100. Chapter 100: Interesting. What if I had multiple hearts?
Meanwhile, seeing that Cha Hyun-soo had not returned, Lee Eun-hyuk and the others planned to drive out to rescue him. After they left, the Spider Monster would crawl down the Ventilation Duct to the First Floor and grab Kim Soo-young in front of Han Du-sik and the others.
Seeing that Kim Soo-young was about to be killed by the Spider Monster, the people remaining on the First Floor hid in fear and locked the door. Park Yu-ri couldn't stand it and decided to go out and rescue Kim Soo-young. Lee Eun-yu followed her, questioning those who were hiding: "What was the drill really for? Would you rather sacrifice others just to survive?"
Park Yu-ri and Lee Eun-yu then opened the door and rushed out, grabbing the Spider Monster's spider silk to prevent it from continuing to attack Kim Soo-young and her brother. With their help, Kim Soo-young took out a Molotov cocktail she had prepared earlier and smashed it hard onto the Spider Monster's body.
Fortunately, Cha Hyun-soo and the others arrived in time and took down the Spider Monster with an electric gun.
Looking at everyone's shaken expressions, Cha Hyun-soo didn't speak but walked towards the Isolation Room. Seeing this, Yoon Ji-su felt a pang of sadness. She apologized to Cha Hyun-soo, saying she was sorry for making him feel worse.
Lee Eun-hyuk walked up to Cha Hyun-soo and told him that this time it was his own decision whether to stay in the Isolation Room. Ultimately, Cha Hyun-soo chose to stay with everyone.
Of course, since the Spider Monster was killed by Xia Shang beforehand, the above situation naturally didn't occur.
What they needed to face now was only the Speedy Monster, which was eyeing the two of them menacingly.
"This monster is very fast, Doctor Xia, be careful," Cha Hyun-soo said softly, looking at the Speedy Monster not far away.
"But it doesn't seem to have noticed us."
Cha Hyun-soo didn't want to confront this monster directly because he had witnessed its terrifying speed firsthand.
"Okay." As soon as Xia Shang finished speaking, he bent over and coughed violently. He covered his chin with one hand, and nosebleed could be seen flowing out between his fingers.
"This is..." Xia Shang pretended to be shocked, raising his hand and looking at the bloodstain on his palm.
"You're infected."
The experienced Cha Hyun-soo saw at a glance that Xia Shang was infected.
"Generally, nosebleeds appear along with hallucinations. At this time, a guy who looks just like you will appear in front of you. Remember, no matter what that guy says, don't listen."
Seeing the Speedy Monster charging towards him, Cha Hyun-soo actually had time to share his experience. He really... Xia Shang wanted to cry.
Bang! The next second, Cha Hyun-soo was sent flying.
"This speed." Xia Shang narrowed his eyes, looking at the Speedy Monster that had stopped after hitting someone.
He saw that the Speedy Monster's leg muscles were extremely developed, and its heart and legs simultaneously seeped out a lava-like red light. At a glance, one could see the pulsating crimson heart in its chest cavity. Thump, thump, thump!! Its heart was like a car engine, constantly emitting a dull sound.
"Not fast enough, not fast enough." The Speedy Monster turned its head to look at Xia Shang nearby.
In an instant, its figure disappeared from its original spot again.
"Ready to fight me?" Without a sound, several cracks appeared on the back of Xia Shang's head. At this moment, his vision had reached its limit, but even so, he could only barely capture traces of the opponent's movement.
Although its speed couldn't compare to A-Train, Supersonic, and others, the gap shouldn't be too large.
"Here it comes." Xia Shang suddenly turned around to look behind him, and then a huge impact force knocked him away. Bang! With a loud sound, the door of a black sedan was directly caved in by Xia Shang.
But it didn't stop there. Instead, it turned its head to look at Cha Hyun-soo, who had just gotten up.
"Damn it." Seeing that Xia Shang was motionless after being knocked away, Cha Hyun-soo couldn't help but feel anxious. In his opinion, Xia Shang had only recently been infected, and his physical condition was probably similar to an ordinary human. After such a collision, even if he didn't die, he would likely break several ribs.
Thump, thump, thump!!! A dull engine sound came from the monster's heart. A few seconds later, it disappeared from its original spot once again.
This time, Cha Hyun-soo was prepared. He held the electric gun in front of him. If the opponent wanted to hit him, it would definitely be impaled.
Unfortunately, his idea was good, but the monster didn't give him the chance to implement it.
As a huge force struck, Cha Hyun-soo felt as if his shoulder had been grabbed. Before he could turn his head, he was violently thrown away by the monster.
"Had enough fun?" At some point, Xia Shang's figure appeared behind the monster.
According to his observation, the opponent's movement speed should be provided by the heart in its chest cavity. This kind of ability to modify organs was exactly what Xia Shang wanted. What if he had multiple hearts?
Thinking of this, Xia Shang began to analyze the opponent's ability.
If he wasn't mistaken, the opponent's desire shouldn't pose much of a threat to him, probably not even comparable to the Desire for Gluttony.
To prevent the monster from escaping, a blade tentacle drilled out from behind him. After flashing a cold gleam in the air, it instantly severed the monster's legs.
