Published: February 12, 2025
Looking at the instrument in his hand, which displayed some very complex patterns, some of which were still moving, Xiao Yu watched nervously, his breathing light.
He was originally a member of a faction in Ying City. A few days ago, after the establishment of the laboratory at Cloud Summit Villa, he was suddenly recruited.
Once inside, Xiao Yu realized he was brought in because of his graduate degree in mechanical manufacturing and automation before the apocalypse. As for how Cloud Summit found out, it was because he had registered there before.
For various factions in Ying City, entering Cloud Summit Villa was the ultimate goal. Especially since Cloud Summit had previously conducted large-scale registrations regarding the professions and specialties of people before the apocalypse; nearly everyone was recorded by Cloud Summit.
However, not many could be recruited this way, as loyalty and reliability were the primary criteria for Cloud Summit in selecting talents.
At first, many members of the factions in Ying City were very excited during the registration process, feeling that their chances of being selected were high. But over time, the number of those admitted to Cloud Summit dwindled, mostly comprising individuals who had fought alongside Cloud Summit multiple times and had special occupations or expertise in precision manufacturing and genetic biomedicine.
As a result, everyone grew disheartened, abandoning hope in their pre-apocalypse special skills and focusing instead on the path of evolution. Cloud Summit had expanded recruitment multiple times, far exceeding the number of 'specialized' individuals.
But who would have guessed that Cloud Summit would suddenly approach Xiao Yu and invite him to join the newly formed coordination laboratory?
Everyone knew that those in the laboratory were among the best-treated individuals in all of Cloud Summit.
Xiao Yu still clearly remembered the scene before he left his battle team. Cloud Summit had a rule that any member accepted into Cloud Summit would bring significant compensation to their previous team. Given this situation, it was considered advantageous to have acquaintances in Cloud Summit. The team captain had no objections and even encouraged the arrangement.
Now, the moment for his first real test had arrived. When Xiao Yu received his mission, he had already pumped himself up countless times.
“Underground security, twenty-five meters ahead, there are seven mutated lives. According to the energy level readings, their evolution level is between four and five.”
After manipulating the instrument a few times, he quickly analyzed the data displayed with his knowledge and informed the team leader beside him that this was his task.
Do not underestimate this task, as it was one of the reasons Cloud Summit dared to attack a third-tier city.
This instrument, called the Evolution Probe, was a recent technological product of Cloud Summit and the joint result of Liu Zhenghong and Le Da Yuan. The blend of mechanics and biology led to its creation.
Simply put, the Evolution Probe is a combination of a life detector and a combat power index. However, compared to these two, the probe is much deeper and more complex, both in theory and manufacturing.
Some aspects involved were confusing, even for Xiao Yu, who had a graduate education. Although he participated in the research and development, the core theories were contributed by Le Da Yuan and Liu Zhenghong.
That said, the Evolution Probe was not yet a mature product. It could not directly display results that were easily understandable but required calculations that were not difficult for specialists but extremely challenging for others to derive the final conclusion.
This was related to the progress and timing of the research and development. Given Cloud Summit's current capabilities and the timeline of this battle, they could only achieve this much for now, with improvements to be made later when there was time.
Since it was not a perfect device, it naturally had unavoidable shortcomings. For instance, some mutated lives with special abilities or types could not be detected, predictions of evolution levels would not be very accurate and only provide a rough range, and the ability evaluation values for mutated lives could only serve as a reference, unable to measure a life’s combat level in non-combat status, etc.