Chapter 2149: Chapter 2149

"Do you insist on opposing me?"

The girl's clear voice finally grew somber.

"It's not that I insist on opposing you, but I can neither accept the Difference Engine's 'Mechanical Eternity' nor can I agree with your radical idea of 'Flesh Eternity'. At such a close distance, can you still not discern the essence of my life?"

The abundant life force emanating from Jenkins was almost impossible to conceal, which was why the girl in the cocoon hadn't suspected him of being some strange creature when he first appeared.

Now, hearing him speak, the girl in the cocoon finally probed deeper, sensing what truly stood before her. Jenkins made no attempt to hide it, and the essence that ran soul-deep was too prominent to ignore. Thus, she quickly reached a conclusion:

"You could say that."

One moment they were speaking peacefully, the next, she attacked. The flesh on the walls burst, and blood shot toward Jenkins like a thousand sharp swords. Jenkins didn't retreat from the room. With a simple flick of his wrist, flames fanned out from his hand.

As the flames blocked the blood arrows, Jenkins lunged forward. His free left hand plunged through the gap in the cocoon's surface, easily closing around the neck of the girl hidden deep within. But she didn't struggle. Instead, she grabbed his left arm with both hands. The rift in the cocoon suddenly gaped open, and before he could react, she yanked him inside.

The blood cocoon sealed behind him, and viscous fluid rapidly filled the space within. An unnatural crimson tide submerged them both. At the same time, the girl's appearance began to change. Her delicate features and slender figure melted away, dissolving into the fluid until she was one with it, trapping Jenkins firmly in her embrace.

Every strand of blood tried to seep through the pores of Jenkins's skin and into his body. Under its influence, every inch of his flesh began to warp, straining against the limits of his human form, twisting toward something far more indescribable.

For a rare, fleeting moment, Jenkins truly felt it: this body was nothing more than a peculiar "coat" he wore. The body's tendency to act independent of his soul only intensified the sense of detachment between them.

But Jenkins knew this was a delusion. If he accepted that thought, his body would dissolve completely into the blood. He focused his mind, using his soul to restrain the physical changes while trying to cleave the cocoon with his sword. However, the flesh of the cocoon contracted spontaneously, pinning him completely. With his body refusing to obey, Jenkins couldn't even swing his blade.

Jenkins was momentarily immobilized, but in truth, the blood cocoon could do little to harm him. The strength of his soul and the several Savior abilities he had acquired had long since elevated his physical form to a level unimaginable to mortals. It might not compare to the immense power contained within his soul, but it was impossible for the cocoon to simply digest him.

"Do you think you can assimilate me?"

He managed to force the words out, concentrating on sensing the flow of life force within the surrounding cocoon.

The essence of the World Tree granted him the ability to manipulate life force with ease. The life force contained within this cocoon was immense, equivalent to that of tens, or even hundreds, of thousands of people combined.

After pushing his concentration to its limit, Jenkins finally captured the flow of life force in the cocoon. Harnessing that momentary resonance, he began to draw the life force swirling around him into his own body.

Once the process began, the cocoon could no longer interfere.

It was like a whale opening its mouth to draw in seawater, or a sink with its drain unplugged. The unnatural, crimson life force was drawn out by Jenkins in a ceaseless stream. The masses of flesh spreading across the entire third floor writhed in resistance. The walls began to crack from their agonized struggles, so much so that the ghost nurse on the first floor couldn't help but worry for the half-elf's safety.

As time passed, the struggling flesh on the walls slowly withered, and the red glow within the veins gradually dimmed.

The crimson light receded from both ends of the third floor toward the center, toward Ward Three. Ten minutes later, the blood cocoon in the center of the room was completely shriveled, like a layer of shed skin. Jenkins tore through it and stepped out, sword in hand. He looked around the room, which now seemed to have aged by decades. The flesh and veins that had been pulsing with life moments ago were now nothing but blackened, jerky-like refuse scattered across the floor.

His normal clothes had been corroded away, leaving him wearing only his greatcoat.

His complexion, however, was exceptionally ruddy, his skin glowing with an unnatural red. He had only stopped after completely "draining" the monster that occupied three floors of its immense life force. Though the cocoon itself had only accumulated the life force of tens of thousands, the creature understood the principle of not putting all its eggs in one basket. The total life force from the entire three-story monster was a quantity Jenkins could no longer describe.

Having absorbed so much spirit, he felt a little overwhelmed. Fortunately, he was a World Tree Seedling, still in a stage of growth, and needed life force to "develop" his body. So, the unnatural crimson hue of his skin was only a temporary change, not a permanent one. Follow current novels on novel✦fire.net

And despite absorbing so much spirit, Jenkins still hadn't taken the step to become a level-eight demigod. To become a demigod in the Enchanter system, one had to choose a path, and it was clear Jenkins hadn't chosen his yet.

But at this moment, he was certain he was the most powerful level-seven Enchanter in history. The power of the blood had mended the many flaws in his physical body, and all the injuries he had sustained since entering the Mysterious Realm had vanished. Jenkins even had the illusion that he could topple a building with a single, gentle push of his hand.

This was just a side effect of the drastic, sudden change in his power; it would soon fade.

At the same time, absorbing the power of the blood also affected Jenkins's own abilities. His only blood-related ability, [Bloodsource], didn't change fundamentally, but Jenkins could feel that its essence had been altered. If he studied it closely, he could probably discover new properties, but now was not the time for research.

But absorbing the hospital monster's life force wasn't without a cost. Jenkins's mind and soul were strong enough to resist the influence of the blood's frantic obsession. His physical body, however, was further affected. It was somewhat like being injected with more of the blood from the townspeople; he could feel his body's "resistance to mutation" had been further reduced.

If his normal state was like a piece of iron that couldn't be bent no matter how one tried, then before entering the hospital, he had been like a piece of modeling clay, easily misshapen. Now, after absorbing that immense power of "blood", he was probably more like a handful of water. It wouldn't even take a deliberate influence; the mere aftershocks of an event could cause his body to deform and collapse.