The Art of Modification

This is a research center located in the mountains outside the capital, surrounded by heavily armed soldiers standing guard on the perimeter walls, their vigilant eyes scanning the surrounding vegetation. As the research arm of the Empire's strategic technology, the Science Bureau is highly favored by the upper echelons of the Empire, receiving substantial funding annually. The presence of elite soldiers specifically assigned to the research center is a testament to this favor.

Though the Empire's leadership places great importance on the development of cutting-edge technology, this focus is primarily on enhancing military strength and advanced medical technology. The technological advancements of the Science Bureau are not intended for public benefit. With the existence of Imperial Arms, the common people are merely a crop to be harvested in the eyes of the Empire's rulers; only those with exceptional potential are viewed differently.

Upon entering the Empire's Science Bureau compound, one is greeted by a fortress built into the mountain. The large experimental and office areas within are brightly lit, with the mountain wind howling through the corridors like a lamentation. The scale of the laboratory is immediately apparent; after walking through the corridors for some time without reaching the destination, Selene became more convinced that the entire mountain had been hollowed out to create this facility.

"Are there any experimental results?" she asked.

Though she posed the question, Selene had already extended her senses, easily detecting the presence of strange and dangerous creatures beneath the laboratory through her Honkai life force sensing ability.

"Yes, there are." Placing his left hand on his abdomen and his right hand palm-up towards the location of his laboratory, Dr. Stylish leaned forward slightly, smiling as he gestured for Selene to follow. "This way, General."

As they stepped into Dr. Stylish's laboratory, Selene's eyes were immediately drawn to a giant "human" lying in a reinforced cell. This was a humanoid danger beast created using a human as the base material. Its massive, bulging muscles were both striking and powerful, currently in a state of slumber.

"Behold! General, this is the power of the danger beast serum!" Dr. Stylish excitedly introduced his creation as they entered his workshop.

Without immediately evaluating Dr. Stylish's work, Selene approached the cell and, after observing the experiment, asked out of nowhere, "Do you have backup data?"

"Y-yes..." Dr. Stylish hesitated slightly.

"Good... let's run a quick test."

Imaginary Number Hand!

In an instant, a large, purple-red spectral claw materialized out of thin air, grasping the three to four-meter-tall artificial danger beast.

"Roar—!" The beast awoke instantly, letting out a roar of rage.

But soon, the roar turned from anger to a howl of pain. As the force of the spectral claw increased, it was as if the beast had reached its breaking point.

Crack!

With the sound of shattering bones, the beast's body burst apart like a popped water balloon, scattering flesh and blood. The artificial danger beast had been reduced to a heap of mangled flesh.

"It can withstand about five thousand kilograms of force... roughly ten times what ordinary human bones can handle... not bad, but it's too ugly, and the side effects are too severe."

"It has potential... but it needs improvement." Selene then turned to look at the stunned Dr. Stylish, adding, "And it's too ugly."

"Oh, oh, oh." Snapping out of his stupor, Dr. Stylish hurriedly pulled out a notebook, mumbling to himself as he recorded, "Type-II danger beast serum, maximum force resistance of five thousand..."

"Let's go see your other modifications," Selene said.

Dr. Stylish's workshop was indeed large. As they delved deeper, they passed countless experimental subjects, modified humans, and humanoid danger beasts, all varying in number and type.

However, none of them caught Selene's interest. As she examined the myriad of grotesque, deformed modified humans, she couldn't help but shake her head—Dr. Stylish's taste was, to say the least, questionable.

Most of the modified humans had lost their ability to think, sitting dazed in their cages like mindless zombies. Even those that retained a modicum of intelligence were mostly failures, with few possessing adequate combat capabilities.

Still, to have reached this level of modification in the Empire Year 1015, Dr. Stylish was undoubtedly a genius.

After passing through room after room filled with experimental subjects, Dr. Stylish led Selene into a surgery room.

Inside was an experimental subject undergoing surgery, lying completely naked on the operating table as nearby researchers worked on implanting metal prosthetics.

Many of these subjects were death row inmates from the Empire's prisons, originally sentenced to execution but handed over to Dr. Stylish by the Science Bureau. Due to the high risks involved in Dr. Stylish's experiments—whether it was implanting danger beast organs into subjects to grant them the powers of these creatures, or replacing their flesh with metal prosthetics—many of these subjects perished during the process, their bodies discarded in crematoriums. Only those who survived were placed in storage for further observation.

As a result, despite the high death rate, even with Honest's rampant persecution of political enemies, there still weren't enough death row inmates in the capital's prisons to meet the demand, which is likely why Dr. Stylish had set his sights on the Southwestern tribal prisoners.

"Let me handle this," Dr. Stylish said as he stepped forward to take over the modification surgery. "Watch closely, General..."

While such a simple initial modification could have been handled by an assistant, Dr. Stylish decided to perform the surgery himself due to Selene's presence.

Taking the scalpel from his assistant, Dr. Stylish began his work with surgical precision.

Selene, observing the procedure, was captivated by how adeptly Dr. Stylish integrated metal with the human body.

He's making the muscle fibers more like the hard layers of a danger beast, then attaching specific-shaped metals as an exoskeleton to the muscles—what a creative idea. The design of the metal armor's internal holes perfectly complements muscle contraction—a genius design.

Under her super vision, Selene was amazed by Dr. Stylish's meticulous technique. This was only his skill at around age twenty; what heights would his modification technology reach in another seven or eight years?

Setting aside everything else, the technique he used in the Night Raid mission—where his arm, repeatedly severed, would eject weapons from within—was something that greatly intrigued Selene. Such a feat required not only extraordinary technical skill but also an intimate understanding of human anatomy.

Couple that with his mastery of pharmacology, where a single serum could transform a human into a massive danger beast.

These two areas alone spanned multiple disciplines—physiology, chemistry, pharmacology...

Watching Dr. Stylish, who was completely engrossed in his work, Selene understood—turning one's passion into a career, and loving that work so deeply, it's no wonder he achieved such success.

I have to recruit him! Selene thought to herself.