Essence Furnace, 99% Conversion Rate!

Chapter 7: Essence Furnace, 99% Conversion Rate!

Without any hesitation, I chose random mutation again!

A few minutes later, I felt a tingling sensation spreading through the flesh and muscle beneath my skin. Suddenly, my body tensed, all my pores opened, and my hairs stood on end. I could even see faint currents of electricity flowing across my skin.

Soon, a dinging sound reached my ears.

[Congratulations, you have obtained the SS-rank gene enhancement skill: Bio-Electromagnetic Pulse: Greatly enhances cells, enabling them to generate a powerful electromagnetic pulse that interferes with and has a high chance of directly destroying electronic devices within 1 kilometer. Cooldown: 60 minutes.]

'Whoa, no way?'

I was overjoyed. I had actually hit the jackpot! The Pandora Solution's limit was SS-rank enhancement skills, a prize with only a 1% chance. And it had just landed on me so easily?

Bio-Electromagnetic Pulse, a skill that sounded incredibly cool. Once activated, it could paralyze electronic networks within a kilometer. And the cooldown wasn't too long either; it could be used once an hour, making it a great value for money!

For a moment, my heart was filled with ecstasy. If the chance of successfully escaping before was 50%, then with the appearance of this skill, that probability had at least increased to over 80%!

After all, the Undercurrent base named "Iron Blood Training Camp" beneath the Death Mine was densely packed with electronic grids, and most of the machinery contained electronic components. Generating an electromagnetic pulse would be enough to paralyze over ninety percent of the defenses here. Coupled with Left Hand and I both upgrading and awakening the Essence Furnace, our chances of escaping disaster had greatly increased!

Soon, I calmed down.

There were still many challenges ahead. First, I had to keep it hidden from Instructor Lakuri. If he found out I had awakened an SS-rank super gene enhancement skill like Bio-Electromagnetic Pulse, I would surely be sent to a higher-level Undercurrent organization base. My future could be even more perilous than Puff's!

An hour later, two guards entered and pushed me, outwardly unchanged, into the electroshock room.

"Why is there still no reaction?"

Instructor Lakuri's face contorted in anger. "You useless piece of trash! Three doses of precious Pandora Solution and still no enhancement! Guards, electroshock him severely!"

"Yes, Instructor!"

Two guards stepped forward and initiated the electroshock procedure.

The next moment, high-intensity current surged through my body. The Bio-Electromagnetic Pulse power, hidden deep within my cells, resonated in response, crackling and showing signs of imminent release.

'Damn, this won't do...'

I desperately tried to maintain my consciousness, forcing myself not to enter combat form while simultaneously suppressing the Bio-Electromagnetic Pulse power within me. For a time, the currents inside and outside my body clashed violently.

Three minutes later, the electroshock was complete.

"Instructor Lakuri, there's still no effect."

The doctor in the white coat shook his head. "Perhaps this test subject's genes are simply too stubborn. The Pandora Solution didn't cause any mutations."

"You scoundrel!"

Instructor Lakuri roared, stepping forward and yanking me off the examination bed before slamming me hard onto a nearby table.

Intense pain shot through my face and chest. At the same time, I saw Instructor Lakuri's health bar and my own rapidly depleting health bar.

"You useless trash, you've disappointed me too much!"

Instructor Lakuri's vice-like hand gripped the back of my head, smashing it hard against the array of potions, syringes, and various instruments on the table, then throwing me heavily to the ground.

"147!"

My health bar dropped by more than half instantly.

And this was when Instructor Lakuri only intended to vent his anger, not to kill me.

Lying on the cold ground, I trembled all over but made no sound. However, the anger in my heart burned hotter and hotter.

"Instructor."

A guard said, "Subject 033's training performance has been quite good, especially in actual combat. He ranks first and second with Subject 066. It would be a shame to kill him directly."

"Hmph!"

Instructor Lakuri shot him a sinister glance and sneered, "This kind of trash... throw him into the Vanguard's reserve camp tomorrow afternoon and let him fend for himself!"

"Yes!"

Two guards, armed and ready, escorted me back to the old warehouse. They even kicked me in the back, which made me offer a wry smile. At this point, I was probably someone anyone in the base could bully.

Deep into the night, I activated the Star Map.

"Sixth Brother, you there?"

"Here, Third Brother!"

Left Hand logged in instantly. "I saw you being sent into the injection room. What happened afterward?"

"The situation is dire."

I frowned. "I'll be sent to the Vanguard's reserve camp tomorrow afternoon. Our plan must be moved up. Otherwise, it might be too late. What do you say?"

"I'm all set."

Left Hand replied, "Actually, this timing is quite good. Miss Puff sent a message saying that General Vega will be leaving the Death Mine base tonight at 8 PM with three hundred soldiers from the Gray Bug Regiment to continue their raid for test subjects in a large settlement. That settlement is very far away, requiring at least eight hours for a one-way trip!"

The biggest BOSS in the Death Mine is General Vega, one of the leaders of the Undercurrent. He is a mutant and a cyborg. It is said that over 70% of Vega's body has been replaced with steel and alloy, and after multiple gene enhancements, he is incredibly strong.

