CHAPTER 543: CHAPTER 541 WOUND

"I’m telling you, Xiao Li," Xing Hechou spoke in a pained whisper, "is this really necessary?"

At this moment, four players and an Auspicious Beast were staying in a man-made cave temporarily created by Li Ang using Swamp God Power. The cave was spacious and cool, with light filtering through the ceiling and ventilation holes on the walls, while stone tables and chairs were scattered on the floor. Xing Hechou sat behind a stone table, his muscular left arm, sleeve rolled up to his shoulder, resting on the cold tabletop. Sunlight shone through the gaps at the top of the cave, clearly highlighting the muscle contours of his arm, including the coconut-sized lump on the back of his hand.

"Of course it’s necessary," Li Ang sat across the table, holding the surgical scalpel from his Ruitu Military Knife 300, repeatedly sterilizing it over the candle flame. "Doesn’t Captain Xun Zian have your Life Paper? If you want to send a message without entering Chenzhou City, this is the best way."

The best way is to grow a tumor on the back of my hand and then poke it repeatedly with a knife?

Li Ang seemed to read Xing Hechou’s doubts and explained with a smile, "Don’t worry, it’s very safe. The tumor growing on the back of your hand is called the ’Wolf Warrior Physical Enhancement Implant,’ a special object. It not only monitors the host’s physical condition but also generates adrenaline, enhancing the host’s physical abilities. It moderately reduces lactic acid buildup, stabilizes the heartbeat, relieves muscle spasms, improves blood circulation, and to some extent, treats symptoms of poisoning, blood loss, and shock. An ordinary person, so weak they couldn’t even truss a chicken, could run a full marathon or complete a triathlon with ease after getting the Wolf Warrior Physical Enhancement Implant. And a trained soldier armed with the Wolf Warrior Physical Enhancement Implant would be even more powerful, doubling their combat effectiveness, like a tiger given wings or a fish returning to water. The most crucial thing is that the Wolf Warrior Physical Enhancement Implant itself has O-type blood and is plug-and-play. In the chaos of battle, you could even take implants from fallen comrades and install six or seven on yourself, truly becoming a modern super-soldier capable of taking on a hundred enemies. It’s honestly an affordable, universally praised plug-and-play piece of individual equipment."

Sitting not far away, Wanli Fengdao instinctively asked, "Then where might one acquire such a wonderful thing?"

"Good question!" Li Ang gave a thumbs-up and laughed heartily. "The Wolf Warrior Physical Enhancement Implant is a new generation product that I’ve independently developed. I haven’t applied for a patent yet, so it’s not for sale at the moment. But rest assured, I’ve tested this technology many times, and it’s very mature. Even in multi-player scenario missions, it can be used on teammates on the brink of death—the Wolf Warrior Physical Enhancement Implant is classified as a buff by the System, and it won’t be disabled by friendly fire protection settings. Furthermore, because it’s an external device connected to the host’s bloodstream, it becomes, to some extent, a part of the host’s body. Damaging the implant is akin to injuring the host. Therefore, it can be detected by Life Paper and used for remote message transmission."

Having said this, Li Ang lifted his own left hand onto the table. His left hand also had a lump. As he punctured the lump with the scalpel, the Life Paper bearing his own name, which he had previously taken from Xing Hechou, immediately showed tears.

"See, just like this." Li Ang calmly pulled out the scalpel. He touched the tumor, effortlessly healing the wound with the power of the Origin of Life. The Life Paper also quickly repaired itself, good as new.

"I just wanted to try it out, but I didn’t expect it to actually work," Li Ang smiled as he pinched the tumor on his hand, breaking it off easily and tossing it up and down in his hand for fun. "This is the first generation implant I’ve personally designed, specifically for ordinary people and rookies below Lv5. The effects aren’t very powerful, and it’s not very pretty. I’m considering reshaping it into a flat rectangle and anchoring it on the host’s back. This would increase the contact area with the host, improving the release of various hormones, and also make it more discreet."

"..." Xing Hechou opened his mouth. He had always thought Li Rising was a player with broad ideas, highly adaptable to the killing game environment, but he didn’t expect him to now demonstrate the qualifications of a professional technician. Of course, it was also possible that Li Rising had always been a technician; only now did he have the strength and confidence to show it to the Special Affairs Bureau.

"Can I keep a copy of the implant afterward?" Xing Hechou hesitated. "Of course, I’d pay for it. I will hand it over to the Bureau. Our equipment department might be interested and offer to buy this technology from you."

