97. Chapter 97: Currently, This Seems Like a Dead End!
Finally, Cha Hyun-soo fainted again. When he woke up, he had already been locked in the Isolation Room.
But the electric gun in his hand still caught Lee Eun-hyuk's attention.
"Who made this thing?" Lee Eun-hyuk asked Xia Shang.
"An Uncle upstairs."
"I think we need his help." Lee Eun-hyuk walked to the Apartment's Iron Door. "Just relying on these wooden boards and chains, the monsters could break through at any time. To ensure the safety of the residents on the First Floor, we must reinforce the Iron Door again."
"However, it's getting dark now."
According to Lee Eun-hyuk's observation, the monsters become more active after dark. Going to pick someone up at this time is clearly not a good choice.
"Are you planning to send me?" Xia Shang asked, frowning.
Lee Eun-hyuk shifted his gaze towards the Isolation Room. He shook his head, "It's too dangerous for an ordinary human to go."
His meaning was clear. He wanted Cha Hyun-soo to go, because in his opinion, as an infected, Cha Hyun-soo's emotions were very stable. Compared to the other two infected, Cha Hyun-soo was clearly the best choice.
......
Late at night, in a remote corner of the Underground Parking Garage, a raging fire was burning. It was as if a human figure could be vaguely seen within the flames.
The next day, Xia Shang returned to his Room from the Underground Parking Garage. Through the gasoline experiment last night, he gained a deeper understanding of the Adaptive Self-Healing Talent.
Firstly, adapting to damage and evolving a countermeasure mechanism requires a certain amount of time. Although he hasn't completely fused this ability yet, judging from the spider monster's performance, even with complete fusion, this flaw cannot be eliminated.
Secondly, ordinary damage simply cannot make him evolve a countermeasure mechanism. Due to fusing Kimiko's self-healing ability, his wounds usually heal automatically before he can evolve a countermeasure mechanism, unless it's a severed arm or leg.
But the newly regenerated arm's enhancement is quite limited, and it grows slowly. Xia Shang roughly calculated that the effect would only be relatively astonishing after an arm has been severed hundreds or thousands of times.
Of course, that's not to say this talent is useless. When Xia Shang's self-healing ability reaches a monstrous level, allowing for limb regeneration or regeneration from a drop of blood in a short time, perhaps then Xia Shang can achieve his ultimate goal of being undying and immortal and infinitely growing, becoming an ultimate lifeform.
Therefore, the greatest use of this talent is to become a cornerstone.
To become a cornerstone for achieving the ultimate lifeform.
"Fortunately, last night wasn't completely fruitless." Xia Shang changed into new clothes and stood in front of the mirror. Although being burned by gasoline all night didn't grant him immunity to fire, the heat resistance of his cells significantly increased.
Xia Shang summoned his panel again to view all his talents.
[Adaptation Self-Healing Talent is Fusing, current Fusion Progress 43%] [Sword Talent, Transformation, Transfer, Parasyte Sensing, Extreme Control, Carbon Superlattice, Self-Healing Enhancement (can Fuse with Adaptive Self-Healing), Laser Eye (Blue), Gluttony Enhancement.]
These talents seemed numerous, yet in Xia Shang's view, they were far from enough. At least compared to Homelander, his shortcomings were very obvious. Physique, strength, flight, speed, etc., these were all his weaknesses.
The few things that could be compared to Homelander were probably only self-healing and defense capability.
Xia Shang's current defense capability mainly relied on Carbon Superlattice, but Carbon Superlattice would likely not be able to block Homelander's laser eyes.
After tidying his attire, Xia Shang returned to the Lobby on the First Floor. After casually filling his stomach,
he saw Lee Eun-hyuk walk into the Isolation Room.
Soon, he brought Cha Hyun-soo out. Judging from the expression on Cha Hyun-soo's face, he must have agreed to Lee Eun-hyuk's conditions.
Seeing Cha Hyun-soo go upstairs with Pyeon Sang-wook, Xia Shang had no intention of following. Instead, he turned and walked into an empty Room. Since his fusion was not yet complete, he couldn't use his analysis ability to hunt monsters.
Besides, he was currently facing a big problem himself, so how could he care about Cha Hyun-soo's life or death?
The moment the door closed.
A mirror image with completely black eyes appeared behind him. It stretched out its hands, covered Xia Shang's eyes, and pulled him into the Mirror Space.
The Mirror Space was no different from the outside world. The only anomaly was a slight distortion, but it was hard to notice this subtle difference without careful observation.
