Gamers Are Fierce-Chapter 637 - 635: Height

After hearing Li Ang's reassurance, neither Mao Mao nor Laura felt relaxed. Instead, their gaze toward the blood pool grew even stranger.

"Don't disbelieve me," Li Ang urged. "I created this liquid. How could I not know its flavor? Let me show you."

Having said that, he crouched down by the pool and scooped a handful of the viscous, bloody water with his rubber-gloved palm. Under the horrified and eerie stares of Mao Mao and Laura, he slowly brought the water to his mouth beneath the Dragon Head Mask.

"UARGH, GAG, GAG, GAG, COUGH, COUGH, COUGH—"

Li Ang suddenly began to retch violently toward the blood pool, letting out a series of hoarse, exhausted coughs.

After recovering for a moment, he lifted his Dragon Head and gave Mao Mao a thumbs-up, saying with difficulty, "See? I told you it tastes good..."

Yeah, right! Your throat must have been corroded away! If you want to vomit, just vomit!

Mao Mao inwardly raged, her expression stiff and numb, not knowing what to say.

Laura swallowed hard, her words strained as she asked, "Do I really have to lie down in it...?"

"Yes." Li Ang nodded and took out another blood bag.

The bag was full of blood, with numerous plump, white silkworm larvae floating in it. They wriggled their bodies and clumped together—quite a spectacle.

"It's not just you lying in there, but these silkworm larvae as well."

Li Ang explained, "They can stitch external wounds with their mouthparts and secrete mucus to promote wound healing, which helps shorten the surgery time. Besides that, they can float in the pool, bobbing around like little rubber ducks in a bath. They're very cute and can alleviate the patient's psychological stress."

Mao Mao stared in disbelief. Only you would find such things cute! A blood pool filled with a dense mass of writhing, snow-white silkworms—how could that possibly relieve a patient's stress?! It's nothing like a rubber duck at all!

Mao Mao glanced at the slightly trembling polar bear doll, couldn't help but step forward, and asked, "AHEM, Shopkeeper, can the surgery be done without these silkworms?"

"Without them?" Li Ang frowned, pondering, "Hmm... Actually, I can perform the surgery without the medical assistant insects, but it will take longer. I'd have to charge an extra 200."

Li Ang wasn't lying. The medical assistant silkworms really could assist him in surgery, speeding up the process.

However, what he didn't fully disclose was that these silkworms were not just assistants for stitching wounds; they were also one of the raw materials for transformations…

Insects, during their development, go through complete metamorphosis, transitioning through egg, larva, pupa, and adult phases, much like caterpillars turning into butterflies.

Middle school textbooks usually portray pupation as a sublimation—a transformation from an ugly larva to a beautiful adult. However, the pupation stage isn't as sacred as it seems. It actually carries an ominous, morbid significance.

When insects hatch from eggs, they have a tiny, transparent, disc-shaped structure within them called the "imago disc."

The imago disc is like an undifferentiated human stem cell, containing all the major structures of the adult's body. When a larva pupates, most of its cells voluntarily die and disintegrate into a nutritious paste. At the same time, the imago disc and other adult cells dispersed within the larva activate. The disc acts like the trunk and branches of a tree, while the other cells are like leaves, together rapidly constructing the adult insect's body.

In other words, the larva is akin to a living, mobile, feeding, and excreting placenta. Its fate is to self-destruct at a predetermined time, dissolving itself from the inside out and using its own nutrients to hatch the new life hidden within it.

If one considers this through the lens of human morality, one can grasp the distortion, wickedness, and chaos inherent in the metamorphic development of insects.

In fact, modification using the Origin of Life is not essentially different from insect metamorphosis. Li Ang would dissolve the recipient's organs into a paste using the Origin of Life and then reconstruct new ones.

And these so-called "medical assistant silkworms" are effectively "portable organ modifiers."

Different models of silkworms have different types of imago discs. When Li Ang requires it, the medical assistant silkworms enter normal metamorphic development and pupate. In the pupal stage, they fuse with the host's cells. Finally, they differentiate into human organs like arms, thighs, hearts, and stomachs for direct implantation into the host's body. This essentially saves Li Ang the step of reconstructing organs for the customers himself, thereby saving time.

However, if customers knew that the new organs they received were once insects, they would probably freak out. So, Li Ang didn't mention it in the product description.

"An extra 200, huh..." Mao Mao breathed a sigh of relief. "Acceptable. But I want to observe the surgery up close. Is that okay?"

Li Ang raised an eyebrow, his gaze shifting between Mao Mao and Laura.

What is it that makes Mao Mao so concerned? This customer must be no ordinary person.

Could she be one of Mao Mao's friends or family from the real world?

"Sure. Just bring a chair over and sit down. The surgery is going to take a long time."

Li Ang turned to the polar bear doll and said indifferently, "If there's nothing else, then let's get started."

Laura turned her head to glance at Mao Mao. After Mao Mao gave a nod, Laura slowly unzipped the polar bear doll and crawled out.

"Hmm?" Li Ang looked at the girl, who appeared to be about ten and was dressed in a protective suit. He then turned to look at the expressionless Mao Mao, opened his mouth as if to say something, but then hesitated.

A child this young can be a player? Or could this be the Tianshan Child Elder?

Never mind, it's none of my business anyway.

Li Ang shrugged casually and said, "Keep the protective suit on. Just lie in the pool and make sure your body is fully submerged. By the way, you don't have any specific requirements for your height after the modification, do you?"

"Height?" Mao Mao, standing nearby, couldn't help but ask, "What do you mean?"

"With a child's physique, raising attributes to 9 points makes the difficulty skyrocket."

Li Ang said matter-of-factly, "I will need more energy to balance the muscles, bones, organs, and blood. Let's put it this way: give me the space of a bicycle, and I can turn it into a motorcycle. But give me the space of an off-road vehicle, and I can turn it into a tank. If we're restricted to a child's physique, then the upper limits for strength and agility will be lower."

Li Ang paused for a moment and spoke dispassionately, "Actually, the most suitable height for body enhancement surgery is between 2.2 and 3.5 meters. This body size can perfectly balance strength and agility, coming closest to the upper limit of combat ability. However, the taller the person, the more materials are consumed, and thus more money is needed. What do you think?"

Mao Mao visualized in her mind a robust little girl, merely 10 years old, 2.2 meters tall, weighing 150 kilograms, her body all muscle, easily crushing any demons that blocked her path. She shuddered involuntarily and quickly asked, "Is there a way to compress her body size normally and release the constraint during battle?"

"Good idea." Li Ang complimented Mao Mao's quick thinking but shook his head. "Although I can achieve the effect you want, this kind of surgery would consume an extremely large amount of energy, and I'm not considering offering it as a commercial service for now. If you're interested, I could adjust her height to 1.6 meters. This height, without significantly affecting her appearance, would provide the maximum combat ability at the current stage."

"One-point-six meters..." Mao Mao opened her mouth. She genuinely regarded Laura as her little sister. If possible, she wanted to give Laura a normal, happy, carefree childhood.

But alas, Laura had awakened as a player.

In this game of despair and darkness, she herself was barely safe. Did she really have the ability to protect Laura...?

Seemingly noticing Mao Mao's somber expression, Laura pursed her lips firmly and stated, "Then let's go with 1.6 meters. It's just height, after all. That kind of thing doesn't matter anymore."