Pretending to be a genius starts with the civilization advancement assessment.

Chapter 124 Integration of the Meaning of Rules
Lin Yi didn't care what the high-ranking officials in the Jinling City settlements thought.

He was standing quietly on the edge of the rooftop of an abandoned high-rise building, with more than a dozen small steel balls, their surfaces shimmering with tiny golden-red electric sparks, slowly swirling around him, poised to strike.

After landing on the rooftop, his soul power had already spread out like an invisible giant net, accurately capturing every powerful energy source in this area.

Those targets whose energy responses fluctuate around 5,000 points are as clear as a lighthouse in the darkness.

"next."

Lin Yi's mind stirred slightly.

With his will, the golden-red lightning on the surface of a small steel ball beside him suddenly accelerated and swirled, instantly merging into a deep black electric beam that coiled around it.

The next moment, a flash of black light appeared, and the small steel ball disappeared from its original spot.

Almost simultaneously, in his soul's perception, a scorching energy source several kilometers away suddenly went out, like a flame that had been extinguished.

This was a strategy that Lin Yi had already decided on on his way here.

A large lair produces 125,000 source energy points of abyssal beasts every day, which sounds terrifying, but if converted into elite units of 5,000 points each, it amounts to only 25 beasts.

Killing higher-level Abyss Beasts would cause a great disturbance and could easily attract a siege from leader-level Abyss Beasts, which would be quite troublesome to deal with.

Lower-level Abyss Beasts are too inefficient; Abyss Beasts around 5000 points are just right.

Moreover, the sheer number and strength of these abyssal beasts are key to maintaining the pressure of nest expansion and posing a substantial threat to the settlement's defenses.

As for the efficiency of cleaning them up...

A very faint smile appeared on Lin Yi's lips.

If Liu Qiying and the others knew his true offensive power at this moment, they would probably be speechless with shock.

The Star Swirl level is far superior to the Star Core level. One of the most crucial differences is that the understanding and application of rules have reached a new level—the fusion of the meaning of the rules.

This is not a simple accumulation of strength, but a qualitative leap.

With his current level of 12% understanding of the rules, he has already achieved a preliminary fusion of the dual meanings of the rules.

The power amplification brought about by this fusion far exceeds the simple addition of the effects of individual rules, reaching an astonishing five times.

This means that the actual increase in his rule multiplier was not the 22 times that he had previously told Liu Qiying, but a terrifying 110 times.

Therefore, he only needs to infuse each small steel ball with a mere 30 points of source energy, and after the rule fusion amplification, its equivalent attack power will steadily exceed 3300 points.

It's more than enough to deal with these elite abyss beasts with 5,000 points of source energy.

After all, the Abyss Beasts are not inanimate objects made of energy; they also need time and concentration to mobilize energy for defense or attack.

Faced with this sudden, incredibly precise, and high-speed attack, these elite abyssal beasts could only muster a maximum of around 1,500 points of source energy for defense in a hurry.

An equivalent attack of 3300 points is enough to instantly tear through its defenses and kill its core in one blow.

In fact, if it weren't for the potential for a siege, Lin Yi's current soul control would have allowed him to lock onto multiple targets simultaneously and eliminate them all at once, instead of killing one, pausing briefly, and then sensing the next one as he was doing now.

One after another, small steel balls transformed into black lightning bolts and silently disappeared into the sky.

Within the network of soul perception, the energy sources representing powerful abyssal beasts rapidly dimmed and extinguished one after another.

Lin Yi was like a patient gardener, precisely pruning those overly prominent "branches" and dismantling the backbone that supported the expansion of the nest.

The entire process was efficient, calm, and possessed an almost artistic beauty.
-
Operations monitoring room at the settlement in Jinling City.

The green dot on the screen flashed again, and the number representing Lin Yiyuan's energy value dropped regularly by 30 points. Almost simultaneously, deep within the distant nest area, a red dot with an energy level exceeding five thousand went out.

"Another one."

Wang Weiguo murmured softly, his gaze lingering on the screen for a long time.

After a few seconds of silence, he turned to the technician next to him, who was also intently watching the screen, and asked, "How many is this?"

Without hesitation, the technician replied, "Commander, since we started recording, we have cleared 189 high-energy targets. The source energy reactions are all around 5000 points."

“189.” Wang Weiguo repeated the number, his face showing a complex expression in addition to his surprise.

He turned to his old partner beside him, his voice a little hoarse.

"Old Li, am I really that useless? The entire Jinling defense force is giving it their all, but they can't even stop the number of abyssal beasts spawning from a large nest in a single day. Every day, we watch as the pressure on the defense line increases."

"As soon as Principal Lin arrived, he spent less than two hours cleaning up almost eight days' worth of waste."

His tone was filled with helplessness and deep self-blame.

Li Changming quickly comforted him, "Weiguo, don't say that. You have done your best. The soldiers fought bravely and held the line firmly, protecting the people in the settlement. Everyone saw it and remembers it. This is not your fault; it's just that times have changed."

Wang Weiguo shook his head, his bitter smile deepening: "Old Li, you don't understand. The General Staff's previous decision to propose establishing a new branch of the armed forces and military academies was made to inform us high-ranking generals. At the time, I..."
He sighed, “I still felt that such a big thing should be handled with utmost caution, and that relying on traditional forces to gradually transform might be a safer approach. Looking back now, I realize that I was short-sighted and failed to see where the real future lay.”

“Hmm,” Li Changming actually nodded, agreeing in a serious tone, “It is indeed a bit shallow.”

Wang Weiguo was taken aback by this blunt response and was speechless for a moment.

Seeing this, Li Changming laughed heartily and patted Wang Weiguo on the shoulder forcefully: "Alright, old buddy, this is a new era now, and we old folks have to learn to adapt to the times! Dwelling on the past is useless, let's look forward! Let's go, let's go!"

He pointed at the screen, "Principal Lin's light has moved and started flying back. We need to go and greet this great savior who has solved our urgent problem!"

About ten minutes later, the silvery-white ball landed silently on landing pad number three once again.

The hatch opened, and Lin Yi appeared, still with that calm demeanor, as if he had just taken a walk in the past two hours.

Wang Weiguo and Li Changming immediately led everyone forward to greet them.

This time, their attitude was much more serious.

"Principal Lin, thank you for your hard work!" Wang Weiguo saluted first, his tone sincere. "Thank you for your help in resolving the biggest threat to our settlement."

Li Changming then added, "Principal Lin, I really don't know how to thank you enough. Your help bought us precious time."

Lin Yi nodded slightly in return: "It's my duty, no need to be so polite. The situation has eased for now, let's talk about the follow-up arrangements."

"Okay! Okay! This way please. The command center has prepared a simple reception room." Li Changming quickly stepped aside to lead the way.

The group quickly arrived at a quiet reception room in the command center.

After the staff served hot tea, they left, leaving only a few core members such as Lin Yi, Wang Weiguo, and Li Changming in the room.

Li Changming personally poured tea for Lin Yi, then asked earnestly, "Principal Lin, although your swift and decisive actions this time wiped out a large number of high-level abyss beasts, giving us a chance to catch our breath, but..."

He observed Lin Yi's expression before continuing, "But if I may be frank, that large nest is still there, and the proliferation of Abyss Beasts will not stop. After a while, we will probably face similar pressure again. I wonder if you have any long-term suggestions for handling the situation?"

This was also Wang Weiguo's biggest concern, and the two of them looked at Lin Yi expectantly.

　I don't know why the last two chapters are warning about risks; I need to revise them. It will probably take a while.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)