My setting is above yours!

Chapter 63 First-Class Merit, Partial Records of the [Knowledge Experiment] (4k2)

credit?!
Ron immediately perked up.

He hadn't forgotten what his original purpose was in joining the inspection bureau.

Participate in missions issued by the Patrol Bureau, accumulate enough credits, and immediately apply for [Prometheus]'s computing privileges after enrollment.

If it weren't for his [ability formula], Ron wouldn't have bothered joining the Patrol Bureau and wasting his time...

Why not do something during this summer break?
Ron thought this emergency mission was just the beginning; to apply for the computational access to [Prometheus], ​​he would need to complete many more patrol missions within the Patrol Bureau...

Unexpectedly, according to Xia Zhi, the reward from just this one task was enough to exchange for the computing privileges of [Prometheus]!
This is truly an unexpected delight...

Thinking about this, Ron couldn't help but feel a little emotional:
"I never expected to earn so many credits from just this one task..."

"Only?!"

Hearing Ron's words, Xia Zhi's voice rose a few decibels:
"Do you know what you're talking about?!"

But seeing Ron's nonchalant expression when facing Alder, and still so indifferent now, Xia Zhi remained silent for a long time before finally sighing.

"You still don't understand the importance of the [Experiment of Knowledge]..."

"Indeed, it's just an emergency mission. Normally, the reward credits wouldn't be enough for you to apply for a calculation opportunity for the [Ability Formula]."

"Just like Xiao Jin—she has joined the inspection bureau and has been working diligently for over a year."

"Even so, the points she obtained were far from enough to apply for the computing privileges of [Athena]."

"Finally, it was thanks to many important school events, as well as achieving good rankings in several monthly and final exams, that I accumulated enough credits to apply for the [Athena] computing privileges..."

As she spoke, she looked at Ron with a complex expression, a hint of emotion clearly showing in her eyes:
"But what I'm saying is for normal people—"

"Someone like you, who took down a dangerous individual who had just reached the Lv.4 threshold, saved an entire patrol team, and even stopped an illegal [knowledge-seeking experiment]..."

"Even within the 'Discipline Inspection' team in Zone B, she far surpasses everyone else!"

"Such performance is enough to warrant a 'First-Class Merit' award from the higher-ups after careful consideration."

"The credits you receive are essentially a bonus for students who receive 'first-class merit'."

First-class meritorious service?
Ron raised an eyebrow, feeling a little curious about it.

He had actually heard of quite a few patrol officers who had received "meritorious service"...

A major case once occurred in Ideal City: an unknown individual with special abilities infiltrated a plane traveling from the outer city to District B, ultimately maneuvering it into the Starry Twin Towers of District B, completely collapsing the two 500-story skyscrapers.

Afterwards, this ability user remained at large, continuing to carry out various terrorist attacks, but was eventually captured on the spot at the scene of a murder by an inspector from the General Patrol Bureau of Ideal City's B District...

It is said that the patrol officer eventually received a "third-class merit" for this, and was featured in the news for a long time with a gold medal, which even impressed Ron.

I wonder... what is the purpose of this so-called "first-class merit" besides the large amount of academic credits that come with it?
Thinking of this, Ron immediately cast a questioning look at Xia Zhi.

Before he could even voice his question, Xia Zhi sensed his confusion:
"I'm curious what 'meritorious service' means?"

A smile played on her lips as she pointed to the name tag hanging around her neck:

"This is the greatest benefit that 'merit' can bring!"

"I was able to become the captain of C-112 squad because I completed many important missions and earned a 'first-class merit'..."

“After accumulating enough working years as a ‘discipline inspector,’ one must rely on ‘merits’ as a stepping stone to become a permanent employee.”

"In our inspection bureau, we have a system called the 'merit ranking'. As long as you make enough contributions and receive enough 'merits,' you will eventually move forward in the 'merit ranking'."

"Only by accumulating 'meritorious service' can one climb the ranks within the inspection bureau's system..."

She said this, then chuckled and shook her head:

"However, it's a bit early to tell you this now—you won't be selected for the [Merit Track] before graduation."

"But accumulating 'merits' still brings various benefits... You'll know once you get the 'merits'."

