《GENE DEVOURER》 Chapter 1: Worst possible Outcome: Worse Than Death chapter 1: worst possible outcome: worse than deathtrust him, when he heard that the world might end in the next few days, he didn''t panic. why would he? just a boy whose father was caught up in a plane crash and whose mother had been lying in a hospital bed for the past three years, in a coma. it felt like there was nothing he was living for. but talking about the world ending, it all started like this: the year was 2040. in an inconspicuous island nation named yingdao, located in the east china sea. there lived a boy named marcus cheng, he lived in haicheng, the capital city of yingdao. he was in his room, a modest one-bedroom apartment with a bathroom and an open-concept kitchen. he sat on his bed, facing the flat-screen tv, playing a game on his ps5, which he had just bought last week with his part-time job salary. it had never been easy, but as a seventeen-year-old with a dad who died in a plane crash and a mom in a coma, he had no choice. the country was still lacking in terms of welfare. back when he was playing his game, a game that required helping in-game people so that players could earn points and skills, which would in turn make them overpowered to fight in-game villains. yes, villains created by the game developer. he thought the developer was probably some philanthropist. why would a person need to help people, collect points and skills, and level up just to fight overpowered villains? but he didn''t care. why would he go around helping people, even in a game? he searched every nook and cranny and found a way to claim points and skills, leveling up, and then fighting villains. but something happened. he heard a loud noise. he knew his neighbors were crazy; they just wouldn''t stop being dramatic over little things. but what he heard was something he couldn''t overlook, even though he was on the verge of beating the hell out of a supervillain. s~ea??h the ¦Çovelfire.¦Çet website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "fuck! we''re all gonna die, the earth fucked up!!" "bro, i thought the star was small and not enough to go supernova. what the fuck is that newscaster saying?" "they are just saying, bro, we are fucked with a radiation apocalypse in a few days to come." "what the heck are they talking about?!" marcus couldn''t help but yell out. wait, i thought i heard the word "die." what did they mean? tsk! those fucked-up neighbors. when he glanced back at his flat-screen tv while his controller was still in his hand, the villain had already defeated him. "damn!" he yelled out angrily. i thought i heard them say "newscaster." let me check the news channel. he took the remote control and changed the interface to one of the local news channels. ~abracadabra tv~ fucked up name, a newly created news channel huh? he thought. there she was, a lady with long brown hair, wearing a white shirt. she didn''t even button up the first button, which revealed an ample portion of her generous bosom. she was indeed busty. she sat in front of an elevated platform. it seemed she had almost finished casting the news, but marcus was lucky to catch the briefing. ~the international space station has confirmed an impending supernova event from the nearby star, epsilon eridani, approximately 129.6 billion kilometers away from the earth, after thorough analysis, the data revealed that the radiation possessed immense energy capable of penetrating lead, concrete, and human bodies thereby causing genetic mutations. it was estimated that the particle radiation would reach earth in the next five days. that is all for today~ the newscaster concluded before the channel switched to an advertisement. "hmmph," he grunted. "so... are we all going to turn into mutated organisms? but i must say, dying is better than becoming mutated. ew!" he made a sound of disgust, his mind flashing back to horror movies where humans mutated into deformed, unknown organisms. ************* here he was, still going to school early in the morning. but seriously, why would he, when the world was doomed in the next three days? he knew he just felt like it. anyway, let''s just see what''s going on in school. he thought. he was in eleventh grade at yunxi high school, an inconspicuous private school on punchme avenue, an avenue named after a boxing club. he could afford the tuition because it was cheap. after all, education is vital¡ªor at least, that''s what he thought. it was the second week of september, looking up at the sky, he noticed it was a cool monday morning, and the sky was clear and blue, a refreshing coolness that whispered of the approaching autumn. he heaved a heavy sigh and moved on, marcus remembered how he went outside to gaze at the night sky the previous night, normally, gazing at the clear night sky... epsilon eridani, the star closest to earth which was about 129.6 billion kilometers from earth near the celestial equator was said to have been caught in the back hole''s gravity two years ago¡ª2038, with increasing speed due to the pull, the star swung around the black hole and was flung out in a new direction at a much higher speed than it had before, but it speed diminishes over time, making it settled towards the celestial equator¡ªgravitational slingshot effect. for a few hours every night, epsilon eridani could be seen shining brightly in the night sky, even if there were gathering of clouds in the night sky, its light could still be seen, but yesterday was different... it shone brighter than ever, dominating the night sky like the sun, reminding marcus cheng of the impending danger... when he got to class, it was as rowdy as always, with students chatting carefreely. his face contorted puzzlingly as he passed through the rows of seats. do they really have any idea what is going to happen? then he overheard one student saying, "hey! come to my house tonight. we''re doing it all night every day, no time to waste." the boy was talking to a girl, one of the gregarious types in his class, the kind who always brought a box of makeup to school. he didn''t even know they were dating. "shitheads!" he muttered. he didn''t have a friend or girlfriend, perhaps because of his attitude. but seriously, it wasn''t his fault; he just felt distant from everyone. maybe it had something to do with his mom... he didn''t know. their pot-bellied pe teacher entered the classroom. marcus wondered how such a man was accepted to teach physical education. the teacher was the complete opposite of body fitness, with three strands of hair dangling atop his bald head and a protruding stomach that bounced with every step. "damn!" he thought. anyway, he didn''t care, as long as he advanced through grades and graduated. he didn''t think he had money for college, so he would just find some work with his high school certificate. "all is well," he thought, or so he believed... Chapter 2: Cannon Fodder? chapter 2: cannon fodder?after closing, marcus headed to his part-time job. the work involved unloading wares like equipment, electronics, and other goods into a warehouse¡ªwares that were transported over long distances by box trucks across the country. once the unloading was done, different businessmen who had ordered the merchandise would come to pick it up. even though marcus was only seventeen, there were things he could carry and things he couldn''t. the less he carried, the less he was paid; everything was calculated by the secretary who oversaw the work every day. when he arrived at the warehouse, the place was empty. confused, he slowly came to a realization: the impending danger in the next few days had everyone scared. there was no point in working when you might become a distorted lump of flesh in the next three days. he couldn''t help but wonder what shape his body would take when mutated. marcus put his hand on his chin in thought as he stepped into the large, empty, and open warehouse. inside, he met the secretary¡ªa petite but pretty lady in her late twenties. her smile was something else as if her heart had never been broken before or she was just a scatterbrain. marcus had never seen her angry; she always wore that same permanent smile. "oh... marc cheng, right?" she said with a hint of realization and confusion, still smiling. marcus blinked twice and looked at her blankly. she was indeed a scatterbrain¡ªhe had been working there for about a year, after all. what a joke! "yeah," he replied, forcing a fake smile. they stood smiling at each other for a moment before she broke the silence in the warehouse. "i thought you heard the news?" she asked. "i heard," marcus replied. "but i thought i should come here since there were some goods that hadn''t been arranged last saturday." "don''t worry about that," she said, widening her eyes in gesture while shaking her head slightly. "the men finished everything last week after you left... and as you can see," she gestured around, "the merchants have all come for their goods." marcus nodded in realization. there was nothing more to be done. he guessed it was time to leave. "okay, greet the boss for me," he said, turning to leave without waiting for her reply. "very well, take care. let''s see how the next few days turn out," she replied as marcus stepped onto the metallic rail of the entrance''s sliding metal door. he waved his hand at her before walking out into the broad space in front of the warehouse. if it were before, the space would have been bustling with men carrying stuff and box trucks driving in while security guards directed them. but now, the space was empty. as he walked quietly away from the warehouse, he thought about where he should head next. the day was still young, and when he pulled out his phone, it was only 2:30 pm. he started thinking¡ªif he went home, he''d only be playing games, but there was somewhere more important he needed to go: the hospital. the sun hung low in the sky, casting a warm golden hue on the area as marcus walked over to a bus stop just beside the warehouse. he normally visited his mom twice a week, although it didn''t seem like she would wake up anytime soon. the doctor had said she had a traumatic brain injury¡ªit happened when she fell on the stairs at work and hit her head. that day had been hell. with no dad, his mom had worked hard to make ends meet. that was when marcus was still fourteen. standing at the slightly raised platform of the bus stop, marcus rested his hands on the rail. the regret still gnawed at the depths of his mind, reminding him of how powerless he felt. if only he had been self-dependent back then¡ªor even if he hadn''t had the strength to work, at least he could have been some sort of genius, taking exams and winning awards. but he wasn''t, the best he could do was enter the top ten in his grade¡ªseventh position¡ªamong the hundreds of students in his year. yet, even then, there was an insurmountable difference between the first and second positions, not to mention the gap between the first and seventh. he was useless in terms of strength and brains¡ªa cannon fodder? he mused. just then, a bus pulled up in front of him, and the passengers alighted while marcus boarded. after a while of stopping and picking up passengers from one bus stop to another, he reached his destination and got off. the sun sank low below the horizon, and marcus breathed in the fresh afternoon breeze before exhaling. he was here again¡ªthree years of frequenting the hospital. he gazed up at the signboard beside the large hospital. it read: maxwell general hospital "here i come again," he said and sighed. marcus stepped into the hospital, where nurses and patients moved about, young and old alike. there was a girl he always saw outside in a wheelchair; she had been there for a few months. marcus didn''t know why, but whenever she saw him, she just stared at him like he was some kind of exhibit. but the gaze wasn''t of ill will, after many months of meeting her gaze, he realized it was admiration. she was beautiful, even if she were to stand, with her waist-length brown hair, she would undoubtedly have an hourglass figure. not that he cared, but she should at least focus on her recovery. sear?h the n?velfire(.)net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. marcus met her gaze but quickly looked away and headed into the wards. opening the door, marcus peered in without stepping into the room. perhaps, he thought, she would already be sitting up, waiting for his arrival. but reality hit him as he saw her lying limp in the bed by the window. his heart pounded, but he forced himself to relax. she''s sleeping, not dead, he tried to comfort himself as he did every time he visited. the tubes and wires attached to her reminded marcus that this was no ordinary sleep, and his heart jumped again. anytime marcus came there and saw her face, he couldn''t help but be mesmerized by her beauty even as she slept, her moderately thick eyebrow, black long hair, and refined features, he knew they had a striking resemblance, well, marcus couldn''t say it to someone''s face that he was handsome, it will make him feel unpleasant, like he was some narcissistic fellow which he wasn''t. marcus'' gaze fell on a small flower vase placed on the base of the window beside her cushion. it had been there for a while, but he had been too engrossed in his thoughts to notice it earlier. the flowers were light pink. marcus couldn''t help but wonder who had placed it there. he started smelling the scent, it was pleasant. perhaps the person who put it there had thought his mom would be able to smell it and wake up from her coma. "every little bit counts, i guess" marcus muttered. he was thankful. perhaps it was one of the nurses. speaking of the nurses, he heard the sound of a door opening and saw one enter. he recognized her as his mom''s attendant. "good afternoon, marc," she greeted him with a beaming smile. "i saw someone come in and came to check. i was hesitant at first because i thought it was elena." "elena?" marcus asked with a puzzled expression. why would she let anyone aside from a nurse or doctor in here? his brain wanted to explode, but he calmed himself down. the nurse hesitated, perhaps reading his reaction. "i meant the girl in the wheelchair outside, elena wong. i thought you saw her, right?" she asked as if marcus were actually acquainted with the girl. it wasn''t like he had ever had a conversation with her before. perhaps the nurse had misread their gazes when they looked at each other every time they crossed paths. "oh... you meant that girl?" marcus said in realization, thinking of the girl whose name he didn''t even know. "yeah," the nurse responded with a nod, walking closer. "she was the one who brought the vase of flowers. she visits here every day to pray for your mom," she said, her eyes widening as if she were stating a fact marcus should already know. marcus could only nod, he was kinda surprised. like, we have never talked yet she went ahead to do this? well... perhaps she had her reasons... he thought... "no problem" he replied while shifting the issue to the back of his mind. he brought out his phone and checked the time, 3:30 pm "i''m going home already," marcus said while she nodded and left, he followed suit, closing the door, he made his way home. Chapter 3: Apocalypse chapter 3: apocalypseit was a cool wednesday morning, marcus cheng was home, playing his game, after all, the radiation was supposed to reach earth''s surface tomorrow, or so they thought... "damn it!" he muttered under his breath, squeezing his face in frustration at the overpowered villain he was fighting. the problem was that, having used every means to get points, skills, and level up, he had avoided helping the in-game characters as the developers had intended. consequently, he was struggling because he lacked a crucial skill that would be more effective against the villain. with no other choice, he navigated through the interface and started checking tasks. "whoa! that is cringe," he exclaimed, seeing a task where he had to help a lad up after he fell because he was blindfolded. "shit game!" he yelled, but the reason he was still hell-bent on playing it was because of the villains; the fights were so epic! sitting on his bed, his eyes focused on the tv. "yeah, i just need to help an old man carry some stuff inside his house, right? all done!" he clicked the controller. "let''s go and fight. i must finish this level today," marcus said determinedly. he could hear one of the guys living in the next room yelling at someone. "hey, be fast! i don''t know if i''ll be able to do it tomorrow." "but we did it all night, i''m fucking tired," a lady whined. "shitheads!" he thought. "like, damn! they are just too loud." s§×arch* the n?vel?ire.net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. he moved on with his game. at least he should finish this level; he might not be able to play the game tomorrow either. but then something happened suddenly. normally, he sat on his bed, facing the tv and playing the game. but he felt a breeze blow past his face as if he were actually relaxing outside in cool weather and not in the enclosed space of his room. this latest occurrence made him instinctively jerk his head to the left side¡ªthe direction the breeze was blowing from, and the true horrific explanation was there for him to see... marcus'' eyes narrowed, it appeared he was in an apartment complex that had been split in half because he couldn''t see the wall boundary between his room and the next neighbor''s room. he didn''t know how it happened. rushing towards the edge which now opened to the outside view, he could see the next building and even the whole street. glancing down from about twenty-five feet in the half-split apartment, "what the heck happened!" he yelled, the wind whistled passed his face. there they were, his loud neighbor and his girlfriend, almost on the verge of being swallowed alive by a venus flytrap. one of the plant pots that lined one side of the lawn and the terrace outside had grown enormously enough to swallow the whole building he was in. "don''t tell me it was the one that bit off half of this building," marcus realized, struggling to accept the scene in front of him. the half-naked guy and lady were struggling inside the lobes of the plant, which looked aggressive even though it didn''t have a face. looking over at the street, he realized it wasn''t a normal street anymore. it was as if an apocalypse had started. in front of the next building, which was a bungalow, a girl held a dog on a chain. suddenly, the chain broke immediately as the dog grew big and about fifteen feet tall, almost taller than the building. with one raised paw, it smashed the whole building to bits. the girl screamed like someone watching a horror movie in the middle of the night who suddenly felt something blow a cold breeze on the back of their neck. marcus struggled to get his bearings on what was happening. it felt like a dream, like it was unbelievable. he was still standing on the jagged edge of his room, his heart pounding, morning wind whistling past his face. instinctively, he ran back to the tv. perhaps the best thing was to find a way to get down the building before the plant bit off the remaining part. he switched the tv to a news channel while breathing heavily. a reporter, a man in his late thirties, was reporting from a location he recognized. his head rang like a large bell. "this... is... the... front... of... the... hospital... my... mum¡ª" he could only speak slowly because of how his heart was racing. he couldn''t even finish the sentence because of the scenery, his legs started quivering and a cold sweat broke from his face. a giant mosquito, about ten feet tall, was on the verge of sucking the back of the reporter''s head with its proboscis, which looked as long as a six-foot tube. looking at how giant it looked, it was almost something out of a horror movie, even the buzzing sound it made sounded like a big machine motor operating. its two big multifaceted green compound eyes were like looking into a mosaic of tiny, reflective lenses while reflecting an eerie and malevolent intelligence. but then, he saw a fist hit it from the side. nope, he didn''t miss it, even though the fist was so fast it almost appeared like a blur¡ªnot when it was happening in front of the hospital where his mum was. "the platinumxgamma radiation, which reached earth''s surface early this morning as stated five days ago has mutated a lot of living organisms all around the world. but don''t worry, we also have our heroes who have awakened unbelievable powers in the process, the awakened are fighting the mutant beasts currently," the reporter said while nodding with a grin. "eh!" marcus was shocked and somehow at ease. he heaved a heavy sigh, his legs gave way and he sat on the bed with a thud. marcus didn''t mind what was happening, as long as his mom was still sleeping safely in the hospital. that was all that mattered. "that fucked up woman even casted rubbish, shit channel, so it was today all along" he muttered. the time was around 8:30 am... "he said early this morning, so... the mutation has already started a couple of hours ago," marcus gazed back at the tv and saw elena wong, the girl in the wheelchair he always saw outside anytime he went to visit his mum. but she wasn''t in a wheelchair anymore. "what the hell!!" marcus gasped. there she was, fighting a giant cockroach in her patient uniform, the sound of the shrieking and hissing of the creature almost made marcus'' heart jump out even though it was on the tv. marcus never imagined those insects to be as hideous as this, with its opened mouth, saliva sprayed out of it like some hideous beast as it stood on its last pair of legs, the hairs and claws of its three pairs of legs were something else as its swipe one of the pairs at elena''s head, the colossal cockroach excelled at speed but it seemed elena was faster as she dodged so fast her body blurred. marcus came to a conclusion. "so the radiation only mutates animals, plants, and insects. but in the case of plants, it was only the carnivorous species like the venus flytrap." "wait!" marcus yelled and used his hands to prop his body up from the bed. "speaking of the venus flytrap, i hope that guy hasn''t been digested by it!" marcus ran toward the edge of the half-split apartment complex... Chapter 4: Not Awakened chapter 4: not awakenedas marcus rushed to the edge of the half-split apartment complex, marcus was surprised at what he saw but he calmed down thereafter. there he was, the guy who was marcus'' next neighbor, he was standing on the terrace with only shorts and had his right hand gripping close together the tip of the two large lobes of the venus flytrap while the other lobes were already ripped off like he was trying to show off his powers, his girlfriend stood beside him in red lingeries. marcus made a displeased face, "aren''t they ashamed?" he muttered. they were trying to make out when the venus flytrap bit the half part of the apartment complex along with their room. the giant venus flytrap was flapping its roots and body violently but it seemed the grip of the guy was more powerful, he looked up at marcus and grinned like some superhero. "yo!, it seemed the fucking radiation blessed us with powers instead," he said and with one swift movement, he twisted the lobes of the plant which made it stop jerking in an instance, it seemed it was dead, and the guy threw it to one side while his girlfriend rushed to hug him. "cringe!! superhero saving the day when he was making out, that would be huge news!" marcus yelled out unconsciously at him. it appeared everything was starting to get under control everywhere else as some men also took care of the mutant beasts around the neighborhood. what marcus saw almost made him jealous and made his jaw drop, how they were fighting, the tremendous power the men wield. marcus remembered that they called them the awakened on the tv earlier while the animals who were mutated were called mutant beasts. although almost all the houses were caught up in the fight like where he lived, some were reduced to rubble and some were destroyed partially, in short, the neighborhood has turned into a desolate place. marcus got down from the building which was split in half, he thanked god it wasn''t the stairs part that was bitten off. and he also wondered how the guy and his girlfriend survived the lobes of that plant, after all, it was the same lobes that bit off the half part of the building. "oh..." marcus came to a realization as he hobbled down the stairs quickly. "don''t tell me they both possessed superhuman strength" he said with gritted teeth. after he reached the ground level, marcus saw a horde of people coming from afar. judging from what they were carrying which were huge cameras that some of them placed on their shoulders, no doubt, they were reporters, and the thing was that, they were stopping by one rubble of house to another while interviewing some men who fought off the mutant beasts. some mutant beasts lay down as some part of their body was broken with a pure fist and raw brute strength but something was different which marcus noticed, these weren''t all the mutant beasts he had seen when it began, where were the others, like they were much than these... marcus mused although he shifted the thought to the back of my mind. the men looked arrogant like some superstar full of himself as they were interviewed. tsk! marcus spat angrily, he glanced at his neighbor, the guy stood there while gazing at the horde of people with cameras, it seemed he was waiting for his turn, his turn to shine in front of cameras. marcus composed himself at the sudden turn of situation, for now, he had to admit humanity has prevailed and at the same time evolved. marcus wore a black hoodie and matching trousers, he put on the cap and faced the building which was now half of its original form, it was as if the mutant plant measured the portion as it bit just half of it. "i can''t remain a cannon fodder forever" he muttered. marcus readied my fist, ready to dilapidate the remaining standing part, ready to test his powers, it wouldn''t hurt to collapse the remaining part after all the apartment complex wasn''t habitable anymore. coiling his right arm and jerking his elbow backward, with one motion, marcus thrust the fist at the side of the building, the impact made a sound immediately... marcus looked up, and nothing happened. "eh!" "why?" sear?h the novel?ire(.)ne*t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. marcus knew he was exposed to radiation too. marcus was starting to get teary-eyed as he glanced up at the clear blue sky as if there should be another supernova. he heaved an exasperated sigh. "stop being a kid" marcus said to himself and glanced down back. after all, it wasn''t only him that didn''t awaken power, including humans and animals, there were still some dogs whimpering around. although marcus could feel the inside of him boiling, in fact, he started wishing that it should have ended up in a distorted mutation instead of awakening power. but he calmed himself down, marcus knew it was pathetic of him, after all, he wasn''t the only one who didn''t awaken power. after a while the reporters reached the front of the apartment complex, marcus neighbor was smiling while raising his hand and pointing at the same time to the lump of mutant plant he killed. "young man, it seemed you are also an awakened" "how do you feel to be awakened" many of them started rushing the guy with questions while flashes of cameras captured him and his girlfriend, they didn''t even look ashamed in what they wore. marcus could only gaze blankly at them. "i feel so great, i felt energy brimming inside me and i felt untouchable at the same time," he said and laughed out loud dramatically. "so are you the only one awakened" one asked as the flashes of the cameras continued, filling the air with the noise. "i and my babe," he said while the lady hugged him tightly. "wow! we are so excited, well, everything has been under control" "take this form, fill it out if you wish to join the awakened league the government has created in order to safeguard our country" one extended a white paper to the guy. "there may be mutant beasts coming at any moment, we would appreciate it if you join" he collected it and gazed at it for a moment and nodded. "no problem, rejoice!! for i" he made a dramatic bow at the reporters "lei chen will serve this beautiful" he used his right hand to swipe up his shoulder-length blond hair, "country" then he said the last word syllabically while his stupid girlfriend giggled. Chapter 5: The Awakened In The Class chapter 5: the awakened in the classit has been a week since the awakened and mutant apocalyptic event, the event that shook the whole world, the government had moved those who lived in neighborhoods that were now in ruins to another neighborhood, that is much they could do for welfare. there was now an awakened league called the awakened created by the government, they were awakened people positioned across the country together with military personnel, although there weren''t any mutant beast cases, but it seemed the government had grown suspicious of the matter¡ªthe mutants had gone into hiding, perhaps they were hibernating, maybe it was the side effect of their mutation. but their traces weren''t seen. those living in a mansion before got a mansion and those living in an apartment complex before got the same. marcus knew he couldn''t say he wasn''t satisfied after all he was still living his normal life. the government had let them submit a form of things they left behind in the dilapidated neighborhoods, all their possession was bought back for them. marcus had gone to visit his mum the previous week of the incident, it seemed she wasn''t affected or awakened too as she was still lying in the bed. he met the girl named elena wong there also as she sat beside her. looking closely at her as she stood, no doubt, she was beautiful with her waist-length brown hair, hourglass figure, and refined features, she also looked agile with a toned body. marcus realised the agility and toned body was the effect of the awakening. well, he felt he shouldn''t be a scum so he thanked her even though he still wondered deep down why she keep staying by her side. "maybe she and my mum were acquainted in some place... "although it seemed we are about the same age" that was all marcus could think of. and the fact that he didn''t feel like delving into the matter with her. that is just part of his socially distant attitude. they gazed at each other for a while before he left. but deep down, marcus wondered why his mind was at rest with her beside his mum. was i developing a trust in her? marcus thought and scoffed at the thought. marcus has never trusted anyone, he lived only for himself and his mum any other thing or person is out of the equation. perhaps the reason marcus wasn''t awakened was because the whatever thing who chose the awakened knew that he would only use it for his own gain. except there wasn''t anything like that. according to an interview with the chief scientist of yangdao on saturday morning on the national news channel, the previous week. platinumxgamma radiation targets dormant genes; junk dna¡ªa gene without function, altering their structure thereby activating them. as the dormant genes now became active, they started producing proteins and enzymes that don''t exist in a natural human being. these new proteins and enzymes interact with the body''s biology system, enhancing and modifying them in extraordinary ways. but as for those that didn''t awaken their dormant genes, it means they possessed genetic repressors¡ª genes that repress activation of dormant genes. marcus made a bitter face when the man explained on tv. ~damn it!! damn repressor!! much like the immune system huh?!~ it was monday morning, twelve days after the apocalyptic event. marcus got ready for school, and since he was in eleventh grade, everything counts, he didn''t want the money he had been spending on education to go to waste. marcus reached the class, rowdy as always but something was different. they had pe that morning but that wasn''t what was different. leo zhang, a brown-haired boy he recognized to be one of the scrawniest guys in the class was using one finger, his right index finger to swirl around his chair while the girls surrounded him and watched the sight cheerfully and it was so fast that it created an air current which blew the hair of the girls around him. marcus'' jaw almost dropped when he noticed his physique, he was now very built and tall, even taller than him. marcus stood at 1.8 meters but it seemed leo zhang was about six feet tall. in an instant, marcus'' jaw muscles wore out and his jaw dropped immediately. "is he also an awakened?" marcus started to breathe hard like he had run miles not until he saw alex wei¡ªa boy with curly black hair that fell over his face¡ªwho was heaving a barbell of 300 kg with his right hand, he even seemed to enjoy it like it was nothing. they were all built and tall like some veteran bodybuilder, even their school shirt was strained and on the verge of bursting by their body muscles. marcus swallowed a heavy gulp of saliva and forced his leg to move to his seat in the back row. looking around like he was lost in a sea of superhumans, each performing his own extraordinary feats although some were overpowered than the other. marcus guessed the situation, about fifty percent of the boys in his class were awakened. but it seemed they weren''t recruited by the government due to age, most of us were still seventeen. the other boys who weren''t awakened seemed to be cheering their friends up. when marcus reached his seat, his leg gave way immediately and he sat down with a thud. he felt tired all of a sudden at the different sights around him, the air current created by the swirling chair blew past his face every now and then. "wow!! it has been almost an hour you have been swirling around the chair" one girl exclaimed while looking at him like he was some idol she had been idolizing since childhood. leo zhang was grinning. even the assistant class rep, zoe li, an auburn-haired girl wasn''t an exception, she was doing push-ups. marcus heard her count to number one thousand five hundred and he blinked blankly twice, her body was now toned like a veteran athlete. marcus started wondering why he was like that, he looked pitiful, his heart weighed a ton in his chest, and he felt like crying to someone but there wasn''t anybody since he had no friends. after a while, the pe teacher entered. but is this really mr. lau? our pe teacher? s§×arch* the n?vel(f)ire.