Chapter 45: Spiritual Enhancement

Chapter 45: Chapter 45: Spiritual Enhancement

["Blood Crystal" Civilian Portable Mining Laser Gun]

[Energy Core: "Earth Core" Civilian Tritium Fusion Micro-Reactor]

[Firing Module: "Blood Crystallized" Mining Laser Lens Array]

[Cooling System: "Frigid" High-Concentration Water-Cycle Cooling Unit]

[Control System: "Micro-Hive" Parallel Centralized Control System (Sub-unit)]

[Structural Type: "Prospector" Universal Alloy Frame (Simplified Version)]

[Additional Attachments: Balanced Energy Output Limiter]

The Mining Gun’s stats panel materialized before Xiang Yi’s eyes.

After confirming the [Retrofit] option, Xiang Yi immediately selected the one choice out of the three that popped up that he had never picked before.

[Spiritual Enhancement].

Spiritual Enhancement wasn’t an upgrade for a single component, but rather a holistic enhancement that affected the entire device.

Xiang Yi had actually been reluctant to use this enhancement. He didn’t have any suitable objects to modify back in prison, and he hadn’t had a single chance to truly rest since his escape.

His condition had been wildly fluctuating between extreme pain and fatigue, and moments of brief respite.

Spiritual Enhancement sounded like it would consume a massive amount of Spiritual Power, so he had really wanted to wait for the right moment to try it.

But time waits for no one, and the current situation allowed for no more delays.

He could only try to find a chance at survival within this ability, Spiritual Enhancement, which he had never used before.

As his selection of [Spiritual Enhancement] was confirmed, three new options appeared before Xiang Yi.

[Weapon Focus], [Device Focus], and [Tool Focus].

At that moment, Xiang Yi’s gaze shifted briefly to the floor below.

Shi Tie had already crossed the street and was approaching the building he was in.

But even for a creature as strong as it was, it still had to obediently climb the ladder to get upstairs.

This was a quirk in Shi Tie’s behavioral logic that Xiang Yi had discovered during the chase.

This bought him a crucial moment to open the panel and operate it, and it also meant he didn’t need to hesitate with this Spiritual Enhancement.

Xiang Yi chose [Weapon Focus] without a second thought.

Immediately, several new options appeared.

[Damage], [Duration], [Precision], [Area], [Range], and [Penetration].

Xiang Yi’s eyes swept over the six choices for Weapon Focus.

’The Mining Gun’s [Precision], [Area], and [Range] are already sufficient for fighting Shi Tie, so I can rule those out. [Duration] is important, since my Mining Gun is low on energy, but that won’t change the current situation. Besides, the remaining 10% or so of tritium fuel should be enough to last for this final stretch. That just leaves [Damage] and [Penetration]—a choice between the two.’

The [Penetration] option was also eliminated. During the chase, Xiang Yi had tried attacking Shi Tie from above by using the impact force of falling reinforced concrete. Regular steel rebar had been enough to pierce its skin and muscle.

Its bones might be a different story, but what he lacked right now wasn’t penetrating power, but the sheer destructive force his attacks could inflict.

So, in the end, Xiang Yi chose [Damage].

Once he made his final choice, the familiar sensation of his Spiritual Power being drained returned to his mind, swifter and more violent than ever before.

The Mining Gun in his hands, enveloped by Spiritual Power and Spiritual Fluctuation, was molded as if it were clay.

But Xiang Yi could no longer focus his mind on the Mining Gun.

Before, it had either been his body that was exhausted and in pain while his mind was still holding up, or his mind that was utterly drained while his body was relatively healthy.

This time, however, his body and mind were simultaneously in a terrible state.

He felt an unprecedented weakness.

Red spots, taking on the hue of Blood Crystal, had even begun to appear on the skin of his limbs, hidden beneath his protective suit.

However, Xiang Yi’s spirits suddenly lifted a little.

Because the transformation of the Mining Gun in his hands had stopped.

