25: Chapter 25 The Birth of the Stitched-Up Thug

"The real main course, I'll start making it tonight."

Yan Zheng did not wait until the next day.

March 15th, 2:40 AM, Antique Shop Underground Room.

He stood in front of that plastic sheet, the system panel in front of him unfolding into a 3D simulation interface.

The icons of the three materials floated in the void, connected to each other by dark green threads.

"Material combination plan:"

"Base: Human Skeleton × 1 (Excellent Quality)"

"Fusion Material 1: Epidermal Keratin Strengthening Gene × 1 (D+ Grade)"

"Fusion Material 2: Adaptive Regeneration Gene × 1 (B+ Grade)"

Yan Zheng's finger tapped on the panel.

"Simulate."

The panel calculated for three seconds and popped up the results.

"Compatibility: 71%. Assembly success rate: 64%."

"Risk assessment: Medium-high. Material waste probability: 36%."

"Creation quality estimate: Elite grade."

Yan Zheng: (ꐦ˘꒳˘)

71% compatibility.

64% success rate.

This meant there was about a one-third chance that his precious B+ Grade Adaptive Regeneration gene would be completely wasted.

Yan Zheng pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses and paced back and forth in the Underground Room twice.

"The fusion of three genes is much more complex than two. Epidermal Keratin Strengthening and Adaptive Regeneration are essentially abilities that act on the surface cells of the body, so there is a risk of mutual exclusion."

He stopped walking and looked at the flashing number on the panel.

"If I wait a little longer, until I find a material combination with higher compatibility..."

Two seconds of silence.

"No more waiting."

Yan Zheng stood back in front of the panel, his finger hovering over the confirm button.

"Waiting won't get me anywhere. These are all the materials I have on hand right now, and who knows how long it will take to get another B+ Grade gene."

"A one-third failure rate."

"Gamble."

Yan Zheng: (ˊꈊˋ)

"System, execute assembly."

"Material combination: Human Skeleton (Excellent Quality) × 1, Epidermal Keratin Strengthening Gene × 1, Adaptive Regeneration Gene × 1."

"Start."

"Assembly command confirmed. Estimated time: 90 minutes. Mental Power consumption: 5 points. Continue?"

"Continue."

Dark green black mist seeped out from the ground.

But this time, the density and churning speed of the mist were on a completely different level than when he assembled the Stone Armor Guard before.

The black mist rolled in the center of the Underground Room like boiling magma, rising high enough to almost touch the ceiling. The temperature in the entire space plummeted by several degrees, and the breath Yan Zheng exhaled turned into White Water mist under the light.

"At least three times more intense than last time."

He retreated to the wall, his back pressed against the cold red brick wall, and closed his eyes.

Mental Power surged out from the depths of his consciousness like a burst dam, pouring into that churning black mist.

He could feel the chaos within the black mist.

The three materials decomposed into their most basic particles within the black mist and then attempted to reassemble according to the blueprint's instructions.

But the assembly process was not smooth.

The skeleton took shape in the black mist, the spine growing upward segment by segment, larger and sturdier than the Stone Armor Guard's frame.

The first layer of material began to attach—gray keratinized tissue precipitated from the surface of the bones, spreading rapidly like crystals and covering the entire thoracic skeleton.

Then the second layer of material was added.

Pink granulation tissue emerged from the gaps in the bones, climbing and growing like vines, attempting to cover another layer over the keratinized shell.

The two tissues collided.

Yan Zheng's body swayed.

A violent sense of repulsion came through the Mental Link, like two opposing currents intersecting in his consciousness. The rotation speed of the black mist suddenly doubled, and the sound of bones cracking came from the center.

"Repulsion reaction."

Yan Zheng gritted his teeth, the veins on his forehead throbbing.

His Mental Power clamped onto the out-of-control black mist like a pair of pliers, forcibly suppressing the repulsion between the two materials.

"Fuse, fuse for me!"

The consumption rate of Mental Power was accelerating.

"Mental Power: 9/9 → 8/9 → 7/9 → 6/9 → 5/9..."

Yan Zheng: (ꐦ≖ᗜ≖)

A surge of heat welled up in his nasal cavity.

Blood trickled down from his nostrils, dripping onto the front of his suit, the red droplets blooming on his White shirt.

He did not reach out to wipe it.

All his Mental Power was concentrated on that black mist; he dared not spare even a fraction.

