Chapter 45: Chapter 44: Evolutionary Modification, Blinding, and Mission
Father Su An slowly approached.
At this moment, his eyes were dark-ringed, and he looked exhausted, as if he hadn’t slept for days.
Since disappearing in the morning, he had been studying the two Level 10 Mutated Wolf Fangs, overexerting his energy.
After speaking, he stopped in front of everyone.
Lin Feng’s companion, Su Yueyue, seeing this, shrank back a little.
Father Su An raised his hand, gently rubbed her head, and spoke softly:
"Go play with your companions; this is not a place for children."
Su Yueyue nodded and jogged away.
Lin Feng watched her figure recede:
"Sir, is that your daughter?"
Su An nodded:
"When Yueyue was born ten years ago, her physique wasn’t very good. Thanks to the Holy Spring’s help, she managed to survive healthily."
Lin Feng squinted his eyes slightly, noting that the Church’s laws and rules were quite lenient, allowing for normal marriage and childbirth.
But then again, the Wasteland population is already sparse, with 70% of deserters barely having enough to eat. Without encouraging evolvers to reproduce, they might face a population gap.
After mentioning this briefly, Su An looked through the glass window at the ongoing injection modification.
Chen Shanshan was somewhat nervous, recalling how, as a child, she heard her masters discuss the evolution process, and how some people’s adverse reactions were exceptionally strong.
Although continuous iterations and optimizations have made the success rate of injecting the Evolution Liquid extremely high, almost achieving 100% qualitative evolution, a successful evolution doesn’t mean the previous sequelae instantly vanish, only greatly reduced.
Aside from excessive reactions damaging the physique and spirit, a death rate of under 1% indeed exists.
The risk is very low, but not nonexistent.
Therefore, the generally recommended age for evolution is between twenty and thirty-five years old.
The minimum is not to be under fifteen years old, and the oldest not over forty, as risks increase outside this range.
This was also why Shanshan’s master did not allow Chen Shanshan to start evolution early, feeling that helping her advance to Late-stage Enhanced Person before leaving was already a bit much.
As for the "aging" Li Hu, he represented the other side of this issue, wishing to have one last fight before turning forty.
Now that Chen Shanshan is eighteen, she can barely begin her evolution.
The Assistant Priest carefully took out a semi-transparent potion from the low-temperature freezer, then drew out five small syringes of Evolution Liquid using five needles.
Then, the five present personnel began injecting Chen Shanshan, who was on the operating table.
The injection points were on both arms, both legs at the ankles, and at the neck of the spine.
Injections were administered simultaneously at all five locations.
When the Evolution Liquid in the syringes was slowly injected into Chen Shanshan’s body, one could see her limbs instantly tense, the blue veins under the skin bulging with the tensing muscles, twitching and even writhing as her hands and feet convulsed.
Outside the window, Father Su An began explaining the principles to everyone:
When stimulated by the Evolution Liquid, cells undergo qualitative evolution, with the original cellular structure being reshaped to build new, stronger Tier One cells.
This permanently locks in the over one ton of strength of a Level 9 Enhanced Person.
The one-ton strength, which previously required adrenaline stimulation to unleash, would now become the norm for this new body.
This qualitative change process also sped up the blood circulation, spreading from the limbs to the trunk.
The Evolution Liquid injected into the neck vertebrae also started strengthening and modifying the nervous system in the spine, greatly enhancing Chen Shanshan’s reaction speed.
This is also the most distinguishable characteristic of an evolver compared to Level 9 Enhanced People, apart from superpowers.
The rapid neural response allows an evolver to handle the attacks of several Level 9 Enhanced People simultaneously.
And with the enhancement of the physique, an evolver can explode at a speed of thirty meters per second, equivalent to a vehicle traveling a hundred kilometers per hour, comparable to a cheetah.
This is three times the trained professional athlete,
and double that of a Late-stage Enhanced Person.
So, the latter’s attack appears slow-motion ridiculous before an evolver’s eyes.
But at this moment, the strengthening of the nervous system also caused Chen Shanshan to experience intense pain, like the micro-tearing bites of countless insects over her entire body.
The sensation of burning and numbness alternated.
The whole person bounced like a carp, and if not for her limbs being tightly restrained, she could arch her back like a mantis shrimp.
Fortunately, such pain only lasted for ten minutes, after which it rapidly subsided.
Because the dosage ratio was just right, the modifications and optimizations did not fall short to cause an evolutionary failure, nor did they exceed bounds, which would have overburdened the body, turning transformation into destruction and leaving sequelae.
