Chapter 39
At this stage, she had transcended the realm of ordinary mortals, reaching the level of the most fundamental combat unit in the universe. Though still weak, she could finally influence the external world with her mental power, stepping into the extraordinary domain.
At the same time, the unique nature of her mental power had caused the personal terminal—a miniature device—to hit its limit in measuring her mental strength. It could only indicate that Ye Bai's mental fluctuations exceeded 50 nano, without providing a specific value. This meant that even a mentalist of D-grade or higher would yield the same result.
Now, the personal terminal had truly become Ye Bai's own tool, free from the possibility of being controlled by other signals, as she had learned to sever its connection with her mental power.
Slowly, Ye Bai began to master the use of her mental power, transforming it into 'tentacles' that extended outward, cautiously and gradually probing beyond her body.
During this time, her identification system remained active. As she had expected, it could also achieve a 'tactile' assessment, successfully retrieving the same information about the nutrient solution as before.
Her mental power reached out again, passing through the nutrient solution and encountering the metallic hull.
‘MF-100 model hibernation pod, manufactured in the industrial star of Centaurus γ-78.’
‘Time until next malfunction: 14,793 hours.’
After several attempts and confirming that she had only obtained these two pieces of valid information, Ye Bai continued to extend her mental power outward.
‘Abnormal state monitor (standard mode)’
‘Magnetic field protection - Level 4 standard’
As soon as she ventured outside the pod, Ye Bai's mental power detected two more pieces of information.
There were monitoring and protective devices outside the nutrient pod!
Ye Bai was taken aback, instinctively retracting her mental tentacles until she sensed no further anomalies. It dawned on her that the uniqueness of mental power made it difficult for normal machinery to detect; only mentalists and a few special materials could sense it.
Clearly, because they hadn't anticipated that Ye Bai could elevate her mental power to D-grade, there were no devices here capable of detecting mental energy.
With a sigh of relief, Ye Bai continued her exploration and then 'saw' more of the same nutrient pods lined up in parallel.
One by one, she counted the pods… Goodness, it looked like a circular section of the spaceship, tightly packed against the hull, with six pods arranged in a circle, thirty-six nutrient pods standing upright in a 360-degree formation, all containing signs of life.
This characteristic was visible to Ye Bai without needing to probe into the nutrient pods, as if it were a natural trait of mental power.
In her perception, the mental energies of these life forms flickered like breathing lights, stable within a fixed range. They were likely intelligent beings captured and still in a dormant state, yet to awaken.
It seemed that the Makur Group had not only captured Ye Bai as a 'rare species'; it was highly probable that they had taken others from different star systems.
After exploring the cabin with her mental power, Ye Bai began to feel noticeably fatigued, especially when extending her mental tentacles further away; it was much more taxing. When focused on areas closer to herself, it was significantly easier.
Fortunately, just like recovering her spirit, she could retract her mental power to rest for a moment before continuing her actions.
There was no more information to be gleaned from the entire spaceship cabin, and Ye Bai couldn't extend her reach any further. She could only conclude that this cabin was specifically designed by the Makur forces to imprison beings they had captured through illegal means.
So these would be her 'cellmates'...
Ye Bai's mental tentacles could sense the machinery but could not perceive the physical forms of the intelligent beings. The only thing she could feel was that some of these 'lights' were larger, while others were smaller. However, she could tell that they were all weaker than her, suggesting that the size of the 'light' represented the strength of their mental power.
If that were the case, it meant that, excluding Ye Bai as an anomaly, all the intelligent beings in this pod should have mental powers below D-grade.
Should she attempt to leave the nutrient pod and take action?
No, that would be too rash. D-grade was not a high level in the universe; many evolved high-level civilizations had ordinary individuals born with D-grade mental power. For instance, in the Galactic civilization, the renowned Illusory Sea civilization—home to her alien friend Aurora—had ordinary citizens with at least D-grade mental power, with the strongest even reaching A-grade.
However, sitting idly by was clearly not an option. After some thought, Ye Bai directed her mental power toward the 'cellmate' in the adjacent nutrient pod.
