Chapter One: Altering the Body

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Qin Anyi’s face was pale as he leaned against the wall of a narrow alley, struggling to support himself. His right eye was swollen, barely open to a thin slit, and fresh blood stained his nostrils and the corner of his mouth. He looked thoroughly battered and disheveled. Four young men with cropped hair surrounded him, glaring fiercely. One, evidently their leader, spat on the ground and cursed, “Damn it, I’ve never met someone like you before. My hand aches from hitting you. You’d rather be beaten to death than hand over the money, huh?”

Qin Anyi pressed his lips together. The pain radiating from every part of his body forced a frown onto his face. One hand gripped a stone he’d just picked up from the ground, the other fiercely guarded the pocket of his shirt. He stared wordlessly at the four thugs. In that pocket lay the meager wages he’d earned over an entire summer—just under two thousand yuan, but it was all he had for the coming semester’s expenses, including tuition and fees. He hadn’t expected that his hard-earned money would immediately be targeted by petty criminals, nor that he’d be cornered in this deserted alley.

The alley was long neglected; heaps of garbage in the corners exuded a rotten stench. Outnumbered four to one, Qin Anyi had suffered greatly in the scuffle, but his determination never wavered. What belonged to him, no one would take—he refused to yield!

“Fine! You’ve got guts! That school uniform means you’re from Changqing No. 1, right? Don’t know me, Black Skin Ah Si? Well, kid, just wait. I’ll be waiting outside your school every day—see you once, beat you once!” The leader panted, the beating having drained him. Realizing that his threats were ineffective, he cursed again and swung his steel pipe. “I’m tired, let’s go. Remember his face—we’ll teach him a lesson next time!”

As the four thugs turned to leave, Qin Anyi’s taut nerves finally relaxed. The pain in his body seemed to intensify all at once, his head spun with dizziness. He had just started to exhale when a sudden rush of wind whistled past his ear!

With the wind, the leader—his expression twisted in malice—swung his steel pipe toward Qin Anyi’s head. Having relaxed his guard, Qin Anyi couldn’t dodge in time.

A dull thud sounded. Qin Anyi felt a searing pain in his skull, his vision spun, and his body collapsed, unconscious.

The four thugs rushed forward, delivering another round of kicks and punches until they were out of breath. Seeing that Qin Anyi had passed out and lay motionless, they felt oddly unsatisfied.

“Damn, doesn’t know what’s good for him! I, Black Skin Ah Si, was giving him face by borrowing money. With me watching over this area, no one else would dare bully him. But he wouldn’t lend me a cent, so I had to take it myself!” The leader spat, bent over, and rifled through Qin Anyi’s pocket, pulling out nearly two thousand yuan in cash and smacking it in his hand. “Looks shabby, but carries a decent sum. Let’s go, tonight we’ll enjoy ourselves at Night Tide.”

“Fourth Brother, his head’s bleeding pretty bad. That last hit was vicious—could you have killed him?” one of the thugs asked, a bit worried.

“Who cares? No one saw us do it. People die in Changqing every year, and nine out of ten murder cases go unsolved. If he dies, it’s just bad luck. If he’d handed over the money at first, nothing would’ve happened—who’s to blame?” The leader scoffed. “Let’s go. I’m starving, time to feed myself, then find a girl for a good time tonight.”

With the boss speaking, the others didn’t dare argue, and the mention of finding a girl made their hearts itch. The four walked off arm-in-arm, satisfied.

Qin Anyi lay lifelessly on the ground, the blood from his head and wounds quickly soaking the earth beneath him, spreading farther and farther.

When the blood reached a trash heap about a meter away from where he lay, something strange happened. The heap, previously foul and filthy, shuddered violently, and a soft voice sounded:

“Blood DNA sampling complete. Human purity standard met. ‘Qilin’ activation. Fusion program analysis… Beginning extraction of body information…”

“Body information extraction complete. Analysis results: organ damage rate—7 percent, musculoskeletal injury—15 percent, blood loss—18 percent, physical strength level—F, status: critical…”

“Suggestion: Immediate physical repair… Host status: unconscious, default consent…”

“Physical repair program activated. Estimated duration: three hours, twenty minutes. Will consume sixty percent of ‘Qilin’ remaining energy…”

As the voice faded, dazzling light burst from the trash heap. A crystal-clear orb, the size of a fist, emerged and hovered in midair. In a flash, its glow vanished, and it floated above Qin Anyi’s head.

The orb seemed almost alive, its surface rippling like water. From within, countless transparent filaments rapidly extended, each tipped with a tiny suction cup. They drifted in the air, then attached themselves to Qin Anyi’s body at his wounds.

Instantly, the bleeding stopped, but what happened next was truly unsettling. Qin Anyi’s clothes split open, exposing his skin and bones to the air, which began to writhe and squirm as if countless worms crawled beneath. Bones shifted audibly, interlocking and rearranging. Despite his unconsciousness from blood loss and trauma, Qin Anyi was roused by the agony of these changes. His face contorted with pain, and he let out a low, instinctive growl before slipping back into oblivion.

“Alert: Pain has reached host’s tolerance threshold. Physical repair process now dangerous…”

“Suggestion: Administer potential-boosting agent… Agent is experimental; unknown effects possible. Use with caution…”

“Host status: unconscious, default consent…”

The gentle voice sounded again. Scarlet liquid surged from within the orb, coursing through the transparent filaments and entering Qin Anyi’s body, spreading rapidly beneath his skin. After the infusion, his complexion improved, though the physical transformation continued unabated.

Strange substances were expelled from the pores of his skin, coagulating into crusty patches and releasing a powerful stench. Suddenly, dozens of filaments detached, hovering a few centimeters above him. From their suction cups, jets of water blasted, cleansing the crusts from his body. Then the filaments reattached, accelerating his repair.

This process repeated over three hours. At last, the intense writhing ceased, and all filaments withdrew, swiftly returning to the orb.

“Physical repair complete… Requesting brain fusion…”

“Host status: unconscious, default consent…”

The orb emitted a peculiar hum, pressed against Qin Anyi’s head, and began to sink into his skull. Several minutes later, it vanished completely within his brain.