¦Çet website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. marcus mused, he couldn''t believe what he saw, the pot belly teacher with three strands of hair dangling atop his bald head looked like a totally different person, this man or should he say this guy¡ªbecause he looked young¡ª looked very built and tall. his black hair was well-styled. marcus thought they might have changed their pe teacher although they had a striking resemblance. not until he heard: "hi students, mr. lau lau is here, get ready to go to the gym, i can see some of you working really hard, let''s move let''s move" mr. lau said in a motivated tone as he clapped in gesture. "this old man is an awakened too!!!" marcus'' brain screamed inwardly. mr. lau''s purple shirt long sleeves were rolled up to reveal arms with bulky muscles. the class was starting to get ready to go to the gym when something happened, something marcus had shifted to the back of his mind... Chapter 6: A Mutant Beast chapter 6: a mutant beastthe whole class seemed to rumble as if there was an impending earthquake. students wore confused expressions not until huge and sharp yellow talons clawed down the front edge part of the class just from the right side of the whiteboard. screams filled the air, it was a gigantic grey foot of a bird. mr. lau¡ªwho was just a foot from the place¡ªjumped a few feet to the left side with a shocked expression. if it had been before, his pot-belly stomach would have restricted his movement with every bounce. marcus was surprised and at the same time shocked that he instinctively stood frozen by the wall at the back of the class where his seat resided. another foot of talons clawed down the roof and almost slashed at a girl who slipped in time to dodge it while she let out a horrified scream. "kyaaaahh!!..." it seemed zoe li, the assistant class rep had guessed the situation as she started ushering the class out. the rubbles of the ceiling were starting to fall, dust spewing as the roof gave way since there wasn''t any wall to support them by the side of the board, and almost half of the classroom had turned to rubbles in just a short amount of time. almost all of the class had evacuated except mr. lau, leo zhang, and alex wei, perhaps they believed in their strength more than any other person. but marcus was too shocked to move because he was the first to see the creature because from his position he was able to see what owned the talons the moment the first talons landed. the two glowing piercing red eyes that reflected malevolence and intelligence. marcus'' heart was thumping as if it would jump out any moment. his breath almost ceased at the creature, marcus felt as if he was a prey who was about to be prey upon. it was a sparrowhawk, and judging by its bluish-grey color, it was a male one, it towered above the classroom, and then the creature bent and showed its face to the rest of the class. their mouth seemed to open slightly in surprise but there wasn''t time to be surprised. meanwhile, marcus was still glued to the wall at the back unable to move a centimeter. zoe li had already ushered all the classmates outside the class and he could hear the sound of a bell ringing signaling an emergency and thorough evacuation of the whole school, a mutant beast had arrived... alex wei¡ªthe guy with curly black hair that fell to his face and appeared to be heaving a 300 kg barbell with only one hand when marcus entered the class¡ªwas the first to react as he dashed towards the beast with incredible speed although he didn''t appear to be a blur. the beast noticing this reacted and spread out its large left wing and flapped it at the incoming alex who had already jumped up about six feet, and readied his coiled arm of punch. the air current the large wing created was enough to blow him away like a feather but he twisted midair and landed on the floor near the entrance. marcus can only marvel at his ability to maneuver his body. ''how did he do that?!'' even marcus felt the strong wind blow at his face where he stood at the far end of the class, while leo zhang and mr. lau slid some distance backwards. most of the seats were all blown away to the entrance side giving way for more space around the beast in the half-crumbled classroom. it seemed it was annoyed at this latest occurrence and shrieked loudly, a piercing sound that created more fear in marcus as he stayed glued to the wall. cold sweat kept breaking down from his face. marcus'' shirt collar was almost soaked with sweat as his widened eyes witnessed the event unfolding. if the time was to be taken into account, all this only took a few seconds from the time alex wei attacked. leo zhang burst into motion, he seemed to be faster than alex wei as he almost appeared as a blur. ''what speed!!'' the beast flapped at him, and a strong wind blew concurrently, but he dodged, he seemed sly as he slipped through the tiniest opening of the blowing wind. he climbed the whiteboard and in an instant, he was already atop the beast''s head¡ªit all took a split second. leo zhang covered the red glowing eyes of the beast with his both hands which barely covered them while the beast flung its head around violently but it seemed leo zhang managed to stick to its head somehow. the beast hawk almost tumbled as it walked backward. it seemed leo zhang wanted to minimize the damage to the school infrastructure as he pulled at the beast''s head while it hobbled backward from the class into the lightly wooded area about thirty yards from the school building but still in the vast compound of the school. with this, leo zhang released his grip, granting a few moments of reprieve for the beast hawk. as the beast hawk started getting its bearings, leo zhang coiled his two arms and aimed the two elbows at the top of the beast''s head. "wham!!..." on impact, the beast''s head jerked downwards, the force of the blow sending a shudder through its massive frame. there wasn''t any time to waste as mr. lau rushed and jumped forward to deliver a devastating blow with his bulky muscular right arm. s§×ar?h the n?vel(f)ire.¦Çet website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. just a few inches before the impact with the beast hawk''s chest, leo zhang jumped off from its head. "pow!!..." on impact with mr. lau''s fist, the beast hawk seemed to stand its ground but the force sent it sliding. it managed to hang on by digging its huge and sharp talons into the concrete floor of the vast compound. but it seemed the inertia created by mr. lau''s blow disagreed with the frictional force created by the talons as deep cracks started running deep in the floor in the wake of the sliding beast hawk. the force was so much that the talons ended up forcing out huge chunks of jagged rock from the ground. the beast hawk lost its balance and tumbled on its back immediately. realizing the situation, the beast started flapping its wings to regain balance. just as the beast regained its balance... Chapter 7: SS-Grade Mutant Beast chapter 7: ss-grade mutant beastjust as the beast hawk regained its balance, it screeched as it saw leo zhang running at a high speed towards it. it seemed to have guessed the situation¡ªthat it has no advantage in a ground-level fight. he flapped its wings and propelled upwards. "swoosh!!..." it was so fast that the large wings caused a palm tree planted in the lightly wooded vast compound to bend due to the air current they generated. even leo zhang changed his direction and glued to the nearest building wall to avoid being blown away while alex wei and mr. lau stood their ground. it seemed leo zhang excelled mostly at speed and agility than alex wei and mr. lau while the latter excelled at superhuman strength as they both stood their ground although with strain as they gritted their teeth. as marcus stood by the back wall of the almost dilapidated classroom, he was starting to regain my composure. watching the fight unfolding, it was something completely out of an action movie. their superhuman strength and speed, and the most unbelievable thing was how they were fighting, how could they fight so dexterously? it was as if they had trained the powers. no, marcus got it, like how a baby knows how to suck breast even without being taught. since it''s their gene that was mutated and evolved, they seem to know how to do it naturally. it is like a piece of information imprinted in their dna, like an inborn trait. when the beast hawk had reached some height in the air, it gazed upwards and shrieked loudly, it then faced down at its opponents. its eyes glowed a malevolent red, and marcus instinct whispered to him that something bad was about to happen. with one flap of both wings together, fast-moving feathers shot out from the wings. with their quills facing the forward direction, they pierced every surface in contact, the concrete floor, and the walls were all pierced by the feather quills. leo zhang dodged but it seemed the feathers were faster, as some almost pierced his stomach which he barely dodged but left a slight slash by his flank. "swoosh!!..." sear?h the n?vel(f)ire.n§×t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. the speed of the large feathers seemed to have something to do with their streamlined shape and weightlessness. leo zhang almost tumbled but he managed to jump into the nearby class through the window. mr. lau and alex wei stood their ground, they shielded their face with both arms while the fast-moving feathers bounced off their bodies and arms. they were superhumanly stronger, but they had to shield their face to avoid being impaled in the eye. from the side of the back wall, marcus stood while watching the event unfolding. he jumped towards the right edge of the almost dilapidated classroom from the opened space where the feathers could be shot at. marcus almost screamed when he saw the quill of one of the feathers penetrate the wall beside him at the edge of the back wall he glued at. about two inches of the quill''s length was visible, if it had been three inches, the side of marcus'' stomach would have been pierced as the sharp tip of the quill almost touched his flank. marcus'' breath ceased as he inhaled but he calmed himself down and then exhaled heavily. at once marcus heard the sound of radios, he walked slowly forward and peered upward by the half-crumbled right wall of the classroom. it was a black military helicopter, it seemed someone had alerted the nearby military division. the helicopter was hovering high above, at least 10000 feet high while the beast hawk was about 5000 feet high. there were men in black shades extending their arms¡ªweapons¡ªoutside the rolled down black tinted glass of the helicopter. ~ division a is here, clear area around the target, ready to neutralize the target, do you copy?!~ they yelled from the radio, at once alex wei and mr. lau who stood their ground gave way for the soldiers to deploy their weapons. firing at the beast hawk as it flew up. the sound of gunshots filled the air and ammunition casings rained down at the same time. "ratatatatata!!..." but it was useless, the bullets were ricocheting off the beast hawk''s body, and it seemed the mutant beast''s protective features¡ªthe feathers¡ªwere stronger than steel. the beast hawk screeched at the helicopter as it started flying towards it, perhaps it did feel some pain. the soldiers retracted the arms back into the helicopter and rolled up the glass, then marcus noticed the hellfire missile system attached to the side of the helicopter. ~command, this alpha one, mutant beast is double s-grade, immune to bullets, i repeat, immune bullets, ready to deploy missiles, anyone within fifteen meters radius should be cleared, i repeat...~ a missile launched with a deafening roar, streaking through the sky towards the mutant beast. "boom!!..." the beast hawk that was flying towards them, and the missiles coming from its opposite direction were now on the verge of colliding with each other. "it should be able to do the job" marcus muttered with a racing heart and gritted teeth as his eyes followed both of their movement. there was a huge blast sound as both collided at about 7000 feet in the air. "bam!!..." black smoke enveloped them reducing the visibility to zero, did it really do the job? it was unknown, but it seemed the soldiers didn''t waste a second as they deployed missiles upon missiles at the smoke-enveloped beast hawk. "damn it, what is happening" marcus spat exasperatedly due to not knowing the outcome, his bladder was already full and he wanted to pee badly but he just couldn''t leave. but something happened, rain of high-speed feathers shot out from the black envelope of smoke and pierced the black military helicopter fuselage which was made of aluminum alloys. "swoosh!!... ta ta ta ta!!..." they were so fast that some penetrated the helicopter and impaled a soldier in the stomach as they shot out from the other side of the helicopter. "fuck!!" marcus yelled as he instinctively grabbed onto the half-crumbled wall "that hawk is a monster" ''have they become more powerful after hibernating for just a week interval??'' ''if the others came out, yangdao is, needless to say, a finished country.'' marcus noticed the mutants that were fought off and defeated when the radiation apocalypse started weren''t as strong as this. this one was on a whole other level, he also noticed the fact that those mutant beasts'' eyes weren''t glowing. perhaps that was why this one was graded. the helicopter lost balance immediately, but the beast hawk didn''t waste any second as it flapped both of its wings strongly at the helicopter which was losing balance and falling. "swoooooosh!!..." the strong wind generated by the flapped wings blew the falling helicopter in the opposite direction, and it spiraled off. "kra kra kra kra!!..." a large explosion was heard as it landed somewhere in the street outside. "boom!" black smoke drifted up from afar... Chapter 8: Luck Or Calculation? chapter 8: luck or calculation?then the beast hawk turned downwards to its remaining opponents. mr. lau, alex wei, and leo zhang had already gathered, they seemed to have guessed the situation, this mutant beast wouldn''t be easy to defeat. it was so strong that military-grade weapons couldn''t kill it. "it seemed the soldiers called it double s-grade, like ss-grade" marcus muttered where he stood, he glanced at the three awakened. "so what are they going to do now, are they out of tricks, i meant plan" marcus saw leo zhang, the poor guy held his flank which had been slashed slightly by the fast-moving feathers. it wasn''t bleeding but there was a stain of blood on his shirt, perhaps he had stopped the bleeding. at once, the colossal beast hawk which was hovering about 2000 feet in the air started flapping its large wings. although it was flapping it slowly before to keep itself hovering in the air but the flapping force was now increasing as if it wanted to do another devastating attack. mr. lau seemed to have guessed the situation as he glanced at leo zhang and alex wei and shook his head with a grim expression. "what, don''t tell me you are out of plan" marcus whispered exasperatedly where he hid. the air current created by the increasing flapping of the wings of the beast hawk was becoming stronger and the half-crumbled walls were shaking. "swoosh!!... swoosh!!..." even where marcus stood seemed to shake violently, threatening to collapse anytime. marcus just guessed the situation ''it seemed the beast hawk wanted to generate enough wind that will clear away the whole school building, or can it generate a whirlwind?'' marcus'' mouth almost hung open, he knew he would be caught up in it, no doubt. his curiosity has gotten him into trouble. after regaining his composure from the beast hawk''s horrifying malevolent red eyes, marcus had had plenty of chance to escape but he didn''t. leo zhang ran to mr. lau, he whispered to him. mr. lau''s eyes widened, he glanced at the windmill palm planted on the far side of the lightly wooded area. the windmill palm of about twenty feet was bending into a curve and straightening back due to the strong wind generated by the beast hawk in the air. mr. lau glanced back at leo zhang and shook his head immediately as if leo zhang had a dangerous plan. he whispered to alex wei who stood and looked at the two with confused expression. upon hearing it, his body tensed up. leo zhang then nodded at him while placing his right hand on alex wei''s shoulder as if to say farewell, like he wanted to die a hero, while alex wei nodded. sear?h the nov§×lf~ire.net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "tsk!" marcus spat where he stood, he squeezed his face in displeasure while he felt the wind blow past his face. he had already guessed the situation, is it thrilling playing hero, a question he couldn''t answer. "anyway let''s see what plan he has" at once, mr. lau, leo zhang, and alex wei ran to the windmill palm, they stood at about twenty feet from it. marcus gazed scrutinizingly, trying to figure out what they wanted to do with the ornamental tree, then he realized. the tree was no more than 20 feet tall, they were standing about twenty feet from the palm tree, and to top it off, they stood in the direction the windmill palm was bending to, marcus had a guess, and then it came true. the wind generated by the colossal beast hawk had increased to a stage where the half-crumbled wall marcus stood by was already shaking violently even though there was a considerable distance from the beast hawk high in the sky and the half-crumbled classroom he was hiding in while catching the glimpse of the event. marcus looked at the windmill palm, its body had already bent to the stage that the large leaves were touching the ground. suddenly, mr. lau grabbed at the strong leaves of the windmill palm just as it bent close to the ground, it now turned into a situation of tug of war between him and the windmill palm. leo zhang rushed to grab at the other leaves, granting mr. lau a helping hand. while alex wei with his very built and tall body jumped atop the windmill branches as if he wanted to ride a rocking horse. marcus'' eyes widened in surprise, he knew immediately that they wanted to use the windmill palm as a launcher while alex wei as a projectile. "what sort of otherworldly strategy is this!!" marcus screamed out unconsciously but it seemed the sound was blown away by the wind rustling and whistling past everywhere, including his face. still flapping the wings that seemed to span nearly 15 feet forcefully in the air, the beast hawk started circling in the air, this time it was circling faster with the force of the flapping wings propelling it. the air around the beast hawk started to twist and churn, and the leaves, debris, and dust around were sucked into the vortex forming beneath it, even the feathers that pierced the surrounding was caught up. marcus swallowed a huge gulp of saliva. ''this is a damn whirlwind!'' his mind screamed, it was already forming slowly as the beast hawk propelled in a circular motion 2000 feet in the sky. no doubt, marcus knew he would get caught in this. "damn it!" marcus spat as he witnessed the event unfolding, this was the first he would witness a creature generating a whirlpool, this creature is a natural disaster. marcus instinctively jerked his head at where mr. lau, alex wei, and leo zhang were. mr. lau and leo zhang who held the windmill palm leaves were both circumambulating the spot they were, although only in a curve, from left to right and back, while alex wei sat atop the bent windmill palm, he stuck himself on top. mr. lau and leo zhang seemed to be gazing at the beast hawk as they moved like they were actually targeting it. marcus couldn''t help but think that the plan was dumb, although if alex wei was propelled, he could knock the beast hawk off from the air with his superhuman strength thereby preventing the disaster. even though the plan sounded dumb to him, all marcus could do was pray it worked, or else he would be caught up in the disaster, given that he didn''t have any power. in mr. lau, alex wei, and leo zhang''s case, they would definitely survive the whirlwind but not in his case. fear seemed to sprout out from marcus again as he witnessed the impending situation. before marcus knew it, mr. lau and leo zhang had released the windmill palm which in turn went back to its original state, thereby catapulting alex wei in the process. marcus'' eyes followed alex wei''s movement as he was propelled through the air, he coiled his right arm. at once, marcus witnessed a muscle bulge out like he gained an extra mass of muscle in the arm he coiled while he moved through the air in the direction of the flying beast hawk. marcus'' eyes were closing and opening and his mind raced with doubt about the high-risk gamble. maybe it was based on luck or mr. lau had calculated it, it was unknown. the beast hawk happened to turn in the air in the direction alex wei was propelling from. "smack!!... crack!!..." there was a huge bone-cracking noise in the air and both figures remained still in the air as they collided, but it wasn''t clear maybe alex wei had broken some bone or it was the beast hawk because the whirlwind dispersed immediately and they were both covered with dust particles. after a split second that it happened, a colossal figure was knocked away from the two figures enveloped in dust while a small figure was falling down from 2000 feet high in the air, both figures were clad in thick dust envelopes. mr. lau and leo zhang''s mouths hung open, even marcus was stunned. just as the smaller figure was about 1000 feet high, the dust was starting to clear away and it revealed it was alex wei. he was diving head-first from the sky. before leo zhang could rush to help him break his fall, there was a large explosion as alex wei hit the ground with his head like a large meteor. "crash!!... wham!!..." the fall force was so great that jagged cracks spiderwebbed about a ten-foot radius across the concrete floor and chunks of earth and jagged rocks were strewn about... mr. lau and leo zhang ran to him while marcus came out of his hiding... Chapter 9: Survival Of The Fittest chapter 9: survival of the fittest"today was quite an ordeal" marcus muttered as he slung his leather crossbody bag across his shoulder. the time was 2:30 pm, in short, the fight which left the school in ruins only took about thirty minutes. marcus gazed up at the sky, the sun hung low in the sky spilling a warm golden hue over the city. he took his phone out of my pocket and immediately, a notification popped up. marcus tapped the newsfeed, what happened at school was already on the net. the beast hawk was discovered on the third avenue to punchme avenue where it crashed on a truck parked by the roadside. s~ea??h the n??elfir§×.net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. marcus saw that the truck was flat like a paper due to the impact, there was the body contour of the beast hawk on the top surface of the truck. the beast hawk''s neck was twisted, it seemed the bone cracking sound earlier was made by its twisted neck, helicopter was used to transport it away to the government research facility. ''well it can''t be more than 4000 pounds¡ªthe weight of an asian elephant'' "this will raise a level of panic among citizens" marcus gazed at his phone screen as he read the news flash. alex wei''s head was hooked to the concrete floor where he made contact, the area was bulldozered in order to free him, although he didn''t die. ''superhuman strength stuff'' "ah..." marcus breathed out heavily through his mouth as he strode to his part-time workplace. upon reaching there, it was now as bustling as ever, he even saw some new faces. marcus walked past the unloaded box of goods on the open space in front of the warehouse full of people, while making his way to the secretary to sign in. marcus noticed as a very built man carried two refrigerators on both palms of his hands, he extended his arms out while the two refrigerators balanced on the palms. marcus remembered the man immediately with his face, he was part of the workers who always struggled to carry a thirty-two-inch flat screen of five kg. "t-two refrigerators, that should weigh around 150 kg each!" marcus squeaked out unconsciously although his voice was drowned by the noise of different people there. "m-mr liu, are you sure it''s okay" "sure, postnatal care, month rent is almost due, i have so many things to pay for" a man''s voice boomed from a nearby box truck. marcus looked at the next box truck and saw as mr. liu collected a large model washing machine from the man unloading it from the truck. the man placed another one on top of the one mr. liu carried. mr. liu heaved it away into the warehouse as if he carried two big empty cartons placed on top of each other. even the man unloading from the box truck was also an awakened because he was the only one that unloaded the appliance easily. "damn it, they are already turning everything into awakened work" marcus had a feeling, a very bad one that today wouldn''t end well but he tried to shift it away to the back of his mind as his face wore a bitter expression. as he walked into the rowdy warehouse, marcus tried to feign a smile to suppress his bitter expression. the secretary was seated at one angle by the left with piles of files and a biometric scanner on the table in front of her. "oh... marc cheng, you are here today" marcus started wondering what she meant by the way she talked, as she gazed at him while beaming her regular smile. the last time marcus came was before the mutation event, but he knew it was the same for everyone else because there was a week curfew after the event. the government used this time interval to monitor the mutant beast that went into hiding. "yes," marcus replied with eyes narrowed at her, his brow wrinkled slightly with his puzzled expression. "ok, you can sign in," she said sharply as if what she said earlier didn''t mean anything. marcus placed his thumb on the biometric scanner on her table to sign in then he turned to start working. he loaded in as much as what an ordinary seventeen-year-old could carry, almost stunned with the view surrounding him marcus saw how some middle-aged men were heaving extraordinary weights, machines, and pieces of equipment that two people were supposed to carry, but only one person carried it, and to make matters worse, some carried ten small weights appliances and machines like flat screen tv at once all on top each other, leaving him with little work to do and making him realised what the secretary said firstly when he came, marcus biggest fear welled up. ******* marcus slung his leather crossbody bag over his shoulder as he strode home. he ended up doing less work than usual today due to competition, and lesser work means lesser pay. marcus wondered how he would be able to cope with the calculated salary and month end is already near. as the month''s end was drawing nearer, he wondered if he would be able to pay this month''s rent, some bills, and even his mum''s hospital bills. "damn it" marcus yelled upward in frustration as he strode along the sidewalk, he kicked an empty canned drink to the lane where a car passed over it immediately. "give me a break!" marcus was feeling very annoyed. this whole awakened thing has elevated the survival of the fittest. "damn it!, damn it!" "i will survive, i must find every possible way to survive" marcus muttered as he scanned around the avenue, so many dilapidated buildings were under construction due to the catastrophe twelve days ago. the city wasn''t how it used to be before, the city was like a place destroyed by war. marcus knew it was like this in other countries around the world, although humans have started gathering forces but destruction will only increase. just as marcus dipped his right hand into his pocket to take out his phone. suddenly a shard of glass flew past his face, giving him a sharp cut on the right cheek and at the same time he heard screamings of people which made him reflexively jerk up his head to see what was going on... Chapter 10: Survive!! chapter 10: survive!!people were screaming and scampering about while cars crashed into each other in the avenue. "screech!!... crash!!... whack!!... towering in front of a highrise in the distance were two mutant beasts fighting. a beast bear with dirty black fur and a black gigantic bee with golden tones, it was so hairy and its stinger was as thick as a streetlight pole and glistening with venom. "rumble!!... bang!!... the beast bear swatted its large paw at the bee which it dodged with unnatural agility, the swatted paw shattered the window of the highrise. "smash!!... marcus'' heart skipped a beat, and not long it started racing, blood still streaming down from his cheek due to the flying glass shard. the corner beside the particular highrise was his way home, where is the awakened, a question without answer. s§×ar?h the novelfire.net* website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "damn it!" marcus cussed frustratedly. the time was around 5:30 p.m., and after three hours of working, he was meant to go home, freshen up, and sleep off his problems, but here was another problem. cars were skidding over cars while trucks were also skidding over cars, and they scattered across the lane of the avenue. many people were caught in the accident as the beast bear which stood on its hind leg trudged around on the lane while fighting the colossal bee, while the bee was hovering with a blur of wings, the colossal hind legs of the bear thud across the lane. "rumble!!... thud!!... the whole area rumbled with roar and buzz. something caught marcus'' eye with how his heart was thumping very hard. there was a cot in front of the highrise and between the mutant beasts. and a baby was crying in it but its voice was drowned by the surrounding noise. "don''t tell me that is what they are fighting over" marcus tried to calm himself down amidst the chaos, a week of hibernation, a beast hawk at school, and two mutant beasts in the city. he started fitting the puzzle, what is the beast hawk finding at school, why are the mutant beasts fighting over a baby? "food" the word tumbled out of marcus'' mouth, even if it is food that means they have an age limit for food, and it may be that the younger the better. as expected, people were almost clear away from the avenue, looking at buildings beside him, there wasn''t anybody as their door flung open and swung left and right. ''am i curious about this fight again? why haven''t i run too, why am i looking like there was something i wanted to do as i stood on the sidewalk?'' looking at the lane, cars that skidded had landed on each other, some were dead inside while some doors were opened to reveal that their owners had fled. the ground was rumbling with every step the black bear took, its legs the size of a building. "rumble!!... the beast black bear''s right hind leg swept at the back of a black car, the impact sent it flying and it almost landed where marcus stood on the sidewalk. "bang!!... marcus jumped and dived sideways immediately but he noticed something flying in his direction. marcus was still diving in midair when he saw the stuff. no, it was more like a liquid, it was a pale yellow-colored liquid, instantly marcus was covered by the pale yellow liquid. "splash!!... "ew!!... then he crashed into the entrance of a pub, he thank god the glass window was opened. marcus stood up with no particular injury inside the pub and sniffed around his body which was now wet and strained with a pale yellow liquid. the pale yellow liquid was slightly thicker than water. marcus reflexively licked his upper lip. "humm... it tasted sweet as marcus savored the taste with his tongue against the roof of his mouth. he blinked twice, where did this sweet liquid come from, a question without an answer, marcus rushed outside the pub and glanced at the colossal beasts fighting. the beast bear appeared to have gripped the beast bee''s thorax with its paw. marcus knew immediately that the liquid that drenched him was processed nectar the bee was supposed to transfer through trophallaxis. the beast bear was squeezing hard at the beast bee''s thorax so that its proboscis extended out entirely which seemed to be almost thirty feet long. suddenly the gaze of the beast black bear fell on marcus, he froze at the red malevolent glowing eyes which was looking down at him like he was a newfound prey. perhaps due to his state of mind, marcus unconscious whispered to him that this was the second time he would be looked at with a predator''s eyes today. his body shuddered and his legs started quivering almost to the stage of collapsing. ''what have i brought to myself again, i should have run away like any other person'' "creak!! creak!!... marcus'' head creaked around the scenery as he forced his head to turn while his body still shuddered. the avenue was devoid of people and the beast bee appeared to be limp in the powerful grip of the beast bear large paw. as expected, a mutant insect has no chance against a mutant animal, although one would say it depends on their compatibility. some insects are deadly while some animals are powerful naturally without being mutated, like a bear and gorilla. but then the beast bear released its powerful grip from the beast bee. the beast bee fell with a powerful thud as if a high rise was released from an aircraft. "rumble!!... crack-crack!!... the impact made jagged cracks to spiderwebbed across the lane, some cars were caught in the shockwave the fall created as they skid away. the beast bear bound toward marcus immediately with incredible speed. marcus regained his frozen and shuddery and instinctively turned back and dashed while his heart started hammering against his chest. marcus'' mind was blank, the only thing he could do was run, run to survive, he almost tumbled as his leg hit a drainage. he actually fell on his knees, one second of turning back to look at the beast bear, it was already a stone''s throw. Chapter 11: False Hope chapter 11: false hopemarcus rushed up, his leather crossbody bag was long gone when he dived sideways into the pub and his phone was jiggling in his pocket, threatening to fly out any moment. "shit!!, why me?!!!" marcus yelled out aloud, the avenue was already devoid of living people, only those caught up the the skidding accident of cars and trucks remained on the lane and inside the cars. blood had painted almost all of the lane red. marcus kept scampering off and turned to a street. "thud!!..rumble!!.. thud!!..rumble!!.. marcus could hear the rumbling of the ground as the beast bear the height of a high-rise building bound toward him. unfortunately, he was the only one in the area, everywhere was cleared of people. sear?h the nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. marcus saw an alley by his left, he looked back, the beast bear was still at a considerable distance. he could scampered between the row of parked cars and turned to enter the alleyway, ''damn! it shouldn''t be able to see me, after all, i was smaller, thirty times smaller'' his mind raced with thoughts. marcus had already scampered between the row of cars, but before he could even think of turning into the alleyway, marcus noticed a shadow looming. he looked up reflexively, and it was the beast bear. with one leap, it had closed the distance between them. "thud!!... marcus had forgotten that bears are also animals that can leap across a six-foot man, let alone one as tall as a high-rise building. "fuck!!" he dived sideways into the alleyway but what was an alleyway was now a clear open space as the beast bear landed its forepaws on the row of buildings that formed the alleyway. "rumble!!... boom!!...wham!!... marcus was caught up in the blast as he flew and hit rubbles of buildings by the right. "whack!!... "arrrrgh!!" "kyahk!!... his body was covered in dust, marcus felt he had fractured his right leg as he tried to stand, perhaps he could still escape but to no avail. dust filled his eyes as dust enveloped the whole area, reducing visibility to zero. marcus knew that even if he wasn''t injured and tried to run, he might run into the beast bear''s paw in the zero visibility. he lay there without any struggle, marcus closed his eyes to prevent more dust that was settling from entering them. emotions started welling up in him, he thought about his mum, the thought of leaving her all alone hit him hard, now she was all alone in this fucked up world. but it seemed marcus'' suffering was yet to come to an end as he felt something huge connect with his body. "aarrrgh!!... the impact sent him spiraling away at least a hundred feet in the air. "shoosh!!... pain shot across every part of marcus being midair as he kept flying, he couldn''t think of anything as the pain coursed through every fibre of his being. "swoosh!!... the atmosphere was getting darker by the second. "shoosh!!... the pain was unbearable so marcus tried to groan but his mouth wouldn''t open. if he had to count it, he would have broken a neck, backbone, and skull due to the impact that sent him flying. not long marcus'' suffering ended with another sharp pain that coursed from his forehead through his body as he hit a tall building head-on. he was stuck to the building side for a split second before a freefall, blood streaming down from his head, he could feel his head swimming. "thud!!... marcus landed on his butt, the bone vibrating with the impact and pain shooting from his tailbone across his body. "swu... he sucked air hard into his lung due to the overwhelming pain. perhaps he had broken a coccyx bone. his head turned around and it seemed he had landed in an empty and silent alleyway. marcua''s vision was starting to become blurry, it seemed he had lost a lot of blood when he hit the tall building head-on. ''damn!! so this is the end, dammit!'' then a voice rang in his head. *ding!