Liquid Metal
Asel nodded slightly, his smile growing a fraction wider. "Good. Since we're on the same page, I have a small favor to ask—head to Skyocean City 203 and bring someone back."
"Who?" Wang Yanfei's brow furrowed slightly. He couldn't shake the sinking feeling that he'd boarded a pirate ship without realizing it. One shouldn't bite the hand that feeds, after all.
Asel didn't answer immediately. Instead, he leaned in slightly, lowering his voice. "Someone important to the sect. Their identity is… sensitive. But don't worry, the mission is straightforward, and you'll have support when needed."
"Why me?" Wang Yanfei asked.
"Because you're still new and won't attract attention. And, frankly, I believe in your abilities." Asel's gaze met his directly, filled with a calm certainty.
After a moment of silence, Wang Yanfei nodded. "When do I leave?"
"Tomorrow morning." Asel stood, clapping him on the shoulder with a grin. "Rest up. Someone will guide you at dawn."
-----------------------
That evening, alone in his quarters, Wang Yanfei habitually began drawing his cards. Twelve dark golden cards hovered before him, glowing faintly in the dim light. His gaze swept across them, his finger pausing above one. Without hesitation, he pulled it free.
The moment the card flipped, an intricate pattern emerged—a shifting metal block transforming seamlessly between solid, liquid, and gas states, exuding an ethereal fluidity. A line of text floated into view:
"With the transformation of your form, the mortal form will be carried by the power of liquid."
Wang Yanfei's brow furrowed. Before he could process the words, the card dissolved into a streak of silver light that surged toward his right arm. A powerful tremor coursed through his prosthetic, followed by an indescribable heat spreading through his body.
Instinctively, he extended his hand. To his astonishment, the rigid metallic surface of his prosthetic began to flow like liquid, rippling gently as if alive. Its texture resembled that of a sentient slime.
"What… is this?" he murmured under his breath.
He tried to concentrate his mind, and his right hand instantly turned into a sharp metal blade, with a cold light, and played a few cold winds. Then, he let the flowing metal cover his forearm and turned it into a shield. The elliptical structure could cover half of his body. This change was so natural, like using an arm to move a finger, and it was even more flexible than his own tentacles.
After a moment, the familiar panel reappeared:
[Name: Wang Yanfei
Race: Human
Attributes:
Body: 0.9 (adult standard is 1)
Spirit: 2.2 (adult standard is 1)
Ability: Gift of Fate
Skills: Tentacles, Spirituality
Symbiosis: Unnamed]
"Symbiosis..." Wang Yanfei whispered the new status on the panel, clenched his right hand gently, and felt the power of integration.
Wang Yanfei watched the slowly changing form of the prosthesis, thought for a moment and whispered: "Liquid metal."
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At dawn, just as Wang Yanfei was preparing to get out of bed, a knock came at his door. A stranger stood outside, clad in a dark robe with sharp, chiseled features. His voice was cold and direct. "Come with me. You have a mission."
Caught off guard, Wang Yanfei said nothing. He swiftly gathered his belongings and followed the man through the base's winding corridors. Not a word was exchanged as they walked.
They eventually arrived at a small landing pad, where a black, lightly weathered aircraft awaited. Its exterior bore the marks of countless missions.
"The mission details will be explained en route. Board the craft," the man instructed, gesturing to the open hatch.
Wang Yanfei stepped into the aircraft. The interior was spartan, equipped only with the essentials. Once seated, the man sat across from him, starting the engine. A soft hum filled the cabin as the craft lifted smoothly into the air, heading swiftly toward the wilderness.
"What's the objective of this mission?" Wang Yanfei asked over the noise of the engine.
The man glanced at him before responding curtly. "Recover an item from Skyocean City 203. However, due to an anomaly in the city, we've lost contact with our people there. The target is with Dr. Lin. Your job is to secure the item."
"And Dr. Lin is…?"
"A monkey. You'll understand when you meet him," the man replied dismissively.
Wang Yanfei frowned. "And the item?"
