394: Chapter 391 Over-regeneration

Li Jianguo's body began to contort.

The Metal Trilobites clinging to his body were the first to sense something was wrong—they writhed frantically, trying to escape, but it was already too late. The surface of the silver-white armor seemed to come alive, as countless fine tentacles extended from within, piercing into the bodies of every trilobite.

The trilobites struggled and shrieked—that harsh, metal-grating sound echoed from all over Li Jianguo's body. Then they began to melt, being devoured and turning into silver-white liquid metal, flowing back into Li Jianguo's body through those tentacles.

It was no longer armor worn on the body.

They were becoming a part of him.

Dark silver carapace grew outward from beneath his skin, mixing and reorganizing with the melted trilobites. The original gaps in the armor were filled, becoming a seamless whole. Several ridges extended backward from the shoulder plates, his back arched, and a slender tail extended from his tailbone—a tail made of interconnected segments of spikes, each capable of independent movement. The tip split into three prongs, like a metal claw, with tiny, launchable spikes hidden within each claw-toe.

His hands were also changing. His ten fingers became more slender, his fingernails fell off, replaced by black sharp claws growing from the ends of his phalanges—thicker and blunter than Ye Ouyang's golden claws, but one look was enough to know they could tear a person in half.

The most eerie part was the face.

Originally, there was only a pair of dark red goggles under the armor's coverage, but now, growth began beneath them—skin, muscle, and bone bulged under that layer of dark silver carapace, finally splitting open into a slit that turned into a mouth.

The moment that mouth opened, rows of densely packed fine teeth could be seen inside.

“He's evolved...” Shen Mingyuan's voice came from behind his shadow mask, kept very low. “The previous data said he had such a high concentration; now that he's in a near-death state, he must have evolved.”

Ye Ouyang tightened his grip on his sharp claws: “What do we do? Interrupt him directly?”

“Can you even interrupt that?”

In the time it took to exchange those few words, Li Jianguo had already stood up.

He looked down at his hands, flexing the newly grown pair of sharp claws. Then he turned around and rushed toward the metal cabinet in a few strides—the cabinet door was still open, with over a dozen Metal Trilobites left inside that hadn't had time to escape.

He reached out, grabbed a handful, and stuffed them directly into his mouth.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

The trilobites were crushed in his mouth, juices and metal fragments dripping from the corners of his newly formed mouth. His throat bobbed as he forced them down his gullet.

He grabbed another handful. And another. Until he had crushed and swallowed every remaining trilobite in the cabinet.

Rich protein. The energy consumed by evolution was being rapidly replenished.

He turned his head and looked at the four figures. Those dark red eyes stared at them through the goggles, unmoving.

Li Jianguo moved.

In that instant, the dark silver figure almost vanished from his spot—reappearing in front of Lu Jianchuan, his sharp claws sweeping across.

Too fast.

Lu Jianchuan's pupils constricted sharply. His neural reflections in Explosive Combustion Form made him instinctively raise his left arm to block—

Screech—!

The sharp claws slashed across the silver-white armguards, leaving three deep gashes. Lu Jianchuan didn't retreat; he clenched his right fist and delivered a Rising Dragon punch to Li Jianguo's chin, snapping his head back. Simultaneously, the thrusters on his back ignited fiercely, sending him soaring upward before he slammed another fist down, booming Li Jianguo back into the ground!

Boom!

A web of cracks exploded across the floor. But the moment Li Jianguo hit the ground, he flipped and bounded back up, his claws lunging at Lu Jianchuan again. His speed was terrifying, his evolved body incredibly agile—while he couldn't keep up with the extreme sprints of Explosive Combustion Form, his reaction speed was not at all inferior in this close-quarters brawl.

The two were locked in combat.

Lu Jianchuan threw punches, and Li Jianguo swung his claws. Silver-white and dark silver figures collided, crossed, separated, and collided again frantically within the basement. Shen Mingyuan held his sniper rifle, the crosshairs in his scope swaying back and forth, unable to get a lock—they were too close to each other.

“Dammit...” He gritted his teeth, not daring to fire.

In the distance, Ye Ouyang was dragging Wei Ziqing toward a corner. Wei Ziqing had completely lost his ability to fight, lying on his back on the ground, unable to even move a finger, only able to watch the two figures locked in struggle.

Bang!

Lu Jianchuan landed a punch on Li Jianguo's face while simultaneously sidestepping to create distance—the sharp claws immediately pursued, slashing across his ribs. Three more gashes appeared on the silver-white armor, blood seeping from the gaps.

Lu Jianchuan let out a muffled groan, but instead of retreating, he advanced, slamming a fist into Li Jianguo's chest!

Li Jianguo was blasted back two steps by the blow, but he immediately lunged forward again, his claws aiming straight for Lu Jianchuan's face. Lu Jianchuan tilted his head to dodge, but his shoulder couldn't avoid it—with a tearing sound, a gash was ripped into the shoulder plate, and blood sprayed out.

But in that very instant, Lu Jianchuan found an opening.

