radicalducati Chapter 136 Haki's Daily Life of Dramatic Modification
Chapter 136 Haki's Daily Life of Dramatic Modification
Chapter 136 Haki's Daily Life of Dramatic Modification
The group quickly reached a consensus.
The most urgent task is to prepare the first batch of takeout for that guy underground.
"I won't go with you guys," Bai Shuyuan said.
She said she had other things to analyze, and this kind of simple physical work was enough for the three of them.
Xia Zhaozhao shrugged, neither confirming nor denying it.
Then, she followed Xiao Lü with great interest and began to discuss the next course of action.
"Speaking of which, almost all the monsters that could be fought in this area near the bank have been cleared out."
"So, if we want to order takeout, we'll probably have to go to a much farther place."
"Um."
Little Green absentmindedly responded, while she was selecting a suitable area.
"Sigh, but this kind of task is too easy, so boring." Xia Zhaozhao's complaint came from beside her.
However, Xia Zhaozhao's thoughts obviously wouldn't linger on the level of "boredom" for long.
"Ah! I suddenly remembered!"
"Little Green! I think Sasa's two Pokémon are really ugly now!"
—The way the topics jump around is reassuring, as always; it's definitely Xia Zhaozhao's style.
Xiao Lü turned her head to look and saw that Xia Zhaozhao's face was filled with an excited glow, as if she had found a new goal in life.
"I think that besides completing this task of unclogging toilets, we can have an even more important mission!"
She pointed a finger at the canine-shaped aggregate in the distance and announced, "That's... giving Haki the dog a makeover!"
Sasha turned her head after hearing this. Clearly, she was very interested in the topic.
"Look," Xia Zhaozhao began her explanation, "the Hagi lizard is actually not that bad."
"At least it evolved into the shape of a little Charmander, although it still looks a bit silly."
"But Hakiwang! It was already ugly to begin with, barely retaining the outline of a dog—"
"Not to mention it swallowed a cockroach before, and somehow learned the ability to secrete an oily film. Now it's always shiny with oil, making it even uglier!"
Indeed. Little Green silently agreed in her heart.
While the oil film proved quite practical in underwater combat, it definitely detracted from its aesthetic appeal.
"The intensity is alright," Xia Zhaozhao continued repeating, "but it's ugly! Ugly!"
She was heartbroken.
"So, our hidden mission today is to find a place where the Haki dog can eat something good and make it a little cuter!"
"How can an aggregate possibly be cute?!"
"Sasha is an aggregate too," Xia Zhaozhao retorted confidently. "Isn't she cute?"
"6
'
So capable, Xiao Lü was unable to refute him for a moment.
Before she could finish speaking, Xia Zhaozhao had already grabbed her arm and forcibly pulled her forward, determined not to give up until she had given Haki a new skin.
She called out to Sasha again, signaling Sasha to follow.
The water underfoot was a murky dark red, with debris from the collapsed city floating on the surface.
Although the filth was harmless to her, Sasha clearly didn't want to swim in that kind of water.
So, after thinking for a moment, she stretched her legs to a height of two meters, as if on stilts, and lifted her upper body above the water.
However, this posture was not easy to maintain balance, and she stumbled a few times.
So, after thinking about it again, she simply grew eight legs, each two meters tall.
To provide enough biomass for her eight legs, her upper body shrank accordingly, becoming like a dried-up rat.
"A similar shape."
Little Green silently watched the scene unfold before her.
"—Now it's not cute at all."
"I think I've gotten used to this flesh-and-punk feeling." Xia Zhaozhao's voice came from the side.
"I'm used to it," Xiao Lü replied calmly.
"It's a bit like the Colossus from StarCraft."
Xia Zhaozhao looked up at Sasha's new form and sighed.
"I think it's more like a bacteriophage."
Little Green silently corrected it.
The team was not moving very fast.
The main reason is the two aggregates that were forced to swim in the water.
One was dog-paddling, and the other was lizard-paddling, which seriously slowed down the overall pace.
"Oh, no rush. Let's just treat this as a shopping trip, it's quite nice."
Xia Zhaozhao didn't seem to care at all, and even looked around at the buildings with great interest.
"After all, I'm either on missions or playing games at the base; I haven't really had a chance to go out and explore much."
"We still have important things to do," Xiao Lü reminded her.
"What kind of serious business is this?" Xia Zhaozhao's tone was full of contempt. "The difficulty of this task is completely at the beginner village level."
"Although—I don't know what the guy hiding down there wants these monsters for, he's definitely not up to any good."
However, she remained relaxed. Clearly, she didn't take the other person seriously at all.
Xiao Lü didn't say anything more. Xia Zhaozhao's underestimation of her opponent wasn't entirely unfounded.
The guy hiding underground, though pretending to be mysterious, didn't seem to be faking it because of the wariness and probing in his words.
Given her apparent weakness and the same reaction, the situation wouldn't be good no matter how you looked at it. Moreover, Xiao Lü was quite confident in her side's strength.
Of course, I'm also curious about what his situation is.
But it doesn't matter anymore.
If the other party is human, Xia Zhaozhao will give him a good beating; if it's a monster, she'll kill it herself. That's all.
