Chapter 144 – Flesh Assimilation

Yashan’s Evolution went very smoothly.

When he opened his eyes again, he had become a Level 5 Evolved Human [Steel Armor King], his strength having undergone another transformation.

Su Hao first had Yashan demonstrate his newly acquired abilities.

First, his Armor, which had transformed into a substance that was neither gold nor not gold, possessing the texture of steel and the strength of steel. As for the change in appearance, if the Bone Armor of [Bone Demon] was comparable to a tank, then the Armor of [Steel Armor King] could be called an armored vehicle.

Overall, it became taller and thicker. Regardless of beauty or ugliness, the lines became more angular, as if transforming from a pretty boy into a tough guy.

Clearly, Yashan preferred his current state.

Next were his abilities. The abilities previously possessed by Bone Demon could still be used smoothly, except that Bone Spikes had become Steel Spikes. In addition, a new ability had been added, called ‘Flesh Assimilation’.

According to Yashan’s explanation, ‘Flesh Assimilation’ involved mixing his own cells into an object, thereby infecting the object and causing it to temporarily transform under the effect of Blood Qi, gaining characteristics similar to Steel Armor.

Fearing that he might not explain it clearly, Yashan immediately gave Su Hao a live demonstration.

Yashan placed his hand on the ground, and his entire hand began to dissolve, merging into the ground. The ground gradually turned dark gray and continued to spread outwards, like an ink drop diffusing in water.

The assimilated ground underwent new changes. The originally hard ground began to soften, turning into a semi-liquid state, undulating like waves.

Yashan said, “Once my cells have completely assimilated this area, I will be able to manipulate the substance in this region just as I manipulate my own body. For example, I can turn it into a stool…”

As he spoke, Yashan controlled the gray, soft substance, causing it to bulge and take shape, finally forming a crooked, round stool.

Yashan said awkwardly, “Uh, Boss Wei, I’m not skilled with the controls yet. This is indeed a stool! I’ll get better with practice!”

However, Su Hao looked at the mass of substance with no trace of mockery in his eyes, only curiosity.

Yashan then added, “Besides that, I can also control this substance, making it soft or hard at will… Soft as water, hard as steel! Like… this!”

“Crack!”

As Yashan’s voice fell, the crooked stump instantly hardened, emitting a metallic sheen.

Su Hao tapped it with the Bone Blade in his hand, producing a sound like metal striking metal.

Then he forcefully plunged it downwards.

“Clang~ Snap–“

The Bone Blade in his hand immediately snapped and flew off.

Su Hao nodded, “The strength is decent!”

He summoned another Bone Blade and imbued it with ‘Level Two-Penetration’ before plunging it downwards again.

“Swoosh!”

It pierced all the way through as if it were stabbing tofu.

Su Hao commented again, “The strength is decent!”

The two statements conveyed different meanings.

Su Hao quickly gave this special substance a name: ‘Assimilated Steel’.

This Assimilated Steel could only alter the external characteristics of a substance for a short time; it could not fundamentally change the substance’s Essence. Once the support from the 【Steel Armor King】 cell’s Harmony Blood Qi was lost, it would quickly revert to its original form.

However, it was undeniable that for Evolved Humans, this ‘Flesh Assimilation’ was simply a divine skill.

As long as the Blood Qi was strong enough, within the area of effect, one was practically invincible!

One could imagine that if someone stepped into the domain, the ‘Assimilated Steel’ would instantly erupt, binding the person’s entire body and then hardening. This person would essentially become a lamb to the slaughter. Since all joints would be bound and restricted, they wouldn’t even be able to exert force, let alone break free.

It was likely that the method the 【Steel Armor King】 Abi used to attack Su Hao before was this ‘Flesh Assimilation’! It could assimilate an area of fifty meters, so his strength was indeed considerable.

If Su Hao hadn’t been able to fly directly into the air, he would have had to expend considerable effort to deal with Abi’s Assimilated Steel.

After some research, Su Hao asked, “Is ‘Flesh Assimilation’ the only ability?” Yashan replied, “Currently, this is the only discovered ability. However, all other abilities have been greatly enhanced.”

Su Hao nodded. This ability alone was already very formidable. He then took out a small booklet and threw it to Yashan. “You haven’t fully completed your Evolution yet; you’re still in the second stage. This booklet details what you need to do within the next moon to try and activate more abilities, such as the ‘Bone Control’ you’ve been trying to acquire for a long time without success. Follow what’s written in the booklet, and you might gain the new ability ‘Steel Armor Mastery’.”

Yashan’s eyes lit up. “Boss Wei, if I obtain ‘Steel Armor Mastery’, will I have a chance to fly into the sky?”

Su Hao nodded. “In principle, yes.”

Yashan became excited. “That’s great! Thank you, Boss Wei, I’ll go do it now!”

He then excitedly ran off.

Su Hao immediately called Yashan back: “Yashan, come back here! What’s the rush?”

Yashan ran to Su Hao and chuckled sheepishly: “Boss Wei, I got a little carried away just now!”

Su Hao said: “First, let’s see if Runes can be inscribed on Steel Armor. If not, your strength will be greatly diminished!”

Hearing this, Yashan’s body went numb. How could he have overlooked this?!

Finally, the thing Su Hao needed to confirm was whether Runes could still be inscribed on Steel Armor, just like on Bone Armor.

After messing around with Yashan for a long time, Su Hao finally put his mind at ease.

Steel Armor! Runes could also be inscribed on it, and the effect was even better than with Bone Armor.

After confirming everything he needed to, Su Hao immediately sent Yashan away. He needed to seize the time to analyze the gene fragments of [Steel Armor King] before and after Evolution, classify and store them for later use.

However, two hours later, Yashan returned to Su Hao’s Laboratory, scratching his head apologetically and saying: “Boss Wei, I’d like to ask you some questions.”

Su Hao fiddled with Yashan’s blood sample and asked without looking up: “What questions?”

Yashan said: “It’s about this booklet you wrote. There are some parts I don’t quite understand…”

Su Hao was speechless!

As expected, Yashan is illiterate and only recognizes a few characters. He had tried to write as simply as possible, but he still couldn’t understand it.

If he were to take a test in an exam hall, he’d probably get a zero on the reading comprehension section.

Su Hao put down what he was doing and sighed: “Yashan, look at you, you can’t even understand such a simple description! Do you know what you should do from now on?”

Yashan looked confused: “What should I do? Should I read more books from now on?”

Su Hao said: “Pay more attention to your daughter Taini and study hard! Don’t let her grow up to be like you, unable to understand anything!”

Yashan: “…”

Boss Wei is right to lecture me! Yashan was speechless again!

Yashan thought: “Does Boss Wei mean I’m beyond saving?”

…

Half a moon later, Yashan excitedly ran up to Su Hao: “Boss Wei, look! I succeeded, I successfully mastered ‘Steel Armor Control’.”

As he spoke, Yashan extended his right hand and generated an ugly Steel Armor cleaver.

Su Hao’s eyes lit up. Just as he had expected, if the second stage of Evolution was utilized well, it could indeed activate corresponding latent abilities.

Su Hao silently worked on his plan: “Next, I can make good plans and then Evolve into [Steel Armor King]!”

Yashan said excitedly, “Boss Wei, can I fly now?”

Su Hao glanced at the crooked cleaver in his hand and said mercilessly, “Talk about it when you can make the cleaver look more exquisite!”

Yashan: “…”

This sounds familiar, have I heard it before?

(End of Chapter)