The fortieth minute.

The repulsion reaction reached its peak.

The semi-finished skeleton in the black mist began to tremble violently; cracks appeared on the keratinized shell, and pink granulation tissue surged crazily from the cracks, as if it wanted to burst the entire skeleton apart.

"Just one more step."

Yan Zheng's consciousness began to blur, and black spots appeared at the edges of his vision.

His Mental Power had already dropped to three points.

He knew that if it dropped any further, the Mental Link would be forcibly disconnected, the assembly would fail, and all materials would be wasted.

"One last try."

He compressed all the remaining three points of Mental Power into a ball and drove it into the core of the black mist like a nail.

It was an extremely precise point—the node where the two materials intersected and repelled each other.

The nail of Mental Power pierced through that node.

Then, a miracle happened.

The keratinized tissue and the regenerative granulation tissue no longer repelled each other but began to fuse.

Fine granulation patterns grew on the surface of the gray scales, the roots of the granulation tissue digging deep into the scales, the two interlocked layer by layer like the rings of a tree.

The rotation speed of the black mist began to slow down.

Yan Zheng's vision went black, his knees went weak, his back slid down the wall, and he sat down hard on the cold concrete floor.

"Mental Power: 1/9."

He gasped for air, the shirt on his back already soaked with cold sweat, sticking to his skin, cold and sticky.

His nose was still bleeding; he casually wiped it with his sleeve, leaving a dark stain of red blood on his navy blue suit.

But he did not close his eyes.

He stared at the black mist in front of him that was gradually dissipating.

Ninety minutes later.

The black mist dissipated completely.

Yan Zheng: (✧ω✧)

Yan Zheng stood up, leaning against the wall, his legs still trembling, but his gaze was locked tightly on the standing figure in the center of the Underground Room.

Two point two meters tall.

A full twenty centimeters taller than the Stone Armor Guard, with shoulder width exceeding one point two meters, its build as broad and thick as a small bunker.

Its entire body was covered in irregular gray scales, but these scales were completely different from the Stone Armor Guard's—in the gaps between the scales, dark red granulation tissue slowly squirmed, like a living vascular network embedded in the gaps of the stone.

It had no facial features, only a ferocious white bone face, with the upper and lower jaw bones protruding outward to form four fangs that curled out from the sides of its mouth.

The bone fingers on its hands were longer and sharper than the Stone Armor Guard's, the tips gleaming coldly under the light.

The ghost fire in its eye sockets was a deep, intense ink green, at least three times as bright as the Stone Armor Guard's, illuminating the ground for half a meter around it.

It stood there, the regenerative granulation tissue under its chest pulsing rhythmically between the gaps in the scales, as if possessing some kind of primitive life pulse.

The system panel popped up an evaluation report.

"Stitched Soldier · Brute (Elite Grade)"

"Combat power assessment: Approximately equal to twenty trained armed humans."

"Special Ability 1: Petrified Skin (Immune to light weapon damage, can withstand medium-caliber bullets)."

"Special Ability 2: Adaptive Regeneration (After receiving the same type of attack, the hardness of the corresponding area increases; theoretically, it gets harder the more it is attacked)."

"Weakness: Speed is medium to slow; defense is on par with Stone Armor Guard when enduring a new type of attack for the first time, requiring it to survive the first hit to trigger adaptation."

"Control consumption: 3 points Mental Power/unit."

Yan Zheng wiped away the nosebleed and looked at the monster in front of him, which radiated a primitive sense of oppression.

He smiled.

"Twenty armed humans."

"Four times that of the Stone Armor Guard."

"And it gets harder the more it is attacked; theoretically, it cannot be killed by the same method twice."

Yan Zheng: (ˊᗜˋ)

He reached out and patted Brute's scale-covered forearm.

The touch was cold and hard, but the granulation tissue in the gaps between the scales contracted slightly the moment his fingers touched it, like some kind of instinctive stress response.

"You are my first Elite grade creation."

Yan Zheng withdrew his hand, put his White gloves back on, and turned to walk toward the stairs.

"That's enough for tonight; Mental Power needs to recover."

He paused on the stairs and looked back at the Elite creation that radiated an aura of death in the dim light.

"However, Mr. Brute, with you in hand, the next prey can be aimed at a higher tier."

"Those ninjas hiding in the shadows, it's your turn to contribute materials."