Chapter 112: Four Years of Growth (Part 4)

Time passed quickly, and nearly four years elapsed.

All 1,008 universe nations of the human race participated in the "Genius Competition." Because the territories were so vast and the internal situations of each universe nation differed, the time taken to complete the first stage of the "preliminaries" naturally varied. The Ganwu Universe Nation finished relatively early, concluding all eliminations by the year 2069 (Earth-China time) and selecting the top one thousand geniuses from within the nation. The last universe nation to finish, however, took a full year and a half longer, with the final spot only decided in 2070.

Registration began in March 2066 and the final universe nation concluded its selection in September 2070. The first stage alone took four and a half years. For geniuses like Jiang Chen and Luo Feng, who were young and had short cultivation histories, they actually hoped the competition cycle would be as long as possible to allow more time for growth. Even though Jiang Chen was confident in taking first or second place in the competition with the growth he had achieved over these four years, he did not mind having a greater lead over the other geniuses. The larger the advantage and the wider the gap, the more easily Jiang Chen could hide his true strength and retain more "trump cards" during combat.

Over these four years, Jiang Chen’s growth in all aspects was extremely rapid. Regarding his mechanical legion, in addition to the [Interference Field Generator], Jiang Chen perfected seven other designs: the [Gravity Regulation Device], [Psionic Shield Generator], [T-88 Antimatter Missile], [Psionic Storm Excitation Device], ["Spear of Light" Laser Gun], ["Vulture" High-Speed Fighter], and ["Gundam" Humanoid Mecha].

The ["Vulture" High-Speed Fighter] and ["Gundam" Humanoid Mecha] were independent mechanical units, while the others, including the previously created [Interference Field Generator], were "functional modules" loaded onto these two units. The ["Vulture" High-Speed Fighter] could carry eight ["Spear of Light" Laser Guns] or two launchers for the [T-88 Antimatter Missile], along with 16 missiles. The former were E9-grade laser guns, which could have their power reduced to C-grade to conserve energy when dealing with weaker enemies. The latter were similar to traditional Earth missiles, a weapon considered semi-obsolete in the universe. However, Jiang Chen believed that despite their slow flight speed and susceptibility to interception, they still had room to shine in specific scenarios, so he kept them in the mechanical legion’s equipment sequence.

The disadvantages of the [T-88 Antimatter Missile] were indeed prominent; its flight speed was only comparable to Universe-level, making it impossible to catch Domain Lord-level or stronger opponents, and it was easily detonated by long-range attacks. But its advantages were equally striking: power and range. Once the "antimatter warhead" was detonated, the core lethal radius reached over three thousand kilometers, and the shockwave covered an area exceeding fifty thousand kilometers. Even a Domain Lord had a high chance of perishing within the core lethal range. For attacks on fixed targets, the slow flight speed was no longer a disadvantage; instead, its immense power and vast lethal radius could be utilized to the extreme. Of course, the lethal radius was so large that, unless it was a long-range attack, it posed a significant threat to the mechanical legion itself. After all, explosions do not distinguish between friend and foe. This limited the use of the [T-88 Antimatter Missile] to specific circumstances.

The ["Gundam" Humanoid Mecha] could use other functional modules or wield melee weapons. However, any module required corresponding micro-adjustments to the mecha's arms to operate, so only two could be selected at a time, or a configuration of one handheld weapon and one functional module. Naturally, using two weapons or one "two-handed weapon" was also possible.

The [Gravity Regulation Device] could change the local environment's gravity by adjusting the gravitational coefficient. After Jiang Chen's refinements, it could increase gravity up to ten thousand times. On planets with relatively low gravity like Earth or Mars, the power was not immense, but on high-gravity planets or continents—such as a white dwarf—it was terrifying. A white dwarf already possessed at least a million times Earth's gravity; adding another ten thousand times would result in ten billion times Earth's gravity. Even a World Lord could not withstand such an environment. If the mass of the planet itself were sufficiently large, such terrifying gravity could even cause the planet's interior to collapse, forming a small black hole. That was a horrific existence that even Immortal Gods could not withstand. Of course, if a black hole were truly created, Jiang Chen and his mechanical legion would not be able to escape either.

