Chapter 13: No status window

Daniel found himself alone in an abandoned building, his body still badly wounded by the ferocious battles he had endured against the prime mutant. Despite his injuries, his gaze fixed upon the crystallized heart pulsating with a golden luminance.

In a flashback, moments after Daniel's resurrection.

Daniel kneeled while coughing weakly as a mysterious man stood in front of him. With a swift motion, the man's tentacle snaked towards the charred remains of the monstrous creature Daniel had vanquished. With brutal force, he tore out its crystalline core and thrust it towards Daniel's mouth.

"Ahkkhhh..gulppp." With a choked gasp, Daniel swallowed it.

"Eat it," the man commanded, his voice tinged with a sinister edge, as if multiple entities speaking at the same time.

"The hunger will subside. This normal ones only for the hunger, since normal human meals would not satiate the cells. However, Those with color glowing akin to mine will awaken my dormant gene in the body, bestowing upon greater power. Obtaining it will be a challenge, perhaps even impossible. But that's what makes it exhilarating, isn't it? Hehehehehe…"

The mysterious man's words echoed in Daniel's mind as he pondered the choice before him. And as he stared at the pulsating heart before him, Daniel couldn't help but wonder: would consuming it truly make him stronger, or was it merely a deceitful promise by a sly entity?

"Ugh.. no turning back now, after I almost died getting it.

"gulp… here it comes."

Daniel devoured it ferociously, the crystalline core pulsating with energy as it disappeared down his throat. In an instant, he felt an overwhelming surge coursing through his body, igniting every fiber of his being with raw power.

"ARGHHHHHHHHHH….." Too much, too fast. He began to scream as searing pain engulfed him, sounds of his bones cracking, torrents of blood gushing from his mouth as he felt his muscles and insides painfully restructuring.

Overwhelmed by excruciating agony, he fell unconscious.

During his unconscious state, his eyes glowed. He experienced a vision. He saw a multitude of waves of zombie hordes, resembling an ocean, along with monsters and mutants. He witnessed a network of large veins sprawling across the entire earth. And he saw the earth in its orbit, slowly disintegrating and becoming floating stones orbiting the sun.

…

The sun bathed his face, Daniel stirred awake. While blinking away the remnants of sleep, he reached for his cellphone.

"Three days?" he muttered incredulously, looking at the date on his device. "Ughh.. What a terrible dream that was."

He awoke with a newfound vigor, his physique enhanced, he felt his muscles rippling with much more strength, with every wound healed.

"All my wounds healed. Even after I met that being. It's never been like this. Usually, I still need a bandage and first aid kit, and it took longer. But this… not even a scar left."

"Did I just gain enhanced regeneration?"

"Sigh… If only it were like in the comic books, where a status window appeared."

"No way to know other than to test it myself."

He retrieved the police knife he had stored in his backpack and made a small slice in his arm's skin.

"What… it's not healing?" He slapped his forehead in frustration. "Luckily, I didn't cut too deep."

"Wait…" he tightened his grip on his arm, feeling a surge of power coursing through him as his goldish gene activated. Instantly, the wound healed before his eyes.

"It works…" his voice filled with surprise. "Finally, I won't need to bother scavenging around for med kits anymore."

———

Back at the army base, in the general's office, a nameplate on the desk read "General S.S. Warouw."

"How's the report, Commander?" the General inquired.

"The eastern defense line has been reinforced," the Commander responded.

"Due to the massive number of casualties inflicted, the mission to mitigate the gathering infected was successful. The eastern flank should now be relatively secure. Rescue squads will be dispatched to scan the area for survivors," the Commander reported.

"Good work, Gosal. And the sample?" General Warouw continued to inquire.

"We managed to retrieve the sample the scientists requested," Commander Gosal confirmed.

"Any losses?" General Warouw pressed.

"The wounded soldiers are receiving treatment, although some are severely injured. Fortunately, there have been no casualties. The damaged tanks are also undergoing repairs," Commander Gosal explained.

"I heard you received… assistance?" General Warouw's tone turned curious.

"Yes, the identity of the helper is still under investigation," Commander Gosal replied.

"Good. Dismissed," General Warouw concluded and dismissing.

…

On the shadowy side of the office, concealed behind a bookshelf, a scientist sits.

"So, more of them. Professor Lasut, how's the project progressing?" General Warouw's voice cuts through the air, a blend of authority and anticipation.

"The blood samples we've collected are very unstable. We're still a ways from reaching the testing phase," Professor Lasut responds, his tone reflecting the weight of the task at hand.

"Ensure the subject remains stable. We can't afford any setbacks. I expect results," General Warouw's command leaves no room for failure.

"Understood, sir," the Professor acknowledges with determination.

…

Within the sterile enclosed of the science lab, a young man, a teenager, floats in a transparent tank, his existence tethered to a web of life-support systems.

"So, more of you out there. I wouldn't need to be afraid to take more restricted parts from you then… Forgive me, all for the sake of humanity," the Professor muses to himself, his gaze fixed on the young man suspended in the tank, with his rhythmic sound of breathing the only audible reminder of him still being alive.