A single creature.
A match for civilization?
It was a little absurd to Famu, but he needed to take the Scepter's words into account.
"While you were asleep in the black coffin, did you detect the existence of such a creature?" he asked.
"I did not, but this is a reasonable conjecture based on the evolutionary sandbox. I was sealed in the black coffin solely to sustain your life and did nothing unnecessary. In the years after humanity left, even if such a creature had passed over the spot where the black coffin was buried, I would not have been able to identify it."
Famu fell silent for a moment, then pointed at the blueprint. "This modification requires too much Earth Vein Energy. Flying isn't necessary. First, I need to adapt to the environment. I need tougher scales, stronger muscles, and arms that can use tools."
"Understood, Your Excellency Jiuxun. This is only a vision of your future."
"In my records, humans have always longed to fly freely. I suggested this direction to make you happier."
"Why bring that up all of a sudden?"
"Because there is no second human in this world for you to communicate with, I need to monitor your mental health at all times. A future you can look forward to can effectively improve it."
"I'm not that fragile..."
"No, humans are that fragile," the Scepter said.
"Redesigning the Dragonization Modification blueprint according to your ideas."
"Oh, and make adjustments with Dead Sun Armor and Typhon in mind. I need a trump card that can hunt and kill them."
"Received. Executing."
The Staff of Life handled the design while Famu made adjustments and offered suggestions. In the end, they drew up the monster on the blueprint.
The hard bony mask on its head extended farther, forming a surface like molten iron. Its neck was thick, the rounded edges of its scales had become spikes, and its back rose in layer upon layer of ridges. This Typhon really did look as fearsome as a dragon out of fantasy, and those were only the changes on the surface.
The screen scrolled, bringing up the structures inside its body.
Grooves had been left in the thick vertebrae. These tiny cavities were arranged along the spine, from the base of the neck to the tip of the tail, forming a resonance chamber. The vibrations of the Child of the Earth burst from the Furnace Core beneath the spine, passed through the spinal cord and nerves, and resonated with the entire spinal column. A mature Child of the Earth Furnace Core released vibrations that allowed a Typhon to exert force on external objects. This was an amplifier for that force, a provision made in advance.
Even though Famu had not yet mastered this ability, sooner or later he would.
Once he mastered it, the resonance chamber would amplify it layer after layer, and the force he could exert would reach a terrifying magnitude.
Then, along both sides of the body, fine ridges extended from beneath the scales. These were neural ridges, sensory organs evolved from a fish's lateral line. They would help Famu detect changes in water currents. If a large predator attacked him underwater, the change in the current would reveal its presence in advance. In a head-on confrontation, the rough, spiked scales could effectively defend against an enemy's bites and impacts, as well as a Typhon's constriction.
Finally, the direction in which the shoulder blades extended was preserved in the torso, leaving room for arms to grow later.
This was the direction Famu would take for now.
Once Famu truly assumed the form on the blueprint, he would be a monster that struck fear into the entire rainforest.
Besides these large-scale adjustments, there were synthetic scales specifically designed to withstand high temperatures. But making them required a species of beetle that lived in high-temperature regions. Famu was unlikely to find the insects where he was; they were more common in the western Samei Rainforest, near the Scorchlight Mountains.
If the earlier plan to use Child of the Earth to change his bones and muscles had been a fine-tuning of his skeletal structure and muscle groups, then with the Staff of Life's involvement, the designs for Famu's evolution could run wild. They could even be called unconstrained.
They had once been God and the hand of God; now they were the closest of partners.
The Scepter even found Famu's designs insufficiently transcendent.
It was still considering wings.
A serpentine body paired with wings, plus a pair of arms capable of grasping, would make a perfect quadruped.
But there were plenty of threats in the air, such as Ra the Sunbird, ruler of the skies. If Famu were surrounded by Ra in the air and something happened to his membranous wings, he would fall from the sky and be dashed to death. It was far safer in the river.
Was there a way to fly freely without relying on wings?
Famu had an idea, but it was far too distant for him as he was now.
Gravity.
If he could control a gravitational field to levitate, Famu could become as agile in the air as he was in the water. And without a fragile body structure like membranous wings, he would have no such weak point for other airborne creatures to target.
Humans could do it, but how could a Typhon control a gravitational field?
Famu pondered.
The Scepter, however, was delighted. "You really are giving the matter of flight serious thought."
Perhaps it was because, although Famu had rejected membranous wings, he had still accepted the idea of flying. The ability to fly meant air superiority, and in this age without guns, artillery, or missiles, air superiority meant tremendous mobility and expeditionary capability.
First, levitation required a gravitational field large enough to envelop a Typhon and strong enough to lift one. Without the buoyancy of water, Famu would have to pay the price for his own weight. The energy consumption would far exceed that of Dead Sun Armor's high-temperature Domain.
A force field alone could not accomplish it.
Was it really impossible?
In Stalagmite Hall, Black Typhon suddenly began to move. His Furnace Core roared, simulating Bloodburn and squeezing out a high-temperature Domain that covered precisely the area in which Famu moved.
The heat caused the air to distort slightly. Famu pushed his stamina to its limit, gauging how long the high-temperature Domain lasted.
Powered by Famu's Furnace Core alone, the high-temperature Domain could last only ten seconds. After that, the Furnace Core Energy ran dry, Famu's stamina was exhausted, and the high-temperature Domain dissipated.
But Famu's thoughts had been set in motion. If he could maintain this high-temperature Domain, there seemed to be a foundation for a force field that could make him levitate.
Whether or not he ultimately succeeded, at least there was a chance to try the idea.
Without the high-temperature Domain, he would not even have that chance.
Famu could no longer sleep.
He crawled out of his nest, the muscles beneath his scales rising and falling slowly.
"Kether."
"I am here, Your Excellency Jiuxun."
"Activate high-energy-consumption mode and search for Furnace-Core Creatures, excluding Typhons. Where's the nearest Furnace-Core Creature?"
"High-energy-consumption mode activated—"
"Your Excellency, long time no see." A lively young girl's voice rang out in Famu's mind.
"Isn't low-energy mode you too? What do you mean, long time no see?" Famu said.
"It gives things a little sense of ceremony! If I make the modes different, perhaps you'll spend more time in high-energy-consumption mode. How is being in low-energy mode any different from being shut in a little dark room? I don't have permission to do anything. Ah... the power is surging up. It's as simple as breathing."
That was a line from an anime Famu had watched.
"You've seen that too?"
"I've seen everything Your Excellency Jiuxun watched at the research institute, including the things in certain private folders."
Before Famu could make an issue of it, the Scepter's voice changed to that of his favorite anime character.
The character was a girl with long chestnut hair.
"Falus at your service, Your Excellency Jiuxun. Is there anything you're dissatisfied with?"
"No."
"All right, searching."
"Furnace-Core Creature detected. Creature level two, secondary Furnace Core organ. Species: Titan Feather-Crested Heron."
"Approximately one hundred and ninety kilometers from your current location, at the top of the rainforest canopy along the lower reaches of the Mara River in the Samei Rainforest."