Chapter Eighteen: Quantum Mastery

Chapter 18: Quantum Mastery

Azure streams of data flowed from Yunyang’s eyes, erupting in a shockwave within the silent cosmic vacuum, unleashing an overwhelming aura. He was suddenly struck by an ultra-miniature solar flare, sent hurtling back over a thousand meters before regaining his balance. Before he could even vent his anger, a resounding voice boomed out.

"Kid, you just woke up and didn’t even thank your savior. Instead, you try to show off in front of me? Asking for trouble, aren’t you?"

Yunyang was about to snap back, but then he saw who it was. Oh dear, hair tied back, a general’s armor, a red cloak—it was none other than Pan Zhen. Definitely not someone to provoke.

He quickly changed his expression, forcing an awkward smile. “Ah, isn’t this the great Pan Zhen? What wind brings you here? My apologies for any disrespect.”

“You know me? Tell me, how did you recognize me?” Pan Zhen was rather surprised, as he had no recollection of ever meeting this boy.

Yunyang’s expression froze. He couldn’t very well say he’d seen him in an anime, could he? His tongue had slipped; what a blunder. He’d have to make something up.

“I heard about you from Rose. She mentioned that Reina’s family has a formidable figure, a general no less. Seeing your imposing presence and classic armor, I knew it had to be you.”

“Kid, you’re lying, but since you’re so slick with your words, I’ll let it slide,” Pan Zhen said, his face unreadable but his words forthright.

At the moment Yunyang was revived, his gene engine had also been installed. Since there were no materials, energy had to be used to forge it—costing a significant amount. In just over an hour, the sun had lost at least twenty thousand years of its lifespan. If the sun were conscious, it would have likely unleashed a solar wind to wipe these two out.

“Since you’re up and running, my task here is done. I won’t be going to Earth—until fate brings us together again.” With that, Pan Zhen transformed into a meteor and vanished in an instant.

Yunyang felt as if a thousand mythical beasts were stampeding through his mind. This was the universe, after all. The great deity brought him here but didn’t bother to send him back—how was he supposed to return? Was he supposed to run all the way back? That was a bit much.

He stared at the sun for a while before recalling that he, too, now possessed a gene engine. He quickly immersed himself in the dark dimension, eager to see what abilities he’d gained.

Welcome to your dark dimension. I am your gene engine: Quantum Mastery. What are your commands?

Yunyang’s dark dimension was a pale blue space filled with streams of data, nothing else but those intermittent flows—a vast emptiness. He didn’t care about interior design for now; discovering his abilities was the priority.

“So, System, what can I do? Give me a rundown.”

Greetings, Quantum Master Yunyang. Your gene engine has unlocked the following permissions: Collapse Jump and Quantum Domain.

“Sounds impressive. Mind explaining? I don’t quite get it.”

Of course. Collapse Jump: Target a location, enter a quantum superposition state, and use energy to amplify the probability of collapsing to that location to infinity, thus appearing at the desired spot.

Quantum Domain: Allows you or any marked individual to enter a superposition state, freely altering the probability of quantum collapse.

Although the explanations were somewhat vague, Yunyang understood. In simple terms, Collapse Jump was teleportation—albeit energy-intensive. Quantum Domain allowed him to bestow effects on himself, allies, or even enemies: for example, minimizing the probability of suffering injury, reducing a comrade’s wounds to nil, or turning a minor enemy wound into a fatal one. As long as he had enough energy, anything was possible.

He had the quantum computer in his dark dimension try to locate Rose, intending to thank her properly. He didn’t know why Pan Zhen had provided energy, but he was sure Rose had helped—she was the only member of the Super Soldier Legion he knew.

Unfortunately, his gene engine couldn’t pinpoint her location—a real headache. The only alternative was a random teleport, then collapsing the probability of appearing next to Rose to infinity. He tried, but the gene engine reported insufficient energy.

Forced to settle, he targeted Earth and teleported there directly.

Yunyang materialized in a barren field. Looking around, he saw a landscape of withered yellow—no, a field of golden light. It was an untended wheat field, the crops fully ripe, their golden waves rolling in the breeze.