Therefore, in extreme environments, Jiang Chen could not set the device to maximum power. As for the [Psionic Shield Generator] and the [Psionic Storm Excitation Device], they belonged to the "Psionic Technology" system. The former could trigger a powerful shield to block all attacks, which could also be projected onto other mechanical units or living beings. However, the higher the strength of the projected shield, the more astonishing the energy consumption, requiring vast resources for every minute of maintenance. The [Psionic Storm Excitation Device] was the "electric net" Jiang Chen used in the first round of the competition. It looked like lightning, but it had nothing to do with it; it was a pure "mental attack" that targeted the enemy's consciousness directly, and it was a wide-area group attack. Like the [Interference Field Generator], its individual power was not high, but it could increase its power ceiling by stacking quantities. Of course, like the [Interference Field Generator], as the quantity increased, the marginal effect became very obvious, and the cost-effectiveness dropped sharply.

Of the seven designs, the ["Spear of Light" Laser Gun] received a Tier 5 rating in the system, while the other six were Tier 4. These seven blueprints brought Jiang Chen nearly thirty thousand specialty points in total. Combined with the specialties Jiang Chen had been redeeming to accelerate learning and improve "upgrade efficiency," he had just crossed the "Tier 4" threshold and broken through to Domain Lord level before the universe finals began. The upgrade and system-indexing rewards combined gave Jiang Chen a massive amount of specialty points. Since these points would not earn "interest," Jiang Chen used them as soon as he received them, deepening his foundation.

Before logging into the Virtual Universe to assemble, Jiang Chen opened the system and glanced at his panel.

"With the accumulation of these past few years, in this Genius Competition, even without using my trump cards, no one is my match!" Jiang Chen revealed a confident smile, closed the system, and connected his consciousness to the Virtual Universe.

***

In the Virtual Universe, at the assembly point for the geniuses of the Ganwu Universe Nation, most had already arrived, with only a few missing. Jiang Chen’s appearance immediately attracted the attention of many.

"Is that the 'cheater' from World Area 99?"

"It's not cheating, it's allowed by the rules. Besides, with so many people watching the Genius Competition, the big shots above would definitely have checked repeatedly; there’s no way it’s fraudulent."

"Tsk, tsk, to be able to build so many technological creations in that kind of environment, I wonder how he managed it."

"I asked my family's elders; the technology he holds is valued by many Immortal Gods and can bring in huge profits. An elder in my family said that our 'Yanhai Empire' purchases C-grade laser guns from his company to equip the military. The price is slightly cheaper than the market, but the performance is more reliable, saving a lot of money every year."

"The technology he holds is indeed astonishing, but in the upcoming finals, the amount of technological equipment allowed is strictly limited, so his advantage will be gone."

"The Genius Competition is, after all, a test of Law perception."

"How do you know he doesn't have Law perception? Maybe he's hiding his trump cards? He took first place in the first round and didn't participate in the subsequent arena battles; who knows how stunning his trump cards are."

The geniuses discussed among themselves, their topics focusing almost entirely on Jiang Chen. This was not only due to his monstrous performance in the first round but also because many geniuses from well-off backgrounds had some business dealings with him. In just a few short years, Jiang Chen's business had covered the entire Ganwu Universe Nation, involving a wide variety of products. Of course, the reason he could open up the situation so quickly—aside from the reputation gained in the competition—was that under the stacking of numerous specialties, the various technological products produced by Jarvis under Jiang Chen's name had their costs compressed to the extreme. Many products were priced slightly lower than the normal market, yet they still guaranteed sufficient profit. Although the difference was not huge, with large quantities, the saved funds were not a small sum. Naturally, some large factions increased their cooperation with Jiang Chen, and many smaller factions, hearing the news, also came seeking collaboration. As long as it didn't require Jiang Chen to step out personally to do anything, he almost never refused business dealings. Who wouldn't want to make money? Over the years, the business under Jiang Chen's name grew larger and larger.

