I am a hero of the former civilization.

"I don't know." He shook his head slightly, his gaze sweeping over the information on the Honkai Beasts, already having a vague idea in mind.

They either possess special abilities, or they must be at the end-of-days level!

Chapter 130 Sakura finally grew ears!

Crash.

Hot water poured over his head invigorated his somewhat weary spirit. Ryan stroked his chest muscles, where there were only some shallow scars.

He killed Shesa, which indirectly granted him some healing abilities, so there was no need to risk doing it again.

Caution is Ryan's habit. Without understanding the true nature of his destiny, everything is a mystery. Unless the situation is urgent, there is no need to gamble.

"If you keep thinking about the second and third types of super-mutation factors after injecting one, you'll only be digging your own grave sooner or later."

Ryan walked out of the bathroom with a towel draped over his shoulders, water droplets dripping down his shoulder-length black hair. Of course he knew about the 'Chimera Project,' but it had only just begun, so why rush to become a test subject?

Moreover, there is still room for exploration of the super-mutant factor itself, and the improvement brought about by the artificial collapse is equally terrifying. I was never going to take the path of a fusion warrior anyway.

He pulled up a chair, made himself a cup of coffee, and leisurely looked at the documents on the table. After more than a month, the new identity verification system had been issued.

CM002, this is his new identification code, proving that he is the second high-level fusion warrior. There is also a small parenthesis after it that says "[Shesha] Judgment Class".

The Fire Chasing Council was furious that two high-ranking fusion warriors had been born without their knowledge. When Mebius took Shesa's corpse, he only said that he was conducting theoretical research.

This was definitely not in accordance with procedure; at the very least, it didn't achieve a historic moment under supervision. But they couldn't let Mebius and Ryan give it back, so they ultimately accepted reality, accepting all the surgical data as compensation.

'Besides giving Möbius the prestigious number CM001, it only had one advantage for me: I no longer had to use the privileges secretly.'

Ryan took a sip of coffee. He had fused with Shesa's genes and gained the power to control 'lightning,' which made perfect sense. He wasn't stupid enough to explain the nature of his power while fighting.

On another level, Lane also discovered the biggest difference between 'understanding' and 'integration'.

Mebius gained immortality, while he himself gained a high-speed restoration at a cost.

'A degraded version, or rather, my understanding at that moment wasn't thorough enough. It's a pity those Herrscher cores have already lost their activity, otherwise I would have definitely put them all into my body.'

He put down his cup, opened a blank document, and took the opportunity to make a summary of his progress.

"Herrscher of Thunder Authority, with a Honkai energy limit of 1200HW, and usable abilities include mental interference and high-speed repair."

Considering that he had left Chiba Academy less than a year ago, Ryan was already quite satisfied. He had to understand that human combat power was now exploding, and back in his academy days, he couldn't even defeat a low-level fusion warrior.

After a moment's hesitation, he deleted the entire string of text and continued typing rapidly.

By fusing the Hypermutant Factor, Herrscher Authority, and Divine Key, the upper limit of Honkai Energy is increased. *Whoosh*

Ryan typed out a string of characters, his gray eyes staring intently at each paragraph as he pondered. These were his four ways to become stronger.

"Our primary goal is to raise Honkai energy to 2000 HW, completely surpassing the Herrscher level threshold, before we can even talk about the use of authority."

Even the best techniques require 'mana' to be used. After reviewing the battle with the Fourth Herrscher, Ryan realized that the problem lay in this very aspect.

If the speed were any faster, and the destructive power any greater, the Herrscher of Wind would have died at her own hands long ago; she wouldn't have had a chance to escape.

"It still relies on the powerful Big Flying Brick, but the quantitative change can't lead to the qualitative change. Otherwise, I would have been killing all over the world long ago. This is actually the most difficult part, but everything else is going very smoothly."

Ryan smiled. He wasn't doing the dungeon alone; he could make up for it elsewhere.

The small group is being built smoothly and has already formed a stronghold within the Fire Moth, but there is no way to counter it from above.

"This is all thanks to the Fourth Herrscher. As long as she lives, these little geniuses will never have a moment's peace. They can only grit their teeth and agree to my conditions, watching helplessly as their power grows."

Herrschers aren't meant to be killed to be used; Ryan said it before, he's dirtier than anyone when it comes to tactics.

dong dong.

There was a knock on the door. Ryan deleted the document, went over in his pajamas, and saw Klein standing in the doorway.

"Is the surgery complete?"

"Yes, the first stage of the surgery is complete, and Miss Sakura has woken up." Klein swallowed and took a breath, then said, "However, there was a small mishap."

Accident?

Ryan's heart tightened immediately. What he feared most was an accident. After all, becoming a Fusion Warrior depended on luck, and who knew if luck could be conserved?

"Give me a minute."

He closed the door, changed his clothes, put on a white coat, and hurried toward the operating room, not too nervous.

It was just a minor accident. If Sakura had just hung up, Mebius would have called long ago.

Ryan hurried to the operating room in a few minutes. Möbius was standing at the door with his hands in his pockets, gesturing towards the camera above him.

The council provided the Honkai Beast corpses on the condition that they observe the entire surgical procedure and supervise Mebius's work to prevent their chosen talents from being killed inexplicably.

This is simply judging others by one's own petty standards. Ryan can still distinguish between primary and secondary contradictions.

