The command center of the base was severely damaged. It had been battered by David’s gale, blasted by the Seven Thunders, and shelled by tank cannons; by now, it was almost ruined. Fortunately, all critical documents had been transferred into the Pocket Starfield before David arrived. What was lost were merely material assets, easily replaced, requiring only a thorough renovation.

With the work efficiency of Pao, the command center could be restored to its original state within three to four days.

On the plaza outside the command center, after David awoke, the first words he spoke to Yang Ying were, "Senior Psion of the Psionic Temple, the Eleventh Ranked Emissary of the Ape Cult, David, greets the Commander!"

He seemed like a different person. Previously, he had been intent on conflict and mind control, but now all that seemed to have vanished. Upon seeing Yang Ying, he immediately called him Commander. This was likely inherited from the habits of the Protoss.

Given David’s demonstrated immense power and resistance to mental domination, Yang Ying harbored secret doubts about his loyalty. Only after several Archons confirmed the situation repeatedly did he begin to trust him conditionally.

According to David, his presence in the asteroid belt was initially for a mission from the Psionic Temple, unrelated to Yang Ying. However, upon learning of this, the Ape Cult issued him a new order: to mind-control Yang Ying and recruit him into the Ape Cult while passing through.

What David never expected was that not only did he fail to brainwash Yang Ying, but he ended up being the one brought under mental control.

Fortunately, after the mental control succeeded, David held no grudges. He even believed that everything Yang Ying had done to him was ultimately for his own good. He deeply regretted killing two Dark Templar Warriors during the struggle.

The mission from the Psionic Temple was not yet due for action, leaving David with about a week of free time. Thus, there was no concern that his recuperation would cause delays.

Subsequently, David was moved to the base’s medical bay for comprehensive treatment. Under the miraculous efficacy of the universal healing fluid, David was able to stand and walk after just one night. His scorched skin had completely peeled off, revealing new skin underneath, as pristine as an infant’s. Only his hair, burned away entirely, grew back slowly at its natural rate.

However, as a former Senior Psion, David could use his mind to accelerate the metabolism beneath his scalp, increasing hair growth a hundredfold. One day would equal over three months, allowing him to grow a full head of golden hair very quickly.

Three days later, as his psychic power recovered to a certain level, David could employ Psionic Body Sculpting, repairing all internal injuries. Although his body was not yet at its peak, it was already far stronger than an ordinary person’s, perfectly described as moving with the vigor and swiftness of a dragon.

That morning, David performed another session of Psionic Body Sculpting in the room assigned to him at the base, further restoring his muscles and bones, before eating the high-energy nutrient meal provided by the supply station.

Just then, Yang Ying walked into his room.

“My Commander,” David rose and greeted him.

“How is your recovery?” Yang Ying didn’t stand on ceremony and sat down directly at the other end of David’s dining table.

“The integration with the Collective is still somewhat lacking, and my psychic energy is about fifty percent recovered. It should be enough to deal with an average Mid-rank Psion,” David flexed his hands a few times, showing no stiffness.

Through several days of communication, Yang Ying analyzed every minute detail and was now certain that David had been successfully converted. Moreover, Yang Ying discovered that controlling David brought numerous benefits, raising his understanding of both the Psionic Temple and the Ape Cult to a higher level.

Yang Ying could now directly correlate the ranking system for Psions with the individual psychic strength readings in the Pocket Starfield: below one thousand was considered unranked; one thousand to five thousand could be Apprentice level; five thousand to ten thousand was Lower-rank Psion; ten thousand to twenty thousand was Mid-rank Psion; twenty thousand to fifty thousand was Senior Psion; and above fifty thousand was Apex Psion.

The so-called Apex Psion was the designation for Psions whose power reached the human limit, just one step away from the Master realm of a superhuman—they could also be called Quasi-Masters.

Quasi-Masters were qualified to attempt to break through to the Master realm, but not every one succeeded. Failure carried a high probability of never advancing again for the rest of their lives, and those with terrible luck could even become cripples. Many Psions of first-rate aptitude remained stuck at the Quasi-Master level their entire lives.

Yang Ying had obtained this information during his previous conversation with David. After returning, he thought for a long time and developed some new questions: “David, you mentioned that Quasi-Masters who don’t advance to Master can still continue to cultivate. If so, what is the actual difference between them and Masters?”

“The difference is huge. The Master realm is a state that transcends the human limit; the very essence of the spirit changes—in ancient terms, it is achieving transcendence and sanctity. A Quasi-Master, however, remains at the peak of human capability, fundamentally still a mortal. Once they reach their limit, further cultivation yields very little progress. In the Psionic Temple and the Ape Cult, I have never seen a single Quasi-Master exceed a psychic strength of seventy thousand! But upon stepping into the Master realm, psychic growth becomes rapid; many people cultivate their psychic strength from fifty thousand to one hundred thousand within two years!” As David spoke, his tone became envious; clearly, he aspired to the Master realm himself.

“I recall that the Master-level experts in the Ape Cult all come from the Ancient Legion. Due to the flaws in your brainwashing techniques, is it difficult for Ape Cultists to become Masters?” Yang Ying thought David’s ambition was perhaps too high and poured some cold water on him.

However, David burst into laughter. “That’s true for other Ape Cultists, but not for me. The mental control technique completely erased the effects of the brainwashing spell, and mental control has no adverse effects on advancing to the Master realm. It’s like I dropped a heavy burden. From now on, I can confidently charge toward the Master realm. Hahaha!”

“Then I must congratulate you.” Yang Ying nodded, not dwelling on it further, and asked, “I didn’t ask for the last few days, how many experts at the Master, Quasi-Master, and Senior Psion levels like you are there, in total, within the Ape Cult?”

“The structure of the Ape Cult is like this. The highest is the Cult Master, Helaas, followed by the two Elders, who are also Ape Masters. Below them are twenty Emissaries of the Ape, all humans controlled by brainwashing techniques. Everyone below that is dispensable and not worth mentioning.” David pointed to himself, looking back with a sense of bitter recollection, “To become an Emissary of the Ape, one must possess at least the strength of a Lower-rank Psion. I was ranked eleventh among the Emissaries of the Ape.”

Yang Ying closed his eyes and was silent for a moment: “Does this mean everyone ranked above you is stronger than you?”

“Yes. The rankings were set two years ago. The ten ahead of me are all stronger, and the top five have already entered the Quasi-Master realm. That was just the situation two years ago; perhaps there are more than five Quasi-Masters now. When the Left Elder and I communicated routinely a while back, he mentioned that the Sixth One emerged from seclusion recently and seemed to have touched upon that limit as well.” David’s expression darkened when mentioning the top five or ten, clearly recalling past defeats.