In the end of the world, I become an immortal alone

Two invisible forces crossed paths.

Wang Jixuan felt dizzy and suddenly became incredibly sleepy.

"Hmph!"

Zheng Shiduo grunted and staggered backward.

Ling Tong, who had been silently observing, suddenly made a move!

Her right arm grabbed Wang Jixuan and pulled him back, while her left arm threw a punch horizontally, the fist leaving a trail of afterimages as it smashed into Zheng Shiduo's neck.

Zheng Shiduo clutched his neck and knelt down.

"Cough! Cough, cough… Damn it… We're all acquaintances… Was it necessary to be so ruthless… I was just using a sleep aid…"

Zheng Shiduo's face turned purplish-red.

The fist had already opened its fingers, fingertips emitting a stunning electric current, Zheng Shiduo shivering and fainting, his hair standing on end and his face blackened, but clearly not in mortal danger.

Wang Jixuan, on the other hand, felt like he was falling into a warm embrace.

Although the scorching mechanical arm was still hard, the other parts seemed… similar to a normal woman…

A golden light flashed before Wang Jixuan's eyes, and as he silently chanted incantations and comprehended the Dao mysteries, the feeling of sleepiness quickly receded.

Was that a technique Zheng Shiduo used just now?

He felt his eyelids getting heavy, and drowsiness kept attacking him, while the shouts of Zhou Zhengde and the others reached his ears.

"What's going on! Mu Liang is injured!"

"Team Leader Mu!"

"As expected, none of these Espers can be trusted!"

Ling Tong said, "Team Leader Mu is fine… Zheng Shiduo released a mild mental interference. He has been trying to prevent me from investigating, intending to protect his friend Professor Zhuang, so I deliberately showed a flaw to lure him into action."

As she spoke, Ling Tong tied her scattered long hair into a high ponytail and removed the transparent patch attached to the inside of her long hair.

Her left mechanical arm exerted a slight force, directly carrying Wang Jixuan up, while her right mechanical arm lifted the metal box to the side.

Ling Tong softly ordered:

"I have already mobilized the armored vehicle of the Cleansing Department. Please tie up Zheng Shiduo. We may be able to extract some confessions unfavorable to Professor Zhuang from his mouth."

Zhou Zhengde looked at Wang Jixuan on Ling Tong's mechanical arm.

He actually wanted to carry his comrade himself.

However, seeing Ling Tong's effortless appearance, Zhou Zhengde didn't say anything and instead went to deal with Zheng Shiduo.

It wasn't that Young Master Zhou was being cowardly;

It was just a little necessary respect for a battle android.

…

After coming to this world, this was the first time Wang Jixuan had felt such a sense of security.

He took the opportunity to take a nap for about ten minutes, then felt himself being gently placed on a hard seat in a vehicle, and the vehicle slowly started moving.

After about two more minutes, the voices of several people sounded.

At this time, Wang Jixuan had actually lost most of his drowsiness.

Zheng Shiduo coughed a few times, cursing and shouting:

"Ling Tong! Are you trying to kill me! I just wanted to make you sleep for a while!"

"That's the only reason you can still spout nonsense here."

Ling Tong didn't know why, but her voice was always very soft, she said:

"I have already submitted your violation to the command center. You will be interrogated after you go back."

"Interrogate me all they want! At worst, they'll put me in confinement! I'll just take it as a vacation!"

Zhou Zhengde sighed: "Can you answer a few questions for me? Captain Zheng."

"No! Only a dog would cooperate with you!"

Zheng Shiduo started acting like a deadbeat.

Zhou Zhengde said very sincerely: "Then I will send a message to my elders at home, saying that you wanted to use a mental shock to turn me into an idiot."

Zheng Shiduo: "Can you ask that question again? The previous question."

"Can you answer a few questions for me?"

"Of course, I am happy to share the secrets of Espers with everyone."

Zheng Shiduo winked at Young Master Zhou.

Zhou Zhengde frowned and asked: "What exactly are the materials? Just ordinary human individuals?"

Zheng Shiduo sighed:

"Not just anyone can become a material. There are three indicators that are very important.

"The three indicators are: mental activity index, anti-darkness index, and the more metaphysical individual will.

"Human individuals who meet the baseline for all three indicators will be called materials.

"Materials will be sent to the Esper's Home in each fortress. There is a set of equipment inside. Entering and exiting, there is a 20% chance of survival, and 80% will be finished, dying in various ways.

"Of those who survive, 15% can master Esper abilities.

"That is to say, in an ideal state, one hundred materials can give birth to three or four Espers. Among these three or four Espers, many are E-level or even have no combat power.

"To create a C-level Esper, an average of five hundred materials must be sacrificed."

Zhou Zhengde was silent.

Wang Jixuan secretly shook his head in his heart.

Thirteen Institutes are indeed demonic sects, even worse than demonic sects.

Even if demonic sects forge blood demon weapons, they wouldn't have such a high loss rate.