"Sure," Li Ang said indifferently. He had created this implant idly, indulging in a bit of a Renaissance by combining the first skill he had acquired, the Adrenaline Activation Method, with Origin of Life technology, using the body of a nematode. The technical content wasn’t high (at least much lower than the Brain Worm’s brain modification project). Selling it to the Special Affairs Bureau was fine.

"Besides this physical enhancement implant, I have other products too," Li Ang spoke casually. "For instance, there’s ’Toilet Number One,’ an external, pre-set stomach attachment. It can pre-digest food, process toxic or indigestible substances, and extract nutrients. It can also store food and induce painless vomiting. This makes it very suitable for mukbangers with specific needs. Once installed, even if they exclusively scavenged food from toilets, they could survive for decades. Then there’s the ’Stride Arrow,’ external biomaterial combat boots. Their unique dual-layer shock-absorption technology greatly reduces impact. The elastic sole structure significantly enhances the wearer’s jumping and sprinting abilities. They’re perfect for elderly people rushing to buy groceries in the morning—they could jump right off a five or six-story building, land safely, and jog to the market to get the freshest vegetables. Unfortunately, all these items are stored in the warehouse. I didn’t bring them with me."

Li Ang’s peculiar analogies left Xing Hechou with a face full of question marks. Honestly, even after several missions together, he still couldn’t quite tell when Li Ang was joking and when he was speaking seriously.

"Anyway, it’s more important to take care of business." Li Ang waved his hand, signaling Xing Hechou to position his arm properly, and took out Xun Zian’s Life Paper, placing it on the table. "I’m starting the cut now, okay?" Li Ang warned, picking up the disinfected Ruitu Military Knife and methodically stabbing the tumor on the back of Xing Hechou’s hand.

"Hello, this is Li Rising, please respond if you hear this."

While stabbing at the tumor with the knife, Li Ang simultaneously used the Origin of Life to heal it, sending out a message to Xun Zian and the others inside Chenzhou City. Xing Hechou, his face tense, only felt the blood in his arm speed up and slow down intermittently, with hot and cold alternating, but there was no pain as he had imagined.

After a brief wait, a tiny tear mysteriously formed on Xun Zian’s Life Paper on the table.

It worked! Xing Hechou’s eyes brightened. Clearly, Scholar Zhu and the others in Chenzhou City had understood the message Li Ang sent and could communicate. However, it seemed they did not have Li Ang’s efficient, low-cost healing method and only dared to make an insignificant small cut on Xun Zian’s body, unable to convey more complex messages.

Wanli Fengdao, silently observing from the side, nodded. It was understandable. After all, the healing method Li Ang displayed defied logic—a mere touch of his hand, and the riddled tumor would heal on its own. Even the medical specialists in the Mobile Detachment would need to use equipment and spend time and effort to heal the injured; they couldn’t do it as easily and effortlessly as Li Ang. This creation of biological weaponry, this healing method... indeed, was this what Li Rising had gained from that world filled with Deformed Monsters?

"It’s good to have a response; it seems they can understand." Li Ang nodded and continued to stab at the tumor, sending out messages. "We are now outside Chenzhou City. Considering that you might not have a low-consumption and highly efficient healing method, there’s no need to send complex responses. Let me describe our current status."

"Current status?" Inside Chenzhou City’s governor’s mansion, Scholar Zhu frowned and exchanged a glance with his companions. "What does he mean? Why aren’t they coming directly into the city if they have reached the outskirts of Chenzhou? Shi Qi, you mentioned last time that we were in the governor’s mansion, didn’t you?"

"I did," Shi Qi replied, his expression also somewhat puzzled. "Uh, maybe it’s because they’ve been too high-profile lately, and entering Chenzhou would get them recognized as Xi Menzi the Taoist?"

"Unlikely." Xun Zian shook his head indifferently, an elongated wound on his arm being bandaged by Chu Yin. "Old Xing wrote in the report that Li Rising is adept at disguise and very keen on concealing his tracks. His vigilance is extremely high. The face of Xi Menzi the Taoist was surely one of his fabrications. Simply changing his face would be enough to deceive the mortal soldiers at the city gates."

"Hmm." Scholar Zhu nodded. "It probably isn’t for that reason. Let’s see what he has to say."

After a moment’s pause, Xing Hechou’s Life Paper tore regularly once more.

"We have taken control of the Auspicious Beast and are now in the mountainous area west of Chenzhou. The Auspicious Beast resembles an ape and, as claimed, indeed possesses various special abilities. I performed some experiments on its brain and successfully restored some of its memories. It was the Auspicious Beast that warned us not to enter Chenzhou City."