A girl who could carry so much gold, along with a large bag of supplies, and wield a firefighter's axe weighing several pounds—such strength couldn't be simply explained as being "strong." Moreover, Logan had seen her arm stabbed earlier, yet she continued collecting supplies as if nothing had happened.
He glanced at Max Knight's wounds; they had stopped bleeding too.
After a moment's thought, Logan pulled out a few packets of instant noodles from his supplies, along with some medical items, and handed them to the girl. Her eyes reddened, and with trembling hands, she accepted them.
"Thank you…"
Logan transferred the gold from her bag into his own.
"I need to go. It'll be dark soon."
Although it was still before 4 p.m., the sky was already dimming. The extreme cold made the nights far longer than the days, and without electricity, the darkness brought dangerous unknowns.
"What's your name?" she asked from behind him.
Logan hesitated before replying without turning back,
"Agent No. 2..."
Logan and Max Knight returned to the safehouse just before nightfall. Once inside, Logan checked Max Knight's wounds. As expected, they had healed remarkably fast, with no signs of further bleeding. Impressed by the source beast's regenerative abilities, Logan carefully treated the deeper cuts.
Leaving Max Knight to rest, Logan locked himself in the storage room and took out the body of the tabby cat. The Cornucopia interface flashed:
[Detected unclaimed source power. Absorb? Yes/No]
Without hesitation, Logan responded, "Yes."
As with the mutated wild boar, a warm current flowed from the cat's body into Logan's, flooding his system with an indescribable euphoria as his life force surged.
Suddenly, Logan's body jolted—his gene lock had automatically unlocked.
Stunned, Logan marveled at this unexpected development. An overwhelming surge of power coursed through him.
"What… is this?"
His mind was as clear as the first time he had unlocked the gene lock, but now his physical strength was increasing exponentially. He felt as if he could take on a source beast with his bare hands.
Tentatively, Logan threw a punch into the air. The force of the strike sliced through the air with a sharp whistle. His brain instantly calculated the strength of the punch—it was ten times stronger than before!
He had far surpassed the limits of human strength. And this was just a casual strike.
"This is the second phase of the gene lock?!"
Logan was in awe. He jumped in place and effortlessly touched the ceiling. Testing his speed, he dashed across the storage room in the blink of an eye. Despite the small space, he accelerated and stopped just before hitting the wall, demonstrating perfect control over his newfound power.
For most people, such a sudden increase in strength and speed would result in clumsy, uncoordinated movements or even self-inflicted injury. But with the gene lock unlocked, Logan's brain could precisely control every ounce of his strength. His body seemed to generate limitless power.
The experience was intoxicating.
This time, the gene lock remained active for eight seconds. When the effect wore off, Logan staggered and dropped to one knee, his limbs weak but aching less than they had the first time he unlocked the gene lock.
"Maybe it's because I've absorbed the source power from two beasts," Logan mused.
From what he'd learned from Agent No. 2, the side effects of unlocking the gene lock should have worsened with each use. Yet, his condition seemed to be improving. It was clear to him that source power was the key.
"Could absorbing the source power from two first-tier source beasts have unlocked the second phase of the gene lock? Or had my body already been absorbing source material beforehand?" Logan wondered.
Unbeknownst to him, the Cornucopia had automatically absorbed source material while he was unconscious, contributing to his confusion.
After resting for about ten minutes, Logan's limbs were still weak but mostly recovered. He attempted to unlock the gene lock again, but nothing happened. The immense power was tantalizing, but he had yet to figure out how to activate the gene lock at will. So far, it had only triggered in life-threatening situations or moments of extreme emotion. He needed to find another way to control it.
Furthermore, after observing the fight between Max Knight and the tabby cat, Logan realized that, unlike humans, animals didn't seem to have the concept of unlocking a gene lock. Their physical enhancements were more direct—stronger bodies and noticeable changes in appearance. The evolutionary paths of humans and source beasts seemed to differ.
For now, everything was still in the exploratory phase, and Logan would have to uncover the secrets of these powers gradually.
Storing the tabby cat's body back in his space, Logan unlocked the door and stepped out. Max Knight was lying at the door, waiting for him.
"Waiting for me?" Logan asked, surprised. He crouched down and patted Max Knight's head.
Max Knight circled around Logan, sniffing him repeatedly, as if trying to confirm something.
"What's wrong?" Logan chuckled.
Max Knight nuzzled Logan's hand, his intelligent eyes filled with affection—and a hint of reverence. Logan, assuming Max was hungry, patted his head again.
"Hungry? Let's go eat!"
After a hearty meal, Logan spread out all the gold, platinum, diamonds, and silver he had collected that day across the living room floor. The gold alone weighed several hundred kilograms, and the rest of the jewelry added up to about the same. The entire floor sparkled with a dazzling light.
Replicated items couldn't be used for upgrades, so the only value these treasures had now was for upgrading the Cornucopia. Logan opened the Cornucopia interface:
[Cornucopia]
[Storage capacity: 96x96x96]
[Required Wealth Points for Upgrade: 32,000]
[Function: Item Replication 21]
[Required Wealth Points for Upgrade: 58,500]
Kneeling down, Logan placed his hand on the pile of jewelry and took a deep breath.
"Upgrade item replication," he commanded.