Unstable Mutation

[Forced Control mutated into: Dull Puppet.]

[Dull Puppet (A-rank temporary effect): Lasts for the entire duration of your stay in the Ash Zone. While under the Dull Puppet effect, your agility is reduced by 3 points and your presence is diminished, making you extremely easy for other units to overlook.]

[Flesh Bomb mutated into: Supreme Heaven Blood Seed.]

[Supreme Heaven Blood Seed (SS-rank temporary effect): The essence of your flesh and blood is stored in a blood seed in your heart, reducing all your attributes by 10 points. However, you can activate the blood seed at will to gain a temporary +50 boost to all attributes. The burst lasts 30 minutes!]

[Current attributes:]

[Strength: 1]

[Constitution: 1]

[Agility: 1]

[Spirit: 1]

[Note: 1 is the minimum value and cannot be reduced further.]

A cold wind blew past, and Xia Lin sneezed.

He seemed to have caught a cold.

At the same time, his body felt heavy, his steps were weak, and his mind was so groggy that he was about to fall asleep.

With the extraordinary figure of 1 in every attribute, Xia Lin learned what it felt like to be at death's door...

The mechanical voice sounded in his ears again.

[The current Ash Zone's main quest has been issued.]

[Main quest: Hunt!]

[Hunt: Kill ten monsters to complete the main quest. Once the quest is complete, you may leave this Ash Zone at any time.]

[Quest reward: 100 Ash Zone points.]

[Clearance quest: Not triggered.]

[Side quests: None.]

The mechanical voice fell silent, but then Li Peipei spoke up.

"Who just sneezed?"

She turned to look at the others, but after glancing around and finding nothing unusual, Li Peipei shook her head.

"Forget it. Keep yourselves under control and don't alert the monsters in the Ash Zone. A combat-type Ash Zone is hardly safe."

An Yue smiled. "You're as cautious as ever, sister... But it's only a C-rank Ash Zone. I'm sure you could fight your way through it alone."

As Sequence Forty-Three, she certainly had the strength to fight her way through a C-rank Ash Zone alone.

"Achoo~~"

Xia Lin sneezed again.

This time, however, Li Peipei didn't bother with it, completely ignoring Xia Lin.

Dull Puppet had taken effect.

Li Peipei said, "Prepare for battle."

"An Yue Rouyun, apply the buffs! Then the cannon fodder will lead the way."

As Li Peipei gave her orders, her eyes flashed with white light.

She looked around, seemingly sensing the rough location of her target. "At three o'clock."

The others in the team immediately grew serious.

Danger lurked everywhere in an Ash Zone.

For anyone who wanted to stay alive, caution was essential. Even with Sequence Forty-Three there and even though they had only entered a C-rank Ash Zone, they couldn't afford the slightest carelessness.

Lights of various colors shone from An Yue Rouyun's hands, showering everyone present.

More mechanical announcements rang out in Xia Lin's ears.

[You have received buff: Silence (A-rank skill effect): You cannot speak.]

[Silence mutated into: Five Senses Compensation (A-rank temporary effect): Your sight and hearing have been enhanced at the cost of your sense of taste.]

[You have received buff: Petrified Skin (B-rank skill effect): Hardens your skin.]

[Petrified Skin mutated into: Clay Sculpture (D-rank temporary effect): Your presence is slightly diminished.]

[You have received buff: Taunt Aura (C-rank skill effect): You are more likely to attract hostility and attacks from other units.]

[Taunt Aura mutated into: Pity at First Sight (S-rank temporary effect): The lower your attribute values, the less likely you are to attract hostility and attacks from other units, and vice versa.]

[You have received buff: Swift as the Wind (B-rank skill effect): Your movement speed is enhanced.]

[Swift as the Wind mutated into: Acrobatics Master (C-rank temporary effect): You can perform physical feats like an acrobat, including rapid climbing and contortion movements.]

[You have received buff: All-Round Buff (B-rank skill effect): All attributes +3.]

[All-Round Buff mutated into: Curse of Weakness (B-rank temporary effect): All attributes -3.]

[You have received buff: Rapid Healing (B-rank skill effect): Greatly accelerates the healing of injuries.]

[Rapid Healing mutated into: Feast of Flesh (SS-rank temporary effect): Your digestive system and mouth mutate, greatly increasing your digestive capacity and bite force. By consuming the flesh and blood of other creatures, you can temporarily enhance your attributes and heal your injuries and illnesses. The enhancement lasts for the entire duration of your stay in the Ash Zone.]

The team began to move.

Not too fast, not too slow.

Xia Lin was at the very back of the team. Only by putting his mind to sprinting did he barely manage to keep up.

Having just 1 point in each of his four attributes nearly killed Xia Lin and even slowed his thinking, but he still managed to piece together the effects of his mutated buffs.

Lady Luck had smiled upon the transmigrator.

The mutation effects were exceptional!

And they would be Xia Lin's only hope of turning the tables against the odds.

Five Senses Compensation enhanced Xia Lin's sight and hearing, allowing him to faintly hear roars and footsteps around him.

But the perception of the high-level Ash Zone walkers was clearly even sharper than Xia Lin's enhanced senses!

At the front, Li Peipei abruptly raised a hand, signaling the team to stop. As the approaching footsteps grew clearer, she took a deep breath and pulled a greatsword as tall as a person out of thin air.

"Prepare for battle!"

An Yue Rouyun hurried back to the rear of the team, while Zhang Wen and Xie Xiaotian stepped forward to either side of Li Peipei.

A dozen seconds or so later, a lizard-like monster half a person's height lunged out of the darkness with a distorted roar, its bloody maw wide open as it bit at Li Peipei's head.

A cold light suddenly flashed past, and Xia Lin's vision blurred.

Foul-smelling blood sprayed everywhere. Li Peipei had already withdrawn her sword, and the lizard monster had been split in two.

It was so fast that Xia Lin couldn't follow it at all.

The whistling wind revealed the sheer force behind that slash.

As Sequence Forty-Three, she truly did have the ability to fight her way through a C-rank Ash Zone alone with a single sword.

But there was no guarantee that doing so would be safe.

An Ash Zone's rank didn't fully reveal its difficulty or the strength of its enemies, either.

In the pitch-black cave in the distance, more footsteps and roars rang out one after another.

The underground Ash Zone creatures had smelled blood, and the rampage began!

Li Peipei turned to look at the unlucky crew.

Her gaze swept past Xia Lin and settled on the first piece of cannon fodder at the front.

"Go."

After she said that to An Yue, the first unlucky soul moved his legs and charged stiffly and numbly forward.

The buffed cannon fodder had fairly high attributes and considerable combat strength. By ordinary people's standards, they were practically little superhumans.

But their stiff movements weakened their combat ability, and the strength of Ash Zone creatures was far beyond that of ordinary people.

The fluorescent creatures in the cavern didn't provide enough light, severely impairing everyone's vision. By the time An Yue sensed danger, the cannon fodder and the Ash Zone creature were already right on top of each other.

It was a naked humanoid creature with no eyes or hair. It lunged out of the darkness, opening its great mouth to bite the cannon fodder, but a cold light suddenly flashed, and Li Peipei's greatsword beheaded it.

But the appearance of that monster was like a starting gun.

More hurried footsteps sounded in the darkness.

"They're Subterranean Humanoids."

Li Peipei coldly identified the approaching creatures, drawing a sinister smile from Xie Xiaotian.

"Just small fry."