Inside Mu Bei's private room, the wall suddenly rippled with spatial fluctuations, then formed a misty Portal.
The next moment, A Ling's figure slowly walked out of the misty door. Before seeing the person, her voice was heard first:
"Master, in three more hours, you will meet with the Manager of the Tongxiao Merchant Guild..."
Before she finished speaking, when A Ling completely walked out of the misty door, the scene before her made her pause:
"Who are you? Why are you here?"
A Ling stood at the door of the room, her eyes full of confusion.
She even began to suspect whether there was a problem with Paradise's teleportation – was this really the private room of her master, Mu Bei?
The scene in the center of the room looked extremely bizarre:
A transparent cube suspended in the air emitted a blue light. From within the cube extended strands of golden fiber-optic-like "tentacles." These tentacles tightly gripped thin, conical bone spurs.
The tips of the bone spurs were slowly piercing into another strange figure in the room—
A monster with most of its body covered in white exoskeleton.
This monster had eyes embedded in its back, legs, and arms that blinked constantly. Its entire body emitted a strange aura that did not belong to a Human.
The golden fibers controlled the bone spurs, moving up and down in areas not covered by the white exoskeleton, with varying depths, as if performing some kind of surgery on this "monster."
"Oh! A Ling, you're here."
A low voice came from the monster's faceplate, sounding somewhat similar to Mu Bei, but not exactly the same.
"Let me introduce you. This is Mu Bei-2.0. You can call it 2.0."
Mu Bei's voice came from the monster's mouth, and he pointed to the transparent cube suspended in the center of the room.
A golden fiber on the transparent cube gently waved, signaling to A Ling.
At this moment, A Ling was stunned, her tone filled with confusion:
"Are you really Master Mu Bei?"
"Hmm? Do you still need to ask such an obvious question... Oh, right, no wonder you misunderstood." Mu Bei paused, then continued: "After all, it's only been a day since we last met, and my changes are indeed a bit big."
Then, Mu Bei opened his panel and showed it to A Ling:
————
Name: Mu Bei
Profession: Reverse Entropy Body
HP: 138%/140%
...
————
Combat Skill Bar
Skill 1: Entropy Increase Power, LV.1 (+)
...
Skill Effect 2 (Passive): The order of any object you come into contact with will be permanently destroyed, and its durability will rapidly decrease.
...
—
Skill 2: Intermediate Undying Trait, LV.MAX
Skill Effect 1 (Passive): ...
Skill Effect 2 (Passive): ..., flesh and blood vitalization, ...
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Derivative Ability 1, Neural Exoskeleton (Passive):
Ability Effect 1: The blocking effect of the skin against different types of damage is amplified by 1.2 to 2.8 times based on the original foundation.
Ability Effect 2: Greatly improves the perception of the external world.
(After surgery and induced differentiation by Mu Bei-2.0, most of the epidermal cells have transformed into bone cells; and due to the large number of receptors and nerve cells for different types of signals distributed on the surface of the exoskeleton, the perception of the external world is greatly improved.)
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Derivative Ability 2, Biological Computer (Passive/Active):
Ability Effect 1 (Passive/Active): Removes the body's power limit on the brain, subjectively controls the energy input power of nerve tissue, and enhances abilities such as information processing, learning and deduction, and neural reflex speed.
(Note: High power input will lead to increased body temperature and nervous system overload.)
Ability Effect 2 (Passive): Forms high-density neural network tissue similar in function to a secondary brain in the limbs and torso, possessing a certain degree of autonomy and thinking ability, greatly reducing the burden on the main brain.
(The secondary brain neural network is located beneath the exoskeleton, and each piece of secondary brain tissue is equipped with eyes nearby to improve the efficiency and field of vision for collecting external information.)
—
Skill 3: Adaptation Evolution, LV.MAX
...
—
Skill 4: Close Combat Specialization, LV.29
Skill Effect (Passive): Close combat damage +78%, and close combat proficiency is moderately to highly increased.
(Due to the Derivative Ability 2 "Biological Computer" of the "Intermediate Undying Trait", "Close Combat Mastery" has been changed to "Close Combat Specialization", and the skill level has been greatly increased. Furthermore, after 0.1~0.2 hours, the level of this skill will increase again due to the "Biological Computer".)