* [system integration begins!] even though marcus'' body was battered, even though his vision had started to fade, he was still stunned somehow. even though his spine would have been broken, his body still shuddered at the sound of the articulate female voice he heard in his head. ''wha-what system?'' [system completely integrated! would you like to initiate system?] [initiating system comes with rewards!] marcus forced his shuddery body to calm down because it seemed every shudder brought more excruciating pain. [five seconds remain for your heart to stop if you don''t accept!] marcus knew quite well about his body''s critical condition and it''s not like he don''t like free stuff and benefits, it''s just that what was the point of rewards when it remain only five seconds to die. when he hesitated it seemed the system detected it and spoke out once again as if urging. [three seconds remain! health recovery reward will become void!] ''health recovery!'' marcus exclaimed in his mind. ''i will fucking accept, if the damn system could manage to make me recover'' "i fucking accept!!" marcus yelled in the silent alleyway with his remaining life force even though the voice was speaking in his head and it seemed to understand his thoughts. [initiating!] [system initiation complete!] marcus was somehow happy, now it remained for his body to be healed. but it seemed his vision was on the verge of closing. the pain in his body wouldn''t stop, even his forehead continued to throb and bleed, the blood streamed down to his lips, he even tasted it with the tip of his tongue. ''fuck!!'' ''system! so much for the rewards!'' being tricked and having his hopes raised made marcus feel even more frustrated. even at the point of dying when a glimmer of hope is seen, human would cling to it no matter what. but in marcus'' case, it seemed the glimmer of hope was a prank, he looked around him before his consciousness started fading. it was already dark in the night but he managed to catch a glimpse of the alleyway¡ªit was the corner that led to his street¡ªthen the image blurred and everywhere darkened... Chapter 12: Sensation chapter 12: sensationmarcus'' eyes stirred open and his body ached from the sitting position he was in. the first thing he noticed as he blinked his eyes open was the change in the air. the weather was so cold that the chill crept into the depth of his bones, his eyes seemed to glance at his body, then marcus realised he was covered in snow thoroughly. "what!" he yelled, marcus was stunned, and he immediately realised he was still in the alleyway he landed earlier, but was it really earlier? it was the last week of september when marcus was caught up in the mutant beasts'' incident. judging from the snow on his body and all over the alleyway, the season was probably winter, which could only mean one thing, marcus had been unconscious for at least three months. the sharp bite of winter was unmistakable. "damn it! wait... why am i not dead? did that system stuff really work?" "hupm hupm... so i managed to escape death" marcus said and smirked, then he gagged from the odour coming out of his mouth. ''shit! i haven''t brushed for three months'' he sniffed his body. marcus made an irritated snort with his nose. ''i smell like shit even though i was covered in snow'' marcus realised he didn''t feel any pain except coldness, a coldness that numbed his body, or was it because of the cold that he couldn''t feel any pain? marcus was sure to have broken some bone, he even hit his forehead before he blacked out. ''well, it seemed i survived somehow'' then as he looked up, marcus saw a pair of bright hazel eyes gazing at him. he was stunned and tried to shift back immediately but it seemed there was no space, his back was against the side of a building in the narrow alleyway. "hi" the sweet voice of a girl greeted, but her face wore a puzzled expression. marcus'' eyes glanced at her from head to toe as she bent and gazed at him, she was pretty and had long black hair with bangs, she wore a yellow puffer jacket and grey gloves, leggings, and a scarf¡ªwhich was wrapped around her neck, she also wore black boots. marcus noticed her straight nose twitching slightly. "are you alright?" she asked with a voice filled with concern. marcus was stunned immediately by the tone, it was a familiar tone, and then his mind shifted to his mum, he remembered, it was the same worried tone, and the girl''s eyes, why was she looking at him like that? it was the same look of the sea blue eyes that gazed at him years back, it made him yearn to be loved, it had been long since he felt like this, and that was when his mum was still with him. marcus felt frustrated. ''damn it!'' she then extended her gloved right hand to help him up. "nobody would have thought someone was in this alleyway, i found you thanks to my sense of smell," she said with a soft voice while beaming at marcus as if she just found a prized possession. marcus was confused, he was nothing more than garbage covered in snow, his heart started racing slightly. ''damn it! why is my heart racing, this feeling, yearning to be loved, damn it!'' s§×arch* the n?vel(f)ire.n§×t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. marcus shook his head, the girl noticed this and reacted with a confused expression as she tilted her head slightly while still gazing at him. marcus shook his head to clear the feeling away, he lived for himself, marcus thought that she was probably crazy to help someone like him. as if reading his thought, she extended the hand a couple of inches more to marcus. then marcus instinctively took it and she helped him up, the thick snow he was covered in fell immediately to the snow-covered ground. "thud!!..." "i''m mei ling, what about you?" she asked as marcus stood up in front of her, there was still a stain of blood on his clothes. "marcus cheng" marcus replied half-heartedly while still looking at the girl suspiciously. "i will call you marc cheng, how long have you been here? you looked unclean" she asked with curiousness. "and the fact that you survived here in this neighborhood, i''m amazed" in fact, unclean was an understatement, how marcus'' body looked was indescribable, even though he didn''t see his face, he wondered what he looked like, sleeping through autumn while waking up in winter in an alleyway... "what is today''s date" marcus asked curiously, although he was somehow curious about what she meant by survive, but he was more curious to know the date. "10th of january, 4:30 p.m.," she said and gave marcus a scrutinizing look. "fuck!" he yelled out unconsciously. "what is wrong?" she asked alertly. ''my birthday has even passed six days ago'' "nothing, so what do you mean by my survival here?" he asked the second thing that piqued his curiosity. "the next neighborhood is area¡ªthree, a double s-grade area, it is uninhabitable for people, it has been a den of mutant beasts since three months ago" then marcus seemed to realise the building around were all dilapidated, as snow hung on the edges of crumbled walls. but what was she finding in a desolate place, he wondered, as he glanced at her, she seemed to be gazing at marcus with a puzzled expression, looking at her she was of average height of girls in their late teens. "i saw a beast bee slumped at the entrance so i grew curious and came, then i smelled something odd and i traced it here then i saw you" she explained without being asked. "i''m a biologist, and i''ve got a sharp nose" she pointed at her nose which was twitching very slightly. it seemed to be the only thing weird in her beautiful facial features, although it would take a person to look closely enough and gaze at it in a narrow way to be able to see the movement. marcus wondered how he was able to effortlessly see it twitch. ''so that is her awakened power, an acute sense of smell'' marcus'' eyes seemed to glance at the entrance of the alleyway. there was a beast bee there, but it was only about as big as a full-grown man. it was probably dead by the way it lay motionless with tattered large and transparent wings and bent antennas. he nodded in realisation. "so do you have a place to go?" marcus thought aback at what she explained earlier about this neighborhood, and this alleyway led to his street, so the apartment complex and the whole street was probably being dominated by mutant beasts already. he shook his head in response and her face was full of pity immediately. she held marcus'' right hand and pulled him as she started walking, marcus went with the flow. they walked out of the narrow alleyway and passed over the dead beast bee at the entrance, and then marcus felt something. he felt an itching and throbbing sensation in about four areas of his body... Chapter 13: What Happened In The Past Three Months chapter 13: what happened in the past three monthsmarcus'' eyes flung open at the white ceiling. he felt like sleeping forever as his body was caught in the fluffy sensation of the bed and brown blanket. he could remembered how mei ling led him to her rented apartment like a shepherd while he followed like a sheep. the itching and throbbing sensation in marcus'' forehead, right arm, right leg, and chest¡ªhis heart region surprisingly¡ª only lasted for a few seconds. taking his bath and brushing his teeth first time in three months, marcus took a whole two hours in the bathroom. he remembered how his once short black hair had grown long and matted, tangled into knots that no longer resembled anything close to a hairstyle when he gazed at the bathroom mirror. the face that stared back at him was gaunt and hollow, marcus'' cheeks sunken and his sea-blue eyes rimmed with dark circles. night fell before marcus left the bathroom when he entered it around 5:00 p.m in the evening. during dinner, marcus didn''t want to eat but mei ling forced him, and he accepted, marcus was so hungry that he ended up eating the whole food in her reserve. he felt sorry for her but the hunger pang he felt when he tasted food for the past three months was uncontrollable. so much has happened within the past three months, as mei ling explained, the neighborhood where marcus lived was now area 3¡ªa numbered area where mutant beasts have formed their colony, a location will be numbered an area once mutant beasts overrun and turn it into a desolate place, they form a hierarchy there and the most powerful become the area boss¡ªthis action is called beast inbreak. for now, there are about seventy-four areas in the whole of yangdao, with three areas in heichien with marcus'' street being the third, he heaved a sigh of relief and was somehow thankful that the hospital location hadn''t become a numbered area. the awakened raid areas, there is the government awakened league which the government created¡ªthis one has special privileges, when they are raiding areas, each is assigned at least three soldiers to command and the least pay is £¤350,000 although it is dependent on rank. their rank is based on achievement¡ªthe grade of the mutant beast they had defeated. in the whole of yangdao, there was only one s-rank, and three a-rank, the rest awakened were either c or d-rank, and b-ranks are rare. the higher the rank, the higher their pay. there are also the independent ones who banded together to raid areas, these ones get money from the beast grade they defeated and sold to the government. drones are sent to investigate numbered areas to find out the grades of mutant beasts so the awakened can know the level of what they want to face if they are going to raid areas. there are three grades of mutant beasts and they are graded according to their eye colour change. the s-grade has normal eyes of the particular creature species, the ss-grade has red malevolent glowing eyes, marcus thought back and remembered the beast hawk that came to his school and the beast bear that attacked him. s~ea??h the n??efire.¦Çet website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''so those were ss-grade'' the sss-grade has black eyes¡ªthey called them eyes of darkness. they are the most powerful evolved mutant beasts with abilities that can bring a whole nation to ruins. although they are rare, yangdao has none as of recently, but there are rumors that powerful nations like the us, china, and others have at least one at their disposal for military purposes. these nations didn''t suffer a single catastrophe or casualty from mutant beasts because they each possessed their own monster. like madison walker¡ªthe immovable sovereign of the us¡ªan admitted patient who suffered from schizophrenia. on the day of the radiation apocalyptic event, madison walker was gazing at the ceiling in the hospital room when he saw an ss-grade beast mosquito. although the beast mosquito¡ªwhich was said to tower above twenty feet¡ªhad already brought half of the hospital to ruins. madison thought it was probably an ordinary mosquito because of his delusion. he even complained about the hospital''s lack of pest control before using his left hand to swipe it away. the beast mosquito''s body blasted into pieces and was said to scatter all over the avenue where the hospital was located. and wang jun of china which was said to use his fist to blast a hole through an sss-grade beast. wang jun was training in the mountains on the day of the apocalyptic event when an unfortunate mutant beast that evolved around the area came to him. he used his fist to blast a hole through the beast, the impact sent a shockwave forward which cleared everything in its path including the range of mountains. these human monsters are sss-rank awakened. marcus swallowed saliva upon saliva as he listened to mei ling the previous night, indeed these people are human monsters of the highest level. mei ling, as a biologist, followed the awakened to raid areas. her job was risky, but all she had to do was record data. although the dead bodies of the mutant beasts were transported to government research facilities, there was still a need for battle data, such as the beasts'' behavior changes, how they responded to aggression, their hierarchy in the areas, and many other data points which couldn''t be observed with the dead bodies of the mutant beasts. as the radiation apocalypse brought nightmares, it also has its advantage, boosting the growth of agriculture in an unprecedented and amazing way, food is now cheap as they are sold ten percent of their previous prices. the mutant beasts'' body parts are also used to craft weapons that the awakened use to defeat other mutant beasts since military-grade weapons didn''t work on ss-grade and above beasts and with little effects on s-grade beasts. another useful thing is the sparkling gem that could be found in the mutant beast''s body, although the source is unknown but the gem is a precious stone and some are more quality than others, the more the quality the more the worth. Chapter 14: System chapter 14: systemmarcus looked at the wall clock which was ticking. tick! tock!... tick! tock... it seemed he had woken up around 10:30 a.m, poor mei ling had to sleep on the floor because the room was a room apartment complex. although marcus offered to do that but she refused after hearing what he went through, except for the system part, marcus wouldn''t want her to think he was a loon, like seriously who would believe that? mei ling graduated last summer from college at the surprising age of eighteen! she was just starting her career and it seemed to be a slow progress because of the situation the country was in. ''it seemed she had gone with the awakened to raid areas'' marcus sat up in the bed and yawned, the room wasn''t bad, while one side of the wall where the bed was against was adorned with abstract art, a large flat-screen tv was mounted on the wall opposite the bed, and beneath the flat-screen was tanks of different species of fish which lined the wall. "so she is into fish, oh... i have forgotten she is a biologist" marcus realised as he gazed at the small tanks. it was a beautiful view. marcus yawned and his eyes glanced at the table hooked with a chair at the other angle of the room which was close to the door. he noticed a plate that was covered with another plate and a small carton of milk beside it. "don''t tell me it''s what i''m thinking" he mumbled with disbelief, she actually left him breakfast after so much he ate yesterday night, marcus knew she just bought it that morning because there was nothing left in the refrigerator and cabinet yesterday, he had finished everything. "i must repay her," he said determinedly. marcus didn''t like the feeling of owing someone, he tilted his head and remembered that he hadn''t received his paycheck for the previous year month of september since he got caught in the incident the last week of september. and another thing he wanted to do was go to the hospital where his mum was. marcus stood up, wearing the pink hoodie and brown shorts mei ling lent him yesterday. marcus had never thought he would freeload at someone else''s house not to talk of a girl, she was creepily nice. and it looked weird wearing a girl''s shorts and hoodie even though his clothes were all stained with blood and torn and he had no choice, marcus still felt weird. "when we are not dating" he blurted out, and reflexively coughed at the words, his face turning slightly red immediately. "what the fuck am i thinking, i should get the fuck out of here and work to repay her, school is out of the matter now" marcus moved to the front of the large flat-screen tv, his eyes glanced at the array of tanks that lined the base of the tv. he was mesmerized by the creatures for a while before he picked up the remote control. marcus glanced up at the tv and was on the verge of pressing the power button to switch the tv on when he heard something ring in his head and a familiar voice followed... ding! [host has acquired a title: hungering lord!] [having devoured a month''s worth of food in mere minutes, host has awakened an insatiable and incredible appetite.] [+5 xp!] [+10% success in the merging of genes!] [display stat screen?] "eh!.. what the fuck..." marcus yelled and shook his head, he thought he was probably hallucinating, after all, he did hit his head before blacking out. ''wait a minute'' marcus thought he hit his head which was true but he did wake up and he wasn''t dead. "the system, it''s back" the words tumbled from marcus'' lips and his lips curled into a smile thereafter. he knew immediately that it was a cause of joy because it was the same whatever thing that healed him. no ordinary people would have survived being smacked away with the powerful huge paw of a beast bear a long distance, hitting a tall building headfirst and falling thereafter. so whatever this thing was, it was definitely a cause of joy to marcus who didn''t awaken any power. "yeah," he answered with a smirk. as marcus stood facing the flat-screen tv, he saw something reflecting like a purple digital screen. "wait, perhaps the tv is on" he narrowed his eyes and then turned his head to the left side, the digital screen followed his gaze. s§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lfire .net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. marcus blinked twice, "humh, so this is the stat screen the system is talking about" he nodded while the digital screen followed the movement of his head as he nodded. then he checked it. [name: zhao marcus cheng] [species: hiveman] [class: insecta] [rank: 1, level up to increase rank!] [level: ¡ª, complete daily quest to gain xp and level up!] [xp: 5/100] [gene token: ¡ª] [health recovery portion: ¡ª] [titles: gene devourer, hungering lord ] [strength: 1] [agility: 5] [speed: 1] [dexterity: 5] [constitution: 3] [perception: 3] [intelligence: 2] [charisma: ¡ª] [luck: 1] [will: 2] skills: [basic skills: gene usurper] [gene merger] [gene scissors] [gene installer] [raw gene utiliser] [evolved skills: ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª] [gear: built-in exoskeleton armor] [armor grades: tungsten: 5] [tungsten carbide: ¡ª] [vitreloy: ¡ª] "incredible! it almost looks like a video game stat" marcus was amazed. ''but what is with that species, what does hiveman mean, perhaps it was a system error, it is supposed to be human, not hiveman right?'' marcus'' eyes narrowed at the digital screen. ''that class is not cool, am i supposed to hunt insects'' ''and what the heck am i supposed to use those skills that look useless to do?'' he scoffed, marcus was glad at the gear, it says built-in armor, he had already guessed what it meant, and given the grade, he knew it would be very powerful, tungsten is the strongest and toughest metal, but the attributes are still not clear, what are the range? "gene this gene that, give me fucking superhuman power!! what the hell will i use these skills to do, perform surgical operation?!... he yelled out. Chapter 15: The Gene Bee System chapter 15: the gene bee systemmarcus was pacing around the room, from one corner to another while biting his right thumbnail while the floating screen was also keeping up with the pace when he heard the voice. [would host like to put system on auto?] "what does that mean?" he asked while fuming. [system will explain what is within system''s scope and guide host in decision making] "okay," marcus muttered, he knew that would be for the best, after all, geographers never get lost... it''s better to learn more about what you don''t know. *ding!* [system explanation!...] it sounded in his head and the words appeared on the floating screen, the three dots were disappearing and appearing sequentially like something was loading. *ding!* [what would host like to know?] ''huh? oh... i think i''m the one asking questions'' "ok... first of all, how did you come to be, i mean what are you? where do you come from? how do you enter my body or head?" marcus bombarded the system with questions as he pointed at the floating screen. marcus felt that was the first thing anyone would want to know, the source of the system, even though he still had many questions. [unlock system secret in rank 100!] ''damnit! damnit!'' he was frustrated, ''so i will need to get to rank 100... given that i''m in rank 1, for rank to increase, xp would increase, level will increase'' marcus put his hands on his chin and thought for a moment. ''eh!!!... that means i would have to live for hundreds of years to reach rank 100'' ''well i don''t mind'' "so what does hiveman mean? is that a system error? and that creepy class¡ªam i hunting insects, perhaps beast insects?" [the species and class are correct. host is half human, half bee since host harbors gene bee system, which makes host class insecta. system uses taxonomy to categorize beings. that is why host has a built-in exoskeleton armor which host is yet to master.] marcus felt bitter, harboring a parasite, deep down he knew he was something else, half human half bee, he knew he wished to have superhuman power but he never thought he would end up becoming a hybrid. [host shouldn''t be down, system and host share a symbiotic relationship] ''shit!, well, it can''t be helped, i will just go with the flow'' marcus gazed at the stat screen which was still floating, he still had some questions regarding those shit skills, and the range of the attributes and gear, the power range. "what is the attributes range, and also the gear" [all is maximum of 10 and minimum of 1¡ªwhich falls in average human attribute] ''wow! considering the perception, that is way too high, which means i''m 3 times more sensitive than a normal human'' [precisely, as akin to the trait of host species¡ªhiveman, the same applies to agility and dexterity] "what about those skills? what are they?" marcus'' face contorted in anger as he asked the questions but part of him prayed that it should be something worth harboring a parasite system for after all it did call the relationship symbiotic, there should be benefits. skills: [basic skills: gene usurper] host can usurp genes from any mutant beast you defeat by consuming their gene core] "gene core? what the hell is that?" after standing for a while, marcus sat down on the bed with a thud. thud!!... [gene cores are solidified raw genes in the form of gems located in mutant beasts, by consuming the solidified raw genes, you can gain one of the mutant beast skills] "oh... so the precious stone mei ling showed me yesterday night was a gene core" marcus came to a realisation. "she didn''t even know" "amazing! it wouldn''t hurt to swallow a gem in order to gain power" marcus panted hard at once, his ears twitching at the explanation although the voice was explaining in his head. he licked his lips and smirked marcus knew that in some video games, gems would be smashed and the player would be filled with magical powers, but since this wasn''t anything magical, marcus thought it made sense, after all, food is also consumed. ''time to defeat powerful mutant beast'' he smiled mischievously. [notice!: gene core consumed will be merged with another gene core in order to gain skill, which means, you have to consume at least two gene cores, then merge with gene merger with a 50% chance of compatibility in order to create an overpowered gene, overpowered gene gives evolved skills which host has non at the moment] "shit! why is there a need for compatibility" marcus thought back to his luck, it is fucking one, not helping the matter at all. [increase in luck will increase host chance, given host luck, it seems host is unfortunate ] "fuck you!!" marcus yelled, if someone saw him they would probably think he was a loon as he yelled at the ceiling. "ok... i have got the gene usurper and merger part, what about the gene scissors and gene installer" marcus calmed down and asked. "and the last one" he narrowed his eyes and read. "r-raw gene utiliser, what does that mean" [gene scissors is a skill used for splitting raw gene, if host doesn''t want to merge gene based on chances, host could split a gene core with gene scissors and gain an inferior gene from the product but it takes time, an average splitting time takes a week] marcus swallowed a heavy gulp of saliva. [while the gene installer is used to install overpowered genes and inferior genes into host body, thereby giving host evolved gene skills] [notice!: advice against raw gene utiliser, raw genes are unmerged and unsplited genes, raw gene utiliser installed raw gene into host body giving host mutant beast'' skill but host is in danger of mutant beast personality, ninety percent chance of host going berserk!!] "oh..." marcus came to realisation. "i don''t want that" sea??h th§× novel(f~)ire.net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. if he were to utilize a mutant beast gene directly without merging or splitting and use its skill, there is a ninety percent chance that he wouldn''t be himself again. "if only i could have the same ninety percent chance of merging genes" ''hmmph.. that is how it is, so that is why the risk is high since it doesn''t need chance like gene merger'' "so... what is gene token" marcus asked as he scrutinizingly checked the stat, leaving anything behind can have setbacks. [gene tokens are used to purchase available items from the store like recovery portions and gears crafted] "wait a minute, this is somehow different from video games, why would i need to purchase what i crafted" marcus asked exasperatedly, his gaze fell on the ticking wall clock, the time was 1:50 p.m., almost three hours had passed. [gears are crafted from gene remains and kept in system store, gene remains are the body of mutant beasts or other creatures except humans, host could also usurp gene remains by consuming the body parts of mutant beasts or the whole body of other creatures whose abilities host like] ''eek!!, uncooked?!'' [precisely] [gene tokens are gained through daily quest, purchasing items and gears could be part of daily quests] "well... it seemed there wasn''t any need to panic, as long as i could gain gene token by performing daily quests" *ding!* [one new message!] [daily quests available!] marcus saw an envelope icon manifest at the top left side of the floating purple screen. "oh... let''s see what the quest is about" he was kinda anxious. "open" Chapter 16: Axolotl chapter 16: axolotl*ding!* [activate exoskeleton armor¡ªgrade 5 ] *punch the floor 1000x* note: failure to activate will incur appropriate punishment. rewards: 10 gene tokens! 2 xp! time limit: one hour! ''it isn''t that i don''t want to activate the armor but what is with these rewards'' marcus was displeased, he gave the floating purple screen a long gaze of scorn. "and what the fuck is it talking about? punishment?" "me? it will punish me?" marcus burst into a peal of large laughter suddenly, he felt amazed, like how would something talking in his head punish him, maybe it would materialize in front of him and start flogging him, or what? ''i don''t really seem to understand, it wasn''t that i''m not grateful for it saving me back then but what did it mean by punishing me?'' marcus gave the floating screen a long scowl. "pathetic!" he said at once while his face contorted in disgust. "don''t get too cocky! i''m the fucking host here!" ''yeah, the fucking system needs to know its place, after all, i''m the host, the host has the final say, not a damn parasite like it'' marcus nodded his head in affirmation of what he thought. he relaxed his tensed-up body and face. "anyway let''s get on with it and try out the damn armor" "perhaps i could stand in front of a moving truck and test its strength" marcus shook his head, even if it is a strong armor, what of the impact? since his body strength was still that of an average human, it would surely crush his organs and bones. he didn''t want to die foolishly. marcus thought he could as well use sledge hammer to hammer his arm or forehead when he activated it, although a small hit at a time to test how protective it was. what marcus was expecting the exoskeleton armor should be was a sheen silver encasement all over his body. he used his hand to prop his body up from the bed and crouched on the floor of white tiles. the weather remained cool, he clenched his fist and placed it on the cold floor. "gotta do this" marcus muttered and landed a punch in the floor. "thud!!" *ding!* punch:1/1000 "tsk!! you don''t need to be bringing the damn notification every time i punch" he said exasperatedly while clutching his head as the notification sound almost gave him a headache. marcus started punching the floor repeatedly although not really hard, all he was hoping was that when he reached 1000 times the armor would somehow manifest. thud!!... thud!!... [host isn''t taking quest seriously, no impact! host needs to punch hard enough to shatter the floor, or else, armor wouldn''t manifest to protect host fist!] all marcus could do was only grit his teeth ''shatter poor mei ling room floor? come on, that is cruel, not to talk of the fact that an ordinary human like me couldn''t possibly shatter a tile floor with a fist'' marcus felt demotivated immediately and he sat down on his butt from the crouching position. "wait" he gazed at the white ceiling and came to a realization "am i really ordinary? "no ordinary person would be talking back to something talking to their head right?" he heaved a resignation sigh. "ok, let''s do this" marcus was somehow motivated because he knew in one way or another that, having an armored body is like having a superpower, since he didn''t awake any power, marcus felt the need to at least get one. he continued rushing the floor with a barrage of fists. thud!!... thud!!... [notice!: 120/1000] [not enough impact!] s§×ar?h the nov§×lf~ire.net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. marcus didn''t even mind what the system said, he kept doing his thing. thud!!... thud!!... *ding!