In Hell's laboratory, on the planet Aquamarine, Ringo and Emma returned to the research stake, as the previous laboratory had been destroyed. Until the new one was built, they returned to Hell's, which, although not as advanced, was better than nothing.
Ringo's first test to strengthen the MCs was obviously to fuse them with his Evolutionary power.
Unfortunately, it was a fruitless effort, whenever he fused them, they would separate soon after. They were incredibly easy to fuse, but they also refused to remain that way, always reverting to their standard form.
It was as if they had chosen the perfect state of existence, with static size and strength, even their number was defined by space. Attempting to change any parameters was directly negated, causing them to revert to their initial state.
Emma theorized that because this being resembled a form of energy with a light consciousness more than a truly living being, Ringo's power couldn't merge them on a conceptual level because, in that aspect, this energy wasn't really considered a living being.
After further testing, they concluded that the 'living' part of these creatures was merely a spiritual energy field mimicking a primitive consciousness.
It was different from Vanessa's blood energy or Aurora's life energy, even from Emma's own plant energy, the 'living' aspect of this energy was merely a product, not the essence.
This left Ringo with no options, his power couldn't fuse them. At most, he could leave them in a semi-fused state through spirituality, but that was it. When he withdrew his energy, they returned to square one.
Emma observed that, according to the files, the MCs more closely resembled an energetic life form in its 'larval' phase, perhaps with enough time or the right circumstances aligning, a new Primal Energy Body could be formed.
Ringo frowned, that was why, when he used evolutionary power before, it wasn't the MCs that were affected, instead, it was the Psychic Demogorgon cell that developed a way to communicate with them.
Scratching the bridge of his nose, Ringo can only give up for now.
While he was thinking, the laboratory door suddenly opened. Ringo looked at the door and saw Melissa entering.
-Hey mom, hi.- He waved briefly.
Melissa rolled her eyes at him, then picked up a report and tossed it to him. Ringo caught the paper easily, glancing at the information on it, a resigned expression soon appearing on his face.
-It's those guys again.- Ringo felt a constant headache.
Melissa simply crossed her arms, looking at him, waiting for him to make a decision.
The problem was the Inhumans again, those guys were always restless, and after discovering the new 'server,' they couldn't stay still.
With Han Xiao, the situation was very simple, Han Xiao left without any way to communicate.
And what about Hell? Hell could be entered and exited at any time, in other words, Hell was like a gateway to leave the planet in the Players' minds.
What do gamers do when they really want something? They look for loophole after loophole until they find a foothold, they create guides showing their progress, and other people keep adding new things until they arrive at a manual on how to do or achieve something.
At this point, the players have this mindset, for them, Hell is an NPC organization and Ringo is an NPC, everyone is an NPC, so according to the game rules, there will certainly be a way to leave the planet, a hidden mission.
Thus, the players went into a frenzy, searching for hidden missions everywhere, mainly bothering the top officials, according to reports, Price can't even leave his house without being surrounded by hundreds of inhumans trying to trigger a mission.
Some players went so far as to think the opposite, believing the answer was likely at lower levels, so they started bothering civilians, searching for some kind of 'hidden master'.
Thus, Hell became a hornet's nest hit by a rock. At first, the civilians found the players' attitude annoying, but also somewhat welcome, but then the situation quickly worsened.
To summarize with a simple example, many missions begin without rewards. Imagine a player approaching an old woman offering free services, they spend several hours, perhaps even days, doing all sorts of tasks, such as mowing the lawn, shopping, cleaning the house, washing dishes, and so on...
In the end, all the player gets is a pat on the shoulder, A$10, and a grateful smile.
[A$ = Aquamarine Dollars]
The player stands outside, staring at the closed door, speechless.
Finally, the player picks up a brick and throws it at the old woman's window. The old woman becomes furious, as does the player, who, if it weren't for Aquamarine's strict laws, would have already shot the old woman. Then the police intervene and listen to both sides, feeling a growing headache.
In the end, the civilian is right, after all, the player didn't set any price, he just started working for free.
The player gets furious, is forced to pay a fine and do community service, and in the end, he shares the event on forums. Some find it funny, others think it's a good idea, and the cycle repeats itself.
Ringo can see that perfectly.
This is also why Hell entered a period of internal turmoil, the players can't stand still, and the civilians, after suffering reprisals, became furious with the Inhumans, generating a clear division.
How to deal with this? Favor the civilians? Favor the players?
It didn't matter, even if he found a solution now, the players would just keep trying to find a way off the planet through Hell.
It wasn't just the incidents involving Inhumans that increased, but the number of Inhumans appearing in Hell was much higher than before, many Inhumans from other places even wanted to join Hell.
All this headache had been weighing on Melissa for the past few days, so, knowing that Ringo had arrived, she threw it directly at him.
It was Ringo's turn to have a headache.