Anime: Fight Sukuna at the beginning?.

Chapter 424 [The Heart of the Dragon] and the Meaning Represented by the Heart

Despite focusing on studying the magical samples before her.

It's as if he's shielded from all external distractions, focusing solely on scientific research like a mad scientist.

But in reality, while studying magical samples and figuring out how to transform men using excellent role models,

Miss Merlin also had some attention on the man behind her.

They were spying on and watching the man's every move.

They even perked up their ears and secretly used a magic trick to record sounds.

She was afraid that she might miss a single word uttered by the man while she was thinking.

At this moment, Merlin, having completed her improvements to the longsword used against men.

It's like a skilled chef preparing a delicious meal to entertain a friend.

Watching my friend chew food, I began to secretly observe any micro-expressions on my friend's face related to food.

From time to time, he would subtly or overtly inquire about the taste of the dishes from his friends.

It's like desperately craving a compliment, wanting to see the look of enjoyment on a friend's face, just to validate the value of one's own work.

Aside from the empty compliments the man had previously offered, she...

I'd love to see the 'real feedback' of a man holding a long sword with obvious affection and trying to swing it.

However, Miss Merlin soon discovered that her expectations had not been met.
-
Because of the man behind her who was rudely hugging her.

He simply examined his improved longsword for a moment, then nodded slightly.

He then hung the long sword at his waist.

They made no further move to study the longsword.

Upon realizing this, Miss Merlin was immediately puzzled.

What is he thinking? Is my modification of the knife not good enough?

But soon, she saw the man turn his gaze back to her.

It stared at me with an extremely blatantly greedy gaze.

Feeling the hands encircling her waist, she unconsciously tightened her grip.

She wrapped her arms tightly around his waist like a vine, binding herself firmly to his side.

Miss Merlin only took a second.

From the man's body language, one could interpret the trust he wanted to express: "If it's you who did it, then there's no need to verify it."

And the extremely domineering statement: "You're not getting away. You're now my 'possession'."

This is like a declaration of dominance by the strong over the weak.

After sensing the signals emitted by the man's body.

A slight smile crept onto Miss Merlin's lips.

He nodded with unusual satisfaction.

It seems I'm a little more important than the longsword.

"Hmm, that's very good."

She shrank back and nestled closer to the man behind her.

After experiencing this novel feeling of being bound, and then taking a closer look at the man's handsome profile that made her gaze linger, she realized what was happening.

Somewhat absorbed in this plot and relationship, she subconsciously sniffed.

He inhaled the man's exhaled air deeply, feeling a strange, somewhat addictive sensation rise within him.

She couldn't help but sigh.

This kind of man truly has a unique charm and appeal.

[So, Master, your taste is indeed quite good.]

Thinking of this, she glanced discreetly at Miss Zhuang in the corner, who had been tricked into drinking the 'sleeping tea' and was unable to move, but could vaguely hear and sense things.

At this moment, she had a deeper understanding of the charm of the man behind her.

He watched the sleeping woman, who seemed helpless in the face of her attempts to seduce men.

A strange, intense, and addictive pleasure immediately arose within me.

Miss Merlin felt as if she had awakened some strange attribute.

But knowing that important matters were at hand, she quickly suppressed this pleasure and cleared her throat.

She turned around and started talking to the man behind her.

"The good news is that this woman [Arthur]'s] heart seems to have undergone some inexplicable evolution due to a variety of factors."

"Therefore, the transformation of your heart and even your body will be stronger than before."

"The bad news is that the renovation might be a bit difficult."

Before the man could respond, Miss Merlin presented him with a choice.

"I'm afraid you'll have to make a difficult choice."

"I will give you three options, and you can choose one of them."

Fang Yi nodded, signaling the other party to speak.
-
"The most conservative solution is to replicate the old version of [Arthur] and infuse your body with [Albion's] [Dragon Factor] for him to absorb."

"You should be able to obtain a [heart] that is stronger than her 'unevolved' red dragon heart, one that can efficiently convert magic power."

"Because of the change in the nature of magic, your [Magic Release] will also change and become more powerful than that of an ordinary person."

"This modification will not involve any risks, nor will it exceed the 'absorption' limit of your ability to [possess the benefits of dragons without the negative effects of dragons]."

Fang Yi shook his head at this "worst-case scenario".

He didn't put in so much effort just to get the lowest reward.

Looking at the man who rejected the proposal, Miss Merlin nodded calmly.

