Chapter 15: Fusion, Bounty Hunters

Li Ming gave a wry laugh.

"This thing isn't easy to store, use it as soon as possible." He urged Li Ming, "I'll watch over you."

"Okay." Li Ming was also looking forward, without hesitation, he picked up the gene seed and implanted it into his skin.

He didn't doubt that there was something wrong with the object; if the old man wanted to harm him, he had no ability to resist.

Accompanied by the pressure, the liquid was pushed into Li Ming's body; most of it was the nutrient solution aiding the fusion of the gene seed, with only the brilliant blue glow being the actual gene seed.

Soon, Li Ming felt intense pain throughout his body, a bone-deep agonizing pain, his heart rate increased rapidly, and cold sweat dripped all over his body, and then he began to feel a numbing sensation, initially very faint but soon spreading throughout his whole body.

The surface of the skin even emitted a faint blue glow.

Watching Li Ming clench his teeth, Uncle Lame chuckled lightly, "As if integrating with Thunderclap Leopard is that easy..."

Glancing at Li Ming, Uncle Lame's smile suddenly stiffened as he saw the bright blue electrical arcs on the skin gradually fade, and Li Ming's breathing became smooth.

So quick? He was surprised in his heart, Li Ming's body exceeded his expectations.

Or does it particularly suit the Thunder Element gene seed?

The power amplification of the pneumatic hammer is not meant to be taken lightly; it manifested in every aspect of Li Ming's body, swiftly suppressing the abnormal effects brought about by the fusion of the gene seed.

"Huh..." Li Ming opened his eyes, feeling the earth-shattering changes in his body; his muscles and bones felt numb, an unusual sense of fullness, with strength continuously emerging, seemingly inexhaustible.

And this was just the initial effect of the fusion, which could last at least two or three days.

By then, combined with the Control Object Ability, the strength would increase exponentially, and his spirit was exhilarated.

"My task is done, I must be going, kid, maybe we'll meet again if fate allows," said Lame, quick and decisive, rising to leave without further ado.

"Uncle Lame," called Li Ming.

"I can't help you with much, I'm just a small fry," Lame shook his head, thinking Li Ming still wanted his help.

"There's something you definitely can help me with," said Li Ming, "You must be a bounty hunter from the Black Hole Network, right?"

"Oh..." a sharp gleam flashed through Lame's eyes, "Kid, don't be too curious about these things all the time."

He believed Li Ming had gotten the name Black Hole Network from some online forum.

"I want you to be my sponsor," Li Ming activated his intelligent terminal and navigated to the Black Hole Network interface.

The Black Hole Network listed numerous bounty tasks, but only Bounty Hunters could accept them; becoming a Bounty Hunter required a little threshold, needing a sponsor.

Without a doubt, he would consume a massive amount of Star Coins in the future; while it might not be necessary to take the path of a Bounty Hunter, having access to it wouldn't hurt.

"You..." Lame stared at the Black Hole Network page, familiar to him, then glanced at Li Ming's slightly youthful face.

The Black Hole Network was no secret, but it wasn't something just anyone could access; what exactly was the deal with Old Li's son?

He wasn't quite like what he had been described, not even closely related.

"Never mind, everyone has secrets." Lame didn't delve deeper into his thoughts, having mingled in the interstellar enough to encounter all sorts of strange things.

"However, you should know, a sponsor enjoys 10% of all earnings from the sponsored person's bounty tasks, and the sharing can only be closed after exceeding fifty thousand Star Coins, that's the rule of the Black Hole Network."

"I understand," nodded Li Ming, and not just that, the number a Bounty Hunter could sponsor was limited, but from Lame's demeanor, it seemed he agreed.

Passing over the intelligent terminal, Lame quickly completed the operation.

Upon reopening the bounty section, it had indeed become accessible, packed densely, including subcategories such as assassinations, thefts, and intelligence, among others.

He took the name—Shadow.

The identity information of a Bounty Hunter falls outside the category of things the Black Hole Network would sell.

