[Ding!]
[You have acquired the minor talent "Basic Mineral Sense."]
"...?"
Kraynnor tilted his head slightly to the right, contemplating the meaning behind the term "Sense." Judging by the talent's name, he assumed it was the ability to detect minerals without the need to physically see them, but this seemed almost magical to him. This idea led him to question whether such an inexplicable force existed in this universe.
Deep down, he hoped that magic was not a reality, as he despised anything he couldn't calculate or create from scratch with his own hands, understanding every detail about it.
As he lost himself in thought, another system notification emerged.
[Psychic branch talent acquired; activating special statistic: Psychic Potential.]
"!"
Kraynnor felt a thrill of excitement as he read what the Universal System said. He had completely dismissed the idea of magic. In Caelum, a century ago, there was a scientist who dedicated his entire life to researching the psychic potential of the human brain.
Although it might sound magical, everything related to telepathy, telekinesis, and other such abilities belonged to the technological field of neuroscience.
Unfortunately, that scientist died of old age, barely scratching the surface of the unexplored.
[Do you want to open it now? (Yes/No)]
Kraynnor decided to open the chest, his curiosity palpable as he anticipated what he might find inside.
Boom!
Before his eyes, a neon green chest appeared and gradually expanded until it finally burst into a spectacle of multicolored lights.
[You have obtained: MacOne Core - Blue Edition (One Star) Damaged x1.]
Space ripped apart and ejected a small, dark blue pearl with a crack in the middle, almost splitting it in two.
Without hesitation, he grabbed it, prompting the next notification:
[MacOne Core - Blue Edition (Unstable Antimatter Energy) (One Star) (Damaged): Provides a temporary power boost to basic one-star mechas. Unfortunately, it is so damaged that it is unusable. A product of the Fotran type one civilization.]
"Sounds impressive, but receiving a damaged product... Is that due to my luck stat?" he wondered with dissatisfaction. It was like buying a state-of-the-art smartphone online, only to discover it was empty inside.
"..."
After the barrage of system notifications, Kraynnor waited for a moment in case there were more surprises, but after a minute of silence, he focused on everything he had gained from killing the Sonarix.
"System interface," he whispered, watching as the familiar panel with all his information appeared.
Almost everything was the same, except for a few things. He now had the minor talent "Basic Mineral Sense," 0.1 points in the new special statistic "Psychic Potential," the option to view his experience points, ten Universal Points, and thirty Stellar Coins. Of course, not forgetting the damaged MacOne Core in his hand.
Despite the rewards, his strength had not increased at all. The minor talent they had given him had no combat applications.
[Basic Mineral Sense: Grants the user the passive ability to detect Zero Star minerals up to ten meters away. It activates automatically, only requiring patience...]
"Darn it, I can't even activate it at will," Kraynnor exclaimed, perplexed.
He wanted to keep exploring, but when he faced the scorching sun, he decided that staying in the lab was wiser. The reason? Earth was no longer under human dominion, and the possibility of those aliens monitoring the planet with advanced satellites couldn't be ruled out.
Although it could be unfounded paranoia, he preferred not to take unnecessary risks.
His priority was to strengthen himself enough before exposing himself!
He looked at his forearm, where there was a small screen. He selected some options and waited patiently while contemplating what to do with the Sonarix's body.
Out of curiosity, he checked the prices of the alien's parts in the shop, and what he saw left him dumbfounded.
"Am I... rich?" he said to himself in disbelief.
A single Sonarix eye cost thousands of Stellar Coins, and the rest of the body had similar prices. What he regretted was that the brain was sold for almost a hundred thousand coins, but he had cut it into countless pieces...
"Why can't I!" he shouted with a furrowed brow.
Unfortunately, that momentary happiness disappeared immediately when he realized he couldn't sell anything. The option was there, but it was grayed out, and he couldn't select it!
"System, what's wrong with the selling option?" Kraynnor asked, confused by the lack of access to that function.
[Users are not allowed to sell anything until level ten.]
Kraynnor looked at his experience points and was left speechless, realizing he needed a thousand experience points to reach level two. Killing the terrifying Sonarix had only given him a hundred points. Would he need to kill ten creatures like that to advance? And then, to reach level three? What would he do when he was at level nine and needed to reach level ten? Would he kill a million creatures?