* [punch: 550/1000] marcus kept punching on the cold floor. *ding!* [punch: 995/1000] marcus was actually counting, after he reached 1000 he keeled over to the bedside, he sprawled on the floor, and breathed hard, it didn''t even take up to twenty minutes. "whew!... *ding!* [daily quest failed!] the voice sounded sullenly in marcus'' head. he made a disgruntled expression at the ceiling. [punishment will commence in the next one hour, host should get ready!] "seriously!" he laughed out loud. ''perhaps the punishment is some loud notification sounds or the system will yell in my head till it becomes tired'' marcus scoffed at the thought, after all, something which lack a physical body threatening a person with punishment seemed to be acting too cocky. marcus brushed aside the issue and his gaze fell on the tanks of fish which lined the base of the flat screen while he sprawled on the cold floor. he sat up and walked towards the tanks. the view was beautiful, and marcus felt like he was probably into fish. various species in different tanks, swimming or floating within their confines in a slow hypnotic dance. marcus sea sea-blue eyes lit in wonder as he saw a creature different from the fish in the last tank. ''isn''t that um...'' he searched his mind to remember, marcus thought he had probably seen it before in his biology textbook. it looked like a salamander but frilly gills extended from either side of its head like a delicate crown, it was pale and almost translucent as it swam around in the tank. *ding!* [name: axolotl] [specie: ambystoma mexicanum] [level: ¡ª] "hmm... this system comes in handy, so it can identify creatures" [precisely, identification of living organisms except humans is within system scope] "what does that level mean?" [the level of the axolotl is a representation of its potential for evolution, however since it didn''t evolve like any other mutant beast, its level is marked ''¡ª''] "hmm...." "i remembered this creature is mostly found in mexico lakes, how obsessed is mei ling?" marcus wondered while his eyes narrowed at the creature, it glued at one corner and gazed back at him. [what made them truly remarkable is their ability to regenerate. an axolotl could lose a limb, even parts of its heart or brain, and grow it back perfectly!] "wow!" marcus exclaimed, ''well i knew before but it still feels amazing anytime i hear or think about it'' [would host like to gain such ability?] huh? marcus was dumbfounded for a second as he tilted his head slightly as if he didn''t hear it clearly. of course, that is to be expected, able to grow any part of one''s body, that is an amazing ability but he was stunned. [host could usurp gene remains using gene usurper!] Chapter 17: Consume Genes And Grow Stronger!! chapter 17: consume genes and grow stronger!!"wow! man! isn''t this amazing" marcus was joyous, thought raced across his mind, the thought of being unkillable. ''but it is too good to be true right? can someone really have such ability?'' "hey! parasite, let''s get on with it" marcus said with a smirk "should i place my hand on it?" marcus'' body was coursing with adrenaline. he was already moving his right hand to position on the creature which seemed to swim backward as if it had guessed the situation. perhaps it was because of marcus'' face it saw because his eye was reflecting that of a predator who has cornered its prey. [inexactly! host needs to consume creature to usurp gene remains] ew! marcus almost spat out as if it was already in his mouth, swallowing a creature, not to talk of a salamander. the thought almost made him puke his guts out. "what the hell! you got to be kidding, i can''t do that" he protested. [host will be able to heal any injury] "but..." marcus blinked blankly twice, he was almost feeling demotivated, like how was he supposed to do it. [host will almost be immortal] "but..." [host will only be vulnerable to aging and illness] [even if host was hit by an airplane on the runway, host won''t die, all damage will be healed in seconds! ] marcus wrinkled his brow in suspicion. "wait a minute, it seemed this system is acting suspiciously, why is it encouraging me, when did it turn into a life coach" the voice didn''t say anything. "even if i was to swallow it, won''t it be poisonous?" marcus wondered, from what he thought, salamanders are poisonous amphibians, although they don''t have poisonous bites but their skin is poisonous. even with touch, if someone who touches a salamander were to use an unwashed hand to touch their eyes or mouth, it would make someone sick immediately. consuming it would be like consuming poison. marcus shook his head in absolute disapproval, it''s better to find an ordinary gem¡ªgene core¡ªto consume than to consume a poisonous creature. [notice!: host has nothing to fear, contrary to some species of salamander that secret toxic mucus from glands on their skin to defend against predators, axolotl are completely harmless, their bodies do not contain poison or anything toxic given they are not carrying disease that can affect host] "oh... so axolotl as a salamander isn''t poisonous, i see" marcus realised. "but there is no way i''m swallowing that!" he yelled at the axolotl and it shifted back immediately as if it was scared. [should system disable gustation?] ''gustation?, i think that is the sense of taste'' marcus nodded in realisation. "yuck!" the thought of having something wriggling around his stomach is unbearable, a repulsive feeling arouse from him immediately. "hey! system, can''t i like, maybe i can roast it, you know, cook it, add some seasoning or spice ..., right?" marcus made an awkward laughter. [no] "oh" that one word of answer is enough for him to know that it can''t work, to gain a creature''s ability, the creature must be consumed raw and that means it will probably die, that what it meant by gene remains. marcus moved closer to the tank, there isn''t any advantage without a disadvantage, and with this much advantage the ability brings, marcus thought it was a small price to pay. but still, there was something bothering him, poor mei ling''s reaction when her sweet little pale axolotl was nowhere to be found, marcus didn''t know what he would tell her. s§×arch* the n?vel(f)ire.n§×t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''well, i think i owe her, if i gained this power, since that shit armor didn''t work, this one is also great, since this system works like a video game, my strength will probably increase over time, i will join either the independent awakened or the awakened league the government created'' marcus thought aback at their pay, his head rang. ''£¤350,000! that is much and that is the least pay, i think the least rank is c-rank, i wonder how much the independent awakened make'' "i''m joining the independent ones, why would i work for the government" marcus only lived for himself and his mum, being bossed around by any other person was out of the equation, he would do what he felt like doing anytime he wanted. *ding!* [multiple random rewards are available in every gene usurped!] marcus coiled his right arm and clenched his fist. "yes, i will grow stronger, conquering every numbered area, even stronger than madison walker, the immovable sovereign of the us and wang jun of china and many many others at the peak of humanity" marcus said in absolute confidence, his face wearing a determined expression. "perhaps i will become the unkillable sovereign of yangdao" his lips curled into a smile as his determined face relaxed. but marcus knew deep down that his attitude was deviant from that; he was the type who liked to work for his own gain, and showing off was out of the equation. marcus believed in acting inconspicuously to hide his abilities from enemies, even resorting to trickery if necessary. he lived by the creed: to deceive an enemy, you have to deceive a friend. although marcus didn''t have a single person he could call a friend in that case he wouldn''t mind deceiving anyone. marcus gazed at the axolotl for a while, an endangered species because of their polluted natural habitat. then he dipped his right hand into the tank and grabbed at it at the edge of the tank it glued at. it was small, around three inches long. marcus took it out, it was now opening its mouth slightly while wiggling around in his light grip. its body was very slippery but marcus managed to hang on. "hey! parasite, have you disabled gustation?" marcus asked, even with my resolution, he couldn''t possibly swallow it in one go without disabling gustation first. [on it] *ding!* [gustation disabled successfully!] "amazing!" he went to the table by the door, marcus hadn''t even eaten breakfast and the time was gone, the time was around 2:50 p.m. marcus had already tasted his saliva but he couldn''t really differentiate since he hadn''t eaten anything. ''when is that mei ling coming home'' marcus wondered. while holding the wriggling axolotl in his left arm grip, he used his right arm to pick up the small carton of milk, tore it package with his teeth, and gulped down some. "wow! i can''t taste anything!" marcus was amazed as he wriggled his tongue around his mouth to savour the taste but it was tasteless as if his whole tongue was numb. marcus placed the carton of milk down on the table. "alright, let''s do this" the axolotl was still in his left-hand grip. with one snap, marcus snapped the head of the wriggling creature. its bone was so soft that marcus had to press its head with his thumb downwards very well. after some soft snapping sound he stopped, its body was limp and with one swift movement, marcus had swallowed it in one go as if taking medication. he quickly took the milk and gulped down the remaining. *ding!* [axolotl has been consumed and disintegrated *ding!* [gene has been usurped successfully!] [which gear would host like to craft?] the floating screen manifested in front of marcus again and displayed some options. [almighty surgical hands] [heavenly surgical needle] [godly bandage] "hmm... every one of them is kinda cool!!!" marcus'' eyes widened, will this actually work, he still had his doubts but when he remembered what happened to him, the doubt dissipated and then he chose. "almighty surgical hands" marcus said. it''s better to have a soothing hand that would just be placed on the injured area then boom! all heal. the thought of having a surgical needle piercing his body and patching him up in order to heal him sent shivers down marcus'' spine. [crafting in progress...] *ding!* [gear crafted successfully!] then marcus saw a picture appeared on the screen, he looked closely, it was a pair of hands in white gloves. "so that is the almighty surgical hands, not bad" *ding!* [host has crafted a gear!] [+10 gene tokens!] [+30 xp!] Chapter 18: Punishment chapter 18: punishment[updating stat] [name: zhao marcus cheng] [species: hiveman] [class: insecta] [rank: 1, level up to increase rank!] [level: ¡ª, complete daily quest to gain xp and level up!] [xp: 35/100] [gene tokens: 10] [health recovery portion: ¡ª] [titles: gene devourer, hungering lord ] [strength: 1] [agility: 5] [speed: 1] [dexterity: 5] [constitution: 3] [perception: 3] [intelligence: 2] [charisma: ¡ª] [luck: 1] [will: 2] skills: [basic skills: gene usurper] [gene merger] [gene scissors] [gene installer] [raw gene utiliser] [evolved skills: ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª] [gear: built-in exoskeleton armor] [armor grades: tungsten: 5] [tungsten carbide: ¡ª] [vitreloy: ¡ª] [almighty surgical hands] "not bad, now i''m almost halfway to reaching level 2, there should also be some rewards from leveling up" marcus was somehow satisfied and joyous, doing some tasks, gaining rewards, and leveling up, if it worked well, marcus realised he would become invisible, he was already thinking about the type of cool powers he wanted. "um..., since i''ve become almost unkillable, if i can manage to master that armor, my defense would be almost perfect!" he exclaimed, his sea-blue eyes glinting. what remained were attacking powers, marcus'' strength was only at an average human level, and he didn''t know how this system would increase it, so he sought to ask. "hey, para... i meant system, how can i increase my strength, will i be offered stat points during leveling up or random rewards?" [system can''t disclose such information to host, although host would probably grow stronger] "hmmph!" marcus snorted, "anyway, as long as i can get stronger, oh...." he came to a realisation, marcus knew this system stuff is different from video games in some ways, but he realized it was possible for his stat points to increase with the type of evolved skill he gained. ''let''s say i usurp genes of two strong mutant beasts, my strength stat would probably increase'' [notice!: genes with the same ability wouldn''t merge, you could only split each one] "fuck!!" marcus yelled "this whole gene stuff is more complicated than i thought" [of course, living organism''s body has a complex structure, so merging anyhow could upset your dna sequence when the evolved gene created from merging is installed, host could end up being mutated and distorted] marcus swallowed saliva nervously at the mention of that, being the only mutated and distorted fellow in the whole of the world sent shivers down his spine. [to merge two genes, their abilities must be different. for example, consuming the gene core of a beast eagle and that of a beast buffalo would give the host an overpowered gene when merged. when installed by the gene installer, the host would gain an evolved skill according to the system''s synthesis of both abilities. this means the host would develop a unique skill that combines the attributes of both creatures while perception and strength attributes would also increase due to the beast eagle sight and beast buffalo strength] [in the case of splitting, if host consumed beast eagle gene core, the inferior gene would give host inferior skill, and it would also increase perception attribute correspondingly, the same applies to beast buffalo, i hope everything is clear to host, this has 99.99 percent of success but it takes a week] "i see..." marcus heaved a sigh of relief, ''then it''s better to be wise and have patience'' ''after i have recovered well i will start raiding areas, i will make sure to start from areas with the least grade¡ªs-grade areas, i recalled what mei ling said, there are three numbered areas here in heichien but whenever there are beast inbreak and the mutant beast overrun a location and thereby forming their colony there, the location becomes a numbered area, i will just have to make do with the ones available before i started traveling around'' marcus made up his mind to join independent awakened, he recalled that they had their website in case someone wanted to join them in their next raid. although he didn''t have a phone, the thought of imposing more on mei ling didn''t sit right with him but he needed to get a phone, marcus planned to act inconspicuously and collect his rewards after a successful raid, growing stronger in secret. he thought for a while as he sat on the bed. marcus checked the time, it was 3:55 p.m. "eh!... the time is gone already, i haven''t even bath talkless not to mention having breakfast" "huh.. breakfast" his mind wandered to the dish of axolotl which he had with milk. "urghh... worst dish ever..." he glanced at his stomach. ''well... the system stuff said it had been disintegrated and absorbed'' *ding!* marcus jumped up immediately, he was stunned, he realised he hadn''t been completely used to the stupid notification of the system. "what the hell is it again?!" [daily quest failed!] [punishment loading...] "hey! hey!!... come on! man, you shouldn''t take that seriously, it''s just a quest, right?" sear?h the n?vel?ire.net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. marcus mumbled in disbelief, he couldn''t understand why the system was hell-bent on punishing him. [system isn''t sentimental, system will carry out system duties unfailingly, host will be punished!] hmmph. marcus snorted. then the purple floating screen materialised again. ''what is it again'' he mumbled. "do what you like, you could start the yelling any moment okay?" marcus said in a tone of resignation, having guessed the worst it could do. then words started appearing on the floating screen. [s-grade beast mole cricket is sleeping 1.5 kilometers from host''s abode, host is expected to slay the beast mole cricket] [accept punishment?] then a map with a blue arrow signal manifested on the screen, it pointed to the door direction, marcus had guessed what that meant, it was meant to guide him to the beast cricket. "it isn''t that i don''t want to slay some mutant beast and get stronger, but, man, cut me some slack, i''m tired for today" marcus slumped and sprawled on the bed. "even if i wanted to slay a mutant beast, what ability could a cricket possibly have apart from its stupid noise, perhaps i will be able to hop high" he scoffed at the idea, hopping over a high-rise building would be a stupid and useless superpower. the screen was still floating in front of him when he saw something glowing red on the screen. ''what is¡ª [system will emit powerful cricket sex pheromones from host body if host does not accept punishment in the next ten seconds] marcus was dumbfounded, sex pheromones of cricket, what the hell did that mean? [seven seconds remain!] [notice: the beast mole cricket can produce a sound of 170 decibels to incapacitate its opponent. an s-grade beast mole cricket will be attracted by sex pheromones in the next five seconds if host does not accept the punishment! host should have guessed what would happen if the beast mole cricket realizes the host isn''t a fellow mole cricket!!] marcus jumped up at once from the bed, his heart jumped up at the same time and rammed again his chest. he started fitting the puzzle, sex pheromone, 170 decibels of sound, the beast would probably trace him here, even if he ran, it would still catch up with him given its hopping power. "kyahh!! that is enough to rupture all the organs of the body, killing any creature in the process" marcus'' eyes widened. "shit!, system fuck you!!" "damn it!! damn it! damn it! damn it!" [notice!: beast cricket will be attracted in the next two seconds, host is advised to accept punishment before sleeping beast cricket is wakened by the sex pheromone!!] Chapter 19: The Beast Mole Cricket chapter 19: the beast mole cricket**** "shit!! damn it!" s~ea??h the n?velfire.net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. marcus could only cuss frustratedly as he found himself in front of a small construction site in a nearby neighborhood having followed the arrow direction. the building was about two stories which was still under construction with cranes looming over it like skeletal hands, there was loose earth all around including trenches and piles of rocks. marcus walked around the site, walking over loose earth and dirt. ''where is the fucking beast cricket!'' the day was already getting darker by the second, having walked about 1.5 kilometers, marcus felt tired since he was still recovering, he felt stressed. [host shouldn''t move another inch!] he froze at the system''s sudden alert, marcus had walked a considerable distance from the front of the building to the edge of the back when the system alerted him, and then he saw a boulder the size of a sports car smeared in earth shell at a distance. no, it wasn''t a boulder, marcus looked closer, it was a creature that perched on the ground at the far end of the back of the building. "don''t tell me that is the beast mole cricket" well, it wasn''t that he was stunned or something, marcus was surprised because the mutant beast wasn''t as big as the one he had witnessed. ''perhaps it is because of its grade'' ''i can''t even see its eyes, it is completely smeared in thick earth, if it digs a tunnel beneath the building, no doubt, collapse is inevitable, given its size'' [name: beast mole cricket] [ability: capable of producing a sound 170 decibels to incapacitate enemies] [notice!: beast has weak sight and hopping ability, its legs are mostly for digging, and its strength is like that of an average cricket] [but beast possessed good sensitivity with antennas, front legs, and anal cerci] marcus listened attentively then he noticed some protuberance from the front side of the cricket which he thought was a boulder. the two long protuberances were probably its antennas, marcus got the wrong idea from the thick earth that smeared its body, with its flattened and broad head and cylindrical body, it is probably mistakable because of the amount of thick earth it was covered in, it probably gets smeared while digging. "so the only overpowered ability it has is its chirping sound of deadly intensity and its sensitive antennas, front legs, and cerci" marcus whispered. [exactly, the antennas are for tactile sense but the front legs and anal cerci can sense the faintest vibration sound, the cerci is even more overpowered, even if it was a flying opponent, it would sense it due to the change in air current] "whew, it is a relief it doesn''t have an armored body, i can just find something strong to bat it and break it into pieces then" "but man, bypassing its sensory would be difficult, even ninja can''t move without a slight disturbance in the air" marcus was starting to get flustered, he underestimated the parasitic system, he wanted to get the punishment done with so that he could leave, isn''t there a single way to bypass it sensory? judging by the distance, marcus and the mutant beast were about thirty meters from each other, so when the system alerted him, he was almost in the range where it could detect his presence. if marcus had stepped in the range, 170 decibels of sound would have been released at once, and that would be deadly. suddenly marcus recalled the gear he crafted, almighty surgical hands, but he wondered if that would really work. well, marcus thought it was better to believe because he would end up dead if it didn''t. and the fact that this system could point out where a mutant beast hiding place such as a mole cricket which could dig tunnels and hide was surprising and made the whole system thing more believable to marcus. [host could take advantage of flaws in its sensory defense!] "really" marcus was happy and felt motivated at once. [yes, within the 360-degree area around the beast cricket, the area where vibration could be detected by the front leg is 140-degree arc from the center where it lay on while the area where the anal cerci could detect vibration and air current is a 180-degree arc from the center, this gives a safe zone of 20-degree arc in each side of the beast!] "eh!! that''s plenty of complex information even though i study math in school" marcus was perplexed, his once motivated spirit was demotivated immediately, unless the area was being mapped out, he didn''t think he could get it. "let''s do the maths" he said and crouched, marcus picked up a short stick and drew a circle on the loose earth. "so i can only move within a 20-degree arc which extends from both sides of the cricket thorax area" he was wondering how he was going to do it. "show stat screen" the floating screen materialised in front of marcus immediately. [strength: 1] [agility: 5] [speed: 1] [dexterity: 5] [constitution: 3] [perception: 3] [intelligence: 2] [charisma: ¡ª] [luck: 1] [will: 2] "five times more agile than average human, let''s test my nimbleness then" marcus scanned the building which was under construction, an inch step forward and he was already in the sensory range of the beast. he scrutinized its movement, it wasn''t moving but its front leg¡ªthe particular legs with ears that look like a spade¡ªsprawled on the floor, and its antennas and anal cerci were also touching the ground as if weary of its surrounding. marcus started planning, he could walk back to the front of the building and enter, he would then exit it in the back, which would make him enter the safe zone directly. looking at the building''s architectural design, it was probably a mall, although it was still under construction, still a two-story. marcus walked swiftly back to the front, slipping through the scaffolding and metal beams, he entered the building. the air was thick with dust and the space was dim due to the time, the day was already dusking, the space was filled with different construction machinery, and it seemed it wasn''t long that the workers round off work here. marcus ceased his breathing to avoid inhaling dust as he walked into the silent space. the structure was still raw and incomplete, with gaps where windows and doors would eventually be installed. he walked towards some metal beams to find one he could use as a bat, he picked an i-beam, which was around four feet long. heave ho!! umm!! marcus groaned... he couldn''t even heave it completely from the ground, marcus could only heave one end from the ground. marcus recalled his strength, it was of an average human, and he thought the beam would probably weigh more six 15 pounds due to its density, it was very thick, so he released it. clang!! gbrang!!... marcus moved toward another, he was starting to breathe in slowly, he had reached the limit he could hold his breath, but he tried not to breathe heavily to avoid irritation. ''this one seemed light enough for me to carry'' he picked one, although with both hands, it was about five feet long but it was lighter and less thick than the previous one. marcus walked towards the back, how he was able to move in the space which was filled with suspended dust in the air and dimly lit was surprising, then he thought back to his stat, his perception was three which meant he was three times sensitive in all his sense organ than an average human. "humm¡ªhumm" marcus muttered while motivated as he walked. ''i can do this'' he muttered while he leaped over beams and construction materials. the idea of an ordinary person who wasn''t an awakened confronting a mutant beast would sound absurd in the ears of other people. finally, he reached the rear exit of the building with unfinished walls, it was already twilight but he could somehow make out his surroundings, the weather remained cold, marcus wondered if mei ling would have reached home. then he headed straight for the perimeter which was free from the cricket sensory range as he had drawn from the circle earlier. about twelve feet from each other, marcus was now facing the thorax region of the beast mole cricket which perched on the floor and was as big as a sports car. marcus gripped one end of the metal beam tightly with both hands ready to smash it back to pieces and break it into two, thank god insects don''t have backbone and its body was just like an average cricket''s strongness, only overpowered chirping, and sensory. "let''s start sneaking, it shouldn''t take time" marcus whispered under breath. Chapter 20: Torture chapter 20: torturemarcus walked towards it, his steps light and deliberate. even if he was in the 20-degree arc of the safe zone, he wouldn''t want to make unnecessary noise, and the more he moved further, the more the safe zone space reduced due to the arc that extended from the thorax region of the beast. using his eyes to measure every path he walked while gripping the metal beam with both hands, he was now about two feet from the beast. with his five-foot metal beam, marcus could smash its thorax region and break it into two. if he were to move a few inches to the right or the left, he would step on the beast''s sensory range immediately. ''this is my chance'' marcus felt the need to get it over with. if it was an ordinary cricket, with a single smash of his palm, he would have broken it into pieces, but this was a mutant beast. he wasn''t feeling any fear, although its size was monstrous, with how it perched on the loose earth, it was as tall as marcus. but that didn''t matter after all, it had a very weak sight, marcus thought as long as he was in the safe zone, he had the upper hand. marcus extended the metal beam of five feet over the back of the beast cricket which perched on the ground, ready to strike. the metal beam was now three feet long across the back of the beast cricket but it didn''t extend over the mutant beast completely. ''when it is on the verge of hitting it, i will move forward a bit so the beam can break it into two completely'' marcus wanted to make it a clean hit, not a half-assed work, because he thought, if he were to hit it, its body wouldn''t separate completely given the i-beam wasn''t extended completely across its back. marcus readied his weapon, ready to squash the beast from the middle part. with one swift movement, he raised the i-beam upward and brought it downward. when marcus saw it was about a couple of feet from hitting the back of the beast, he moved forward a couple of inches to ensure a clean hit that would break it into two completely. swoosh!!... "shit!!" marcus'' eyes widened and his heart jumped and hammered against his chest as he stepped on something and slipped. he managed to catch a glimpse of what he stepped on before falling, it was a sleet. "holy shit!... but it didn''t snow today!" marcus muttered frustratedly and fell immediately. he tried to support himself but his left kneel had touched the sensory range just a couple of inches from the left side of the safe zone. "i blew it!" bang!! the i-beam marcus held seemed to do the job as it landed on the flattened and broad head of the beast mole cricket. squash!! the head squashed immediately and the metal beam fell off from his hand. marcus'' heart jumped for joy immediately, even though it wasn''t where he was aiming, he managed to fuck up the beast''s head. looking at it, it was a mess, the left eye popped out, the sight was unsettling, greenish fluid oozed out, mingling with fragments of its internal tissues, tiny bits of the beast''s brain matter, and shattered pieces of its exoskeleton scattered around, creating a macabre mosaic on the loose earth around. "eek!!" [host luck isn''t helping at all!] "fuck off!!" marcus yelled, not until thick earth sprayed on his body from above. eh! he looked up, marcus thought the beast mole cricket was supposed to be dead, its flattened broad head was already a mess. "what the hell!" marcus was surprised at the sight unfolding, the wings were now spreading and rising upwards like it wanted to take off which caused the thick earth it was smeared in to fall off and sprayed on him. [insect can survive for a week without a head!] "shit!" he rushed towards the safe zone immediately, surprisingly, the beast cricket didn''t move around, it only moved its transparent wings which spread out. "don''t tell me it wanted to stridulate" [exactly!] "but i have already moved away from the sensory range!" "wait" a smile curled on marcus'' lips. "can''t the sound affect it" marcus reasoned that if the sound could affect it, then it would be a matter of tenacity between both of them. the winner would be the last creature standing, and given his constitution stat point which was thrice of an average human, marcus was sure to win in that case. [since it is a mutant beast, organs have evolved to withstand its attack] "fuck!" marcus'' eyes widened, and his brain was starting to process how the destruction would be. ''no i can''t take it, 170 decibels!'' he yelled inwardly then turned to dash away. "shit!" rrwrring!!!....rrwrring.... rrwrring!!!....rrwrring... marcus''s head throbbed as the grating noise penetrated his ears, bringing an instant headache. it was akin to the chirp of a normal cricket, yet magnified in intensity to an unbearable level. gritting his teeth, he braced myself as another sound emerged. pow!! poh!! the sound brought an inexplicable pain, marcus'' legs gave way immediately and he spurted out a volume of blood. his vision started swimming then he started shedding tears, tears of blood, and his eyes became bloodshot immediately. [two organs burst!!] [host body is in a critical state!] it was as if hell as a whole was placed inside his body, with every sound, marcus spurted out thick blood as tumbled and sprawled on the ground unable to move an inch. sear?h the n?vel(f)ire.