He teleported along the road for over a hundred kilometers. It had to be said: being a super soldier was exhilarating. Yunyang didn’t even bother walking anymore; he simply teleported at will.

As he reveled in his new abilities, bursts of gunfire and the thunder of artillery sounded ahead. He quickly located the source and teleported.

A special operations squad was there, sent to scout ahead for friendly forces crossing enemy territory. Originally ten men strong, they were down to seven, having been targeted by three scout ships from the Direwolf civilization.

In the first encounter, three comrades were killed. The Direwolves, seeing that their weapons couldn’t inflict effective damage, grew playful—this scout team wouldn’t last until Yunyang arrived.

Lacking heavy weaponry, the remaining members were left scrambling for survival, unable to mount an effective counterattack. The gunfire Yunyang heard was their initial attempt; when they realized their weapons were futile, they stopped firing—war supplies were too precious to waste.

Yunyang arrived to find these valiant soldiers and, without hesitation, marked them with Quantum Domain. Instantly, they felt revitalized, their wounds vanishing. Though baffled, they were grateful for the sudden recovery.

Spotting the woods ahead, with Yunyang inside, the squad leader signaled his team to enter, avoiding further airstrikes.

Before long, under the dire fire from the Direwolf scout ships, the soldiers dashed into the forest. It was early autumn, and the leaves were still dense. The scout ships, lacking advanced equipment, could only hover aimlessly above, searching for the Chinese soldiers who had escaped below.

Soon after entering, the soldiers encountered Yunyang—completely naked beneath a large tree, his clothes incinerated by the sun, not a scrap remaining. Still riding the high of his newfound powers and not having seen anyone on the way, Yunyang hadn’t realized his predicament.

The special ops team, seeing a stark naked man waving at them, were dumbfounded. Who am I? Where am I? What am I seeing?

Yunyang, seeing the seven approach, was delighted—after all, he’d saved them. He teleported to their path and waited under the tree for two minutes, resulting in this spectacle.

Having eluded the Direwolf scout ships, the soldiers relaxed a bit. After a moment of observation, one young soldier couldn’t hold back his laughter, pointing at Yunyang as he spoke.

“Brother, were you mugged for your looks? They didn’t even leave you your clothes!”

Yunyang froze, then glanced down, cursed, and darted behind the tree. It was summer, and he’d been wearing short sleeves before being thrown into space. The excitement of becoming superhuman had made him oblivious to his lack of clothing—what a fiasco.

The laughing soldier took off his jacket and tossed it behind the tree. “You look so pitiful, just borrow this. No need to return it. Hurry and cover up. Sure, you’ve got a good physique, but this is no way to show it off.”

Yunyang thanked him, tied the sleeves around his waist, and emerged bare-chested. Being a super soldier was truly something—his abs, once merely defined, had blossomed into an eight-pack. That explained the soldier’s earlier remark.

“So, what happened? Did you really get mugged for your looks?” another teased.

“If I said my clothes were burned by the sun, would you believe me?” Yunyang replied helplessly.

“Do we look like fools to you?”

“I figured. Honestly, who would believe that?” He hadn’t expected them to, so he said no more.

A brief chuckle passed among them.

After chatting a while, the soldiers learned Yunyang was a super soldier. They took him for a member of the Super Soldier Legion—after all, all Chinese super soldiers belonged to it. Yunyang didn’t correct them.

He also learned why the squad was there and about the attack. After a brief explanation, the soldiers looked at him expectantly. Their weapons were useless against the ships, but wasn’t there a super soldier present?

Yunyang felt awkward and declared, “Don’t look at me like that. I’m a support-type super soldier. My physique’s better than yours, but I really can’t take on those ships.”

The soldiers didn’t buy it, their faces full of disbelief. Yunyang, unable to stand their gazes, shouted, “I really am support! Hand me your guns, I’ll upgrade them for you.”

Taking him at his word, the soldiers handed over their rifles. Blue light flashed, and a series of Type 95 assault rifles, now shimmering with blue energy, appeared on the ground—like something straight out of science fiction, complete with special effects. Whether they would help in a crisis remained to be seen.