Polymorph

"Little Fatty, are you still alive?" Hearing the walker's foolish chuckle, the sound of chewing, and the screams of the living, Kirk realized it was eating people again to recover its health. Kirk was gasping for breath; the broken bone had pierced his lung earlier, and blood was entering it, causing him to cough up blood with every breath.

"Big brother, I'm still alive, hehe, I'm lucky... It's just a shame I didn't take down this pig-head..." Little Fatty crawled with difficulty.

Suddenly, Kirk and Little Fatty received a system prompt: "Contractor No. 4444, Contractor No. 4445, your cumulative damage to the 6th mutated walker has exceeded 40% of its total health. Considering the plot difficulty, The Space has opened an elevator for escape. Warning: If you escape, the mission will fail, and no rewards will be issued. Simultaneously, as you have dealt 40% cumulative damage to the walker, The Space has opened a sterilization option. On the wall to your right, pressing this button will immediately initiate high-temperature sterilization of the research institute. The damage from pure alcohol and pure oxygen flames is 300 points/second. You may choose one person to perish with it. Rewards will be issued according to the minimum completion reward."

"It seems that pig-head mutated again after eating that mutated Batman. Otherwise, with its one-ton weight, how could it jump so high?" Little Fatty said with difficulty. "Big brother, let's escape quickly, rewards are just fleeting clouds."

Kirk looked thoughtfully at the system prompt. He suddenly asked Little Fatty, "Give me that [Polymorph] potion you have, and all your healing potions. You quickly take Mori and escape. He's lying by the door. Don't attract the Walker King's attention."

Little Fatty cried, "Big brother, if we die, we die together! I, Little Fatty, am not someone who abandons his brother to escape alone!"

"I have a way to destroy it and complete this mission! And I won't die!" Kirk roared. "Did your master T-Dog, Guillermo, and the others die for nothing!"

Little Fatty was silent for a moment, then traded all the potions over and crawled laboriously towards the door. "Big brother, take care of yourself, don't push it. I'll listen to you."

Kirk swallowed a [High Protein Potassium Injection]. His Stamina and injuries quickly recovered, and he stood up abruptly. The Walker King, seeing there was still a living person to eat, chuckled excitedly and charged forward with its steel pillar.

Little Fatty had clearly also swallowed a [Delicious Toast] for healing, and his crawling speed suddenly increased.

The Walker King didn't notice him. He crawled to the door and painstakingly dragged Mori into the elevator. The elevator door slowly closed.

Kirk felt relieved. He coldly watched the charging Walker King, dodged its pounce, and then stabbed his dagger into its leg. He saw a red button on the adjacent wall – that was the mutual destruction button. This was a suicide option The Space designed so contractors wouldn't be eaten alive in despair, and it was also possible that it was for volunteers to allow their teammates to live and receive rewards.

However, he looked at the Walker King approaching with its foolish chuckle, bloodstains and scraps of flesh still on its lips. Kirk sneered, smashed the button, and a sharp alarm sounded: "Warning! Warning! Maximum level biohazard detected in the laboratory. Initialization sequence commencing! Initialization will begin in 10 seconds. All personnel please evacuate into the elevator! 10.9.8.7..."

Kirk drank the [Polymorph] potion. The sheep-like smell was truly nauseating. But it didn't matter. Kirk felt his limbs shrinking, his body convulsing, and soon, white fur grew... (Kirk: Damn, how did this plot turn into Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf? Little Fatty is the village chief!)

Then, Kirk was smashed down by the Walker King's steel pillar, seeing stars.

However, a mysterious and gentle magical force enveloped Kirk's body, causing him only a headache and forcibly deducting 1 health point.

How much health did Kirk have? The answer was 90 points.

This meant he could withstand 90 hits. As a human, he could only withstand 2 hits. (Big Big Wolf: I finally know why Pleasant Goat never dies.)

He hopped around cutely, bouncing left and right. Because [Polymorph] had the property of prioritizing attracting the walker's attention, the Walker King was too busy to even escape, just grabbing its large steel pillar and playing with the sheep.

