A New Bone Demon

The moment the Mind Spike pierced the skull of the Gluttonous Aberrant, Lu Heng's senses jolted violently.

He felt as if he had been pulled into a chaotic vortex of consciousness by an invisible force—hunger, rage, devouring, fear, and countless primal instincts were all mixed together, frantically assaulting his mental perception.

That chaotic consciousness struggled for only a blink of an eye before collapsing abruptly, like a crushed rotten egg exploding silently, returning to utter stillness.

The Gluttonous Aberrant's enormous body suddenly stiffened.

Its gaping mouth remained in a gnawing posture, its forelimbs dangling in mid-air, its cloudy eyes suddenly losing focus, and the last bit of ferocity deep in its pupils quickly dimmed like a extinguished candle flame.

Immediately afterwards, the massive body lost all support and collapsed forward like a crumbling wall.

The dull thud made the ground tremble.

The massive body crushed several ordinary Zombie before they could retreat, leaving them no chance to escape. The sound of bones shattering echoed from beneath the flesh, and black blood seeped from the cracks.

There was no struggle.

There was no counterattack.

The Gluttonous Aberrant has completely stopped and died.

Lu Heng slightly lowered his wrist, Deboning Knife was drawn out smoothly. A wisp of dark red nerve debris followed the blade, which quickly dried and turned black in the air. He took a half step back, his gaze fixed on the monster's body, not relaxing immediately.

Several seconds passed, Gluttonous Aberrant remained motionless.

Immediately afterwards, the Wristband on my wrist vibrated slightly, and a brief judgment appeared on its cool metal surface—

Kill confirmed.

Bronze Tier mutant, Gluttonous Aberrant, has been eliminated.

Lu Heng let out a long breath, and his tense shoulders and back finally relaxed.

It's done.

The mental attack was even more effective on the Gluttonous Aberrant than he had anticipated. A Mind Spike pierced directly through its brain nerves, dismantling all its mobility from the inside out. It left the Bronze Tier monster no room to struggle.

He looked up and scanned his surroundings.

The ordinary Zombie, having lost the Gluttonous Aberrant, reverted to slow, sluggish walking corpses. They shuffled towards Lu Heng, moving as slowly as if wading through mud, emitting intermittent hisses from their throats, posing no threat whatsoever.

The core threat has been eliminated.

What's left are just scraps.

Lu Heng gripped the Deboning Knife tightly, pushed off with his feet, and charged into the horde of corpses like an arrow released from a bow.

The first strike is a horizontal slash.

The blade precisely sliced through the first Zombie's neck where its skull met its cervical vertebrae, causing its head to roll off and black blood to gush out. Lu Heng didn't pause; using the momentum of the slash, he turned to the side, Deboning Knife slashed upwards, slicing open the second Zombie's jaw, the tip of the blade emerging from the back of its head.

The third, the fourth, the fifth --

His movements grew faster and faster, his blades becoming increasingly sharp. Each strike was swift and decisive, precise and accurate, hitting the vital points. These ordinary Zombie were almost powerless against him, falling one after another with dull thuds echoing across the ground.

The battlefield has transformed from a siege into a one-sided cleanup.

Lu Heng weaved through the horde of corpses, like a knife honed to its limit, leaving a trail of carcasses in his wake.

In less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, the head of the last ordinary Zombie rolled to the ground, and the black blood gushing from its neck cavity soaked the soil beneath its feet.

The surroundings finally quieted down.

Lu Heng stood in the center of the pile of corpses, slightly out of breath.

Thick layers of flesh and blood clung to the Deboning Knife knife, forming a dark red, bloody film. The blade's surface gleamed with an indescribable, cold light, its murderous aura even stronger than before the battle. The bloody film, as if alive, slowly wriggled and contracted, enveloping the knife even more tightly.

Lu Heng glanced at the blade but didn't look at it much. He raised his wrist and activated the disassembly function of the Wristband.

A pale gray halo appeared on the surface of the Wristband, and the light spread rapidly, like an invisible net covering all the Zombie corpses within a radius of several meters.

