi and Niu Fu.
"I just picked it up near the cave entrance above. Maybe it can trick them into thinking we're one of their own," Cheng Ye explained casually.
Hearing this, the two didn't ask further questions and just nodded blankly.
After all, these were all bizarre things they had never seen before. No matter what Cheng Ye discovered, it didn't seem surprising.
Liu Bi even took off his own jacket, gesturing for him to tie it around his waist to cover his body.
After tying it securely, the bare-chested Cheng Ye walked over to Yin Ruofeng and helped the still softly sobbing middle-aged man up.
"Inspector... Inspector Cheng." Yin Ruofeng hurriedly wiped his tears. His face was a messy mixture of blood and tear stains, looking thoroughly disheveled.
"I am truly sorry," Cheng Ye's voice deepened. "If it wasn't because I wanted to come to the Red River Gathering Place, to investigate..."
"No, this isn't your fault."
Yin Ruofeng shook his head vigorously, sniffing as he interrupted him. "If we humans even lose the right to explore the outside world, if even Inspectors have to cower in fear in the Wilderness, only daring to travel point-to-point between Shelter Cities, then what else can we do? Hide in the city and wait to die?"
Seeing that Cheng Ye merely sighed, his face still bearing unconcealed heaviness.
Yin Ruofeng used his uninjured hand to prop himself up against the ground and sat up, his spine completely straight. "The rules of this world are just like this. From the moment we step into the Wilderness, we are already prepared to face death. It's just that..."
As he spoke, he wiped away his tears again, his voice filled with guilt. "The one who should have died is an old man like me, not those two young people. They hadn't even had the chance to settle down in a Shelter City, they hadn't truly lived yet..."
Cheng Ye remained silent, offering no reply.
In this perilous Wilderness, facing unknown Infected Bodies, no one knew at what exact moment death would descend.
If that red beam just now had strayed even a fraction and landed on Liu Bi in the middle of the cabin.
If not for Liu Bi's precise judgment under the Heaven-Man Martial Domain, guiding everyone to flee towards the cliffside mine, perhaps right now, all of them would have been deconstructed and annihilated by that terrifying ray, without leaving even a trace behind.
He squatted down and gently brushed aside the hair from Yin Ruofeng's scraped forehead. After confirming it was only a superficial wound and hadn't damaged the skull, he declared deeply, "They sacrificed themselves for the Field Duty operations of Happiness City. I will personally apply to the higher-ups for their rightful compensation and honors. I will make sure everything is issued in full to their families. I will absolutely not let the fallen be disheartened in the afterlife."
"Mhm, thank you, Inspector Cheng." Yin Ruofeng sniffled and nodded. "Old Zhang is the one who brought them into the trade. He will help follow up on the subsequent procedures."
Cheng Ye stood up and walked over to the plump Zhang Daping, who had a broken leg.
Human adaptability always exceeded imagination. Only a little over ten minutes had passed, and the intense pain of his broken leg had already grown somewhat numb, leaving behind only waves of throbbing ache.
Seeing Cheng Ye approach, Zhang Daping forced a smile that looked uglier than crying, his forehead covered in cold sweat. "Inspector Cheng..."
"Don't move. There are splints and first aid supplies in the trunk of the Armored Vehicle, but right now it's entirely bathed in red light out there. We can't go down for the time being. We have to wait until the light fades at night," Cheng Ye crouched down, comforting him with a calm tone.
"I—I know. There's no rush." Zhang Daping nodded hastily, watching Cheng Ye take out a short knife and carefully slice open his pant leg, revealing his swollen and deformed left leg.
Cheng Ye reached out and gently touched it. He could clearly feel that the bone was only bent from the impact and hadn't shattered into pieces. His tense heart relaxed slightly. "It's fine, just a simple fracture. It hasn't damaged any nerves. Once we get the medical supplies and set it, you'll recover very quickly."
He helped Zhang Daping sit up, letting him lean against the cave wall.
Zhang Daping licked his pale lips and spoke with difficulty. "Inspector Cheng, please don't blame yourself. A long time ago, when I brought them into the merchant caravan, I told them that death in the Wilderness always comes suddenly. It could be them, it could be me, or it could be anyone in the team. We've been mentally prepared for this for a long time."
