Following Shen Jie up to the second floor of the mall, I entered a hotel room and saw Zhang Liying lying on the bed.
She was awake now, and with Shen Jie’s help, her Personal Level had reached Tier One Late Stage.
When she saw Lin Feng, Zhang Liying’s fingers tightened on the blanket. She seed a little reserved.
Lin Feng cleared his throat. As he used Identification to check her details, he said:
"It’s nothing. I just ca to take a look."
"How did it go? Were there any major problems?"
Lin Feng recalled that Zhang Liying was always with Shen Jie, who had helped her with most of her Upgrades. He hadn’t seen either of them at the outpost for two days.
Shen Jie replied from the side:
"She’s fine. It was much easier for her than it was for ."
"Because she was eating it gradually, after she finished eating the Cyan-winged Zerg’s mbrane wing muscles, two fleshy mounds bulged from her shoulder blades..."
"This morning, she fell into a deep sleep. When she woke up, they had simply grown out."
Lin Feng nodded. He had previously given them the rest of the Cyan-winged Zerg corpses after harvesting the mbrane Wings, and now there were finally results.
"Use your Superpower. Let’s see the Assimilation."
Hearing Lin Feng’s words, Zhang Liying looked uncomfortable and pulled the blanket tighter around herself.
Realizing what was happening, Lin Feng led Shen Jie outside, closing the door to let the young woman get dressed.
In the hallway, Lin Feng watched the patrol mbers outside and asked:
"Do you have any family out there?"
Shen Jie shook his head.
"When the Zerg infestation broke out, we had just arrived at school. We were incredibly lucky to escape. My parents... they’re probably..."
"Li Ying and I are both from Hai City. Our other relatives were there too..."
Lin Feng sighed and patted Shen Jie’s shoulder.
"Just focus on staying alive. Once things settle down, you two should make it official."
Shen Jie was stunned for a mont, then nodded silently.
A few minutes later, the door opened to reveal a woman in red Battle Armor. A pair of folded, transparent mbrane Wings sprouted from her back.
From her lower back protruded a pair of the Cyan-winged Zerg’s signature flat prolegs, which served as reaping scythes for when she dived.
Lin Feng recognized the Battle Armor as the full-body form of the Red Armor Shield. Zhang Liying had modified it herself, removing two plates of the Shell from the back to allow the mbrane Wings to fold away.
The trade-off was that it could no longer transform back into its Back Armor configuration. She had to take it off manually each ti and then struggle to put it back on when she needed it.
But the results were clear. Flying with the Armor on was undoubtedly much safer and gave her an edge against Cyan-winged Zergs. Even if she were to fall, she wouldn’t suffer the sa grievous injuries a Zerg would.
As Zhang Liying walked into the hallway, she turned sideways and spread the mbrane Wings on her back. They were a full five ters wide, with each wing over two ters long.
Two large muscles bulged prominently on her back, providing the power to flap her wings.
The results of his Identification appeared before his eyes:
「Zhang Liying, Lv19/19」
「Life Value 150, Physique 220, Spirit 140」
「Superpower Awakening: Devouring Assimilation—Winged Angels」
「Note: Target is in the Cyan-winged Zerg Assimilation State. Energy consumption is increased by 100%, Physique is enhanced by 50%, and spiritual state is unstable.」
As Zhang Liying removed her Face Armor, she revealed her current face. Her once-fair skin was now a deep cyan, covered in the patterns of an insect’s Outer Armor. Jagged spines, like the teeth of a saw, lined both sides of her jaw...
Just like Shen Jie’s Black Knight form,
She was green-faced and fanged—a ferocious, terrifying sight.
’She must find it hard to accept.’
But in this state, her Physique was already comparable to that of a Tier Two Early Stage Awakener.
Shen Jie, standing to the side, also entered his Black Knight form.
Sharp, two-ter-long Bone Blades protruded from the outside of his arms. As his degree of Assimilation deepened, his head was now also covered in a layer of solid Black Armor. A pair of small Giant Mandibles had even sprouted from his face, with a pincer-like spine on each shoulder.
He was practically a miniature Black Spine Zerg.
Lin Feng was reminded of Qin Hu, whom he had seen this morning. As one of the first Genetically Modified Warriors, he looked similar to Shen Jie, just with a less extre degree of Assimilation.
But Shen Jie’s was his own ability, while Qin Hu’s was a forced fusion.
Judging by the degree of augntation, it was clear that Devouring Assimilation wasn’t as potent as genetic modification. It fell sowhere between Physical Enhancent and genetic modification.
It was stronger than Physical Enhancent; after all, a 50% boost was enough for a Tier One Late Stage’s Physique Attribute to make a qualitative leap and break the 200-point limit.
「Shen Jie, Lv19/19」
「Life Value 150, Physique 225, Spirit 135」
「Superpower Awakening: Devouring Assimilation—Black Knight」
「Note: Target is in the Black Spine Zerg Assimilation State. Energy consumption is increased by 100%, Physique is enhanced by 50%, and spiritual state is unstable.」
Lin Feng nodded and had the two of them exit their Assimilation State. The mutated Outer Armor gradually rged back into their bodies until their appearances returned to normal.
