Chapter 44: Chapter 44: S-Rank Talent Beast Intuition, the Spirit’s Influence on the Body

"The cerebral cortex is active. To a certain extent, it’s in the same area as that of an S-rank Puppet Master, but the effect is the complete opposite."

"It’s clearly a Spirit-type talent, but it feeds back into the body, manifesting as a physical reaction."

"It’s just that one is a unique Spirit frequency control, while the other is a special sense formed from the body’s perception of its environment."

"These two talents aren’t very useful to me, but they could allow me to step into the field of Spirit research."

A plethora of data surfaced in Qi Suian’s mind, and he quickly formulated a plan.

"The next stage of C-rank Virus Immunity will probably have to involve the Spirit attribute. Otherwise, further research and development will likely become even more difficult."

"In terms of physical attributes alone, I can already ignore the Profound Virus."

His ability to become a zombie while retaining his consciousness already involved some application of the Spirit attribute.

In Qi Suian’s view, Physique and Spirit were not simple attributes, but composite ones.

For example, Physique included related attributes like strength and constitution, while Spirit covered abilities like perception and logical thinking.

Therefore, improving his Spirit could strengthen Qi Suian’s ability to learn and comprehend. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

’The control of a Puppet Master, the keen perception of a beast’s intuition... it must be the protagonist halo at work again.’

’It seems ownership of the protagonist halo is indeed shifting toward me.’

’Before, the protagonist halo pushed me to become a zombie. Now, it’s started giving me the resources to enhance my virus talent.’

’I just don’t know if I can raise my virus talent to SSS-rank.’ Qi Suian sighed.

He truly wasn’t confident. Once it reached S-rank, it was already beyond his control.

Don’t be fooled by the fact that he’d captured many S-rank and above talented survivors; he only understood the basics of their talents and hadn’t fully analyzed them.

Just as there was a watershed between D-rank and C-rank, there was also one between A-rank and S-rank. Of course, the jumps to SS-rank and SSS-rank were entire chasms.

Achieving autonomous growth would certainly not be so easy.

Qi Suian estimated that without external help, his virus talent would probably stall at A-rank. Anything higher was beyond his ability to manage.

[Theoretically, it is possible. You only need to find the source of the Profound Virus, and there is a probability you will obtain a path to upgrade your virus talent to S-rank.]

’Ugh, it’s not that easy.’

’Getting my hands on it is one thing, but that doesn’t mean I can figure it out.’

Qi Suian knew the AI’s use of words like "theoretically," "probability," and "path" were not just empty talk.

If upgrading to A-rank was elementary school math, then going up to S-rank was like jumping straight to advanced calculus in university.

If someone were there to teach him, Qi Suian wouldn’t mind, but he had to figure it out on his own, which was a different level of difficulty entirely.

He had never been a genius, just an ordinary person relying on a protagonist halo.

If he didn’t have the Celestial Fate: Profound protagonist halo, the best he could have hoped for was to become a regular zombie; even becoming a Mutated Zombie would have been difficult.

So, the fact that he relied on luck was no lie. He himself believed his current strength was the result of ninety percent luck and ten percent effort.

Qi Suian’s gaze returned to Gao Fuyu’s brain, and he began a more in-depth analysis.

’Use a unique Spirit frequency to control the Profound Virus in the body, then use my own instinctive sense of crisis to share a danger signal with the Profound Virus.’

’Through this method, I can force the Profound Virus to be under my body’s control, and even become a part of me.’

The general idea was to first establish control and provide a stable channel for fusion, then give the Profound Virus in his body a false sense of danger.

After receiving the danger signal, the Profound Virus would inevitably mutate. At that moment, the stable channel Qi Suian provided would become the direction for its mutation.

Ultimately, it would be guided down the path Qi Suian required.

Of course, fully integrating would probably be difficult, but creating a symbiotic-like effect should be no problem.

’The plan is feasible, but the difficulty is a bit high...’

To complete it, he would have to modify his own cerebral cortex, and that was no small operation.

When he modified his own heart before, the experience was beyond excruciating.

Under normal circumstances, the brain has no pain receptors.

The problem was, Qi Suian’s body was not normal. From top to bottom, it was riddled with complications caused by the Profound Virus. So, if he really operated on his own brain, it would be a lie to say it wouldn’t be agonizing.

As for the potential side effects of doing this? He’d worry about that after it was done. Besides, he had plenty of side effects already.

As long as he didn’t die, everything else was negotiable.

’My only fear is that I’ll accidentally break my brain, though it can be revived and repaired.’ Qi Suian had this ace up his sleeve, which was why he dared to do it.

’But it’s not without its benefits. I can use this opportunity to have my Super Adaptability strengthen my brain.’

Super Adaptability was only adaptation, not evolution, so it only strengthened him based on his existing foundation.

Therefore, it had a limit. However, the limit wasn’t fixed; the higher his Physique and Spirit, the higher the limit would naturally be.

In other words, the stronger he became, the more powerful this basic reinforcement would be.

[I recommend a full-body adaptation. A destructive basic reinforcement can be achieved by altering the data of the Expedition-Grade Ecological Circulation Device.]

[Estimated time required: five months.]

The AI was direct, suggesting he get it all done in one go.

After all, he was already numb from the daily agony; a little more pain wouldn’t be a big deal.

"Great plan!" Qi Suian agreed without hesitation.

A little pain didn’t matter. It was a perfect chance to get stronger.

"Once it’s complete, what’s the estimated attribute boost?" Qi Suian asked.

[Physique is estimated to increase to 1 point.]

point didn’t seem like much at first glance, but it wasn’t a temporary boost. It was a solid, permanent attribute gain that wouldn’t drop. For Qi Suian, this meant a return to normalcy.

More importantly, the berserk state formed by the Death Potion, his Adrenaline Variant, Destructive Dopamine, and Destructive Blood could grant a one-hundred-percent boost.

point would directly become 2 points. It would be a lie to say that wasn’t an improvement.

If he truly succeeded, as long as the Tai Sui God didn’t use its Floating Cannons and aviation systems, Qi Suian could cripple it even without sufficient combat experience or skill.

When the power gap between two parties is too large, no amount of skill can make up for it.

Protagonists excluded.

As a protagonist, who knew if they had something called "skill" that was actually just a cheat.

Qi Suian himself had a protagonist halo; his berserk state was something similar.

Normally, he was just a weak ordinary person, but it was a different story in a real fight. Other people paid to win; he paid with his life.

How could he not be strong, when he condensed the rest of his life into half an hour?