The system is very abstract, fortunately I am also.

Chapter 447 This is really impolite [Seeking monthly votes]

Lin Li believes that it is impolite to ask someone for their promotion tool after knowing them for only half an hour.

We should at least spend more time together and become good friends before asking for it.

Damn it, I was practically Zhu Ning's savior, and this guy turned around and wanted my manhood? Isn't this repaying kindness with enmity?
Perhaps it was a destined encounter. When the beautiful girl discovered that you possessed something that could potentially save her, her family, her friends, and even her country, she immediately begged you to help her.

If saving countless lives can be achieved simply through one's own hard work, then what is wrong with that?

[Mission triggered!]

Task Five: Strive to fulfill the beautiful girl's request regarding this matter.

[Task Rewards: Physical Improvement: Stamina cap increased by 100%; Random System-Specific Item *1; System Currency *100]

Lin Li: "..."

Between Lin Li and Zhu Ning, who was prostrate on the ground, a virtual system screen popped up with a task displayed in front of Lin Li.

System, are you out of your mind, Tomato?

Can this thing be posted as a task?

You want me to cut it?
Lin Li's gaze passed over the system and looked down at Zhu Ning, or more precisely, at the "Rejuvenating Feather Pill" inside Zhu Ning's body.

...Wait a minute, this pill seems to be able to heal recent physical defects.

However, the idea of ​​"cutting it off and then taking 'Fuyu Dan' to recover" did not appear among the many alternative options.

The reason is simple: Lin Li doesn't want to do that.

Who knows what kind of recovery "Fuyu Dan" restores?

In the novels I read, aren't those amazing healing pills usually able to restore injured parts to "baby-like tenderness"?

But if my thing grows back as "as delicate as a baby" after I take the "Rejuvenating Pill", then my life will be ruined.

Damn it, just seeing that image in his mind made Lin Li want to laugh at first, because he only imagined the lower half of the body—but after imagining the upper half and realizing that the face of this body was his own, Lin Li suddenly wanted to die.

In this way, I might not even be as good as Zeng Zi'ang.

Because I don't even have the right to be bulging.

However, to be honest, even if he could ensure that the "Rejuvenation Pill" could restore the body to its original state, Lin Li would not consider doing so.

It wasn't because the reward was small; even if the task rewarded 1000 system coins, Lin Li still couldn't muster any interest.

Lin Li is a modern cultivator who occasionally slacks off to date, chat in groups, and watch videos. He never felt that the system's tasks were above his life. He did every task before because, although Lin Li occasionally complained, he didn't really dislike them.

It's quite fun to do, and there are rewards too. Most of the time, Lin Li enjoys it.

But Lin Li's task was anything but enjoyable; just thinking about it was terrifying.

As for whether doing so would save countless lives, Lin Li didn't care.

Don't even mention that the system world doesn't feel real anymore. Seriously, if the real world told Lin Li that if he cut it off, the world would be at peace and countless people caught in war would find peace, Lin Li wouldn't agree.

Ultimately, Lin Li felt that he was still a selfish egoist, so if he really needed to switch tasks himself, he should be prepared to leave them hanging in his task list for life.

With these thoughts in mind, Lin Li looked at Zhu Ning with a slightly indifferent expression:
"I'm sorry, my promotion device has been with me since birth and has always chosen to stand in front of me. Even when I encounter great danger, it has never backed down - except when the weather is very cold. But in this case, I don't blame it; it's because I'm not dressed warmly enough."

A deep bond has been formed between us, and we will never be apart.

Besides, I only have one; if I give it to someone else, I'll have none left.

Miss Zhu, please have some self-respect. Whether from an emotional or rational standpoint, I cannot give it away to anyone, not even borrow it.

If Niu Niu had a soul, upon hearing Lin Li's words, he probably wouldn't be able to hold his urine and would urinate through his eyes.

Zhu Ning, who had been waiting for the result, was slightly taken aback when she heard Lin Li's answer. So this thing was so inconvenient? How come it was different from what she knew?
However, in any case, it is only natural for the other party to refuse a presumptuous request that one has made without prior notice, and there is absolutely no need for a reason.

"I'm sorry, I was too hasty," Zhu Ning's voice was full of apology, "I didn't know that there was only one male in your world, so precious..."

Lin Li: "(；☉_☉)?"

Huh? There were actually many men in your world back then?

That's really impressive.

Perhaps this is the reason for its extinction.

“It’s nothing,” Lin Li shook his head. Seeing that Zhu Ning was somewhat silent and had no intention of continuing the conversation, he took the initiative to speak and steer the topic forward:
"However, I'm curious, Miss Zhu, why are you asking for this from me? Is it important to you and the country behind you? What's really going on in this world?"

"I'm sorry! Mr. Lin Li, you've been sharing information about your world, but I forgot to introduce our world first." Only after Lin Li reminded her did Zhu Ning realize that it had been a one-way communication, and her apology deepened.

She paused briefly, as if organizing her thoughts, then cleared her throat and began to speak:
"We do not refer to the world as a planet; we choose to call this land below the 'Crystal Cluster Continent'."

