New Gods of North America.

Chapter 654 Limit
When Wayne returned to the workshop after having dinner with the Beeton family's father who had stayed behind,
It was already close to midnight.

Noticing the lights were still on in the archives, Wayne went over to take a look, only to find Lina inside, looking at something and scratching her head.
She was looking at the "flashes of inspiration" that Wayne had initially compiled, which were extraordinary pieces of knowledge that he had "translated" according to his own understanding. Wayne had given the notes to Inessa before leaving home this morning, but unexpectedly, after they were passed on to Lina, she was still reading them at this point.

As soon as Wayne poked his head out, Lina looked towards the window and said, "You've come at the right time. What kind of nonsense is this that you've written on the back?"

Walking over to the table and taking a closer look, Wayne thought what he had written should be easy to understand: "This point is probably about the gradual decrease of extraordinary energy. For example, the same pile of extraordinary materials may be able to cultivate several relatively low-level extraordinary beings, but it may still not be enough to cultivate 'one' extraordinary being one level higher than them."

When Wayne was "facing" the wise sage, a flood of ideas burst forth in his mind—a "flash of inspiration." Much of it was like a spark that vanished in an instant, difficult to recall afterward. However, some feelings remained relatively clear, even if hard to describe in words, and were relatively firmly etched in his memory.

This passage is very similar to what Wayne knows about "energy decreasing at each level of the food chain," so he feels it's easy for him to understand.

However, the reason Lina was scratching her head didn't seem to be that. "I can roughly understand the meaning of this sentence, but what's with the formula below?"

“Well… that’s something I made up based on my own understanding,” Wayne said honestly. “It might not be accurate.”

Extraordinary knowledge isn't mathematics, and Wayne's own experience was limited, so he could only make a preliminary estimate based on his intuition. He would make bold assumptions and carefully verify them, testing them slowly when the opportunity arose.
Fortunately, there are also many "empirical formulas" in engineering, which are also products of the mindset of "although I don't quite understand why, the calculated results seem to be fine, so I just use them as is".

So it's no wonder that clandestine organizations are so chaotic these days. If everyone did it this way, then the research results of many extraordinary scholars might just be "finding gold in the shit" or "I think it should be right." We have to look at things dialectically.

To allow for later revisions, Wayne typically wrote only one "a flash of inspiration" on each page, leaving the rest blank.
Lina flipped through a few more pages, pointing to the contents on the left and right, "So you also made up this 'Extraordinary Energy Conservation Law' and 'Core Trait Enrichment Conjecture'?"

Wayne nodded. "Yes."

The former has already been addressed in the theories of the Hunter Association (as stated by Inessa) and the Church of the Holy Spirit (as stated by David Mills), such as the fact that the rank of an Extraordinary Ability is not equivalent to combat power, and that Extraordinary Abilities of the same rank can vary in actual combat effectiveness, etc.

Based on his "flash of inspiration" and his own understanding, Wayne further refined the concept and felt that the seemingly "exquisite but weak" extraordinary abilities might be because their "cost" was not low and their "energy consumption" was high, which was why they seemed so ineffective. Wayne guessed that there should be some kind of conservation law at the underlying level.

As for the latter, it was based on Wayne's association with the "heavy metal bioaccumulation effect" in the food chain.
As the rank of extraordinary individuals rises, they consume more extraordinary materials or energy, and it is said that they become increasingly "inhuman," which must mean that something is being constantly "refined."

Lina could only express her helplessness, "Normal records of extraordinary knowledge shouldn't be like this... This is even harder to understand than what's in the Truth Cult and the Life School. Although the specific descriptions differ, they've reached similar conclusions. It's nothing like what you've written, which reads like a research paper..."

Damn,

The contents aren't exactly a science book, so please bear with it.

After chatting for a few more minutes, Wayne answered questions and inquired about the latest intelligence. He also explained to Lina which parts of the notes he was quite certain about and which he simply "had a feeling" about.
Lina has a good foundation in this area. She may not have organized some of her ideas in detail, but she has a general idea of ​​them. Although she gets a headache looking at the formulas, she can understand the gist of the matter even without the formulas.

Wait a moment,
Putting aside the formulas... let's grasp the main idea...

