Chapter 202-3: Battle Formation System, Too Brutal (3) |
Before long, the manifested energy arm handed over a bottle of dark red potion.
Li Zheng took the potion and downed it in one go.
The potion was bitter with a hint of metallic sweetness. After entering his throat it turned into a warm current that rapidly spread through his whole body.
He felt as if his body were wrapped in a gentle energy. Even his breathing became much smoother, and even his mind felt soothed, with much of the tension dissipating.
But this potion was clearly not for anesthesia.
According to the instructions given before the modification began, he knew that he needed to remain conscious throughout the organ implantation process.
During the process he also needed to answer the Rune Physician’s questions to ensure no undetected abnormal reactions occurred while the innate organ adapted to the body.
Once the medicinal effect had dispersed within his body, the surgery officially began.
From somewhere, the energy arm took a pair of eyes that emitted an eerie blue glow.
“Trainee Li Zheng, close your eyes.”
He decisively closed his eyelids according to the Rune Physician’s request.
At that moment he suddenly felt his eyelids pried open by some power, and then a sharp pain struck. He could not help but let out a muffled groan, the veins on his forehead bulging.
His fists clenched involuntarily, his nails digging into flesh.
The potion he had just drunk also surged forth at this moment, rapidly suppressing the pain.
The sensation was very strange. He could feel the pain, but the pain seemed to have a barrier between it and his consciousness. He even felt the pain become unfamiliar.
What Li Zheng could not see was that the energy arm, holding a bone surgical knife, ground his two eyeballs into a mist of blood and drew it away.
Then the energy arm extracted from his eye sockets slender nerve endings like threads and connected them to the pair of eerie blue eyes suspended in the air. Each nerve docking was accompanied by a flicker of runes on the eyeballs. During the process the energy arm would also cut and reconnect the threads, constantly carrying out adaptation adjustments.
Li Zheng could feel the pain, but it was as if through a thick pane of glass, not so distinct.
As time passed, the two eerie blue eyes entered Li Zheng’s sockets, pushed by the invisible power released by the energy arm.
“Trainee Li Zheng, the implantation of the Ghost-Pupil Eyes has been completed, but I have a question and hope you can give me an answer.”
“Mm, please ask.”
“Your physical condition is very special. I do not know how to describe it… perhaps pure would be apt. I have never seen a body state like yours. Under normal circumstances, the implantation of an innate organ is inevitably accompanied by strong maladaptation.”
“Even with my mediation, the body would produce a certain rejection reaction toward the new organ. The manifestations of this rejection might be organ conflict, neural pain, or even organ function disorder. But your body is different.”
With a trace of incredulity in the Rune Physician’s voice, he continued.
“After the Ghost-Pupil Eyes were successfully implanted, your body actually did not produce any rejection reaction. The new organ perfectly fused with your body. The energy circuits are unimpeded. Even the neural docking was unusually smooth. At first I thought it was luck in finding a matching neural circuit, but after I changed the neural connection circuit, I found it still matched perfectly… I have never seen such a situation.”
Hearing this, Li Zheng remained utterly calm.
As a player, it was reasonable to be a bit special.
“Perhaps my constitution is relatively unique.” Li Zheng answered with a touch of modesty in his tone.
The Rune Physician’s voice sounded again.
“No, this is not merely a matter of a unique constitution. Your body is like a blank sheet of paper, without any impurities and without any residual energy. This pure state is as if… it has never been polluted by any energy. I can freely make any modifications at will upon it.”
Finding Li Zheng silent, the Rune Physician did not continue to ask.
“I will record your situation. Perhaps I will look for you again in the future. We will continue with the implantation modifications of innate organs. Now try opening your eyes.”
Hearing this, Li Zheng slowly opened his eyelids.
At once a slight sting struck. Everything before his eyes was hazy and blurred, and he could not see anything clearly.
“I cannot see clearly. There is a white haze in my eyes, as if covered with a layer of gauze.”
“This is a normal manifestation. Although the innate organ has been implanted into your eye sockets and has completed adaptation, what was implanted was only the organ seed of the Ghost-Pupil Eyes. Next it will draw upon your flesh and blood energy to grow rapidly. This will take some time.”
Li Zheng sat up. Although he could not see anything clearly at this time, he could see energy ripples in the air.
At the position of the energy arm, the energy ripples outlined a rough silhouette.
Compared with his former eyes, his new eyes were as if they had downloaded many new functions that could be opened at any time.
But the drawbacks were also obvious.
Innate organ modification was different from function updates in the player system, where usage would be branded in the mind like a memory.