If someone nearby knew more about the situation, perhaps they could find a way out.
Yet, when Ye Bai's mental power touched the 'neighboring cellmate's' mental entity, it did not result in the normal communication she had envisioned—
“!!!”
The moment her mental entity made contact, it was as if a drop of water had fallen into a hot oil pan; the entire mental entity began to shake violently, like a light bulb flickering from unstable voltage, losing all its previous calm.
Ye Bai didn't even know if her message had been successfully conveyed; all she sensed from the other party's mental fluctuations was intense panic and fear.
What was happening?
Ye Bai quickly withdrew her mental power, filled with questions and uncertainty. It felt as if she had merely smiled and said 'hi,' only for the other party to suddenly scream in terror.
The 'cellmate'—whatever kind of being it was—seemed to have a body structure different from ancient humans. The violent mental fluctuations might have caused it to move, triggering the 'abnormal state monitor' that Ye Bai had previously detected.
“Beep—!”
An alarm sounded, and Ye Bai's extended mental tentacle noticed a mechanical device at the edge of the neighboring nutrient pod activating. A tube of liquid shot out from within and connected to the nutrient pod, slowly injecting its contents inside.
Ye Bai immediately used her identification system on the liquid:
‘Anesthetic GP-63+, patented by the Makur Group's Fifth Research Institute, with an effective ingredient twice that of GP-63.’
Ye Bai: …Sorry, cellmate!!
As the double-strength anesthetic was injected, the mental entity next door gradually quieted down, returning to its original state.
After waiting a moment for everything to settle, Ye Bai extended her mental tentacle toward the other 'cellmate 2.'
Moments later…
“Beep—!”
In her mind, she apologized to cellmate 2, who had also been subjected to an extra dose of anesthetic, and silently retracted her mental power:
…It seemed the problem lay with her.
---
Chapter 27
After causing trouble for two neighbors, Ye Bai dared not continue her probing; she couldn't possibly wreak havoc throughout the entire cabin.
Following her failed attempts with mental power, Ye Bai decided to shift her approach.
What about magic?
Like her innate talent, magic was a skill from the game, but the moment she had this thought, Ye Bai inexplicably felt… she could use it in reality as well.
Unlike in the game, where a thought would trigger a skill, the sensation of control in reality was much more tangible. It wasn't just about conjuring spells with a mere thought; her mental power could genuinely perceive and manipulate the elemental 'particles' involved.
From a scientific perspective, magic wasn't conjured from thin air; it was achieved by using mental power to manipulate microscopic particles.
Ye Bai was confident in this realization because she discovered that the spells she couldn't use at the moment were five: Wind Blade, Fireball, Ice Spike, Earth Spike, and Vine Whip.
These five spells required planetary environments, which she couldn't access now since the spaceship was traveling through space.
Conversely, the spells she could use—Lightning, Light Arrow, and Slow—...
Even with her not-so-solid scientific knowledge, she could roughly deduce that these spells corresponded to electricity, magnetism, and gravity.
With this in mind, Ye Bai took a deep breath, gaining a deeper understanding of why mental power was so highly valued by all civilizations in this vast universe.
After thousands of years of scientific and technological development, a complex and advanced theoretical foundation and industrial standards had been established, allowing intelligent beings to understand the basic forces of small-scale utilization. Yet, mental power could be controlled with mere thoughts… it was as if the universe was playing a joke on all technological civilizations!
As for the final psychic magic, the Mind Ray, Ye Bai was unclear about what basic force it corresponded to. In the game, this skill could bypass armor to deal real damage, perhaps resembling a unique application of mental power.
After pondering for a moment, Ye Bai decided to make a bold attempt.
She returned to the realm of all worlds and allocated the unused skill points and talent points she had saved.
Ye Bai invested her first precious skill point into the skill panel's [Mana Siphon].
Mastering all magic types was not considered a skill for a spellcaster with 'magical bloodline'; it was a characteristic of her very being.
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