He kicked Li Jianguo in the abdomen, using the counterforce to step back half a pace, then boomed a fist into his chest—not an ordinary punch, but one with full kinetic energy concentrated by the wide-open propulsion thrusters of his Explosive Combustion Form!

Thud—!

Li Jianguo was sent flying, smashing into the basement wall. The concrete wall exploded into a massive web of cracks, and he was embedded in the wall, momentarily unable to move.

Lu Jianchuan gave him no chance to catch his breath. The thrusters ignited again, and the silver-white figure charged straight at him for another punch—

Li Jianguo opened his mouth.

The moment that punch hit his face, he jerked his head down and bit hard into Lu Jianchuan's arm!

Sharp teeth pierced through the armor, through the skin, and into the muscle. Blood gushed from the bite, staining the dark silver corners of his mouth red.

Lu Jianchuan shuddered from the pain, but his other hand had already formed a fist, slamming it violently into Li Jianguo's stomach!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Punch after punch, each wrapped in the thrust of Explosive Combustion Form, hammered Li Jianguo's body against the wall, creating even more cracks. Yet he refused to let go, biting down on Lu Jianchuan's arm with a death grip, his dark red eyes staring at Lu Jianchuan's face through the goggles.

The two were at a stalemate. One biting, one punching. Blood flowed from both of them, pooling into a small puddle on the ground.

“Lu Jianchuan, get out of the way!”

Shen Mingyuan's voice exploded from the side and rear. Lu Jianchuan didn't hesitate for a second; the thrusters on his back ignited instantly, and he soared upward, forcefully ripping his arm out of Li Jianguo's mouth—blood splattered everywhere.

Li Jianguo looked up, his gaze shifting toward Shen Mingyuan.

The dark muzzle of a gun was pointed right at him.

Bang—!

A black-red plasma bullet tore through the air, heading straight for his face. Li Jianguo's body moved faster than his thoughts—he slammed himself onto the ground, his entire body flat against the floor. The bullet grazed his back and hit the wall, exploding into a charred crater.

“No way...” Shen Mingyuan held his gun, his voice carrying a hint of frustration. “How can everyone dodge my shots?”

Before he could finish his sentence, a golden figure swept past him.

Ye Ouyang.

Taking advantage of the moment Li Jianguo had just bounced up from the ground, his golden claws stabbed straight into his side—right where Lu Jianchuan's repeated punches had opened a wound, and the dark silver skin had not yet fully healed.

Squelch—!

The sharp claws pierced through.

Warm golden fluid surged frantically from the tips of his claws, pouring into Li Jianguo's body through the wound. Gold Weave Cells—a massive amount of Gold Weave Cells were injected in that single instant.

Ye Ouyang kicked him, using the force to retreat and create distance.

Li Jianguo looked down at his abdomen.

The wound was healing—no, not healing, but regenerating. The speed was staggering; within seconds, the skin there had returned to its original state. Along with it, all the other injuries Lu Jianchuan had inflicted on him healed at the same time.

He was momentarily stunned.

Then he felt something was wrong.

Something was moving on his back.

He turned his head and saw that behind his left shoulder blade, something was growing out—

An arm.

Yes, a complete human arm had grown out from where only a shoulder blade should be, hanging behind his back, its five fingers still twitching unconsciously.

Then it was his ribs. A large lump bulged there, the skin stretched transparent, showing something writhing inside. A few seconds later, the lump burst open, revealing three or four tangled fingers—only half-grown, stuck there, the fingertips still vibrating slightly.

His abdominal cavity also began to ache. A sharp, swelling pain coming from within, as if something was growing inside, squeezing his stomach, squeezing his intestines, squeezing all the organs that were supposed to be left alone.

“What... is this...”

His voice squeezed out of his newly grown mouth, hoarse and broken.

The Gold Weave Cells were spreading through his body, each reading the genetic blueprint, and then—because there were no defects needing repair—they began to randomly assemble new organs according to the blueprint. A complete arm, half a finger, a mass of tangled intestines, an extra lung lobe—all were growing frantically inside and outside his body.

It hurt.

It hurt too much.

That pain was not the pain of an external injury; it was a pain growing from the inside out, from every place where things shouldn't grow. Those new organs were growing, squeezing, and occupying space that didn't belong to them.

Li Jianguo raised his hand, grabbed the arm that had just grown out of his back, and pulled with all his might—

Rip—

The sound of tearing flesh. The arm was ripped from its root and thrown to the ground, blood gushing out. He trembled all over from the pain, but he gritted his teeth and reached for the half-fingers at his ribs.

Another pull. Another sound of tearing flesh. Another surge of blood.

But the wounds where they had been torn away were rapidly regenerating again—the Gold Weave Cells were still working, still 'repairing' those torn 'defects,' continuing to grow redundant things according to the blueprint.

His physical strength was draining frantically. The growth of those new organs and the regeneration of those wounds were all siphoning energy from his body. What he had originally replenished after his evolution was being drained away at a rate visible to the naked eye.

He knelt on the ground, gasping for air, covered in blood. The spot on his back where the arm had been torn away began to bulge with a new lump—it was about to grow again.

“What... is this...”

He asked again, his voice even weaker and hoarser than before.