Recalling the vague thoughts that had previously occupied his mind, Wayne suddenly seemed to have a sudden realization:
Different extraordinary abilities, besides conforming to the characteristics of their respective "domains," will also exhibit different types.

The so-called "extraordinary people," whether they "ascend" or "fall," are essentially developing in a more "inhuman" direction along the characteristics of their own domain and extraordinary abilities.

One of Wayne's extraordinary abilities is "explosion." I remember once when he was leveling up, he was almost blown to bits on the spot.
Based on Wayne's past experience of successfully courting death, it can be inferred that besides the somewhat unorthodox "upper limit" that is often exceeded, there is actually an even more extreme "limit" in the "blue bar" in his body, the kind that he can't control even if he wants to self-destruct... Could it be that a key step in his advancement from the "beginner" to the "intermediate" level actually requires him to explode "big" at some point and then withstand it through his self-healing ability?
isn't it?
Are we going to go this far?

Just thinking about it makes me feel like it must hurt a lot...

Considering the mutated demons and monsters I've seen before, it's possible they don't feel any pain at all, and might just "pass away" the moment they close their eyes, or they might turn into out-of-control monsters that howl at everyone they see.

Wayne was about to discuss the feasibility of his idea with Lina when Inessa appeared outside the door. "Your injection is ready, it's just in time to be given to you."

Well……

Wayne took the syringe while pondering, and his attention was immediately drawn to it. "Why is this syringe so big?!"

The all-metal sealed cylinder was still slightly warm, and its size was almost like a thermos. When you held it in your hand, the tips of your thumb and middle finger couldn't even touch each other. It felt like it would take half an hour to administer an IV drip with it.

If you were to poke a needle into someone's body and inject them directly, even a cow would probably roll its eyes on the spot, right?
Seeing Wayne staring at the metal can in his hand with a look of shock, Inessa kindly began to explain:

"Its preservation is more complicated than I imagined. It has a double-layered structure. The syringe itself is soaked in another medicine, and the outer layer is made of tin to seal the gaps. When you use it, you need to unscrew the cap first. If you can't unscrew it, you have to melt the tin seal with a flame like a candle—that's the only way for now."

I see, that's good then.

Otherwise, if you have to give yourself a veterinary dose of injection in front of the enemy to unleash your power during a fight, it's not cool at all.

That scene looked like they were desperate and cornered, completely lacking any semblance of composure.

After putting away the "thermos," Inessa arrived just in time. Wayne didn't mention the self-healing ability that the three of them tacitly avoided discussing, but instead tried to inquire about the feasibility of his method to break through his limits.
Both Inessa and Lina said it was "possible," and then Inessa asked a profound question: "While trying to push your limits is indeed a potentially effective method, the proportion of people who lose control or die as a result is actually much higher."

"Even in the Windsor Church Asylum where Lina and I used to stay, that was a risky thing for those who were about to be eliminated. Are you sure you can handle the shock?"

uncertain,
Very uncertain.

If it were an "intentional detonation," Wayne could intuitively predict the outcome; he felt the extreme explosive force would definitely kill him.
However, in the case of "passive detonation", Wayne actually had a successful survival experience once. Perhaps it was because the place of "explosion" was different. At that time, he felt that his spiritual power was "escaping" rather than being completely consumed.

However, the situation at that time was actually quite dangerous.
Looking back, he was like an acrobat who had fallen off a tightrope. If he had missed the chance to grab the wire, he would have been left with nothing but his last words during the rest of his fall.

After a brief discussion, Inessa concluded that even if Wayne were to choose to take the risk, he should first adjust his condition, at least until the side effects of the curses he had absorbed had completely subsided, and then store some additional extraordinary materials and potions as a contingency plan.
Lina couldn't offer any advice, saying she had never actually encountered a situation where she was "stuck" while leveling up...

In the end, Wayne put the "thermos" away, planning to get two straps later and attach it to his belt as an emergency combat accessory.

This thing has a relatively long shelf life, so there's no rush to do anything reckless. Let's finish what we need to do first, to avoid having to recover from injuries or anything like that.
And even if you're going to blow it up, there's no reason to do it in your own workshop. If all else fails, it would be better to go to the Sailors' Gang's hideout and do it there, so you can pretend it was an accident or something.

(End of this chapter)