Late at night, inside the Infinite train carriage.

The lights were off, and in carriage number 2, several blue cold lights were placed. The members of the Infinite team gathered together, some standing, some sitting, like a midnight storytelling session.

"14,000?"

Geddy’s words instantly stunned everyone on the Infinite train. None of them had expected that this girl, who looked no older than twenty, had not only broken through to the Angel level but had also reached a peak spirit value of 14,000. This sounded utterly unbelievable.

"How could it be so high?" Ning Jing frowned at this moment. "I mean, were those few monsters really that hard to deal with?"

Her words were self-explanatory. At this level of power, handling a few monsters shouldn’t have been so difficult, even if those monsters had evolved biological force fields.

Vanessa put one hand on her waist and looked at Ning Jing’s fierce team. Her gaze stopped on Fire Bro, and she said,

"The Phoenix Society is still conservative about crystallization and hasn’t made it public, but I thought you would know, after all, you are the Sword Bearer. Didn’t expect otherwise..."

Geddy walked over and said to Vanessa, "We all know crystallization does have drawbacks and can cause ability loss of control. Currently, only organizations like the Sanctum openly plunder using it, and that’s also why vegetable juice balance is promoted."

"But crystallization is the most limited way for ability users to increase energy density against abnormal entities. No matter how many drawbacks, can any of them compare to death? At least I don’t think so," Vanessa said.

Lin Xian watched the two discuss and caught some key information, so he said,

"Crystallization? Is that why your spirit value reached 14,000?"

"Yes." Geddy was about to answer, but Vanessa stopped her with a meaningful look as she stepped forward to Lin Xian. "Sword Bearer, cooperate with us. I will give you all the information, and..."

She glanced around with interest and said, "We can help all of you complete crystallization. You should know, this can at least double your ability peak!"

At this statement, Monica, Ning Jing, Chen Sixuan, KIKI, and others all furrowed their brows. Qian Dele, Mie Ge, Luo Yang, and Takahashi Ryunosuke’s expressions also changed slightly. Clearly, everyone had started to take an interest in what Vanessa said. Follow current novᴇls on NovєlFіre.net

"Double?" Shu Qin said at this moment. "Biological modification?"

Lin Xian looked at the pitch-black darkness surrounding the Infinite train on the information center interface, then turned back and said,

"You tell me first. Oh, by the way..."

Lin Xian pressed his earpiece, calling Ding Junyi, Xiao Yuan, and Sun Yuzhen. These two were protecting Director Ding in carriage 3, but Lin Xian thought it better to discuss together in one place.

Soon, Ding Junyi and the others came out from the dark carriage. Seeing this, Lin Xian said, "My team is here. Director Ding is an expert in dark energy research and is very interested in this."

Vanessa exchanged looks with Geddy, then said to Lin Xian, "First, let me clarify: we didn’t release the crystal lattice power just now because this power source comes from dark energy, which is dark invasion. Second, using this power after dark is very dangerous, especially without a Dark Mark. Releasing this power is equivalent to lighting your own Dark Mark. Unless you are sure to eliminate all abnormal entities in the area, we never use it unless absolutely necessary."

"This crystal lattice you mentioned, why does it sound like it’s not your own? Can it be turned on and off?" KIKI crossed her arms and asked.

Vanessa shrugged. "Well, if it were daytime now, you might mind me showing it to them, but now..."

She glanced at Lin Xian, who nodded and raised his hand to touch a mechanical unit on his ear. Suddenly, his mechanical artificial eye flickered blue, and a miniature holographic projection appeared before everyone.

On the screen was a simple spherical crystal structure rapidly spinning. Chen Sixuan’s eyes narrowed slightly, as if sensing something, but she didn’t speak and listened to Vanessa’s introduction first.