Finally, 10 seconds were up. With a "sizzle" sound, metal nozzles extended from the ceiling, spraying pure alcohol and pure oxygen. Then, a spark ignited, and flames instantly filled the narrow metal room!

Kirk was burned miserably. His beautiful wool (Kirk: I'll be damned!) caught fire. But this wasn't important; the Walker King beside him began to wail.

Being roasted alive wasn't important; the fact that you weren't in this world was more important.

With 300 points/second of high-temperature flame damage, the Walker King, which had just undergone its 6th mutation, now had about 4000 health points, enough to last about 14 seconds.

To prevent contractors from cheating, the entire burning process would last for 3 minutes. Kirk estimated that even with "Fireman" or "Fire Elemental" physiques, one couldn't completely avoid such strong damage, let alone for the long duration of 180 seconds!

Purebred Alpine sheep Kirk, with his large sheep eyes, watched the battle log update every second: "Contractor No. 4444, you have received 300 fire damage. Due to the effect of [Polymorph], 1 health point has been forcibly deducted."

"...forcibly deducted 1 health point."

"...forcibly deducted 1 health point."

"Pleasant Goat" bleated happily. With his 90 health points, he could last 90 seconds in the sea of fire. He still had three [High Protein Potassium Injection]s left. These valuable items, worth 2000 survival points and 1 skill potential point, could be used in combat and were enough for him to survive.

In the elevator, Little Fatty watched the fiery scene with tears in his eyes. The scorching elevator was filled with heatwaves, and he could feel that the outside temperature had long exceeded the human limit.

Mori woke up. "Who's that idiot outside?"

Little Fatty nodded. "He told me to take you away first, saying he had a way to deal with the Walker King..."

Mori nodded and was silent for a moment. "He's a tough guy."

The flames died down, and the two walked out to see a plump, round Alpine sheep lying by the door, completely naked, exuding the aroma of roasted meat, on the verge of death.

Due to the [Abnormal Metabolism] talent, Little Fatty, ravenous after the battle, quickly took out salt, cumin, and skewers. Mori licked his right hand with a sinister smile, preparing to slice the roasted meat...

Unfortunately, Kirk immediately transformed back into human form at this moment, and the tragedy of man eating sheep was averted. Because the last [High Protein Potassium Injection] was used 5 seconds ago, Kirk quickly recovered from the near-death state caused by [Polymorph] and regained his vitality. He stood up and spat a thick glob of phlegm at the remaining charred remains of the 6th mutated Walker King.

"Big brother, it's you!" Little Fatty exclaimed in surprise and ran over. Mori also showed his big white teeth and grinned, "I knew you idiot wouldn't die that easily."

Kirk, having narrowly escaped death, was also grateful that he had spent all his survival points before the battle to exchange for so many single-use medicines and potions. Otherwise, even ten lives wouldn't have been enough to survive this ferocious 6th-stage monster and its maw. It seemed that when fighting insidious and shameless bosses, one also needed to prepare all sorts of aphrodisiacs.

Then, the system prompt sounded: "Contractor No. 4444 and Contractor No. 4445, you have successfully completed Silver Hidden Main Quest Step 02 - [Survival]! You have preliminarily uncovered clues to the great catastrophe that occurred in this century. Reward: Plot Deviation +20%. Current cumulative is 25.6%. Plot Deviation will be exchanged for rewards during the plot chapter's end evaluation. You have obtained clues that Governor Philip may be the direct culprit behind this great catastrophe. Please continue to explore and uncover more hidden plots."

"Since you used the function provided by The Space to kill the 6th mutated walker, the mission completion evaluation is 'Minimum'. The mission completion reward bonus is 0%."

"Calculating rewards..."

"Due to the special nature of your mission completion this time, with too many factors to consider, the calculation time has been extended..."

"In this mission, you dealt 40% of the 6th mutated walker's total health. Considering the difficulty bonus, besides the equipment that the walker will inevitably drop, the awarded survival points, skill potential points, and basic attribute points can only be calculated at 40% of the base value. Calculating..."