Zheng Shiduo sighed: "People like me are more special. I was originally a glorious warrior. After being seriously injured and dying, I received Esper infusion, and then I whooped… took off!"

He continued to mutter:

"Basically, the Espers that the military can directly command have similar experiences to me.

"But there are still some complex systems in this.

"Distorted, redundant, and inefficient."

Zhou Zhengde said: "I previously investigated that every Esper is subject to the person in charge of the garrison. The person in charge must be an ordinary human. Why is this?"

"That's right, we call them direct controllers.

"My direct controllers are two, in addition to the command center of the war zone, there is Professor Zhuang."

Zheng Shiduo shrugged slightly:

"The system made by Thirteen Institutes is very complex and deliberately concealed, with many, many scandals.

"At the fortress level, the person in charge of the Thirteen Institutes garrison relies on the forty low-level Espers under his control to act arbitrarily in the fortress.

"But at the war zone and comprehensive war zone levels, the Esper's person in charge becomes a loyal dog used by the military, and their balls are firmly grasped.

"A very strange ecological structure, isn't it?

"The reason is very simple. The root lies in the fact that too many people control the lives of Espers."

Zhou Zhengde asked: "Why does each fortress have to have forty Espers?"

Ling Tong quickly explained: "Forty Espers are standard equipment for a fortress. Their role is to prevent Mimetic Blade Beasts from entering the fortress and causing trouble. They do have some meaning."

Wang Jixuan, who was pretending to be asleep, pondered slightly.

Mimetic Blade Beasts… Shapeshifting demon beasts?

Aren't the demon beasts that can shapeshift those old demons that are at least comparable to the Golden Core Realm?

Can these low-level Espers, whose qi is barely working, fight against Mimetic Blade Beasts?

Are Mimetic Blade Beasts not very strong? Or are they different from the demon beasts he understands?

Daoist Wang tried hard to think.

Zheng Shiduo complained:

"Okay, let me give you some popular science, hoping this will gain you a little favor.

"The following are all deliberately hidden information that cannot be seen without a certain position.

"Everything stems from the Esper Capital Riot more than sixty years ago.

"Several SS-level Espers in the Esper Capital tried to establish an all-human Esper government, integrating all resources to help themselves obtain stronger power. To achieve their ambitions, they launched an infamous human civil war—the Spirit Capital Rebellion."

Wang Jixuan: …

Ah, this!

The people here are about to be wiped out by Blade Beasts, and they still have the mood to seize power internally?

Zheng Shiduo said emotionally and quickly:

"These SS-level Espers failed.

"But their power was too great. No one knows exactly what happened. The military finally chose to negotiate with them.

"I speculate that it was because many Espers chose to stand with the United Defense Force. Under the pressure of the United Defense Force and the three space fortresses, these SS-level Espers had to bow their heads, and then they were imprisoned in the center of the Esper Capital, the old headquarters building of the Thirteen Institutes.

"I also heard that they live with a nuclear bomb with the largest equivalent in human history. As long as they leave that building, boom! They and the Esper Capital will be blown to the sky.

"The Esper system was then modified by the military, and the first distortion appeared.

"Through negotiation, it was stipulated that the command work of the Esper organization must be personally undertaken by ordinary human researchers or war zone commanders and fortress governors.

"From the beginning of each Esper's birth, a self-detonation chip is placed in their neck. This chip sends signals to several servers regularly.

"After decades of infighting and mutual resistance between the military and the Thirteen Institutes, the situation has become extremely complex, and the distortion continues to worsen.

"The old men and women in the military who suppressed the Esper Capital Rebellion have almost all died of old age, but those SS-level Espers are still alive and kicking. They are constantly trying to regain control of all Espers.

"Kong Nu is just a small pawn of theirs."

Zhou Zhengde frowned and said: "My grandfather is still very healthy! He was also one of the suppressors back then!"

"Those big shots who have transformed themselves into machines can't be counted! He is not replicable!"

Zheng Shiduo sighed and continued to complain:

"Since the opening of the fortress garrison infusion authority, the person in charge at the fortress level can directly send the materials and the newly cultivated Espers to the Esper Capital at headquarters.

"Like this Kong Nu.

"Kong Nu's direct leader is Professor Zhuang. Old Zhuang's daily job is to inspect the heads of each fortress garrison and cooperate with the war zone to dispatch Espers.

"In fact, Professor Zhuang can directly command only a few hundred Espers, all of whom are front-line Espers. Professor Zhuang works diligently by your grandfather's side. He really has nothing to do with Kong Nu's matter."

Within Fortress 76, the lives of these espers are controlled by the Level 3 Control System, specifically: Kong Nu, the direct controller; Professor Zhuang, the superior controller; and Esper City, the ultimate controller.

"But Professor Zhuang is at the front lines. How could he possibly manage things here?"

Everyone pondered this.

