Chapter 693: A Mirage of Mutation

Divinization…

Now that’s what I call mutation…!

Under overwhelming pain, Yenir couldn’t help but let out a low, agonized roar. It was the prelude to his mutation, his aura bursting forth uncontrollably.

In an instant, the vast meeting room erupted into chaos. Yet rather than doubt, the nine Rebel High-Ranking Officers burst into delight.

No one doubted that this surge of power was part of Yenir himself. In their eyes, it had to be the effect of the Divinization Potion!

They had no real clue about the ultimate effect of the Divinization Potion—frankly, even its creators weren’t sure how it came to be.

According to the higher-ups’ plan, it was meant to simulate the creature’s original genetic essence, loaded with heaps of raw ‘ingredients’!

Boost physical strength! Enhance bone density! Activate cells! Strengthen willpower!

It even contained special mimetic products to mimic the supercreature’s state as closely as possible. Later, after Yenir’s emergence, the Research Institute team in the Dungeon refined it based on his demonstrated power.

Honestly, surviving a dose of this potion is nothing short of a miracle!

“Hang in there!”

“Eight seconds! Nine seconds!”

“Is he evolving!?”

“No! He’s regressing! He’s starting to show traits of a Sea God… no, of that creature!”

Their expressions turned to wild joy and astonishment.

Hong Tiangang fixed his gaze on the writhing, agonized Yenir, his excitement sending shivers through his entire body.

The lunatics at the Research Institute hadn’t been mistaken—this stuff really worked after being ingested!

Somehow, amid his excitement, he felt a pang of regret. If he had known the Divinization Potion was so effective and wouldn’t instantly kill its user—if a lousy Second-Stage fighter could survive it, then maybe he could too?

Torn by conflicting emotions, he began daydreaming about how he’d secure the potion in advance once he returned!

At that moment, Hong Tiangang had no idea that the Divinization Potion was, in fact, a complete failure. Yenir’s survival was solely due to his exceptional physique and unique nature—he utterly trounced them beyond measure! Forget genuine Second-Stage fighters; even a Peak Third-Stage Mutant would disintegrate into a heap of flesh moments after ingestion!

In Yenir’s case, if not for the System subtly indicating that the potion worked for him and wouldn’t kill him, he would have been forced to eject it as soon as the mutation started!

It hurts! So damn painful!

It wasn’t just physical agony—Yenir could barely keep his thoughts in order.

Within his mind, he transformed into a legion of monsters, with countless flashes of marine life memories swirling through his thoughts every second.

From the smallest shrimp and river fish to giant deep-sea serpents and humpback whales.

From instinct-driven mollusks to colossal, elusive giant squids lurking in the deep.

As Ming Luo and others had described, it was as if he had merged all the memories of sea creatures, finally converging into the image of a monster adorned with red eyes.

(W-what is that!?)

In his chaotic and frenzied mindscape, Yenir stared in shock at memories he had never witnessed before.

He saw, in the pitch-black, abyss-like ocean depths, an indescribable super lifeform that seemed to bridge space and, in an instant, fix its gaze upon him.

Without a doubt, even from a mere fragment, Yenir could sense the power of this super lifeform.

Fourth Stage! Absolutely Fourth Stage!

Even more terrifying than Fourth Stage!?

(Is that the Mother?! No, it can’t be… if it were the Mother, it wouldn’t need to hide!)

Like an ant before a colossal peak, Yenir’s breath seemed to freeze as he stared blankly at the super lifeform.

But before he could focus on that hidden face in the darkness, a burst of exuberant shouts yanked him out of his mindscape!

“Alright, alright, alright!!”

“Twenty-six seconds! This is a miracle! Truly a miracle! If that esteemed figure heard this, he might show up himself!”

“Does this count as a success? Why is there no external change? And what about the spines? Where did they vanish to!?”

“They must have integrated into his body! It’s not an actual regression—this is exactly what we want!”

“Quick! Test his mental strength now!”

“People, record the data! I need to report back to the Base immediately!”

…

Collapsing to the ground, Yenir struggled to lift his head as the elated shouts of the Rebel High-Ranking Officers left him in a daze.

He didn’t sense any drastic change within him, only a faint feeling of an unfamiliar, untouchable power pulsating in his chest as if a new heart or organ had sprung to life.

Straining to regain his thoughts, Yenir committed every bit of information spilled by the Rebels into his mind.

His test had passed.

That hardly mattered to him; what he cared about were the tidbits they unconsciously revealed.

(Sea God…?)

(Is it the Mother? Was the entire plan aimed at creating a Sea God-like monster?)

Clues began to piece together in Yenir’s mind, slowly forming a clear connection!

Seventeen—no, twenty years ago, the Mother transformed from a human into a monster and then hid among the Huaxia Top Leaders. For unknown reasons, she was discovered and forced into battle. In the ensuing chaos, she feigned death to shed her human facade, gradually turning the Tianjin Battle Zone into her nest.

During these seventeen years, the Mother began capturing Awakeners en masse, secretly transporting them to the Base for her research.

Later, to avoid drawing the attention of the Military in the Capital, the Mother covertly allied with neighboring nations, diverting military focus. Moreover, to better keep the Military in check, she undermined Huaguo’s power to its lowest by co-opting and swallowing high-ranking military officials and resources.

Three years later, the Mother’s plan succeeded. Either the end of the world had arrived, or she triggered a disaster—either way, humanity was doomed under dual calamities.

As for Yenir, despite his prodigious talent in a past life, in the Mother’s eyes he was trivial—left to struggle as she pleased.

But in this life, his rapid growth—far exceeding what the Mother anticipated—forced the Rebels to reveal themselves publicly, as they sought to snuff him out at infancy!

(Sea God…! What is a Sea God!? Could it be the origin of the Sea Beast calamity..!?)

————-