"But where exactly are you taking us?"
Xiao Lü finally couldn't hold back and asked the most crucial question.
"I don't know," Xia Zhaozhao said without any guilt.
"————"
"Weren't you leading the way?"
"Hehe—I don't have any ideas."
Okay then. I knew it would turn out like this.
Little Green's brain began to work, filtering suitable areas on the map in her mind.
"There are definitely no monsters around here."
"Of course, I already said that," Xia Zhaozhao immediately replied.
"And those places that are designated as green zones, I didn't want to go there either, they're all pretty boring."
She simply called the three zones the survivors had planned the green zone, the yellow zone, and the red zone. Well, that's simple, and the meaning is clear.
"What are the yellow zones around there again?"
Xia Zhaozhao asked.
"There is a city park nearby," Xiao Lü recalled, "but it's been designated as a yellow zone."
O
"The reason it's not a green zone is because there are a lot of lazy office workers slacking off there."
"In a place like that, there can't be too many different kinds of aggregates, right?"
Xia Zhaozhao immediately rejected the proposal, saying she had no interest in it.
"Nearby, there's also a commercial street and such—etc."
"There's a pretty good place, Xinmao University."
"Huh? Isn't there nothing left there?" Xia Zhaozhao retorted subconsciously, but then seemed to realize something halfway through her sentence.
"Oh! The university sent it, but the surrounding shopping areas didn't!"
Xia Zhaozhao immediately agreed to the plan.
"I know this well! Sasha should know it well too!"
Unlike when I first visited the university town, looking at the city again now, I can clearly feel that it has become much more dilapidated.
The heavy rain seemed to be relentlessly corroding all the buildings.
The paint on the wall surface had long since peeled off, revealing a dirty, moldy black color.
"Luckily, our bank has a glass curtain wall."
Xia Zhaozhao's voice came from the side.
"really."
"Ah! There's one over there!"
Xiao Lü looked in the direction she pointed and saw an aggregate crawling out of an abandoned shop.
It is a fairly traditional type, just formed and hasn't had time to devour anything decent to evolve.
The next second, Xia Zhaozhao's figure darted out.
In an instant, the aggregate was beaten half to death, lying on the ground convulsing.
She skillfully packed it into a woven bag.
"Two left—but there don't seem to be any more monsters here."
"wrong."
Xiao Lü pointed to a GG sign not far ahead.
On the signboard, a bird-shaped aggregate is perched. It is not large, and its wings appear underdeveloped.
It seems that it ingested too little biomass, not even enough to support its flight, and could only flap around on the ground.
Xia Zhaozhao instantly understood, and her figure disappeared again.
She kicked it off the sign and it landed near the two aggregates.
Before Sasha could even give the command, they pounced on them and began to devour them.
"Hey, Hagi lizard, what are you doing, stealing it!"
Xia Zhaozhao grumbled from the side.
"I only get to eat chlorella every day at the bank. Now that I can finally eat something different, I don't care if it's the same kind."
Little Green offered an explanation for the lizard.
"That makes sense." Xia Zhaozhao nodded, accepting the explanation.
"Speaking of which, what kind of bird did this guy eat? It looks kind of familiar."
"It seems to have some characteristics of a turtledove?" Little Green replied, "It doesn't know how to eat well, I don't know how it has survived until now—"
"It doesn't matter." Xia Zhaozhao's focus was clearly not on this.
"If it's a small bird, it should inherit some good traits, right? Will it grow beautiful feathers?"
"It's probably not a bird, and I think it's unlikely—"
Before Little Green could finish speaking, Sasha, who was standing nearby, seemed to notice the change in Haki.
She stepped forward, reached out her hands, and tried to pick up Hakiwang.
Then, a strange phenomenon occurred.
No matter how Sasha moved Haki's body, its head remained motionless, as if locked in space.
"...
"All you've learned is how to use a chicken head stabilizer?" Xia Zhaozhao complained.
Xiao Lü was also speechless.
Birds' heads do indeed have this special function of maintaining a stable field of vision while moving.
However, Hakiwang, being a mammal that swallows prey, has all of these things integrated into its brain and doesn't need such abilities at all.
Sasha tilted her head, closed her eyes, and tried hard to sense something.
A moment later, she opened her eyes and made an "X" sign to everyone, indicating that her gains were not limited to this.
She put Hakiwang back on the ground.
The next second, the Hakiwang suddenly walked up to the Hakilizard.
Then, it began to rhythmically stretch its neck out towards the harpy lizard, then retract it, then stretch it out again, then retract it again.
"————" Little Green fell silent.
"—This is the courtship behavior of a turtledove."
"ha?"
It seems that the mechanism by which aggregates engulf genes is not quite the same as I had previously thought.
It seems to be full of uncontrollable randomness? Was it purely accidental that the ability to inherit the secretion of oil film from eating cockroaches was just a coincidence?
Or is it simply lazy, and only when faced with a life-or-death situation will Hakiwang be too lazy to carefully select its targets?
"Ah, I think I can see that administration building now."