In the financial reports of the last six months, profits had already reached several hundred Hunyuan units. This made Jiang Chen's reputation in the Ganwu Universe Nation increasingly resounding.

Hearing the discussions, Jiang Chen paid them no mind and walked straight to Luo Feng to greet him: "Madman, is this a new friend of yours? Won't you introduce me?"

"Ah Chen," Luo Feng greeted Jiang Chen and introduced: "This is Rong Jun, nicknamed 'Savage.' He is very strong. I have fought him several times in the Virtual Universe and was not his match."

Standing beside Jiang Chen was a man with disheveled hair, exuding a wild, primitive aura—the "Savage" Rong Jun.

"Your strength is also very strong; I need to use my full power to defeat you. A slight carelessness, and you would have won. Besides, recently, your progress has been faster than mine."

Rong Jun spoke to Luo Feng first before turning to Jiang Chen, extending his hand: "I am Rong Jun. I watched your performance in the first round. If there is a chance, I would like to experience how strong your mechanical legion is."

"There will be a chance; perhaps we will face each other in the upcoming finals," Jiang Chen smiled and said: "I am Jiang Chen, nicknamed the 'Cheater'."

Rong Jun curled his lip, dismissively: "Only brainless people would think you cheated. How could the Virtual Universe system make such a mistake?"

"It's just a title; I don't care," Jiang Chen shook his head and smiled: "If they love to call me that, let them."

"Indeed, no need to care about that bunch of idiots," Rong Jun nodded in agreement, then suddenly changed the subject: "You didn't show much strength before. I'm curious, are you only good at technology? Or have you hidden your strength regarding Laws?"

Rong Jun's question was what many geniuses, or those following the competition, were curious about. However, Jiang Chen naturally would not answer, smiling instead: "Wait for the finals, perhaps you will know."

Rong Jun noticed that Jiang Chen used the word "perhaps." That meant Jiang Chen believed that perhaps no one could force him to use his true trump cards. In the Genius Competition, where external means were strictly limited, did Jiang Chen have the confidence that he could sweep the board relying solely on the technological weapons he created? Rong Jun felt a sense of doubt, but he was wise enough not to press further.

As they chatted, all the geniuses arrived. Suddenly, a terrifying aura appeared, drawing everyone's attention. The giant "Thirteen," wearing a helmet and scale armor, appeared at the entrance of the hall.

"Everyone, assemble!"

Thirteen's command rang in everyone's ears. The geniuses quickly reacted and lined up in the hall. Whether intentional or not, Jiang Chen, his "Uchiha Shisui" clone, Rong Jun, Luo Feng, and the others recognized as the top tier of the Ganwu Universe Nation's geniuses were shifted to the very center of the front row.

"By the order of the Universe Nation Lord, I am the team leader for the one thousand geniuses of the Ganwu Universe Nation in this Genius Competition!"

The armored giant's voice sounded like thunder. Even through his helmet, the geniuses felt the oppressive force of his bloodthirsty, murderous eyes: "You may address me as Lord 'Thirteen.' Do you understand?!"

"Understood!"

The geniuses replied involuntarily.

"Such strong pressure... If I didn't have those mental-type specialties, I'm afraid I would have to exert all my strength just to keep from being crushed to the ground by this aura," Jiang Chen thought, secretly surprised. This aura was far stronger than any Immortal he had encountered during simulated battles in the Virtual Universe. Moreover, Jiang Chen suspected that Thirteen was intentionally holding back, considering these geniuses were only Star-level.

"Jiang Chen!"

Thirteen suddenly spoke, calling Jiang Chen's name.