The sky above the Pacific remained an overcast sheet of grey, broken only by the occasional whirr of surveillance drones that darted through the air like anxious insects.
Somewhere along the western coastline, coastal battery sites buried beneath layers of steel and concrete hummed to life. There was no smoke. Neither a glow, nor a sound.
When the Directed Radiation Resonance Cannon (DRRC) fired its payload, there was nothing to see. Nothing, at least, for the eyes of mankind.
But for Mark, whose newly sharpened vision could now detect the faintest shift in radiation and energy wavelengths, the attack appeared like a spear of concentrated red-and-white brilliance, slicing through the thick blue of the sky like a divine blade from the heavens.
It moved faster than any missile, more silent than any sonar. And it was heading straight toward him.
Mark did not move. He did not need to.
Two of his thickened barbed tentacles already rested on the shallow coast nearby, subtly submerged in the cooler waters of a receding tidepool. As the invisible beam struck his chest, the full blast of artificially refined gamma resonance flooded into his body.
There was no impact, only heat.
His massive frame lit up with an incandescent glow, red seeping through the cracks in his flexible MUTO armour as the beam drilled into him with unwavering force. The heat was monstrous, turning the ocean around him to steam.
But his evolved hydro-dermal cooling glands and self-circulating thermal regulators began working immediately, pulling seawater across his overheated tissues and cycling the scalding fluid outward as vapor.
He stood still and absorbed everything. The beam did not falter for nearly one full minute. And then, at last, the cannon's charge ran dry.
Mark's smoking body, glowing faintly like heated stone, let out a deep exhalation through a vented sac beneath his torso. Water hissed as it collided with his surface again, cooling his form in fits of steam.
Slowly, he turned, slinking back into the ocean with practiced ease.
And then it came.
[Critical Saturation Threshold Surpassed]
[Residual DRRC Radiation Fully Absorbed]
[All Remaining Traits Elevated to Maximum Compatibility Threshold]
[All Traits - Level 5 Status Achieved]
[All traits available for fusion]
'Organise them based on compatibility and the potential fused abilities.'
[Affirmative]
[Regeneration Sequence Integrated (Lv 5) + Rapid Limb Regeneration (Lv 5) + Radiogenic Regeneration (Lv 5):]
[Hyper-adaptive Regeneration Core (Lv 1) (Fusion): Enables near-instant regeneration of limbs, organs, and tissues, with drastically accelerated healing when fuelled by stored radiation or internal energy reserves. Can regenerate self from a small part of the whole on the user's command]
[Neurochemical Resistance (Lv 5) + Bacterial Coating Resistance (Lv 5):]
[Pathogen & Toxin Nullification (Lv 1) (Fusion): Grants complete resistance to all poisons, infections, and chemicals, adapting rapidly to neutralize any threat as long as rest and energy are available.]
[Distributed Neural Processing (Lv 5) + Cognitive Node Expansion (Lv 5):]
[Neural Singularity Matrix (Lv 1) (Fusion): Grants a distributed consciousness across all cells, ensuring survival even if nearly destroyed, while providing unparalleled control, coordination, and reflexive mastery over every part of the body.]
[Electroreceptive Perception (Lv 5) + Photoreceptor Expansion (Lv 5) + Heat-Sensing Pit Organs (Lv 5) + Low-Light Vision (Lv 5):]
[Omni-Sensory Grid (Lv 1) (Fusion): Grants comprehensive sensory awareness through light, heat, electrical signals, and radiation, allowing near-omniscient environmental perception even in extreme or obscured conditions of the surrounding environment.]
[Toxin Filament Deployment (Lv 5) + Toxic Dispersal Burst (Lv 5) + Neurotoxin Secretion (Lv 5):]
[Toxicomancer Core (Lv 1) (Fusion): Grants the ability to weaponize a wide spectrum of toxins and neurotoxins through precise filament-based delivery or wide-area dispersal, enabling strategic biochemical assaults that disrupt, disable, or kill even highly resistant organisms.]
[Amphibious Lung Exchange (Lv 5) + Dual Respiratory Adaptation (Lv 5) + Breath Retention (Lv 5) + Abyssal Oxygen Conversion (Lv 5) + Deep Pressure Endurance (Lv 5) + Anaerobic Metabolism (Lv 5):]
[Hadopelagic Vital Engine (Lv 1) (Fusion): Allows seamless respiratory function across all environments; land, sea, or oxygen-deprived zones, through hybridized lung-gill exchange, pressure-immune metabolism, and anaerobic oxygen synthesis, enabling indefinite survival in the harshest depths or atmospheres without fatigue or suffocation.]
[Dermal Armor Plating (Lv 5) + Chitinous Flex-Skin (Lv 5) + Chitinous Flex Armor (Lv 5) + Cranial Shock Reinforcement (Lv 5) + Scale Fortification (Lv 5) + Surface Morphic Adaptation (Lv 5):]
[Adaptive Apex Exoshell (Lv 1) (Fusion): Grants an ultra-dense, flexible external armour system capable of dynamically shifting texture, hardness, and form in response to external threats, delivering maximum defence against blunt force, piercing, and elemental damage while maintaining full mobility and impact dispersion across critical points, including cranial zones.]