The Mining Gun’s entire appearance had changed beyond recognition.

The original Mining Gun had looked something like a handheld chainsaw, but now it had transformed into an Energy Rifle, the kind one would only see in sci-fi movies.

The Energy Rifle was blood-red all over, possessing both a metallic sheen and the translucent quality of Blood Crystal.

And it wasn’t just the appearance; its stats panel had also changed significantly.

["Blood Crystal" Composite-Mode Laser Rifle]

[Energy Core: "Earth Core" Civilian Tritium Fusion Micro-Reactor]

[Firing Module: "Blood Crystal" Weaponized Energy Laser Lens Array]

[Cooling System: "Frigid" High-Concentration Water-Cycle Cooling Unit]

[Structural Type: "Weapon · Damage" Energy Weapon Frame]

[Additional Attachments: Intermittent Output Converter]

Setting aside the changes in name for a moment.

The Control System, originally there just to ensure the Mining Gun didn’t leave the prison’s jurisdiction, had completely vanished. All that remained were a few modules purely for energy output, designed for a weapon.

The Firing Module’s Mining Laser Lens Array had transformed into a "Weaponized Energy Laser Lens Array."

The limiter in the Additional Attachments, originally used to ensure a continuous and stable energy output, had likewise been converted into an "Intermittent Output Converter."

’Just from the name, it’s a bit hard to tell what this converter actually does.’

He could only see two things on the side of the Laser Rifle that resembled safety switches.

After all, Spiritual Enhancement, unlike Xiang Yi’s other abilities, didn’t require him to have prior knowledge in the relevant field.

’But now that the weapon is in my hands, I can learn about its effects through combat.’

Shi Tie had reached the top floor by now, its vacant eyes seemingly filled with nothing but a craving for flesh and blood.

Xiang Yi raised the rifle, his movements a little sluggish.

After aiming with some difficulty, he gave the trigger a quick, tentative squeeze.

What shot from the Laser Rifle’s muzzle was not the familiar blood-red laser beam, but a slender, shuttle-shaped laser bolt of the same color.

The laser bolt instantly struck Shi Tie’s abdomen.

A small cluster of black crystals covered in fine thorns instantly erupted in its abdomen, piercing into its abdominal cavity.

’I’m not sure if the laser bolt turned into crystals, or if the impact had converted its flesh and blood into this cluster of crystals. But I’m guessing it’s the latter.’

Shi Tie was not without a reaction to the crystals piercing its abdomen. Its right hand grabbed the part of the cluster protruding from its skin and yanked it out forcefully.

The barbs on the crystals tore away large chunks of grayish-black flesh and organs, but this seemed to mean nothing to Shi Tie. The wound on its body was healing at a speed visible to the naked eye, and its internal organs even seemed to be faintly regenerating.

’I could just keep pulling the trigger. I don’t believe it could still move after taking several dozen laser bolts.’

But he didn’t. He had suddenly understood what the "Intermittent Output Converter" was for.

’It provides the rifle with a new firing mode. The original firing mode must still be there. It just needs a small manual adjustment.’

He casually flipped one of the two selector switches for the Intermittent Output Converter on the side of the Laser Rifle, aimed again, and pulled the trigger.

A stream of laser bolts shot out from the Laser Rifle’s muzzle.

Only, their color was no longer blood-red, but the familiar orange-red—the color of the Mining Gun’s laser beam.

’I must have flipped the wrong switch... but this doesn’t seem to be a bad thing.’

The moment that stream of orange-red laser bolts struck Shi Tie.

Energy erupted.

The energy within the laser bolts directly blasted apart the flesh on its chest, blowing open a bloody hole through which its thoracic cavity was visible.

Shi Tie’s advance on Xiang Yi was forcibly halted by the external force, stopping it just under ten meters away.

There, between the bleeding and rapidly regenerating muscle tissue beneath its ribs, Xiang Yi could even see its beating heart.