However, the places where the Thrusts and Bone Blades erged could not fully recover, leaving behind permanent, dark-red scar tissue.
This was even more true for Zhang Liying’s back, which now had two arm-length, fleshy growths.
But compared to the price paid by Genetic Warriors, this was a much lighter cost.
Lin Feng recalled the results he had Identified from Qin Hu that morning and pulled them up for comparison.
「Qin Hu, Lv20/29」
「Life Value 200, Physique 440, Spirit 150」
「Superpower Awakening: Physical Enhancent—Tiger Zerg Fusion」
「Note: Target has been injected with Tiger Spine Zerg Genetic Essence Liquid and is contaminated by Zerg Race genes. Energy consumption is increased by 100%, spiritual state is continuously degrading, and Life Force is damaged. As the degree of fusion deepens, lifespan will deteriorate at an accelerated rate.」
Being a Genetic Warrior was equivalent to being forcibly fused with a foreign entity. Though very strong at first, as their Life Force decayed, they not only grew weaker in the later stages but were also essentially unrecoverable, disposable assets.
It could only be considered a desperate, unorthodox asure.
But if they could be mass-produced and gathered together, they could still turn the tide of battle.
"Test-flying during the day is too conspicuous. Wait until night when no one is around, then go try it out."
Lin Feng added. He thought for a mont, then said:
"Once the supplies arrive, we’ll return to the front lines to keep grinding levels and collecting Zerg Race corpses. And you two, don’t just stick to eating one type."
"Only by possessing both the Damage and Defense Power of the Black Spine Zergs and the Flying Ability of the Cyan-winged Zergs will you be able to co and go as you please on the battlefield, making a real impact."
Now that they had fully assimilated their Tier One forms, the two of them combined were equivalent to a Lv19 Lin Feng equipped with his Lv19 Red Profound Flying Armor and Lv19 Grenade Cannon. They could even team up to kill an Early-stage Tiger Spine Zerg.
Seeing the two exchange a smile and nod happily...
With that, Lin Feng departed.
On the way back, Ding Chenghai called.
Lin Feng thanked him and described the current situation in Hai City, telling them to evacuate as soon as possible.
The frontline at Wu City probably couldn’t hold out for much longer.
Ding Chenghai seed to have expected this:
"It’s fine. The outco was already set in stone after the decapitation strike failed. I want to run too, but as long as the equipnt hasn’t been moved, the personnel can’t retreat."
"The higher-ups sent an urgent mission for us to create new weapons and equipnt to match the Genetic Warriors."
"Right now, it’s either miniaturizing large weapons or starting with the Zerg Race’s bio-tallic shells to forge Armor-Piercing weapons for the Genetic Warriors."
"We’ve never focused on enhancing individual soldiers before; our research has always been centered on weapon platforms. Now we have to scale it down to a human-sized platform, so we’re basically starting all our research from scratch."
"In short, it’s extrely tricky."
"We can’t even cut through a Tiger Spine Zerg’s Giant Mandible."
An image of a weapon from the past appeared in Lin Feng’s mind, and he said, half-jokingly:
"Wasn’t there a small Cannon Nuclear Bomb Cannon, you know, for Nuclear Shelling? It had a five-kiloter range but a six-kiloter kill radius. Maybe if you shrink it down a bit, it’ll be usable."
Ding Chenghai was speechless.
"The manufacturing conditions for miniature Nuclear Bombs are too strict; they can’t be mass-produced. Besides, the radiation is a huge problem. We have very few qualified Genetic Warriors as it is, and they’re not disposable."
"We’re planning to make High-Temperature Fla Sprayers and personal Grenade Cannons now, combined with a Giant Mandible Heavy Saber. It should be pretty effective in close combat."
"If you’re interested, you can co over and take a look when the ti cos."
Lin Feng nodded.
"Alright, then. Actually, you could try starting from their genetic mutations. The mutated tissue might be able to directly control Zerg organ-weapons."
This gave Ding Chenghai a flash of inspiration. He nodded.
"That’s right! We can collaborate with the biotechnology departnt!"
"Holy shit, I’m hanging up. Gotta go!"
Lin Feng smiled, put down his phone, and walked over to his Tank. Just then, a notification popped up in front of him:
「Lv19 Flying Wing Tank, Tier Jumping Upgrade complete!」
「Upgraded to Lv20 Land Patrol Battleship!」
「Please select one of the following new Extra Attributes:
Indestructible: A fused upgrade of Biological Armor and Armor-Piercing Car Head. Defense Power 150, Damage 100
Super Firepower: A fused upgrade of Unlimited Firepower and Self-Propelled Artillery. Gain ten Lv20 Battleship Heavy Cannons, Basic Damage 250, range 20km
Land Ship: A fused upgrade of Storage Space and Ground Effect Flight Mode. Can draw Energy from Zerg Race corpses for unlimited range. Max speed 100%. Can adapt to any complex terrain, on land or water. Internal space increases by 10 cubic ters for each Upgrade Point spent.」
「Selection countdown: 10, 9, 8...」
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