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Stepping through the torn metal door leading to the underground facility, the first thing you see is bloodstains covering the entire passage. Judging from the amount of blood loss, it couldn't have been caused by just one or two people; it must have been caused by either a large number of humans or some kind of enormous monster or mutant.
By sensing the lingering warmth in the air, Lin Yi speculated that the latter was more likely.
"Heating and incinerating it would be a good way to sterilize it."
On the underground floor, Lin Yi saw half of the strange man's charred corpse, which was not worth collecting because it had been carbonized.
On the second basement level, half of a severed hand with ten fingers was embedded in the wall. After cutting out a small piece of tissue, Lin Yi, out of "humanitarianism," thoughtfully helped it relieve its final pain.
—A hand with thinking abilities similar to those of the human brain.
"Shifting the thinking center from the brain to a local area is a good mutation if it can be achieved without significantly affecting thinking."
Keep going.
On the third underground floor, a lion mutant lying in a pool of blood was still convulsing. Upon discovering Lin Yi's presence, it habitually tried to reveal its ferocious face, but in this situation, all one could feel was desolation and pity.
Fourth underground level...
The fifth floor...
The sixth floor...
……
……
……
The thirtieth underground level.
Once again, Lin Yi was struck by the terrifying productivity of this unscientific labor force world with its freaks. But when he finally arrived at the bottom level, the battle was still ongoing. In the huge underground arena, which covered an area of tens of square kilometers and was nearly 500 meters high, a cyborg was fighting a freak with amazing athletic abilities. The speed that broke the sound barrier at every turn was blindingly devastating the arena. Judging from the situation, this battle would not end anytime soon.
Not only were the heroes and monsters fighting, but also Dr. Genus, the founder of the "House of Evolution" organization, present. Because Lin Yi had obtained basic information about the monster creator from the Hero Association beforehand, he quickly recognized the doctor, who had changed quite a bit compared to the photo.
"Look, look! Another righteous hero has arrived! Genos, didn't you want to help the weak and punish the wicked? What are you doing now? If you don't hurry up, I'm going to kill him~ Right in front of you, the self-proclaimed righteous hero, hahahahaha—"
Despite the risk of being kicked away by the monster, the cyborg shouted at Lin Yi, "Run!"
"Hahahaha, too late, Genos. Just watch as I torture this poor little guy to death. It's all his fault for being too weak and too stupid. His ridiculous sense of justice has led him to his doom!"
Dr. Genus, who had appeared behind Lin Yi without anyone noticing, gripped a syringe and frantically plunged it into Lin Yi's shoulder.
"boom----------!!!"
The sudden crack at the top of the arena caught the attention of the three people. When they looked up instinctively, they saw a conspicuous bald head in the sliver of sunlight. As Dr. Genus's expression changed from one of horror to one of relief, the cyborg breathed a sigh of relief.
"master!"
"Ah, Genos, so you're here. I don't know where I put the soy sauce at home, have you seen it?"
"It's probably in the closet, because there are too many cockroaches, so I put it in a place where they don't frequent."
"Impossible! This is the twentieth underground level! You were just on the surface a moment ago, how did you get down here—"
Faced with Dr. Genus's furious roar, the bald man scratched his head and raised his fist: "Use this."
"Fist? Are you kidding me! Kill him, Number One!"
The strange man let out a deafening roar, stomping his way through the broken ground as he charged towards the bald man, only to be met by a fist clad in a red glove—
Broken bones and brain matter splattered onto the ground. The bald man who had defeated the monster with a single punch ignored the dazed Dr. Genos, picked him up as if he wanted to say something, and "jumped" directly from the twentieth underground floor to the ground, disappearing without a trace. He left behind the still twitching corpse of the monster and the gap in the ceiling leading to the ground... or perhaps two more?
"Aren't you going to continue?"
The sudden sound brought Dr. Genus back to his attention, and he realized that there was another "hero" in front of him, but this "hero" was no longer a threat - the syringe had successfully injected the monster virus into his body.
"Hmph, that damn bald guy from earlier, I'll get my revenge on him someday, but before that, let me torture you properly. No, I'm going to turn you into a monster even stronger than Number One, a hero turned into a monster! That's right, that's my ideal!"
"Although it's a blow to your confidence, your virus seems to have the potential to mutate to the level of that bald guy."
Feeling the virus being devoured as nutrients in his body after only three seconds, Lin Yi felt somewhat disappointed in Dr. Genus, the eccentric organization that created the House of Evolution: he had no value in surviving.
"Wait a minute... what's going on? I clearly injected the virus—"
"Never mind, I don't have high expectations anyway."
I scanned the area. Although there were few traces, I had indeed left them here, and there were also some left on the ground that needed to be cleaned up...
"If there is a next life, I recommend you study the science and technology system."
As Dr. Genus staggered backward, the "Heroic Spirit" before him expressionlessly raised his fist, aiming it at the ground of the twentieth underground level—
"This system is significantly more efficient than individual biological variations."
--fall.