For example, using Inherited soul traits. The moment the embedding was completed, one knew how to use them, saving the step of learning.
But after innate organ modification was completed, one needed to gradually master usage through learning. There was no shortcut.
At this time, beam after beam of light swept over his body, and the Rune Physician’s voice sounded again.
“Very good. Your life state is extremely stable. Next we will start the next round of modifications. This time the project is the left arm. Before the modification I need to sever your original left arm. Be ready…”
“Do I not need to rest?” Li Zheng was stunned.
“Under normal circumstances several hours of rest are arranged, but your pure constitution is very special. The implantation of innate organs can continue. Before that I will replenish your body’s vitality.”
After the Rune Physician gave his answer, the modification surgery continued.
The energy arm approached, a needle pierced the very center of Li Zheng’s chest, and life particles were continuously injected into his body.
This was a necessary procedure in implantation modification.
The Ghost-Pupil Eyes implanted in his body was rapidly absorbing his body’s nutrients to grow and needed the supplementation of life particles to keep his body at peak state.
Time passed.
In round after round of implantation surgeries, Li Zheng suffered yet was happy.
But thinking that he would soon have a large sacrificial power income, happiness suppressed the surging pain.
Nothing was more terrifying than being broke.
At this time, the other Grind Kings players were the same as Li Zheng, synchronously undergoing organ implantation surgeries, and the types of organs modified were the same.
As players, each of them possessed the perfect body crafted by the Challenger System, which was the pure body in the Rune Physician’s words and could perfectly adapt to all types of innate organs.
The super high plasticity of the body was precisely set by Qi Sheng for adding new functions in the future.
It was like a brand new computer that could install any software at will and would not crash due to system conflicts.
Or like an unprogrammed chip. No matter what code was written in, it could run perfectly without program conflicts.
This was also the reason the players’ growth had no restrictions and would not be affected by any external forces.
In the terms of a novel setting, it meant cultivation had no bottlenecks.
The modification of innate organs lasted two days. When the modifications were complete, Li Zheng and the others were pushed out of the modification room wrapped like mummies.
One day later, the healing bandages were removed with the help of the Rune Physician.
After the modifications were completed, Li Zheng and the others’ appearances changed drastically.
Having received the Rune Physician’s approval to move freely, Li Zheng, whose whole body prickled with pain, stood before the mirror by the bed.
In the mirror, he was clearly a head taller. His body lines were longer and stronger.
Muscle contours faintly showed beneath the skin. Fine rune lines covered the skin’s surface, sometimes flashing an eerie blue glow, sometimes taking on a metallic sheen, as if his body had become a moving spirit-pattern array.
At this moment, his eyes had become a deep eerie blue, with what seemed like stars flickering in his pupils. Wherever his gaze fell, faint energy ripples spread in the air.
Blue lines coiled around his left arm. At his fingertips tiny sparks of electricity would occasionally snap out involuntarily.
His right arm was fiery red, with surging heat coursing inside. When he clenched his fist, the right arm would instantly swell a size.
Turning around, a roaming dark pattern could vaguely be seen along the spine on the back in the mirror, extending from the nape to the tailbone, as if a slumbering dark dragon were coiled on the surface of his body.
When he inhaled, the dragon gave off a faint red light.
When he exhaled, the faint light faded.
His legs also became longer after the modifications. His ankles were etched with spirit patterns, and it seemed that with just a little force he could spring into the air.
“Damn, I think I got more handsome after the modification.”
An exclamation sounded at his side. Li Zheng turned his head and saw Dirt Poor staring in surprise at himself in the mirror.
As he spoke, as if thinking of something, Dirt Poor suddenly lowered his head and pulled open for a look.
“Oh ho, advanced to jumbo size.”
Li Zheng: …
Also curious, he lowered his head to check at this moment, and then his eyes widened as well.
The former little bean sprout had become a pillar that propped up the sky today.
“Brother Li, this implantation modification is insanely awesome. I really want to bring it back to reality. My rich lady plan might be saved with this thing.”
Family-Sharing Stepdad’s voice sounded in the chat channel.
“If this thing could be brought back to reality, it would probably become a murder weapon. Our Grind Kings would lose a general.” Dirt Poor followed up.
Li Zheng: …
Listening to the brothers joke in the chat channel, Li Zheng did not even know how to chime in.
After the ruckus, they decided to first return to the rest area and let Ghost Eye and the others know they were safe.
At this moment they had only a pair of trousers on and life-monitor wristbands on their wrists. They needed to go to the storage room to retrieve their clothes first.