He paused, his gaze drifting towards the depths of the mine, as if recalling the past. "Back then, it was because I was soft-hearted. The Pang family had seven children in total. When the couple fled to Light Rainbow with them, they didn't even have enough food to eat every day. I saw that the siblings were sensible, so I accepted them into the caravan. Over the past few years, the two of them mailed eighty percent of their income back home. Relying on this money, their other younger siblings barely survived and were even able to go to school in the Shelter City to learn how to read."
"I never expected that it would end up like this in the end..."
Zhang Daping's voice choked with emotion. He wiped his face vigorously, forcefully suppressing his surging feelings. Then, changing the subject, his eyes gained a bit more resolve. "The only thing we living can do is to carry out the warning information they paid for with their lives. We have to tell more people about the dangers of the Red River Gathering Place, so no other innocents will repeat this tragedy. If we have the ability to solve the troubles of these Forbidden Lands, that would be an even greater deed, and it would give their sacrifice true value!"
"Mhm, I understand."
Cheng Ye nodded solemnly.
What Zhang Daping said was indeed correct. Wastelanders had long been accustomed to sacrifice and death.
Agonizing over those who had already passed held no meaning. At this moment, any amount of comfort would appear pale and feeble. Only by uncovering the secrets of the Stone Sunflower People and eliminating this threat could they offer the best solace to the fallen.
He stood up and walked over to Niu Fu. Niu Fu's left arm was also broken, but he had gritted his teeth and forcefully popped the dislocated bone back into place himself. Right now, he was simply securing it with some clothing, the veins on his forehead still throbbing slightly.
"Brother Niu..."
Niu Fu looked up and squeezed out a tough smile. "It's nothing, just a minor scratch. You didn't die, and neither did your Brother B or I. That is the best outcome."
After saying that, he laughed again. "Your Brother B and I have experienced much more dangerous situations than this, and not just once or twice. But this time, our luck is still pretty good. We survived again."
"Yeah, our luck was indeed quite good."
Cheng Ye nodded, turning his head to look at Liu Bi. His tone carried a frank sense of self-reflection. "Brother B, ultimately, it's still because my Wilderness experience is too lacking. Just now, I was only thinking about fleeing outwards. I completely forgot that when an Inspector encounters an unknown Infected Body, their first reaction shouldn't be to run, but to figure out the patterns of their abilities first."
Hearing this, Liu Bi paused and gave a light nod. "For you to realize this, this trip into the Wilderness hasn't been in vain."
He shook his head with a bitter smile, his tone also carrying a degree of self-reproach. "Actually, this time it was my fault. I usually tell you not to fall into the trap of empiricism, but in the end, I didn't break out of it myself. I still treated this place as the old Shi Province, the old Wilderness."
"I should have been alert back when the Seamless Shadow Puppet appeared. After the Void Mist descended, this land had long since gained countless uncertainties. Those things we thought we were familiar with might have changed entirely."
"What do you mean?" Cheng Ye tilted his head. Looking through the gap in the mine towards the other side of the cliff, those Stone Sunflower People greedily absorbing sunlight were still clearly visible.
"Exactly," Liu Bi stated deeply. "Even if the Wilderness of Shi Province is dangerous, it shouldn't be this dangerous. First, we ran into a Seamless Shadow Puppet derived from an Extinction-level Infection Source, and then an entirely unknown type of Infected Body like the Stone Sunflower People popped up. It's highly likely they all came along with the Void Mist."
"The Seamless Shadow Puppet is a roaming-type Infected Body. It isn't strange for it to wander from Hai Province to Shi Province. But these Stone Sunflower People... I'm afraid the Infection Source behind them was attracted by the redstones in the mine vein. Otherwise, if such a terrifying existence had been here all along, who knows how many people would have died here back when the central route wasn't abandoned."
'Infection Sources and Infected Bodies arriving along with the Void Mist?'
Cheng Ye lowered his head in deep thought. The more he pondered, the more he felt this speculation held ground.
The last recorded appearance of the Seamless Shadow Puppet was in Hai Province. At that time, it piloted a ghost ship, not a semi-truck. Its sudden appearance in Shi Province this time, with absolutely no prior reports, was inherently abnormal.