However, thinking about all the repulsive aliens he wanted and was willing to kill, he felt that he could really reach level ten someday.
Whoosh!
A gust of wind passed by, causing his long red hair to flutter.
After waiting for a couple of minutes, a submarine approximately ten meters long emerged slowly from the water. It was the same one he had escaped in five hundred years ago and had room for a maximum of three people.
"I need you to attach ropes to the Sonarix. Also, make sure to take the eye that's there too," Kraynnor told Cognitron X-12, while observing the eye floating near the body.
[Understood, activating the submarine's attachments.]
Clank!
Kraynnor watched as metal ropes extended from the submarine, carefully wrapping around the Sonarix's body and the eye.
"Perfect, it's time to go back..." he said, gazing at the blue sky with nostalgia.
With the preparations complete, Kraynnor boarded the submarine and began to slowly drag the massive Sonarix's body into the depths of the ocean. It was a strange sight to see a small submarine carrying something tens of times larger.
Zrrrr...
Five hours later, in the same location, a pyramid-shaped red spacecraft, fifteen meters in size, emerged. It emitted a scarlet light that meticulously scanned its surroundings.
"Strange, there was definitely a much louder sound activity detected in this place than usual..."
Swooosh!
A male voice spoke slowly and with a touch of arrogance. The ship gradually ascended and vanished into the distance.
Going back a few hours in time, Kraynnor had finally arrived at his underwater lab with the Sonarix's body.
"Expand the anti-detection system's area to ensure the Sonarix's body is completely hidden," he ordered after securely fastening the body to the seabed.
[Understood. However, it is important to note that they require urgent repair, but we lack key materials to carry it out.]
Kraynnor nodded, aware that the resources he had accumulated to survive for hundreds of years were about to run out.
Now, obtaining certain things had become truly complicated.
As he got closer, the submarine's lights revealed the structure before him. It was the lab he had designed himself, along with many robots. This project represented his second-best achievement, with his new body taking the top spot.
It was an elegantly aerodynamic structure, designed to withstand the ocean's pressures at a depth of one thousand meters below the surface.
Its surfaces were constructed with an advanced titanium compound incorporating nanomaterials reinforced with carbon and graphene alloys, meticulously designed to withstand the formidable pressures one thousand meters below the ocean.
[Opening the gates.]
Suddenly, an entrance opened, and the submarine began to move slowly into the lab.
The water surrounding the entrance rushed in forcefully. The lab's lights gradually came on, illuminating a wide docking platform with a walkway leading into the complex. As the submarine advanced, the gate closed behind it, sealing the entrance hermetically and draining the water inside.
Zurrrp! Clang!
The sound of water being expelled and the gate closing echoed inside the lab, marking its arrival.
Sigh...
After five exhausting minutes, Kraynnor slumped into a chair in front of the large holographic screen, letting out a sigh of fatigue.
He couldn't deny that he felt utterly drained, both physically and mentally. Spending five hundred years with minimal movement while working on his new body, and then facing such a creature on the very day he regained his mobility, had taken a severe toll on him.
Kraynnor contemplated the steps he needed to take from this point forward to execute his plan of revenge...
It was clear that he needed to refine his previous strategy with the assistance of the system. The dilemma lay in the fact that, to achieve greater results, he needed to kill more of those damned alien creatures. However, with his current strength, it seemed like an unattainable dream, as he couldn't perpetually rely on the vulnerabilities of his enemies, just as he had done with the Seismic Sonic Grenade, which had played a crucial role in the death of the Sonarix.
"That's right, I still have that option," he murmured to himself.
Kraynnor pulled the hilt of his saber from one of the pockets of his lab coat and activated its blade, which materialized in the blink of an eye. He stroked his chin with a curious expression and asked, "How do I disarm this thing?"
[What did you say?]
For the first time, the Universal System, which normally only spoke about system-related matters, asked in a confused tone.
"Can you speak normally?" Kraynnor asked, but received no response.
"Tsk... You asked the question and now you're staying silent. How arrogant!" however, he couldn't help but smile, displaying his bright, white teeth, and continued: "What I plan to do is simple: I will disassemble this saber and gain this awesome advanced control over biomass energy, regardless of the obstacles!"
[Sure... Good luck, user. You'll achieve it someday.]
Kraynnor noticed a hint of mockery in the system's voice, but he simply shrugged it off.