¦Çet website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. it was as if a balloon was bursting from pressure. rrwrring!!!....rrwrring.... rrwrring!!!....rrwrring... "damn it, so i''m gonna die here" pow!! uhgh!! he spurted out thick blood, his upper body started to feel empty as if all the organs that carried weight were deflating, marcus tried to clutch at his stomach. pow!! [left lung is burst! eardrum burst!] [system will take appropriate measures!] ''what measure? i''m obviously gonna die here with the shit punishment you gave me'' marcus let out a derisive laugh even as pain coursed throughout his body. he started gasping for air, his breath already growing faint. he thought about what the parasitic system said. "''symbiotic relationship'' that means if i die, it will die also" ''serve you right, shithead'' his body almost lost in the throes of pain that coursed through him. Chapter 21: Life-threatening Situation chapter 21: life-threatening situation[activating almighty surgical hands!] [gear activated!] ''huh?'' marcus started feeling a cold sensation in the areas where he was experiencing pain, it was a strange feeling, pain, and soothing coolness all together in an area. ''so it is regenerating my organs that have burst'' after a while, the soothing sensation of coolness was now overpowering the severe pain, and marcus was starting to get his bearings. night had already fallen, he struggled and managed to sit up, but the chirping of the beast cricket wouldn''t stop. ''i should leave'' [host has not completed punishment!] [severer one would be administered!] "damn it!... shit head! you set me up!" his mind wandered to how the system had coaxed him into consuming that axolotl, it knew that he wouldn''t die, it was like a torture. ''shit'' marcus stood up, he almost tumbled. "let''s get it over with" he muttered although marcus could still feel some stinging pain, but the soothing coolness was so refreshing that it seemed there was menthol evaporating inside of him bringing a cooling effect to the organ areas. [host has displayed tenacity!] [+1 will!] [+10 percent chance in activating exoskeleton armor!] "not bad" marcus trudged over to the beast and looked at the forewings as they kept rubbing together, it was still stridulating trying to defend even though its head was already squashed. "son of a bitch" he knew he didn''t have the strength to carry the i-beam again which lay on the other side and was covered in the mess of the cricket head. [host could activate exoskeleton armor!] marcus'' lips curled into a smile, then he crouched and landed a hit on the loose earth with his right fist. the punch had taken its toll on him; he spurted out blood. even though the gear was regenerating his burst and damaged organs, the sensation remained raw, akin to a wound freshly stitched. he wasn''t supposed to undertake strenuous tasks like this. then, in the dim light of the night sky, marcus caught sight of something shimmering. "whoa!" he exclaimed, stunned. the hand with which marcus struck the ground was now covered in segments of exoskeleton, shimmering with a sheen, golden tone. the golden color lent it a regal and almost divine appearance as if it were armor forged in the fires of the gods. marcus spread his fingers, noting that only his palm was devoid of the exoskeletal segments and that his finger joints were surprisingly free. then, with his left hand, he knocked on the back of the exoskeleton-covered hand. koin!! koin!! it sounded like a metal. "metal exoskeleton armor, isn''t this amazing!" the words tumbled from his lips, and marcus was elated suddenly. he thought back, it was definitely different than when he was punching the floor, this was definitely a life-threatening situation. at once, the beast cricket stopped the chirping sound, everywhere was so quiet. s~ea??h the novel(f~)ire.net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [congratulations! host has completed the daily quest!] [+10 gene tokens!] [+2 xp!] [punishment has been cancelled!] marcus made a foreboding expression, he never thought the punishment would be like this, he really underestimated the system. marcus turned to go then he started hearing another chirping sound. rrwrring!!!....rrwrring!!!... rrwrring!!!....rrwrring!!!... this time, it wasn''t as loud as the first one. "fuck! my work is done here let me run" he turned to dash away. [beast mole cricket wanted to self-destruct!] the sound was now getting louder by the second. [almighty surgical hands deactivated!] [gear on cooldown!] pow!! poh!! marcus was barely twelve feet from the beast when his head exploded with a splitting headache. liquid spurted out from both of his ears, followed by blood. an inexplicable pain coursed through him, and his vision began to swim. marcus''s legs quivered as he lost his bearings. [host eardrum has burst!] pow!! marcus spurted blood immediately and his legs gave way. [host right lung has burst!!] [almighty surgical hands cooldown: five minutes!] "shit, damn it... why!!, i''m going to die" he lay sprawled on the ground about twelve feet from the beast cricket whose wings were now brushing against each other with force. marcus kept stretching his body forward to move away from the area but to no avail. "damn it..., it seemed i can''t make it" pow!! he spurted out another volume of blood. "shit...." inexplicable pain coursed through his body and he felt light. as he breathed in, the air seemed to feel his upper body, the air entering his right lung which had burst had escaped into some part of his chest. marcus turned and looked over at the beast mole cricket, the chirping seemed to be affecting it too as greenish fluid oozed out of the potion where its head had been¡ªits neck area¡ªafter all, it was self-destructing. it had reached its limit of bearing its noise intensity, even though it kept stridulating. its forewings wouldn''t stop brushing against each other, but it seemed the noise intensity was reducing with every fluid that oozed out of its neck region, perhaps it was losing energy. "it can''t be helped, if i wanted to survive i would need to kill it completely but it seemed to be impossible" a thought rang in marcus'' head, he could tear the damn wings. he crawled closer to the beast cricket and stretched his right hand up. immediately the sheen golden exoskeleton armor manifested, it seemed marcus could do it with just will. marcus'' hand touched one of the damn wings, then with last strength, hr held and tug it off from the beast''s body, silent fell immediately, and he spurted out some volume of blood. ''the work isn''t finished yet'' marcus landed his left hand on the back of the beast, its body was surprisingly weak, just like an average cricket''s strength but marcus'' hand was covered in thick greenish fluid, the beast mole cricket blood. its body separated into two immediately and a blue gem fell, it seemed it was in the part where marcus had broken it into two¡ªits thorax region. the gem was glowing blue. [host has slayed s-grade beast mole cricket!] [+1 gene token!] [+15 xp!] [almighty surgical hands activated!] ''so gene cores are bioluminescent'' "beautiful" marcus muttered and clutched the gem in his right hand, he started feeling the soothing sensation in some areas of his body, and then his consciousness faded and he slumped and sprawled on the loose earth. Chapter 22: Where Is My Axolotl chapter 22: where is my axolotlmarcus'' eyes stirred open, the fluffy sensation against his body was unmistakable, he realised he was on a bed. he had already gotten his bearings but marcus reasoned he was supposed to be lying on a loose earth in a construction site, how? marcus sat up immediately, his body was completely healed, no pain whatsoever, it was as if all his body parts and organs were made anew. he could hear the sound of advertisements on the tv. ''that gear is amazing'' marcus beamed. he yawned. marcus looked at his body and realized his clothes were different, like newly bought clothes: a black t-shirt and camo cargo trousers. a look of disbelief was etched on marcus''s face. he swept the brown blanket away from his body with his hand and glanced at the other side of the room. it was mei ling, she was changing, on the verge of unhooking her bra, marcus quickly moved his eyes away and glanced at the other side before he completed the whole view of her body. his face reddened immediately, he had never experienced such a thing but he thought it was morally right to turn away immediately. marcus started thinking, these new clothes, obviously, he wasn''t in the site anymore, he figured she traced him with her sensitive nose. ''she had already known my body scent?'' marcus felt bewildered. ''how sensitive is her nose?'' the thought of mei ling changing his clothes almost made marcus want to bore a hole in the bed and crawl inside. his face reddened, except for his mum, nobody had ever changed clothes for him, he felt embarrassed. "s-she saw it" marcus eyes widened as the word tumbled from his lips not until he heard: "saw what?" he shuddered as his gaze fell on mei ling who had crawled her way to marcus on the bed and was gazing at him, she had already dressed up. "nothing" marcus blinked blankly, but her expression was quite different from before. she wore a gloomy and angry expression, it was as if she was sulking, her hazel eyes weren''t bright, and her attitude seemed different, she then went back to sit on the edge of the bed. it wasn''t that marcus couldn''t read the atmosphere, he had already guessed what happened, someone she helped with one problem ended up in another. "i''m sorry" he gazed back at her and managed to mutter, marcus knew it was his fault, even if it was the damn system that caused it all. but how could he explain, she would definitely think he was a loon and send him out, and as marcus was now, he didn''t have a single property to boast of, up to the clothes he wore. she turned her gaze to marcus and he was shocked. ''this is bad!'' her eyes were already teary. marcus then felt a pang of guilt immediately, he had never done something to make someone cry on his behalf before. "why did you do it?" she rushed to him at once and clutched at the short sleeve of his black t-shirt and buried her face on marcus'' right arm, her nails were digging into his arm flesh as she clutched his right sleeve tightly. marcus knew she was venting, he could as well let her let all the anger out. he could feel his sleeve soaked in her tears. "i told them that day too. i said they shouldn''t go out, but mum and dad didn''t listen... until they both got killed in the incident." mei ling was unable to control her emotions. the thought of losing another person was unbearable to her. marcus recalled how she had hesitantly told him about her parents two days ago when she found him. she had warned her parents not to go out, but they went anyway. it was the same incident he was caught up in¡ªthe day two ss-grade beasts fought, and the lane ran red with blood. s§×arch* the nov§×lf~ire.net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. marcus wondered how she saw him. why was she afraid of losing him? in marcus''s eyes, she was still a stranger, but he thought he was the opposite to her. ''a friend?'' he mused. the thought of having a friend hadn''t occurred to marcus once; he felt it was a bit sudden. something came to marcus''s mind¡ªthat he should tell her he wasn''t the type to be felt sorry for, but marcus discarded it. "i''m so sorry" then he used his hand to pat her head. marcus didn''t even know what he was doing, all he knew was that he was mimicking what his mum used to do for him when he was down, perhaps she could recover with it. she rubbed her face against marcus'' sleeve and looked up at him. "pet me more," she said gloatingly, and her gloomy expression changed to a mischievous one. marcus shifted back immediately at the realisation that he was doing something out of character. she then smirked, at least marcus was somehow thankful, her bright expression had returned. she stood up from the bed and walked towards some white nylon package, then she picked it up and shoved it in marcus'' chest. "huh?" he checked what was inside and realised it was some t-shirt, trousers and a package in a white rectangular carton, he had already guessed what was in there, mei ling actually shopped for clothes and a phone for him. "you didn''t need to¡ª" marcus hadn''t even finished what he was saying before she scowled him. he shuddered immediately, that was quite a menacing gaze. "thanks, i will make sure to repay" he said and was opening the white carton. "don''t give me that" marcus looked up and met her burning gaze. ''scary!!'' his brain screamed. [ssssss-grade mei ling!] the system sounded in marcus'' head. ''yo, parasite, how do you do, after what you made me pass through yesterday, you have the nerve to meddle in my situation when i didn''t ask you?!'' marcus rolled his eyes and made an intimidating thought at the system. [....] ''son of a bitch'' he had already brought out the phone, it was a new model released the same year. he checked the receipt. ''£¤14000?!'' marcus was stunned, "isn''t this too cost?" she heard this and pouted at him. "thanks," he muttered hesitantly. it was the first time in three years that marcus had thanked someone. everything he owned, he had worked for and bought with his own money. but this situation was different. "don''t mention" she rushed towards where marcus sat. "you are amazing!" her eyes widened at once. "how did you manage to kill an s-grade beast cricket without any damage? i just saw you sprawled on the floor beside the dead beast while snoring" marcus immediately remembered what happened before he blacked out, it seemed the almighty surgical hands did its work finish. "the gem" the word tumbled from his lips immediately. "it is there" mei ling pointed at the platform she placed the fish tanks on. marcus'' gaze fell on the blue gem which was beside the last tank without fish, the tank of the axolotl. then mei ling turned to him and wrinkled her brow in a questioning look. "where is my axolotl?" suddenly, the tv program was interrupted by a news flash. mei ling and marcus immediately turned to the tv, curiosity piqued. "a pet hamster swallowed a red gem, grew to the size of a cat, broke its cage, and went on a rampage! this inexplicable phenomenon occurred in xin yi''s room just five minutes ago!" the news anchor''s voice was filled with dread. "kyahh!!" the camera feed of the incident was displayed, and the sudden scream of a preteen girl from the tv filled the room. Chapter 23: I’m Gene chapter 23: i''m genemarcus stepped into the bustling street, he had been home for the past four days, gathering all sorts of information online and recovering at the same time. he also completed daily quests like running, jogging, and weight lifting, marcus had gained much xp, and with just a few more he would reach level two. his body was now brimming with energy. the newsflash the other day was dismissed as nothing important as there wasn''t any case like that and scientists couldn''t figure out what happened after many questions. was there a possibility of slow evolving mutant beast? or could gems from mutant beasts cause other creatures to mutate into mutant beasts? but every experimentation had been carried out, almost all species had been fed gene core but there wasn''t any mutation. this made marcus realise he was indeed special. only he could consume gene core and evolve, and grow stronger. he was the first and the last of every creature who could do that. marcus grinned. ''if only the system could let me cook or barbecue any creature i wished to consume'' he sulked inwardly. ''well, i don''t care, as long as i grow stronger, then there wouldn''t be any problem'' he held the blue gem up in his right hand while scrutinizing it as he walked. the weather was cool and crisp, nevertheless, the kite-shaped blue gem remained warm against marcus'' skin. it was about 50 mm in length and 15 mm in breadth, marcus gazed at it with an incredulous look as he held it between his right thumb and index finger. it felt like it was a living thing, well that was to be expected after all it was solidified raw genes, and coupled with the fact that it was also bioluminescent, it makes it more believable. but marcus knew he was the only one who knew that, other people and scientists thought that it was a rare mineral. since science deals with curiousness, scientists had questioned the existence of this rare and precious mineral in the body of mutant beast but couldn''t come up with any plausible reason so they discarded the matter. marcus headed to the jewelry merchant shop down the street. if it was before, a person of his caliber wouldn''t even have anything to do in a jewelry merchant shop, but now marcus felt like he had struck it rich. marcus recalled how mei ling had scrutinized the gene core, saying it would be worth at least 4 million yuan. his heart leaped for joy at hearing that, having something so expensive, he couldn''t stop being overjoyed. marcus reasoned that this era might be the best possible era, the era of the awakened except it also brings destruction. looking around the vicinity, there were buildings always in construction due to being caught up in a beast inbreak. almost every street had at least a couple of buildings with cranes looming over it, but it seemed the awakened league the government created tried their best to fight them off. but three numbered areas were yet to be cleared in the whole of haicheng, the capital city, with casualties upon casualties anytime the awakened went to raid the areas, only a few were able to escape. earning millions of yuan just by killing a mutant beast, and an s-grade for that matter, it was unbelievable even though marcus suffered, but he realised it was all due to his lack of power, if he had grown stronger, then it would be easier. "wait a minute, i could ask the diamantaire to cut it into two, i would then consume one half and sell the other after all i still need one more to merge, and using splitting skill to split it wouldn''t give me any reasonable skill" marcus smirked at the idea. [host needs to consume the whole of gene core!] he made a disgruntled expression at this. ''well, as i''m now, i need money, my mum''s hospital bills would have piled up so i have to sell any gene core i see'' he thought about it while gazing up at the sky, he reasoned that even if he could consume the half, selling the other half would only earn him less money. this made him feel much more high-spirited. then his mind wandered to the beast mole cricket and he became depressed. "if i had known i would have eaten a chunk out of it, perhaps i would be able to use it to craft some gear and the fact that crickets are rich in protein" marcus sulked. [notice!: host would be able to craft compass of the gods from gene remains of the beast mole cricket. the gear could detect the direction of an incoming attack on the host; it would now be up to the host to evade it. with this newfound ability, host must remain vigilant and agile, as the compass will only provide a warning¡ªhow host responds will determine host''s fate.] "cool!!" marcus yelled outwardly unconsciously, then he wailed inwardly, compass of the gods, a gear which could relay the direction of an incoming attack from an opponent, how could he have missed that opportunity? if he had it he would be able to predict an attack even if he was surrounded. but he would need to increase his strength, and speed in order to evade them, since he was five times more agile than an average human according to his stat. "well, it can''t be helped, after all, i didn''t lose completely, i can now summon my exoskeleton armor at will and i have a gemstone worth millions at hand" marcus rejoiced and nodded in concurrence. he kept on walking not until he heard: "hey, brother how do you do?" a voice boom from his back marcus turned to look and was surprised immediately. "huang zhiyuan?!" he recognised him immediately, he was the youngest son in the huang clan''s main family, they had many industries all over yangdao and were well known but they were ruthless and arrogant, marcus knew that as much. but the clan is based in qinghe. "shit, what is he finding in haicheng, the capital" he muttered under his breath as zhiyuan and his two friends walked toward marcus gracefully. ''oh, zhiyuan''s girlfriend is living around here!'' marcus realised, because he saw him and his girlfriend on social media when he was surfing the internet two days ago. marcus made an irritated expression then because he was almost two years older than them and zhiyuan had a girlfriend. he checked the girlfriend''s profile and saw that she lived around here, and she was a black belt in karate. marcus wondered how such a girl ended up with a chubby pig like zhiyuan, perhaps it was a family-like relationship. marcus'' eyes glanced at their pieces of jewelry greedily. these were gene cores of all shapes and sizes, zhiyuan wore three gene core necklaces and his fingers were full of gene core rings, his wrists were also full of gene core bracelets of all colours. it was so beautiful and many that marcus couldn''t help but drool at the sight. he feel like beating zhiyuan and snatching all of them to sell, if marcus were to do the math, all the pieces of jewelry would be worth billions of yuan given the sizes and the qualities. while his two friends who walked by his sides also wore one or two gene core necklaces. [notice!: that emerald green one is from a beast cheetah] [if host were to consume and split it with gene scissors, host would gain godspeed skill] marcus'' eyes widened, he remembered when he was surfing the internet and saw a video of how two cheetahs that evolved in the zoo cage were killed. it was tianyu, zhiyuan''s brother who defeated them both, earning him a b-rank since the beasts were s-grade. his awakened power was to let him turn invisible, no, it wasn''t invisible, there was no way a person could turn invisible, according to scientists, he could change his body colour with his surroundings like a chameleon, an effect of the evolved junk dna. but he had to be naked in order to use the power to his advantage unless the beast cheetahs would have seen clothes moving and sneaking around them in the air. ''that meant tianyu must have the other beast cheetah gene core in possession'' ''that ability is cool if i could get my hand on a chameleon'' [host would need to consume gene remains or gene core of a beast chameleon to gain such ability!] ''what? but i thought i could consume any animal as long as i like its ability!'' [it''s limited in the case of creature which aren''t mutant beasts!] s§×arch* the n?vel_fire.¦Çet website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''tsk! you could as well told me all that before, you actually get my hopes up, so it was because you could punish me that was why you coaxed me into consuming that axolotl'' marcus felt irritated. but thinking about having godspeed, the thought of being able to run at the speed of light made marcus eyed the beast cheetah gene core more, marcus knew it would surely boost his speed stat to brim. "man!, isn''t that amazing!" the words tumbled down from marcus'' lips as he watched them walk closer to him, they all looked plump like an overfed pig. "it is amazing right?" the one by zhiyuan''s right side bragged while holding his necklace up and grinning like an idiot, it seemed they heard him. zhiyuan raised his right hand upward to silence the guy. "brother, i''m huang zhiyuan from the huang clan, nice to meet you," he said and offered a handshake. marcus was hesitant and thought about what they wanted, ''don''t tell me they are eyeing my gene core'' marcus guessed because ordinarily, these people in power positions wouldn''t even glance at a person like him. marcus shook zhiyuan''s hand hesitantly while his eyes gazed greedily at the gene core in the dangling necklaces. "i-i''m gene" Chapter 24: Armor Body?! chapter 24: armor body?!zhiyuan and his friends made a puzzled face upon hearing the bizarre name, and then marcus and zhiyuan withdrew their hands from the handshake as zhiyuan smiled. "well, you are a weird one, it''s hard to believe you are an awakened" marcus looked at him puzzlingly and then remembered that zhiyuan was the only one in the huang clan''s main family who didn''t awaken any power. ''don''t tell me he is jealous'' marcus realised he could also relate because he could remember how he felt when he witnessed how the awakened in his class fought an ss-grade beast hawk. although one wouldn''t call marcus'' case that of an awakened but he could still fight an s-grade beast although while suffering casualties but if it was an ordinary person''s case, it would be suicide. ''i hope this won''t become a hassle'' but marcus'' excitement lit up immediately when his gaze fell on the beast cheetah gene core, he thought he could be able to sweet-talk zhiyuan into trading with him. "well, i''m an awakened but i got lucky to be able to kill an s-grade beast cricket and get this gem" marcus tried not to boast his ability and based it on luck. zhiyuan grinned, his face alight with smug satisfaction. "so, in short, you''re a half-assed awakened?" one of zhiyuan''s friends on his left side chuckled, his face gleaming with amusement. ''well, unlike you, who doesn''t have any hint of power in you'' "yeah, you could say that" marcus grinned back sheepishly. "so, are you part of the awakened league or in an independent association" zhiyuan tone was laced with contempt when he said awakened league as if he had a grudge against them. well, marcus knew it was understandable. the awakened league, created by the government, and the independent association, formed by powerful and popular clans, had been in a feud ever since the government demanded they pay taxes for every expedition they undertook but the latter vehemently refused because they felt they were risking their life exploring and raiding areas. marcus didn''t want to do what would make a member of a powerful clan like the huang clan target him, so he would have to lie. sear?h the ¦Çov§×lfire .net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. he figured if he admitted to raiding areas alone, he would be in serious trouble because it''s illegal. one must either join the awakened league or an independent association. and if marcus claimed to be in the huang clan awakened association and zhiyuan checked the member list, that would be disastrous. they were all glaring at marcus for an answer as if finding what they could use to fixate on him. "wu clan awakened association" marcus was racking his brain to remember the names of powerful clans that create independent associations and weren''t in a feud with the huang clan, but their burning gaze was too much that he became nervous, so he had to mutter an impromptu name that came across his mind. "what?!" the guy on zhiyuan''s right was the first to yell, marcus'' heart jumped immediately ''have i blown it?'' his head rang. but zhiyuan kept grinning and it was confusing, the clans were always brawling with each other trying to claim who was more powerful. ''if things go south, i will run away'' marcus planned his next move. zhiyuan then did something that made marcus surprise, he placed his arm around marcus'' shoulder and said: "friend, can we make a deal, i want to trade one of my gem necklaces with that gem you hold" zhiyuan gazed greedily at the gene core in marcus'' hand. marcus'' heart leaped for joy, he never saw this coming, he would definitely trade his own with that beast cheetah gene core. marcus knew his plan would fail, his plan of selling gene core and going to the hospital to pay part of the bills but if he could gain godspeed, marcus reasoned that he would accumulate gene core quickly given that in a numbered area of mutant beasts'' colony, there could be at least thirty mutant beasts there. so even though he wouldn''t be able to clear the area by defeating the area boss, he could still defeat a few others and gain gene cores which he would then sell also with the fact that marcus would be able to escape given the godspeed because only a few awakened were able to escape anytime, they raid one of the three uncleared areas in haicheng. zhiyuan then pointed to a corner. "let''s go talk there," he said, turning to marcus for agreement. marcus nodded eagerly. "you''ve got the nerve to join the wu clan awakened association? you''re in for it now," one of zhiyuan''s friends said as they surrounded marcus in the corner. zhiyuan shot him a sharp look, but marcus already understood the situation. he tried to break through their circle and run, but one of them grabbed his shirt and punched him hard in the side. gboin!! "ouch!" "what the fuck!" he cried out. marcus had already manifested his exoskeleton armor just before he hit him, so his fist slammed into the metallic surface instead. but marcus knew he must have been nervous that he ended up manifesting it over his entire body. the armor gleamed elegantly with a golden sheen. marcus was amazed as well and looked down at himself in excitement. ''cool!'' his brain screamed "whoa!" "armor body?!" "you''re mocking us?! you said it was just luck that you managed to defeat an s-grade beast cricket but look at that high-quality armor!" zhiyuan''s eyes widened in surprise, and his voice was filled with jealousy as he pointed at marcus. his friends were just as stunned. the one who had hit marcus was blowing on his bruised fist¡ªit seemed he had hit the armor hard, but marcus didn''t feel a thing. they were all stunned, but marcus was the first to regain his composure. he pushed past them and dashed away. once marcus was clear of the corner, he retracted his exoskeleton armor and ran as far as he could. "fuck! i ended up messing up!" the last thing marcus wanted was for a member of the huang clan to be on his tail, but he was somehow relieved that he had given zhiyuan a fake name, so he wouldn''t be able to know his identity through any means, but marcus knew he would have to avoid zhiyuan from now on. Chapter 25: Elastic Steel Silk SS-Grade Beast Spider chapter 25: elastic steel silk ss-grade beast spidermarcus felt frustrated after he had stalked zhiyuan and his friends till they left the street. hiding in every corner every time they stopped at a place, marcus could only cussed quietly but he knew better than to reveal his presence soon and risk blowing his cover. it was already afternoon when marcus turned and left for his main mission¡ªselling his gene core. he stepped into the jewelry merchant shop, marcus eyes glinted at different jewels displayed on boards, stands, and glass display cases. "young man, we have different gem necklaces, rings, and bracelets from diamonds to that of mutant beasts with affordable prices, which do you want?" marcus recognised wang bao immediately, the burly and famous jewelry merchant and diamantaire in haicheng. wang bao sat at the corner beside the door while using his loupe to inspect a purple gene core from every angle, marcus had already noticed him the moment he stepped into the shop, but marcus was busy feasting his eyes on the pieces of jewelry. but there was also one thing that made marcus do as if he didn''t notice him, wang bao was a jewelry merchant that know the true value of gems even without using loupe. but he often swindled people who were timid and showed weakness so he could profit the most from their gems. that was why marcus made wang bao take the initiative to give him the idea that he wasn''t a novice, ensuring he got the best estimate of his gem''s worth. "i will let you know when i see which one i like among the bracelets" "oh..." wang bao nodded. marcus walked towards the bracelets section. diamonds and gene core bracelets were displayed on stands but the era of diamonds was now being overshadowed by gene cores even though both of them had the same hardness, perhaps it was because of the exceptional brilliance of gene cores. if an s-grade beast gene core of only 5 carats could cost as much as roughly 4 million yuan, then what about an ss-grade beast or even an sss-grade beast, marcus'' heart leaped for joy at the thought. marcus felt he couldn''t wait to kill an ss-grade beast since sss-grade beasts are very rare. most of area bosses are ss-grade beasts, but marcus felt he should exercise patience if not he would end up dead since he didn''t have any attacking skills, and even most of his attributes are of an average human. marcus took out the blue gem from his pocket and raised it up. he started gazing at it and the gene core bracelets at the same time, while using the other eye to look at wang bao, wang bao''s eyes lit up, and marcus'' heart seemed to skip a bit at the same time. ''i hope i won''t mess up'' marcus then tried to compose himself but he remained quiet, thinking about wang bao''s reaction, marcus reasoned that the gene core which he got from his punishment could be worth more than he think because, the value of precious stones is based on many factors including it colour rareness, cut, and brilliance. marcus could remember all the necklaces, rings, and bracelets zhiyuan and his friends wore, none had a blue colour. ''is it why he had his eyes on it?'' he couldn''t help but wonder, marcus just keep gazing at it while wang bao was also staring. it seemed wang bao was appraising its value and with each second his eyes would widen and blink and he would lick his lips. it seemed wang bao couldn''t hide his curiousness anymore so he spoke up: "young man, do you want to sell that blue gem also?" wang bao''s tone was soft. sear?h the nov§×lf~ire.net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "i''m still contemplating, actually i was thinking of dashing it out to one of my friends, how much would you say it worth," marcus said half-heartedly to give wang bao the wrong idea that he wasn''t really interested in it. "let me see" wang bao rushed to marcus eagerly and he gave it to him. wang bao placed the gene core on a carat scale, after a few seconds, he used his loupe to inspect it from every angle, and his eyes widened as every second passed by. "this is quite the piece, friend, it''s well cut and its brilliance, it is remarkable! how much would you like to sell it?" wang bao asked eagerly. "you tell me the price" marcus remained composed and said apathetically. "its weight is 5 carat, and blue gem is rare, from which beast do you get it, if you say an ss-grade beast i would believe you, sir, i will buy it for 6 million yuan, what do you say" wang bao couldn''t contain his excitement anymore, he looked anxious all of a sudden but marcus kept looking at him apathetically. marcus had guessed the situation; wang bao was thinking maybe he wouldn''t sell. ''i will have to use this to my advantage. i knew the gem would still be worth more than that.'' "6 million, sir? i didn''t know it was so cheap like that. perhaps i should gift it to my friend," marcus said, then looked up as if thinking, whereas he was brimming with excitement deep down. "what of 8 million, sir, you wouldn''t find a better deal" wang bao composed himself as if to fake marcus but he had already exposed himself the moment marcus saw his greedy gaze. ''i can still keep the price going,'' marcus thought mischievously. he pocketed the gene core, and his gaze fell on the purple gene core wang bao held. "what about 14 million?" wang bao jumped back in terror when marcus mentioned that amount of money. he shook his head. "don''t waste the opportunity i''m giving you. you wouldn''t find a better price. okay, i will make it 10 million." this made marcus ascertain his guess that this gene core was worth more. wang bao was already mentioning more than twice the price mei ling had initially suggested. [purple gene core is from ss-grade beast spider!] the system sounded in marcus''s head. ''what does that mean now?'' marcus looked at the purple gene core in wang bao''s hand and wondered. [skill: capable of producing elastic steel silk that could ensnare opponents. the elastic steel silk is so sharp that with one disturbance from the beast, it would slice opponents into pieces when in contact with them, even through the host''s armor body. the host will need to increase armor grade to be immune to the attack, and it''s so thin that opponents would need to be at least five times more perceptive than an average human to see it.] ''whoa!, an elastic steel silk that can slice through my grade 5 tungsten armor body, hmmm'' normally, tungsten is stronger so steel shouldn''t be able to do any damage, but marcus wondered if it was because the elastic steel silk grade was higher. marcus eyed the purple gene core, wang bao noticed and his eyes twinkled. "do you trade gems?" marcus asked. Chapter 26: Pervert chapter 26: pervertit wasn''t that marcus was deviating foolishly from his plan, he had it in mind to sell the gene core