And as for these Stone Sunflower People, there wasn't even a trace of them on record. If one claimed that everyone who came here had died, it simply wouldn't make sense. The commotion they made while absorbing sunlight could probably be detected as an anomaly from several kilometers away.
It just so happened that the group arrived last night under the cover of darkness, and their attention was entirely drawn by the Seamless Shadow Puppet. That was why they hadn't noticed the anomalies in the Red River Gathering Place.
Fortunately, that lone Stone Sunflower Person provided an early warning. Otherwise, if the Biological Deconstruction Ray had coincidentally blanketed the entire gathering place after they emerged from investigating the mine, Niu Fu, Yin Ruofeng, and the other two would have probably been completely annihilated in their sleep.
Thinking about it this way, the fact that no one had discovered and reported the anomaly was most likely something that happened after the central route was abandoned.
No one had traveled this route in the past two years, so it made sense that the anomaly went unnoticed. But even if the central route was abandoned, according to what Gao Tianzhi from the hermit settlement said, some highly skilled and daring merchant caravans still passed through sporadically last year. Since they didn't discover any anomalies either, the timeframe could be narrowed down further.
It wasn't until the Void Mist completely blanketed Shi Province this year, and merchant caravans vanished entirely, that these anomalies were fully concealed, undiscovered by anyone.
"We are the first discoverers. Logically speaking, we should immediately report this to the Shelter City..."
As Liu Bi spoke, he subconsciously reached for the Defense Terminal at his waist, only to grab empty air. Everything had been left in the vehicle.
He frowned in thought and said, "Right now, we have two options. The first is to immediately turn back to the city, report the anomaly in the Red River Gathering Place to the Inspection Station, and then have the military legion dispatch a specialized containment team over to investigate. The second is to continue rushing toward Light Rainbow. Once we enter the coverage area of the alliance network, we can send the information back to the Inspection Station and have Happiness City send people over to handle it."
"Once such a high-risk Infection Source is discovered, it must be dealt with as quickly as possible. Otherwise, if it mixes into the winter Infection Tide, it will absolutely be a Catastrophic Disaster.
Having finished speaking, Liu Bi's gaze shifted back over, handing over the power to choose.
If they chose the former, this Field Duty would essentially end early, and all three missions would conclude in failure.
However, considering the successive dangers they had encountered, even if they gave up, no one would say much. They could even follow the military legion's team back here later to participate in the extermination operation and reap some merits.
If they chose the latter, they would have to push forward under immense psychological pressure.
The team had just lost two members. He and Niu Fu had survived the Great Reclamation Era and had long been numb to death and injury. But Cheng Ye, after all, was just starting out. If he didn't adjust in time, it was very likely he would develop a psychological shadow.
"No, we have a third option."
Feeling their gazes, Cheng Ye shook his head, his tone resolute. "Brother B, I'm afraid we'll have to stay here for a few days."
Liu Bi paused in surprise, raising a hand to rub his brow, genuinely somewhat caught off guard.
'Good heavens.'
He was still worrying about whether this would leave Cheng Ye with a psychological shadow, but unexpectedly, Cheng Ye directly wanted to conduct research right here on the spot.
With such strong nerves, it was no wonder the Research Institute would issue a researcher identification certificate to an Inspector.
"You need to think this through. This is an entirely unknown Infected Body. Without the support of specialized equipment or the backing of the military legion, we could die here at any moment."
Liu Bi had obviously misunderstood his intentions, thinking he wanted to venture deep into the mine to investigate.
"Don't worry, I definitely won't risk going into the mine," Cheng Ye hurriedly waved his hands to clarify. "I just need a little time to collect some key data."
If the Stone Sunflower People's method of energy absorption could truly be transformed into a breakthrough for a new type of energy, it would be a subversive boost for Happiness City.
This meant that Happiness City could break free from its reliance on the Hydroelectric Station and maintain a stable energy supply even during the winter and spring seasons.
The difficulty of constructing scattered satellite cities and subsequent infrastructure expansion would drop dramatically.
More importantly, a small slate could achieve an 800W power output. What if it was scaled up by ten times?
