The Breaker was limited by the constraints of the Dark Domain Void, as if a charging cable of specified length was connected to its body, which always restricted its range of movement.

Zhou Yi's tactics were simple.

Pull and drain.

Under his command and close-range flesh allure, with the Hunter as the core artillery, Red Kestrel and Linchi vessel serving as combat radars, and the Samurai Crabs hurling Poisoned Kitchen Knives and javelins, the special forces battled fiercely against the Breaker.

The bad news was, the Breaker identified Zhou Yi as the key leader and directed all its firepower at him alone. Fortunately, Zhou Yi now had a thick health bar and could withstand it.

The good news was, it indeed was a glass cannon, vulnerable even to the samurai crab's ranged attacks.

Linchi vessel's "Inspection" skill also played a massive role.

"Initiate assessment, Breaker's body loss rate has reached 7%."

"7.7%."

"7.9%."

…

While Zhou Yi resisted the Breaker's attacks, he commanded only to allow the Samurai Crabs to participate in a round of attack after each enemy shockwave ended, then he ordered them to retreat to a safe area. He tried to weaken the opponent while maintaining safety.

As the main attacker, Lie Hai's "Light Prism Outer Bone" dealt tons of damage with its Death Light impact to the Breaker.

The situation was disadvantageous to the Breaker, who frequently hid inside the Dark Domain Void.

But its continuously severed and further shrinking body was a predicament it had to face.

The Black Samurai collected all the limbs to prevent them from reattaching to the Breaker.

During the ongoing confrontation, one Double Swordsman and four Samurai Crabs fell.

The Breaker's body loss rate approached 70%, with only two fingers left capable of maintaining an attack.

As the battle prolonged, Zhou Yi gained increasing insight into the enemy before him.

Apart from having absolutely no defense points added, this Breaker's combat power was highly related to the number of its fingers—now down to 1/6 of its peak destructive power, making it very difficult for it to have any effect on Zhou Yi.

This battle lasted 37 hours before the opponent finally couldn't hold on any longer.

The Breaker's two fingers made a strange gesture—its fingers bent, somewhat resembling the starting posture of Mantis Fist. At first, Zhou Yi wondered if it had some ultimate move.

However, the opponent merely maintained that posture.

Red Kestrel and Linchi vessel were unable to confirm the actual meaning since Breakers, being Otherworldly Life, like the Dead Sea Alien, were uncommunicable.

Zhou Yi had a guess.

He decided to try it.

Ignoring others' opinions, Zhou Yi walked alone to the two fingers of the Breaker's Mantis Claw and reached out to touch it.

The damaged black hand didn't react excessively.

Energy, input.

Consciousness entered the same frequency.

"Now, can we talk?" Zhou Yi gave the opponent a way out.

"…"

This time the Breaker didn't stay stubborn but said, "What do you want from me? I have nothing you would want, why do you insist on capturing me?"

"Let's take this one step at a time."

Zhou Yi told the opponent, "First, all the Bone Fish at the sea bottom nearby are ones I've cultured. You've killed them all, you'll have to compensate for that loss."

"…"

"Next, the area around this Dark Domain where you entered is our material construction zone, and the chaos you caused significantly delayed our construction progress in Jade City, causing huge economic losses."

"…"

"Lastly, my five valuable employees died protecting this place. They were my loyal subordinates, and we have also expended a lot of manpower and materials in combat. You need to compensate for these as well. Fair, right? If we can settle these matters, you might still be able to continue operating here."

"…"

The Breaker remained silent for a long while.

"I'm just an ordinary poor explorer; otherwise, I wouldn't have come to such a dangerous coordinate to seek fortune. I don't have much money to compensate you. From our perspective, you all look no different, just black creatures; I also didn't know what you were doing… It was also unheard of for explorers to… have conversations with the creatures here."

Zhou Yi's mind was stirred.

It seemed that the Breaker from the other world self-proclaimed as an explorer, and to the life forms of both worlds, they appeared similar to black creatures.

However, making compensation agreements was the priority at the moment.

Zhou Yi didn't waste words, "What valuables do you have, show me."

The opponent said, "I haven't gained anything since I arrived here."

Seemingly afraid that Zhou Yi wouldn't believe it, the Breaker explained, "We explorers enter this Boundary Gate to search for the precious 'Life Core.' However, since arriving here, I tirelessly killed monsters yet didn't acquire a single Life Core."

"That seems like no monster in this area possesses a Life Core, not reaching that level."

Zhou Yi inquired, "So, it's kind of a glowing energy body containing a large amount of individual life information, right?"

"Right, that's it."

The Breaker said, "Unfortunately, I haven't found any; you probably all collected them."

"All my savings were used for this trip to open the Boundary Gate. If I can't obtain a Life Core, I won't have another opportunity to open it again…"

Zhou Yi expressed sympathy.

The problem was that genetic species, such material, only B-grade life forms could condense, and the threshold was already high.

"Why do you need genetic species? Is it used to enhance yourselves?" Zhou Yi asked.

The situation was stronger than people, and the opponent honestly answered one by one.

"To survive."

