Evolution Begins with Elemental Domination

Her previously suppressed emotions and desires had been completely restored.

All these changes seemed to have occurred after her promotion to Four-Star Spirit Hunter Chief Priest, making her whole again.

And he had discovered it, of course, because his Master of All Things Authority, which also commanded the use of Spiritual Energy, was powerful enough to perceive the emotional fluctuations of all living beings.

But Su Chen kept this understanding to himself and didn’t mention it.

After all, now that Yan Ruoruo had regained her emotions, she might not be able to fully accept the things her purely logical persona had done.

Maintaining the status quo was beneficial for both of them and would also spare Ruoruo’s pride.

‘I’ll just let her keep playing her part.’

…

「Ten in the morning.」

Su Chen finally got up. It was a rare occasion for him to sleep in since the apocalypse began.

He did his usual workout outside, but with his Rune Demon Body, even the most difficult exercises were now trivial, as easy and natural as breathing.

His muscles and bones were like steel, his flesh and blood steeped in Rune Energy. Every movement was precise and efficient, with no wasted energy.

At that moment, Pang Peng, who was up early, began filling him in on the news about the new central hub.

“The Crystal Prism Tower really is the core hub. As long as you invest stone and minerals, you can build all sorts of defense towers, residential buildings, and shelters,” Pang Peng said, approaching with a notice covered in information.

“Take the most basic Level 1 residence, for example. It’s only ten square meters, small and simple, but the interior is powered by Runes to provide constant temperature and humidity, as well as basic lighting.”

“The walls themselves offer some protection, but they’re nowhere near as tough as our concrete walls fortified with a Lv7 Strengthening Skill.”

“And to get the full benefits, you need to spend one Lv2 Rune per day to activate and maintain all its functions.”

“It’s definitely tempting for people on the outside.”

Su Chen considered it. ‘With electricity so hard to come by, constant temperature and humidity alone would be a huge draw.’

After all, a lot of people were still living in shelters.

The reason so many regular houses sat empty was that people were terrified of sudden, severe weather at night. Without a Constant Temperature Skill to protect them, they could freeze solid in their sleep.

“So the Crystal Prism Tower has levels,” Su Chen noted.

And right now, it had been upgraded all the way to a Level 3 crystal in one go.

The Dongfu City Security Committee already controlled various resources and had contingency plans in place. They immediately coordinated with all the major exchanges and mine owners in the city to gather rare minerals, precious lumber, and other resources, upgrading the crystal to Level 3 all at once.

The benefit wasn’t just that the Crystal Prism Tower itself became more robust and harder to destroy; it also simultaneously unlocked a host of Level 2 and Level 3 building units.

For example, a Level 3 residence is fifty square meters and features double-layered, Rune-solidified rock for security, along with a warning barrier and an identity recognition system.

“In safety tests, it reportedly withstood two direct hits from a Lv7 Fireball Technique.”

‘Whether that’s impressive or not is up for debate,’ Su Chen thought.

‘At the very least, it’s far inferior to the Barrier from our Magic Guide Hub Crystal Pillar.’

“Still no electricity, though.”

“For interior features, they’ve added a Purification Crystal Pillar, a Communication Mirror, a Fire Talisman Stove, and a Charging Platform.”

“The amenities are still pretty limited.”

“The Communication Mirror can supposedly be used for ‘video calls,’ connecting you to the residents of any other Level 3 residence.”

“Honestly, it’s still not as good as our pre-apocalypse living conditions. If we could use Rune Power to run all our old electronics, that would be a huge breakthrough.”

“That’s the big problem Dongfu University is trying to crack right now. They’re still trying to tame the wild energy of Thunder Vines and transmit it at a stable voltage.”

“It seems like they’re finally making some headway.”

“The Charging Platform is pretty interesting. I heard it’s meant for people to touch to quickly recover their Rune Energy, but someone tried putting their phone on it and discovered it also works as a wireless charger. The phone started charging.”

As Pang Peng shared this finding, the all-band radio on the camp’s main table continued to play a private station called ‘Hunter’s Home.’

Unlike the official radio stations, which had to go through a full review process before making announcements, popular private stations had no such filters and didn’t worry about precise wording, so they often beat the officials to the punch with new information.

