"Well, if you are confused, I'll make it simple for your brain to understand." Rass took a large bite of the meat before him and munched it aloud before speaking, "After running for some time, do you feel tired?"
"Yes," The subordinate nodded in response.
"Once you rest after eating something, you'll have enough energy to run once again, right?" Rass said, continuing upon seeing his subordinate nod, "There is a type of energy in our body that is needed for us to function. For our body to move, for our minds to think, etc. there is an energy."
He pointed at the meat before him, "Simply put, when I eat this meat and digest it, my body converts it into a reservoir of energy. They are carbohydrates and fats. When our body needs to move, these reservoirs are broken down and converted into the energy that we consume to move."
"And that, you can consider as Qi." Rass said, "Normally, there is a limit to how much a body can store fats and carbohydrates."
He pointed at the fattest subordinate among their group, "that guy has the greatest fat reservoir among us. So, who would win if you were to race against him?"
"I would win, obviously." The subordinate nodded in confusion, "Why is it so?"
"Because he's fat." Rass said, "Though the energy reserved in him as fat is a lot greater than you, he's unable to convert that into energy required to move. His body isn't trained enough."
He snapped his finger and motioned for the staff to bring a pestle and mortal, placing a grape in it as he spoke, "Think of this grape as a piece of fat. In this state, it's useless."
He crushed it using the pestle, creating a pulpy form before filtering out the juice, "Your body needs this juice to move. The act of crushing as many grapes to make juice by your body results in your stamina."
He broke the pestle, "If you have an untrained body, your pestle is too weak to make energy fast enough. Besides,"
He pointed at the pulp within the mortar, "There are waste residues too. This makes further juice-making more difficult. So, after strenuous exercise, once you rest, your body gradually removes this useless pulp out of your body."
"And this juice…" He poured it into a glass, "This is Qi. A Martial Artist directly stores this pure energy form that is perfectly suitable for the body's consumption in their Qi Centre or Dantian."
"I see…" The subordinate nodded as he saw the pulp and the juice, "The juice is so little, but the grape storing that juice occupies so much space."
"Indeed, so you get my point." Rass nodded in relief, "If we store too much fat in our body, we can't utilise it well, as our body becomes heavy and we expend so much energy just to support our body. But once we become fit, there's too little fat stored in us. So, this is where the Qi comes into play. It has the maximum efficiency for body consumption and occupies too little space, not to mention it isn't even a hundredth as heavy as fat with the same energy capacity."
"So, that's why Martial Artists hit their limit." The subordinate nodded.
"Indeed, the so-called meridians are just pipes circulating this Qi and the Dantian is akin to a tiny organ storing the Qi. The Dantian is just a tissue sac within a muscle stretch. This is why Martial Artists hit their limit, for their Dantians become full just like their stomachs." Rass said, "So, depending on their body type, a Martial Artist's limit is determined."
"But, that is wrong and unfair." Rass said, hinting at mild anger as he continued, "So, that's where I gained enlightenment for my power."
He pointed at the meat before him, saying casually, "That's the source of my power."
"You mean…meat?" The subordinate tilted his head in confusion, "But, didn't you say it is inefficient?"
"Yes, it is inefficient as compared to Qi. But," Rass grinned as he revealed his palm, condensing a pistol on it, "This pistol weighs 400 grams, wholly composed of hydrocarbons we consume from food."
He tapped it on the table, "This model has twelve bullets, enough to kill twelve people, whether they are commoners or Martial Artists."
He grinned, "You know the rest."
"Indeed," The subordinate nodded, "Even though it's not as efficient as Qi, the weapons leader creates out of them are hundreds of times more effective in killing than the attacks launched by Martial Artists."
"Indeed," Rass nodded, "To attack someone from afar, it takes the likes of the Divine Archer to pull off. But, even the range of our common assault rifles surpasses that, not to mention the sniper rifles."
"Martial Artists are flashy, but their attacks and defences lack substance," Rass concluded.
"So, basically, it's a copy of my Anthozoa, huh."
Rass became stunned for a moment, looking around as he was unable to determine where the voice came from. He looked around for a few seconds but couldn't find anyone suspicious. Thinking upon seeing the amount he had drunk, he just amounted it to a hallucination and excused himself, "I'll go sleep now."
"Take care, leader." The subordinate said in response and continued to eat, his mind full of thoughts.
Compass Carburettor stepped forward to assist Rass, bringing him to his room as he bowed upon exit, "Please have a pleasant sleep."
Once he was out, he walked through the corridor, hearing the bustling noise made by Rass's subordinates, ignoring his work for the time being as he bit his tongue and killed himself, causing his corpse to vanish as he revived at the terrace of the building.
Sigh!
He stared at the clear sky and thought, 'Anthozoa is a carbon-based product, as I originally designed. I was brought to the System World just as the prototype was completed. But, even after my disappearance, Carburettor Island remained behind. They continued the project to advance the technology.'
'And after so many decades, it seems they have figured out a method to fully incorporate it into the human body. Just like the body grows hair and nails, the fat would be consumed and products of one's desire would be created.' He thought, 'But of course, the complexity required for this isn't something a normal human brain could handle. So it means…'
"Plagiarism has reached multiverse levels, huh."
