"The analysis results are out."

In the medical laboratory on Shelter 404’s level B3.

Hyrja, who came out of the laboratory, skillfully handed a tablet converted from a VM to Chu Guang’s hands, on which were written a series of test results including blood tests.

As the expert with the most say on mutants in the shelter, the silver-haired SSSR super rare character was probably the only one who could probably figure out what happened to the man named Bucky.

However, Chu Guang couldn’t understand what was written on the tablet at all.

"What happened to him?" Chu Guang looked at the results as though he understood what they meant and returned the tablet to Hyrja.

Hyrja patiently explained, "Variant Slime Mold infection and the erosion rate is as high as 67%. This situation is quite rare, because according to my research results, the relationship between the Slime Mold Mutants and other organisms should be predatory. I think you should still remember that the Creeper is Slime Mold’s maturing body."

Chu Guang nodded, indicating that he still remembered. "What about him?"

Hyrja spat out a single world. "Symbiosis."

Chu Guang was slightly taken aback. "... Symbiosis?"

Hyrja sighed, holding her forehead. "I don’t really want to explain common sense to you... In short, he is probably half human and half Slime Mold now. At first, Slime Mold ate most of his organs, but I don’t know why it suddenly decided to let him live and became a fruiting body similar to the function of an organ, replacing his original organs."

The fruiting bodies evolved from the variant Slime Mold could imitate the behavior and characteristics of devoured creatures, such as Crunchers, Creepers, Suicide Bombers, and even Tyrants.

However, after eating an organ, it was rare to replace the original organ and form a symbiotic relationship with the host.

Even Xia Yan, who was fond of talking about urban myths, had never heard of it.

Chu Guang pinched his nose bridge and asked with a slight headache. "Does that mean only his brain is left?”

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"Maybe only three-quarters of it." Hyrja hesitated for a moment, and said after a moment of thought, "The infection of the Slime Mold stopped after reaching his cerebellum, and at least half of his spinal cord has been replaced by the fruiting body formed by the Slime Mold."

Chu Guang continued to ask, "How long can he live?"

Hyrja raised an eyebrow in response. "I don’t know, maybe he can live forever."

Chu Guang was stunned for a moment. "Forever?!"

Hyrja nodded. "

Mhm…

According to my research results, the variant Slime Mold does not have the Hayflick limit, and even as time goes by, the functions of the organs formed by those fruiting bodies will be further improved, and more powerful than before. Of course, there is also another possibility. When these Slime Molds ’feel’ that they no longer need a host, they may also consume the remaining part of the brain."

"Wait a minute," Bucky, who was sitting next to the scanning table, slowly raised his hand covered with steel, and said in a weak voice, "Can I still be saved in this condition?"

Chu Guang glanced at this guy in shock. "You’re awake?"

He thought that the dude could only speak a single sentence.

"I’ve given him an inhibitor, which suppressed the activity of the Slime Mold that invaded his nervous system," Hyrja looked at Bucky who was sitting on the scanning table, and continued, "In terms of whether you can still be saved, it is probably impossible for you to get back the way you were before, but if you accept Body Modification, the mutant organs can still be completely removed and replaced them with bionic prosthetics."

She was a living example of a person with bionic prosthetics.

Bionic prosthetics could not only prolong life, but were also far more reliable than the original organs of the organism. But Hyrja also knew that replacing body parts with bionic prosthetics was not something that everyone would accept. ṙ𝐚𐌽Ỗ𝔟Ɛs̩

Chu Guang coughed lightly, "There is no black box for the production of bionic organs in Shelter 404... In fact, from another perspective, isn’t the organ on your body a kind of bionic organ? And it can still actively evolve."

Hyrja looked at Chu Guang in surprise. After thinking for a while, she nodded and said, "If you put it that way, it does sound like his condition isn’t that bad."

There was a pained expression on Bucky’s face. "It’s not a good feeling at all."

Chu Guang frowned and asked, "Does it hurt?"

Bucky shook his head. "No. In fact, I’ve lost my sense of pain, I don’t even feel like I’m alive."

Chu Guang continued, "What exactly happened to you?"

Bucky was silent for a moment, then sighed softly, "That’s a long story..."

…

That was the winter of the Year 211 of the Wasteland Era.

Bucky, who was far away in Ideal City, had just received his graduation certificate and was planning his graduation trip. It was at this time, he received a letter from a good friend from afar.

Luo Hua described in the letter that in the far west, in the middle of the Central Continent, there was a wonderful place called Clearspring City.

There lived a group of good people, from the recently unlocked Shelter 404, and they had just recently become Enterprise’s Permanent Strategic Partner.

Of course, the most important thing was that there was amazing food and culture there. Those blue coats had mastered many cooking methods that he had never seen before, and they could even turn those hard-to-eat mutants into delicious dishes.

In Bucky’s perception, things like food should be linked to technology. If those wastelanders could get their food cooked, it was already very praiseworthy. After all, how could one know what was delicious if one didn’t have enough to eat? Not to mention culture.