The temperature of hundreds of millions of degrees instantly sublimated all surrounding matter. Radiation and shock, carrying terrifying heat, flattened a twenty-story building and surged to the surface. After sweeping across a radius of twenty kilometers, it turned into a mushroom cloud that rose slowly...
Lin Yi, suspended in the sky by a repulsive force field, looked down at the scene below.
"Nuclear bomb punch, not bad."
P.S.: Fifth update delivered.
Information Integration Thought Entity: Chapter 604 Clash
Hero Association.
The man in the white robe stared expressionlessly at the ruins of the House of Evolution on the screen, and asked the association president beside him, who was constantly wiping away sweat, in an extremely calm tone: "Is this the explanation you're talking about?"
"This...this is beyond our control. I've done my best to gather heroes below Rank A, but I didn't expect that not only Genos intervened, but there were also heroes who used nuclear weapons. Please believe me, I absolutely did not mean to deceive you—"
"enough."
The cold pronouncement sealed their fate.
The white-robed man made no other move, and the association president, who was trying to explain something, gaped open like a fish thrown ashore, his bulging eyes filled with terror. However, in stark contrast, his body remained completely still.
Even as the feeling of suffocation intensified until his last desperate death, he refused to believe that the second-ranked S-class hero would kill him so easily.
On my deathbed, a thought came to mind: Am I not a character in the story?
After casually obliterating the corpse of the association president, "Fa Tian Xiang Di" coldly ordered another "association president" who had appeared out of nowhere: "Control the situation and don't let those natives interfere with our operations."
"As you wish, my lord."
Facing the mushroom cloud rising on the screen, "Fa Tian Xiang Di" sneered, "The light of the restored gods will shine once again in this world."
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"The frequency of strange people appearing has increased."
This isn't the first time the hunting team has brought up this point, but each time it's mentioned, it signifies an escalation in the severity of the problem.
The Central District, where the Hero Association is located, is relatively safe. According to intelligence gathered by the hunting team, other cities have experienced Tiger-level or higher disasters in the past few days, with rumors even circulating about Dragon-level disasters in the most severely affected H City.
"Does such a situation actually occur in the storyline of this world?"
After canceling the "hunger" ability, a blush appeared on the girl's face as she felt the fullness in her stomach, but she quickly controlled it with her good mental fortitude: although she had tried to reduce the side effects as much as possible, the temptation of "hunger" was still ever-present, and if she were to be controlled by it, it might cause the "hunger" cells to go berserk, turning her into a monster who indiscriminately devoured energy.
Corresponding to this perceived aftereffect, the pre-existing enhancement from the "Famine" system is equally powerful. The "hunger" that can devour all alien energy can not only enhance the transmigrator's abilities, but also greatly reduce the combat power of monsters when facing them. After all, strictly speaking, what causes monsters to mutate is also a type of "alien energy".
Thanks to the enhancement of "hunger", the monster-hunting team composed of three armed detective girls was able to continue operating in the increasingly serious Central District, and even unknowingly raised their main target from the Tiger-level disaster to the Demon-level disaster.
It's important to understand that each Demon-level disaster carries the risk of causing a town to cease functioning or be destroyed. In the context of the world of "Aria the Scarlet Ammo," this is roughly equivalent to a small-scale war. And yet, three mere Armed Detectives can influence a small-scale war... This is a complete transformation for the three girls who were previously just ordinary people. If it weren't for the significant deficiency in their "hunger," their current situation would be the perfect one for them.
As Reiki reiterated this point, Aria, who had already experienced a plot mishap in the world of "A Certain Magical Index," looked confused: "Is it another plot mishap?"
"This possibility cannot be ruled out."
He took out a tactical knife, cut off a small piece of the monster's tissue, and put it into a collection container. He gradually became skilled at this action, and there was no trace of the resistance he had shown not long ago.
"Next, we should reduce the scope of our hunt for monsters. We cannot easily expose ourselves to the Alliance right now."
Although they didn't come knocking on her door, Reggie never forgot the fact that the three people had caused the death of a time traveler.
Even though they were essentially just "defending themselves," unlike Lin Yi who didn't care about such a stance, in the eyes of most transmigrators, the indigenous people and transmigrators were two completely different concepts. Transmigrators might die, but only at the hands of their own people. If the indigenous people attacked the transmigrators, there were only two possibilities.
Hostile, or about to become hostile.
To be honest, the Armed Detective Girls almost despaired when they realized they had unintentionally killed a time traveler in their self-defense. Even the calmest of them, Rei, suggested "killing themselves." They never imagined that Lin Yi would ignore the matter...
(Perhaps this is why the "organization" is looking for him.)
She had no intention of explaining it aloud, and even with Lin Yi's "endorsement," Lei Ji never thought she could get rid of the matter once and for all.
Faced with Reiki's assessment, Mine Riko directly expressed her support: "I have no problem with it."
With two of the three members of the team already stating their positions, Aria naturally had no other choice.
