Book 2 Chapter 9.1 - Apostle
The sky gradually brightened. Su silently watched as O'Sullivan's incomplete, charred black body was placed within a fiberglass protective trunk. It was then placed onto a transport vehicle and delivered to Dragon City. The other soldiers were currently busy searching about the hills and mountains for corpses from both sides.
The scouts that had been sent on reconnaissance missions had already noticed signs of an armored fleet. Perhaps due to seeing their investigational unit wiped out, Blue Scorpion's armored fleet retreated back to Pendulum City, leaving behind only a few deep caterpillar tracks on the outskirts of the mountain region.
Towards this news, Su didn't feel any happiness or concern. Blue Scorpion would definitely come. This was just a temporary retreat.
He sat on the top of the hill alone and carefully thought about every detail of the battle. Su's current hiding skills had been honed through his many years of survival in the wilderness. He was able to fully control his body's characteristics, to the point where he could avoid all mutated creatures' perception. During the battle against Laiknar and O'Brien, as well as Fabregas family's Cobra King troop, this method of concealment was proven to be effective. Even Su could not figure out how to improve himself.
In that case, how did this man named O'Sullivan Morgan find Su within the darkness and chaos? Could it be that there really was some so-called apostle, and that individual was using some type of foresight to guide his chosen?
At this moment, the tactical tablet vibrated. It was Helen once again.
"Were there any results?" Su asked. However, he didn't hope for much. When he considered the amount of time that had passed, O'Sullivan's corpse should have just been delivered to the laboratory, so Helen shouldn't have been able to obtain such a quick result, right?
"The corpse has just been delivered, and the analysis has not yet begun. However, it seems like he was burned rather thoroughly, and it seems like not even an analysis will produce much information." Helen's reply still made Su feel a bit disappointed. Even though there had been quite a few conflicts between Helen and himself, after extensive contact with this machine-like beauty, Su began to develop a bit of admiration. From her deciphering of the Blue Scorpion computer chips, her judgment that Diaster was lying, and the heavy artillery she sent over in advance, Helen had already revealed a bit of her tremendous knowledge and terrifying intellect.
In this situation where he had no way of obtaining an answer himself, Su still chose to seek help from Helen, asking her to see if she could find O'Sullivan's secret. With Su's abilities, he couldn't obtain the slightest clue from this corpse that was almost completely burned through. Su found a bit of O'Sullivan's ruined flesh, but his body completely refused to absorb it, indicating that Su's body that contained terrifying levels of instinct didn't acknowledge the value of the genes in this flesh at all. As such, it was naturally incompatible with him.
"However, based on the events that took place in yesterday evening's battle, I can think of a possible method of detection: terrain matching. This scorched corpse might have used this method to find you."
Flames immediately ignited within Su's eyes. If there were things that could continuously draw his attention, then powerful and new abilities were definitely one of them. Recently, Helen always liked to use this way of speaking that made Su's mind continuously rise and fall. He couldn't tell if this was a unique interest of hers or not.
Based on Helen's explanation, terrain matching could be accomplished in a variety of ways, for example radar waves, specific high frequency waves, or even done with one's eyesight. The principle of this ability was comparing and contrasting the differences between two images to find where the opponent might be hiding. If the system was accurate and complex enough, then one could compare between three dimensional spaces. Su could reduce his body temperature and become the same color as the surroundings, but he couldn't completely erase his presence. No matter how he moved or where he hid, the large bulk of his body would still be there. One could find his traces through comparative analysis. Only by finding a hole to dig himself into or finding a cave where he could hide his body could Su have a chance of avoiding the detecting method of terrain matching.
This was all of course just theorycrafting. Currently, there was still no way of finding out what type of method O'Sullivan used to scan the surroundings, and they didn't know if he used a two dimensional or three dimensional imaging technique to carry out the detection. However, instantly detecting the differences between two or three dimensional images wasn't something too difficult, and even if normal human brains couldn't do it, that didn't mean that computers couldn't. From what Helen was saying, a slightly more advanced computer chip could instantly compare over several hundred images. This wasn't something too difficult for Blue Scorpion, as their third generation computer chips' calculative power was already easily capable of such a task.
What Helen was trying to say was that if Su was willing, he could immediately begin using this ability as well, and making this type of computer chip would take three days' worth of time at most, and the function wouldn't be any inferior to Blue Scorpion's. However, the procedure of inserting the computer chip into the brain was not perfect, and even with the Black Dragonriders' level of skill, they could still not guarantee a complete linkage of the computer chip with the brain. However, this was for normal people. With Su's abnormal body, he should be able to overcome this barrier and cross that small chance of failure. The so-called small chance was around 35%. In addition, Helen told him that there was no need to feel dejected about these odds, because Blue Scorpion's success rate shouldn't be much higher than if she used the knife herself, even if it was her first time doing this type of operation.
