The particle-grade iron person Shen Cong kept them covered, and the Firestarter Spirit hunt ended with a few close calls and no real losses.

The huge Firestarter Spirit finally fell to the ground. Its Superbrain was dragged out, and the rest became a heap of fire-spirit medium that could raise an evolved person's aptitude.

"Chairman, if not for your help, I'm afraid all our lives would have been in danger..." Hu Wei came over and clasped his hands in thanks.

Zhang Changde said, "With this hunt under our belts, we won't be in such a sorry state the next time we go after a Firestarter Spirit. Chairman, you're teaching us to fish and passing on real skills."

Chen Xiuni caught her breath and looked at Shen Cong without saying anything.

The other iron people hurried over to thank him too.

The higher they rose and the stronger they evolved, the more they felt the gap between themselves and Shen Cong. Facing a Firestarter Spirit, they felt a dread like facing a "natural enemy." Facing Shen Cong, they might not feel that natural-enemy dread, but they felt a pressure bigger than a mountain.

Truly, a mountain of pressure.

It wasn't only his strength bearing down on them. Shen Cong's cold personality was a source of that pressure too.

From the roof of the Vajra Fortress, Shen Cong looked down on them and put a pointed question. "There's only one Superbrain. How are you going to split it?"

"It goes to Xiuni. We agreed on it before: we take turns in order of Talent. Apart from you, Chairman, Xiuni has the strongest Talent in all of humanity, so she uses the Superbrain first," Zhang Changde said.

Shen Cong was noncommittal.

His eyes flickered, and then he said suddenly, "I have six spare Superbrains. As the Mechanists' pioneer, I can give them to you."

The moment he said it, the iron people's breathing quickened.

The earlier scientific reports had already laid out everything a Superbrain could do. For iron people headed down the Mechanist road, it mattered more than anything. But a Superbrain…