Fusion Skill

"With such a commotion earlier, didn't Xie Wen hear it? Or has something happened to her? Or is this thing targeting me alone?" Zhang Chen ran along the old city's night roads, the blood flowing from his limbs already making him dizzy.

"Damn it," Zhang Chen almost face-planted onto the ground. He glanced, only able to vaguely see a small section of the bridge. He was still far from the Anxin Bridge.

"You eat so much normally, how can you not handle this little bit of blood and start complaining? Can you just pull yourself together and stand up already." But the dizziness grew worse, his left foot suddenly stumbled, and he fell down.

However, Zhang Chen, lying on the ground, found himself unable to stand up. As he frantically pounded the ground with his hands, an aura emanated from behind him.

Zhang Chen turned his head to see over 20 dismembered ghosts approaching him. Some were missing arms, some had no heads, some were so mangled by something like knives that they were unrecognizable. There were even several "seal people," individuals whose limbs had all been severed, wriggling on the ground.

"Heh, taking advantage of my weakness? Holy crap, am I really going to die here? What about Wang Yizhi? I really don't want to die." Zhang Chen tried to get up, to reach the Anxin Bridge, but as soon as he pushed himself up with his hands, he felt dizzy and collapsed again.

Not long after, the more than twenty dismembered ghosts had surrounded Zhang Chen. He strained to lift his head, and in his blurry vision, Zhang Chen saw a ghost in front of him whose mouth was moving, repeatedly mouthing something. Only the lips moved, but no sound came out.

"Please... eat... us..." Zhang Chen managed to decipher the meaning.

Zhang Chen was at his limit. Without thinking, he used his last bit of strength to open his mouth, but his body wouldn't move. How could he eat?

However, the ghost in front of Zhang Chen, seeing his mouth open, began to transform into specks of light, flowing into Zhang Chen's mouth.

A prompt sound rang out.

[Devoured 23 pure resentment souls, saturation gained: 23%. Discovered remnants of a resentment target within your body, assimilation initiated. Acquired Skill: Nails (Extremely Incomplete).]

[Discovered Skill: Growth (Incomplete). Match rate with Nails (Extremely Incomplete) reached: 62%. Proceed with fusion?]

Zhang Chen had no idea what was happening, but his current situation was dire. After swallowing the 23 ghosts, the blood in his body slowly began to saturate, but the wounds on his limbs still hadn't healed, and his nails were still lodged within them.

"Yes," Zhang Chen responded mentally.

Suddenly, the nails embedded in Zhang Chen's limbs plunged directly into his body. The part of his body that had swallowed half the nails seemed to become restless.

"Ah!" Zhang Chen felt something in his body infiltrating the bones of his arms. It hurt a hundred times more than when his left hand broke as a child.

"Hold on!" Zhang Chen was about to collapse. The bones in his arms seemed to be crushed and then reformed. Five minutes passed, the pain began to subside, and Zhang Chen held on, his sweat soaking through his clothes.

At this moment, a voice sounded: Skill fusion successful.

Zhang Chen

Main Soul Frame Status: Active
Main Soul: Gluttonous Ghost
Saturation: 95%
Match Rate with Current: 35%

Secondary Soul Frame Status: Inactive
Skill Slots: 3
Used Skill Slots: 2
Skills Owned: Telekinesis (Evolvable, Used), Nail Growth (Arm Portion, Used)

Telekinesis: Can control intangible forces with the mind. Current proficiency 42%.
Nail Growth: Left and right arm strength increased by 350%, nail hardness increased by 1000%, nail length controllable at will.

Physical Condition: Poor
Perception: High
Overall Evaluation: Medium

Zhang Chen stood up from the ground. The weakness and anemia were gone, replaced by a newborn strength.

"This feeling..." Zhang Chen moved his hands, and his ten nails instantly grew to a full half-meter long. He then slashed at the ground, leaving five claw marks four centimeters deep in the concrete road.

Zhang Chen smiled, retracted his nails, and ran towards Anxin Bridge.

It was only just past ten o'clock, and many vehicles were still passing over the bridge. Although the wounds on Zhang Chen's hands had healed, the blood had stained his entire body, causing many passersby to stare at him.

"Yizhi!" Zhang Chen ignored the stares and stood at the bridgehead, shouting Wang Yizhi's name.

"Damn it, has something happened to her?" Zhang Chen couldn't see Wang Yizhi immediately and started to get anxious. He remembered Wang Yizhi had her phone when he sent her out the window.

Zhang Chen immediately took out his phone. After the great battle, Ruojia was still holding strong, completely unharmed. As Zhang Chen fumbled for Wang Yizhi's number, a voice called out from behind him.

"Zhang Chen!"

Hearing such a familiar voice, Zhang Chen immediately turned around. Wang Yizhi, wearing pajamas, was riding her bike, standing not far behind him near an electrical pole.

Zhang Chen ran over, looked at Wang Yizhi, who appeared completely fine, and felt a wave of relief. However, Wang Yizhi, seeing Zhang Chen covered in blood, started crying again.

Passersby on the roadside watched as a blood-covered boy hugged a girl in pajamas, who was also crying. For a moment, they thought they were watching a movie.