"how?"

"The surgery went smoothly, there were just a few minor complications. Here are the details."

Ryan took the thick stack of surgical data, which was covered with various charts and data. The super-mutant factor used by Sakura came from the Emperor-class Honkai Beast [Yaksha]. Mebius could be considered to have become proficient through practice.

All three test subjects recommended by the Fire Chasing Council died, none of them survived. Their average success rate was around 24%, which seemed high, but none of them could make it through.

Sakura's success rate is 36.7%, which doesn't actually give her a significant advantage, hence Ryan's anxiety.

"Mild mutation? What does that mean?"

"Literally, you didn't sleep your head out, did you?" Möbius yawned and patted Ryan on the shoulder. "I don't know why, but I've been feeling really sleepy lately. I'll leave the rest to you."

"Hey, you're the surgeon."

Ryan turned his head, only to find that Mebius had vanished as if he had teleported, his high heels covering tens of meters with each step, making him look like a ghost.

Damn it, he's showing off in front of me again. He won't even go to the battlefield. What's the use of being strong?

Ryan spat, opened the operating room door, and saw a pink figure sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at his palm with a somewhat blank expression.

Sakura was wrapped in a thin white sheet. If you looked closely, you could see two protrusions on her chest. Ryan glanced over but didn't notice anything unusual. Finally, he looked at her head.

Although her head was covered by the sheet, there was a noticeable curve to it.

"Sakura, your head..."

The girl's cold expression froze for a moment, unsure how to answer, and she stammered, "The surgery... encountered some unexpected problems."

"Let me see, it's nothing serious."

“But.” Sakura seemed to care a lot about what she was hiding. Seeing Ryan’s determined look, she had no choice but to slowly take off the bed sheet.

So, is this a fixed genetic mutation?

What was revealed was a pair of ears, pink and furry. Upon closer inspection, they were even shorter than in the original timeline, proving that the hypothesis had indeed worked.

The phased injection is indeed a bit shorter, which makes little difference to Sakura, but it's very significant for Kevin.

When Ryan first met Sakura, he felt that something was missing, but when he saw her long ears, he couldn't help but smile.

That's right, now it's complete.

He walked over, reached out and gently poked the ears with his finger. The ears immediately trembled, as if they were alive, and even flinched when he reached out again.

"Please, please don't tease me..."

Just as he poked it for the third time, he heard a faint sound. He looked down and saw Sakura with her arms crossed over her chest, her face flushed, and her purple eyes even misting over.

Ryan was stunned for a moment. In his mind, Sakura had always been a cold-blooded killer, sharp yet gentle. He had never seen her so soft before, but he quickly came to his senses.

"These donkey ears are more than just decorations?"

"Yes, I don't know why, but when you touch it, I get a strange feeling. Also, Dr. Mebius said it has fox ears!"

Fox ears are that long? Okay, that's not important.

Ryan glanced at the girl's expression, pinched his chin, and carefully observed the constantly trembling ears: "It seems you're quite bothered by them?"

Sakura's expression immediately darkened, and she hugged her chest even tighter: "This is the price, and it's also the sign that I'm no longer human. I... seem to have become a monster."

So that's how it is. Not everyone is as obsessed with not being human as Mebius. Just like those purebloods who are always entangled in maintaining the purity of human bloodlines, people with similar ideas are the majority in this world.

Ryan remembered what happened in San Diego. He stopped the hurricane and saved millions of people, but he didn't receive everyone's gratitude. Those looks, as if scrutinizing a monster, were still etched in his mind.

Are humans incapable of gratitude? No, they simply have an instinctive aversion to those who are different.

"Are you worried that this ear will make you discriminated against and stared at with disgust?"

“A little, but I’m more worried about what Rin will think.” Sakura was somewhat uneasy; for an assassin, this was a sign of weakness.

"Don't worry, no matter what you become, the fact that you're the older sister will never change. You need to have more faith in Rin." Ryan gave a gentle smile and patted the girl's head lightly. "As for me personally, these ears are quite cute."

cute?

Sakura's long ears twitched slightly. She had expected Ryan to be unafraid, but she hadn't expected this evaluation. However, his gaze made her feel at ease.

"Thank you, Ryan. You are such a kind person."

Gentle, perhaps.

Ryan did not refute, but a hint of mockery appeared in his smile.

False gentleness is merely empty flattery and pleasantries; true gentleness is the ability to crush an enemy's head while simultaneously providing psychological counseling to one's comrades. And the method is quite simple.

"Sakura, bring your sword and come with me."

"Ah? What did you say?"

“I said bring your knife and come with me. There’s only one way to make you forget your inferiority complex—” Ryan clenched his fist and answered his own question.

"The texture that power brings!"

Chapter 131 Yet Another Psychological Counseling Session

Ryan has always had special psychological counseling skills, just like when he comforted Kevin, who was stepping from school into the battlefield and filled with confusion, during the neon days.

Ryan then beat him up to show him that since he had decided to embark on this path, the despair he had encountered was still a long way off.

The treatment proved remarkably effective, physically eliminating the last trace of immaturity in Kevin, and transforming him into a qualified soldier.

Treating cherry blossoms is also very simple; just follow the prescription and get the medicine.

Just outside the Fifth Research Institute, in the deserted Gobi Desert, the dry wind and sand swept by, gently caressing the two people's hair.