After walking a while longer, Xia Zhaozhao said, and then simply flew up, looking down at that familiar area.
The most prominent landmark building, the administration building, presents a gray and gloomy color.
The entire area of Xinmao University, under the overall scarlet tone of the city, appeared necrotic and black.
It seems that the pollution left behind after that huge mass of flesh disintegrated has solidified into an indelible bruise here.
Xia Zhaozhao flew down dejectedly, landed next to Xiao Lü, and sighed.
"Sigh, no matter how many times I watch it, I still feel really annoyed."
-
"However—" she changed the subject, "fortunately, it was in that place that we met Sasha."
Sasha heard this and smiled at her.
The group continued to approach and eventually arrived at the commercial street next to the university town.
From this perspective, the damage to the university is still shocking, but that is no longer their focus.
The commercial street in front of us also presents a dilapidated scene, but most of the buildings are still structurally intact.
"It's less of a commercial street and more of a bunch of narrow alleys squeezed together."
Xia Zhaozhao took on the role of tour guide.
"I remember that this land was supposed to belong to the university in the contract, but the holdouts here refused to move, and the university couldn't do anything about it."
Like a tourist returning home, she flitted around, her gaze lingering on the familiar yet dilapidated shop signs.
"Ah—that shop's ramen is pretty good."
Xiao Lü looked in the direction she was pointing, and was about to say something when Xia Zhaozhao chimed in on her own.
"I heard that someone found a cigarette butt in their noodles."
"6
'
"Ah, there's a movie theater over there." Xia Zhaozhao pointed to another side. "It's a pity I've never had a chance to go."
"There will be a chance to go in the future."
Xiao Lü subconsciously replied.
Xia Zhaozhao was stunned for a moment, seemingly not expecting Xiao Lü to suddenly say such comforting words.
"After all, when people die, they go to the movie theater, popcorn and cola in hand, looking for their seats."
"————?"
"After you sit down, the room will darken, and an interesting movie will play on the screen forever."
"6
"What is all this nonsense?!" Xia Zhaozhao's face showed a complex expression that mixed with "Are you sick?"
"You've been infected with the wolf's radio wave virus? Should I fly to Longshan and ask her sister how to cure it?"
"A line from a comic book," Xiao Lü replied calmly.
"."
'
Xia Zhaozhao's attention was quickly drawn to something else: an aggregate that inherited the characteristics of a stray cat.
—However, after devouring its new prey, the Haki's appearance remained unchanged.
He still had that shiny, oily look that made Xia Zhaozhao quite unhappy.
"Tch, failed."
Xia Zhaozhao pouted, her face full of disappointment.
However, after trying to sense it, Sasha, who was standing to the side, showed a surprised expression on her face.
She picked up her notebook and quickly scribbled on it, showing everyone Hakiwang's new abilities.
In the picture, a dog's eyes seem to be glowing, and there are several black streaks in the sky, along with the moon and stars.
"Oh? You gained night vision?" Xia Zhaozhao understood. "That's not bad—"
"Aren't dogs naturally able to see clearly in the dark?"
Xiao Lü's words brought Xia Zhaozhao's excitement to a standstill.
"Ah, right!" Xia Zhaozhao paused for a moment, "Didn't it do that before?"
"Maybe it's because genetic inheritance is random? He didn't inherit the dog's night vision, so he's making up for it with the cat's," Xiao Lü guessed.
"————Useless Hakiwang."
Xia Zhaozhao delivered the final verdict.
Sasha shook her head again, seemingly dissatisfied with the assessment.
She walked up to the Hakiwang, grabbed it by the neck like a garbage bag, and seized it.
Then it suddenly flung into the air, sending it flying more than four meters high.
Then, the aggregate that had been tumbling in the air adjusted its posture instantly with incredible coordination.
Just before it hit the water, it had already steadily stretched out its limbs and placed its feet down.
"Thump!"
Little Green had already erected an ice wall, blocking all the sewage.
"Wow, this is pretty good! I won't get hurt jumping from a height!"
Xia Zhaozhao exclaimed in admiration.
"—There's water below, so you won't get hurt anyway."
"Moreover, the body structure of aggregates is different from that of humans, making them inherently more difficult to kill from falls."
Xiao Lü calmly pointed out these two facts.
However, despite her complaints, she also admitted that after gaining Hakimi's sense of balance, the aggregator's mobility and survivability had indeed improved significantly.
""
This guy should be well-suited for reconnaissance missions now.
"In any case," Little Green said, looking at the harpy that had crawled out of the water, "with Sasha's pets, we should be able to explore those densely populated areas now."
"It's much safer to let them explore those dangerous areas where there might be birth defects than for us to do it ourselves."
.
"Huh? I thought you would prefer to have Xiaobai calculate the demolition plan directly and clear those areas along with the monsters."
"You don't want the survivors? We're already short-handed."
"That makes sense. But if that's the case—"
Xia Zhaozhao circled back to the original topic: "Shouldn't it be made cuter? If it looks like this, it might scare away any survivors it encounters, right?"
"That makes sense," Little Green shrugged, "but it insists on not changing its shape, what can I do?"
"Useless Haki dog."