"The base reward for the 6th mutated walker is: 8000 survival points, 8 skill potential points, 8 basic attribute points.

Calculating the reward bonus: 'Mission Completion Bonus 0% + Newbie Trial Bonus 50% + Difficulty Reward Bonus 50% = 200%'. After the 40% reduction, it is 80% of the base reward."

"Forming reward pool..."

"You have obtained 6400 survival points, 7 skill potential points, and 7 basic attribute points."

"Since you killed the 6th mutated walker, you are rewarded with 1000 walker kill count. Contractor No. 4444's Silver rank title [Walker King] progress has reached 1712/1000, upgrading to Gold rank title [Enemy of Walkers], current progress is 712/3000, damage to walkers increased by 30%. Contractor No. 4445's Black Iron rank [Walker Hunter] is complete, upgraded to [Walker Slayer]!"

"Since you have completed the downgraded dark gold hidden main quest of this world, you have gained World Plot Legend +1. This quest cannot be accepted or completed by others."

"[World Plot Legend]: Applicable to great figures who roam through various plot worlds, renowned and influential, capable of obtaining more benefits from plot missions and gaining greater information consultation authority. This reward can only be issued upon completion of the world's only dark gold hidden main quest."

"Next, equipment will be drawn. According to the difficulty of the Silver main quest, the highest equipment tier is Silver plot equipment, the lowest is light blue equipment, with a very small chance of dark gold equipment appearing. Forming equipment pool..."

Then, a swirling vortex of silver light appeared in front of Kirk and Little Fatty! Inside the Space, the light of various equipment flashed! Vaguely visible were silver, light green, deep blue, light blue, and even faint dark gold lights! It was like a rainbow, captivating the mind and making it impossible to look away from the mesmerizing vortex.

"Space prompt: Since your kill participation was 40%, you are eligible for two draws."

Little Fatty's voice trembled, "Big brother, we're rich. You draw first."

"No, you go first," Kirk also chickened out. "I'll see what happens."

Little Fatty didn't stand on ceremony anymore and plunged his hand into the silver-white vortex. "I'll try my luck first! I love gambling the most!"

He fumbled for a while, then suddenly shouted, "I got something good!"

Kirk also got excited. This kid was really something. Time to see his luck.

Little Fatty pulled it out with force. After the equipment was revealed, it was still covered in a hazy layer of mist, but it was gradually dissipating. The two of them eagerly looked, and it was indeed a light, thin piece of Soft Armor.

[Soft Armor]

[Grade] Light Green Growable Equipment

[Level] level-1

[Weight] 870 grams.

[Equip] Stamina +3, Health Recovery Speed +50%.

[Special Skill] [Soft Porcupine Needle] Passive Skill, wearer reflects 50% of melee damage.

[Description] A personal keepsake of the great hero Huang Rong. Soft Armor has a hidden proficiency attribute; it can absorb damage after being attacked and can be upgraded, offering excellent future growth potential. It's the top choice for those who cherish life.

Little Fatty was stunned and jumped up in surprise. Kirk was also full of smiles. The two of them had never seen light green equipment before. Now they had opened their eyes. These three attributes were all top-notch, not to mention its growth potential. It felt so great to reduce damage while being hit, upgrade the equipment, and reflect melee damage all at the same time.

Without a doubt, this equipment suited Little Fatty very well. Because Little Fatty's [Abnormal Metabolism] already provided a 25% Stamina recovery speed, wearing this equipment would increase it to 75%. With high Stamina, the recovery speed would be astonishing! Little Fatty's survivability would be elevated to a new height. At Kirk's signal, Little Fatty immediately put on the Soft Armor. He then very sneakily put his jacket back on over it. This fatty was too sneaky; if someone were to ambush him, they'd get a big surprise. However, if Little Fatty knew that Kirk was eyeing him to be used as a long-term meat shield because of his fast health regeneration, he probably wouldn't be able to laugh anymore.