The blood codes of the Hegemony Company are powerful, but they also have their limitations.
For Blood Code Carriers, once a blood code is embedded in the gene chain, it cannot be replaced.
A person cannot carry multiple blood codes at the same time.
And the research direction of the "Ancestral Blood Code" aims to overcome this latter difficulty.
The Ancestral Blood Code itself does not bring traditional physical enhancements, but it can grant the carrier the ability to "devour."
A carrier of the Ancestral Blood Code can devour the genetic fragments of others to capture their blood codes.
At the same time, the quantity limitation will no longer exist.
The carrier of the Ancestral Blood Code can have multiple blood codes within their body, and different blood codes can combine to produce stronger abilities.
Sounds impressive, right?
But in the eyes of the managers of Research Base No. 101, this concept is pure idiocy.
We haven't even fully understood a single blood code, and you talk about combinations which I find somewhat laughable.
There are too many uncontrollable factors such as "Blood Code Dissociation Syndrome."
With so many unresolved issues, researching multiple blood code combinations seems...
It's like just mastering jet technology and then wanting to build a space battleship.
So it is not hard to understand why "Dr. Chen's" research repeatedly ran into walls, and why he was ultimately ignored and had his funding cut off, leaving him to experiment on his own body.
But in a sense, "Dr. Chen" is a true genius.
Because he actually managed to develop this seemingly laughable blood code.
Though it has a tiny side effect—it devours its own host first.
Only a protagonist like him, first obtaining the Ancestral Blood Code, then finding a foreign genetic fusion tincture, could rely on their physique to withstand the assimilation side effects, and finally miraculously master this power.
And now, this power has fallen onto Su Mo's shoulders.
By perfectly integrating the Ancestral Blood Code, he became the only person in the world who can harbor multiple blood codes within himself.
He also possesses the ability to devour, capable of capturing others' blood codes by devouring genetic fragments.
That's right, Su Mo absorbed a massive amount of Nuobai's blood, devouring countless genetic fragments, and thus obtained the Crimson Rose Blood Code.
But Su Mo now feels a little uneasy.
According to the game "Dawn," the protagonist captures blood codes by summoning black tendrils to devour an enemy's heart, with the adversary dying as a result.
Su Mo has never tried capturing a blood code like this, with the original host still alive.
So, is Nuobai's blood code still there?
Would this affect her treatment of Blood Code Dissociation Syndrome?
Nuobai saved him, and if he accidentally harmed her without repaying the favor...
He's not shameless enough to feel at ease with this matter.
10 minutes later.
Nuobai returned and typed:
[I searched everywhere, found nothing of real use]
Su Mo responded with an "oh," his eyes flitting back and forth, "Nuobai, can I ask you for a favor?"
[Go ahead]
Su Mo hesitated, "Could you, perhaps, perform that again?"
[Which one?]
Su Mo: "Just... cutting your hand, letting it heal, and then showing me again."
Nuobai: "?"
[Huh?]
Su Mo scratched his head, stepping forward, "Let me see your hand, just a little bite, bear with it."
He took Nuobai's hand, biting down hard on her fingertip.
The skin broke.
Blood oozed.
...healed.
Seeing this, Su Mo breathed a sigh of relief and thought: It seems this is a special case; Nuobai's blood code was not affected and shouldn't delay her treatment.
He smiled, "Okay, all good now."
Nuobai: "???"
[Don't understand]
...
After packing, they returned to the top platform, preparing to retrace their steps.
Nuobai stood before the isolation door, waiting for Su Mo to open it.
Su Mo approached the control terminal.
Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks, staring blankly at the closed isolation door.
The door... was closed?
He had set it to "keep open" when he entered for easier escape.
Why is the door now closed?!
A sense of unprecedented danger surged in Su Mo's heart; he shouted to Nuobai: "Get down..."
"Screech—" The sound of metal tearing erupted.
The center of the isolation door suddenly twisted in a spiral, and a sharp spike made of some ghastly white material penetrated through.
"Puff!"
He was too late with his shout.
Nuobai, previously relaxed, was caught off guard by the unexpected attack, the spike piercing directly through her chest.
She staggered back, pulling herself off the spike, leaving a thumb-sized bloody hole.
The attack had damaged her lungs; bloody froth filled her mouth and nose as she knelt on the ground, coughing violently, crimson liquid flowing from the edges of her mask.
Fortunately, her combat nerves were strong enough; her body instinctively evaded, or the spike would have pierced her heart instead of her lung.
"Screech—" Another ghastly white spike burst in.
The two spikes pried apart, tearing the heavy isolation door wide open as the sound of twisting metal assaulted the ears.
"Heh heh heh... So this is why you came to the Land of No Master, hunting for Ancient Era Ruins," a cold laugh echoed from beyond the isolation door.
A tall figure stepped through the distorted doorway, followed by seven more, each coldly staring at Su Mo and Nuobai.
Every one of them wore black combat uniforms, their arm patches embroidered with the emblem of a horizontally inserted razor.
Razor Rapid Response Team!
Leading them was none other than Alote, who had been relentlessly pursuing the two.
His hands were wrapped in ghastly white material, swollen to enormous proportions, each finger barbed, resembling terrifying claws.
With these claws, he had torn the heavy door open, their hardness and strength horrifying.
Su Mo immediately recognized it as the "Mad Corpse Blood Code," a type of blood code that reinforced the skeleton.
Carriers of the Mad Corpse Blood Code have an extraordinary bone density and can manipulate their bones to proliferate and take various forms, serving as armor or transforming into weapons for assault.
The minimum selection standard for the Razor Rapid Response Team is "Promoted Low Tier," with all seven Razor Warriors meeting this blood code level.
Alote, as the leader of this squad, possessed a "Mid-tier Ascension" level with his Mad Corpse Blood Code.
Seven Promoted Low Tiers and one Mid-tier Ascension—this was an extremely formidable force, capable of easily crushing an ordinary infantry battalion on the battlefield.
Su Mo gritted his teeth, not understanding how their pursuers had tracked them down here after they had clearly been left behind.
Alote seemed to guess Su Mo's thoughts from his expression, as he retrieved a tracking device from his chest pocket, shaking it before tossing it to the ground.
Su Mo saw the tracking device and immediately furrowed his brows.
This is... a KM-03 tracking device?
They had planted a tracker on us?!
When did this happen...
During the chase with the scorpion armored car...
Or when they forcibly entered Rust Wind Ridge...
Su Mo decided not to dwell further on it.
There's no point lamenting over this now...
The enemy was already here!