so that he would go see my mum and pay part of her bill but if he could see an opportunity that would help him earn faster, he would still grab it. in this ss-grade beast spider gene core case, if marcus could get his hand on it, he was thinking he could use it to ensnare s-grade mutant beasts. it wouldn''t even take time to defeat many, marcus thought he could set a trap and use himself as bait after all he would be the one in control of the elastic steel silk. but his perception was only three times that of an average human so marcus would need to be careful with his traps. and given the fact that its effectiveness would diminish because marcus would need to split it with gene scissors which would take a week for him to gain the inferior version but it would still work, after all, it was an ss-grade beast gene core, the only thing was that it wouldn''t boost his stat. although the plan seemed cowardly but it was one of the ways to defeat mutant beasts quickly and amassed gene cores. "sure, we could trade but i must say, this gem cost 20 million" wang bao shook his head as if to discourage marcus, perhaps he thought he was rich since awakeneds are all rich. but marcus didn''t even have any money at hand. "i will pass" "sir, are you not selling that gem again" "unless you pay 12 million" marcus said frankly but he prayed he would accept the price inwardly. wang bao made a rueful expression and shook his head lightly but it seems he hadn''t given up yet. he scratched his head and sighed exasperatedly. "alright, give me your account details, i will transfer the 12 million right away" marcus was so joyous, he never thought he could sell the gene core at that price. **** marcus kept grinning while he walked down the street. "i will pay mei ling what i owe her, and use the rest to pay my mum''s bill and find a place to stay" he felt it was high time he stop impose on mei ling, she had tried for him and he intended to repay her. "well, her kindness paid off, she will definitely be happy when i pay her" but something caught marcus'' eyes, it was the ruby colour gene core that was dangling from a hairpin in front of him, the girl had a toned body and her black hair was very long, they were 10 feet from each other. [notice!: s-grade beast cheetah gene core] [skill: godspeed] "huh?, is this a coincidence, zhiyuan has one and this girl also, where did she see it, perhaps she bought it, how rich is she then?" he continued wondering, after all, a person who could own a hairpin adore with the same gene core as a member of the huang clan must probably be rich. and considering other factors like her being an awakened, it may be so but she seemed young, probably sixteen years old, marcus could just tell, he felt it was related to his perception, and anyone below eighteen years wasn''t allowed to raid areas. "let me approach her" marcus made up his mind to ask her, but not until she walked so fast and entered the nearest alleyway. "how did she know i was approaching her, the street is broad and many people are walking past each other" marcus couldn''t help but wonder but he also walked fast and entered the alleyway. he was now about a few meters from the girl when she turned back. "huh!" marcus exclaimed, she ended up being yu yan, zhiyuan''s girlfriend, marcus then realised that the beast cheetah gene core which adored her hairpin was probably from zhiyuan. ''fuck, i don''t know she will end up being zhiyuan''s girlfriend'' he was shocked and he started gazing around to see if zhiyuan wasn''t around. marcus quickly rushed to the entrance of the alleyway to see if he hadn''t entered a deadly trap set by himself. yu yan was perplexed when she saw marcus looking around. she had it in mind to question who was stalking her and beat them up if necessary, even if the person thought he could outsmart her into thinking that he was also treading the same path, how could she, a black belt in karate missed it? she had honed all her senses, but she was somehow surprised at this latest attitude of her stalker who was looking around as if running away from something dreadful. "hmm-hmm" yu yan cleared her throat. "what business does your caliber have with me" ''eh!'' marcus turned back immediately and looked at her in disbelief after hearing the word, he realised she was somehow rude. ''well it was to be expected, after all, she had already reasoned i was stalking her'' after he had checked that no one was following them, marcus composed himself. "i was wondering if we could do business, i like the gem that adores your hairpin, if you don''t mind we could discuss the terms" as the girlfriend of zhiyuan, there was no way she would sell it after all it wasn''t that she needed money but marcus figured he could as well tell her his mind since he had nothing to defend himself with. he sounded confident, he even did shirt well like a businessman who meant business. "and what gave you the idea that i wanted to sell it, it''s my personal accessory, why would i sell it?" yu yan frowned, her tone was questioning, she had never heard of a stalker ending up being a businessman. ''is that a new approach to getting a client?'' well, if he ended up otherwise, yu yan made up her mind to deal with him, even if he was an awakened, an awakened with rank below b-rank was nothing. "well, i was just interested in it, but it''s alright if you don''t want to, i will take my leave" marcus realised there was nothing left to do, he wasn''t the type to coax people, and neither did he have any hidden business tactics, nevertheless, yu yan kept looking at him suspiciously. ''let me leave to clear her doubt'' as he wanted to turn, marcus'' gaze fell on the roof of a two-story building by the right a distance from the back of yu yan, and what he saw was shocking. [beast mouse!] [potential evolution into s-grade beast mouse detected!] ''what?!'' there it was, a normal mouse on the roof of the building. but one wouldn''t call this mouse a normal one because it was snarling malevolently, its chisel-like yellow teeth were scary by the way it snarled. its whiskers stood on end, marcus looked back at yu yan, she was still gazing at him suspiciously. ''did she not hear the snarling of that mouse?'' he was wondering, perhaps it wasn''t as loud as he thought it to be and he could hear the snarling sound because of his perception. it seemed it couldn''t wait anymore as the beast mouse jumped in the direction of the ruby colour gene core dangling from yu yan''s hairpin. "hey!" marcus yelled out and pointed at the beast mouse in midair but yu yan turned but saw nothing. the beast mouse had already jumped down at the back of yu yan and also leaped up to the height of yu yan and was on the verge of gnawing at the dangling gene core. "fuck!" he dashed towards yu yan and pushed her out of the way, the beast mouse gnawed at the air in place where the gene core was earlier, and it landed on the ground and scurried away. yu yan was stunned, she started wondering, it wasn''t that marcus was fast, how the hell was he able to push her even though he wasn''t in any way fast, she was already on the verge of falling when she realised. ''he tricked me!'' she gritted her teeth angrily, thinking that marcus pointed at the air to make her shift her gaze so he could push her. her face contorted in fury at marcus'' figure in front of her but she had already lost her balance and in the nearest 0.5 seconds, she would fall on the concrete floor. "fuck!" marcus cussed under breath, he didn''t mean to push her but that was the only way to avoid the beast mouse from gnawing at the gene core and swallowing it to complete its evolution. marcus then thought about supporting yu yan''s figure which lost balance due to the push and was about to fall on the floor. "damnit, i will make sure he pays with his hands, i will break both off from his body" yu yan muttered frustrated as she was falling. but then she saw the same figure who pushed her a moment ago had already rushed to her back. ''what!'' yu yan was surprised as someone held her from losing balance, the person actually hugged her from the back to support her. ''how did he do that?, i thought i had already fallen'' yu yan was surprised but then she looked down at what was groping at her chest, the same place the person had held her from falling. she gritted her teeth immediately and turned red. "ah..." marcus heaved a sigh of relief sea??h th§× nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''i thought i wouldn''t make it'' marcus thought as he managed to hug yu yan from the back from falling. "eh!?, what is this soft and tender sensation against my palms" marcus wondered aloud, his gaze then fell on his hands but was replied immediately with a backward headbutt from yu yan followed by a leg kick at his forehead. whack!!.... whack!!... yu yan, with her trained body, had actually brought her right leg upward above her and kicked marcus''s forehead so hard that he stumbled backward. "ouch!" marcus exclaimed, his lips bleeding from where yu yan had headbutted him. he wrinkled his face in agony and gazed back at yu yan, who was already free from his grip. she had a super embarrassed expression. "pervert!" covering her chest with her arms, yu yan cried and ran away. marcus stood still, stunned. Chapter 27: Pity chapter 27: pitymarcus stood still in the alleyway, he heaved a resignation sigh. "what a hassle" he whispered exasperatedly. then he saw a figure pass by, it was an old monk with a grey moustache and beard that was so long that it almost touched his knees, he wore a white robe. marcus scoffed as he looked at the figure passed by, he wasn''t a religious person, believing in some sort of god was also out of the equation. he then turned and left for home, ''i have had my share of trouble for today'' **** after some time, marcus reached mei ling''s apartment. "i should start finding an apartment to rent" marcus walked to the door and gazed at the spare key mei ling gave him then he started smelling something. "mei ling is probably around" marcus nodded and placed his hands on his hand in exasperation as the scent of cup noodles filled his nostrils. ''she gives me a headache any time she is around, i have never seen any girl as high-spirited and boyish as her'' marcus opened the door and entered, there she was, pouring some stuff into a steaming cup noodles, she sat on the other edge of the bed. s§×ar?h the n?vel_fire.¦Çet website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''such an amount of hot sauce!!'' marcus'' brain screamed. mei ling looked back. "oh, you are back, how did it go" she used the chopsticks to slurp the noodles into her mouth and beam. marcus'' eyes widened. ''how was she able to eat that, she obviously poured the whole of the hot sauce into it right'' he blinked blankly. "why are you spacing out, or did something happen again?" mei ling gave marcus a questioning look. "uhm, no" marcus reasoned he wouldn''t want to tell her about zhiyuan and yu yan, and that made him think that he should leave her quickly and get an apartment, he didn''t want to drag her into his mess. he then sat on the opposite edge of the bed and composed himself. "that gem cost more than the price you called it" "well, i''m not an appraisal, it was just an estimate" mei ling shrugged. "how much did you sell it, judging by what you said, you obviously sold it more than that price" "12 million" marcus smirked. "whoa!, you are one cunning guy, how did you manage to do that, or didn''t you go to wang bao''s shop?" mei ling was surprised, she slurped the noodles finished at once and gazed at marcus. marcus didn''t think it was anything special, perhaps it was because it was what he did almost all the time since the time he had been living alone. there was no way one could outsmart him during a matter of money. "forget that, i just brought out the true worth of the gem, that is all" thinking back, marcus recalled that wang bao had actually reached his limit but he was someone who wouldn''t let go of something that has value. ''perhaps the gem value could increase over time'' marcus furrowed while thinking. ''i knew it! i should have kept it for a while before selling'' "you are right, if you hadn''t used your brain, wang bao would have swindled you," mei ling said in agreement. "even if you went to other jewelry merchants, they would have reached their limit before you said 10 million, you are lucky because wang bao is a rich jewelry merchant" marcus nodded in agreement, even if other jewelry merchants knew the true value of the gem they might not be able to pay that amount due to their budget. ''it was like an auction, although other merchants didn''t participate'' marcus reasoned. "so, mei ling, send me your account details, thank you for your kindness," marcus said and brought out his phone, he had planned to get an apartment before the day ended so he could move in the next day. "and what gave you the idea that i want a repayment" mei ling gazed at him. ''what is with that look?'' marcus heaved a sigh of resignation, actually, he had been thinking about it that mei ling might not accept anything, but the feeling of owing someone didn''t sit right with marcus, however, he needed to know why she did it without thinking of being repaid. "but why? why did you help me even if we aren''t acquainted, you have no reason to do that" marcus looked into mei ling''s eyes, he couldn''t seem to understand because it was something he would never do. "it is based on pity, an emotion you lack," mei ling said solemnly. "it''s a sorrow felt for the sufferings of others and you can only feel it when you understand what it truly means to be in someone''s shoes" "i don''t get it though, but i will keep that in mind" marcus looked sideways and said apathetically. uppercut!! before marcus could turn to see the reason for the sudden shout, he felt a sharp blow on his chin. argh!! marcus then looked at mei ling frustratedly. "put it in action, not in mind" mei ling was grinning like a mischievous brat. "what was that for!!" marcus licked his lips which were now bleeding, the second time a girl would wound him on his lips today. he sighed exasperatedly. mei ling blinked her eyes and made a puppy-like face when she saw marcus''s bleeding lips. "i''m sorry" marcus gritted his teeth and heaved a sigh of resignation. "i''m going to my mum''s hospital to clear her bills and tomorrow, i''m leaving, thanks for your kindness" "huh?" mei ling pouted, "you want to leave me here alone, i would be bored to death" "well..." marcus was short of words, what did she mean by ''leave her here alone'', she was probably living alone before she met him. ''what a pain'' "so what is in it for me?" marcus turned and asked her while rubbing his right thumb and index finger together. "i meant money" mei ling furrowed her brow, she then smiled mischievously. "that is your repayment" "how is that logical?!" "ah," marcus sighed "well, i don''t mind, but..." mei ling suddenly beamed. "shouldn''t we rent a more comfortable apartment? or buy a house?" it wasn''t that the room wasn''t spacious but marcus would prefer having his own room. "hmmm... you are right" mei ling agreed. no matter how boyish she was there was a limit to how long a girl could share a room with a boy who isn''t her boyfriend, sibling, or relation. marcus looked at her and felt relief, but he didn''t even know what it meant to have any of those aforementioned three. marcus didn''t have a friend, sibling, or relation, at least, as long as he could remember, no relation had ever visited him. ''fuck them! fuck pity!'' and here was this girl, a few months older than him, who helped him in an alleyway close to a numbered area. ''perhaps she is crazy'' marcus looked at her strangely. "what is with that look, did i look weird?" mei ling asked. "nothing" mei ling stood and walked towards the matress which was against the wall and carried it up. "what is the matter?" it was the mattress she slept on at night while marcus slept on the bed. "it has a few oothecae at the edges, perhaps it was because i was placing it on the floor, i will buy a box spring tomorrow, i want to spray it with insecticide and put it outside till tomorrow" "i see" marcus felt relief that the room was spacious, how would he cope if they were actually sleeping on the same bed ''wait! where will she sleep tonight?!'' the thought rang in marcus'' head. ''well, i''m sleeping on the floor then, we should hurry up and buy a house, we could get one around 5 million'' marcus heaved a sigh of relief, when he looked up at her, mei ling was giving him a cold stare. "no one is sleeping on the floor" ''her boyish behavior is scary!!'' Chapter 28: The Two B-rank Brothers chapter 28: the two b-rank brothers"i''m going to the hospital" after a couple of hours, marcus stood at the entrance and told mei ling, it was early evening and she was still doing some chores. "to your mum?" "yeah¡ª" marcus hadn''t even finished the word when he saw her rushing forward. "mind if we go together?" she asked as if he was going shopping. marcus looked at her with disbelief and finally thought it wouldn''t hurt to let her follow. "no problem" "do you know a mutant beast could have two gems?" mei ling started talking as they stepped into the streets. "really?, i didn''t" marcus was more concerned with the unusual silence of the street, he couldn''t help but wonder what was going on. ''is there a beast inbreak nearby?'' marcus gazed afar with a narrowed look. "yeah, scientists said it might be that they are in the stage of evolving into ss-grade beasts since it was more common in s-grade mutant beasts" mei ling strode playfully beside him along the street. "so they think the gems merged when the evolution is completed since ss-grade beasts only have a gem" ''still, with all these discoveries, the gems are still considered precious stones and not gene core, earth scientists are such a joke'' marcus managed to suppress a smirk. sear?h the n?velfire.net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. he looked at her with slight disbelief, she was indeed a high-spirited fellow, then he muttered: "i see" ''if only i could get those, well, soon enough'' "yeah it''s indeed a rare case, they must have consumed countless humans for it to happen" ''come to think of it, aside from the three uncleared areas, there have been four more since yesterday in haicheng'' marcus reasoned the way the numbered areas were increasing was alarming. "you two! where are you going?" the nervous voice of a woman drew marcus and mei ling''s attention, she had a super frightened expression, marcus recognized her to be living in the house beside mei ling''s apartment it seemed she was returning and she looked impatient, even her breath was ragged as if she had been running, perhaps she stopped when she was out of breath. "mrs qian ru, how do you do" mei ling was surprised, she greeted the woman. "i''m not fine" she shook her head panickly. "you should get out of here, there is a beast inbreak in the next street!" the woman turned to marcus with a grim expression. "you may be her boyfriend but as a civillian you had better not drag mei ling into any mess! " she then turned and continued her fast stride. ''i thought as much, so there was a beast inbreak'' and suddenly, marcus felt something nudging him towards a particular direction. ''so the beast is over there, what is with this nudging, perhaps it is related to my perception, i can somehow make out where it is'' as he watched her walk away, marcus scoffed at the sound of civilian the woman called him ''well, i''m neither a civilian nor an awakened'' he chuckled darkly inwardly. mei ling looked up at marcus with a guilty expression. "i''m sorry about this but shouldn''t we turn back?" her voice was squeaky. ''hmm, it is amazing how people fear mutant beasts, but there should be government awakened league there already, preventing overrun of the location. but it was understandable, after all, she didn''t know what i was capable of doing ''wait, what is with this sudden confidence? come to think of it, i think my will stat is triple that of an average human, i wonder if that is the reason but does that mean that i wouldn''t fear even if i''m in the face of death and even if i''m powerless against the opponent?'' marcus felt there was more to the will stat than met the eyes, but since this awakened age wasn''t anything magical, the connection with magical spells was out of the matter, but was it? since not all the power of awakened had been scientifically explained, at least about five percent of the powers, he had no means to justify any claim yet. ''aside from that, this beast is likely s-grade or lower-tier ss-grade, it seemed the system won''t notify me unless i see the target'' "i''m going," marcus said frankly. "you can go back" "b-but, beast inbreak..." he looked at her, she indeed looked scared, normally, she worked with the government awakened league to clear numbered areas of little threat, but it was because she was with the awakened, but talking about marcus, she believed he was powerless like an average civilian. marcus gazed forward and continued his stride along the silent street ''she will probably turn back'' marcus had walked a considerable distance when he saw her rushing towards him. "i think it will be alright since government awakened will have been called there already," she said breathlessly, but as marcus looked at her, he knew she didn''t want to leave him and turned back. ''but she isn''t guilty of anything...'' she clutched at marcus'' right arm. ''this one is super spooked'' after a while of walking, they turned to the street that led to the avenue where the hospital was. [ss-grade beast cockroach!] the system notified, marcus looked afar, it was a single mutant beast but it had caused a significant amount of damage and catastrophe, but it was to be expected, an ss-grade mutant beast, soldiers were surrounding the beast cockroach that was the size of a truck, desperately shooting at it. huge cracks ran across building walls, some were even dilapidated, and cars had been smashed, it seemed the beast really wanted to claim this location. mei ling clutched at marcus'' arm tightly in fear "w-where are the awakened, t-they should have arrived" marcus thought so too, there were only soldiers here, and the street was devoid of inhabitants, perhaps they had evacuated, nevertheless, bodies of soldiers could be seen littered the ground by the beast cockroach mercilessly killing. its exoskeleton was hard for bullets to penetrate and once it extended one of its thin sharp legs, it would pierce the chest of any soldier in a blink of an eye and retract backward as fast as a woodpecker beak! there were at least a few dozen soldiers there, shooting desperately at it. this was indeed a massacre, blood stained the ground red. marcus saw a soldier running away with tears flowing from his eyes, approaching them at a fast pace, he almost tumbled a moment. "i can''t! i can''t fight that monster!" he cried like a baby with a gun in his hands as he passed them by, marcus felt some weird feeling welling up from him ''he has a family'' "five minutes is too much for us to hold that monster till the awakened arrive!" no matter how one looked at it, this was a massacre, the leg that the beast cockroach shot out was spiny, leaving a hole in the chest of soldiers that it pierced, and the soldiers couldn''t even dodge it, after all, they can''t dodged what they can''t see coming, even the leg appeared as a blur to marcus who was three times perceptic that an average human. ''which means, i can only stand on the same ground with s-grade beasts, perhaps certain ones, depending on the animal type and ability. i''m still weak, i have to level up as fast as i can'' but just after the crying soldier ran away, a car came speeding towards the beast from the opposite direction. "retreat soldiers! you have done well," a voice boomed from the radio inside the car, the surviving soldiers started scampering away and thanking their stars, the ones dead had their luck to blame, just after the region around the beast was cleared, a couple of awakened jumped out of the speeding car and the car ran into the beast. wham!! the beast cockroach had already extended one of its legs forward as if to stop the speeding car but the leg was so sharp that it ended up piercing through the car and extending at the other end of it, nevertheless, it stood its ground and stopped the car. "in addition to the strong exoskeleton, fast sharp legs, it also has remarkable strength" "but is a party of two awakened really enough to defeat an ss-grade beast cockroach?" "it''s chen hao and wei long!!" mei ling exclaimed happily as she released her grip from my arm. "the two b-rank brothers!!" and then the two guys who looked prideful started approaching marcus and mei ling. marcus looked at them with disbelief and he recognised the weapon they held immediately. Chapter 29: Surprise chapter 29: surprise[elastic steel silk of ss-grade beast spider!] [quill of ss-grade beast hawk!] the system notified. ''the crossbows in their hands are made from the elastic steel silk of an ss-grade beast spider!'' marcus'' eyes widened as he scrutinized the men. his gaze fell on the quivers they carried on their backs. the bolts were made from the quills of an ss-grade beast hawk. marcus recalled browsing the internet the previous day and seeing various gears and weapons crafted from mutant beasts. this crossbow was incredibly expensive because its string and bolts were made from ss-grade mutant beasts, costing five million yuan. the manufacturing process was also intricate. the elastic steel silk of an ss-grade beast spider is so thin that it requires five times normal perception to even see it. to make it usable, the thickness had been increased, enhancing its durability and strength. this increased thickness not only made the crossbow string exceptionally strong but also allowed it to be drawn with greater tautness, significantly increasing its range and accuracy. which means, the string would demand some level of strength in order to be drawn to full power. ''that means these awakened would likely excel in strength'' ''damn, i''m kinda super weak, my strength stat is one, an average human strength, i can''t even lift a finger to earth''s bodybuilders in pre awakened era, not to mention awakened that excel in strength, i''m too weak!!'' marcus swallowed a lump. moreover, this crossbow was equipped with thermal imaging and could be used like a sniper rifle. it had a longer range than any other crossbow and sniper rifle available, thanks to the reinforced and highly taut beast elastic silk. marcus now realized why the government deployed two b-ranks awakened. two b ranks awakened armed with ss-grade weapons should be enough to take down an ss-grade mutant beast. ''those bolts will probably penetrate the beast cockroach exoskeleton'' marcus recalled how his classmates, alex wei, leo zhang, and pe teacher mr. lau lau had fought and defeated an ss-grade beast hawk, the beast hawk''s quills actually penetrated the fuselage of a military helicopter. for some reason, the ss-grade beast cockroach wasn''t attacking, it just remained motionless in the distance while facing them, it had already thrown the car its leg pierced away, the car lodged atop the top edge building in the distance. "is it waiting for the right moment to strike or does it have the ability to gauge an enemy''s strength?, perhaps it thinks it would be foolish to attack something it can''t beat" marcus watched as mei ling rushed to greet the two carefree brothers who were unconcerned with the beast roach they turned their back on. since mei ling was a biologist, she must have probably known them during expeditions in numbered areas. she looked calm, compared to when she was with marcus, perhaps it was due to the two brothers'' presence. "are they that strong?" this made marcus wonder underbreath. "mei ling, what are you doing here, this place is dangerous," one of them said, he looked sincerely worried. "well, we are off to someplace and i thought the awakened had already been deployed here" mei ling glanced at marcus and the two brothers looked suspiciously at him. ''what is with them?'' "who is he? mei ling" the other one with unruly hair and a slanted scar on his face stared at marcus, his gaze was quite penetrating. mei ling held the two guys'' hands and dragged them towards marcus. "wei long, chen hao, meet marcus cheng" "is he a civilian or an awakened, i bet he was the one that dragged you with him" wei long, the one who kept staring at marcus wore a furious expression. "seriously, who is he to you? i know you don''t have a brother as far as i remember" ''is he jealous?'' marcus wanted to confirm his suspicion, so he then took and held mei ling''s hand. wei long frown immediately. "he is a friend and a civi¡ª" mei ling hadn''t finished her words when marcus saw something moving fast towards her. he knew immediately that it was one of the beast cockroach''s legs, it shot it out so fast that it appeared like a blur, streaking through the air like a bullet, targeting mei ling''s back. the two brothers hadn''t noticed, marcus reasoned it was because of his perception stats, three times more perceptic than an average human, even so, the leg still appeared like a blur. marcus drew her closer, hugging her in the process and turning such that his back was the one that got struck, he had already manifested his exoskeleton on reflex. ''five times more agile than average human isn''t a joke. the deadly leg that pierced the bulletproof vest of soldiers, i hope my tungsten grade exoskeleton armor is....'' "koin!!!" the sound of metal striking metal echoed across the silent street. the strike was so hard that it knocked them several meters away. "what the...!" the two brothers were stunned, but they reacted quickly, firing their crossbows at the beast cockroach. multiple bolts pierced its exoskeleton and some colorless fluid oozed out from the points it was pierced. it died immediately. upon the impact, while in his embrace, mei ling and marcus rolled several meters away before they came to a stop. still covered in small segmented golden exoskeleton except for his palms, head, and soles of his feet, marcus release mei ling and help her up. [ding!] [exoskeleton mastery has increased!] [effect condition has been met!] [inbuilt gear: exoskeleton armor] [grade: 5] sea??h th§× n?velfire(.)net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [effect: +2 strength when activated] the notification prompted marcus to frown, he never thought this type of effect could activate, that meant he would be three times stronger than an average human, and his strength would be on par with some bodybuilders of earth''s pre-awakened era. ''not bad'' mei ling stood and looked at him with disbelief. "thanks for that, i''m ashamed but i will admit that we couldn''t see the attack coming" wei long who seemed to be the jealous one said. "thanks, man" "i don''t know you are an awakened" chen hao gazed at marcus'' armor with disbelief. "this is an exoskeleton, a very hard one" he knew because he had witnessed the litter of soldiers'' corpses on the street, and the fact that they wore bulletproof vests. ''grade 5 tungsten exoskeleton armor isn''t for show'' "y-yeah" marcus muttered and turned to mei ling. "let''s go" he held her hands and started walking away. "bye" mei ling followed obediently, she was still stunned by what happened, if marcus had been a second late, she would have been pierced through the heart from the back. she couldn''t meet his gaze, she just kept staring at the ground. ''well, it was to be expected, after all, i didn''t tell her anything about my powers'' ''but why didn''t the beast cockroach attack when the two brothers came, and why did it attack only mei ling? so it could sense its enemy''s strength.?'' marcus realized that was the only possible answer. ''that means the two brothers'' power has something to do with strength, perhaps its legs wouldn''t be able to pierce their body?'' as they passed by the dead beast, marcus gazed at the monster with a narrowed look. ''if only the guys weren''t here, i would have cut out a chunk from the beast and eat its meat'' [searching...] [no gear could be crafted with gene remains!] [eating gene remains of ss-grade beast cockroach would increase host exoskeleton armor grade] marcus wasn''t disappointed, even if there was a gear that could be crafted from it, he couldn''t possibly lay hands on it, it had become government property. he looked back, but the guys stood sentinel in the distance, watching their back incredulously, they were still surprised that he outperformed them. "how he hugged mei ling and turned his back to the attack, i couldn''t see his movement, he was so agile" chen hao was amazed, while the two watched mei ling and marcus go. "me too, i''m happy mei ling called him a friend, it seemed we have got ourselves a rival" wei long patted his brother''s shoulder and smiled as they waited for the government copter to come and transport the beast cockroach to the government research facility. Chapter 30: Supreme generations chapter 30: supreme generationsmarcus saw a car stopped by, the car had been damaged but worked fine. "yo! where are you going, it seems the transport system is out of service around here due to the beast inbreak, and it will take a while for them to start operating, care if we give you a ride?" ''such a good guy, you are worthy to be taken advantage of by me'' marcus gave chen hao a long smirk, the guy with unruly and spiky red hair and a scar on his face broadly smiled back cluelessly, it goes without saying that since the mutation event, many appearances of mostly awakened youth like the hair, eyebrow, and eyes color had changed like characters out of a fantasy world, although in marcus'' case, he still had his natural black hair and sea blue eyes. in his mind, marcus reasoned that if he was the only one walking, no doubt, these people wouldn''t have stopped, and it would have taken quite some time to reach the hospital on foot, as no transport system was operating anywhere near the location because of the beast inbreak, in fact, it seemed neighboring streets have been evacuated due to the threat. "really? thanks so much, we are going to maxwell general hospital, marcus, they are good guys, try to get along" mei ling noticed marcus'' permanent smirk, giving him a serious scowl. ''huh? holy cow! i know she awakened some sense of smell ability, but can she smell out my thoughts? impossible!'' marcus shook his head. "stop dawdling and enter, or else we will leave you behind" mei ling snapped him out of his thoughts, prompting him to enter while