After a fleeting thought of "This is him, this is the kind of man I should pay attention to," I took it a step further.

"A more radical approach would be to mimic the operating principle of the new version of Arthur's Dragon's Heart."

"Extract the material directly and perform a minor surgery on your heart."

"Imitate her [Dragon's Heart] and modify your heart in a similar way, turning your heart into an 'engine' with extremely high output power."

"It's just because the material is [Albion], the [Last Dragon], that you need to improve that ability."
-
As soon as Miss Merlin finished speaking, Fang Yi heard a notification sound from the space.

The requirements for your "Perfect Dragon" quest have changed.

To gain benefits, you need to spend merit points and experience to upgrade the [Nine Transformations of Dragon Refinement] ability (a spatial auxiliary deduction skill).

You need to upgrade [Nine Transformations of Dragon Refinement] to level [lv3].

[Due to the influence of the talent "Diligent Study and Improvement," the acquisition of knowledge "Immaculate and Flawless Body," and the consumption of consumables, it is estimated that 12931 points will be required.]

Looking at the remaining 22000 points on the panel, Fang Yi breathed a sigh of relief.

If the points requirement exceeds this limit, he will have no choice but to wake up Miss Zhuang over there and borrow some points.

This could make the situation get out of control and rather awkward.

The points he needs to spend to improve his skills, which are in whole or small amounts but do not exceed his spending limit, are the result of his hard work.

It is obvious that apart from Fang Yi using [Extraordinary Gravity] to spend 1000 points to extract Cheng Xiang's body-refining technique knowledge in advance, there is also the fact that...

He took the pills made by Shinobu Kocho, which he used like candy, to "advance his body-refining progress" whenever he had free time.

And the earlier gift from Ms. Chen Shu, which increased the compatibility between the implant and the body.

The "Perfect Match," priced at 7000 points per bottle, did have some effect.
-
They simply stopped talking, not intending to say it was merely a 'best strategy' to fill in the gaps in the options.

Miss Merlin had already reached out and touched her chest, ready to 'start work'.

Fang Yi interrupted Miss Merlin, posing a rather 'greedy' question, signaling her to continue explaining the plan.

"So what about the last option?"

"You have another plan to make me stronger, right?"

As he spoke, Fang Yi secretly brought up the panel related to the [Human Elixir Method].

At this moment, Fang Yi had killed the enemy multiple times.

This is the "relic" that drives this artificial intelligence-like system, capable of analyzing things, evaluating them, and providing solutions.

Its operating 'fuel' has reached a relatively abundant number of 4500.

Therefore, Fang Yi can not only accurately assess risks, but also make some improvements to the plan.
-
Miss Merlin felt a pang of panic when she saw the man's gaze behind her.

After hesitating for a moment, he still came up with a somewhat whimsical renovation plan.

"That is to break open your chest and take out your heart."

"I'll replace it with a 'pure-blooded dragon heart' that's purely forged from the dragon concept of [Albion] itself."

"Then, this replacement heart will continue to produce blood."

"Completely and slowly replace the blood in your body with the blood of a 'pure-blooded dragon'."

Seeing that the man seemed interested, Miss Merlin quickly explained the difficulty of this surgery, which was only in the imagination.

"This transplant is not simple."

"It is neither a human heart infused with the [Dragon Factor] nor a [Dragon Furnace Core] constructed by imitating its operating principle, but it is essentially still a human heart."

"Instead, it is a genuine Dragon Heart that will produce an extremely strong rejection reaction, radiate powerful magic, and almost change the logic of the body's operation."

Miss Merlin, turning to look at the man, touched his chest.

He added with great concern.

"Although I didn't get many of Albion's remains from the Spirit Tomb, I used them all up after modifying them."

"This [Dragon Heart] won't be as strong as the fully upgraded version. There's still a lot of room for improvement after I acquire more remains."

"But unless you can control your body to react when you lose your heart, it will destroy your body and irreversibly transform you into a dragon before your body adapts to the heart."

"Not to mention you don't want the negative effects of dragons, but this kind of conceptual organ transplantation has exceeded the limits of your skill."
-
The spatial notification sound that Fang Yi heard also confirmed Miss Merlin's opinion.

[WARNING! This reward claim scheme is only theoretically possible and is not yet finalized. Choosing this reward carries extremely high risk.]

You need to improve the plan, effectively reduce operational risks, and persuade the person responsible for distributing the rewards to agree to the plan.

Because of the exceptionally high evaluation you received in this assessment task, which is unparalleled, we are providing you with special assistance.