"Legs! My legs!" Seeing its legs severed, the monster seemed greatly stimulated. The heart in its chest cavity beat rapidly, and the red light became increasingly dazzling. At the same time, countless tiny cracks spread across the surface of its body, as if lava was about to flow out from within.
"This guy isn't going to self-destruct, is it?"
The analysis wasn't finished yet, so Xia Shang naturally couldn't bear to let the monster self-destruct. Thus, when Cha Hyun-soo arrived, he saw Xia Shang squatting on the ground, reattaching the monster's legs.
"What are you doing?" Cha Hyun-soo looked at Xia Shang, somewhat dumbfounded.
"I accidentally cut off this guy's legs, and now it wants to self-destruct. I'm seeing if I can stop it," Xia Shang said nonchalantly.
After hearing this, the corner of Cha Hyun-soo's mouth couldn't help but twitch. He truly couldn't understand Xia Shang's thought process.
"Let's just kill it quickly."
"No, no, no. Don't you think this is a great research subject?" After Xia Shang reattached the monster's legs, its crimson body surface finally slowly dimmed. Seeing this, Xia Shang breathed a sigh of relief.
Thankfully it didn't die, otherwise all his efforts would have been in vain.
"I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" The monster utterly hated Xia Shang for cutting off its legs. Its eyes turned crimson, as if they were about to spew flames.
The monster struggled to stand up from the ground. Just as it was about to move, it discovered that its legs had been reattached backward by Xia Shang.
Bang! It fell headfirst in front of Xia Shang, letting out an unwilling roar.
[Analyze Complete]
[Talent Skill: Heart Engine]
[Fusion Condition: Kill the Complete Form Speedy Monster]
[After Fusion, the Player will develop a Desire for continuous acceleration. Once this Desire is satisfied, the Player's Heart will gradually undergo Mutation, accelerating Blood Circulation while strengthening and modifying the structure of the leg muscle fibers, giving them a closer connection with the Heart.
In addition, it can enhance the Player's Adaptive Self-Healing Talent and slightly increase the Player's Strength.
Furthermore, the Player will gain the Ability to regulate the Heart's Power Output. This Ability is tied to the Player's Speed; the higher the Power Output, the faster the Player's movement Speed. However, once the Power Output exceeds the Heart's limit, the Heart will suffer severe damage.
Friendly reminder: When the Player shatters the Desire Monster, the Desire brought by this Fusion will dissipate, with no side effect.]
"Interesting." Xia Shang flipped his hand and took out a surgical knife, beginning to autopsy the monster in front of him. The heart had completely undergone mutation. This thing should be the source of its power.
As he spoke, Xia Shang held the monster's heart in his palm. After careful observation, he found that some areas of the monster's heart were glass-like, but they weren't hardened. Instead, they were very tough, far exceeding the hardness of an ordinary human heart. Furthermore, even after being removed, it could still maintain a certain level of vitality.
"You take your time with the research. I'll go collect supplies." Seeing this scene, Cha Hyun-soo felt completely uncomfortable, so he found an excuse to leave alone.
"Okay." Xia Shang was completely unconcerned by Cha Hyun-soo's departure.
The monster, having lost its heart, struggled for a full two or three minutes before finally dying completely.
After confirming that the surrounding surveillance was destroyed, Xia Shang slowly raised his right hand. A beam of dazzling blue light burst from his palm. Hiss, hiss!! The area of the monster hit by the laser quickly turned red. Only when the laser eyes' power output was adjusted to its limit did the surface of the monster's corpse begin to rapidly carbonize.
"It seems that under the subtle influence of the Heart Engine ability, the cells' high-temperature resistance can also be improved."
He saw that the discarded eyeball in Xia Shang's palm actively detached itself and regrew after half an hour. Through Xia Shang's experiment, the power output limit of the new eyeball increased by 0.02%.
This means the new eyeball can release lasers with higher power output and also increase the duration.
Although the Adaptive Self-Healing Talent couldn't significantly increase his combat power in a short time, it was a rather terrifying passive skill.
[Heart Engine Talent Fusion in progress, current progress 2%]
Looking at the empty Parking Lot in front of him, Xia Shang revealed a sinister smile. Wasn't it just a Desire for greater speed? That's simple! In an instant, he adjusted his heart's power output to its limit and modified his legs into the form best suited for running.
Next, a figure was seen constantly weaving through the cars. Although he crashed into many cars along the way due to losing control, Xia Shang didn't care. This level of impact force was not enough to break his defense.
2%...5%...31%. As Xia Shang's speed became faster and faster, his Desire was rapidly satisfied, and the fusion degree also increased quickly.
Finally, Xia Shang stopped when the fusion degree reached 37%. Bark-like cracks had grown on his chest, and some dazzling red light seeped out from them, as if a lava core was buried within his chest cavity.
"Unfortunately, the speed of enhancement still can't keep up with the speed at which the heart is damaged. I can only rest for a while." Every time Xia Shang breathed, he exhaled a heatwave. Over time, the temperature of the area he was in also increased significantly.
(end of chapter)