Zheng Shiduo's voice was incredibly sincere:

"Young Master Zhou, if possible, I hope you can explain things to the Commander-in-Chief on Professor Zhuang's behalf.

"Old Zhuang is not just my supervisor, but also my mentor. He's truly innocent. He spends most of his time researching how to optimize infusion and reduce material deaths. Old Zhuang isn't like Kong Nu, who's desperately trying to squeeze into Esper City.

"Old Zhuang is an 'Anti-Esper State Faction' member – that is, he opposes espers establishing a national government. He's also a big name in the field of esper infusion."

Zhou Zhengde shrugged: "I'll continue to investigate these things."

Wang Jixuan opened his eyes, calmly removing his head from Ling Tong's mechanical arm and sitting up straight.

Zheng Shiduo looked as if he'd seen a ghost.

"You're just a Level E esper, how are you awake already! Is my sleep technique not working anymore?"

"I'm not an esper," Wang Jixuan said, staring at Zheng Shiduo's chest. "Captain Zhou, can you let me see his pendant?"

Zhou Zhengde tore off Zheng Shiduo's pendant and handed it to Wang Jixuan.

Wang Jixuan held it in his hand, his spiritual sense slightly elated.

This object was similar to a spirit stone, but much simpler than a demon beast's core. The purity of its spiritual energy was between a spirit stone and a demon core, and the metal outside had the effect of suppressing spiritual energy fluctuations.

The main point was that it could definitely be used to set up formations!

"What are you doing! This is a personal memento!"

Zheng Shiduo glared and was about to stand up.

Ling Tong, who had been pointing the palm of her right mechanical arm at Zheng Shiduo, frowned slightly and raised her arm.

Zheng Shiduo immediately sat down obediently, saying aggrievedly:

"Be gentle, don't break it, it's my lucky charm."

"Just curious," Wang Jixuan asked with a smile, "What is this?"

"A Blade Beast's crystal, also called a crystal core."

Ling Tong said softly:

"The rule at the front lines is that everyone who kills their first Blade Beast can get its crystal core. This is the lowest-level Blade Beast crystal core.

"Other crystal cores are collected and managed uniformly by the military, and provided to the Thirteenth Research Institute.

"This is also an important way for the military to influence the Thirteenth Research Institute."

Zheng Shiduo muttered in a low voice: "Guess what kind of energy espers are infused with? Hehehe."

Wang Jixuan nonchalantly tossed the thing back to Zheng Shiduo.

It didn't have much spiritual energy left.

Wang Jixuan asked: "Is this just a crystal core from an ordinary Blade Beast?"

"Yes," Ling Tong said, observing Wang Jixuan's eyes. "Are you interested in this?"

"I just think it's quite commemorative."

Wang Jixuan smiled, squinting:

"Where are we going now?"

"To gather evidence, at three locations."

Ling Tong explained simply:

"In the information submitted by the Purge Squad, the command center discovered three severely illegal locations in the Blackfire Gang's underground, namely, a cloning laboratory, a Blade Beast organ cultivation room, and… a human and Blade Beast gene fusion experimentation site."

Zheng Shiduo was stunned: "Blade… Blade Beast organ cultivation?"

"Yes."

Ling Tong said calmly:

"Professor Zhuang's paper published twelve years ago is the only relevant theoretical literature.

"In addition, preliminary investigators also noticed that in the Wanli Gold Gang's territory bordering the Blackfire Gang's territory, there are a large number of formulated soils using Blade Beast flesh and blood. These soils are produced in batches every year, and the source of the Blade Beast flesh and blood is unknown. It is suspected that they are defective products from the Blade Beast organ cultivation experiment.

"This is my real Task Number Two."

She added:

"Just dealing with Kong Nu isn't worth me expending so much energy."

Zheng Shiduo looked conflicted: "Wait, is my old Zhuang really Kong Nu's superior? Ah, this! That's not what the old man told me."

Wang Jixuan asked: "Major Ling Tong, can I go to the Upper City to keep an eye on Kong Nu?"

"Why?"

"To ensure that Kong Nu is eliminated and to prevent future troubles."

Ling Tong asked: "Do you not trust the military, or do you think the military's anti-aircraft missiles can't shoot down a locked-on plane?"

Wang Jixuan was silent for a few seconds, then said calmly: "I just can't trust human nature."

Ling Tong pondered slightly, having already made a decision, and turned to look at Zhou Zhengde:

"Can Captain Zhou's evaluation be done later? I must prioritize the command center's mission. Team Leader Mu is only a Level E esper and needs you to accompany him to the Upper City."

"Okay! I'll go up with Mu Liang! I'm most familiar with the Upper City! That's my territory!"

Zhou Zhengde took a light breath:

"We have unparalleled chemistry. As long as we work together, one plus one is definitely greater than two!

"Hahahaha! Maybe we can eliminate Kong Nu directly!"

Wang Jixuan: …

He actually wanted to act alone, to be honest.