"Is there no end to this?" Xia Shang said coldly, turning his head to look at his desire mirror image. The growth speed of this desire mirror image far exceeded his imagination. Its appearance was already beyond Xia Shang's control.
Unlike the previous mirror image, this one's intelligence level was clearly much higher.
Moreover, its strength was also greater. It could actually pull him into the Mirror Space anytime, anywhere. One must know that this was something the Gluttony Desire couldn't do even before complete fusion.
"Kill me," the desire mirror image said with a smile.
"Okay." Xia Shang didn't hesitate. His arm transformed into a blade, cutting it into two sections.
However, no blood flowed from the desire mirror image's wound. Instead, petroleum-like black liquid extended from it. After intertwining, the two sections of the body reattached.
At the same time, a wound spread from Xia Shang's right shoulder all the way to his abdomen, accompanied by excruciating pain, and bright red blood gushed out.
It was clearly an injury he inflicted on the mirror image, yet it was reflected back onto him. How did the other party do that? Fortunately, his recovery ability was not weak. Just as his wound was about to heal,
"What about this?" The mirror image raised the fruit knife in its hand and stabbed towards its own heart. *Puchi*, black liquid flowed along the blade, instantly soaking the clothes on its chest. At this moment, the corner of the desire mirror image's mouth revealed a smile, seemingly anticipating Xia Shang's reaction.
Xia Shang subconsciously looked towards his chest. He saw that a knife wound had also split open at the location of his heart.
"Damn it!" As his heart was damaged, all of Xia Shang's strength leaked out continuously, like a punctured balloon.
Up until now, the heart was second only to the brain in importance to Xia Shang.
"Not good." Xia Shang controlled the cells within his body to quickly fill the nick in his heart. The entire process would take about ten seconds.
"Don't be nervous. Your desire is not to die. How could you possibly die so easily?"
The mirror image looked at Xia Shang with a smile, then twisted the fruit knife stuck in its chest.
In an instant, angina-like pain swept through Xia Shang's whole body. The pain made Xia Shang clench his fists involuntarily, and his eyes were filled with bloodshot threads. How was this possible? The other party was just a mirror image, how could it affect him? Why did the previous mirror image never use this method?
The heart, which had just been repaired, was damaged again. That feeling of life draining away left Xia Shang no time to think carefully.
Fortunately, he had made two preparations. A tentacle drilled out from his back, and at the tip of that tentacle was a freshly created, vibrant heart. The surface of that heart pulsed slightly, as if it were no different from a real heart. Watching Xia Shang forcefully dig out the damaged heart and replace it with a new one, the mirror image who witnessed this scene couldn't help but applaud Xia Shang. "Wonderful, truly wonderful, it's simply eye-opening."
Xia Shang didn't respond to the mirror image's praise. He remained expressionless, pondering the key to breaking the deadlock.
Did he have to completely kill the desire before him to get out of the Mirror Space? But that bizarre ability of the opponent seemed to tell him that if he killed the mirror image, he would also die.
"Aren't you curious why I possess such an ability? Because I am your desire. Your desire is not to die, and my desire is also not to die, so I had no choice but to bind us together, hehehe."
The mirror image walked up to Xia Shang and slowly pulled the fruit knife out of its chest.
Currently, this seemed like a dead end!
Shattering the desire would mean his own death. Not shattering the desire would mean remaining in the Mirror Space forever.
In the Room, the fusion panel before Xia Shang was quietly fixed in the air. The fusion progress on it was actually jumping at an incredible speed: 43%... 55%... 63%...
On the other side.
Cha Hyun-soo suggested carefully checking each floor because he knew that even if he suffered a fatal injury, he could heal in a short time. At this moment, Lee Eun-hyuk's words before he left surfaced in his mind.
"You are someone who is about to undergo monsterization, and you are also the best candidate to deal with the Apartment's monsters. I hope you can consider the surviving residents in the Apartment."
Pyeon Sang-wook didn't object until he saw that every time Cha Hyun-soo killed a monster, the blackness in his eyes increased by a few shades.
Out of concern that he would be completely devoured by desire, he suggested going directly to the fourteenth floor to pick up Han Du-sik and the others.
Cha Hyun-soo agreed on the surface, but when he reached the seventh floor, he stopped in front of a door and pointed at the Iron Door painted green, saying, "I feel there's a monster inside. Let's catch the monster. We can do it."
