Chapter 37: Flesh and Blood Regeneration

Chapter 37: Chapter 37: Flesh and Blood Regeneration

In the laboratory, Chen Qi had both his major abilities fully active as he conducted the Cell Interference Experiment.

A cold light glinted as a metallic thread passed through the large black dog’s body, extracting a small amount of material.

These were the stem cells from the large black dog’s body.

Chen Qi placed the stem cells into a petri dish and, controlling his Puppet Threads, infused his will into them.

The next moment, the stem cells seemed to undergo a "demonization," beginning to rapidly proliferate and differentiate.

Through the senses linked to his Puppet Threads, Chen Qi witnessed a miracle of life with his own eyes.

Under the continuous Erosion and induction of his will, the ordinary stem cells underwent a Metamorphosis, ultimately sublimating into Omni-Cells.

’Omni-Cells are cells that can differentiate and develop into all kinds of tissues and organs!’

’They can self-renew and differentiate into any type of cell! They have the potential to form a complete individual!’

’So, as long as my power is great enough, this small cluster of Omni-Cells can proliferate indefinitely and differentiate into the more than two hundred cell types in the body, and even go on to form all the organism’s tissues and organs.’

Wildly ambitious, Chen Qi planned to use the Omni-Cells to create a Sub-body Clone of the large black dog.

The experiment’s initial progress went exactly as he’d predicted. The Omni-Cells proliferated endlessly, forming muscle, bone, fat, neurons, a heart...

It was as if Chen Qi had mastered some kind of biological 3D printing technology. A hairless, flesh-and-blood dog took shape before his very eyes.

However, the dog was miniature—only about the size of a fist.

But just as its brain was about to finish forming, the unexpected occurred.

The miniature dog’s neural network suddenly overloaded and self-destructed.

The scene was like finishing a custom PC build, only for the CPU to fry the moment you hit the power button.

’Is it because my will is interfering?’

A deep-seated intuition led Chen Qi to the root of the problem.

His will must have interfered with the emergence of the dog’s own Self-Consciousness.

As things stood, however, Chen Qi had no way to solve this problem.

The endless proliferation and differentiation of the stem cells depended entirely on the interference of his will.

The experiment was a complete failure, proving this path to be a dead end, but Chen Qi’s face showed no disappointment.

Sometimes, failed experiments are valuable in themselves, especially those involving the brain—biology’s most mysterious organ.

Besides, the experiment wasn’t a total loss. At the very least, Chen Qi had mastered how to use stem cells to generate various organs.

If Chen Qi ever accidentally had a kidney harvested, he now had the absolute ability to create a new one for himself.

Chen Qi named this ability Organ Regeneration. Combined with his previous Cell Stitching and Flesh Proliferation, it was practically a low-budget version of an Undying Body.

At this point, Chen Qi’s Level 2 Body Control ability had more or less been developed to its limit.

He had originally planned to upgrade and modify his own brain to make himself a bit smarter.

But after seeing the tragic fate of the "mini-dog," Chen Qi immediately abandoned that foolish notion.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

Chen Qi’s bones shifted and his muscles rearranged. In the blink of an eye, the blond Jomoya vanished, and Chen Qi returned to his original appearance.

But five minutes later, as his Body Control ability faded, the form of Chen Qi vanished, and Jomoya reappeared.

’I still can’t reverse the "game character" form and return to my original appearance!’

’In other words, my current control over the Seven of Hearts is nowhere near enough!’

Any self-satisfaction that had been welling up inside Chen Qi instantly dissipated.

He turned his gaze back to the fleshy remains in the petri dish and began inspecting them once more.

After a long while, Chen Qi sighed in disappointment.

’It really is impossible!’

The reason Chen Qi had tried to create another dog was that he’d hoped the "mini-dog" would inherit the two powers contained within the large black dog.

That way, he would have an endless supply of test subjects, allowing him to unravel the mysteries of those two powers.

However, the pile of fleshy remains was just ordinary flesh and blood, with no trace of any power left within.

Without a test subject, Chen Qi’s plans to analyze those two powers could not proceed.

’As for why I don’t just experiment on the large black dog itself... of course it’s because I can’t!’

...

On the large black dog’s forehead, the black Spiral Horn glowed faintly.

A closer look would reveal that the sources of light were, in fact, entirely composed of writhing, eerie text.

This was the surprise the Spiral Horn had in store for Chen Qi: someone had placed a Curse on the dog’s horn.

At first, Chen Qi hadn’t recognized what it was, assuming it was just the horn’s natural markings.

It was only when he tried to penetrate it with his Puppet Threads that a frantic warning from his intuition made him realize with a jolt what this thing was.

It was a Curse, the kind recorded in Jomoya’s diary that only an Awakened could cast.

The Curse carried the will of its Curser. If Chen Qi were to trigger it, he would inevitably alert the one who cast it.

That was a true Awakened, a being who could wipe the floor with the current Chen Qi a hundred thousand times over.

At that moment, Chen Qi had broken out in a cold sweat!

Fortunately, the Spell seemed to have a different purpose, targeting only the Spiral Horn.

Chen Qi had previously tormented the dog to within an inch of its life, yet no "accident" had occurred.

According to Chen Qi’s calculations, as long as the dog didn’t die or do something foolish like trying to destroy the Spiral Horn, the Curser would not be alerted.

This was also why Chen Qi didn’t dare try to unravel the two powers within the dog’s body.

The two powers had simply been entangled for too long. The slightest misstep could trigger a violent conflict, and if his luck was bad, the dog would likely be reduced to ashes.

The current Chen Qi was in no position to withstand the retaliation of an Awakened.

And in all likelihood, this Awakened was also a player!

’A shame. What a true shame!’

’Based on my deductions, the first power in the dog’s body comes from the King’s Game, while the other originates from its own bloodline!’

’Unraveling either one would be a massive gain for me.’

Chen Qi had more or less figured out the process of the dog’s mutation.

Thirty years ago, it must have eaten the corpse of that first-generation player.

Normally, even if the King’s Game was much weaker back then, its residual power was still not something an ordinary creature could withstand.

The large black dog should have died from the Erosion, but fate can be a mysterious thing. On the brink of death, the dog actually awakened its bloodline power, which counteracted the power from the King’s Game.

The large black dog’s Awakening likely wasn’t a normal one; it was also a form of ’losing control.’

That’s why it needed to Devour the corpses of players from time to time to maintain the balance between the two powers.

Likewise, if it became tainted by too much power from the King’s Game, the large black dog would consume corpses in that bizarre manner to strengthen the power originating from its bloodline.

The fact that the large black dog had survived this long was half luck and half an intelligence that far surpassed that of an ordinary canine.

WHIMPER! WHIMPER!

Seeing Chen Qi’s fervent gaze fixed on it again, the large black dog nearly wet itself in terror and immediately began to whimper and act cute, begging for mercy.

Over the past few days, it had been thoroughly terrorized by Chen Qi’s experiments. If it could escape, it would make sure to avoid this Great Demon King even in its next life!

"There, there, don’t be afraid!"

"I’m not going to kill you. I’m just interested in the Spell on your horn!"

"This thing is worth far more than your life!"

After scheming for so many days, Chen Qi finally decided to make a move on the Spell.

Of course, he only intended to analyze and decipher it.