"That’s called the Dark Energy Crystal Lattice. By using spiritual energy replacement, the blood crystal of abnormal entities is replaced by a crystal core seed inside the human body. You can call that crystal core seed a lattice. To be clear, the abnormal blood crystal is the energy source of those entities, so this lattice is like a ‘battery’ cultivated inside humans. It has very few drawbacks. As far as you know, only a small number of ability users cultivate it, because the peak spirit value required to cultivate is at least 5,000. That 5,000 is calculated using the Phoenix Society’s extreme coefficient, the most basic standard."

"Ah?" KIKI immediately said, "He means humans implant a blood crystal inside their bodies?"

"Saying ‘implant’ isn’t quite right," Lin Xian explained calmly. "For one, humans and blood crystals are compatible. The energy acquisition method is very efficient. This is consensus among us. Although humans can’t filter and absorb dark energy directly in the white-dark environment, their efficiency is far higher than abnormal entities. That’s why humans degenerate slowly, but even now, ability users alone find it hard to defeat abnormal entities. That’s also why the Phoenix Society developed the dark energy agent, promoting balancing dark energy with sunlight and vegetable juice."

"Yes, that lattice can’t be imagined as a new ‘organ’ evolved by humans in the white-dark environment to concentrate energy," Vanessa introduced. "Before the lattice, humans’ efficiency in absorbing and converting dark energy was slightly lower. According to Phoenix Society’s estimates, the minimum purification filtration was 18%, which is not much. But without the lattice, efficiency can’t be raised to 50%, or even 60-70%. The main point is not that the lattice can store dark energy power, but that it can slightly increase the energy density of abilities. That’s why your ability peak could jump from 7,100 to 14,000."

At these words, everyone’s expression changed drastically. Lu Xingchen and others couldn’t help but widen their eyes. A jump from 7,600 to 14,000 was literally doubling—it was outrageous.

"You mean this thing is like a power bank?" Shasha frowned and asked.

"No." Ding Junyi looked at Vanessa and said, "If you want a metaphor, it’s like a human’s second..."

"Ability engine."

"Wow, that’s a perfect metaphor," Vanessa took a deep breath and looked at everyone. "Yes, the lattice is like a second engine for ability users. There are many S-level battle reports from Dawn City and Reykjavik analyzing how S-level entities absorb same-type dark energy to restore or increase energy density and destructive power. This is actually learned from abnormal entities. The ability peak boost directly affects both body and mental strength, very effectively."

"So... we have to put this thing inside our bodies?" Qian Dele leaned back on the sofa with a suspicious look. "Sounds risky."

Monica crossed her arms and leisurely said, "You mentioned replacement and crystal core seeds. That sounds pretty complicated, right?"

"Not only complicated but very risky," Geddy said at this moment. The holographic image in front of her changed. The spherical lattice was now located at the center of the human chest between the lungs. It was only thumb-sized but had an exaggerated energy release.

"To replace the abnormal entity’s blood crystal, it must be at least level 3 blood crystal. It’s said that it must have a certain compatibility with the original power of the entity. Also, the formation of the crystal core seed is dangerous because it means the dark energy balance in the body is broken. This process is painful and mentally demanding, with a certain death risk. According to our experience, crystal core formation takes at least 72 hours, varying individually. Finally, after formation, there’s a large difference in quality—we call this difference ‘completion degree.’"

"Completion degree?" Lin Xian frowned. "Is there an option for failure?"

"No." Vanessa shook her head. "Failure means death. As long as you survive, it’s qualified. This completion degree roughly means the quality or constitution of the crystal core. Like silicon-based CPUs, even the most advanced industrial systems have physical potential differences. Human DNA is similar, producing higher-quality offspring or poor ones."

"In short, we divide completion degrees into four classes: C, B, A, and S. C class means 70%-85% completion. The lattice can absorb dark energy accordingly. So even the worst C-level core can increase an ability user’s peak by more than 70%. B is 85%-95%, A is 95%-98%, and S is above 98%, almost 100% complete."

"I don’t understand," Chen Sixuan said. "Is a 3% difference between S and A really that big?"

