I became a god through archaeology in the Wizarding World.

With a silent recitation.

boom!

A violent, savage energy, full of metallic texture, crashed into his body through his arm.

This time, the pain was different from before; it was no longer tearing or itching, but a heavy feeling.

It felt as if a thousand pounds of molten iron had been poured into his right arm, his bones were cracking and his muscles were swelling and reorganizing wildly.

Rhodes gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead, but the light in his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

That is power.

A pure power capable of shattering all obstacles.

That heavy, molten iron-like energy raged wildly in Rhode's right arm, as if it wanted to tear apart and rebuild every muscle fiber in Rhode's body.

Rod gritted his teeth, suppressing a low growl of pain in his throat.

He could clearly feel that some kind of horrifying distortion was occurring in the subcutaneous tissue of his right arm.

Beneath the originally smooth skin, hard, black bristles were trying to pierce the pores, while the biceps were rapidly expanding like inflating balloons, causing the sleeves to tear under the strain.

"Damn it... we made too much noise."

Cold sweat poured down Rhodes' forehead. He pressed his left hand firmly against his raging right arm, frantically suppressing the wild genetic instinct in his mind.

"Take it back! Now is not the time!"

Just then, Professor Isaac's excited shout came from not far away: "Rhodes! Come and see! This text mentions the coolant formula for the kinetic core! This is simply a brilliant idea!"

Footsteps sounded, and the professor seemed to be turning around and walking over.

At the critical moment, Rhodes took a deep breath and forcibly cut off the magic supply.

The violent energy receded rapidly back into the pages of the illustrated book, like a receding tide.

The swollen muscles instantly contracted, and the newly sprouted bristles also retreated under the skin, leaving only a burning, stinging sensation.

"Rhodes? What are you doing over there? Why are you all sweaty?"

Professor Isaac walked over with a magnifying glass, looking at Rhodes, who was panting and leaning on his knees, with a puzzled expression.

Rhodes straightened up, discreetly hiding his slightly trembling right hand behind his back, and forced a weak smile. "It's nothing, Professor. I twisted my back when I was moving that rock. You know, the injury from last time hasn't fully healed yet."

"Oh, then you'd better be careful!"

The professor immediately believed him and said with concern, "Now that we've explored this place enough, let's not be too greedy. This large skeleton is too heavy for us to move."

"You're right, Professor."

Rhodes nodded: "You can continue your research first. I'll go to the next passage to check if there's anything else I've missed."

The professor nodded and began to concentrate on organizing his observation notes.

Rhodes needed a place, a place that was secluded and secure enough for him to unleash this new power without restraint.

He walked to a secluded dead-end alley that he had discovered earlier.

This is an abandoned side road in the dead-end corridor, surrounded by thick natural rock layers. It is far from the main passage, so there is no need to worry about the sound carrying out.

Rod stood in front of a moss-covered stone wall, took off his shirt, revealing his muscular upper body.

"Come on, let me see just how strong these so-called war creatures really are."

Rod took a deep breath, stomped his feet hard on the ground, and steadied himself.

With a thought, the fifth page of the encyclopedia instantly lit up with a dazzling red light.

"A massive, steel-bristle arm with partial limb deformities!"

"Buzz~~!!"

This time, he no longer suppressed it.

With a sickening cracking sound, Rhodes's entire right arm swelled to twice its original size in an instant!

The originally pale human skin instantly turned into the color of black iron, and the thick blood vessels bulged out like earthworms.

Even more terrifying, from the shoulders to the backs of the hands, a dense layer of black steel bristles, each about an inch long, grew, each one gleaming with a cold metallic light.

At this moment, his right arm no longer belonged to a human, but was a monstrous forelimb grafted onto a human body, full of primitive and savage violent aesthetics.

An unprecedented sense of power filled Rhodes's nerves; he felt as if he could crush steel with one hand.

"drink!"

Rhodes let out a low growl, and without any fancy techniques, his mutated giant arm clenched into a fist, slamming into the thick rock wall in front of him with a piercing whistling sound.

"BOOM!!!"

A deep, thunderous roar exploded in the narrow passageway.

Smoke and dust rose, and gravel flew everywhere.

When the dust settled, Rhodes withdrew his fist.

