Chosen Evolution: I can load the protagonist template

Chapter 405 If it can do it, why can't I, Hammond, do it?

Hammond Innovation Lab, with its setting as an "ancient biological gene laboratory," has successfully integrated into the current King of Fighters '97 MUGEN world.

To be honest, in terms of sheer absurdity, Cheng Tian's laboratory specializing in the revival and incubation of ancient organisms is far inferior to the "NESTS" organization, a native of King of Fighters, which theoretically existed in the mid-to-late 20th century and specializes in gene cloning research.

The conditions for establishing a portable laboratory are actually quite broad. As long as there are ancient organisms that can be collected and used for genetic research in theory, and there is a normal human social order, then it is possible to build one.

As for the ancient creatures in the King of Fighters universe... could it be referring to the Orochi clan?

When Cheng Tian was selecting the site and starting construction, he hadn't thought that much about it. But when Cheng Tian brought his family and two cat spirits who were no longer fighting amongst themselves into the laboratory, a strange but reasonable thought suddenly popped into his head.

As the laboratory completely occupied and built up the park area, Utan also appeared along with it.

As for the two cat spirits who are openly competing for the invitation, to be precise, only Cat Princess has temporarily given up the idea of ​​snatching Cheng Tian's invitation after the internal strife.

In return, Cheng Tian needs to find more fun for it.

This was Cheng Tian's original intention in suddenly remembering to establish a laboratory.

Although cat spirits act erratically and are unpredictable, always preferring to cause trouble, they are not entirely unreasonable. As long as their conditions are met, they are actually quite easy to manage.

Take Nero the cat as an example. It simply chose to award Cheng Tian the certificate because it was in a good mood after seeing the cat princess get the short end of the stick.

However, it is one of the twenty-seven cat ancestors in the cat kingdom, with a high status. In addition, the honor given to Cheng Tian was not so exaggerated that Cat Princess could not accept it, so it was given.

Cheng Tian also incidentally gained the title of "Honorary Cat Death Disciple".

Under the influence of the rules, most beings in this world, including the players, regard the temporary laboratory as something that already exists in this world. However, the two cat spirits seem to have broken this rule to some extent. Although they were also affected by the rules, they also saw the laboratory being built at high speed in the park.

That's why Cat Princess commented on Cheng Tian's "cartoonish" remarks.

"BOSS."

Utan, whose appearance hadn't changed much, spoke directly to Cheng Tian.

Yes, at this moment, Utan has not yet undergone drastic modifications to himself. He has only implanted a small device in his throat to allow him to speak directly. He has done similar small modifications to himself quite often, which can be regarded as a warm-up for the ultimate transformation.

How much of the laboratory's functionality has been retained?

After instructing Bazett and the others to take the two cat spirits to visit the dinosaur specimens and to give the invitation to Erin, he took the opportunity to ask Utan.

As Cheng Tian asked, the laboratory was indeed successfully established, but it was also inevitably subject to various limitations.

Firstly, the incubation function was partially banned, making it impossible to incubate any live dinosaurs, and the reason for this was the climate.

The normal oxygen content in the world of King of Fighters is insufficient to support the oxygen consumption of dinosaurs.

...So that's actually quite reasonable?

Considering the global warming, rising sea levels, and surge in oxygen levels caused by the climate catastrophe in the world of Dinosaur King, perhaps it was actually humans in that world who underwent physical evolution.

However, while the use of ancient creatures like dinosaurs as materials is prohibited, the function of collecting materials is still retained. This means that there are indeed some materials in this world that fit the description of "ancient creatures" and can actually be collected. "The Orochi blood in the Eight Heroes of Orochi should be considered a material that inherits the bloodline of an ancient super-powered creature, right? And what about Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami? Their fire abilities are also inherited from their bloodline, I wonder if that counts?"

"And then there's NESTS. By this point in time, they should have already possessed complete cloning technology. If I remember correctly, it should have been around the time the KOF '97 tournament ended, when Kusanagi was captured and mass-produced into clones began."

As Cheng Tian recalled the information, he shared it with Wu Tan.

As soon as Cheng Tian finished speaking, a series of side quests popped up in the space.

You have obtained information about the hidden faction "NESTS" through unknown means.

[Detection detected that you have successfully deployed and built "Hamond's Innovation Lab: King of Fighters Branch" in the King of Fighters '97 MUGEN instance.]

You have triggered the side quests "The Inheritance of Superpowered Bloodlines" and "Technological Upgrades in the Laboratory".

【The Inheritance of Superpowered Bloodlines - In the King of Fighters world, there are many humans who have gained superpowers through bloodline inheritance. Among them, the blood of Kusanagi, the blood of Yagami, and the blood of Orochi, which carries eight different powers, are the most valuable special bloodlines for research. You can try to collect as many of these 10 bloodlines as possible (0/10).

Side quest rewards: For each special bloodline collected, the maximum number of items that can be collected in the Genetic Collection Library increases by 1.

The lab's technological upgrade—Hammond's Innovation Lab already possesses a sinister, adventurous spirit. Simply resurrecting dinosaurs cannot satisfy the lab's desires, and NESTS' advanced cloning technology will push the lab's sinister nature to a completely inhumane direction. You can try to acquire relevant technology from NESTS, or you can leave the lab focused solely on dinosaur research; the future direction of the lab will be decided by you.

As a side reward, Hammond Innovation Lab has added the "Clone" project/effect, and its execution mode will be the same as "Hatching Ancient Creatures".

[Detection indicates that the laboratory's main person in charge, Utan, possesses the special skill 'Dragon-Human Fusion Gene Modification' —]

[After you complete both the side quests "Inheritance of Superpowered Bloodlines" and "Technology Upgrade in the Laboratory," your special item "Superpowered Dinosaur Primitive Genetic Genome Sample" will be upgraded to "Superpowered Primitive Genetic Genome Sample" as a side quest reward. Its applicable targets will expand from "Dinosaur Specialist" to "Dinosaur and Human Specialists."]

"Time to get some work done!"

After memorizing the newly popped-up series of side quests, Cheng Tian took a deep breath, making him appear quite upright.

Holiday mode over! Side quest completion mode now open!
Sure enough, if you want to do something, there will always be something to do; you can never be idle!

But at that moment, a red-eyed crow that seemed to have flown in from nowhere suddenly appeared in front of Cheng Tian, ​​and its first words were in Nero Cat's deep, resonant baritone voice.

"Hey bro, I'm Nero... Can I get something to eat here, meow?"

"No problem, what would you like to eat?"

"Dinosaur."

"no problem."

"……Meow?"

Nero the cat on the other side of the crow was caught off guard and astonished.

(End of this chapter)