Wherever the halo passed, the corpse began to dissolve. Flesh, organs, and fascia were peeled away and decomposed layer by layer, turning into fine particles that were absorbed by the Wristband. The whole process was quiet and efficient, without any extraneous sounds, only the subtle sound of the corpse disappearing little by little.

A few seconds later, the halo disappeared.

The Zombie corpses that used to litter the ground have all disappeared, leaving only piles of white skeletons lying haphazardly in the mud.

The Wristband vibrated, and payment information appeared on the metal surface.

Twenty-three Copper Coin fell neatly into his palm.

Lu Heng put away the Copper Coin, stood up, and looked past the mess on the ground, his gaze landing on the huge and complete corpse of the Gluttonous Aberrant.

It lay quietly in the mud, its limbs curled up, its head slightly turned, and its mouth still wide open. Even in death, its deformed body still exuded an unsettling sense of oppression. Beneath its thick muscles, the outline of its bones was clearly visible, and every inch of its body contained power far exceeding that of ordinary mutants.

Lu Heng stared at it, and an idea quickly formed in his mind.

The old Bone Demon has already fallen in battle, and he is now in need of a suitable fighter.

This Gluttonous Aberrant — Bronze Tier mutant—possesses maxed-out strength, defense, recovery, and on-the-spot reaction, and its body is extremely intact.

It's perfect for creating a brand new Bone Demon.

Once you start thinking, things become smoother and smoother.

Lu Heng reached into his robes and took out the Bone Demon Crafting Scroll. The yellowish scroll was covered with fine patterns, and it trembled slightly as he unfolded it, as if it sensed the massive material in front of him.

But he did not act immediately.

The lesson he learned from this battle was profound.

The physical body of Gluttonous Aberrant is almost impenetrable, but their mental resistance is absurdly low—a single Mind Spike can completely paralyze them, leaving them no room to struggle. If their bodies were directly copied to create Bone Demon, this fatal flaw would likely be inherited.

Even if the new Bone Demon is strong, it will still crumble instantly when faced with a mental attack.

This weakness must be addressed.

Lu Heng reached out again and took out a Soul Crystal from his pocket.

The Soul Crystal was entirely dark, with tiny specks of light faintly flowing within, like miniature stars sealed inside. The aura it emitted was cold and profound, completely different from the malevolent energy on the Deboning Knife.

Lu Heng placed the Soul Crystal and the scroll side by side in his palm, his gaze sweeping back and forth across the corpse of the Gluttonous Aberrant, quickly sketching out a plan for reshaping the skeleton in his mind—

Based on the complete body of Gluttonous Aberrant, it retains its overwhelming physical advantages.

Using the Soul Crystal as the spiritual core, it is embedded deep within the skeleton to enhance spiritual resistance.

Its strength remains undiminished, its defense undiminished, and its recovery function unchanged.

At the same time, we need to address its most fatal weakness.

Lu Heng's lips curled up slightly, a hint of anticipation flashing in his eyes.

Without further hesitation, he held the scroll in both hands, aimed it at the enormous corpse of the Gluttonous Aberrant, and slowly poured his Mental Energy into it.

The patterns on the scroll suddenly lit up.

Fine rays of light spread from the paper, wrapping around the body of the Gluttonous Aberrant like countless threads. Wherever the light touched, fine cracks began to appear on the surface of the corpse, and dark red flesh writhed faintly beneath the cracks, as if something was awakening from within.

The corpse began to change.

The first to change are the bones. Under the guidance of the scroll's power, the bones in the body of the Gluttonous Aberrant rapidly reorganize and proliferate, and the skeleton that was originally wrapped in thick muscles gradually emerges from the surface of the body. The joints emit a dense series of clicking sounds, as if some ancient mechanism has been reactivated. The surface of the bones gleams with a grayish-white luster, and the texture visibly becomes denser and harder.

