Ethan Walters gently laid the unconscious Annie on his bed.
He carefully removed her special ring and unlocked her three-dimensional maneuver gear.
Then, carrying her in a princess hold, he placed her on the bed.
It all sounded like it was about to turn into an inappropriate scene.
"In short, the containment was successful," Ethan sighed with relief.
He found a soft nylon cord from the drawer, a material that wouldn't chafe the skin even if she struggled.
Ethan carefully tied Annie to the bed.
Her hands and feet were secured separately, with additional restraint belts around her legs, waist, and chest.
On Annie's hands, he put on three layers of winter gloves.
The foot part was trickier since he didn't have tabi socks, so he wrapped each of Annie's toes with cotton fabric.
Finally, he added a strap across her forehead and gagged her with a handkerchief, secured with an elastic band.
To be honest, it looked quite uncomfortable.
But there was no choice; to prevent Annie from harming herself and transforming into a giant, Ethan had to take these precautions.
After completing all this, Ethan took a step back to admire his handiwork.
At that moment, the system panel popped up.
"Successful containment of anomaly: Giant's Power - Female Giant. Containment level 3 disaster, containment level is good. Reward: one three-level lucky draw."
"Your first containment of anomalies, you will be rewarded with ten consecutive lucky draws for newbies."
(Containment levels from low to high are: 1. Dangerous, 2. Fatal, 3. Disaster, 4. Destruction, 5. Doom, 6. Supreme Divinity.)
Seeing the information on the system panel, Ethan smiled with satisfaction.
Finally, his efforts to deceive the girl had paid off.
"Let's start with a novice ten-pull to prime the pool."
The novice draw interface appeared on the system panel.
In it, white rewards accounted for forty percent, green for thirty, blue for twenty, and purple for nine.
The odds of a golden legend were only one percent.
The highest red reward was zero.
Ethan shook his head helplessly.
It seemed the novice draw was unlikely to yield anything spectacular.
With a click on the ten-pull button, streaks of light flashed across the panel.
Ethan took a deep breath and widened his eyes.
What did he see!?
A golden legend!
One percent chance, and he actually hit it!
"Woohoo!"
"Rewards received: 100,000 Sakura coins, baby burp bag, handsome shirt, blue and white porcelain, strange black silk, 14 apples."
"Acquired blue reward: M1917 Northland-made Smith & Wesson, Dawn Excalibur."
"Acquired purple reward: Containment Amnesia Crowbar."
"Awarded gold: Perfect Black Light Virus Solution."
Ethan looked at the reward panel, speechless.
What were these things?
Were the white rewards just for fun?
The blue one was also pretty common.
The purple reward... well, it was hard to complain.
It seemed luck was on his side, and the golden light was a nice consolation.
He took out the Perfect Black Light Virus Solution.
A transparent solvent bottle appeared in Ethan's hand.
The liquid inside was a dark red, radiating a sense of violence.
"Perfect Black Light Virus Solution: Grants the host the ability to devour any gene and evolve to perfection."
Without much hesitation, Ethan unscrewed the cap and downed the contents.
The crimson liquid burned its way down his throat.
Ethan felt his body ignite with heat.
Taking a step back, Ethan sat on the ground, gritting his teeth as his body underwent transformation.
He didn't know how long it lasted, but the pain eventually subsided.
When Ethan opened his eyes again, the world seemed different.
His senses were heightened to the fullest, as were his strength and speed.
Unfortunately, Ethan had been exercising, so his eight-pack abs remained unchanged.
"If I'd known, I wouldn't have bothered working out," he mused, glancing in the mirror.
"Speaking of which, the black light virus can devour genes. Isn't the power of the giant..."
Ethan turned his gaze to Annie on the bed.
Annie, completely restrained, looked somewhat... vulnerable.
To gain the giant's power, Ethan needed Annie's genes.
Blood was the obvious choice.
But causing a wound would likely trigger Annie's transformation the moment she woke up.
Hair or nails could work, but...
Ethan's gaze finally landed on her lips.
Annie's small mouth was slightly open, her lips red and pink from the handkerchief stuffed between her teeth.
They looked... tempting.
"No way, this is to gain the power of giants," Ethan murmured, approaching Annie.
Just then, the apartment doorbell rang.
Ethan's movement paused, the crime halted, and he walked toward the entrance.
Through the video doorbell, Ethan saw the girl from next door standing outside.
She looked worried.
"Eri, what's the matter?" Ethan opened the door and asked with a smile.
The girl next door, named Erica Spencer, had been Ethan's neighbor for three years.
Eri was petite, with trademark blonde hair tied into cute twin ponytails.
With clear blue eyes and porcelain-like skin, she was recognized as a beautiful girl.
Seeing Ethan, Eri breathed a sigh of relief, then averted her gaze and said, "I heard a strange noise, so I came to check."
Ethan had an epiphany.
It must have been the noise he made while accepting the black light virus and falling to the ground.
"That was just an accidental bump while moving furniture... Were you worried about me, Eri?" Ethan chuckled.
After three years, they had become good friends.
Ethan felt touched by Eri's concern.
"I'm not worried about you! Who would worry about you! I was just... curious about the noise!"
The girl spoke with a hint of tsundere.
It could only be said that the famous golden-haired Eri was indeed a tsundere.
"Well, since your curiosity is satisfied, please go back, Miss Eri."
Ethan, with a teasing tone, specialized in overcoming tsundere behavior.
Eri's eyes widened, her blue pupils filled with disbelief.
"You actually want me to leave! I won't!"
With that, Eri slipped past Ethan and rushed into the apartment.
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