[Under the current plan, you need to advance 80 merit points (an additional 20 merit points will need to be repaid upon settlement) to extend and evolve the (spatial auxiliary deduction skill) [Nine Evolutions of Dragon Refining] to meet the absorption requirements.]

He earned 121 merits, a feat that would have taken almost an entire world to achieve.

As for the reward for this task, Space will simply take away 100 merit points without much effort.

Fang Yi had already realized the enormous benefits he could gain from transplanting the [Heart of the Dragon].

Before he could weigh the pros and cons, the spatial notification sounded in his ear again.

[Your evaluation is high, and you have killed two reincarnators from different dimensions. This simulation is eligible for an advance discount.]

[This advance payment requires an additional 5 merit points upon completion of the mission, for a total of 85 merit points.]

You can modify and optimize the plan to further reduce the consumption of merit points.

She twisted her body, broke free from her own grasp, and hugged herself back.

Miss Merlin, pressing her head against her chest, whispered, "I'm sorry, it's my fault. I know you want power, but I can't risk killing you to do such a thing."

Fang Yi tilted his head.

Is this still the same girl who loved riddles? Why is she being so long-winded?
-
Despite inwardly mocking Miss Merlin.

However, Fang Yi was not prepared to trample on the other party's good intentions and force them to implement the plan.

Instead, they are prepared to come up with a reasonable and effective improved version of the plan and persuade the other party by reasoning with them.

After devising a plan using the concepts of "body modification" and "human body workshop".

He quickly activated the "Human Elixir Method," which he hadn't used in a long time, and began to verify his ideas.

Aside from his intellect, he also has some 'cheat codes'.

This next-generation chip, similar to artificial intelligence, can help him eliminate many wrong options when there is sufficient information.

Regarding the "Human Elixir Method," my concept for the "Physical Transformation: Dragon's Heart" project is as follows.

Please record my plan, verify its feasibility, and show me areas for improvement.

"Received. Analysis has been initiated according to your instructions. Please wait."

"You need to spend some 'fuel' to input the following data: traits and skills highly related to the dragon's heart and body, as well as the data provided by the target."

"We anticipate needing to pay 4000 'fuel'. Would you like to pay?"

【Yes】

Without a moment's hesitation, Fang Yi submitted the request.

However, in a short while, the [Ren Dan Fa] improved his plan and provided a solution with a feasibility rate as high as 99%.

Looking at the solution presented on the screen.

Fang Yi then cupped Miss Merlin's face in his hands and began to describe his plan, word by word.

"Don't apologize. Since I made the request, I'll handle it."

"I will make the following optimizations to the heart donation program."

"I possess highly adaptable traits: [physical reconstruction], [human body workshop], and [trauma baptism]."

"There's also a relic similar to [Battle Continuation], the [Legendary Heart], which you need to obtain after dissecting the heart."
-
He looked at the person talking eloquently to him, explaining how to optimize the procedure for removing the heart.

The man who said, "Consider that heart a keepsake I leave for you."

Miss Merlin opened her mouth, and after thinking for a moment...

Driven by selfish motives, the meaning behind the act of dragons and many other creatures offering their hearts to the opposite sex was not revealed.

For a creature as powerful as a dragon.

Nothing is more important than the heart, which drives the body and serves as the source of magic.

And to make a promise to offer one's heart to someone of the opposite sex.

This is basically what this creature uses to express intense and passionate love to the other person.

Thinking about this, I realized that I was completely unaware of the meaning behind the heart I had given away.

The man who urged himself to take out his heart, about to transform into a dragon.

Miss Merlin smiled slyly, silently adding a sentence to her mind.

[You were the one who suggested this!]

"Then, Mr. Fang Yi, I'll accept your 'heart'."

At the same time, she became even more determined to secretly give the man a "token" so that they could meet again in the future.

Even before taking action, she glanced at Miss Zhuang in the corner and silently apologized.

I'm sorry, my student, while humility is a virtue, some good things cannot be given up!
-
A few minutes later, Fang Yi regained consciousness and heard a notification sound from the space.

Your traits [Heart Deviates to the Right] and [Man-Eating Dragon] are about to change due to the influence of a special item.

[Heart Deviated to the Right] -> [Dragon Heart], [Man-Eating Dragon] -> [The Last Dragon]

[Due to the special skill [Nine Transformations of Dragon Refinement], the dragon-related buffs in the traits are reduced, while the negative effects of traits are masked.]

(End of this chapter)