the damaged car zoomed off. wei long was the one driving while chen hao sat beside him, and for marcus and mei ling, both of them sat at the back. marcus'' gaze was fixed on the hole that gaped in the car''s frame, the handwork of the beast cockroach''s leg that pierced the car. "but, they managed to remove the car from the building top, i guess carrying this much weight isn''t really a problem for b-rank awakened that excels in strength'' a sudden thought flashed across marcus'' mind ''yet, they might have other aces, there have been many cases of awakened with more than one ability, and even cases of an awakened undergoing another awakening, however, the second one is different, and these are abilities of people that make up the five percent that scientist have yet to figure out'' "what joy would it be if i could clear a numbered area" chen hao was the first to break the long moment of silence, using his hand to ruffle his unruly hair. "you are right, every awakened wish is to clear an area, to seal their name in the record" marcus looked at wei long who was driving. ''it seemed both brothers share the same dream, how beautiful'' then he spoke out: "haven''t you just cleared an area?" "this one hasn''t become a numbered area, once a colony of mutant beasts have been formed in a location and the strongest becomes the area boss, the place becomes a numbered area, only then can it be cleared if the area boss is defeated" wei long sounded modest, marcus never thought he would speak up throughout the ride, especially when marcus was the one sitting beside mei ling. "i see" "if managed, my lifelong dream would come true, i will be able to join awakened special ops!" chen hao made a loud laugh, marcus saw nothing bad in what he said but in order to be able to clear an area, one must be a-rank, which means they would have to increase their rank, after all, a-rank and s-rank awakened are the ones chosen as leaders to chose and lead a strike squad to clear numbered areas, even if a b-rank awakened does most of the work or save the day, the glory is given to the leader at the end of the day since they were the one that chose competent strike squad which made the mission to be successful, and if it is otherwise, the leader is also blamed. "another way to get into an awakened special ops is to take the test, an awakened in the awakened league that wishes to join awakened special ops would need to take a test which only about 0.01 percent pass, there are five awakened special ops in government awakened league, and they are almost independent, with only areas that are threatening or have many casualties they are implored to raid" "don''t sweat it, brother, they are just some lucky ass with great privilege from government, s ranks, a ranks, the rarest of the rare, that was why there are only five in our country''s awakened league" "huh? don''t you wish to be part of those lucky ass?" wei long''s voice rose, and both of them looked full of energy over the matter, making marcus wonder about the deal of awakened special ops. ''what is the deal of this elite squad that every country with awakened league has?" sea??h th§× n??elfir§×.net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. black tortoise ops. silversword awakened ops. awakened black ops. dragonslayer ops. black knight ops. these are the five awakened special ops in yangdao, an almost independent association in government awakened league, other awakened in government awakened league joined soldiers to perform reconnaissance around the country, raid areas, prevent beast inbreak, guard and protect prominent political leaders and other military duties. "wait, brother, why would you have to call that a lifelong dream, it hasn''t even been up to a year since this mutation event happened" wei long busts into a long laughter. "stop being a nitpicker, it goes without saying that it is your cherished dream" "is the examination that hard?" mei ling wore a puzzled expression, then turned, making some gesture to marcus as if to say ''didn''t i tell you, they are good guys with noble dreams'' "yes, the awakened special ops exam is so difficult that only 0.01 percent of awakened in the awakened league have been able to pass, except..." wei long evaded the head of the dog mutant beast on the road as they passed through a neighborhood with dilapidated buildings, the opened mouth of the dog''s head had broken fang that glinted with a metallic luster. perhaps it is a recently cleared area or area where beast inbreak was prevented, judging from the corpses of small beasts that hung out of broken windows of dilapidated buildings, littered the road, and smashed cars, it seemed it hadn''t been long since the raid happened. "except what?" mei ling was quite curious. "the supreme generations" marcus turned his gaze to wei long, something nudged him about his grave tone. "the generation being recruited by awakened special ops recently without any exam, their powers are the ones that make up the five percent unexplained awakened abilities" "supreme generation?!!" this information was baffling enough to make marcus and mei ling speak out at the same time. "the supreme generations are awakened that have awakened their magical genes or mystic genes, just a postulate tho. at least some with electric and lightning power are said to have evolved like electric eels, gaining electrocyte cells that they used to generate charges from their body, but there are still many mysteries surrounding those that can generate combustion and firepower, ice, laser eyes or heat vision and others, unlike charge power users whose abilities could still be based on a biological basis. however, those with electric and lightning power tend to be more powerful than others, or more correctly, they are versatile with their powers. scientists said it is because the human brain is home of charge, so the supreme generations with charge-like powers adapted quickly to the power and can even evolve it" there was a moment of silence in the car after wei long''s long explanation. ''well, is that really the case?, why did i feel like the earth is becoming more like a fantasy world, however, i will survive, that goes without saying, and anyone that comes my way wouldn''t go unscathed'' [ding!] [new quest!] [defeat one area boss] "huh?!!!" Chapter 31: A New Quest chapter 31: a new questsuddenly, the system notified marcus. [new quest!] [defeat one area boss] [rewards: 150 xp] [item rewards: consumable¡ªrecovery portion x5] at this message, marcus was stunned, this much xp was enough to increase marcus'' level to level three, to confirm his thought, he summoned the stat screen. [name: zhao marcus cheng] [species: hiveman] [class: insecta] [rank: 1] [level: 1] [xp: 80/100] [gene tokens: 10] [health recovery portion: ¡ª] [titles: gene devourer, hungering lord ] [strength: 1] [agility: 5] [speed: 1] [dexterity: 5] [constitution: 3] [perception: 3] [intelligence: 2] [charisma: ¡ª] [luck: 1] [will: 2] skills: [basic skills: gene usurper] [gene merger] [gene scissors] [gene installer] [raw gene utiliser] [evolved skills: ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª] [gear: built-in exoskeleton armor] [armor grade: tungsten: 5] [tungsten carbide: ¡ª] [vitreloy: ¡ª] [almighty surgical hands] s~ea??h the nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. his xp increased due to the exercise daily quest he did, since the system didn''t give him any quest apart from the punching one for him to master his exoskeleton and the punishment one when he failed the former, now, apart from the xp he would gain for slaying an area boss, he would also gain another one for rewards. ''and also this recovery portion, it was the same portion that saved me last year when i was caught up in beast inbreak attack, gaining this much recovery portion, the enemy will have to kill me five times before i can die that is excluding the cooldown if this system gives the potion one'' ''but will i really reach level three?'' taking the fact that as one level up in a game, the amount of xp needed to reach the next level will increase, marcus wasn''t sure if it would be the same for this system. ''i guess i will have to find out. but i haven''t joined any independent association nor government awakened league, there is no way i would be allowed into numbered area except...'' marcus remembered how the system had sniffed out the beast mole cricket capable of emitting 170 decibels of sound to incapacitate target, and he remembered that the incident didn''t attract any outsider, which could only mean one thing. ''the beast mole cricket can direct the sound wave to a particular target, if such high decibel of sound is emitted around, i think it would have attracted many people at that time'' but the matter at that time is that it was due to a punishment quest that made the system sniff out a mutant beast as at that time. marcus could remember the threat he received when the system had threatened him that it would emit cricket pheromones from his body. the thought made some bead of sweat form on marcus'' face, now it was just some quest without punishment, it seemed the system had no reason to do so. marcus scrutinized the screen floating in front of him but couldn''t see any arrow guide that pointed in any direction, the particular arrow guide that guided him to the location of the beast mole cricket. "we are here!" chen hao alerted while wei long stopped the damaged car and all of them alighted. ''i guess i will have to check the independent awakened association website and apply to join some strike squad'' ''but it goes without saying that since i''m rankless, i will have the smallest share'' marcus navigated into the website and saw many red signals go off signaling locations that have become colonies of mutant beasts, details were also under them signifying the number of mutant beasts, their grades, the strike squad member requirements, and some other details. ''let''s get this done with and go level up'' marcus gazed up at the signboard beside the large hospital. it goes without saying that other underlings will also earn him some xp apart from the area boss. from the information marcus has heard about numbered areas, for a mutant beast to become an area boss, it must be powerful, and intelligent along with some other features needed to rule, some are even capable of human speech although not fluent. but what gnawed at the depth of his mind was that he would have to defeat the area boss for the quest to be completed. ''which means i will have to find a strike squad that is too full of themselves, overconfident ones such that their confidence has overshadowed their ability to gauge enemies strength'' well, it wasn''t an uncommon thing especially in independent awakened associations formed by powerful clans, in the strike squad formed, the unit commander is usually a member of the clan, and after the clan has paid for the right to raid a numbered area to government, it is posted on the website and anyone willing to join the raid will apply. marcus pocketed his phone and stepped into the hospital. in marcus'' eyes, it was like yesterday, he could remember visiting this place clearly the day before the mutation event, and without much deliberation, he walked toward the ward he believed his mom was, and of course, the same goes with mei ling and chen hao, only wei long stayed in the car. as some nurses passed by, their gaze was particularly on chen hao. after all, it was a common thing for awakened to attract a lot of attention anywhere they went, not to mention the obvious weapon crafted from a beast that chen hao had with him¡ªhis crossbow. as marcus wanted to open the door to the room his mom was in, the door was also opened by someone inside, and controlling his step in time since his hand was already on the door handle, he was able to prevent his falling and bumping into the person that opened the door from inside. ''huh? i thought i had bumped into someone, is this the result of agility stat?'' marcus turned his gaze forward and then it landed on someone familiar. "excuse me, who are you people?" a slim beautiful lady in a nurse uniform scrutinized the three people in front of her and tilted her head in confusion. ''this is my mom''s attendant, why doesn''t she recognize me?'' marcus was just as confused as the nurse. it wasn''t even up to half a year, and the nurse hadn''t changed in the slightest, the same applied to him, at least that was what he thought. Chapter 32: Merprincess Of The Dragonslayers chapter 32: merprincess of the dragonslayersmei ling looked up to marcus in confusion, in fact, all of them seemed just as baffled. "marcus, isn''t this the same hospital? or have they changed your mom''s attendant?" s§×ar?h the n??efire.¦Çet website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "nurse lou, i''m mrs zhao''s son, don''t you remember?" marcus moved back to give more space to the nurse he had almost bumped into. nurse lou closed the door and walked forward, the nurse in her late twenties moved so close to marcus that he started feeling uncomfortable with the little space between them. "marc?, is that really you?" ''huh, why did i suddenly feel like an impostor?'' her words left marcus speechless. a strange thought flashed through his mind. ''wait a minute... is this what i think it is?'' then it dawned on marcus, come to think of it, he had grown taller, and even his body was like that of a seasoned athlete. if someone were to look at marcus and gauge his appearance, although his look was just a little bit above average, his build was nothing short of athletic. ''wait, is it because of my stat, agility? come to think of it, i have been referencing my physique changes to the agility stat recently'' well it wasn''t that he was wrong when it was said that one looked ''agile'' the onlooker took everything into consideration including mostly the person''s way of walking, posture, and stature, mostly lean athletic frame. marcus started to wonder if his way of walking, stature, and posture signified agility with mere looks. "you kinda look, charming" although her face was turning red slightly, nurse lou brushed the word off with laughter. "but where have you been? we have tried your number but it was unreachable and since your place has become a graded area, we figured you have moved somewhere else" nurse lou stopped for a moment and scrutinized the people who accompanied marcus. "if not for elena wong, your bills would have piled up to heaven, this is a well-established hospital in all of yangdao, and it is even weird that wong didn''t have your number, even though both of you are acquainted enough for her to clear all you mum''s bills" marcus was dumbfounded, he never expected this, that girl went ahead to surprise him again, and even if he had it in mind to repay her, she possibly couldn''t have known that he would. ''who in their right mind would do that, well there is something that i needed to find out recently, i need to know what her deal is, last year, even though she was disabled, she kept visiting my mom, so i can''t rule out the possibility that they are acquainted in some place'' "speaking of the devil, she is here" nurse lou turned her gaze while the others also turned to look at the person. it was indeed a gorgeous young lady with toned skin and well-refined features enough to make chen hao''s nose bleed. "marcus, is this for real? i never thought i would see her here" chen hao yelled, forgetting for a moment that they were on hospital premises. "yes, without doubt, that is her" seeing how mei ling''s gaze was fixed on the figure approaching, marcus couldn''t help but feel lost. "i didn''t know he knew merprincess, he looked like an ordinary guy at a normal glance" "hey, what are you talking about? who did i know?" "marcus, you don''t know her? how the hell did she know you and your family in the first place?" what marcus said was like a shock to mei ling, making her turn and fix an intense and questioning gaze on marcus. "elena wong, the merprincess of the dragonslayers, is renowned for her ability that deal an aoe and stun effect, hypnowave, it dulls opponents, preventing them from bringing out their ability''s true potential. but is dull the right word? merprincess is the vice-captain of dragonslayer ops, the elite squad with the most number of a rank awakened, although she is an a rank, she is still a high tier one that is indispensable in any strike squad formed if a raid was to be successful" just a moment, marcus noticed something unusual formed in chen hao''s eyes. "if news got to the reporters, they would flood this hospital, we must keep this a secret" "huh? mei ling, when did that become a secret, i understand now that she is the vice-captain of an elite squad, but can''t a popular person go anywhere they want?" marcus turned to mei ling. "for real!!" chen hao yelled when he saw elena wong close enough. he then turned again to marcus and he noticed the unusual thing that formed in chen hao''s eyes. ''wait a minute, why is he teary-eyed!!'' "i''m super glad that we gave you a ride, brother since you are someone with a great connection, i guess my lifelong dream will come true today, can we beseech you to help us connect to the vice-captain of dragonslayer ops, with her position, we will be able to secure even the lowest position in dragonslayer ops, what did you say brother?" both of them were dancing around marcus like some children awaiting sweet from an elder. ''wei long is here already??!! and when the hell did i become your brother!!" "wong, we were just talking about you, how have you been?" nurse lou greeted her gladly, and it seemed she could only reply with a nod. ''she is weird, i have never seen her talk, at least not in my presence'' then marcus felt the need to talk to her about what had been troubling him, and with that, he took hold of her hand and led her away to the cafeteria. marcus offered to buy her drink but she refused, so with all these, he came to a conclusion. "you are acquainted with my mom somewhere but can you explain where?, and talking of being acquainted, none of her co-workers have ever visited since the day she was rushed here so i am somehow curious" there was a moment of silence after these words, and then marcus noticed something about wong. Chapter 33: Gene Elixir chapter 33: gene elixirthere was a moment of silence after these words, and then marcus noticed something about wong. ''wait, why did she look so nervous? did i do something out of character? come to think of it, i have never called her out to talk before, however, i felt the need to, and wouldn''t it be a bad thing if i don''t??'' marcus was starting to feel weird about this emotion he was feeling recently. ''when i heard she paid the bills, i felt the need to talk to her and share my thoughts, and most of all, to thank her, something i have never done before, at least not until i met mei ling'' ''or is there something she is plotting?'' another thought resurfaced, from marcus''s view, it wasn''t an uncommon thing for someone to do some good deed just for the sake of their twisted goal or personal gain, it was either there was something she would get from it ''or is she some saint? well, i don''t think saints exist in this world. for a moment, marcus'' mind wandered toward mei ling. after a long moment of silence, with neither side able to utter a word, and of course with all the thoughts going on in marcus''s mind, he had no idea what elena was thinking and he reasoned this was an unnecessary silence so he felt the need to break it. "ah em!! elena, are you listening?" ''huh? this is bad! her face is all red, she looks like she wants to oversteam!'' ''am i that cringe?!!!'' "huh, it is okay if you don''t want to speak with me, i''m sorry but i will need to refund you back, and most of all, i want to thank you, can i get your account details?" "umm... ''s-she spoke up, for the first time since i knew her!'' "can i have your number? t-thank th-thank you for this d-date, i mean meeting, it would be nice of you if i have your number" ''i thought i heard something out of place, perhaps i misheard'' ''for a vice-captain of dragonslayer ops, isn''t she too modest, and what is with her super meek voice? or am i overthinking it? ''well, it doesn''t matter, she clearly wants to forward her account details through message'' after that, they both exchanged contact, and just then marcus received a call. "good evening sir, is this mr zhao?" the voice at the other end sounded professional as if one was talking to a customer support. "yes" marcus had figured out that it was from the strike squad he applied to, and then he started feeling nervous after all, this was his first official raid. "can you meet up at the meeting point as stated in the application form? we have less than twenty minutes to start the raid" "ok sir, no problem" marcus had already applied and joined a team, the grade of the area was high-tier s-grade and there were seven d-rank, ten c-rank, and two b-rank awakened in the team. to form a strike squad, a minimum of ten members is needed, however, this particular group was already comprised of nineteen members and was still finding one more member. even if the area was a low grade and it was at this point that marcus applied, although rankless, it was just to fill the headcount the group wanted. and marcus didn''t know if it was to clear any possible risk and raise the chance of the raid success, but he did know that that might not be the true case, after all in this world, it wasn''t an uncommon thing for the powerful to use the weak corpse as a step to greater heights, which means there is a possibility of meat shield plot in this raid. ''like seriously, just look at the number of members, however, the unit commander looks modest'' one of the two b-rank awakened was huang ming, a prominent young mistress from the huang clan''s main family, she was the unit commander. the other was a retired awakened from the government awakened league. ''wait, is he really retired or just quit? judging from his look, this awakened would just be around his late twenties to early thirties, who the hell retired at such an age, he fell into the trap of the huang clan money lure, after all, there have been many cases of a clan who have formed awakened independent association luring awakened from government awakened league through a ridiculous amount of money marcus stood and went back to the others, leaving elena with her strange expression and behavior, at least in marcus''s view, he was unable to understand what was wrong with her after they exchanged contact. s§×arch* the ¦Çovelfire.¦Çet website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "marc, it has been a long time, i don''t know what happened but don''t you think she has missed your presence?" nurse lou patted marcus'' shoulder. "at least that is what i think. even if she can''t see nor hear you, i believe she can feel your presence even in her endless sleep" marcus nodded and went into the room with mei ling. "i''m sorry about this, marcus, i hope she wakes up soon" "yeah, same" marcus held the hand that refused to move, caressing it, "i hope" [ding!] [new quest!] the system notification stunned marcus even though he thought he had gotten used to it. he viewed the notification and lo and behold, it was a quest. "another quest apart from the one i received earlier? this is surprising" "marcus?" mei ling turned to marcus with a puzzled expression and then he realized he had spoken out unintentionally. ''oops...'' [target has entered a state of endless sleep, and it seemed she wouldn''t be waking up any time soon, at least not until fifty more years when death comes to claim her soul, craft a rare consumable to cure this illness!] [quest objective: craft gene elixir with necessary materials] [crafting materials: [two pints of holy water] [crystallized blood of supreme ape lord] [a twig from speech tree] [rewards: 1500 xp] [item rewards: consumable¡ªdeified purple blood ¡Á2] Chapter 34: Cross hell chapter 34: cross hellmarcus gave the screen a long scrutinizing gaze. ''i never thought i would receive this kind of quest, this is surprising'' ''it was like quests received when players converse with specific in-game characters, this is like a game, although in my case i didn''t have a conversation with my mum'' with uncontrollable emotion that was welling up inside of him, marcus did a facepalm. ''if i had known i would have tried it, not that i actually spoke with my mom here tho'' "marcus, are you alright?" mei ling asked with a worried voice and at the same time a call entered. it was from the independent association, the same number that had called him earlier for the raid. ''this is bad, i''m late!'' "i will meet you at home, i have somewhere important to be" hastily, marcus stood and left the hospital, and quickly boarded a taxi. after completing the raid, he had it in mind to go back to the quest. after reaching the meeting point, marcus noticed some people, fully equipped, however, one could easily differentiate between these people. while some were soldiers, armed with guns and preventing people from entering the location which was already barred, the others were, without doubt, awakened, judging by their dress and weapons made out of mutant beast parts, they were unlikely to be mixed with regular people or soldiers, and even the soldiers were positioned around some radius of the location, preventing no single human from trespassing. ''after all, this is a numbered area, colloquially, a beast zone'' approaching the group of awakened which gathered together, marcus could hear some murmurings that signified disgruntlement. "what the hell is the last member doing, is he some big shot?!" "i heard he was just a guy to fill the headcount, i don''t know his rank tho" "damn!! if he ended up being a big shit, i will strangle him on the spot!" marcus noticed a man with his arms clad in some protective gear that looked menacing, and this man was gnashing his teeth furiously. ''i think they are all fired up. from the details, i''m the only rankless individual, i shouldn''t cause any ruckus with my lateness'' with a humble demeanor, marcus walked faster towards the group, and noticing huang ming, the leader, he changed his direction and approached her. "i''m sorry for being late, i''m marcus cheng" marcus said in a meek voice, after all, he couldn''t show any arrogance after coming later, clearly, he was the one preventing the commencement of the raid. "marc, did you know that because of you, this could become a serious issue?" it seemed ming didn''t seem to fall for marcus'' meek and humble tone, judging from the way she put her hands akimbo and gazed intensely at marcus, she looked like she wanted to scold him. "pardon?" marcus didn''t seem to understand what she meant. "i''m saying because of you, this beast zone might expand, or haven''t you heard of that?" ming stretched the words, her tone laced with annoyance. flanked by two soldiers, ming was armed with some menacing weapon that looked like a cross between a battle axe and a spear and also clad in full combat armor with golden hues, marcus couldn''t help but wonder that she was fully prepared for today''s raid. ''isn''t that the famous cross hell product, that weapon would cost billions of yuan, no doubt, as expected of someone from the main family of the huang clan'' the menacing weapon was held firmly in the middle by ming''s delicate hands, and while the weapon looked so heavy at a mere glance, she didn''t seem like she had any problem carrying it. every cross hell product was a terrifying masterpiece. its head was shaped like a battle axe, forged to cleave through armor, while its opposite end tapered into a sharp-tipped spear designed for precision strikes. every curve and edge gleamed with lethal intent, and in ming''s hands, it seemed more alive than any mere weapon had a right to be. ''wait a minute, this might be her first raid as a unit commander and she wanted to give her best'' ''well, from the agreement in the application form, i''m just to fill the headcount, no battle for a rankless awakened, i guess i will be cheering her on from the distance'' "hey!! are you ignoring me? what would you do if this zone expanded? would you take responsibility?" ming scoffed, "what am i even saying, how can a rankless awakened take the responsibility for an area expansion" ming collected a form from one of the soldiers and shoved it on marcus''s chest. looking up at him with an arrogant expression, she turned and walked away toward the other members. "isn''t she somehow rude?" marcus took the form and turned to the soldiers, while the latter covered their mouths and shook their heads meekly as if to say they didn''t want to take part. even if marcus was a rankless awakened, he still commanded some respect from the soldiers. this was how much awakened were revered, their mere presence carrying weight regardless of rank. sear?h the n?velfire.n§×t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "and what is she talking about, do you know about that?" "yes sir! when area bosses expand their colonies, it is called area expansion, and it is done when neighboring locations are conquered and turned into the den of mutant beasts" "i see" "let''s go, guys, although it is evening already, according to reconnaissance squads of the awakened league, this area is deemed to expand if we don''t clear it any time soon" "let the raid begin!!" marcus manifested his exoskeleton for protection just in case; after all, the beasts'' ability wasn''t known yet, or for some reason, it was withheld from members of the strike squad. however, marcus realized that none of them seemed to care about it. "is it because of the number, it seemed they are confident about their abilities, and also considering that this numbered area is a high-tier s-grade, i think it isn''t an exaggeration that having ten c-rank and two b-rank awakened in a strike squad is enough to clear an area of this grade" shifting his attention from his thoughts to his body, marcus was surprised by the exoskeleton''s color. "it has turned silvery? is this the next color when i have mastered the exoskeleton or is this what they called ecdysis?" Chapter 35: Skyscraper Anthills chapter 35: skyscraper anthillsmarcus clenched and opened his hands, and moved all the joints of his body, making sure that the exoskeleton didn''t restrict any of his joint movement. [+2 strength effect has activated] "huh?" all at once, marcus'' body felt hot from inside, nope, this wasn''t hotness, it was like a warm sensation was welling up from his inside, and all at once, like how it had come, this sensation immediately dissipated. "have i become three times stronger? is that the cue? well, i will have to test that in battle" "but will i?" marcus immediately sulked after remembering the agreement, he gave the form a long gaze, his share was only five million yuan since he wouldn''t be participating in combat, which meant no beast loot. "not bad for a deal involving filling the headcount" marcus filled out the form and gave it back to the soldiers, however, it seemed they were still awestruck by his exoskeleton. after all, an armor that can be donned at will, any time and anywhere was a rare ability among awakened. "wait, commander, is this the last member you were talking about?" "the one that keeps us all waiting? a rankless awakened?" a man trudged furiously towards marcus while two others followed, but marcus noticed something, the look on his face was like an arrogant bully looking to display their power. "what is with that? an exoskeleton like crabs and insects? it is a rare awakened ability but it is just as stupid!" one of his followers burst into a loud, silly laughter. "simply because it can''t stand a punch from c ranks like us, i don''t know about measly d ranks." it wouldn''t bode well for him to engage in their mockery, so marcus bowed and left their presence. he would like to avoid any fight at this time around simply because he knew what he was capable of. looking at them, the men were in full combat armor. it was needless to say they were the type that had undergone many raids, enough to afford such luxurious gears, although still inferior to that of the squad leader. "even d ranks aren''t measly when compared to someone rankless." it seemed they were trying to taunt marcus. ''what do i do? i planned to join this raid to complete the first quest, but it seemed these people were capable. perhaps i should go for plan b.'' marcus smiled mischievously. his plan b involved killing any beast he found, which was like a breach of the agreement, but there was no agreement that said he shouldn''t fight when a beast came his way. ''in short, there is no rule preventing me from killing any beast in self-defense.'' marcus brought out a small dagger, after he heard that his mom''s hospital bills had been cleared, he had used the money to buy this dagger. "was spending twelve million on this weapon worth it? well, i will have to see about that" the beast hide used to make the dagger handle held firmly in marcus''s grip and its sharp edge glinted under the sky, the time was around five in the evening but there wasn''t a guarantee that the team would clear the beast zone the same day. "i think the blade was made from the teeth of a mutant beast shark, no wonder it looked quite menacing" at a mere look, the jagged edge of the dagger was menacing enough to give marcus the creeps. the dagger cutting edge was fashioned just like the shark teeth, which means the frontmost teeth of the blade (those at the cutting edge) would be the first to wear down or break during use. so in sharks'' case, as the front teeth are lost, the teeth positioned directly behind them in the same row (or slightly deeper) would move forward to take their place. but in this dagger case, its design ensured that as the front edges are consumed by usage to some particular level, the subsequent row of teeth becomes exposed, maintaining its jagged and menacing profile until all rows are exhausted. ''i think it has five rows of blade teeth, although i don''t know how long one edge would last'' marcus released the dagger and twirled it around and between his fingers. whoosh! whoosh! the speed that marcus'' fingers displayed was enough to scare the hell out of the two c-rank awakened. eek!!! "what the hell was that!!" one of the bullies that was spitting abuse on marcus earlier cried out unintentionally, cold bead of sweat started forming on his brow. "why are you sweating, are you nervous" "nope, no way in h-hell, my armor, it is kinda hot inside it today" the man avoided the gaze of the other, gnashing his teeth furiously. ''i guess this is what you get from being five times more dexterous than an average human. the stat should be able to increase my chances of striking a critical hit, even if i''m only three times stronger than average, i can make my stats all work together to become slightly overpowered'' marcus took a look at his stat. [name: zhao marcus cheng] [species: hiveman] [class: insecta] [rank: 1] [level: 1] [xp: 80/100] [gene tokens: 10] [health recovery portion: ¡ª] [titles: gene devourer, hungering lord ] [strength: 1] [agility: 5] [speed: 1] [dexterity: 5] [constitution: 3] [perception: 3] [intelligence: 2] [charisma: ¡ª] [luck: 1] [will: 2] ''charisma is the worst, no wonder nobody takes a liking to me'' marcus surveyed the ill gaze around him from the bullies. just then, marcus noticed ming approaching him. "i don''t need to tell you that you are not part of the combat team, do i?" she whispered then turned to enter the beast zone while others followed up. ''i guess it is time to enter the den'' **** "whoa, this is a beast zone" one young lady marveled at the sight, just like the others. marcus realized that just like him, some were new to raiding. the location was once a bustling intersection in the heart of the city, surrounded by towering skyscrapers. now, it stood as a haunting fragment of its former self. abandoned cars were scattered across the lanes, their surfaces covered in dust and faint claw marks that hinted at the chaos that had unfolded here. it was a completely desolate place, and all around, as the group ventured deeper, it was all silent like a graveyard with large unnatural gaping holes drilled into building walls. "what is with these big holes that gaped through glass walls of high-rises, it was as if someone drilled it through them, i heard this place is an s-grade but what type of mutant beast lives here that bore these holes?" the members started to express their opinions. "i-it feels too creepily silent, commander, can you tell us what type of beast that lives here?" it seemed some of the ladies had started to group behind huang ming, and at the same time, fear had started creeping through them enough to ask such reasonable questions. "come to think of it, nobody asks what type of beast is in here, because for an s-grade area, our manpower met and surpassed the requirements of awakened" "or isn''t that correct? leader" the leader of the bully went over to ming who was in a daze near the remains of a flat, crushed car. "ming!!" he yelled and went it grab hold of ming''s arm when he noticed that she was actually lost in thought. the girls'' group surrounding ming shuddered, their anxiety spilling over into soft murmurs of concern. "hey, behave yourself" the b-rank awakened beside ming grasped the hand of the bully leader, removing forcefully from ming''s arm. the latter regained her composure and started walking towards the center of the wide lane. and as if on a signal, some loud and buzzing sound emanated from every one of the unnatural holes in the building walls. "don''t tell me!" sear?h the nov§×lf~ire.net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. then it dawned on the members. "this beast zone is an insect colony! i should have known at first glance: these big gaping holes that look as if something has eaten its way into the building''s walls, the silent atmosphere that feels as if an insect is in its colony." "in short, all these buildings are anthills" "hey!! what did you mean by that? you mean all these skyscrapers and buildings have turned into towering anthills?!" Chapter 36: Rogue Ant chapter 36: rogue antfearsome red ants started crawling down from the gaping holes in the building walls in a big scary swarm. these beast ants were as tall as half the height of the shortest female member, and that was when they were crawling from afar just like any other insects. *kyaahh!! bugs, i hate bugs!!!" a scared female went ahead to stick with a more composed one. the composed one drew out her sword from its shield and took a fighting stance, every other member also formed a battle formation, waiting for the dreadful beast insects which were still crawling from afar. "whoa! this much insect-type mutant beast and the association kept it from the squad? well, it is an area where a high number of loots would be found, imagine gaining thousands of gene cores from these beast insects, this place is like a gold mine for the huang clan" s§×arch* the ¦Çovelfire.