Chapter Twenty-Five: Arm, Gray, and Great Development

Lu Yuanming felt that the darkness of his vegetative state was not as unbearable as before. The warmth and fullness of his soul strengthening filled the emptiness of his vegetative state. Once his soul strengthened, he could return to the afterlife at any time, absorb White Light Particles to the limit again, and repeat this process. Eventually, he would surely awaken from his vegetative state.

This was hope.

"But what about that Gray Light Particle, no, it's already a light cluster. What is that Gray Light Cluster? Colorless Light Particles are wishes, beliefs, and faith. White Light Particles are the essence of soul strengthening, which can be called Spirit Substance. Then what is this Gray Light Cluster?"

Lu Yuanming felt that the mysteries of the afterlife, or rather the Dark Matter World, were increasing. The more he knew, the more questions he had.

But no matter what, this had become a part of his life.

Lu Yuanming vaguely remembered reading something in a novel or online, he couldn't recall the exact words, but it generally meant that memory is life. Because you lose your past memories, you are no longer yourself. And everything he was experiencing now, and the people he had met, had already become a part of Lu Yuanming's life.

This soul strengthening did not last for several times or longer as Lu Yuanming had predicted. It still ended within ten-odd days. Therefore, Lu Yuanming suspected that the speed of absorbing White Light Particles was likely in percentage form, which was absolutely good news for him. After each soul strengthening, he could absorb more White Light Particles. No matter how much he absorbed, it would only take about ten days to digest them all into soul essence. This would save him more time to hunt monsters.

And this time, Lu Yuanming felt more sensations in his body. Although he still couldn't fully control his body, moving his fingers again was not that difficult. This time, Lu Yuanming decided to move his entire arm. On one hand, it was to tell his parents not to give up hope and to wait for him to return, and he would not give up either. On the other hand, it was to obtain more Colorless Light Particles.

Intense emotions, beautiful blessings, and strong wishes could all bring Colorless Light Particles.

If Lu Yuanming could move a finger, then an arm, while still in a vegetative state, the hospital would definitely conduct the most detailed examinations on him. Lu Yuanming was very sure that his physical body was still in a vegetative state, and this could be clearly confirmed by brainwave scans.

In this way, he might be considered a miracle by the doctors. For an unknown reason, he was not awakening like other vegetative patients whose brain functions had returned to normal. Instead, his brain was still in a vegetative state, but his body had begun to awaken, starting with his fingers, then his arm. What would be next? And what was the cause of this phenomenon that defied medical logic?

This situation could cause a sensation in the medical community.

Of course, these were all Lu Yuanming's speculations, and also a gimmick he hoped to create. After all, he was severely lacking in Colorless Light Particles, and he could never have enough. If he could gain significant attention in the material world, with dozens, hundreds, or even millions of people knowing about him due to an accidental leak and subsequent fermentation online, even if only one in ten thousand of them provided him with Colorless Light Particles, he would have over a thousand Colorless Light Particles. This was what he wanted.

According to the plan, after the soul strengthening was completed, Lu Yuanming chose a time when his parents and doctors were present to move his arm. This was still very difficult for him, no less difficult than moving his finger for the first time, even more so. After almost exhausting his soul to the point of fainting, he finally managed to move his arm twice. After that, Lu Yuanming returned to the afterlife once his soul recovered from fatigue.

The place he transmigrated to was the same as when he returned last time, which was outside the large supermarket. Before his eyes was still the giant Spider Monster, and all its limbs had been cut off. This was Ang's specific instruction. He said that the chitin of these spiders' limbs had hardness and toughness beyond steel, while their weight was only one-tenth of that of steel of the same volume. He couldn't study it now, but it was definitely needed as material for future research.

"Lord!"

Just as Lu Yuanming was looking at the giant spider, a voice came from behind him. He quickly looked back and saw a subordinate of Charlie, whose name seemed to be Gou something, running towards him with five newcomers he had never seen before.

The subordinate ran with the five people close to Lu Yuanming. He seemed to have just remembered something. He immediately brought his feet together and gave Lu Yuanming a military salute in the style of Z Country: "Corporal Margosas leads the team to guard this place, awaiting the superior officer's return."

The other five also immediately gave the same military salute. Besides the salute, they looked at Lu Yuanming with expressions of shock.