As you can see, our appearance as "humans" is vastly different from yours, but a long, long time ago, perhaps we were similar, and our bodies were not like this long ago.

"Our world does not have the peace that your world has; our entire continent has been engulfed in war."

"But it's not that we're fighting amongst ourselves; rather, it's that all of us humans share a common enemy."

They are alien beings that arrived a very, very long time ago, several generations before their "grandmothers," and we call them "black worms."

"Most of these alien creatures are of low intelligence and act on instinct, but there are high-level black insects and black insect queens among them that can command the lower-level black insects."

Their ultimate goal is to conquer this continent.

"To combat them, we developed a large number of combat mechs based on our previous armor technology—the kind you have."

"And the reason I am here today is also thanks to them."

"I am a pilot of the Third Exploration Legion of the Azure Alliance."

The Azure Alliance is one of the major allied nations on our continent. We are also allied with other allied nations, since everyone's goal is to fight the Black Bugs, and there is absolutely no need for internal strife at this moment.

However, each of the major allied nations is responsible for guarding or eliminating certain specific alien strongholds, and due to geographical reasons, they usually only communicate with each other and rarely have large-scale offline exchanges.

Today I was on a patrol mission when I was ambushed by an extremely cunning force—in short, the Black Bug seemed to know I would be passing through that airspace and had set a trap.

My construct was severely damaged, causing it to crash and eventually land here—at the bottom of "Silent Canyon."

"The bottom of this canyon is filled with a 'silent field,' which current research suggests is the result of the energy dissipation from a special underground mineral vein, combined with interference devices left behind by early alien invaders."

It has an extremely strong suppressive and destructive effect on the technology and energy that constitute our construct mechs, and both our "human bodies" and "black insects" will feel uncomfortable within the "silent field," resulting in a continuous erosion and weakening effect..."

Lin Li raised an eyebrow slightly.

Listening to Zhu Ning's brief description, he had a general idea of ​​the world outside the canyon.

This alien creature... the world setting the system takes me to is quite classic.

However, Lin Li then asked curiously, "Are these 'black insects' so difficult to deal with? You've even created this kind of mecha. Aren't they made of flesh and blood?"
"If they can still keep up with you, how strong must their physical abilities be? And how were you able to withstand their attacks earlier?"

“They also have mechs,” Zhu Ning shook his head and explained, “We are constantly developing them, and they are constantly growing.”

"They have their own biotechnology. Moreover, most of the advanced 'Black Insects' now possess the ability to parasitize, directly parasitizing the wreckage of mechs on the battlefield. This makes them even more difficult to kill."

"Furthermore, the lower-level 'black worms' have also grown larger through evolution. Their current size is several times larger than it was in ancient times. Even a D-class mech would find it difficult to completely kill a lower-level 'black worm.'"

"I see." Lin Li nodded. It's even more classic now.

At this point, Zhu Ning's tone became slightly more enthusiastic:

“Mr. Lin Li, that’s why I lost my composure just now and begged you for a promotion.”

"When those enormous alien creatures first arrived, they not only brought about a devastating war, but also unleashed a weapon targeting genes."

History books give a very brief account, only saying that they completely wiped out the male gender... and that this weapon also changed us women, forcing us to eventually transform ourselves and evolve into the form you see today.

As for how it happened, and the principles behind those weapons… the school curriculum didn't cover it in depth, and I wasn't very good at history either, so I only knew it was a tragedy that happened a long time ago.”

"Without males, our reproduction can only rely on ancient genotype samples preserved by genetic technology."

By replicating and cultivating technology, we can acquire more promotion devices, and then, combined with our own capabilities, nurture the next generation in the incubation chamber.

"Mecha synchronization index is a talent that is fixed at birth."

When we pilot a mech, how much power we can connect with and control depends on it.

The higher the index, the stronger the construct we can control, and the closer our capabilities will be to the limits of the construct's design.

The lower the level of the mech, the greater the performance of the same stats; for each lower level, the performance is doubled.

For example, if your mech synchronization index is 80, when piloting the highest-performing S-class mech, you can unleash 80% of its base value. When piloting the next level, which is the A-class mech you currently have, you can unleash 160% of its potential, just as you feel.

Continuing on, when you pilot a B-class mech, you can achieve three times the performance, 240%, but when you get CDE-class armor, it's all 300%—because that's the absolute limit of the mech's stats.

Having a synchronization index that allows a mech to unleash at least 40% of its potential is a prerequisite for entry. In other words, to pilot a mech of the corresponding level, the converted index must be greater than 40%; otherwise, it simply cannot be activated.

"Currently, our mech synchronization index is generally very low... the vast majority of us are between 5 and 20."

With an index of 24, I'm considered excellent in the alliance, but I can only barely pilot an A-class mech and unleash 48% of my power. I don't even qualify to pilot an S-class mech.

And this situation is getting worse, and the reason for this is related to men.

The mecha synchronization index of offspring is related to the mecha synchronization index of the mother and the master to whom the upgrade device belongs. The higher the synchronization index of both, the greater the probability that the offspring will have a higher index.