On the solid rock face, a terrifying crater, half a meter in diameter and several centimeters deep, had appeared. The crater was surrounded by spiderweb-like cracks that stretched over two meters away.

"Pure physical destructive power..."

Rod looked at his unharmed fist with surprise in his eyes.

The power of this punch, combined with the hardness bonus from [Stone Skin], is enough to shatter any apprentice-level spell shield in one blow!

"It's not over yet."

Rod turned around and looked at a piece of abandoned, rotten iron plate ten meters away, which was a target he had specially picked up from the armory.

He raised his thick right arm, aimed it at the iron plate, and his previously taut muscles suddenly underwent a peculiar rhythmic contraction.

"Steel bristle fire!"

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh~~!"

With a series of sharp whooshing sounds, the black steel bristles on his right arm shot out like a rain of needles!

Dozens of steel bristles instantly covered a distance of ten meters and slammed into the iron plate.

"Jingle bells!"

Sparks flew everywhere.

The iron plate, which was at least two centimeters thick, was instantly riddled with holes, the dense array of which let in light and looked horrifying.

After shooting, Rhodes felt a significant amount of his magic and physical strength drained away instantly, and his right arm felt a little sore, but new hair was regrowing at a visible speed.

"Mid-range lethality with extremely strong penetrating power."

Rhodes, panting, deactivated his altered state, and his arm quickly returned to normal.

"In close combat, there's the Giant Arm Hammer and the Steel Bristle Giant Arm; in mid-range, there's the Steel Bristle Shotgun; and at long range, there are acid balls, and poison vine control..."

"call……"

Rod let out a long breath and looked down at his right arm.

Although the mutated state of the [Steel Mane Giant Arm] had been resolved and its skin had returned to its pale color, he could clearly see the muscles under its skin twitching uncontrollably.

"The power is indeed terrifying, but the cost is also considerable."

He quickly assessed the data from the attack in his mind.

A single complete transformation combined with a volley of fire drained nearly a third of his magical reserves.

Even more serious is the physical burden; even with his current physical condition enhanced by [Stone Skin], he is finding it somewhat unbearable.

"If used continuously, my arm bones will probably collapse before the enemy does."

Rhodes calmly made his assessment: "This Steelmane Giant Arm technique can only be used as a trump card to deliver the final blow, or as a battering ram to tear open a breach in a desperate situation. In regular combat, we still have to rely on Poison Ivy and Acid."

Despite his physical exhaustion, the excitement in Rhodes' eyes did not diminish.

This pure, brutal physical destructive power gave him a sense of security that magic could not replace.

In the wizarding world, fancy shields and resistant skin may be able to block fire and acid, but few things can withstand a kinetic energy impact of several tons.

After a short rest, Rod quickly began the cleanup work.

Although this place is remote, there's no guarantee that someone won't accidentally wander in in the future.

If people see the clear fist mark on the wall and the dense needle holes on the iron plate, it might cause unnecessary trouble.

Rod walked to the wrecked iron plate riddled with holes, stretched out his left hand, flicked out a few thin vines from his fingertips, and painstakingly pulled out the black steel bristles that were deeply embedded in the iron plate and rock one by one.

These steel bristles are incredibly hard, and they retain their metallic luster even after being removed from the body.

Rod didn't waste any; he collected them all, wrapped them in an oilcloth, and tucked them close to his body.

These are naturally armor-piercing arrows; they might have surprising effects when combined with other methods in the future.

After cleaning the steel bristles, Rhodes walked back to the rock wall.

"Stone skin, hardened."

His palms were once again covered with a layer of grayish-white rock texture.

This time, he didn't use explosive power. Instead, he used his hard palm to slowly break and smooth the edges of the regular fist mark on the rock wall, like a precision grinder.

Then, he pushed several loose boulders nearby, creating a small-scale natural collapse that completely buried the rotten iron plate and the damaged rock wall under the pile of rubble.

After doing all this, Rod dusted off his hands and carefully inspected the scene.

Now, it looks like a normal rock collapse caused by years of neglect, with no signs of human or monster damage.

"Perfect."

Rod adjusted his breathing, deliberately relaxing his tense muscles, letting the fatigue naturally show on his face.

He further rummaged through his collar, making himself look even more disheveled.