¦Çet website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. marcus stood at a far distance from the squad, just some distance from the border of the beast zone. even though the scary swarm of beast insects was flooding from every gaping hole of the building walls, none came his way. every one of the swarm was approaching the squad at a steady pace, not even glancing at marcus. "fire ants are venomous, but it seemed these beast insects are lacking in speed, as far as i can see, their speed is just like that of a regular red ant but since they are bigger, their speed will mostly rival that of an average human, and considering the fact that the regular ones can inflict a harsh sting, not to talk of mutated ones" marcus gazed afar, in a few more moments, the fire ants would descend upon the squad. "it seemed their battle formation is quite good, ming is an experienced awakened, i''m sure those with armor would be okay, but the question is, what other ace do these mutant ants have aside from their stinger?" marcus could remember the beast hawk that brought his school to ruins, aside from its superhuman strength, it could also use its wings into a terrifying weapon like creating a whirlwind and shooting out its quills as powerful projectiles capable of penetrating walls and helicopter fuselage. "it seemed the mutant beasts are innovative in using their powers" "i can''t, i can''t take this, from statistics, the average number of people escaping from insect-type areas is not up to one percent" "so at least none will escape here today, this is a cruel thing to do, as expected of huang clan awakened independent association, the richest association" deep down, marcus was starting to get nervous, he gripped his dagger grimly, he could somehow hear what one of the horrified members said, even in her battle stance, her legs and hands had begun to shake. "dianne, get hold of yourself!" ming shifted to her back, their backs were now touching each other and with this, dianne seemed to calm down. "quite dependable, but how long can that last, even the battle is yet to sta.." before marcus finished what he was saying, he noticed that one of the fire ants was already behind him. "what?!! when did it sneak behind ¡ª" marcus twirled and used his shark teeth blade dagger to parry the stinger of this fire ant. this one was way smaller than the rest, just about half the other sizes. "did it just hatched?" [stinger will penetrate host exoskeleton defense!] marcus wanted to look over to see how the squad was doing but he felt there was no time, he had to protect himself first, not when the system had notified him about his exoskeleton defense. "apart from the venomous and penetrating power of their stingers, they can also sneak behind someone?" even with his perception, marcus found it hard to deal with the mutant fire ant''s incredible stealth. whoosh!! "it disappeared?!" marcus could no longer see the mutant fire ant and his breathing was starting to get ragged, in short, he was getting super nervous. [rogue ant has used venom dance skill!] the system notified marcus, was that venom dance? for a moment, marcus no longer felt the presence of this monster, it was like it disappeared from his perception. ''as expected of a rogue ant, it is using assassination skill'' "at my back!" without turning to look at his enemy, marcus reflexively parried the stinger with his dagger. "my dexterity is making up for my perception" he started to breathe heavily. "i''m weak, a baby mutant fire ant is giving me this much pressure, how the hell am i supposed to defeat the area boss, no wonder the reward was a ridiculous amount of xp" "perhaps, i should run" well, that was another safe option, in a battle of speed, it seemed both rivaled each other so marcus would just have to run a bit faster in order to escape, it was because of the close-quarter battle that made marcus to be pressured by the mutant fire ant skill¡ªvenom dance. "perhaps a dagger is a bad idea, i should have got a crossbow for long range attack" even though his agility and dexterity were making up for his perception, in short, he now responded to attacks at a much faster rate due to increased reflexes. he could only parry the stinger of the mutant baby fire ant, he couldn''t attack, which means, he was locked up in a battle of defense. "if i keep this on, i will be the first to get exhausted" it seemed this mutant fire ant also excelled in stamina, it was even thanks to marcus'' constitution stat that enabled him to hold out for this long. "the first teeth edge has been consumed, and the second teeth edge has been exposed" marcus gave a quick look to his dagger, the first jagged edge had chipped off from parrying the stinger of the mutant fire ant. "the stinger is strong enough to chip off the first blade edge of my dagger or am i scammed in the first place?" marcus couldn''t help but wonder, this was the first battle, and although it had drawn long enough to start to exhaust him, he couldn''t help but think that the dagger was a rip-off, he had four more blade edges to go. "i have no choice, i will have to take the attack head-on without parrying, system, how many more stings can i take before my death" [five stings, the sixth will paralyze host, the seventh will bring death!] "that is fine, i will take the pleasure of being a masochist for a while" Chapter 37: Elder Ants chapter 37: elder ants"that is fine, i will take the pleasure of being a masochist for a while!" with that, marcus roared. after a couple more stings from the mutant fire ant, his whole body turned purple. despite the excruciating pain and relentless itching, he endured till the fourth sting and managed to grab the mutant fire ant''s head. "ouch! that hurt badly, well, i knew the first five stings would be painful even without the system telling me" crack!! with one turn, marcus twisted the head of the baby mutant fire ant, and pale yellow fluid oozed out of its neck region, spraying on marcus'' body. "not yet!! i know insects can live for some days without a head!! you won''t fool me!" marcus took his dagger and pierced the abdomen region, where he believed insects'' hearts were located. "not yet!!" marcus continued to pierce the body of the mutant fire ant with the dagger, and before he knew it, a cruel smile had appeared on his face. [ding!] [you have slayed a rogue ant!] [+150 xp!] [you have leveled up!!] this particular message was written largely and boldly as if the system was celebrating. [consume its gene remains to craft a gear] [consume its gene cores to acquire an evolved skill] [you have found a loot¡ªchance stone, take it?] "it seemed i have shifted from a masochist to a sadist" marcus roared with an evil laugh as he continued to pierce and slash the monster''s body without glancing at the floating system message. crack!!! it was only after the edges of his shark-tooth dagger had been completely worn down and shattered upon striking the mutant fire ant''s stinger that marcus finally regained his composure and calmed down. [after taking multiple stings from a rogue ant, you have gained poison resistance and paralysis resistance!] [you are now immune to stun and poison status effects!] marcus breathed heavily for a moment and went to sit down on the sidewalk. "an apocalyptic location in the city," marcus looked around at the apocalyptic wreckage¡ªcrumbling buildings, scorched roads, and gaping holes. darkness had almost cloaked the ruined location but the light of the sky was still bright enough to see clearly, at least in marcus'' case. marcus checked the time; in a few more minutes, it would be six o''clock. if it grew dark enough for the battle to continue, the team would fall back and hide in any safe building. it didn''t matter if they couldn''t regroup at night, that was the plan. speaking of the team, marcus'' gaze fell on the squad members surrounded by a swarm of red ants and he was surprised that their defense hadn''t been penetrated yet. "whoa, they aren''t dead yet?" he was somehow amazed that all of them were still alive, but could the same be said in the case of some? "some have turned purple just like me. it seems gaining that immunity has started to make my body turn back to normal." marcus glanced at his body. at that time, all his exoskeleton had changed to purple including his exposed part¡ªhis head and palms, this also made marcus to be convinced that the exoskeleton was like a part of his body. now, it seemed the change in body color no longer applied to some parts, and in a few moments, the poison effect would wear off. "it seems my body is getting used to the poison. however, i don''t like the feeling of my body, i feel so sick." that was the main reason he went to sit on the sidewalk after the battle. "being a masochist is not a pretty experience." "i guess i was full of myself when i said i would take the pleasure" among the combatants were about two females and one male whose bodies had changed color completely, and after some moment, they started coughing out blood. marcus wondered if that was the effect of the fifth sting. "dianne, move back, i will cover you, try to use your eagle-flight arrow to break their defense, i will deal with anyone that comes close enough to us" ming, along with members that still seemed okay and in full combat armor formed an unbreakable battle formation around the one who had received significant damage and a few others¡ªthese were armed with long-range projectiles, shooting any mutant ant to their death, and anyone that came close enough to inflict damage to the group was dealt with by ming and others in full combat armor. s~ea??h the novel?ire(.)ne*t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. the cross hell weapon in her hand swung around in a terrifying and graceful manner, cleaving through the exoskeleton of the mutant fire ants like they were nothing. the leader of the bully wasn''t holding back either, he and his underlings maintained an unbreakable formation with ming and others, and what was surprising was that none of them had taken any damage. "that is fast!" marcus watched these men slaying mutant fire ants with mere hands. nope, these particular hands were clad in some menacing gauntlets, these armor were equipped with a retractable, claw-like blade, able to be slashed down at target, and what made it menacing was the speed at which these men slashed the weapon at the mutant fire ants, these weapons could extend and slash down at lightning speed and it was the sheer speed at which they dispatched the ants that made it so terrifying! in the bullies'' case, it was a one-sided massacre! then marcus started noticing many purple messages hovering above the mutant fire ants that were still alive. perhaps they had been there all along, but he hadn''t paid them much attention before, which was why they had escaped his notice. now, as he focused more intently, the messages became clearer, floating steadily above each mutant fire ant. [elder ant] [level: 5] come to think of it, marcus didn''t know the level of the rogue ant, and it seemed the system wouldn''t display it. "perhaps it is because it is dead" in mere consideration, given the rogue ant was newly hatched, did that mean that it had a lower mutation potential? [rogue ants are level 10 and rank 8] "you got to be kidding me" Chapter 38: Chance Stone chapter 38: chance stonemarcus was stunned, it was even ranked, if it was right, did it mean he had just killed a mutant beast with a higher level than him? and this beast was even a higher level one than the elder ants. sea??h th§× n??el fire.n§×t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. he could recall what the system said about the level, it means their level of evolution, while in human''s case, the system failed to display their level and info, and unmutated animals were labeled level:¡ª, which means the latter had no mutation potential, this one was five times his level? "wait a minute, does that mean these people are still in danger of other newly hatched mutant fire ants?" come to think of it, the elder ants didn''t seem to display the assassination skill that the rogue ant used, as marcus concentrated, he could see each and every movement of the elder ants, if he were to join the combat, the battle would end quickly. the only advantage the elder ants could boast of was their stinger and overwhelming numbers, and even if the squad were still holding up well, what of their stamina, when facing less powerful but overwhelming target, stamina becomes the decisive factor, if they ran out of stamina, no matter how fast or strong they were, they would eventually become slow and sluggish. "that explained how i received 150xp, that much is enough for me to jump one level" now, to confirm his suspicion, marcus viewed his stat. [name: zhao marcus cheng] [species: hiveman] [class: insecta] [rank: 1] [level: 2] [xp: 130/150] [gene tokens: 10] [health recovery portion: ¡ª] [titles: gene devourer, hungering lord ] [strength: 2] [agility: 6] [speed: 2] [dexterity: 6] [constitution: 4] [perception: 4] [intelligence: 3] [charisma: 1] [luck: 2] [will: 3] well, he didn''t jump a level but was just close enough to reach level 3. "looks like leveling up increased all my stats by one. not that i care much about charisma, though. still, that doesn''t mean my physical abilities will increase exactly by that amount. i''ll need to test it out" after resting for a while, marcus'' gaze wandered to the dead headless mutant baby fire ant. come to think of it, why was the baby fire ant called rogue ant? when this thought wandered into marcus'' thought, although he wasn''t that interested, the system answered. [fire ants that have just hatched are in their larval stage where they are legless and unmoving with worm-like form, while the next metamorphosis stage is pupal, where they develop all full structures, they also do not move in this stage, however, in mutant beast''s case, some of the fire ant in their pupal stage are cunning enough to move after awakening some mutant ability from birth, these are the ones called rogue ant] "i see, huh? more than one gene core!" among the messages in the floating purple screen, the message that piqued marcus'' interest the most was the one that seemed to hint about the mutant fire ant having more than one gene core. at once, marcus'' head turned left and right reflexively to see if any squad member''s sight wasn''t on him, even if he had killed a mutant fire ant in self-defense, wouldn''t he take the spoil? he then checked the messages floating on the rogue ant. [consume its gene remains to craft a gear] [consume it gene cores to acquire an evolved skill] [you have found a loot¡ªchance stone, take it?] "gene cores? so it has more than one after all, i didn''t expect to find a mutant beast with more than one gene core. will i get a skill this time around? i think i have a fifty percent chance in the merging of genes in which the system will now synthesize both gene core ability to give a unique and evolved skill" [chance has increased due to title, gene devourer] [+10 percent success in the merging of genes!] mind wondered, who would have thought he would have more chance in his first merging of genes, in addition to the fifty percent chance, he now had a sixty percent chance in the merging of genes. "it is thanks to my title" "wait a minute, a loot?" never would he have thought he would find loot in this raid, after all, the agreement was that he would be paid five million yuan without touching any gene cores, but since he had killed this one in self-defense, marcus felt he had the right to the gene core, now he also found a loot? "and this loot is different from what other awakened know as loot" beast loot, as it was commonly called is what people called the gems they found in a mutant beast, but in marcus'' case, apart from the gene cores that people knew as gems, he also found another loot, a chance stone. was this the system''s way of incorporating in-game elements in its operations? [you have found a loot¡ªchance stone, take it?] anyway, marcus used his exoskeletal hands to tear the mutant fire ant into two, its abdomen and thorax region were separated immediately. [+2 strength effect has activated!] "as i thought, the effect will even activate if i clad any part of my body in exoskeleton, and even though my total strength stat is now four, i don''t feel any stronger than before" clang!! sharp crystalline sounds were heard as two ruby-colored gemstones fell from where the mutant fire ant body had been separated. marcus took the two gene cores. "take chance stone" [there is zero chance of gaining a unique skill from two gene cores of the same mutant beast, use chance stone?] "oops, i guess i will have to sell these, i need money after all" but what was troubling marcus was that the chance stone would just become junk in his inventory for some time if he didn''t use it now. "wait a minute, it can be used to increase the chance of merging genes right? irrespective of the type of gene cores" marcus inhaled deeply, deep down he wanted to gain at least one evolved skill, so he eventually opted to use it. marcus swallowed the two gene cores in one go, given their small sizes, it was quite easy for him. Chapter 39: Gene Devourer chapter 39: gene devourer[genes have been successfully usurped] [genes have been merged!] [installation successful!] [you have acquired an evolved skill¡ªvenom dance!] [evolved skills] [venom dance] [rank 1: move unpredictably around enemies while dealing full stack of poison damage] [poison reserve: 100] [cooldown: 0.00 sec] [skill points: 2/5] marcus wasn''t a bit surprised, he had known that he would get the same ability as the rogue ant given that the gene cores were from the same mutant beast. "it seemed that chance stone was the reason" marcus recalled what the system had said about merging two gene cores from the same mutant beast together. there was zero chance of getting an evolved skill. "this skill is even ranked, it seems i will have to acquire more skill points to increase its rank" his gaze landed on the last message floating on the dead mutant fire ant. [consume its gene remains to craft a gear] "well, i''m a gene devourer, why won''t i devour the gene remains" marcus gave the floating message atop the dead mutant rogue ant a long gaze, then he used his broken dagger to cut some chunk out of the monster''s body. marcus consumed it in one go. "eek!!" "this never tastes better" marcus had forgotten to disable his gustation like last time. "eating this monster''s meat is like having a meal in hell, well, not that i have been there before tho" [gene remains has been consumed and disintegrated!] [which gear would host like to craft?] the message of some gears popped up. [stinger blade dagger] [venom claw] [deadly fang] "dagger again? wait a minute, i''m a little curious" marcus scrutinized the floating screen, what he wanted to know was how he would get the dagger when crafted, as for the venom claw, and deadly fang, those would probably grow like his nails and teeth. "how would i get this dagger?" come to think of it, the chance stone loot was used when he wanted to acquire an evolved skill, it was like it wasn''t a physical entity. and while he would need to have a biting power just like beasts to use deadly fangs, venom claw was still way more feasible than using one''s jaw to fight in a battle, not when the opponent was armed with a weapon that could slice that particular jaw. marcus was somehow curious. but first, he had to check the details of these gears. "huh, i can''t?" marcus tried to view the items'' details just like how he had always done when opening notifications with a mere thought, but nothing happened. "why??" the system didn''t answer, all he had in front of him was the floating purple screen. "okay, stinger blade dagger" [crafting has commenced] [time remaining: six seconds] [ding!] [you have crafted a gear!] [stinger blade dagger] [uncommon item] [an item compatible with awakened with poison powers] [+50 poison] [+10 crit] marcus blinked in surprise as the system interface hovered before him. he carefully read through the options, his attention drawn to the newly crafted [stinger blade dagger]. the dagger shimmered with a faint green aura, a clear indication of its poisonous nature. then a window solely appeared. [poison reserve: 100] marcus realized the window theme had changed from purple to green, and come to think of it, was it because of the faint green aura that swirled all around the dagger? "the system just likes to have things its way, i guess the poison will add up when the dagger is equipped" "so, how am i going to take it?" [buy at store!] sear?h the n?vel(f)ire.¦Çet website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. a window that seemed to vibrate upon marcus'' question appearance. "buy at store?" marcus was demotivated at once "so i will need to buy it at the store with gene tokens after all, what is this system deal anyway?" marcus gazed at the store that had just appeared. [random gene chest] [price: 100 gene tokens] [1000 dragon gene crystals] [price: 50 gene tokens] [newly crafted stinger blade dagger] [five gene tokens] when marcus wanted to buy, he noticed that the system asked him to specify the quantity of what he wanted to buy. "wow! this means, anything i crafted here, i can buy more than one in the store. it''s like the system can replicate items according to how many i wish to buy," marcus murmured, excitement flickering in his eyes. in this case, it was quite convenient. if he had many gene tokens, he would just have to buy as many of the gear as possible, and it would then be transferred to his inventory. the possibilities were endless. stockpiling powerful gear meant he could prepare for any future battles or challenges without worrying about wear and tear on his weapons. marcus opted to buy two with his ten gene tokens immediately. as if responding to his thoughts, the inventory window appeared in front of marcus and under each category of items, the ones that fell into the same class were displayed, although most of the space was still empty. under the weapon category, marcus found the dagger and then viewed its details. [stinger blade dagger] [uncommon item] [an item compatible with awakened with poison powers] [+50 poison] [+10 crit] "huh? am i supposed to take it just like that?" marcus steered at the dagger with a swirling green aura around it. come to think of it, the inventory window hadn''t appeared solely like this before, the only experience he had was the stat window appearing solely, perhaps it was because he hadn''t had the opportunity to take anything from it aside from his built-in exoskeleton that he can just manifest with mere thought which was like a part of his body. was it because it was built-in, or did it mean other gear that wasn''t built-in would need to be taken physically? "let''s test it then" steadily, marcus stretched forth his hand into the floating inventory window, directly at the dagger image. as his hand penetrated this so-called inventory, the space the window was occupying midair seemed rippled like a water surface. "that is new" then marcus felt his hand grab something. "a handle?" carefully, marcus pulled what his hand had grabbed outward, after all, this was his first time experiencing such a phenomenon, it was indeed like pulling something out of a fluid like thick water, but marcus felt no wetness whatsoever. Chapter 40: Stinger Blade Dagger chapter 40: stinger blade dagger"got it" wham!! as if the so-called inventory didn''t want to release the dagger, marcus stumbled back, nearly falling over upon yanking the weapon free. the sudden lack of resistance caught him off guard, sending him lurching backward, arms flailing for balance like someone losing their footing during a tug-of-war match. "whoa!! it kinda looks cool and scary! i wonder if it would look as cool as this if it was manufactured in research facilities" marcus was amazed, normally, all weapons crafted from mutant beasts are intimidating and look dependable in appearance compared to arms used by humans in the pre-awakened era, but marcus couldn''t help but wonder how this system had crafted a new gear for him in a short amount of time. "did it just use my body as machinery to craft this weapon?" well, it was understandable, after all, he was the one who consumed the gene remains used for crafting. in its glory, the dagger had a jagged blade that glinted with a metallic luster. the sharp edges of the blade ended in four black tips formed from fire ant stingers, each glistening with a faint, venomous sheen and exuding a menacing, almost horrifying presence. its handle was crafted from the reddish-brown exoskeleton of the mutant fire ant, giving it a unique, chitinous texture. without the tiny hair-like structures covering its surface, marcus would have struggled to wield the dagger, as it would have easily slipped from his grasp. however, these hairs clung grimly to his hand, as if alive, providing a firm yet unsettling grip. originally, these hairs served as sensory organs for the ant, faintly resonating with vibrations in the air and beneath the earth, adding an eerie awareness to the weapon. [+1 perception when wielded!] "interesting, needless to say, this dagger is much better than that shark teeth dagger, i wonder how much it will cost in reality" marcus started playing with the weapon, he released it and twirled it around and between his fingers. "neat" he was amazed at how this dagger moved at a much faster speed as he twirled it around. a thought suddenly wandered into marcus'' mind. ''just like how i have equipped this weapon, can i also unequip it?'' the system answered by summoning the inventory window, and the green interface appeared before marcus like an answer to his thoughts. "wait a minute, i can also unequip it? like i can put it back into this space?" marcus didn''t know what he should make of these powers, was it magical or some advanced alien technology? come to think of it, how can a star that doesn''t show any sign of instability go supernova, even the advanced space technology of the international space station couldn''t detect it, wasn''t that one sort of alien interference at work? "is the inventory another dimension? well, i can''t keep dawdling on with unanswerable questions, once i reach rank 100, i will unlock the system''s secret" "at least, that was what the system said" with that, marcus first opted to put the dagger in a different space, under the armor category, but that particular spot acted like an elastic wall, making marcus'' right hand bounce back as the dagger tip touched the empty space. "what the hell? isn''t it just a space? perhaps, i ought to put it in the same spot that i have taken it" marcus dipped the dagger tip into the same space he had taken it, and at once, it sucked in only the weapon from his hand. "good grief..." just as the inventory window disappeared, marcus heard some footsteps and upon looking up, he saw the strike team approaching him. judging from how they were trudging, they all look worn out. as expected, even with such combat power, fighting such overwhelming opponents had taken a toll on their bodies. marcus noticed a single person among them who didn''t seem tired, it was the second b rank awakened, the man who had retired from the government awakened league. come to think of it, marcus didn''t see him during the battle. ''did he run away with his tail between his back?'' s§×arch* the ¦Çovelfire.¦Çet website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. marcus shook his head, that wasn''t possible. ''don''t tell me his ability is invisibility'' marcus stood as the group was a little distance from him, and then he noticed ming''s eyes locked on the headless and separated mutant fire ant body. with her cross-hell weapon held tightly and resting on her shoulder, she managed to put on a brave face even though marcus knew that deep down, she was exhausted. ''i think i have breached a contract'' "let me have a word with you over there, mr zhao" ming walked farther from the group while marcus followed closely behind. they soon reached the entrance of a nearby alley, its darkness yawning like an open maw, daring them to enter. around them, the beast zone flickered with erratic, unstable light, casting jagged shadows that danced across the broken streets and crumbling facades as befitting an apocalyptic location, although some buildings seemed to have stable light. "i don''t have to remind you about the contract details, do i?" even tho marcus couldn''t read ming''s expression in the dark night, he could sense what she meant by those words. ''as expected of a member of the huang clan, don''t wanna leave out a dime huh?, okay, here goes nothing'' "accurately, i remembered it very well, but is that a way to show gratitude to someone who had just defended his life against an unprecedented monster?" marcus could sense ming''s uneasiness from the short distance between them. ''i think i nailed it'' "come to think of it, unlike other clans'' awakened association, the form didn''t specify the type of monster we are supposed to face, is that a legal thing? what will happen to the huang clan when the government awakened league heard about this?" "you bastard!!, don''t go running your damn mouth to the reporters when we finish this raid!" perhaps she realized she was overreacting, she calmed herself down and then said: "i have already doubled the rewards of the team members to pacify them since everyone was also dissatisfied, the same also applies to you, and you can also keep the beast stone you took from the mutant fire ant" in ming''s mind, she had to say it because all she thought was that marcus couldn''t have seen any decent beast stone in the mutant fire ant, judging from its small size, it was about half the size of the adult she and the other team fought, perhaps that was why marcus was able to survive unscathed. in her mind, ming was giving kudos to marcus in a sarcastic way for being able to kill a lower-tier s-grade mutant beast, a baby one for that matter. however, there was still something gnawing in the depth of her mind, according to the government awakened reconnaissance squads, the area boss of this beast zone wasn''t a mutant fire ant, does that mean the ant queen was alive and still laying eggs?