Towards this rare opportunity, Su straight up refused.
"Do you know about the apostles?" Su asked. It immediately made Helen's expresion somewhat freeze.
She immediately returned his question with another. "Apostle? Many religions of the olden era had individuals called apostles. What are you trying to say?"
Su carefully looked at Helen, but her expression remained completely unchanged, making Su feel as if the change he saw on her face in that instant was some type of illusion. Su quickly reviewed the scene that took place just now, and sure enough, he saw that Helen indeed showed an unnatural expression for the first time.
She knew about the apostles, or at the very least, she knew a few matters related to the apostles!
This thought immediately swept through the bottom of his heart. However, Helen clearly wasn't willing to talk about this topic, to the point where she was pretending she didn't know what an apostle was. This made it so that Su could not ask her anymore, and someone as smart as Su wouldn't continue to ask about it.
"How is Li?" Su asked.
"Her surgical operation has just been completed, and right now, she is still unconscious. I believe that she will be able to move a day later, and after five days, she will have completed her initial recovery. Congratulations, Lieutenant Su. You've managed to swindle quite an excellent subordinate. I inspected her potential, and in the Combat Domain, she has the potential to develop up to seven levels of ability. If all of her potential is fully displayed, Li would become comparable to a Black Dragonrider officer, and her rank would be higher than yours right now. I am quite curious. What type of method did you use to make her become your subordinate? I heard you only pay her 100 yuan each month?"
While looking at Helen's sparkling eyes, Su could only laugh. He didn't answer that question.
Li's feelings for Su were something even an idiot could see. Someone like Su naturally wouldn't be oblivious to this fact. In addition, Su was clear on the fact that he more or less used these feelings to make Li his subordinate. After becoming a subordinate, Li would indeed receive a certain level of protection, but she would also henceforth be bound by the strict limitations of a subordinate. With Li's level of potential and talent in military affairs, she would have become a high priority candidate among dragonrider officers, so that was why Li didn't receive much benefits from becoming Su's subordinate. He could only make it up to her in the future; this was what Su thought. However, with Su's current financial situation, it couldn't be considered an empty promise, but it wasn't far from it.
Helen picked up a sheet of paper. After giving it a look, she said, "There is also this one called Li Gaolei. I conveniently gave him a potential analysis as well, since the reagent materials were enough for two people anyway. His main ability seems to be in the Mental Domain, and six levels of it, which seems passable. Of course, for a subordinate, six levels is already way more than enough. However, his development of abilities seems to have deviated a bit, and most of the injections he received were of weapon control formulations, which is a complete waste. The ability that is actually quite rare is the area control ability. I advise you to have him increase this ability whenever possible. This way, his future prospects would be much greater than always playing with guns."
Su carefully listened and remembered every word Helen said. However, he wasn't that familiar with the area control ability. From his perspective, weapon proficiency was an extremely widespread ability, as well as a skill that was extremely effective on the battlefield. In addition, one's strength increased correspondingly according to the weapon in their hands. Lieutenant Enzo had previously displayed himself just how much more powerful a 'bronze dragon' guided missile could become. Now that they were equipped with the Black Dragonriders' new era equipment, the power of Li Gaolei's abilities would definitely more than double. Moreover, right now, Su only barely managed to shoulder the costs for some basic model firearms, but when he was able to purchase higher end firearms later, or even custom made weapons, together with a complete set of equipment, even if Li Gaolei's ability didn't improve, his power on the battlefield would still increase several times or even several tens of times.
However, he didn't ask this question. Area control was a rare ability that his current level of authority couldn't access. However, along with the passage of time, Su believed that his military rank and authority would continuously rise, and that not long after, he would receive the corresponding information on this ability. There was no need to ask about it right now, because if there truly was a need, or if it could be talked about, Helen wouldn't withhold such information, especially when they were in their current situation against Blue Scorpion's army.
"Thanks." Su gave an earnest reply.
"If you really are thankful, then just remember that I need to see your physiological reaction." Helen didn't hold back at all.
Su carefully thought for a moment, and then he laughed bitterly, "That's extremely difficult. Whenever I think of you, it immediately becomes impossible."
Su's reply left Helen speechless as well. What was even more annoying was that Su was extremely serious when he said that.