Similarly, the assassinations facilitated through their network system were the same; it would be ridiculous if just after buying a gun on it, the Black Hole Network turned around and sold the information to the city guards.

Although they profited from their users, their reputation was also very solid.

"Someone messaged me?" Li Ming noticed a small red dot at the upper right corner, which, upon clicking, turned out to be an official notification from the Black Hole Network.

"A base deposit of 5000 Star Coins has been paid, please be mindful of the task completion," it read.

A deposit? Li Ming wasn't aware of that and couldn't help but explained, "Uncle Limp, about these five thousand..."

"I can afford five thousand," Uncle Limp said indifferently, "Just look at it, and don't do anything foolish."

He thought Li Ming was just curious, like he had been as a young man, intrigued by these dark aspects like he'd discovered some great secret, unable to resist the urge to explore, and that it would pass with time.

He didn't expect to get any share from Li Ming.

Uncle Limp left; he had entered through a passage under the bed and left the same way. Li Ming asked him to stay, but he refused, having other matters to attend to.

"Uncle Limp, Elder Yang, and even Yang Peng are all connections left by Li Changhai…" Li Ming fell silent for a while, then shook his head, realizing that thinking too much now was pointless.

He had just merged with the gene seed, and he was now enthusiastic.

The Control Bar indeed had an additional slot, first he placed the four-armed machine tool into the Control Bar, watching as the short dagger, four-armed machine tool, and pneumatic hammer were lined up in sequence, a feeling of satisfaction naturally arising.

The efficiency of absorbing metal energy should have changed as well, he would try it later.

He took out a USB drive from the briefcase, inserted it into the smart terminal, and began reviewing the development method.

"The Thunderclap Leopard is fond of the Thunder Element, often found in environments with frequent thunderstorms. To develop quickly, assistive electric current is best..."

"For integration below 30%, a 36V circuit can be used for assistance, just soak in water and bring a wire over. Note: Remember to turn off the electric safety."

"For integration above 30%, at least 220V is needed..."

"90%...500V..."

It wasn't complicated; it was just electrocuting himself, Li Ming observed silently for a long time.

As for the development potions, they were specifically used to accelerate the development of the gene seed, costing money.

Combat techniques totaled three moves, Rush--stimulating the gene seed to harness the power and speed enhancement brought by the Thunderclap Leopard.

Multiple sets of data experiments showed that the average burst of power and speed was about 1.25 times that of the normal state, that is, a 25% enhancement in both power and speed.

Leopard Dash was an enhanced version of Rush, with an overall increase, up to 1.5 times.

And Thunderclap was to stimulate the Thunder Element Power of the gene seed, adding it to various attacks.

They could be learned at 30%, 60%, and 90% integration, and learning them prematurely could likely damage the body.

Li Ming found the first two uninteresting as the increase was too low, even worse than a Grade F Controlled Object, but Thunderclap was worth noting.

After figuring it out, he pulled out a wire, ran it through a transformer left by Li Changhai, found a large bucket, and turned off the short-circuit protection.

He filled it with water, threw in the wire, and jumped in.

Splash! Electric arcs sputtered, and the tingling sensation from the electric current was uncomfortable.

But soon, he felt like something was stirring in his body, seemingly absorbing the electric current.

"Whew… this feels quite exhilarating…" Li Ming adapted and, aside from occasional twitching, didn't experience any other reactions.

However, not long after he tried, he was interrupted by Elder Yang.

At the door, Elder Yang glared at Li Ming with a stern look, "Why haven't you reported in!?"

"Report in?" Li Ming was stunned, then suddenly remembered, shit, he had forgotten.

After running into Uncle Limp in the morning, a series of events had occurred—gene seed, invitation… and he had neglected the report.

"Everything is arranged, you have to go even if you don't want to!" Elder Yang exclaimed angrily, "Don't feel embarrassed about using backdoor connections, many people seek this access and still can't get it!"

He assumed Li Ming was too modest to take advantage of the situation.

"I'll go right now, I'll go right now," Li Ming replied, and he changed his clothes and rushed off under Elder Yang's urging.