I’m A Wasteland Giant

Chapter 21: Effects of the Energy Crystal!

Nan Yuan Military Zone.

Since the sun came out, the spatial channels around here had disappeared as well.

The insects that had been madly attacking humans also each found a place to huddle up.

It was only then that the Nan Yuan Military Zone took a breather.

After a recess and regrouping, the military zone commander, Wang Dezheng, read the latest data.

The total number of people in the Nan Yuan Military Zone is 52,332. 7,435 killed and 15,134 wounded…

The casualties were very heavy, and that was a battle that was fought with preparation.

Let’s just say that those insects are on another level, above Earth’s. There were just too many of them!

Number of people who awakened supernatural power: 544. Preliminary judgment: ordinary people have a one percent chance of awakening…

Wang Dezheng saw clips and evidence of those who had awakened supernatural power, which consisted of a variety of strange abilities.

Some breathed fire, and some breathed water. Some became stronger, and others faster.

In this battle against the insects, the people that awakened supernatural powers shone the brightest.

Those insects that couldn’t be penetrated by bullets were defeated by those people.

However, probably because they had just awakened, their supernatural powers didn’t last long. Each time they performed supernatural feats, they had to go through a period of weakness.

For that reason, Wang Dezheng also set up a war regiment specifically for these people.

Just as Wang Dezheng viewed these documents, the minister of the Ministry of Scientific Research, Lu Youcai, suddenly walked in.

“What’s wrong?”

Wang Dezheng asked, closing the door. Members of the Ministry of Scientific Research didn’t usually come for nothing. If it was worth making their minister come personally, it must be something of great importance.

Lu Youcai said with a grave expression: “I’m here to report an important piece of information!”

“We have done research on the red crystals inside the body of the black beetle. They have the same property as the dark matter that can’t be seen in the air, but are more substantial…”

“The crystals are very solid and can’t be separated by existing technologies. It’s very strange because it can be absorbed by the human body after it enters one…”

Wang Dezheng said with a frown: “You used people for experiments?”

Lu Youcai shook his head and said: “Volunteers. In the face of a crisis, there’s no point in discussing such trivialities! Through a large number of experiments, we found that those who swallow the crystals have a 10 percent chance of awakening supernatural power!”

“10 percent chance?”

Wang Dezheng was flabbergasted. He asked: “How many people have you guys successfully awakened supernatural powers for?”

“Not a lot— just more than 50!”

“…”

Wang Dezheng was speechless. There were more than 50,000 people in this military zone and only a bit more than 500 people had awakened naturally. Meanwhile, the ministry just created 50 supernatural beings through experimentations.

“In other words, 10 crystals can awaken a person. Does this awakening method have any side effects? How about the difference in combat power with those who awakened naturally?”

Lu Youcai shook his head and explained: “At the moment, no side effects have been found, and the difference in combat power isn’t huge. I speculate that the supernatural power may be self-contained inside the human body and just needs to be activated with dark matter…

“Those who awaken naturally have a constitution that resonates with dark matter. On the contrary, those who require crystals to awaken have a constitution that doesn’t resonate as well…”

“Wait, what you mean was…”

“We have done an experiment whereby we feed a single subject crystals and found that even if one consumes more than 10, or even up to dozens of crystals, there are still some who can’t awaken supernatural power!

“And some people, on the other hand, will awaken supernatural power before swallowing all 10 crystals…

“So, we divided the awakening of supernatural power into three categories. Subjects who awaken naturally and have a constitution that resonates with dark matter have been temporarily rated as A-grade. Subjects who swallow less than 10 crystals and awaken are rated as B-grade. Subjects who swallow more than 10 crystals and don’t awaken are rated as C-grade…”

Wang Dezheng interrupted: “Is there a D-grade?”

Lu Youcai smiled and nodded: “Yes, we have 10 test subjects, all of whom have swallowed more than 100 crystals so far but didn’t show a single sign of awakening… Such people are rated as D-grade.”

