A fungus that could spread to all of humanity, and all of it was his external organ.
’Doesn’t that mean... I could connect all of humanity together in this strange way?’
HISS...
Ye Fei couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath, his body trembling with excitement.
Of course, the fungus’s Ability was nowhere near that incredible at the moment.
In reality, the immune systems of Superpower Users were incredibly robust. If a Superpower User was careful about disinfecting and cleaning a wound, there would be no room for the Mushroom Spores to survive. Furthermore, when the parasitic process first began, there would be a fairly obvious strange sensation—the wound would feel a little itchy. Superpower Users had extremely keen Perception. Under these circumstances, as soon as they entered a state of Cultivation, their body temperature would rise rapidly, and their immunity would strengthen in turn.
Unless one was a willing host, it would be very difficult for the Spores to establish a parasitic bond under these conditions.
Someone at the Captain’s level, for instance, had an immune system that was already monstrously strong. To put it simply, even the T-virus wouldn’t necessarily be able to infect them successfully.
So, for now, Ye Fei could most likely only infect ordinary people. He still had a long way to go.
Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Ye Fei continued to test himself.
The results were very satisfying. Although there was still a huge gap compared to geniuses like that Ximen Jie, he could now compress the time for one cycle of his Breathing Technique to under five minutes.
CREAK~
Amidst a sharp, ear-piercing sound, the thumb-thick steel bar in his hand gradually bent.
This formidable strength gave Ye Fei a great sense of security.
In this dangerous post-apocalyptic world, this was the source of his confidence.
’So... I want even more of this power!’
"It seems that as the mushroom evolves, my Talent will also gradually improve."
The mushroom’s one Devouring Evolution had directly sped up his Breathing Technique by three minutes.
If it happened two more times, even if the effects gradually diminished, he could easily reach the standard of an Elite Level Superpower User.
’This incredible progress feels amazing!’
It also made Ye Fei realize that choosing the right path was far more important than hard work alone.
Cultivating the mushroom’s Evolution was far more effective than just grunting and panting through his own Cultivation. After all, this body had limited Cultivation Talent. He could train hard every day, but others would be training hard too. If he didn’t improve his Talent, his individual Power would always be a huge step behind everyone else’s.
Especially people like Lu Ziye and Loli—their Cultivation speed was extremely fast. Add to that the preferential allocation of resources... At this thought, Ye Fei’s smugness instantly vanished. He was still a long way from others in terms of Talent.
’I have a goal to get stronger, but how do I achieve it?’
Ye Fei murmured to himself.
As for how to speed up the mushroom’s Evolution, he wasn’t just clueless—he was completely in the dark.
After a moment of contemplation, Ye Fei pulled out his "Observation Log of the External Organ Doomsday Fungus" from the past few days and examined it carefully.
He was trying to find a pattern in the mushroom’s Evolution. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
But he soon gave up.
The time frame was too short, and he hadn’t recorded enough samples. As far as he could tell, the ’heat flow’ the mushroom accumulated for Evolution appeared randomly. On a good day, it might appear several times in an hour. On a bad day, a whole day could go by without a single surge.
Only when the heat flow built up to a scorching intensity could it trigger an "Evolution."
There was no pattern at all.
’How about thinking about it from another angle? For example: what exactly is this heat flow? Matter? Energy? Or just a sensation?’
Ye Fei wrote down this question.
He tried to break down the problem step by step, looking for a breakthrough.
’The most likely possibility is that the heat flow is some kind of substance that promotes Evolution. Maybe, like for humans, it’s Spiritual Power?’
’It’s just that our sensory organs are different. To human Perception, it appears as specks of light, but to the mushroom, it’s a flow of heat...’
’Humans can use their consciousness to draw in and absorb Spiritual Power, but the mushroom has no consciousness.’
Having analyzed it to this point, Ye Fei once again hit a wall.
As his organ, the mushroom should have evolved along with him. In reality, however, only parts of it followed his Evolution; the overall connection wasn’t that close.
Ye Fei guessed this was due to the physical separation. When Spiritual Power evolved and transformed his body, the mushroom couldn’t benefit.
’Now that a mushroom is growing parasitically inside my body, will things be different?’
Burning with curiosity, Ye Fei immediately went to Luo Zai and borrowed ten pounds of meat to run a test.
"Hooo..."
Taking a deep breath, Ye Fei slowly closed his eyes. ’Mushroom, activate!’
