The tunnel was quiet. Only the wet scraping of surviving mutated worms broke the silence, shoving their oily bodies through the chemical run-off.
He forced them to retreat with sheer intimidation.
It was strange—he sensed that the monsters understood him perfectly. He wondered if, in the future, he could take it further. Maybe actually give them orders.
What happened here showed him the power of numbers—and he wasn't even actively controlling them.
"ROLL OVER," he commanded. The creatures scattered instead. Not exactly what he wanted, but it confirmed that a linguistic connection existed among them.
With that done, he turned his attention to the bodies. The worms had already begun devouring them, leaving them mangled, but the abdomens remained intact—the only part that mattered to him.
Francis moved toward the first fallen agent. His teeth rotated as he lunged, allowing him to reach the liver much faster.
[Liver Consumed +5]
As expected, those considered not Special Category provided less, but still more than normal humans.
He moved through the other riflemen. Their bodies offered sustenance. No more, no less.
[Liver Consumed +4]
[Liver Consumed +5]
[Liver Consumed ....]
Next came the heavy-weapon handlers.
By the time he finished, he had devoured forty one livers.
[Human Liver : 136/1000]
He was still far from his target, but at least now he knew it was doable—as long as he focused on Gamma Users.
Finally, it was time to harvest the sword user's organ.
Leon lay apart from the others, still warm. Francis paused. He ran a silent profile.
He couldn't fully analyze Daryl and Tanya before because of the circumstances, but now he had plenty of time.
Instead of focusing only on the abdomen, he moved methodically through the rest of the body, comparing organs, noting differences, and cataloging every anomaly.
The lungs stood out first. They measured twenty-five percent larger than the others, with far more flexibility, suggesting the ability to breathe harder and sustain more exertion.
Next, the heart—bigger, stronger, and more resilient in multiple ways.
Finally, he examined the brain. Nothing remarkable stood out—except for the eyeballs, larger than normal within the sockets
The size suggested enhanced visual acuity and a wider peripheral vision, allowing him to track fast movements and detect subtle changes around him.
'No wonder he could react even when my surprise attack was on his blind spot.
'I wonder—does a stronger Special Category rank correlate with more physical mutations?'
It was just a guess, but his gut told him he was close.
Next, he focused on examining the skeleton.
The bones showed faint traces of darkening, and when Francis bit down, he discovered those areas were denser and harder than the rest.
Every detail added to the pattern, confirming the subtle ways elite bodies diverged from the baseline.
Finished with his analysis, he devoured the liver.
[Human Liver + 80]
"What?" Francis paused, surprised that Leon had actually given him more points.
'Did this mean he was stronger than the other two? Then why was he stuck doing a dirty job like this?'
He realized there must be a deeper reason for this. Maybe Leon was some elite agent exiled or sent here for political reasons, just like when he was sent to the front lines.
More questions ran through his mind, but he was more relieved that he didn't face him directly.
Once again, his calculative nature from his past life proved to be a trait that helped him more than any superpower.
Another notification pop up.
[Innate Talent Absorbed: Kinetic Calibration]
[Allows the user to precisely distribute force and weight across its muscular structure during high-speed maneuvers. ]
[The Host can now apply the same traits to any organism he merges with.]
'Good.'
That was the only word that came to his mind. In reality, he was more than satisfied.
Kinetic Calibration actually worked perfectly with his Spring Joints, and with this talent, he could even modify his body to increase his movement speed.
Unfortunately, experimenting would drain his remaining energy, so he saved it for later.
For now, he went deeper into the tunnel, letting the worms finish devouring the other remains.
His original plan was to head to the surface, but after some calculation, waiting made more sense.
Once the Defense Force noticed their squad was missing, they would surely send another.
Now, with Kinetic Calibration under his control, he was less worried hunting Special Categories.