“So, can we reverse-engineer that technology?” Su Chen asked, his curiosity piqued.

“They’re already trying to crack it. Apparently, it’s a synergistic effect between two Thunder Element Rune techniques: the Recharging Skill and the Discharge Skill,” Pang Peng said.

Thunder + Metal + Light = Recharging Skill!

Thunder + Water + Wood = Discharge Skill!

Besides the Water Element’s Rainfall Skill, which could restore Rune Energy, a “power bank” technique for the Thunder Element had also emerged two days ago.

The Discharge Skill had been around for a while, though.

The crazy thing was…

…no one had discovered the hidden synergy, or rather, no one had realized it could be used to charge and discharge electronics.

“It also has to do with the material of the platform. People are saying it has a voltage regulation effect. How to automatically smooth out the peaks and troughs, to clamp the voltage to a constant value—that’s a whole field of study,” Pang Peng, an electrician by trade, said, visibly excited by the discovery.

If this technology could be reverse-engineered, it would usher in a new era for the entire city.

“That’s great.”

Although Su Chen wasn’t particularly interested in the subject himself, he was still happy for everyone else.

Life without electricity was a killer.

Rune Power couldn’t yet fill all the gaps in their daily lives.

Otherwise, solar panels wouldn’t be so valuable that no one was willing to sell them.

Su Chen considered this and pinned his hopes on an archaeological expedition to the ruins of Elemental City. He wasn’t even thinking about reverse-engineering; if they could just salvage a fraction of the surviving Elemental Magic Guide technology, it would be a game-changing upgrade for them.

In addition, there was a wide variety of Level 3 defense towers.

“If you invest a certain amount of Radiant Ore Crystal, you can unlock a Level 3 Light Prism Tower. If you use Red Flame Ore Crystal, you can unlock a Flame Tower.”

“There are also sentry towers with Anti-Invisibility, and Gale Arrow Towers that fire as fast as lightning, and so on.”

“All you have to do is submit the resources, and you get a card. Then you can take it anywhere, slap it on the ground, and instantly deploy the building,” Pang Peng said happily.

‘Sounds simple and portable.’

“What about their attacks?” Liao Dahai asked curiously as he walked over.

He had been up since dawn, applying a second, stronger layer of reinforcement to the camp’s concrete walls and floors.

He had successfully advanced to Three-Star Earthen Sage, an Authority class focused on Earth Vein Manipulation and Terrain Shaping. It turned the very ground into a weapon, making it the top choice for any master of earthworks.

Using his new Authority, he had made his Lv7 Strengthening Skill even more potent, and he’d taken the opportunity to upgrade and fortify the entire camp.

“By default, the defense towers won’t attack anyone from Dongfu City. You can pass right by them without being targeted. However, the person who deploys the tower has the authority to set it to attack specific individuals.”

Pang Peng added, “You can also grant permission to other people, letting them help manage it.”

“That’s pretty good, then.”

Liao Dahai smiled. “So if the Olan People show up in a tower’s attack range, it’ll help us fight them.”

Su Chen was internally assessing their power.

A Level 3 Light Prism Tower was still weaker than his Lv7 Light Bullet Skill, but he estimated that a Level 4 tower would likely match it, or even surpass it.

According to intelligence from the Sect’s priests, Oran City was at the Level 4 Crystal Prism Tower stage. To be precise, they had successfully unlocked the Level 4 building tech tree three days ago.

It was still unknown if they had since upgraded to a Level 5 crystal.

Regardless, Su Chen decided he would probe Oran City’s strength today. At the very least, he had to give that gang of Demon Warlocks a proper welcoming gift.

They had been knocking on his door and causing trouble for three days. It was only polite to return the favor.

…

In fact, the initial phase of an operation to strike back at Oran City’s ruling coalition was already underway.

「At the crack of dawn.」

A Teleportation Gate from Dongfu City had been deployed in a hidden mountain hollow about ten miles outside of Oran City.

The deployment was only possible because a scouting party had ventured deep into the southern hills several days prior. They had passed through numerous dangerous areas to finally reach the region surrounding Oran City. In the end, less than half of the team made it back safely.

Only by successfully scouting the area and gaining “vision” could this Teleportation Gate be established.