At this moment, his gaze had changed. Deep blackness once again occupied his eyes.
After speaking, he pushed the door open and, at the same time, turned his head to look at Pyeon Sang-wook, provoking, "What? Are you scared?"
Pyeon Sang-wook sensed that his mood wasn't right. He reached out and pulled him back. Looking at the strange smile on the guy's face, Pyeon Sang-wook understood that this guy was probably being eroded by desire again.
So he punched Cha Hyun-soo in the abdomen. Cha Hyun-soo doubled over like a cooked shrimp, clutching his stomach and coughing.
It was precisely because of this punch that Cha Hyun-soo was woken up again. Cha Hyun-soo looked at Pyeon Sang-wook blankly, not understanding what had just happened.
At this moment, behind the door was a sea of fire. Suddenly, a monster's arm reached out from behind the door. The monster grabbed Pyeon Sang-wook and dragged him inside.
The monster's arm was incredibly long, and its main body couldn't be seen at all. The Long-Arm Monster was originally an ordinary Father, but after his son was taken by a monster, he fell into despair and gave rise to a strong desire.
If his hands were long enough, could he grab his son's hand? Could his son survive? It was precisely relying on this desire that ultimately prompted him to become the Long-Arm Monster.
Seeing Pyeon Sang-wook being dragged away by the monster, Cha Hyun-soo also rushed in to save him.
But before he could catch up to the monster's arm, he was knocked flying by another monster. *Bang!* After rolling a few times on the ground, Cha Hyun-soo realized that the monster that had knocked him away had extremely long legs and a red glow emanating from its heart.
The Speedster Monster was once a track and field athlete. In a race, he was surpassed by his best friend. Due to jealousy that his friend's performance was better than his, he killed him and hid the corpse in a closet.
As the corpse decomposed, a foul odor quickly emanated from the closet. The stench of the corpse was unbearable for him, so after monsterization, his entire face had no nose. At the same time, his greatest desire was to be even faster, until he surpassed everyone.
The Speedster's speed was quite agile. Just as it was about to pounce on Cha Hyun-soo, it was driven away by a bow and arrow shot from behind.
The duo who shot the bow and arrow were named Park Yu-ri and Ahn Gil-seop, respectively. The former was a beautiful girl who suffered from asthma. Because she used to be a Nurse, she knew how to treat and bandage injuries.
The latter was an old gentleman wearing reading glasses. He was the longest-residing resident in the Green Home Apartment. He had been told by a Doctor that he had less than half a year left to live, yet he was still living well.
The sea of fire in the Stairwell was created by them.
The bow and arrow in their hands had undergone special modification. Once shot, they would burn.
"Be careful." Seeing Cha Hyun-soo walk towards her, clutching his shoulder, Park Yu-ri didn't hesitate to aim her bow and arrow at him.
The Long-Arm Monster lay dead in front of her, seemingly burned alive. Pyeon Sang-wook lay beside the monster. Park Yu-ri squatted down and felt his pulse. "He's still alive."
Afterward, the group went together to Uncle Han Du-sik's home.
......
The scene returned to Xia Shang.
Of course, he was completely unaware of what Cha Hyun-soo had encountered. At this moment, he was thinking about how to resolve the deadlock before him.
"No, that's not right. Since you also don't want to die, how could you risk stabbing your own heart? I don't believe you know my ability, otherwise, you wouldn't have shown that surprised expression just now." Xia Shang's lips gradually curved upward. He quickly found a loophole in the mirror image's words.
"The reason you chose to do this proves that you yourself understand that this method cannot kill me at all. You just want to make me generate the desire not to die. Am I wrong?"
Instead, Xia Shang calmly put his hands into his pocket and looked at the mirror image with a calm face.
The expression on the mirror image's face didn't change. It raised its right hand and pointed the tip of the knife at its own temple. "Are you sure? Once this knife is plunged into your head, I don't believe you can still live. Stop pretending, I can feel the worry and fear in your heart."
The mirror image laughed sinisterly, emboldened.
"Whatever." Xia Shang's expression was indifferent, as if he didn't care about its actions.
"You're not afraid of death? Hahahaha, no one isn't afraid of death. What are you pretending for?"
"Then let's try it." Xia Shang seemed genuinely unconcerned. A childish trick like this was nothing once it was seen through.
He firmly believed in his judgment.
"Then let's try it!"
With that! The mirror image suddenly exerted force, actually plunging the entire blade into its temple!
(end of chapter)