Mental Evaluation

The woman in front of him was none other than Dr. Sarah, whom Reno had brought out from the Edward Hospital.

Upon seeing Reno, Sarah gave him a displeased glare, "I don't think you need to be so surprised to see me here. After all, I'm here thanks to your 'kindness'!"

"It seems you still harbor some resentment towards me," Reno said with a smile as he sat down in front of a testing device under Claire's direction.

"I admit it's my fault. How about this? Miss Sarah, I would like to ask you to stay on the ship temporarily and cooperate with us in some research. I promise you'll receive the highest level of treatment. Of course, outwardly, I'll claim that you were kidnapped by us. After we've resolved the issue, I'll grant you freedom. You can go to the Federation government, expose us, reveal some of our secrets. I believe with that information, you'll be treated well. What do you think?"

As they spoke, Claire had already placed a mental intensity detector on Reno's head and attached electrodes to him.

"What research?" Sarah asked.

"Us. Our bodies, our changes, what exactly caused all of this, and how. We all need answers," Reno replied.

"I thought you despised those experiments," Sarah said.

As they spoke, Claire activated the detector. A negative particle flow passed through Reno's body, forming a wavelength that flashed on the adjacent instrument.

The negative particle flow was used to impact Reno's mind, while the wavelength was used to monitor Reno's state. As long as his mental intensity was sufficient, the wavelength would remain relatively stable.

Claire gradually increased the flow of negative particles passing through Reno, but apparently, this had no effect on him; he felt nothing at all.

"I detest experiments that are not permitted and disregard human rights. But if they're voluntary, then there's no problem. My soldiers and I are all curious about what's happening to us, and we want answers. We don't mind undergoing some experiments, or even taking risks and enduring hardships," Reno said.

"If that's the case, I need enough personal freedom," Sarah said.

"No problem. As long as you don't betray us, you'll receive absolute respect on this ship," Reno assured her.

"I also need sufficient experimental equipment. The equipment here is too scarce, and most of it is emergency equipment," Sarah continued.

"I'll arrange that for you."

"I'll need salary and vacation time."

"No problem," Reno replied with a smile.

The two looked at each other and suddenly laughed simultaneously.

In fact, Sarah had no real animosity towards Reno and his group. Although Reno had brought her here against her will, in her heart, she felt deep sympathy for these soldiers. With Reno's assurance of safety and basic living conditions, she didn't mind doing something for the freedom-loving warriors.

Because of this, she didn't even ask about the most basic "work time limits."

Neither Reno nor Sarah mentioned it.

The intensity of the negative particle flow continued to increase and had reached 18 points.

This intensity surprised Sarah.

The problem was, it obviously wasn't the limit; Reno's body was only trembling slightly, and the wavelength on the instrument remained relatively stable.

"Damn, you've already surpassed genius," Claire muttered softly.

She continued to increase the impact force of the negative particle flow, and the energy intensity continued to rise. Reno's body began to sway.

Sarah quickly took a flashlight and shone it into Reno's eyes, "How do you feel? Any discomfort?"

"I couldn't be better," Reno replied.

Sarah turned to Claire, "Increase the intensity directly to 21."

Claire frowned, "That's too much. If he can't handle it, he'll faint."

"Slowly increasing will increase his resistance, resulting in higher data deviations," Sarah replied, taking the adjuster in her hand.

"Alright, it's up to you," Claire shrugged. She excelled in battlefield first aid; Sarah was the expert in genetics and human energy.

"Shall we begin?" Reno smiled.

"I hope you can bear it as you said, as long as it's voluntary," Sarah replied, giving him a fierce look and abruptly turning the adjuster.

The intensity surged.

Reno was like a fish electrified, jerking a few times. The wavelength on the instrument quickly climbed and then slowly descended.

"It seems he can still hold on," Sarah said, turning her hand again to increase the flow of negative particles.

"Oh my god!" Claire exclaimed, eyes wide as she watched the data on the instrument.

That was already 24, but Reno still didn't seem to be at his limit.

"Let's add a little more," Sarah continued to increase the intensity of the negative particle flow. Reno's body kept swaying, but no matter how much the intensity increased, the wavelength data remained steady, indicating that this was still not Reno's limit.

Even Sarah began to be surprised. It seemed that the adjuster had been pushed to its limit, gradually unable to increase further. Reno's body also began to show rapid palpitations, with a flush appearing on his face. This meant he was nearing his limit. Just then, with a bang, the detector suddenly emitted a puff of black smoke.

It was burnt out.

"Oh, damn!" Claire and Sarah exclaimed in disbelief.

In the end, the detector failed to measure Reno's upper limit and was destroyed. On the final display scale, it showed a data point of 32.

Mental intensity exceeded 32.

"I now understand why you can use Dragon Ascend," Claire muttered.

Sarah said, "It looks like we need a new detector."

...

"Your physical condition is normal, except for a slightly low blood oxygen level, possibly due to fatigue. You need to rest properly," Sarah said, holding a comprehensive test report in the medical room.

After testing Reno's mental intensity, Sarah began a comprehensive physical examination of him.

But the fact was she couldn't find any reason for Reno's sudden mental surge, attributing it all to his psychokinesis.

"Everything normal is the biggest abnormality." Reno sat up in the medical pod, dressing as he spoke. "Since it exists, there must be a reason, but we just can't discover it for now."

"That may not be the case. You're looking at it with a scientific attitude, but superpowers aren't science," Sarah said.

"Superpowers are science. Someone once said that so-called superpowers are actually the technology of the mind," Claire interjected. "This technology is just temporarily beyond our understanding, but one day, we will understand it."

Sarah shook her head in disagreement. "I think you overestimate the power of science. There are too many mysteries in the universe that cannot be explained by science."

"This is quite interesting," Reno said as he finished dressing. "You're a scientist, yet you don't believe in science?"

Sarah shrugged. "It's not that I don't believe, it's just that everything that happened made me unable to understand or rationalize. You know? When I learned that there were forces in the universe that science couldn't explain, I was truly shocked. Everything I had learned collapsed during that time. I even stopped believing in the significance of technology. I began to believe in God, that everything was created by the hands of God. Without this, I couldn't explain everything."

"This might be a common problem for scientists. They always believe that the knowledge they have acquired can explain everything. When they can't, they start to doubt or even overthrow everything, feeling that what they've done is meaningless. In contrast, those of us who don't understand science are more firmly convinced of the power of technology," Claire said.

"That's not surprising," Reno chimed in. "Sometimes the more you understand something, the less you will respect it. Just like civil servants distrust the government the most because they've seen too much darkness; scientists doubt science because their knowledge isn't comprehensive enough, some even turn to charlatanism; as for us, precisely because we don't understand science, we trust it... This kind of thing happens all the time. The more ignorant, the more trusting; the more understanding, the more suspicious."

"Interesting perspective. Perhaps you're right. Science cannot explain it simply because we don't yet have enough knowledge. So, where should we start our research?" Sarah asked.

"What about the data from Edward Hospital?" Reno suggested.

Sarah's eyes lit up. "You brought all that data?"

"As much as I could carry," Reno replied.

Then he saw the excitement on Sarah's face, so Reno knew that at least for the time being, Sarah had no intention of leaving.

At that moment, Claire said, "Speaking of Edward Hospital, I suddenly remembered that we haven't opened those boxes we got from there yet."