Sun Hao checked on Black Thorn.

"It was born with severe developmental issues, later subjected to tearing and disarticulation."

"The consciousness is completely fragmented, unable to even form a single complete block. Luckily, it has sufficient strength and a unique physiological structure. A vast amount of energy sustains its most basic instincts; otherwise, it would have likely succumbed to consciousness death."

Every day, Sun Hao would treat Black Thorn, stopping timely when nearly exhausted, avoiding the previous overexertion that led to unconsciousness.

The treatment lasted 14 days.

Sun Hao said, "Father, the treatment is complete. Now it is like a newborn baby, its consciousness just starting to absorb information from the outside world. Its subsequent growth will have to accrue on its own."

"However, its body is very strong, but its cognitive awareness is extremely limited, so we'll need to impose some restrictions and guidance."

Zhou Yi nodded, "You've worked hard. Show me your Dream Demon."

A massive Shadow Monster slowly emerged behind Sun Hao.

The Dream Demon was nearly 3 meters tall, its double horns almost touching the ceiling. However, when it noticed Zhou Yi, its small eyes revealed a look of fear.

Zhou Yi glanced at the Dream Demon and handed Sun Hao a can of Coke: "Rest well."

"Yes, Father."

The young man in a black robe left with the Coke.

...

Zhou Yi turned his attention back to Black Thorn.

Its consciousness had been fully restored, and it was now capable of communication.

Zhou Yi touched its spiky shell.

Energy input.

Consciousness synchronization initiated.

"How do you feel now?"

"Feeling... good."

There was a response.

Zhou Yi felt pleased.

A Black Thorn without self-awareness is a stable biological vessel. But an awakened Black Thorn offers many more possibilities.

"Do you remember what happened before?"

"Before? I don't know, there was nothing before."

Black Thorn was filled with curiosity.

"Who am I?"

"You are Black Thorn, a special life form cultivated by the Mud Tree Civilization."

"Who are you?"

"I am Zhou Yi. I found you in the Dead Sea and brought you to Wasteland Development Company."

"You saved me. I can sense it; the scent that helped me has some overlapping with your scent."

"Overlapping scents? What does that mean?"

Black Thorn went on to describe it.

It relies on photoreception and scent to interact with the world.

Photoreception means sensing the flow of Dead Light.

And every living being emits its own scent.

It sensed that Zhou Yi and Sun Hao had similar scents.

Zhou Yi was surprised: "Are you sure?"

He was human, and though Sun Hao was his foster son, he was essentially an Angel of Death, a life form evolved from mushrooms.

The racial difference was significant.

"I am sure."

Black Thorn insisted, "Scents affect each other, and you two have a strong connection."

Zhou Yi then called over Yuan Xiao.

"What about her?"

"... also has it. Your scents are related! Your relationship is closer! Your scents intertwine! There's also a special reaction!"

"..."

Later, Zhou Yi learned from Da Vinci that this was actually the result of microscopic interactions between organisms. Beings that live together for extended periods or have deep contact with each other would experience this type of exchange at the atomic and even more fundamental particle levels.

Black Thorn was able to recognize these microscopic exchanges and diffusion.

Zhou Yi changed the topic: "Now that you have awakened, it's time to tell you about the Mud Tree Civilization..."

After hearing it, Black Thorn simply said, "I'm a bit hungry; I want to eat some energy."

Given permission, it soared into the air and dove into the Dead Sea.

Half an hour later.

Black Thorn soared into the sky and returned.

"I'm full, it feels good."

It said, "Now I feel clear-headed and easily hungry. I didn't have this feeling before."

This made Zhou Yi think of the semi-conscious entities.

A portion of the Hooked Horned Bulls from the Tamed Bull Tribe did not want to forgo their semi-conscious identity because life was easier and simpler that way.

Becoming a Mechanical Bull would substantially increase their energy needs, and life would become more complicated, demanding more energy and materials to sustain.

To Zhou Yi's surprise, after awakening, Black Thorn's control over its own body far exceeded its ability to operate externally using the fruit core.

"I have three states."

"One is this normal state, where energy consumption is minimized, without activating [Insecticide] and [Slowing Wave]."

"Then this is the second stage."

Black Thorn's body emitted visible ripples, causing the light shining on it to waver and twist.

Unlike before, it now compressed the ripple range to about five centimeters around its body.

Zhou Yi immediately realized, "You can control the radiation distance?"

"Yes. Actually, this ability consumes a lot of energy. It can only be sustained in the Dead Sea for long periods. The Dead Light Energy on land can't meet the consumption needed to keep it activated continuously."

Black Thorn said again, "Finally, this is the strongest, the third stage."

As soon as the voice fell,

electric light surrounded its entire body once more.

The long spines all over Black Thorn's body softened and stretched, taking on a form that resembled blue mud and ink, difficult to describe.