And so, the monster-hunting team quickly faded from public view in a short period of time. Only occasionally would rumors circulate about them being kept by someone and leaving the Hero Association. Apart from that, there was nothing else worth paying attention to.
The armed detective girls who made this decision were unaware that they had dodged a bullet. Although it was just a casual act, the members from the "Resurrection God Cult" did not mind crushing a few ants who dared to attack them. However, after realizing that they could not find their target in a short time, they gave up, thus postponing the conflict that might have broken out earlier.
A few days later, the "Cult of the Apocalypse," which had begun a large-scale operation in the world, also had little time to pay attention to these matters.
—The Apocalypse Church and the Equality Organization have clashed.
It's hard to say this wasn't a premeditated event, considering that two of the world's only three remaining star-level opponents would appear in the same city at the same time, and the outcome would be decided in less than a minute.
As a result, the mechanically enhanced star-level Terminator—ranked third in S-class and belonging to the "Equality Organization"—barely managed to escape this world using the key. Meanwhile, the second-ranked S-class Terminator, "Fa Tian Xiang Di," began leading the "Resurrection Cult" to launch a large-scale operation against this world after achieving victory. As for the casualties among the natives caused by the brief clash between the two star-level beings on the planet's surface...
Nobody cares about such trivial matters.
Information Integration Thought Entity: Chapter 605 Cat Girl
A few days ago, a disaster of dragon-level scale or higher broke out in M City. Although the S-class hero "Fa Tian Xiang Di" arrived in time, the disaster still caused casualties in more than seven towns and more than one million people...
Watching the news on TV, the unlicensed delivery rider, ranked 100014th in Category C and whose main job is food delivery and whose side job is heroism, felt extremely tormented.
For most people, witnessing this disaster on the other side of the planet would simply be a matter of reflection, but for the highly responsible Unlicensed Rider, it was a different story.
Since he chose to become a hero, he must shoulder the responsibilities of a hero, and the responsibility of a hero is to protect the weak—this cause-and-effect relationship itself is not problematic. The only flaw is that the unlicensed knight, ranked 100014th in the C-class (due to the influx of a large number of transmigrators of varying levels, the rankings of the original inhabitants have changed except for the relatively important protagonist), does not have the strength to protect the weak. Rather, it is he who is the one who needs to be protected.
In this world where mutants roam the streets and weirdos are as common as dogs, you can't call yourself a hero if you don't have the power to punch with the force of tens of thousands of tons.
Obviously, Mumen Rider, whose ranking has fallen to C-level 100014, could not possibly have the ability to punch with the force of tens of thousands of tons. Instead, he is an ordinary person who has neither the money to develop technology nor the life to develop mutations, and has to run around every day to make a living.
"I want to have the power to protect them and take on the responsibility of being a 'hero'."
The news broadcast, featuring horrific scenes of a destroyed town, made the unlicensed hero instinctively clench his fists, his gaze unconsciously shifting to the leaflets on the table.
He received it two days ago from a twin-tailed girl wearing cat ears. He initially accepted the flyer simply because of the "cat-eared girl," but after seeing the contents, he couldn't help but focus his attention on the flyer itself.
Do you crave power?
Do you want to control your destiny?
Do you want to be a hero?
—Then come find me.
—I've put all the possibilities here.
Penguin Enterprise
Our philosophy is: to create happiness with heart and to meet your needs with service.
For the past two days, Mumen Rider has been hesitant, partly due to concerns about the credibility of the little-known Penguin Enterprise, and partly due to his desire to acquire true hero abilities.
Until this day, after seeing the people suffering from the disaster in the news, the unlicensed motorcyclist finally made up his mind: "I can't hesitate any longer!"
Packing his things and carrying all the savings he had accumulated from working over the past few years, the unlicensed motorcyclist set off for the address on the flyer.
Upon arriving at his destination, the unlicensed rider was surprised to find that the place was not as desolate as he had imagined. Although it could not compare to the bustling city center, it was quite good compared to those unlicensed businesses. More importantly, there was a catgirl maintaining order in front of the gate—cough cough, the surging crowd in front of the gate.
"With so many people here, it seems I made the right choice. This place truly gives people the power of heroes!"
The unlicensed rider, full of anticipation, clearly failed to notice the main composition of the crowd: people holding cameras, holding signs, shouting "Long live the catgirl!", and even holding cat toys.
As it turns out, even different worlds still share some commonalities. The reclusive type of people doesn't disappear as their living environment deteriorates; they simply become more hidden. As long as an element that hits their sweet spot appears, they will naturally disregard societal norms and bravely reappear in the sunlight.
Bathed in the fervent gazes of many, Aria felt even more pressured than when facing a demon-level calamity.
"What kind of ideas does that guy come up with... We're armed detectives, not these kinds of people who sell sex!"
Aria, who was gritting her teeth, complained in a low voice while forcing a smile. Her clothes, which could not completely cover her skin, made her feel ashamed, but she could only endure it and stand here as one of the penguins' "signatures" because of Lin Yi's words, "You owe me money".
As for the other two "signboards"...
Please line up.
stonecrandall