If he and the Gray Bug Regiment remained in the base, it would indeed have a significant impact on our escape plan.

"Eight hours..."

I pondered for a moment and said, "That's enough! Then we'll use a time difference. We'll make our move precisely at 4 AM tomorrow. However, if we only act within the old storeroom, we'll be outnumbered. Before we make our move, it's best to create a diversion. It would be more suitable to act when the base is short-handed."

"Is that so..."

Left Hand mused for a moment, then chuckled, "Would blowing up the storeroom on the east side outside the base be enough to lure the tiger away from its mountain?"

"You can blow it up?"

"Yes."

Left Hand smiled faintly, "I have some trump cards I haven't revealed yet."

"Alright."

I nodded. "Then it's set. We'll blow up the storeroom at 3:55 AM. Once things get lively over there, I'll cut off all the power lines in the base. Our rooms have a program that automatically opens when the power is cut. At exactly 4 AM, I'll cut the power. After that, we'll break through from two directions. The elevator will definitely be unusable, so we'll fight our way up through the tunnels. Do you want to come with me?"

"No, it's too risky to stick together. We could all be wiped out in one go."

Left Hand said, "I'll go through the west tunnel, and you go through the east tunnel. That way, at least one of us can escape. If we're lucky, both of us can leave alive."

"Okay."

I didn't object.

"Third Brother..."

Left Hand said, "Are you really confident you can instantly cut off all the power in the base?"

"Yes."

I smiled. "It's also a trump card I haven't revealed."

"Alright!"

Left Hand laughed heartily. "When should we level up?"

"Ten minutes early, at 3:50 AM. We'll level up, awaken our main class, and the Essence Furnace. By then, we shouldn't be detected anymore."

"Okay."

"Then we'll activate the Star Map, and we can communicate freely!"

"Got it, Brother, I'll listen to you!"

Time ticked by, second by second.

Around 6 PM, a guard delivered dinner. It was leftovers: some bread crumbs, a gnawed-bare chicken carcass, and a bowl of soup that looked unappetizing. It was highly likely the guards had added something to it.

"033, your deluxe meal has arrived."

The guard said with a mocking smile, "You're about to go to the vanguard and live a good life. Don't be picky about this last meal in our base."

I didn't say anything, just silently took the tray.

Afterward, I forced myself to swallow all the food, enduring the discomfort.

I didn't know when my next meal would be, so the stamina this meal provided would be extremely important. As for the quality of the food, it wasn't even a consideration for me.

Time flowed by, second by second.

Around 8 PM, a roar echoed from within the base. Through the window of the old storeroom, I could see a massive transport plane on the huge landing platform, its engines roaring. Flames spewed from beneath its belly as it slowly lifted off from the mine.

The information Puff provided was accurate. General Vega had indeed left the base.

Therefore, among the remaining enemies in the base, the strongest was Instructor Lakuri, a Level 15 BOSS. The other instructors were all Level 15 elite monsters, completely incomparable to Instructor Lakuri in terms of attack and HP.

I slept for a little while and woke up around 3 AM.

I sat in the old storeroom, watching the time on my watch, and frowned. I had no more sleepiness.

At this moment, Left Hand was probably as nervous as I was.

Finally, around 3:50 AM, it was time to level up!

I brought up my character panel and confirmed the level-up. Instantly, a ray of golden light cascaded down, filling me with a warm sensation. At the same time, a ding-dong sound echoed in my ears.

[Congratulations, you have leveled up to Level 5 and successfully unlocked your main class, "Starry Sky Super Weapon - Sword Specialization - Tier 1!"]

[Congratulations, you have leveled up to Level 5 and successfully awakened your "Essence Furnace" (SS-Rank)!]

"Huh?"

I was dumbfounded, almost unable to open my eyes from the blinding golden light!

In the beta version, my Essence Furnace was only A-Rank. How did it become so lucky in the official release?!

I hurriedly opened my character panel again and found a fiercely churning fiery red furnace below my character panel. After confirming it, the furnace transformed into a golden light and flowed into my body!

Instantly, my blood surged. At the xiphoid process in my chest, a fiery red vortex appeared, becoming a new organ within my body, replacing the xiphoid process. It began to churn ceaselessly, converting the Essence in the air into the Yuan Power required by players!

At the same time, the specific attributes of the Essence Furnace jumped out, displaying before my eyes--

[Essence Furnace] (SS-Rank)

Level: 1

Strength: 4

Agility: 3.5

Stamina: 3

Spirit: 2.9

Conversion Rate: 99%

Details: The Essence Furnace can be upgraded by extracting experience from monsters. The higher the furnace's conversion rate, the faster the Essence recovery speed per second.

"Buzzzzzz~~~"

Looking at the data before him, his mind went blank.

He got lucky, he definitely got lucky!

The highest conversion rate for an Essence Furnace is only 100%, and his furnace is as high as 99%. Doesn't that make him second only to one person, above ten thousand others!?