Next came the flesh and blood. The dark red muscle tissue began to ossify, gradually hardening and reshaping from the outer layer to the inner layer, eventually fusing with the newly formed skeleton. Every inch of flesh and blood was reforged under the guidance of the scroll's power, impurities were removed, and the essence was condensed.

Lu Heng slowly pressed the Soul Crystal into the skull of the Gluttonous Aberrant.

The moment the Soul Crystal touched the corpse, a dark light burst forth from the point of contact, rapidly spreading along the newly formed skeleton. The tiny specks of light inside the Soul Crystal, like awakened stars, began to slowly flow along the bone's texture, eventually converging into a dark core deep within the skeleton.

The outline of the Gluttonous Aberrant changed little by little in the light.

The enormous body slowly shrank and condensed, finally settling into a completely new form.

Lu Heng put away the scroll and his gaze fell on the reshaped Bone Demon.

It stood there silently, its skeleton covered with a dense layer of bony armor, its joints embedded with dark fragments of Soul Crystal, and two cold lights burning deep within its eye sockets.

Completely different from the old Bone Demon.

The Wristband on my wrist vibrated again, and lines of information appeared on its metal surface.

[Bone Demon Identification]

Name: Gluttonous Bone Demon

Grade: Bronze Tier

Source: Complete body of Gluttonous Aberrant (Bronze Tier Variant)

Spiritual Core: Soul Crystal

Characteristics: Retains all the physical advantages of those with Gluttonous Aberrant —strength, defense, and recovery abilities are all at the maximum Bronze Tier. Soul Crystal enhance mental resistance, compensating for the extremely weak mental defense of the original materials, and can withstand mental attacks of the same level.

Lu Heng stared at the information on the Wristband, his gaze lingering for two seconds on the line "Spiritual Core: Soul Crystal".

The Soul Crystal did not disappoint him.

The new Bone Demon inherited the Gluttonous Aberrant's overwhelming physical body, while also addressing its most fatal weakness. It is no longer the monster that could punch through a city wall but be rendered incapacitated by a single mental attack.

Lu Heng turned off the notifications on his Wristband and stretched his shoulders.

He glanced at the new Bone Demon.

The Bone Demon stood quietly beside him, the two cold lights deep in its eye sockets shining steadily, without any unnecessary movements or hesitation.

More composed than the old Bone Demon.

Lu Heng nodded, his gaze sweeping over the scattered remains of Zombie all around him—after decomposition, the flesh and useful substances had been extracted, leaving only piles of white skeletons lying haphazardly in the mud.

He gestured with his chin toward the Bone Demon.

"I ate it."

A cold light flickered slightly in the Bone Demon's eye sockets.

It strode toward the nearest pile of bones. Its jaw, covered in bony carapace, slowly opened, revealing interlocking bony teeth. With a single bite, the sound of bones shattering was crisp and resonant.

It eats very quickly.

He swallowed the skeleton in just a few bites.

Then came the second, the third...

The Bone Demon swept along the perimeter of the pile of corpses, leaving no trace of the bones in its wake. Its actions of devouring bones were driven by a primal greed; as its jaws opened and closed, a faint, dark light shimmered on the surface of its bony carapace, as if the bones it had swallowed were being rapidly absorbed and digested.

Lu Heng stood there, watching the Bone Demon devour the scattered bones one by one.

The last remaining bone fragment vanished between the Bone Demon's teeth.

The surrounding area was completely clean.

The Bone Demon turned around, quietly walked back to Lu Heng's side, and stood still again. The cold light in its eye sockets remained steady, as if the devouring just now was just a normal meal.

Lu Heng glanced at it but did not leave immediately.

He turned around, his gaze slowly sweeping across the entire factory area.

Abandoned factory buildings, collapsed walls, rusty tin sheds—everything looked as if it had been abandoned for a long time.

Why are the Gluttonous Aberrant and the hundreds of Zombie gathered here in particular?

Lu Heng frowned, unable to understand.

He withdrew his gaze and walked deeper into the factory area.

The Bone Demon followed silently.