Before Wang Dezheng interrupted again, Lu Youcai continued: “In addition, we have also made awakened supernatural beings of different grades consume the crystals of the black beetle. There were different degrees of growth in supernatural powers in their bodies…

“Similar to what I rated them, the naturally-awakened A-grade supernatural beings tend to absorb the crystals faster and also see a faster growth in abilities…”

Wang Dezheng knitted his brows and questioned: “In other words, the supernatural beings can be divided into four grades and theoretically, A-grade, that is, the naturally-awakened supernatural beings, grow faster and have a higher upper limit?”

“That’s right!”

“How many crystals did we collect in total?”

“More than 5,000 black beetle red crystals. We used up nearly 4,000 of them for experimentation, so there are still about 1,000 left. There are also eight orange crystals, which were taken out of the body of the golden beetles. They haven’t been tested yet.”

“That is to say, of the 50,000 people here, about 5,000 are B-grade, and each of them needs to swallow 10 red crystals to awaken their supernatural power. This also means that I only need 50,000 red crystals to have 5,000 awakened supernatural beings?”

“No, it’s half a million red crystals!”

“What? Why?”

“We don’t have a definite way to detect a person’s grade yet; only through their swallowing of the crystals can we judge their grade. To awaken 5,000 people, you must make 50,000 people swallow 10 red crystals each.

“With this calculation, it is equivalent to having only one B-grade person out of 10 people. According to the ratio of one person to 10 red crystals, using up to 100 red crystals will produce at least one awakened supernatural being.

“More than 4,000 red crystals are required to create over 50 awakened supernatural beings, which is indeed quite a lot. On the other hand, the rarer orange crystals most certainly contain more power. Whether they are used to awaken a person or enhance one’s supernatural power, they are still an excellent choice.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, I have already drawn up a proposal. You will designate a general who will be responsible for swallowing the orange crystal. If he has successfully awakened, I will then appoint you as the next in line to consume one as well. As for the rest of the orange crystals, I suggest giving them to A-grade supernatural beings to enhance their abilities!”

Compared to using orange crystals to awaken the supernatural powers of ordinary people, he felt that the most important and most urgent priority was to enhance the abilities of already awakened supernatural beings.

Because one thing was for sure. After the sun set, the spatial channels would reappear and endless insects would crawl out of them again.

“Got it!”

Wang Dezheng didn’t put up a pretense and agreed to Lu Youcai’s proposal. At the same time, he began to think about the other seven candidates.

During such a calamity, he couldn’t afford to be careless. These candidates must be both talented and loyal.

The world had been hit by a catastrophe, while some people awakened supernatural powers. It was inevitable that other thoughts would arise in one’s mind.

As Wang Dezheng was often transferred to different military bases as a commander, he didn’t have too many trusted aides by his side. Fortunately, most of the militants were loyal to the country. It didn’t take much effort to pick out the seven candidates.

“Get all seven of them over, and perform the awakening right here with me!”

Apart from the first candidate who was his orderly, the other six were senior generals who had already awakened. After many years in the army, they certainly all had the awareness they should have.

After the awakening was completed, Wang Dezheng ordered again.

“Clear out those hidden insects and collect as many crystals as possible!”

In the meantime, he had already finished discussing with the others.

The collected crystals would be distributed across the 442 zones according to contributions, qualification level, etc., and 40 percent of the crystals would be given to awakened supernatural beings to enhance their abilities.

The other 40 percent would be dedicated to the unawakened that had also contributed to the military. However, they had set an additional clause, where each person could only swallow a maximum of 10 crystals.

At this stage, there weren’t enough crystals to awaken those with C-grade qualifications and worse, so those with better qualifications were given priority.

The last 20 percent would be granted to the Ministry of Scientific Research for experimental purposes.

Compared to the use of crystals to awaken ordinary people, Wang Dezheng hoped to use the crystals to create more powerful weapons!