"By growing mushrooms and increasing their numbers, my own body has also been correspondingly enhanced."
Ye Fei concluded.
Although he didn’t know how this enhancement was achieved, his body was indeed recovering rapidly, his energy was replenishing, and his mind was growing sharper.
This change thrilled him. As an avid gamer who had once slaughtered Flood Demons aboard the Pillar of Autumn Wind, saved a little girl in the United States, casually searched for his son while scavenging, and even been a savior in the Borderlands—who hadn’t fantasized about becoming the protagonist and obtaining a set of powerful abilities?
Now... although Ye Fei could barely even move, he saw that this was a real possibility.
Right now, he was fired up.
’Whew... Calm down, calm down.’
Ye Fei took a deep breath to suppress his excitement. While his mind was still clear, he quickly endured the pain, got out of bed, and found a pen and paper to record his findings, lest he forget everything after a night’s sleep.
SCRATCH... SCRATCH...
In the dim room, the pencil tip touched the paper. Ye Fei quickly organized his thoughts, letting characters not of this world flow from its point:
"As the number of mushrooms grows, I can faintly feel this mushroom arm getting bigger, thicker, and more powerful. At the same time, I can occasionally feel a ’current of heat’ flowing into the mushrooms. This current appears randomly and continuously accumulates within them. Once it reaches a limit, it erupts, and a searing sensation is instantly transmitted to me through all my senses. The feeling is very distinct, like..."
Ye Fei thought back carefully, searching for the most similar sensation. "It’s like warming frozen fingers by a fire. As the nerves gradually regain feeling, you get that sensation that’s a little painful, yet unbearably itchy."
"As this unbearable itchiness fades, I’ve noticed that the variety of Perceptions from the mushrooms has increased, and they’ve also become clearer. The Mushroom Caps have also started to secrete a viscous fluid."
Ye Fei recorded all of the above as an objective account of his sensations.
Next, he tried to subjectively analyze what this all meant:
"Clearly, the increased variety of Perceptions from the mushrooms means they have ’evolved’ new ’organs (Abilities).’ Only new ’organs’ would produce new types of Perceptions."
"So what is this current of heat that causes the ’Evolution’? Is it the source of this global mutation? Or is it just an illusion caused by the mushrooms’ intense Evolution?"
"In any case... this current of heat appears randomly (?) and I can’t control it. But by using my Perception to gauge its accumulation, I can clearly tell when the ’Evolution’ is approaching its critical point."
After documenting these strange new sensations, Ye Fei reviewed his notes to make sure he hadn’t missed anything. Then, he turned his attention to the changes in his own body:
"As the mushrooms grow, my wounds scabbed over in just half an hour... At this rate, I estimate I’ll be able to get out of bed in about five days. But originally, Liu Ru said it would take half a month. In other words, my recovery rate has nearly tripled. Does that mean... my constitution has tripled?"
Ye Fei’s pencil paused for a moment before he started a new line:
"No, doubling my constitution would be an overwhelming advantage, so that can’t be the right way to calculate it. Let’s just tentatively define it as an increase of 3 points to my ’constitution.’ My skill at micromanaging the mushrooms is also improving. At first, I could only precisely control one mushroom, but now I can precisely sense and control three at once. I’ll count that as my Spirit having increased to 3 points. From now on, I’ll use the ’number of mushrooms I can control’ as a basic benchmark. It’s more convenient and straightforward."
Ye Fei needed to develop this "third arm" to recover, so he naturally had to keep careful track of its progress and any future changes.
As he understood it, his Ability was a type of mutation.
Some people mutated to have three heads and six arms, while others could engulf their bodies in flames... So for him to grow a bajillion mushrooms seemed pretty reasonable, right?
Besides, a good mutation wasn’t even called a mutation. It was called glorious Evolution! They were Neo-Humans, Superpower Users!
Having finished analyzing the changes to the mushrooms and himself, the next step was to summarize the data.
Ye Fei decided to create a stat sheet for the mushrooms to consolidate the key information. He took a new sheet of paper and wrote:
[Observation Record of the External Organ: Mushroom]
[Appearance]: Mushroom Cap is round and secretes a viscous fluid (toxin?). Fungal Hyphae form an irregular, web-like network of fine threads; they are fragile.
[Type]: Mutated Fungus
[Quantity]: 1,000
[Abilities]: Rapid Growth, Fungal Infection, Spore Diffusion
[Organs]: Mushroom Cap, Fungal Hyphae, Fungus Rod, Spores
[Evolutions]: Cap Secretion, Gigantification
[Summary]: At present, the mushrooms’ ’adaptability’ and ’Infection Ability’ are average, no different from ordinary mushrooms. The only confirmed mutated Ability is their extremely rapid growth rate.
He stopped there, twirling his pencil a few times before continuing to write:
"But as the number of mushrooms increases, they show a tendency toward Gigantification. At the same time, when enough of the heat current accumulates, it releases a searing sensation and triggers an Evolution. And right now, the heat current is accumulating again."
After his analysis, Ye Fei felt his future was bright. As the mushrooms continued to grow and multiply, not only would his own body become stronger, but the mushrooms would also continue to evolve. With an Ability like this, all he had to do was lie low and play it safe, and he could live a relatively comfortable life.
Finally, Ye Fei reviewed his analysis and summary one more time. After confirming he hadn’t missed anything, he committed the contents to memory.