But the letter still piqued Bucky’s interest, and he happened to be bored to death in Ideal City. Although life in Ideal City was well-organized and regular like the codes on the holographic screen, it was precisely because of this that the necessary errors were lacking.

So, at the instigation of his good friend, he set the destination of his graduation trip in the middle of River Valley Province, and set foot in the western wilderness with the idea of exploring the unknown.

However, what he didn’t expect was that this trip was full of surprises one after another from the very beginning...

"... My father is a wine merchant. I first followed the caravan sponsored by my father to the west of Among Clouds Province. Since then, I have been on the road alone. I hired escorts, a guide, a doctor, and prepared myself to follow the track ruts of the Pioneer. Everything went as smoothly as planned, however just as I was passing through Forever East City, an accident still happened."

"That place was like the city of the dead. There was no one there. The survivor settlement that was supposed to appear on the map was nowhere to be found. Out of caution, we planned to withdraw from the city, but it was still too late. We were soon besieged by thousands, maybe tens of thousands of crunchers."

Bucky took a deep breath. "I thought I was dead when I was knocked down by a cruncher. But when I woke up, the crunchers around me were gone… Including the people that traveled with me. I thought it was a nightmare until I found a mirror, then I realized that the real nightmare had just begun."

Bucky’s Adam’s apple moved, and he continued, "Since then, I have become like this."

Hyrja and Chu Guang looked at each other in shock. Hyrja even couldn’t help blurting, "This is incredible."

Chu Guang nodded. "It is."

When Chu Guang heard the first half, he had already figured out the identity of Bucky. This man was the engineer friend that Luo Hua once said he wanted to introduce to him.

However, for the second half of Bucky’s sentence, Chu Guang still had some doubts.

It was not uncommon for players to be killed occasionally in the tunnel, but he had never heard of a player being taken over by Slime Mold Mutants.

As Hyrja said, the first reaction of the Slime Mold’s fruiting body to the captured prey was to eat it, turning it into a nutrient for spore production.

This was the first time he heard that someone was turned into Slime Mold.

Bucky gave a wry smile, lowered his head, and continued, "In short, since then, regular mutants seem to have lost interest in me, and the Slime Mold Mutants have regarded me as one of their own. Even those mutant hyenas would not bite me unless they are extremely hungry. Even if they did attack me, they would only eat one of my hands... or a leg. But it doesn’t matter, because I can’t feel pain at all. The lost hand and leg would also slowly grow back after a week or two, and they would be much stronger than before. Gradually, the hyenas were not able to injure me anymore, and I also became what I am now."

Limbs Regeneration?!

And the regenerated limbs could evolve?!

Damn. This ability is really incredible.

After listening to his description, Chu Guang was completely shocked.

He dared to bet that if there was a choice, many players would be willing to exchange their lives with him. Apart from being a bit ugly, he couldn’t think of any weaknesses in his genetic sequence. As long as the head was not destroyed, he would probably even be able to live forever.

"Are you envious?"

"Not really..."

"No, I can feel it," Bucky continued, shaking his head with a bitter expression on his face, "You don’t understand what it feels like to become like this. I haven’t been to a human survivor colony since, and those who saw me would stay far away from me. They don’t believe I’m human at all. Even if I tell them it was an accident, they will still drive me away."

Chu Guang wondered out loud, "... What about your armor? You couldn’t have made it yourself, could you?"

Bucky explained, "I met a slave trader when I entered the River Valley Province."

Chu Guang frowned. "A slave trader?"

"Mhm," Bucky nodded, "That guy was the only good guy I met who was interested in me all this way. He said he was going to take me to Wandering Swamp and sell me to the people of the Academy for research. I thought that maybe the people in the Academy could really figure out what happened to me, and it doesn’t seem to be that bad to be sold to the Academy, so I followed him."

"The man found a blacksmith and made me a set of steel armor, so that I could easily enter the survivor settlement without attracting attention, however... Plans could never keep up with changes. His slaves rioted because of some things, and he was hanged on a tree by them..."

"I don’t know how to get to the Academy at all. I tried to ask those slaves for directions, but they didn’t know either. They just wanted to go home, so I could only walk the rest of the way alone. I suddenly recall Luo Hua telling me that Clearspring City has a shelter numbered 404, so I continued to walk westward, but my physical condition suddenly began to deteriorate, and my consciousness began to fade... It’s difficult to describe that feeling. It was as if there was only a thin rope tying my soul and my body."

Hyrja suddenly interrupted, "The Slime Mold may have started to invade your nervous system during that time. I can perform a small operation on you later to prevent the Slime Mold from spreading to the nervous system."

"Thank you," Bucky took a deep breath, and looked at Chu Guang with a pleading gaze, "Later, I only remembered the northern suburbs of Clearspring City, and then walked all the way here… That’s all I experienced. I really don’t know what to do now. Can you help me?"

"Of course I will help you. Your friend Luo Hua is also my friend, and he helped me a lot before. Not to mention that the accident happened when you were on the way to my place. So I can’t just ignore what happened to you." Chu Guang then looked at Hyrja, "Aside from replacing the bionic organs, is there any way to restore him to his original state?"