"Yes!" Geddy said. "Don’t just think completion degree means ability peak increase ratio. Actually, the human body has potential. For example, my lattice is B-level at 87%, but my ability peak overload can reach 98%. Vanessa’s A-level at 95% can overload to 116%. The more perfect the lattice, the bigger the overload difference."

"Damn, overload really sounds like CPU overclocking," KIKI said with surprise. "I get it now. Cultivating this crystal core seed depends on luck and individual constitution, right?"

"Right."

"What about the failure rate, the death rate?" Chen Sixuan asked.

"Depends on the person," Geddy looked at Lin Xian’s group. "Don’t worry too much. The stronger the ability user, the higher the cultivation success rate. Also... I don’t think anyone would give up on lattice cultivation because of this risk."

"Why?" Lin Xian asked.

"For survival," Geddy said. "The lattice has many benefits: ability boost, dark adaptation, accelerated dark energy absorption and evolution. Most importantly, with the lattice, human ability users can already fight existing Star Abyss abnormal entities. For example, we think reaching 15,000 lets you fight A-level abnormal entities, and 20,000 lets you counter special-level ones. Although individual entity differences and rough level assessments exist, it’s a reference."

She looked at Fire Bro. "You should be Angel level, right?"

Fire Bro crossed his arms with pride. "I’m at 12,500."

After the battle in Dawn City, Fire Bro’s power rose sharply. Combined with the Infinite Ring, his ability peak reached the pinnacle on the Infinite train, second only to Lin Xian.

"What if it doubles?" Geddy still looked at him, describing, "A 25,000 fire ability peak—maybe you could even face super-large special-level abnormal entities head-on."

At these words, Fire Bro’s expression slightly froze. It was clear he was tempted.

"Sounds very appealing, but what are the drawbacks?" Lu Xingchen wasn’t stupid. If the Phoenix Society didn’t roll it out globally at once, there had to be a reason.

Lin Xian looked at Vanessa and Geddy. He shared Lu Xingchen’s thoughts. Everything had a cost, and he wanted to know what that cost was.

"There are many drawbacks."

Vanessa said directly, "First is danger. Second, using it at night causes side effects stronger than Bait Agent, at least equivalent to level 3 Dark Mark. Third, it requires high-level blood crystals. These have been mentioned. For the Phoenix Society, the two biggest uncertainties are fatal. One, crystallized ability users essentially possess power from the same source as darkness. Research has shown many unpredictable developments, like irreversibility and more terrifying mutations. Humanity cannot yet determine the consequences of crystallization development. Two, human crystal cores and abnormal entity blood crystals..."

"Can be seized!"

The air in the carriage paused briefly. Everyone’s faces were complicated. They understood what Vanessa and Geddy meant.

"This is probably why that Sanctum organization hunts ability users, to capture crystal lattices?" Lin Xian asked softly.

Vanessa nodded, and Geddy responded silently.

"Interesting."

After hearing this, Lin Xian said with interest, "I understand the Phoenix Society’s approach, but I guess their Nightwalker Organization is definitely experimenting with lattice evolution. That’s good news. If the current ability peak can double or even develop further in a short time, then ability users facing special-level entities alone is not far off. Maybe they can even hunt S-levels. That’s a big step."

Back in Dawn City, Lin Xian had seen the Human Evolution Light ranking. Only a few Angel-level individuals had records of fighting special-levels, and the cost was high. Now, with abnormal entities constantly evolving, if Infinite team members could double their ability peaks, more than twenty people might even face an S-level directly.

For a moment, Lin Xian felt excited. Compared to the unknown information at the Southern Celestial Gate, the metal die that brought civilization despair, and the biological force field evolution of abnormal entities, this was truly good news. Now that humanity could block the toxins of dark invasion, civilization could be rebuilt in water sources, ecology, and farming. The birth of the lattice could accelerate the evolution of many ability users. If ability users could fight S-levels barehanded, humanity would have the knife to fight deep into the Star Abyss.

Of course, these were Lin Xian’s own thoughts. He pondered a moment and then looked at Vanessa. "I’m very curious now. You said the crystal core seed replacement—what kind of process is that?"