Strong Abilities (Second Update!)

Several days passed, and the group that had attacked the laboratory seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving not a single trace. However, Dilos knew that they were merely lying low for the moment; they would reappear the second they deemed it necessary.

Dilos had not wasted these past few days. He dismantled his super-glasses and, holding a screwdriver with delicate precision, adjusted the internal regulators to calibrate the X-ray frequency. He adjusted them while scanning his own wrist, only stopping once he could clearly see the muscles and nerves beneath his skin.

Just as I suspected, there is something extra in my hand. Dilos observed his hand through the glasses' X-ray function, his brow furrowing into a knot. In the image reflected by the lenses, he saw that his muscles—including those in his fingers—were filled with countless tiny objects that could only be described as muscle-like structures.

These objects were the size of rice grains, circular, and incredibly numerous; his entire wrist was packed with them. Judging by the X-ray image, the color reflected was remarkably similar to that of human bone.

He called them a type of muscle primarily because they possessed the distinct striations of muscle tissue and were capable of stretching and deforming. Otherwise, Dilos would have almost mistaken them for a cluster of tiny, circular bones growing inside his hand.

It's not just my wrist that has this problem. Dilos shifted the glasses from his wrist to other parts of his body and discovered that, to varying degrees, these strange muscles were present everywhere. However, these muscles differed slightly from those in his wrist.

He also discovered that due to the mutated characteristics of these strange muscles and his skin, he could now withstand most cold weapons, and his skin was even impervious to ordinary bullets. Not even the claws he could manifest from his own hands could pierce his skin. As for other weapons, he remained unsure; after all, he lacked the proper experimental tools to take effective samples from his own body.

Just then, the strange muscles on the fingers of the hand Dilos was scanning began to swell and deform. The skin covering his fingers shifted along with them, becoming thick, milky-white, and razor-sharp. In the end, his five fingers were replaced by five, thirty-centimeter-long, milky-white giant talons.

The reason the skin between my fingers could transform into those claws before was because of these muscles. And judging by the way the skin deforms, my skin itself has undergone a certain mutation.

Dilos pondered this while flexing his fingers, discovering that these seemingly terrifying giant talons could actually bend and move in sync with his finger movements.

It's different from before; now that they've transformed into claws, they can move along with the muscles in my hand. As Dilos analyzed this, he adjusted the intensity of the glasses' X-ray function. He then noticed that these strange muscles were connected by a dense, intricate network of nerves.

A sudden thought struck Dilos upon this discovery. Under his mental command, the skin between his fingers, including the webbing, deformed along with the muscles into a set of giant, milky-white claws.

The density of the nerves covering these muscles is far greater than it was a few days ago... Was I unable to control the transformation back then because these nerves hadn't fully grown yet? It seems that after my mutation, the nerves on these strange muscles hadn't fully developed, which is why I couldn't control the transformation well.

Now that the nerves have almost fully grown, can I do this?

Dilos focused his mind, and the talons on his hand shifted according to his will. Aside from the parts where the finger bones remained, the thick, bulky claws transformed, narrowing and sharpening until they looked as if Dilos were wearing curved, bladed gloves.

He even discovered that the skin on the back of his hand could deform according to his thoughts.

The claw formed by the skin at the webbing of his thumb also changed shape at his command. It first shrank, then its overall orientation shifted, eventually settling into a form only ten centimeters long, aligned with the other four claws.

It seems I can freely change their shape and orientation. What an unexpected discovery.

With this thought, Dilos willed the claws at the webbing and between his fingers to return to their original skin state, leaving only the talons on his five fingers.

Dilos then felt a playful urge and began transforming the talons into other shapes, such as rods or short daggers. Unfortunately, no matter how he transformed them, the objects could not detach from his body.

Although the length of the transformed objects could change according to his will, they could not grow indefinitely, reaching a maximum of only thirty centimeters.

Not only that, but after this transformation, I have a sense of touch. Is it because the nerves have fully grown?

Dilos returned his hand to its original state, clenched his fist, and felt the immense power within, unable to help but smile.

After a preliminary test, the power boost is significant. My constant output is around one ton, and I can exert three tons of force in a pure burst. Dilos had secretly tested this at a scrap yard; although the massive commotion caused by his strength had panicked others, he was quite pleased.

After this initial modification, it's impossible for my strength to jump to the level of the Hulk tearing apart tanks overnight. That would be too exaggerated, and even if it succeeded, it would easily cause severe damage to my body. This is just the beginning. As time passes, much like physical growth, my strength will increase. Even without body tempering, I can achieve a massive boost in strength over the next few years.

Thinking of his future power, Dilos couldn't help but laugh out loud. He then frowned, rubbed his ears with a helpless, wry smile.

Finally, there is the control over my five senses, including hearing and smell. Based on certain signs, it's clear that these sensory enhancements can be controlled. Just like the physical strength I've gained, they can be managed, but I need more time to adapt to and master these abilities.

With this in mind, Dilos raised a finger and tapped a keyboard. As he lifted his finger, the keyboard remained stuck firmly to it, showing no signs of falling.

Just like this static adhesion ability I can use to stick myself to walls—I can control it with ease!