Long before armor was used for combat, men, for some reason, had an extremely low natural synchronization index. If 5-20 is the average for us, then men's is 0-5.

Even the lowest-grade E-class armor did not meet the entry requirements at the time.

Occasionally, you might encounter a man with extraordinary talent, but that number is no more than ten.

This is already quite low, but still acceptable, since it has always been this way. However, the problem is becoming more serious now.

Because of the problems caused by generations of replication of the male promotion devices we use for reproduction, or because the technical requirements of mechs are getting higher and higher, many promotion devices that were originally considered to have a mech synchronization index of 5 now have an actual effect equivalent to 1, 2, or even 0.

As a result, the synchronization index of the new generation of mechs has been showing a downward trend overall.

The only way for someone to be able to pilot an S-class mech is to hope for the birth of a high-index offspring after a "hidden gene explosion," which has an extremely low probability of occurrence.

But even these lucky ones, who used to have an index as high as 60 or 70, now only have an index of 40 or 50, barely enough to pilot an S-class mech.

Our overall strength is gradually weakening for this reason.

"We are on a downward spiral, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to resist the invasion of those celestial monsters..."

“However, your numbers are astonishing,” Zhu Ning’s head turned to Lin Li again, his blurred features casting a hopeful light:
"80, a full 80, which is nearly ten times higher than our highest record."

This means that if we study and begin to replicate your promotion device to combine with offspring, it will have unimaginable potential for synchronizing genes, with a high probability of producing a new generation with extremely high synchronization index.

With our current technology, newborns can grasp basic knowledge and understand how to pilot mechs in combat, even in just a few months, without taking years, and can be deployed to the battlefield to protect the continent.

In the short term, we must make them a new force in our fight against alien invaders, and turn the tide.

Having said that, Zhu Ning lowered her head somewhat dejectedly and didn't say anything more.

She never expected that Lin Li only had one promotion device, and that he would need to use it.

How could she possibly ask for it back? After all, Lin Li had saved her life, and she couldn't possibly ask him to sacrifice himself for her country.

Lin Li frowned slightly as Zhu Ning remained silent.

Wait.

Why does it sound more and more wrong the more I listen to it?

Lin Li hesitated for a moment before speaking:
"Miss Zhu, are you sure what you need is something called a promotion device, and not gold?"

If having a child in your world requires consuming a promotion device, isn't that a bit too cruel for ancient men who desire a large family?

"What is gold, and how is it different from that?" Zhu Ning was taken aback and asked, somewhat puzzled.

Lin Li then began to teach Zhu Ning some physiological knowledge.

"..."

"So that's how it is! Gold, then all I need is your chromosome! The one that men can produce, not the device that produces it!"

Once she could finally distinguish between the two, Zhu Ning's voice suddenly became excited, as if she had found new hope, and she said to Lin Li expectantly.

It's not entirely Zhu Ning's fault. Men have been extinct for so long, and in a world where conventional methods of reproduction no longer exist, and since she's not in charge of research in this area, it's easy for her to confuse the two.

After receiving confirmation, Lin Li looked at the system panel, where Task Five was still hanging.

The mission description did not explicitly ask him to give his manhood directly to Zhu Ning.

It was simply fulfilling Zhu Ning's request.

If her real goal is simply to satisfy her own desires, then it's not impossible.

The task now has a chance of being completed.

From this perspective, it makes much more sense.

Fortunately, he wasn't a sentimental person and didn't act rashly upon hearing the request. Lin Li even suspected that, given Zhu Ning's misinterpretation of her needs, simply giving her the task according to the surface meaning would actually prevent him from completing it.

“If that’s the case, then I can provide some for your research,” Lin Li nodded at Zhu Ning, but then added a reminder:
"However, I must clarify one point beforehand: it may not meet your requirements. My mecha synchronization index is growth-oriented and is granted by ability, and may not be related to my human body. Therefore, the genes contained in my mecha may represent a mecha synchronization index of 0."

Previous medical examination reports showed that my blood and other physical conditions did not show any abnormalities despite the system improving my physical condition.

His mech synchronization index also comes from the system's physical improvement.

When piloting the mech, the mech display shows that its synchronization index is only 80, which means that its base index is 0.

It's cruel to give someone hope only to shatter it in an instant, so Lin Li felt it was necessary to take precautions.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Ning paused slightly. Remembering the strangeness surrounding Lin Li, her initial elation subsided somewhat, but only slightly.
"It's okay. It's good to have this opportunity. I'm not 100% sure either, after all, we're practically two different kinds of humans now, aren't we?"

"But even if your juices don't carry genes with a mech synchronization index of 80, we can still conduct gene transplantation experiments by studying fresh samples that are not ancient remnants. If we can restore the ancient samples to even a synchronization index of 10, it will be of great help to us."

"Okay," seeing that Zhu Ning had taken his words to heart, Lin Li didn't say anything more, and then asked, "Approximately how much of my 'little brother' juice do you need?"

Zhu Ning: "Is one ton okay?"

Lin Li: "(゜▽゜)?"
-
[This plot isn't long; I'll finish writing it tomorrow, and then I'll ask for monthly votes at the beginning of the month.]

(End of this chapter)