[Extreme Heat Tolerance (Lv 5) + Cold Environment Adaptation (Lv 5):]
[Thermal Extremophile Core (Lv 1) (Fusion): Enables full biological functionality and combat efficiency in both sub-zero and extreme heat conditions by regulating internal systems and cell membranes, granting resistance to thermal-based attacks and environmental extremes without loss of stamina or metabolic stability.]
[Hydro-Dermal Cooling (Lv 5) + Self-Circulated Cooling (Lv 5) + Thermal Shock Gland (Lv 5) + Muscle Coiling Power (Lv 5):]
[Reactive Thermo-Muscular Drive (Lv 1) (Fusion): Grants advanced internal cooling via both water-based and self-circulated systems, allowing continuous peak muscular output without overheating, while specialized glands discharge heat in bursts to prevent tissue damage, enabling sudden surges of explosive strength through tightly coiled muscle fibres.]
[Bone-Crushing Bite (Lv 5) + Tentacular Power Surge (Lv 5) + Charge Kinetic Amplification (Lv 5) + Tentacle Dexterity (Lv 5) + Jaw Compression Strength (Lv 5):]
[Hyperkinetic Apex Arsenal (Lv 1) (Fusion): Grants overwhelming offensive capability through ultra-dense musculature, precision tentacle control, explosive kinetic build-up, and bone-shattering bite force, enabling devastating bursts of physical destruction with unmatched control and fluidity in both close-quarters and high-momentum strikes.]
[Ledge Cling (Lv 5) + Balance Correction Reflex (Lv 5) + Terrestrial Stability Matrix (Lv 5) + Primate Combat Intuition (Lv 5):]
[Terrestrial Combat Dominance (Lv 1) (Fusion): Grants supreme stability, instinctive balance, terrain adaptability, and predictive combat movement on land, enabling flawless manoeuvrability, grip, and positional control even across unstable or vertical surfaces during high-speed or high-impact engagements.]
[Muscle Mass Density (Lv 5) + Muscle Density Upgrade (Lv 5) + Muscular Density Reinforcement (Lv 5) + Bone Marrow Hyper-structure (Lv 5):]
[Hyperdense Musculoskeletal Frame (Lv 1) (Fusion): Provides an ultra-compacted muscular and internal support structure, drastically increasing strength, impact resistance, and physical output while maintaining flexibility and integrity even under extreme forces or rapid movement.]
[Barbed Suction Arsenal (Lv 5) + Kinetic Quill Expulsion (Lv 5) + Ink Cloud Defence (Lv 5):]
[Cephalopocalyptic Armament System (Lv 1) (Fusion): Enables deployment of hyper-pressurized, armour-piercing barbed quills from reinforced suction appendages capable of extreme force manipulation, while simultaneously releasing high-density neurotoxic ink clouds that obscure vision, impair senses, and corrode tissue; optimized for devastating ambushes and multidirectional suppression across all environments.]
[Forward Jaw Protrusion (Lv 5) + Secondary Jaw Projection (Lv 5) + Beak-Tusks (Lv 5):]
[Predatory Maw Configuration (Lv 1) (Fusion): Grants a highly adaptable, extendable tri-jaw system with forward-projecting secondary mandibles and tusk-lined beak capable of piercing armour and anchoring prey, allowing for high-speed feeding, internal evisceration, and control over struggling targets during combat.]
[Adaptive Radiotrophy (Lv 5) + Other: Compatible Trait Fusion (Unlocked):]
[Radiotropic Apex Core (Lv 1) (Fusion): Enables full-scale biological conversion of absorbed radiation into adaptive growth energy, accelerating ability advancement, bodily repair, and potential future trait fusion rates beyond natural thresholds.]
[Longevity Boost (Lv 5) + Reproductive Reconfiguration: Oviparous Protocol (Lv 5):]
[Eternal Genomorph Propagation (Lv 1) (Fusion): Grants the ability to reproduce asexually through cellular division, creating genetic descendants that inherit the original consciousness and abilities; if the primary body is destroyed, any matured descendant may serve as a vessel for rebirth, ensuring practical immortality through continuity of mind and power.]
[Bone Digestion Adaptation (Lv 5) + Prey Ensnarement Flaps (Lv 5):]
[Osteovoric Ensnarement Membrane (Lv 1) (Fusion): Contact with the user's external tissue results in rapid adhesion and the secretion of bone-dissolving enzymes, allowing ensnared prey to be broken down at the skeletal level while being restrained.]
Beneath the black waters, Mark pulsed with power unlike anything he had ever known before. His massive frame now burned faintly with stored potential, his every muscle coiled with elastic fury and packed mass.
'Now,' he thought, submerged in a silence thicker than death, 'I fuse.'
And with that single word, everything he had consumed, everything he had suffered through, and every instinct carved into his evolving biology… moved forward into the next stage.
[AN: This chapter took so damn long. most of the time went into grouping the abilities into compatible groups, trying to gain the fused abilities I wanted. Welp, anyways, the new status screen will bbe given in the new chapter. I hope it is simpler and easier to understand]
[AN: Please leave reviews. I need reviews people! Please!]