Chapter 31
Inside a secret place.
The chief was up to his usual doings. He was observing his best work, "Shadow".
Shadow was currently seated in a lotus position. The mana surrounding him gathered around like a storm. It was constantly seeping into his body, refining it slowly.
The chief had finally managed to crack one of the large mysteries about powers and how they could be improved.
"Abilities are just like a muscle. They have to be used constantly so it could be broken and rebuilt even stronger. By using an ability over and over again, the power would eventually become stronger. However, there's a method that's equally efficient. By using the common point of all martial arts breathing technique, we were able to successfully come up with this. We've truly taken a step further. Thank you, everyone." The chief said to his crew.
The crew smiled humbly. "It's our greatest honor to be able to work under you, chief!"
They all said in unison.
One of the main reasons they were able to get this far was not just from their intellect. It was also from their sense of unity and outstanding teamwork as well as the leadership of the chief.
The chief swept his green hair back. His hand crackling with green electricity, he operated the interface.
"How are you feeling, Shadow?" The chief's calm voice rang in Shadow's chamber.
Shadow was startled awake from his meditative state and hatred began to fill his eyes. "I'LL KILL YOU. ONE DAY, I SWEAR WITH MY LIFE,"
The chief laughed in response. "It's surprising that such a mad dog like you is my most excellent test subject."
The chief's words made Shadow become even crazier. Shadow's body trembled and began to enlarge. Thick, black hair grew all over his body. His facial features began to elongate and resemble that of a wolf. A blood-red light filling Shadow's eye, he madly rushed for the door.
"That's cute," The chief said and his hands sparkled with green again. He touched his interface and Shadow's room began to fill with green lightning.
Various machinery in the room came alive and closed in on Shadow, immobilizing him into one place.
The green light disappeared and all the types of machinery returned to where they came from. All that was left was Shadow's tranquilized body.
"How does the data look?" The chief asked.
"His second ability, [Werewolf Transformation] became stronger by about 20%. His third ability, [Hyper Instinct] also improved judging from how he was able to dodge those strikes. However, his first ability, [Shadow Transformation] showed no signs of activation."
The chief had a look of contemplation. He placed one of his pale hands on his cheek and said, "Is it possible that his first ability became restricted because he awakened more abilities? Is such a thing possible? We'll need to do more testing. The good news is that our training method worked. I believe we can fine-tune it some more and create an even stronger one."
"Why don't we name the training method right now, chief?"
"Hmm," The chief thought. "Why don't we name it [Great Human Method]?"
The name of the lab they were in was "Great Human". It was the perfect name.
The rest of his crew noticed this relation and felt flattered, "That's a great name, chief!"
When this fact was established, the chief received a blue window.
[Title Acquired: Genius of a Generation]
"That's interesting," The chief thought.
Back to Spring-Autumn.
It was noon.
Spring-Autumn and Rainmist had just finished their meal.
"Let's go take a look at the city,"
They easily left the mansion.
There was a weird atmosphere about the city.
The city was bustling but something was off.
The people were almost acting as if the day was their last. Some were overly enthusiastic, others were acting as if they were in a hurry.
This was seen in an electronics store they passed by. The store owner enthusiastically introduced the items while the customers readily bought the item without much thinking.
It was an understandable mindset. Despite having the protection of the wall, the people had experienced first hand what it was like to see monsters rampage through the city. They were in constant fear of death. As such, there was no need to think much about buying the items they had always wanted. They didn't know when they were going to die or if the value of money would be preserved.
Spring-Autumn enjoyed the sights of the city. There were no cars on the road so people just walked on the road. There were a few debris here and there left but the majority of it was cleaned off already.
When one thought of the apocalypse, there would be two things.
Ruined city.
Ghost town.
The sight around was only one of two things. The city was ruined in some places but there were still people out and about.
Rainmist clung to Spring-Autumn's arm tightly. There were some differences in the way she was treating him after they had some steamy action.
She was more affectionate. More seductive. More close, but at the same time, more distant. Human emotions were a complicated thing. They were complex and hard to understand.
"I can't believe there would be a day the world would turn into something like this," Rainmist sighed.
"Have you been here before?" Spring-Autumn stared at Rainmist who was practically glued to his arm.
"I have, actually," She said and looked back at Spring-Autumn. "What?"
"Nothing," He looked away.
"You like what you see?" Rainmist whispered.
"Hehe," Spring-Autumn laughed vilely in response.
"Creep!"
They arrived at a restaurant. There was a strange scene happening.
A few strongmen were carrying a pig. A mutated pig corpse to be exact. The chef was waiting outside the restaurant, a huge cleaver ready in hand.
There was a sign outside the restaurant.
"[Users] only!"
Spring-Autumn took a closer look at the restaurant and realized that it was one that was under the Primo Corp. He laughed at the genius of Winter. There was no one else but Winter who could think of something like this and put it in action.
In order to recruit more [Users], he lured them in with mutated animals as food. There would not be anyone who could refuse the temptation to become stronger.
The meat of mutated animals was the only way to become stronger that Spring-Autumn knew. By running a restaurant that served mutated animals, [Users] would come running like vultures.