[Meritorious Service Rank]...?

Ron raised an eyebrow slightly, and for a moment he thought of what Xia Zhi had said when he was fighting Ald earlier.

According to Xia Zhi, isn't the director of the D District General Inspection Bureau a Level 4?

Furthermore, Xia Zhi seemed to have mentioned that, as the captain of Squad C-112, she was able to apply for temporary access to Artemis's assigned authority...

Doesn't that mean that as long as Ron accumulates enough 'merits' in this so-called 'merit ranking,' he can advance through the 'merit ranking'?

Is there another path that allows one to become a Level 4 without completing the "Experiment of Knowledge"?

But thinking of this, Ron shook his head slightly.

No...

This is not the path he should take.

The authority over Artemis has long been seized by some top figure within the inspection bureau.

If you want to reach Lv.5, the Patrol Bureau's [Merit Sequence] is just a dead end.

Ron's path is already set; he has no need for the Bureau's "merit ranking."

However, even so, the existence of this [Merit Sequence] is a good thing for Ron.

In the future, if Ron had wasted an unknown amount of time and still hadn't completed Prometheus's Experiment of Knowledge, and then encountered an enemy that he absolutely couldn't defeat with his Level 3 abilities...

If you can climb the ranks in the Patrol Bureau's Merit System, you can temporarily apply for Artemis's ability permissions and use Lv.4 power to get through the crisis.

But such things were still far from Ron's concern, and he didn't pay much attention to them.

After exchanging a few casual words with Xia Zhi, he heard a painful groan coming from the side:

"Ugh... my head hurts so much..."

Ron turned his head and saw that although she had just gone through so much, Ji Jin, who had fainted due to overload, had just woken up and was rubbing her temples, looking like she had a terrible headache.

"Xiao Jin is awake? If you're awake, come over quickly and help with the report. There were just too many unexpected events during this mission, and I can't handle it all by myself..."

Upon hearing that Ji Jin had woken up, Xia Zhi, who had just gotten through to the command center, immediately made arrangements, which drew a burst of dissatisfaction from Ji Jin, who was still somewhat dazed after waking up:
"Senior, I just woke up, okay? Can't you show some consideration for the wounded and sick? I'm already overloaded with computing power!"

"I've checked you, you're fine... Come and help me!"

"Alright, alright, you're really pushing people to their limits..."

Ji Jin rubbed her head and, with the care of the other team members, slowly woke up. She stood up completely, opened her eyes, and then saw the huge hole in the factory. She was stunned.

"Fa, what happened?"

"Was the explosion we encountered when we left the factory really this serious?"

"My [Ability Formula] actually withstood an explosion of this magnitude?!"

She was momentarily dazed, but Xia Zhi sighed and explained to her with a helpless expression that another monster had appeared afterward, treating them all as experimental subjects in order to complete the "Experiment of Seeking Knowledge"...

"You think your [ability formula] can withstand this kind of explosion?"

Xia Zhi complained, "Look at your current state... You're already overloading your computing power with just a little use. What's the difference between having constructed your [ability formula] and not having it at all?"

"I told you before, don't try to save time by having Athena calculate all the details of the Ability Formula for you. Just build a framework, and it's best not to use the Central Intelligence—"

"Look at you now, you can't even use your own [ability formula] stably. I don't know how many more years it will take to optimize it before it becomes normal."

"It's still an [Ability Formula], after all..."

Ji Jin scratched his head, seemingly unconcerned about it.

"Senior, for us ordinary students, it's good enough to just have an [ability formula] and meet the graduation requirements. Why set such high standards for ourselves..."

"You..."

Xia Zhi sighed, shook her head, and stopped criticizing Ji Jin. She then dialed the command center's communication point and went to work on the report with Ji Jin.

Ron, who overheard all this, couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, lost in thought.

So, the ability formulas calculated by the Central Intelligence are not entirely under our control?

He recalled what Deng Yin had said before, and he understood it somewhat.

Thinking about it carefully, it does make sense... The Central Intelligence is ultimately just a rigid mechanical calculation; it can only deconstruct the previously recorded Ability Formulas and stitch them together to create a suitable formula based on an individual's Ability Model.

