Talent Skill 3: Gene Fragment

Black Mist Valley, early morning.

Bai Pu walked out of the bunker and locked the door with a clang.

Breathing in the slightly musty air, Bai Pu stretched.

After a few hours of rest, his dried-up mental strength and exhausted Blood Battle Qi had fully recovered, and he could start his happy monster-slaying business again.

Behind Bai Pu followed two temporary servants, one tall and one short. The tall one was a Skeleton Warrior, and the short one was an Undead Bone Mage.

Bai Pu ordered the two servants to hide to the side. Anyway, he used the [Flesh Armor] to clear monsters in one wave, and he didn't need the two servants to help. These two servants were mainly to deal with emergencies, such as the Awakened with the small mustache who came to steal experience last time.

After another wave of monsters was cleared.

[You have gained 2 Life Source Points, current Life Source Points: 101/100.]

[Your talent: Evolution Heart's talent skill 3: Gene Fragment, activated!]

Bai Pu was overjoyed and immediately checked.

[Evolution Heart (Growable talent, cannot be graded)]

[Talent Skill 1: Self-Adaptive Evolution: Stored forms 3/4 (Keratinous Skin, Fluid Skeleton, Icy Body)]

[Talent Skill 2: Pure Blood Guard: Pure Blood 0/2, Servants 2/2]

[Talent Skill 3: Gene Fragment: Killing the strong can yield Life Source Points. You can consume Life Source Points to temporarily fuse the combat gene fragments of the dead strong! The currently stored strong gene fragments are as follows...]

Below were rows and columns of character image phantoms.

From them, Bai Pu saw the Blood Ring Hammer Knight, Skeleton Warrior, Undead Bone Mage, and also the Blood Ring Aberrant with the enlarged right arm and holding a bronze pillar, and finally even saw Blood Hand Colen! In the lower right corner of each phantom, there was a corresponding Life Source Points consumption. The Skeleton Warrior consumed the least, requiring 10~15 Life Source Points; Blood Hand Colen consumed the most, requiring 50 Life Source Points.

"So, these are all the strong who were killed by me and absorbed Life Source Points..."

Bai Pu frowned and thought, the introduction of talent skill 3 [Gene Fragment] was still somewhat incomplete. What does it mean to "fuse the combat gene fragments of the dead strong"? What are the effects after fusion? Life Source Points were very precious, but in order to know the specific effects of the talent skill, Bai Pu still painfully spent 15 Life Source Points.

He designated a Skeleton Warrior's gene fragment to temporarily fuse! A stream of information poured into Bai Pu's mind, and at the same time, a warm current pumped out from his heart and poured into Bai Pu's whole body! His eyes widened instantly, and his face showed a strong look of surprise.

So... the effect of [Gene Fragment] is actually like this!

As expected of the talent produced by the Evolution Heart, it is not inferior to the two god-level talents [Self-Adaptive Evolution] and [Pure Blood Guard]!

Special military base, hall.

Only a day had passed, but many Awakened had already returned from the Dead Bone Mountain Range Intersection Lands.

These Awakened were basically with gloomy faces, gathering in groups of three or five and discussing in low voices.

The Intersection Lands had been open for a full ten days, which was an extremely precious ten days—just think about how precious the free exploration time of the Spirit Realm was.

However, due to unexpected dangers, they had to leave early, only staying inside for a day or two, and the loss was immeasurable.

In a corner of the hall, Qilin was making a phone call through the virtual light screen of his personal information terminal. Mad Dog's figure was not seen next to him.

The image on the light screen was Li Ling. Her face was a little serious.

"You mean, someone attacked you, and it was the kind that was a deadly attack?"

"Yes, I recall that both of them turned off the military's Spirit Energy Cameras in advance, clearly coming for us, not just simply stealing monsters."

In the Intersection Lands, gains depend on one's ability; being monster-stolen can only be blamed on one's own lack of skill. The military certainly won't interfere. But turning off the Spirit Energy Cameras violates military regulations, and when the Intersection Lands close, the military will definitely investigate.

Li Ling asked a few more questions about the details, frowning as she said, "What about Golden Bull? Is he still inside the Intersection Lands?"

"He hasn't left. Mad Dog and I fled in a sorry state, and didn't retrieve the military's Spirit Energy Camera. Now, we can't even send a message to Golden Bull," Qilin said.

"Golden Bull is a tank; he shouldn't be instantly killed to the point of not even being able to escape," Li Ling initially didn't consider the possibility of Bloodstained Props, mainly because they were too uncommon, and using them in the Intersection Lands was a serious crime.

"That's good," Qilin agreed.

"Based on your description of their clothing, weapons, and fighting style, they sound a lot like that Awakened squad called 'Poison Thorn' that Bai Pu mentioned."

Li Ling thought for a while, then suddenly her expression turned stern. "Could they be after Bai Pu?"

"That's probably it; we were just caught in the crossfire," Qilin shook his head with a wry smile. "It seems Bai Pu will be joining us soon..."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple..."

There was a hint of worry in Li Ling's brow. She said in a deep voice, "I'm going to the military base right away!"

"Sister Ling, is it that serious..." Qilin was a little surprised. Awakened conflicts in the Intersection Lands were commonplace; in general, no one died, and the law didn't care who stole whose BOSS. Being driven out of the Intersection Lands only meant that Qilin and Mad Dog were less skilled. If it provoked the God Strategy Army behind them to intervene... that would be making a mountain out of a molehill, a laughingstock.

"What do you know? You're just a little kid who's only been Awakened for two years. How much of that sinister and vicious stuff have you seen?" Li Ling scolded, then hurriedly said, "I won't talk to you anymore; I have to go and request Bai Pu's Spirit Energy Camera number to contact him!"

This was the difference between a military Captain and a civilian Awakened like Qilin. They had access to different things, and their perspectives were different.

Black Mist Valley.

Bai Pu cleared another wave of monsters, sat cross-legged on the ground, and inscribed Flesh Runes.

There was a strong sense of joy on his face.

After two days of effort, he had finally accumulated enough experience points to level up his class to Level 2.

[Bai Pu/Enhanced Elite Level 2]
[Race: Humanoid/Human]
[Class: Blood Armor Shield Guard]
[Class Skill: Flesh Armor]
[Attributes: Strength 7, Agility 7, Stamina 19, Spirit 11]
[Combat Proficiencies: Advanced Weaponry (Two-Handed Hammer) Level 1, Basic Weaponry (One-Handed Hammer) Level 4, Basic Weaponry (Shield Mastery) Level 3, Basic Weaponry Level 2, Basic Fighting Level 4.]
[Combat Skills: Unstable Shield, Whirling Throw, Leaping Strike]

In addition to the obvious growth in the four basic attributes, Bai Pu's class skill Flesh Armor had also improved, from 1~3 points of group magic damage per second to 1~5 points, and the range had also slightly increased.

The shield value upper limit provided by Flesh Armor had also increased from (30) points to (38) points, equivalent to twice the Stamina attribute.

Shield Mastery was a new combat proficiency that Bai Pu had comprehended after entering the Intersection Lands. Perhaps because of the high class compatibility, the improvement speed of Shield Mastery proficiency was very fast. In two days, it had reached Basic Level 3, not far from Advanced level proficiency.

It is worth mentioning that the shield Bai Pu wore was standard equipment, called City Guard Shield, and was also a reward item received from the God Strategy Army. The armor value of the shield's covered area was +30 points. In the case of a successful block, the damage reduction effect was still very obvious.

Suddenly, a beeping sound rang out above Bai Pu's head.