"A banana."
"…Are we a legitimate organization?"
"..."
---------------
The aircraft landed smoothly in a barren expanse 30 kilometers from Skyocean City 203. The desolate landscape stretched out in all directions, devoid of structures save for sparse patches of grass and scattered rocks. The hatch opened with a hiss, and Wang Yanfei disembarked alongside his guide.
The man took out a document from his arms and handed it to Wang Yanfei, along with a metal nameplate. The front of the nameplate was engraved with "spirituality" in small words, but the back was empty, and the metal surface was glowing with a faint blue light.
"This is your identity nameplate," the man said, "You need a code name. Have you thought about it?"
Wang Yanfei looked down at the nameplate, gently rubbed its edge with his fingers twice, and the place where the nameplate was touched became brighter, and said: "Flying Bird. Why is the bird..."
"Not interested in your reasoning," the man interrupted, pulling out a handheld device and typing in the word. A red light flashed on the screen. "Taken. Try another."
"…Insect."
Another red light.
After a string of rejected names, Wang Yanfei's patience wore thin. "Forget it. You pick one."
The man paused, then smirked as he typed. "Poison Bird."
"…Seriously?" Wang Yanfei raised an eyebrow. "You couldn't just go with Raven or something?"
"No, no. Poison. Like venom," the man replied with a faint grin, engraving the name onto the badge before handing it back. "It suits you."
Reluctantly, Wang Yanfei accepted the badge and stuffed it into his pocket. "Fine. Poison Bird it is."
"Remember, don't flash the badge at the guards or in the dark," the man warned cryptically.
"Why?"
The man gave him a look that screamed idiot but said nothing.
As Wang Yanfei muttered to himself, he flipped open the file. The photo inside was… unusual. It depicted a monkey in a lab coat, standing upright with a pen in hand and a comically serious expression.
"Dr. Lin?" Wang Yanfei murmured, raising an eyebrow.
He quickly glanced at the content on the document. Below the photo was a brief introduction:
[Name: Dr. Lin
Race: Experimental primate
Age: 34
Achievements: Leading the development of the psychic experiment codenamed 'Origin', proposing the theory of spiritual adaptation... (omitted)
Preferences: ... (omitted)
Date of disconnection: December 31, 97 of Tianhai calendar]
Has it been 28 days since the disconnection? Wang Yanfei thought that 28 days ago was exactly the day when he was marked by Wang Qiu and others. He frowned as if he recalled the painful part.
The man saw that he was stunned and said: "Find the target, confirm the identity, and then contact us. How to contact, just enter the spirituality into the nameplate."
"No time limit?" Wang Yanfei raised his eyebrows.
"None. But remember, the 'banana' is vital. Dr. Lin is expendable."
Wang Yanfei was silent for a moment and nodded.
After a pause, the man added, "One last thing. If you see anyone wearing a grinning mask, avoid them at all costs."
Without further explanation, the man turned back to the aircraft. Moments later, it ascended into the sky, vanishing quickly from sight.
Standing alone in the wilderness, Wang Yanfei adjusted his cloak against the biting wind. Fixing his gaze on the faint silhouette of Skyocean City in the distance, he began walking. As he trudged forward, something nagged at the back of his mind—an odd feeling that he'd forgotten something important.
At this time, inside the aircraft, the man was sitting in the driver's seat, adjusting the steering wheel of the instrument. Suddenly, he accidentally glanced at a tactical backpack next to the seat. The expression on his face froze instantly, and he cursed: "Damn it!"
He grabbed the backpack and quickly opened it, and found that it was full of things - a hidden blade, a pistol, a light bulletproof vest, dozens of compressed supplies, and a reconnaissance falcon - a highly intelligent small aircraft dedicated to exploring the enemy and terrain.
"I actually forgot this..." The man cursed in a low voice, wishing he could slap himself. He looked back at the direction of Tianhai City, which was gradually receding, and then looked at the equipment in the backpack, frowning, obviously unable to turn back, then he put his feet on the console and hummed a song.