As he connected with the mushroom’s Perception, specks of starlight began to illuminate the dark void of his vision. He started his breathing exercise, drawing the starlight toward himself.
HUM~
At this moment, the starlight floated over at a relatively fast speed and entered Ye Fei’s body.
"Mmm..."
Ye Fei trembled slightly from the pleasant sensation, but he didn’t stop his Breathing Technique. Instead, he started paying attention to the changes within the mushroom itself.
After ten full cycles of the technique, the results were mixed...
The frequency of acquiring the heat flow had indeed quickened, but only by a minuscule amount.
If Ye Fei hadn’t been meticulously recording data, he would never have noticed the difference.
Over a full day of Cultivation, he could probably gain an extra two or three surges of heat flow.
But originally, three surges of heat flow were enough to make the mushroom enter a scorching state. Now, he only felt a slight sensation. In other words, the mushroom’s demand for the heat flow had greatly increased.
Ye Fei felt it out carefully and discovered that he now needed about 10 times more heat flow than before.
At this thought, Ye Fei was dumbfounded.
At this rate of evolution, he wouldn’t be able to evolve many times before he died. Forget about surpassing a top-tier genius like Ximen Jie; he wouldn’t even be able to match a squad genius like Lu Ziye.
’If my Power can’t increase, my influence won’t grow. Will I be permanently relegated to a support role inside the Shelter?’
That was definitely not an option.
"It seems the only chance now lies with other people."
Ye Fei murmured.
Since the mushroom could enjoy the benefits of Cultivation on his body, it should logically have the same effect on other Superpower Users. After all, the mushroom could fool the immune system and was so well-disguised that it might be considered a part of the human body.
Infecting other Superpower Users was imperative.
Once the mushroom successfully infected a few brave ordinary people and they overcame their fear, the concept of "symbiosis" could be established. After that, Ye Fei wouldn’t need to do anything; he believed the mushroom could then naturally spread to Superpower Users.
He had to proceed one step at a time.
Ordinary people had a much stronger desire to become powerful and were more willing to take risks. As for Superpower Users, some would definitely be very resistant.
After all, it was a fungal Infection, which could easily give people the wrong idea.
That said, after analyzing the obstacles to the mushroom’s Evolution, Ye Fei started to wonder: why did Mutant Beasts evolve so quickly?
It was still okay around the mining area, but deep in the dense forest, the mutant creatures in some areas were already terrifying. According to other Shelters, some Mutant Beasts had reached the point where they could ignore a Nuclear Bomb. Their evolution speed was much faster than that of humans who had just begun to grasp Cultivation. The regions they inhabited had become forbidden zones for humanity.
Ye Fei shook his head, deciding not to dwell on such complex matters.
The entire world was still in a state of violent upheaval. A Shelter he had contacted last week could be gone this week. No one could say for sure what tomorrow would bring.
Seizing the present, constantly growing stronger, and striving to survive in this apocalypse was the mindset of the vast majority of people right now.
Under the pressure of death, no one had the spare energy or ability to think too much about the ’why’.
Currently, the most severely mutated areas were in the deep oceans and forests. The Human Race had long since vanished from those regions. Sky-piercing giant trees and island-sized sea beasts were entrenched there.
The surviving human Shelters were also in a precarious situation because the forests were constantly growing and expanding. These once-lowly plants were now madly encroaching on the little remaining living space for humanity.
Inside the forests, there were too many kinds of mutated poisonous insects. Because of the sheer numbers of ants and mosquitoes, the powerful mutated individuals among them were countless. Some trees had even come to life and craved flesh. For humans to venture deep inside was suicide; it was impossible to survive.
Therefore, Shelters could only exist by relying on dense urban architecture.
But the concrete jungles had no ability to repair themselves, so they could only slow the forest’s advance. Sooner or later, the entire world would become a vast, green Hell.
Mine 301 had originally faced this same terrible fate, but thankfully, after the mushroom began to grow, Ye Fei used the decaying effect of its Fungal Hyphae to suppress the rampant growth of the surrounding trees.
Currently, three distinct zones had formed a clear boundary: Mine 301, the mushroom cluster, and the deep forest.
The mushroom cluster had become Mine 301’s most important defensive belt. It could prevent the rampant trees from destroying the mine pit while also maintaining a relatively open buffer zone.
It was said that some powerful Superpower Users who could control fire and rock could achieve a similar effect.
Humans in desert and glacial regions were supposedly in a much better situation, but Ye Fei didn’t know the specific details.