Mike returned to his office in the Defense Department, closed the door, and sat down in his chair, visibly upset. He felt trapped. In his previous world, even though Jack had brainwashed him, he still had more freedom than in this life. From birth until now, it seemed like others had decided everything for him in advance.
As a 36-year-old man, Mike had just over 60 years left before he would die. It wasn't guaranteed that he would be reincarnated after his death; for all he knew, this life could be his last.
"It can't go on like this!" he thought. He was the Defense Coordinator of the Great Wall, a position coveted by many, but instead of making him proud, it made him feel trapped.
He looked at his system, specifically at the 'Roll the Dice' section.
"If it goes on like this, I'll die silently after a few decades. It looks like I have to consider rolling the dice!" he murmured, pursing his lips.
As the strongest human, Mike would definitely go down in history; however, he didn't care about history. When he died, it would make no difference whether he was remembered as a hero or forgotten as an unknown beggar.
"There is no way I can collect the full Lone Wolf bloodline in my lifetime; my only chance is rolling the dice!" he thought.
The demon who possessed most of the Lone Wolf bloodline had died shortly before Mike's birth; with that demon, most of the bloodline had evaporated and is not expected to return for hundreds of years.
Making his final decision, Mike began thinking about how to proceed.
"I shouldn't roll the dice while inside the Great Wall. If it lands on 3, 4, or 5, and my demonic blood share increases beyond 20%, I won't be able to hide my demonic wolf features and will be immediately detected by human civilization. They would probably capture me and send me to the 66th Army!" he thought.
The 66th Army was the military's secret lab, where they experimented on captured demons and, occasionally, on unlucky humans and demon-borns. Mike only learned about the 66th Army's existence after becoming the Great Wall's Defense Coordinator.
"I should go outside the sphere of human civilization's influence," he decided. As long as he didn't roll a 1, he would be fine. Mike had no major issues with living outside the Great Wall. Before today, he had hoped that he would be able to leave his current position and hunt demons while still using the facilities of human civilization. But after today, it became clear that as long as he remained, he would be trapped and eventually killed or die after serving for decades.
...
After making his plans, Mike sprang into action.
First, he went to the library and borrowed hundreds of books, which he put into his space ring. Second, he went on a shopping spree, spending all his military earnings from over the years. Third, he visited the special military exchange point, where he spent all the military contribution points he had earned from killing many demons.
His space ring, which was 10 cubic meters in size, was usually empty, but after the recent shopping spree, it became mostly full.
Without waiting further or saying goodbye to anyone, he directly went to the gate and left. As the Defense Coordinator of the Great Wall, he didn't need any permission to leave the city; he could simply order the guards to open the gate.
...
After traveling for days, Mike finally reached his destination—a cave he had discovered while exploring during a supply delivery. It was far from human civilization and major demonic cities, a quiet place with no humans within a 50-kilometer radius. The surrounding area had infertile soil and was very barren, making it difficult to find food and water. Fortunately, he had already stocked his space ring with a mountain of food and water with a very long shelf life.
He approached the cave and checked the formation around it. Years ago, he had set up a simple formation to hide the cave's existence and keep it clean. After confirming there were no issues, he entered the code, and the door of the cave appeared. Familiar with the mechanism, he entered without hesitation.
Inside the cave, there was simple furniture—a chair, a table, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a large storage area with food, water, clothes, and other daily necessities.
After sitting in the chair, Mike took a deep breath and summoned the system.
Name: Mike
Age: 36/100
Bloodline Purity: 100%
Demonic Bloodline Mix: 11%
Combat Power Estimate: B+
Path to 12%: 51/100
Roll the Dice: Y/N
He tapped 'Y' without hesitation. He had already decided, so there was nothing left to consider.
"Rolling the dice..."
"5"
Mike saw the result and sighed deeply. As expected, he failed to draw a 6; after all, the chances were only 1/6. Drawing a 5 was already good; it meant his demonic blood share would directly increase to 80.
"Ding! It is detected that the host has not yet received the beginner's gift pack!"
"+2 added"
"Successfully rolled the dice! Final result: 7!"
"What? What gift pack?" Mike looked at the system interface, very confused; he had no idea what the system was talking about. He didn't have time to ponder it for long. A hot force entered his bloodline, causing him to scream without holding back. The pain was too intense, as if his guts, bones, and entire existence were being ripped out.
Mike had an incredible pain tolerance, so he didn't pass out even under such pain. But at this moment, he wished his tolerance was lower; even someone as tough as him cried and begged and screamed for the pain to end. He had many spells for reducing pain, but at that moment, he couldn't even cast the simplest one.
The pain increased and increased. Gradually, his body began to transform; his horns grew a meter long, his body expanded and enlarged, and his face began to resemble that of a wolf. Slowly, he lost consciousness; the pain reached a point that even Mike could no longer tolerate.
...
Mike's mind looked at the ground blankly. The previous experience was still fresh in his memory. Even after waking up, he didn't seem to fully regain consciousness.
After an hour, he finally blinked and summoned the system interface.
Name: Mike
Age: 36/100
Bloodline Purity: 100%
Demonic Bloodline Mix: 120%
Combat Power Estimate: Error
Path to 121%: Error
Roll the Dice: 0%
"120%? Huh!" After experiencing that torture, he is not in the mood to laugh; still, he is happy in his heart. He could feel the endless strength in his body.
He wanted to stand up but noticed that his body had changed beyond recognition; he resembled a giant wolf 12 meters long with horrifying features. Ordinary people might die just from looking at him.
"I can use my ultimate bloodline spell, finally!" Mike realized he could now cast the legendary spell of the Lone Wolf bloodline at any moment.
"Lone Wolf: Human Transformation!" As soon as he cast this legendary spell, his body began shrinking rapidly. After 10 minutes, what remained was Mike in his human form, though naked. He had a pair of short horns on his head, no different from before.
Some demon kings could take human form; Skyfire Demon King, for example, had this power. Her real form was that of a phoenix, but after transformation, she looked like an ordinary demon-born human.
Slowly standing up on his two feet again, Mike walked to the storage and put on some clothes.
With his legendary spell, Mike could perfectly disguise himself and return to human civilization without worry. Although he had no issue living independently, he preferred to be able to use human civilization's resources.
...
Pursing his lips, Mike cast a simple spell.
"Fireball."
A massive ball, over 10 meters in radius, appeared and shot forward with incredible speed. It hit a faraway barren mountain and exploded with a massive bang. The shockwaves were so strong that a few distant slying birds lost consciousness and dropped down.
"Amazing! Even my ordinary spells are so powerful! How strong must my bloodline's legendary spells be?" he wondered in amazement.
Usually, low-grade spells had fixed strength; it didn't matter if a newbie or a skilled wizard cast it; the power of a fireball should be the same. Some high-level demons had special skills that passively boosted all spells they cast, but the boost shouldn't be this incredible. Obviously, the 20% increase in his Lone Wolf bloodline had significantly amplified Mike's overall power.
"My passive boost should be over 1,000%! I should be invincible right now!" Mike felt incredible; it all turned out far better than he had expected, even in his best-case scenario.
Of course, the true best-case scenario was to draw a 6 and get a final result of 8 after the gift bag, but Mike was already satisfied. He really couldn't complain.
"I should test my strength," he thought. It's crucial to know one's full combat power. With that in mind, he continued casting spells to see just how strong he really is.