However, ability models are unique to each individual... It's absolutely impossible to calculate a perfect ability formula for [Vector Manipulation] using data from other ability models!
However, despite this, Ron did not give up the idea of ​​relying on [Prometheus] to calculate the [ability formula].

After all, it would take forever for Ron to figure out the formula for his ability, which was based on vector manipulation. He didn't want to waste his whole life at level 3.

At most, he could ask Prometheus to help him build the framework and see if there's a chance to refine a better "ability formula"...

As he thought this to himself, reinforcements from the patrol bureau arrived soon after.

A new patrol team took over the scene, and the medical team picked them up in an ambulance and immediately sent them back to the D District General Patrol Station for a medical examination.

Ron was unharmed, but the others sustained minor injuries during the vine rampage.

Ji Jin was the most seriously injured. The computing power overload caused her personal reality to temporarily spiral out of control. It is estimated that she will need to be hospitalized and rest for several weeks to recover.

After Xia Zhi simply reported the mission and wrote report after report, Ron was finally freed and qualified to go home and rest.

Although Ron's "First Class Merit" award is a done deal, such an award still needs to go through an approval process.

Judging by the timeline, it will be more than a month before Ron can receive the merit reward, around the time school starts.

That does fit his ideal image of efficient city government services...

He grumbled to himself, and under the enormous blood moon overhead, he hailed a hovercar and went home.

As soon as he got home, he excitedly took out the spellbook he had hidden, and also the fist-sized fruit he had obtained from the magician in the protective suit earlier—

The magic book, printed with "An Introduction to Mysticism," suddenly became hot and automatically turned to a new page with a "whoosh"...

New handwriting appeared on it as expected:
[Potion Recipe]

[Breeding] Sequence Nine "Breeder"

"Potion ingredients: one sapling tree fruit + 100 ml holy water + 10 g rotten soil + 10 g dirty compost."

"Preparation method: Crush the fruit of the fertilizing tree, mix it with soil and compost, let it sit for a day, and then pour in holy water."

Breeding?

Looking at the potion recipe, Ron frowned slightly.

The name of this sequence seems a bit strange...

Moreover, this potion recipe is the least sophisticated potion recipe Ron has ever seen—

Why are its ingredients so... disgusting?
They even want to use adjectives like "corruption" and "filth" as prefixes for auxiliary words...

Drinking this stuff was far beyond his tolerance.

Ron pursed his lips, wrapped the fruit of the fertilizing tree in salt to isolate it, put it in a small iron box, and hid it in a corner of the room.

Although this represents the beginning of a new sequence, Ron felt he wouldn't consider embarking on the [breeding] sequence unless absolutely necessary.

Let's save it for later, as material for constructing a temporary formula...

He quickly tallied up his spoils, categorized them neatly, and after a moment's thought, he couldn't suppress his curiosity any longer—

He opened his phone and dialed Ms. Irina's number.

After getting rid of Minister Alder, the so-called "merits" or "credits" might be of great use to Ron, but they are definitely not what he cares about most right now.

If you were to ask him what he cares about most right now...

That, of course, is Old's "Experiment of Knowledge," which was thwarted by Ron and nearly failed, yet was just one step away from success!
Ron knew that after he informed Ms. Irina about the "Knowledge Experiment," "Heavenly Listening Media" would inevitably take action...

Their blocking of all the executives at Noah Pharmaceuticals was clearly not just to clear the way for Ron—

After Ron eliminated Minister Old, causing the [Exploration of Knowledge] to fail, [Heavenly Listening Media] will inevitably target [Ark] and try to obtain the experimental records related to the [Exploration of Knowledge]!

After all, this is a knowledge-seeking experiment concerning the Central Intelligence...

This intelligence would surely be highly sought after even by the three largest corporations!
Ron didn't believe that [Tian Ting Media] hadn't taken action...

"Hey?"

The call connected quickly, and Ms. Irina on the other end spoke in a low voice, sounding somewhat tired.

After a brief greeting to Irina, Ron skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point—

"Ms. Irina... I wonder if our [Tian Ting Media] managed to get our hands on Old's experimental records during this opportunity?"

(End of this chapter)