“Chaos Era, June 6, Year 16. Regeneration Project, Cultivation Chamber Sample 006 awakened. On June 7, Year 16 of the Chaos Era, it destroyed the base.”
Drink, spit out, drink, spit out, drink—absorb…
Drink, absorb, drink, absorb—split…
Drink, absorb, split, drink, absorb, split…
Split, split, split, split, split!
In the dim secret chamber, a mass of crimson flesh gradually grew in a jar-shaped culture dish filled with turbid liquid.
On the stand holding the culture dish, a yellowed label read “006.”
While still a mass of flesh in the culture dish, 006 suddenly opened a mouth on its unstable surface.
As this mouth forcefully opened, a large amount of the turbid liquid in the culture dish was sucked into it.
The mouth closed, and the liquid absorbed into the flesh was rapidly digested and converted into energy. The volume of the flesh began to grow at a visible rate.
In less than a minute, the mass of flesh, originally only the size of a fingernail, grew to the size of a ping-pong ball.
006 felt great at this moment; it could avoid dying for quite a long time.
It opened its mouth again, wanting to absorb liquid to continue growing.
But it found that it hadn't absorbed any energy.
At this point, most of the turbid liquid in the culture dish had already been swallowed by 006, with only a small amount of non-nutritious clear water immersing half of its body.
006 didn't know why it couldn't absorb energy, so it could only continue to open and close its mouth.
The few energies within its body were consumed with each opening and closing.
006 noticed this, and the opening and closing movements of its mouth became more intense. The edges of its mouth even began to occasionally hit the culture dish.
Clang… Clang…
The jar-shaped culture dish began to shake under 006's increasingly violent movements, emitting a crisp rattling sound.
Clang clang!
The shaking of the culture dish became more violent, and the rattling sound grew louder.
The next second.
Crack—!
The culture dish fell from the stand due to the violent shaking, smashing into pieces on the ground.
What's happening? What's happening?
So many cells died!
006, slumped like mud in the center of the glass shards, was completely unable to comprehend what was happening.
Not only did increasing the size of its mouth fail to absorb more energy, but it was suddenly attacked by a hard object, causing many cells to die.
006's somewhat disgusting body slowly writhed.
It urgently wanted to know what was happening around it.
This thought emerged in every cell that composed it, causing its cells to constantly change.
As a result, its cells sensed the ground and the glass shards embedded in its body.
006 found a way to perceive the outside world.
“Squeak squeak…”
In the darkness, a faint sound came.
But 006, without hearing, didn't notice it at all.
Immediately after, a white mouse emerged from the darkness, observing 006 from a distance. Its white fur was particularly conspicuous in the dim secret chamber.
006, however, remained completely unaware of the mouse's presence, merely lying there, wriggling its body.
Looking at the wriggling mass of flesh, the mouse was momentarily unsure whether it was food or danger.
The mouse cautiously approached, its tiny nose constantly sniffing the surrounding air.
When it was less than half a meter from 006, the white mouse finally determined that it was merely a moving piece of flesh.
The white mice no longer hesitated, quickly approached 006, and bit into its crimson flesh.
Sharp teeth instantly sank into 006's body, causing the still-wriggling 006 to stop immediately.
The next second, it began to struggle violently again.
Cells are dying! Cells are dying!
006 perceived the mass death of its cells and also felt that something was actively harming it.
The white mice did not give up due to 006's struggles; instead, it used its short front paws to hold down the opponent and began to gnaw.
006, already only the size of a ping-pong ball, had a piece of flesh bitten off, and its entire body began to struggle violently.
006's weak strength was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, merely slowing down the opponent's gnawing speed.
It seemed to perceive that struggling could reduce cell death.
006's body struggled even more fiercely, and the originally meaningless flesh gradually arranged itself into muscle tissue.
The small mouse, which had been able to easily hold down 006, gradually began to lose control of its opponent until it was completely pushed away by 006.
But the white mice, having already tasted 006's flesh, apparently did not want to give up this easy prey.
Its sharp teeth opened, and after finding an opportunity, it pounced, biting the opponent again.
Long teeth once again penetrated 006's flesh.
006 continued to struggle as before.
But this white mice bit down on 006, holding on tightly as if passionately kissing a long-distance girlfriend not seen for months.
Feeling its internal energy constantly weakening with the struggle, 006 could clearly feel its cells dying at a very fast rate.
006 gradually stopped struggling and instead opened its mouth again.
Energy was already being lost, and the only way 006 knew to replenish energy was to ingest it through its mouth.
A mouth opened on the crimson surface, then began to constantly expand and contract, expand and contract.
Empty, nothing at all…
Cells are dying, energy is being lost!
I'm going to die! Half left!
Can't die!
006 began to desperately open its mouth, trying to obtain some nutrients.
Until the size of this mouth was about to be larger than its own volume, 006 finally felt its mouth touch something.
006 didn't care about anything else and quickly tightened its mouth, wanting to seize this hard-won nutrition.
The thing clamped by its mouth, however, kept struggling, seeming as if it would escape the next second.
006, already more famished than a shut-in who had run 1000 meters without a drop of water, would never let the opponent go.
Eighty percent of its body's energy was focused on its mouth, and the powerful force rendered the opponent completely immobile.
Immediately after, 006 felt a surge of immense energy slowly being absorbed by itself.
This energy was even more potent than the turbid liquid it had initially absorbed.
It succeeded; it finally found energy it could absorb.
The mouth clamping the object began to constantly writhe, then started to grow and extend at a visible rate.
In less than ten seconds, the struggling object was completely enveloped by its mouth and absorbed into its body.
006 also realized at this moment that this thing, which could provide immense energy, was the white mice that had just tried to devour it as food.
At this point, 006 was like a rubber balloon made of flesh, tightly enveloping the opponent.
It began to directly digest the still-struggling white mice.
Also, because it had completely swallowed it, 006 thoroughly understood the white mice's structure from outside to inside.
How strange…
The outside is a furry layer, and the flesh is supported by many hard sticks inside.
Why does this thing's mouth have so many hard things inside?
It seemed these were the things that had just pierced into 006's body.
Under 006's powerful digestive ability, the white mice gradually stopped struggling.
From skin to flesh, from organs to bones, the entire white mice was converted into nutrients and absorbed by 006.