Rebirth of the Severed Arm

Boom!

The aerial bomb hit the giant beast squarely. The massive explosion tore it apart before it even had a chance to unleash its power—it was completely obliterated.

"Huff…"A violent shockwave swept through the battlefield. The armored bugs closest to the blast were instantly consumed by flames, and then the shockwave, mixed with shattered debris, surged outward in all directions. Ryan was well within its range.

Bang!Ryan was thrown back violently and slammed into the cliff wall behind him. He blacked out on impact.

…

"Ugh…"With a groan, Ryan opened his eyes. Pain wracked his entire body, like he had been torn apart and put back together the wrong way. He lifted his head slightly and glanced around. He was in a shallow cave.

Looking closer, he noticed the cave was unusually clean—no signs of Zerg slime or destruction.

"Where… am I? Was I rescued?"Ryan tried to get up, but his body wouldn't respond. He gave up and leaned against the wall, slowly sitting down again.

Trying to recall what happened, he remembered being knocked out by the shockwave from the explosion. But he was sure there was no cave behind the cliff when it happened.

"Was I saved by our own troops?"He frowned. It wasn't his first time being rescued, but normally he would've woken up in a medbay, not a random cave. If it wasn't the Federation… then who?

He laughed off the absurd thought that the Zerg might've rescued him. To them, humans were nothing but intruders—or food.

Just as Ryan was puzzling over the situation, a wave of intense itching erupted from the stump of his severed arm. It was an unbearable, maddening sensation.

"Screw it!"Ryan quickly released the locking mechanism on his mechanical arm. If this itching went on, he really would go insane.

Clunk.The prosthetic came off, revealing the stump underneath.

"What the hell…"Ryan froze. He had worn the prosthetic for a long time. The wound should've fully healed and scarred over long ago. But now, beneath the removed mechanical limb, there was raw red tissue—fresh, squirming growth.

Strangely, though the muscles were clearly visible, there was no bleeding.

"Aaah!"Ryan screamed. Whether it was due to exposure to air or something else, the wound suddenly flared with searing pain.

But even as the pain overwhelmed him, something even more shocking happened—the raw tissue at his shoulder began to grow rapidly, right before his eyes.

In less than half an hour, a brand-new arm had regenerated.

"This… this can't be real."Ryan stared in disbelief. When the arm finished forming, the pain and itching vanished completely—replaced by a deep, gnawing hunger.

To confirm he wasn't dreaming, he pinched his thigh hard. The pain felt real enough.

"Regeneration? Full limb regeneration?"Ryan rubbed his eyes. Then a sudden realization struck him.

Back on the beaches of Isys, Ryan had fought and killed a unique armored bug. Unlike the others, this one had a golden horn. He had never seen anything like it—not even the veterans in the fleet, who had fought on Alpha Star for years, had ever reported such a creature.

Ryan had seen ones with bronze-colored horns before. They were known to be Zerg leaders—rare, powerful, and dangerous. He'd only encountered one before, and his former squad leader had told him: if you ever kill one, you must destroy its brain and burn the pulp. Otherwise, it would regenerate.

"Wait… did I somehow absorb that ability?"Joy and fear tangled in Ryan's chest. If he truly had that power, it would greatly increase his chances of survival. But if anyone found out, he'd be shipped off to a lab for sure.

Still, Ryan couldn't help feeling overjoyed. Regaining his arm was a miracle.

Just in case, he quickly dug a hole and buried his prosthetic. Fortunately, the ground was soft enough to dig by hand.

Perhaps it was this Zerg mutation—whatever had changed him—but his body, which had felt weak and sore earlier, now felt completely restored. Only the intense hunger remained.

Once the arm was hidden, Ryan pulled his sleeve down. No one would see the new arm this way, and even if they did, they'd probably just think he'd put a layer of synthetic skin over his prosthetic.

Thud. Thud. Thud.Just then, footsteps echoed from outside the cave.

"Hm?"Ryan's brain kicked into overdrive. Judging by the sound, it was bipedal—not a Zerg.

"Better play dead."Not knowing whether the newcomer was friend or foe, Ryan decided to stay "unconscious," ready to strike if needed.

He steadied his breathing, slowing his pulse to appear comatose.

"Huh? He's still alive?"To Ryan's surprise, the voice was human—and a girl's.

Whoosh!Ryan's eyes snapped open.

"Yah!"The girl yelped in shock, nearly stumbling back. She had been leaning over to check on him, clearly thinking he was still unconscious.

Ryan, on the other hand, was stunned for a different reason.

Standing before him was a stunning blonde woman in combat medic armor. Even though much of her body was covered in medical equipment and powered exoskeleton gear, her figure was hard to ignore.