Laid flat on the roof of a vehicle, if the power could reach 15kW, it would be enough to allow the vehicle to achieve near Infinite Endurance.
Even if it remained at its current size, it could be fashioned into a portable power supply pillar.
For those walking the Wilderness, such a compact yet stable energy-providing item...
Would absolutely be a pure hard currency!
"Alright, as long as you don't go inside to take risks, staying a few days won't hurt." Liu Bi nodded. Just as he finished speaking, he couldn't help but cough heavily twice, coughing up a mouthful of blood from the corner of his lips.
He rubbed his aching back and hurriedly lay down flat.
The aftereffects of being flung into the cave only fully surged up at this moment. Even though he had reached the realm of Heaven and Man in One, his physique was only somewhat stronger than an ordinary person's, far inferior to the formidable toughness of a Transcendent.
That impact left his chest feeling tight, making even his breathing feel sluggish.
Sweeping his gaze across everyone in the cave, aside from Cheng Ye who was still alive and kicking, everyone else was wounded.
Liu Bi secretly shook his head. For the road ahead, he was afraid they would have to let Cheng Ye take the steering wheel.
"Brother B, Brother Niu, you guys rest well. Once the Stone Sunflower People stop, I'll go down to the vehicle to grab the medicine."
Cheng Ye got up and sat bare-chested at the cave entrance, his gaze falling upon that sunlight-absorbing slate.
Having gotten used to the high-speed recharging of the Hydroelectric Station, an 800W efficiency inevitably made him a little anxious.
It wasn't until the sun had almost traveled to the top of the canyon that his Recharge Value painstakingly crawled back to over 25%.
He could exchange for another Trait again.
Opening the Illustrated Handbook panel, he licked his dry lips and fixed his gaze on the Energy-Gathering Redstone.
Flame Energy Conversion seemed like an attack method, and right now, there wasn't any so-called "Flame Energy" available to convert anyway.
Only the Energy-Gathering Redstone revealed some degree of utility in his current predicament.
"Extract Trait, Energy-Gathering Redstone, convert into an Item!"
The moment his Intent descended, the accumulation degree of the Energy-Gathering Redstone in the Trait column dropped drastically. The Recharge Value was also deducted simultaneously, instantly returning to zero.
Cheng Ye shook his head internally, left with no choice but to patiently wait for the redstone to materialize.
A little over ten seconds later, the placement box appeared in his field of vision as expected.
He once again materialized the redstone in the palm of his hand. Watching the slowly emerging redstone granule that was only the size of a grain of rice, Cheng Ye couldn't help but let out a sigh.
If he had 100% Recharge Value fully invested as a supplement, perhaps this Trait could have been exchanged for a redstone the size of a fingertip, like the one that previous Stone Sunflower Person had.
"It's so small, how am I supposed to use it?"
Cheng Ye rolled the redstone granule between his fingertips. The tactile sensation was no different from an ordinary stone.
He suddenly recalled the connection between the redstone and the Stone Sunflower People. He picked up the slate beside him and tried pressing the granule against its surface.
The next second, an unimaginable scene occurred!
He saw that the moment the redstone granule touched the slate, it actually melted into it without any resistance, as if it had originally been a part of the slate. It embedded itself seamlessly into the patterns of the slate.
"Huh? It fused?"
Cheng Ye was stunned, but what shocked him even more was yet to come.
Under his observation, the slate's originally faint light grew visibly brighter, evidently capable of absorbing more sunlight for energy conversion.
He hurriedly pressed the Pendant against it. The System Panel instantly popped up a prompt:
[Escaping energy detected. Energy recovery in progress...]
[Current recharge efficiency: Weak (Lv.1 Energy)]
[Estimated recharge time: 445H]
"What, the power output actually increased!"
Cheng Ye's heart quaked. He immediately calculated the numbers, a flash of disbelief crossing his eyes.
A piece of Energy-Gathering Redstone mere the size of a rice grain had actually directly boosted the power output by 1000W.
Now, the recharge efficiency of this slate had reached 1.8kW, stably outputting 1.8 kilowatt-hours of electricity per hour. This practically rivaled the efficiency of charging from a wall socket.
"My god. The slate, the Energy-Gathering Redstone... just what exactly are these things!"