Zhou Yi activated [Alert], but only saw a constantly changing mass of colors.

Merely looking at it for a few seconds made him feel extremely tired and dizzy.

Black Thorn switched back to the low-consumption mode of the first stage.

"It feels more comfortable like this."

"The third stage is too exhausting; it makes me hungry easily."

It said, "My own capacity is limited; I cannot store too much energy and need to continue absorbing Dead Light from the outside. Absorbing Dead Light in the Dead Sea is not fast because it has to be filtered and purified layer by layer; it's a slow charging process."

2 minutes remained the limit for Black Thorn while under the Light Core Body.

Every time after the third-stage state ended, it had to spend a considerable amount of time to recharge and light up the storage energy fruit petals inside it.

An idea popped into Zhou Yi's head: "So, if you can store more energy, you could maintain the third stage for longer?"

"According to my physiological structure, that would be the case. But this is my limit on my own."

Thus, Zhou Yi immediately called the Light Seal Expert Shi Gandang.

After hearing Black Thorn's situation, the vacuum robot was very excited: "Mud Tree Civilization... to have such a peculiar technology system!"

"To enhance the energy endurance, our method is to use specific Light Imprint Devices. For example, the 'Energy Pool' is a Light Imprint designed specifically for storing a large amount of energy."

"It's just that the structure of an Energy Pool is heavy and bulky, making it inconvenient to move and control, usually only suitable for mid to large-sized equipment."

The energy storage technology of Light Imprint Skill had not yet developed to a portable size.

But Shi Gandang presented another idea.

"Chairman, speaking of energy replenishment, the best in our company, the very best is Yalong Bay."

"If Black Thorn can withstand an alien energy transmission—compared to an Energy Pack, this energy obtained directly from the Dead Sea is much more violent. But if we ignore these issues, it's nearly a perfect energy supply."

"It can be said that Yalong Bay is the best A-5 grade super Energy Pool."

Zhou Yi was enlightened by its words.

How could he have forgotten that.

He turned to Black Thorn and described the alien energy transmission method.

"That's no problem, I can also directly absorb Dead Light. From this point of view, I should have certain similarities with it."

It had no objections, but Yalong Bay raised a question.

"Chairman, if it's purely a connection for recharging, there's no problem at all, the previous steel structure can do it. But it has to remain active to show its strategic power, right?"

"Due to its structure, Building Life has strong endurance, but that's precisely the area where Black Thorn is inherently deficient."

"If it's just about replenishment, entering the Dead Sea would suffice. However, to fight or use energy at high intensity while receiving supplies, our existing structure can't do that."

Zhou Yi instantly calmed down.

Yalong Bay was indeed a super Energy Pool, capable of quickly recharging Black Thorn.

But if it's on a mission or facing strong enemies, the energy would be depleted quickly, and there might not be space and time for safe recharging.

"There's another way."

Yalong Bay proposed, "Chairman, use silk threads."

"That's a special material that can transmit and act upon Dead Light. Many gliders have done test flights here, and I've connected with the silk threads, finding their energy transmission efficiency to be extremely high."

"If we bind the silk threads with Black Thorn, and the other end is connected to my transmission, it will have extremely strong endurance on land—at least near Jade City."

Zhou Yi's eyes lit up.

There was such a method!

He immediately took Black Thorn to conduct an experiment.

Following Yalong Bay's concept, two 100-meter-long silk threads were installed above Yalong Bay's storage caves.

In their natural state, they remained straight, reaching skyward as if they were natural rulers.

After connecting with them, Black Thorn's entire body was shrouded in white light.

"It works! It really works!"

"So strong, so vigorous! It's like having an endless supply of power to use!"

Black Thorn excitedly entered the Light Core Body form, its figure further expanding, with its whole body's electric light nearly turning into a layer of aura, making it look like a mini blue sun.

This anomaly drew the inhabitants of Jade City to look up, talking to each other about it.

After maintaining the Light Core Body state for half an hour, it finally returned to its original state.

"No problem, absolutely no problem!"

"I don't feel tired at all!"

Black Thorn remained energetic: "Yalong Bay's power is so strong and pure, much faster than absorbing in the Dead Sea!!"

Zhou Yi also felt relieved.

Now they had a combat combination with Yalong Bay + Black Thorn, able to maintain the Light Core Body form for a longer period of time during combat.

The company had expanded its combat power ceiling.

After landing back with Zhou Yi, Black Thorn spoke again: "It was strange, during the third-stage state just now."

"I felt like something far away was calling me."

"The sense was very strong, with a very high frequency."

"It should be some kind of life using my fruit core, telling me to go there."

Zhou Yi frowned.

Someone wanted to snatch control over Black Thorn.

Daring to have such intentions from afar, had Black Thorn's Consciousness not been repaired, it might have indeed been stolen.

Against such petty thieves, one cannot be lenient!

They must be met with a firm hand!

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