Unlike the towering skyscrapers of the Spirit Control Committee Headquarters, the Hunter Group's base was a steel fortress. From the outside, it resembled a human faction base from an interstellar war, with steel outer walls and a strong wasteland aesthetic.
The interior was primarily white and filled with a sense of technology. Apart from the formal members of the Hunter Group, everyone wore white lab coats, consisting of either doctors or researchers.
Inside the laboratory, behind a glass window, a beast surrounded by instruments roared in fury. Its crimson eyes were filled with primal savagery. The beast's muscles bulged, its fangs grew longer by the minute, and its claws scraped against the steel console, leaving five scratch marks and emitting a grating sound.
Zhao Tongzhi sat on a chair, with the three Hunter Group members who had fought alongside her in Tokyo behind her. Behind them were other Hunter Group members, including Susan and Shang Jun.
They all watched the unidentified beast behind the glass window.
A researcher beside them glanced at the computer monitor, his face lit up with joy. He looked at Zhao Tongzhi and said, "Captain, the divinity provides energy that can even alter the gene locks of ability users, fundamentally enhancing those with transformation abilities."
Zhao Tongzhi nodded gently, a soft "hmm" escaping her lips. She looked at the increasingly violent beast and asked, "Is it stable?"
Stability was Zhao Tongzhi's primary concern. She didn't want ability users whose strength was enhanced by divinity to eventually turn into monsters.
Ultimately, Zhao Tongzhi didn't want to kill her comrades who had lost control, or rather, she didn't want anything to happen during a mission that was beyond her control.
The researcher nodded and replied, "Although the process is painful, it is very stable after enhancement. It only enhances abilities and does not interfere with the mental state or consciousness of transformation ability users."
After receiving her answer, Zhao Tongzhi turned and looked at a robust middle-aged man in the crowd behind her.
The middle-aged man understood and nodded at Zhao Tongzhi without a word. He walked out of the crowd, glanced at the researcher, and the researcher immediately opened the laboratory door.
As the burly man entered, the beast's eyes flashed with bloodlust. Its entire body swelled, and the erupted power broke through the restraint devices, lunging directly at the burly man.
The burly man's expression remained unchanged. He slightly sidestepped to dodge the beast's claws, then extended his left hand, grabbed the beast's head with one hand, and smashed it fiercely onto the ground.
*Boom!*
Blood splattered. In just one exchange, the beast was killed.
The burly man paid no mind. He lowered his head and began to undress. After taking off his shirt, he wiped the blood from his left hand with it, then tossed the shirt onto the beast's corpse.
He walked onto the console, took a deep breath, and without hesitation, grabbed a syringe from the console and injected it into his chest, slowly infusing golden liquid into his body.
Instantly,
The burly man knelt on the ground in pain, his body began to swell, and he slammed his fists onto the console, emitting dull, booming sounds.
His body began to transform. Brown scales pierced through his skin, covering his body. His hands grew thorns, his fingernails turned into curved, sharp claws, and his body continued to enlarge. His spine writhed, and then his shoulder blades broke through his flesh and skin, transforming into two massive bone wings.
Zhao Tongzhi was taken aback. She turned to the middle-aged woman behind her and asked, "Kong Yuan, did Qian Hongshan have wings when he transformed before?"
Kong Yuan didn't give Zhao Tongzhi any face and directly shook her head. "How would I know? I don't even know him. If you want to ask, ask someone familiar with him."
"Oh, my apologies," Zhao Tongzhi said, scratching her face with a hint of embarrassment.
The man beside her said with a cold expression, "He didn't before. The records state his transformation ability is chameleon, and his gene lock level is Divine-tier. He didn't have wings. It's likely that after his gene lock was broken by divinity, it reconnected and enhanced, causing a mutation."
"I see. Thank you, Ma Liang," Zhao Tongzhi said with a smile after a moment of thought.
Ma Liang's expression remained cold, and he didn't speak, not particularly receptive to Zhao Tongzhi's thanks.
Meanwhile,
Qian Hongshan in the laboratory gradually stopped growling, and the swelling of his muscles ceased. The watching Hunter Group members held their breath. This was the first human experiment, and they were all observing Qian Hongshan's condition and contemplating the potential of divinity.
Zhao Tongzhi sat on her chair, her eyes wide with curiosity as she watched Qian Hongshan.
Qian Hongshan's ferocious face twisted into a smile, as if enjoying the pleasure that power brought him. He vibrated his wings slightly, familiarizing himself with his new self.
Then,
He suddenly looked up at Zhao Tongzhi behind the glass window. A hint of brutality flashed in his scarlet vertical pupils. He slowly stood up, his body slightly hunched, his legs tensed.
The next moment,
He shot forward like an arrow, smashing through the glass window, and threw a punch at Zhao Tongzhi.
The sudden turn of events did not cause the Hunter Group members to panic; their emotions did not even fluctuate in the slightest.
Zhao Tongzhi still sat on her chair without any pretense. She simply raised a finger and steadily caught Qian Hongshan's incoming punch. No matter how hard Qian Hongshan struggled, he couldn't budge Zhao Tongzhi's finger.
Zhao Tongzhi tilted her head, looking past the fist, which was larger than her head, and asked Qian Hongshan, "How do you feel?"
Qian Hongshan's ghoul-like face broke into a smile. "Very good. I should have entered the God-tier."
Zhao Tongzhi nodded and said, "That's good."
As Zhao Tongzhi finished speaking, the hand that was blocking Qian Hongshan's punch raised another finger and gently tapped Qian Hongshan's fist.
*Boom!!*
Qian Hongshan was sent flying, crashing heavily onto the ceiling, then falling back to the ground in front of Zhao Tongzhi.
Zhao Tongzhi lifted her foot and stepped on Qian Hongshan's shoulder, pinning him to the ground. No matter how Qian Hongshan growled and struggled, he couldn't stand up, nor could he make Zhao Tongzhi's foot move even an inch.
Zhao Tongzhi looked at the frightened researchers and said, "Observe him for a week. Once his condition is stable, summon all transformation ability users of Divine-tier and above worldwide to receive the divinity serum injection."
"Yes, Group Leader," the researcher said, swallowing hard as he looked at Qian Hongshan still struggling on the ground, and nodded in response.
Susan and Shang Jun behind them exchanged glances, seeing shock in each other's eyes.
What shocked them wasn't Qian Hongshan, who had become a monster after receiving the divinity serum injection, but Zhao Tongzhi.
Such a powerful monster was like an infant in Zhao Tongzhi's hands, unable to resist. One finger blocked the monster's punch, and just being stepped on prevented the monster from getting up.
How strong was this woman, Zhao Tongzhi?
At the same time,
They also yearned for divinity even more. Just the divinity of one god had made an ability user this powerful, and this was only a transformation ability user.
Zhao Tongzhi kicked Qian Hongshan into the laboratory and stood up, addressing everyone. "I will report these findings to my superiors and apply for permission to use global surveillance satellites. You all wait in the base, ready at any time... to hunt gods."