Chapter 225: 225, Snake catcher Ren Xiaosu

In Ren Xiaosu's view, whether a soldier could engage in combat did not depend solely on strength, but also on the combat awareness and skills they had already developed into instinct.

If an ordinary person merely gained power, they might not even know how to use it.

Though Lin Qi and the others were fully armed with firearms and carried specialized melee weapons, did they truly know how to wield them?

Thus, Ren Xiaosu believed that if he could think of a problem, Li Shi could not possibly overlook it.

"Because they need to collect combat data, gather information on how the nanobots perform during battle," Hu Shuo said without reservation in front of Ren Xiaosu: "After the neural interface breakthrough, Li Shi's nanobot soldiers have yet to undergo real combat testing, so they themselves are eager to discover just how effective the nanobots can be."

"Don't they fear suffering massive losses?" Ren Xiaosu wondered aloud.

"What losses?" Hu Shuo chuckled: "It's merely a few lives. The selection ratio for nanobot soldiers in the military isn't as low as you imagine. Haven't you noticed? Among this group, aside from one experienced soldier leading them, the rest are refugees. To them, soldiers cultivated with military funds are gold, while refugees are but tools. Do you really think they lack candidates with high coordination rates?"

Ren Xiaosu was stunned. So these people... were sent here to collect data at the cost of their lives! Was Li Shi so ruthless?!

"Wait, isn't an 80% sync coordination rate already quite high?" Ren Xiaosu asked, puzzled: "What exactly does sync coordination rate refer to?"

"It refers to your ability to perfectly control the nanobots," Hu Shuo explained: "But this isn't fixed. Through physical and reflex training, it can steadily improve. Of course, everyone has their limits—like how some people are naturally more athletically gifted than others. It's a matter of talent."

In other words, those with low sync rates could still control the nanobots, albeit with abysmal efficiency. If you commanded it to transform into an exoskeleton armor today, it might take until next year to materialize...

Then why bother with exoskeleton armor at all? Just turn it into a coffin directly—after all, the person would be dead anyway!!

Yet Ren Xiaosu's sync coordination rate was 0, and yet he felt the nanobots were remarkably obedient, doing whatever he asked without delay.

He inquired, "Then what about those with extremely low sync rates? Are they in a vegetative state?"

Hu Shuo gave him a meaningful look: "There are exceptions. When someone becomes a transcendent, their independent consciousness repels the nanobots. The lower the sync rate, the stronger their self-awareness."

The words left Ren Xiaosu momentarily frozen, but he quickly realized Hu Shuo was deceiving him!

If Li Shi Consortium had such research findings, then he and Chen Wudi, with their sync rates of 0 and 1 respectively, would have been targeted by Li Shi long ago!

Hmph, didn't expect this Hu Shuo to be quite cunning.

Still, regarding Li Shi Consortium sending novices like Lin Qi to deal with the wolf pack, Ren Xiaosu remained doubtful: "Do nanobots not require costs? The nanobots in their bodies are quite valuable too."

"Nanobots can be recovered," Hu Shuo replied calmly: "They die, but the nanobots won't. When their real elite forces arrive, they'll naturally reclaim the scattered nanobots in the wilderness."

It sounded reasonable, and Ren Xiaosu had no rebuttal.

But he sensed Hu Shuo wasn't entirely truthful—at least, the nanobots on this batch of people might not be recoverable...

...

The Cang Mountains were blanketed in white snow, hidden within the mist.

Lin Qi and the others trekked through the wilderness, maintaining contact with the main force at the adjacent outpost via radio, their coordination resembling a military exercise.

The one in charge of the group was the soldier who had previously spoken with Hu Shuo, while the rest were newcomers who had just joined Li Shi's army.

They had assumed that upon entering the unit, they would undergo rigorous basic training and receive military-style instruction on operating the nanobots.

But reality proved otherwise. After a brief training session, they were dispatched on their first mission.

Of course, no one objected. After all, they had heard how grueling new recruit training could be, and avoiding it was preferable.

No one had harbored suspicions. The euphoria of sudden elevation in status clouded their judgment, and the information imbalance left them no chance to question.

Lin Qi simply believed that since they had achieved the required sync coordination rate, they were special.

"Captain Zhou, who exactly is that old man?" Lin Qi asked.

"Don't ask what you shouldn't," Captain Zhou replied: "Just avoid provoking him. In the entire Li Shi army, he's among the people you mustn't cross."

"What do we do next?" someone inquired.

Captain Zhou pondered and said: "Reconnaissance!"

Suddenly, one of them stepped forward, and silver metallic liquid seeped from his skin, pooling on the ground.

In an instant, the liquid transformed into five silver serpents, slithering toward the deeper mountains.

Captain Zhou asked: "How far is your control range?"

"The last test evaluation was 418 meters," the soldier answered.

"Good enough," Captain Zhou said: "Stay alert and maintain distance. Don't let the nanobots exceed your control range and go haywire. Most importantly, report any anomalies immediately."

"Understood," the soldier replied.

Lin Qi suddenly said: "Captain, this area isn't within the wolves' activity range, and with five squads conducting coordinated searches, there shouldn't be much danger, right?"

To be honest, though equipped with nanobots, Lin Qi and the others, who had never seen battle, still felt a bit uneasy.

Captain Zhou glanced at him and said: "Follow orders, and you'll be fine."

But at that moment, the soldier controlling the silver serpents cried out: "Trouble!"

Captain Zhou startled: "What's wrong? Wolves?"

"No... it didn't seem like wolves," the soldier hesitated before adding: "There was a dark figure that flashed by earlier, and it snatched one of my silver serpents..."

Captain Zhou froze: "Did it do anything else? Just take your serpent and leave?"

"Yes, grabbed it and ran..."

Everyone fell into confusion. What the hell was going on?!