"Our world needs this world's Life Core to drive the life process. Our world's stagnation is much more severe than here; the existing life, relying on itself, cannot break through the death cycle nor continue to the next generation, only the Life Core can help life continue and reproduce."

Zhou Yi was taken aback.

"Doesn't the Life Core sound like new DNA?"

Zhou Yi asked, "Must it be an organism with a highly robust physiological structure to possess a Life Core?"

"No, it's unrelated to strength; it's just that new species need a Life Core. We rely on it to sustain ourselves and reproduce."

However, reproduction here differed from that of the Wasteland; the Breakers reproduced asexually, a single individual could procreate, but it required the vital catalyst of a Life Core.

It seemed that the Life Core and genetic species weren't quite the same thing, more like they had some intersection.

An idea occurred to Zhou Yi.

However, he had to first deal with the matter of compensation.

"How much energy do you have inside you?"

The other party was confused, "Are you referring to the Life Chart?"

Zhou Yi didn't care if that was the case or not and just agreed.

Then, the Breaker spat out a heap of Light Seeds, illuminating the nearby area. It also shrank and withered, turning into a black soft body smaller than the palm of a hand.

Zhou Yi first used the Guangna Box to collect the Light Seeds.

He collected just over 31,000 Light Seeds.

Adding the previously collected and converted broken limbs, the total yield from this battle reached 45,000 Light Seeds. It not only compensated for all previous losses but was also the largest income to date.

"What is your name?"

"Haruk."

"Then, Haruk, consider the conflict between us and the Wasteland Development Company resolved."

The other party was stunned for a moment, then said, "Okay, okay."

The battle at the sea floor officially ended with Haruk's compensation.

Zhou Yi looked at the Breaker, now the size of a palm, and said, "I have a new experimental project now, related to you Breakers. Would you be interested?"

"What is it?"

The other party was now somewhat cautious.

Zhou Yi asked, "Can you leave the Dead Sea?"

"I don't understand."

He then described the environment of Death Light.

"Do you mean Circular Flow?"

Haruk responded, "No, we are Circular Flow life forms; we can only survive within the Circular Flow."

According to the Breakers, the Dead Sea was to them what oxygen was to prehistoric humans—even a slight reduction in concentration would be devastating. However, because they were Circular Flow life forms, they could rapidly absorb the power of Death Light, condensing it into Life Charts (i.e., Light Seeds) to sustain larger and stronger bodies.

The strength and weakness of their bodies, for Circular Flow life forms, seemed more like a self-adjustment mechanism to adapt to the environment.

If the energy density of the Circular Flow itself was insufficient, maintaining the smallest state was the best strategy; only an extremely high density of Circular Flow could support the operation and stabilization of a massive body.

Zhou Yi frowned.

How could he experiment with what he had in mind?

He suddenly thought.

Isn't his body a special container?

If he swallowed something, sealing it inside, he wondered if it would work.

He told Haruk, "Wait here for me."

An hour later.

Zhou Yi returned, his mouth holding a thorny grass. Since his body was sealed, the plant wasn't directly exposed to the high concentration of Death Light, preserving its grassy odor and the slightly rough, hard texture.

After several attempts, Zhou Yi found that his White Suanni body indeed could delay the radiation of Death Light but couldn't completely block it. So, he needed to rush against time to bring the grass in his mouth to the destination before Death Light decomposed it.

Then he encountered another problem.

How could he allow Haruk to access the grass?

He shared his experiment with the other through synchronized consciousness.

Haruk said, "That's not a problem; I just need to come close to read it. The most important thing about the Life Core is the effective information inside it. As long as you let me read it up close, it will be fine. Please be assured, it's difficult for us to read complicated life forms like you unless they are opened..."

Zhou Yi suddenly understood; no wonder Haruk had been hunting various species before.

For them, such behavior was like breaking open a shell to get the kernel. Until it's opened, they wouldn't know whether it was good or bad.

He grasped the small black hand, bringing it close to his face.

Again, silver light emerged on the black hand, appearing to restore its most basic structural lines, gradually sketching the shape of the thorny grass.

The black hand-shaped Haruk started to tremble violently.

"This strange and precious information... Life Core, it's a Life Core!"

"Preserved quite intact, such a marvelous structural form."

"I actually managed to find a Life Core!"

"Can you give it to me? I'll give you Life Chart, as much as you want!"

Zhou Yi was also startled.

He hadn't expected it really would turn out as he had guessed.

He had an in-depth conversation with Haruk, thoroughly clarifying the whole situation.

As Circular Flow life forms of the Breakers, they desired life cores of species that were not found in their own environment, yet in the Dead Sea, only Guangna Species existed.

Long-term exposure to intense Death Light caused Guangna Species in the Dead Sea to lose their ability to reproduce autonomously; they needed continuous growth and evolution to reach Grade B before they could complete and perfect themselves.

This was completely different from the Light Species on land. Though weaker, land-based species, because they lived under weaker radiation, retained their reproductive capabilities.

A common wild grass in the Wasteland World, yet it was a precious treasure that Circular Flow life forms pursued at all costs.

Zhou Yi remembered an old saying.

Drought kills some, flood kills others.