Lu Yuanming immediately returned the salute. This was strongly requested by Alfred. A formal organization's army must have this sense of ritual. He just didn't expect that in just over ten days, the initial effects were already visible. And with five new recruits, according to calculations, there were at least one hundred to one hundred and fifty new members in the organization, and the actual number was certainly much higher, otherwise, it would not be possible to station five new recruits here permanently.

At this moment, Margosas and the others were still looking at Lu Yuanming with shock. Lu Yuanming was slightly stunned and immediately gave a wry smile: "Did I grow taller again?"

"...Yes, you are estimated to be two meters three now, no, even two meters four." Margosas hesitated.

Lu Yuanming also felt the change in his height. Because Margosas and the other six stood in front of him, he felt like he was looking at elementary school students in the past. After this soul strengthening, his body began to grow larger and taller again, from about two meters to a height of two meters three or two meters four.

However, the speed of growing taller and larger was decreasing.

His soul strengthened to a degree far exceeding the last time. The last time he grew nearly thirty centimeters taller, and this time he only grew over thirty centimeters. This meant that his growth had a limit. The closer he got to the limit, the lower the growth rate from soul strengthening would be. Therefore, it was unlikely he would become Ultraman or Godzilla in the future.

He also didn't wish to become Ultraman, unless he could control his size. Otherwise, becoming Ultraman would truly be a hassle.

Lu Yuanming and Margosas and the others headed towards the bank. Along the way, Lu Yuanming inquired about the organization's development.

"...While the officer was in the Mortal World, one squad was responsible for guarding this place, with a squad rotating in every two days. The remaining non-commissioned officers would train with a team for one day and go out exploring for another. To date, the organization has a total of one thousand nine hundred and sixty-two personnel, and has found supplies..." Margosas said.

Lu Yuanming was startled and quickly asked, "How many people?"

"One thousand nine hundred and sixty-two people!" Margosas immediately replied again.

Lu Yuanming was somewhat taken aback. He hadn't expected such a number. When he returned, the organization only had over a hundred people. Now there were over nineteen hundred. This was equivalent to an average of about a hundred new people daily during his absence. The efficiency was terrifyingly high.

Margosas then said to a new recruit, "This is the newly joined Private Ryan. Ryan, brief the officer on the situation above."

Lu Yuanming frowned slightly and repeated, "Private... Ryan."

What made Lu Yuanming frown was the rank of "Private." This rank should not be awarded to new recruits. Above Private was Sergeant, then Sergeant Major, and then Corporal. According to Lu Yuanming's previous discussions with Alfred, Private was a rank awarded to the most courageous and honored individuals in a force of at least a thousand soldiers.

This Private Ryan, upon receiving the order, said, "Yes, Officer. The unit I was stationed with was attacked by an unknown Curse yesterday afternoon at 17:51. Before my death, a total of eighty-two people went missing. It can be confirmed they are dead. And earlier, the riots in New York City due to the complete lockdown caused over fifty thousand deaths daily. Coupled with the attacks by Curses and those Monsters, the daily death toll could exceed one hundred thousand, and the rate is increasing daily."

Margosas waited for Ryan to finish before immediately saying, "The number of refugees within our exploration range has increased, Officer."

Lu Yuanming finally understood. Firstly, the organization's personnel had increased so much, and secondly, this was why Ryan was directly awarded the rank of Private.

Lu Yuanming then quickened his pace. Margosas and the others could only jog to keep up. Fortunately, their stamina was good. Soon, Lu Yuanming returned to the outside of the bank base, which had already grown to a considerable size. Alfred, who had received the news, also hurried back from the planting area. The moment he saw Lu Yuanming, he excitedly asked, "How was it? The quantity?"

"Two hundred and seven!"

Lu Yuanming said with a smile, "Besides growing potatoes, we can also grow other grains, vegetables, and fruits. Even the plans we discussed before can be implemented. By manufacturing a few large processing lathes, we can produce Melee Weapons and armor."

On his way back, Lu Yuanming had already confirmed that the Colorless Light Particles he obtained this time far exceeded his expectations, reaching an astonishing two hundred and seven. Moreover, he had touched the Gray Light Cluster multiple times and had a general understanding of what it was.

It was a phenomenon and a change of distortion.

He could use this Gray Light Cluster to "enchant" an item, and that item would possess this distorted phenomenon and change. In other words, the super giant spider had dropped an...

Equipment?