novelbin Chapter 64, Second Enhancement
Chapter 64, Second Enhancement
Upon hearing Lu Chen's question, Gao Yuan immediately nodded, "I do have some ideas."
He flipped to the back pages of his notebook, where a rough floor plan and several rows of densely packed points were drawn. "I have a rough plan, but many details still need to be added. I was just about to discuss it with you, my superiors."
"For example, which buildings should be designated as residential areas, which as supply warehouses, where should the canteen be located, and how should daily activity areas be separated from office areas...?"
"Then let's wait until tonight!" Lu Chen glanced at the sky and interrupted him, "I have some things to do right now."
He still needs to go upstairs to enhance his attributes; this can't be delayed.
"Okay!" Gao Yuan didn't ask any more questions and agreed directly, then called the others to go upstairs together.
After confirming that the last flame in the square had been completely extinguished, Ning Tieshan and the others who were in charge of burning the corpses returned to their respective floors.
It was getting dark, and even with Lu Chen's zombies guarding the entrance to the residential area, no one was willing to stay outdoors after dark.
Lu Chen returned to the 5th floor, told Gao Yuan and Shen Qingci not to let anyone come and disturb him, then went into 501 and locked the door.
This wasn't the first time Lu Chen had done something like enhancing attributes.
He effortlessly sat cross-legged in the middle of the living room, closed his eyes, and probed the meteorite mark on the inside of his left wrist with his mental energy. The warm, full glow on the surface of the mark trembled slightly under the touch of his mental energy, and then suddenly lit up.
Soon his consciousness returned to that void space.
There was no ground beneath my feet, no ceiling above my head, and all around me was a void that could not be defined by color.
Standing before him was a phantom figure identical to him, its head emitting a faint glow—a mark left from the last time his mental power was enhanced, indicating that this part of his body had already undergone a strengthening.
Lu Chen stared at the light and shadow in front of him, pondering which part of his body he should strengthen this time.
Without much hesitation, he reached out and pointed at his head again.
He had already tried to enhance his mental strength, and the results were quite satisfactory... Enhancement of the five senses, multitasking, and acceleration through the red moon energy pull—each of these was practically ingrained in his very being.
His combat power mainly relies on zombies, and he doesn't need to be on the front line fighting. Continuing to enhance his mental abilities is undoubtedly the optimal solution.
Moreover, the enhancement of his mental strength might bring him additional surprises. After the last enhancement, he discovered that he could sense the energy particles in the red moon. This time, he might unlock some new hidden effects.
But when he touched it with his finger, the position of the phantom's head did not change at all.
The moment his fingertips touched the light and shadow, a stream of information surged into his mind from the phantom. The information was brief, but the meaning was clear: strengthening body parts must be done in a balanced way!
In other words, a second round of strengthening can only be carried out after all parts have been strengthened once.
If you focus on strengthening only one part of your body, the energy levels in different areas of the body will become unbalanced, leading to unpredictable consequences.
"Alright!" Lu Chen withdrew his finger, his gaze sweeping back and forth between the phantom's arms, legs, and torso.
"So, we only have three options left... strength, speed, and defense. Which one should we choose?"
He used the process of elimination, first eliminating those with the strongest power.
He doesn't rely on himself in battle; with elite zombies and Iron Pillar-level zombies in front of him, he doesn't need to engage in hand-to-hand combat at all.
What he needs most is the ability to save his life!
Both speed and defense can save your life, so which one should you upgrade?
Lu Chen was conflicted. Defense meant taking the hits head-on, while speed meant dodging. Both approaches could save his life; the choice was purely a matter of preference.
This dilemma lasted only a moment before he chose to enhance his speed.
The reason is simple: in the apocalypse, the biggest threat is zombies, and zombies carry viruses.
No matter how strong the defense is, as long as there is a tear, it will be infected by the zombie virus.
In comparison, speed is a more thorough way to save your life... If you dodge in advance and are not attacked, there will be no risk.
After thinking it over, he reached out and pointed at the legs of the illusory figure.
The moment the fingertips touched, a faint light appeared where the phantom's legs were, and then the entire space was swallowed by white light.
After making his choice, he instantly left that illusory space.
Consciousness returned to the body.
Perhaps because his mental strength had been enhanced this time, he did not faint as he had last time, but pain was inevitable.
A piercing pain shot through my legs, as if my bones were being crushed and then reshaped.
He could clearly feel streams of energy surging from the meteorite imprint, rushing towards his lower limbs.
The energy flowed down the thigh bone, through the knee, calf, and ankle, all the way to the tip of the toe bone, as if molten iron had been poured over the area it passed through.
Lu Chen gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead. Blood-red sweat seeped from the pores of his legs, running down his calves to the floor and leaving small dark red stains.
"Damn it, it would have been better to just pass out!" Lu Chen couldn't help but curse under his breath.
Despite the criticism, he gritted his teeth and persevered.
With his mental power, he was able to perceive the changes taking place inside his body.
He sensed that the energy not only strengthened his legs, but a small portion of it continued upwards after flowing through his legs, merging into other parts of his body.
This portion of energy accounts for a very small percentage and is insufficient to significantly strengthen the body like the legs; it only strengthens a specific system.
Lu Chen immediately used his mental power to carefully sense the energy and quickly detected that what was being strengthened were the nerves and conduction pathways. The nerve cells responsible for transmitting motion signals were being reshaped little by little by this energy.
The speed at which a signal travels from one neuron to the next depends on the thickness of the myelin sheath on the axon. This energy makes the myelin sheath denser, allowing the electrical signal to travel faster and more steadily.
Lu Chen quickly figured out the logic behind it.
To run fast, it's not enough to just have strong legs. When running, your limbs need to be highly coordinated, the swing of your arms needs to be precisely matched with the stride of your legs, and your core muscles need to adjust your center of gravity in real time to prevent your body from losing balance.
All of these rely on the support of the nervous system!
If you only strengthen your legs but not your nerves, you'll just be a clumsy brute with uncoordinated limbs when you run. You might be fast, but you won't be able to turn, you won't be able to brake, and you'll crash into a wall as soon as you accelerate.
As time went by, the excruciating pain in my legs began to subside.
The original feeling of bones being crushed and reshaped was gradually replaced by a warm current that surged up from the soles of the feet, through the calves, knees, thighs, and all the way to the hips.
Where the warm current passed, the muscle fibers that had been spasming from the intense pain relaxed as if they had been soaked in warm water.
Lu Chen glanced at his watch; more than twenty minutes had passed. He tried moving his toes, and they obediently curled, without the stiffness they had felt before.
"Is this almost over?" He placed his hands on his knees and slowly stood up.
My legs were still trembling a little, which was a brief discomfort after the muscles underwent drastic remodeling.
As the warm current continues to flow in, this shivering is disappearing at a visible rate.
He felt his lower limbs becoming more stable and powerful, the sensation of his feet on the floor was clearer than before, and the flexibility of his ankles and knees had also improved significantly.