As the most intense early stage ended, the subsequent adaptive improvements happened imperceptibly.
The Assistant Priest and four cultivators nearby did not relax, holding sedatives in case of emergencies.
Although a Tier One Evolver initially only possesses a ton of strength, under stress response, they can explode with several tons of extreme power, entering a frenzied state of insanity.
Like a humanoid beast, extremely dangerous.
At this moment, the comatose Chen Shanshan’s breathing was even and appeared unusually calm.
Outside the window, Lin Feng and the others finally let out a sigh of relief, their tense hearts gradually relaxing.
But behind them, Father Su An wore a serious expression and said:
"If the early physical changes are not too severe, the awakened superpower isn’t related to physique, it’s likely to be spiritual class."
"Did Miss Chen awaken any superpowers prematurely during the late-stage enhancement phase?"
Lin Feng’s expression changed slightly.
Not many people knew about this; apart from Ding Yi and himself, Qi Mountain and Li Hu were no longer alive. Given that this concerned the success of evolution and there weren’t many outsiders nearby, Lin Feng, after several seconds of consideration, slowly spoke:
"Yes. After reaching Level 7, she awakened the ability of perception, allowing her to detect nearby dangers."
Father Su An nodded:
"Then there’s no mistake. It seems Miss Chen is very fortunate; the chance of awakening a spiritual system superpower is actually less than 5%. Each one is basically an outstanding talent among evolvers..."
"This will greatly help when you form the Desert Hunting Team for missions later on."
As Father Su An’s words ceased, everyone was still immersed in his preliminary introduction to superpowers...
Suddenly, the scene inside the window dimmed.
The entire space’s light vanished in an instant.
From the outside, the medical office seemed as if the lights turned off, plunging into darkness.
In the sun-scorched wasteland of eternal day, such a night-like gloom appeared.
The few outside were instantly appalled, and Lin Feng was startled by the sudden change.
Even the always composed Father Su An showed a very grave expression.
He hurriedly comforted everyone:
"Don’t worry, this is Miss Chen’s first full awakening of her superpower, she can’t control it freely yet..."
Then he solemnly reminded everyone there, including the assistant priests and cultivators inside the medical office:
"But judging by the spiritual energy wave from inside, it’s not an offensive ability, it should just be another enhancement of her perception ability."
"There’s no danger, no need to panic."
Inside the medical office, engulfed by darkness, the assistant priests soon calmed down and instructed everyone to stay put to prevent any mishaps in the panic.
And soon, the darkness that appeared lasted less than ten seconds before gradually dissipating.
The light outside shone back in, illuminating the dimmed medical office.
The receding darkness, like a contracting mist, gradually withdrew into Chen Shanshan on the operating table.
"It’s over. After resting for two or three hours, once her mental state recovers, Miss Chen will awaken and embrace her evolver life."
Su An slowly spoke, leaving with a remark:
"Lin Feng, come here."
Lin Feng nodded, confirmed that Chen Shanshan had completed the evolution modification, and followed Father Su An’s silhouette.
Leaving the medical office, the two walked among the slowly moving convoy in the village, seeing groups of children frolicking and playing.
In a distant vehicle equipped with park playground facilities, children played on slides and seesaws.
Su Yueyue sat alone at the top of a climbing frame, listening idly to the boys below chatting aimlessly.
Seeing this, Su An smiled and remarked:
"Yueyue seems to like you; she rarely interacts with others, you should come more often."
Lin Feng nodded.
"The superpower Miss Chen awakened should be a blinding effect to complement her perception ability, very effective in close combat."
After mentioning this, Father Su An brought up serious matters:
"In the coming days, you need to form a Desert Hunting Team quickly and recruit more evolvers."
"Fifty kilometers from Oasis Town on the left, there’s a migrating large beast herd, with many Tier One Desolate Beasts."
"As long as you account for a Tier One beast carcass, I can immediately apply for modifications and evolution for you."
Saying this, Father Su An entered his office.
A one-room-one-hall space within a modified minibus.
Lin Feng followed him inside.
Su An unrolled a two-meter-long world map, marking the current position of everyone:
"After the next Holy Spring Day, Oasis Town will pass by an underground relic, I need you to retrieve a special item from it."
"We’ll discuss the specific mission once you’re eligible to go. For now, if you have any questions, I can answer those I know."
Lin Feng had waited for this moment for a very long time,
and couldn’t help blurting out:
"I want to know, what happened to this world?"