"Zeke, how did your fusion go?" Ian flexed his wrists, feeling the surging power within him, and turned to look at Zeke, who had also completed his gene fusion.
Zeke now stood over five meters tall, but there was no Eye of Cthulhu on his brow. Only then did Ian realize that the effects of gene fusion differed from person to person. Fortunately, the important abilities had all transferred to Zeke.
A sacred and ethereal aura radiated from Zeke, though paired with his goofy smile, it looked more ridiculous than divine.
"Awesome! Brother Ian, I feel incredible right now!" Zeke cheered, waving his fists and whipping up gusts of wind.
"You've saved a whole world—at least try not to smile like an idiot," Ian said, speechless.
"Okay, bro!" Zeke instantly straightened his expression. Combined with his divine aura, he actually looked the part.
"Here, hold these monsters for me. I want to test the Adaptation and Reflect Damage traits."
"Got it!" Zeke hurriedly grabbed a bundle of leashes.
"One at a time. Let them attack me," Ian instructed.
Zeke released a zombie, throwing it in front of Ian.
The zombie swung its rotten arms at him but failed to deal any damage. After scratching Ian's armor a few times, it suddenly dropped dead.
"Next!"
Zeke tossed out a slime. It bounced twice toward Ian, collided with him, then exploded into a splash of green goo.
"Whoa! Reflect Damage is that strong?" Zeke's eyes widened.
"It's fine," Ian replied casually, though he was delighted.
"Next, time to test Adaptation." Ian handed Zeke a legendary Zenith.
Then he removed his armor. "Zeke, use this sword and slash me."
"What? Ian, without armor? What if I kill you by accident?" Zeke was baffled.
"It's fine. Look at my Health Bar and regen." Ian displayed his panel.
His health had surpassed one hundred thousand, and his regeneration exceeded that amount every second.
"Your health and regen are insane!" Zeke drooled with envy. "I barely have a few hundred!"
"Hurry up and slash me. Quit babbling."
Zeke gritted his teeth and swung Zenith at him. Brilliant arcs of sword-light cut across Ian.
His health plummeted—then instantly refilled.
"Ian, should I keep going?"
"Keep going. Stop only when I tell you."
Bathed in Zenith's glow, Ian focused on the changes in his body.
The second round of attacks hit noticeably weaker—only a tenth of the first.
The third round weakened by another ninety percent.
After several more rounds, Zenith could no longer harm Ian at all.
"That's enough." Ian waved for him to stop.
He then called to the Transmutation Tablet: "Consume EMC. Save Adaptation state."
Massive amounts of EMC vanished. After stabilizing the state, Ian swapped several different weapons into Zeke's hands for further testing.
Soon he discovered a key difference between the real world and the game: once he adapted to Zenith's cutting attacks, he could ignore all physical damage below Zenith's threshold.
Machine guns, explosives—none could hurt him anymore.
The heat from explosions made his Health Bar flicker slightly, but he quickly adapted and became immune.
"Zeke, switch weapons. Use other types."
Zeke perked up, pulling out bizarre weapons and tools from his Inventory. "Ian, I've got a flamethrower, poison staff… Nebula Arcanum, Last Prism… Want to try them all?"
"Bring them!"
What followed made Zeke look like a full-fledged Weapon Master. He unleashed every attack type he could think of.
Ian stood there unfazed. Flames, toxins, lava burns, dragon breath, lasers—he endured them all, adapting just as quickly.
By the end, Ian had become immune to nearly every form of attack in this world.
Even a nuclear bomb exploding point-blank would only ruffle his hair.
"Awesome! Too awesome! At this point, I fear nothing except the Void!"
He could sense unknown dangers lurking within the Void, and even with all his power, he wasn't ready to explore it yet. He needed to stabilize first.
"Ian, you're basically a demon now!" Zeke said in awe. "I swear, even without equipment, you could solo all of Terraria!"
Ian waved dismissively. "I've been in the Terraria world too long. It's been nothing but killing mobs and bosses every day. I'm sick of chopping things."
"I'm heading to the Super Seminary world to relax, travel, eat good food, maybe raise my max health a bit." With no group members needing rescue, Ian decided to take a vacation.
"Zeke, you coming? If not, help watch Dragon Island. It'll be complete in a few days." Ian pointed at the nearly finished island in the distance.
"Super Seminary?" Zeke's eyes lit up. "Ian, don't ditch me! Take me too!"
"Fine. I'll go call Zambo."
But before he could, Zambo—far away in Molly's world—seemed to sense something. He instantly teleported through an interdimensional portal, appearing before Ian with a dazed expression.
"Boss, you called?" Zambo's eyes gleamed with anticipation, eager for a new mission.
Ian blinked. He hadn't expected Zambo to arrive that fast. As he looked him over, he noticed two traits floating over Zambo's head: Level 5 Extreme Speed, and a new one—Little Brother.
"Little Brother: Receives a signal whenever the boss needs him."
Ian was stunned. Had even being a minion become this competitive? Still, he was secretly very pleased.
"Good. You came at the right time," Ian said with a smile.
He then equipped Zambo with the full gene set of the Moon Lord, Empress of Light, Queen Slime, and Golem without hesitation.
Feeling the surge of power, Zambo's eyes filled with gratitude. "Thank you, Boss! Whatever mission you give me, I'll risk my life without hesitation!"
"It's nothing that serious. Dragon Island will be finished soon. Just make sure nothing on it flies out and hurts someone." Ian reminded him, already excited for its completion.
"Understood, Boss! I'll guard Dragon Island with my life!"
Zambo nodded vigorously, thinking, Boss trusts me so much—I must perform even better!
He secretly planned that once Dragon Island was complete, he'd show off his newfound mastery of construction.