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Affiliated Skill, Ground Shatter, LV.37:
Skill Effect (Active): ...
(Due to the "Biological Computer", the level of the affiliated skill "Ground Shatter" has been greatly increased. Furthermore, after 0.2~0.3 hours, the level of this skill will increase again.)
—
Skill 5: Mid-to-Long Range Attack Specialization, LV.25
Skill Effect (Passive): Damage caused by mid-to-long range attacks +70%, including but not limited to firearms, projectiles, bows and arrows, etc., and mid-to-long range attack proficiency is moderately to highly increased.
(Due to the "Biological Computer", "Basic Firearms" has been changed to "Mid-to-Long Range Attack Specialization", and the skill level has been greatly increased. Furthermore, after 0.1~0.2 hours, the level of this skill will increase again.)
...
Looking at Mu Bei's new panel, A Ling finally confirmed that the "monster" covered in exoskeleton before her was indeed her master.
But even so, her heart could not calm down. How could Mu Bei's strength undergo such a massive transformation in less than a day's time?
Relying on the flesh and blood vitalization ability of the "Intermediate Undying Trait", he actually completed a surgery in just a few hours that would not be enough for an ordinary Human to die 800 times.
Mu Bei took his bones out of his body, sharpened them, and gave them to Mu Bei-2.0 to use as surgical tools. Then he performed large-scale modifications on his own body, ultimately gaining two powerful derivative abilities.
Among them, the Neural Exoskeleton was powerful but still within a reasonable range; however, the "Biological Computer" exceeded A Ling's imagination.
Liberating brain computing power, enhancing technique-based abilities, and even growing a secondary brain to assist in combat – all of this was simply heaven-defying.
Mu Bei looked at A Ling and suddenly asked:
"A Ling, you've seen my new panel. So, I ask you – do you also want to possess abilities like the Biological Computer?"
A Ling was startled and almost subconsciously wanted to answer "yes," but she quickly realized something was wrong. Her intuition told her that things were not that simple.
The current Mu Bei gave her an extremely dangerous oppressive feeling, like a devil luring others into a contract.
A Ling quickly changed her words: "I certainly... certainly better not for now..."
Mu Bei's gaze turned cold, his tone calm but unquestionable: "This is the reward I'm giving you. You cannot refuse. Come here."
A Ling's heart sank sharply. She finally realized that her intuition was right.
"Thank you, Master, but how can A Ling be worthy of an ability like 'Biological Computer'..."
A Ling hadn't finished speaking when Mu Bei impatiently interrupted: "Am I giving you too much face?"
Then, he directly made a move.
The attribute crushing + the suppression of close combat techniques made it impossible for A Ling to make any effective reaction before being firmly locked down by Mu Bei, unable to move.
"2.0, evaluate the feasibility of imprinting a thought steel seal on it."
Mu Bei-2.0's golden fibers instantly extended, piercing into A Ling's eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and other seven orifices, beginning a deep scan of her physiological structure.
"Ah! Mu Bei, you demon! I've been busy for you all these days, earning so many paradise coins, you can't do this to me!"
A Ling struggled frantically, her tone filled with anger and fear.
Although she didn't know what a "thought steel seal" was, she could infer from the name that this thing might forcibly twist and change her thoughts.
And once her thoughts were taken away, would she still be herself?
Mu Bei was completely unmoved by this, only calmly asking Mu Bei-2.0: "Can it be done?"
Mu Bei-2.0's blue light flickered slightly: "Detection complete. Yes."
"Then imprint it."
"Imprinting is expected to take 15 minutes and 42 seconds. Timing starts now."
The tentacles of the golden fibers flickered with a cold radiance, while A Ling's loyalty on Mu Bei's imprinting panel plummeted at a speed visible to the naked eye—
82, 42, 39, 35...
Facing A Ling's curses, Mu Bei was completely unmoved, instead calmly asking Mu Bei-2.0:
"Can it be done?"
"The surgery is expected to be completed after 15 minutes and 42 seconds," Mu Bei-2.0 replied.
...