Zhang Chen patted Wang Yizhi's head and said, "Silly, this blood isn't mine. Look at me, I'm perfectly fine. By the way, do you have your house keys? I'll sleep at your place tonight; I can't go back there anymore."

Wang Yizhi was still crying, but her sobs gradually quieted down. She slowly said, "I waited for you for so long. I was so scared you wouldn't come back."

"It's okay now, it's okay now. Do you have your keys?" Zhang Chen asked.

"The keys are in my schoolbag, I didn't bring them out. But when Mom and Dad left, they left a spare key with the doorman," Wang Yizhi said, slowly stopping her crying.

"Let's go. I'll tell you everything when we get to your place. That thing isn't dead yet, let's hurry," Zhang Chen said, got on the bike, and with Wang Yizhi on the back, rode towards the other side of the bridge.

However, just as the two rode away, a figure slowly emerged from beside the electrical pole where Wang Yizhi had been standing. It was Pu Hu. He was smiling now, his eyes filled with kindness, completely devoid of the sternness and frenzy he displayed in the hospital. He looked in the direction Zhang Chen had gone and said.

"Possessing decisiveness, perseverance, luck, and intelligence – congratulations, congratulations."

With that, he leisurely departed.

Before long, Zhang Chen, with Wang Yizhi on his back, arrived at the street outside her residential complex.

"Yizhi, you ride the bicycle in first. Take the key and wait for me inside. I'm covered in blood. If the security guard sees me, even if you say you know me, they won't let me in," Zhang Chen said to Wang Yizhi behind him after getting off the bike.

"Then how will you get in?" Wang Yizhi asked.

"Don't worry about it. I have my ways. Once you're inside, don't go too far. Just wait for me," Zhang Chen replied.

Wang Yizhi nodded and rode Zhang Chen's bicycle into the complex. After seeing Wang Yizhi go in, Zhang Chen walked over to the fence beside the complex. He stared at the camera mounted on it. With a "click," the rotating camera flashed a few sparks and stopped.

Zhang Chen leaped up and braced himself with his hands, landing easily in the complex's courtyard. After locating Wang Yizhi, he found her by the flowerbed not far from the entrance. Zhang Chen walked over, greeted her, and asked, "Is the key okay?"

Wang Yizhi nodded, took Zhang Chen's hand, and led him towards her home.

Wang Yizhi's home wasn't as large as her cousin's. It was a three-bedroom, two-living-room apartment. Upon entering, there was a relatively spacious living room. Zhang Chen, in his current state, looked quite frightening. As soon as Wang Yizhi entered, she told Zhang Chen to sit on the sofa and then ran into the bedroom. A moment later, she returned with a few pieces of clothing.

"These are all my dad's clothes. Pick out a few that fit and change," Wang Yizhi said.

Zhang Chen looked them over and chose a light green V-neck t-shirt and a pair of denim shorts. Perhaps due to being used to being alone at home, Zhang Chen directly took off his clothes. The 14-year-old Zhang Chen had an excellent physique, standing at 1.8 meters tall, with his abs faintly visible.

"Ah, what are you doing? Change in the bathroom!" Wang Yizhi covered her eyes and pointed towards the bathroom.

Zhang Chen scratched his head sheepishly, hugged the clothes, and headed towards the bathroom. "Oh right, can I take a shower here? I'm covered in blood."

Wang Yizhi blinked and said, "Go ahead. For the towel, use the pink one hanging on the second rack. I don't think we have any other towels."

Zhang Chen looked at the second rack. There was a pink towel with a Hello Kitty print on it. His face suddenly felt a bit hot.

Is this Wang Yizhi's towel? Zhang Chen was momentarily stunned, seemingly forgetting that he had just returned from the brink of death.

As he turned on the faucet, the icy water doused Zhang Chen, jolting him back to reality.

"Those ghosts..." Zhang Chen thought about how, just as he was about to die, those more than twenty ghosts had sacrificed themselves to help him. "Why did they help me? I don't think I've done anything for them, and I don't know them. Could these guys all be vengeful spirits born from being killed by that nail person? Then why would Xie Wen's boyfriend kill so many innocent people? Did I make a mistake from the very beginning?" Zhang Chen had a bold guess, but he wasn't entirely sure. Everything would have to wait for his older sister's reply.

The cold water poured down from Zhang Chen's head. He looked at his hands, and suddenly, all ten of his fingernails grew out.

"With my current strength, I don't know if I can handle it, but how do I find him once his body merges with the wall? Do I have to find his main body like last time in my bathroom? But even if I know his main body is in the house, I don't know the exact location. If I go in, I'll be attacked by him. Even though my strength has increased significantly now, but..." Zhang Chen recalled the scene of countless nails flying towards him and immediately dismissed the plan to confront the nail person head-on again.

"Forget it, I'll wait. Let's see Wang Yizhi's situation first." With that thought, Zhang Chen took out the Hello Kitty towel, swallowed hard, and used it anyway.

After showering and changing into Wang Yizhi's father's clothes, they seemed to fit quite well. He looked in the mirror and thought he looked pretty good.

However, when Zhang Chen entered the living room, he saw Wang Yizhi staring at him and gave a gentle smile. But in the next moment, Zhang Chen's expression changed drastically because Wang Yizhi's right ring finger and left pinky finger had turned a vibrant red. This meant that while Zhang Chen was showering, two more of her nails had turned red.