Old Ford sat by the pipe opening, his hearty laughter echoing through the confined space.
This drew the attention of most of the mutants inside the pipe.
The last time Old Ford laughed like this was... too long ago; in this sunless underground, he couldn't remember.
Naturally, when Old Ford mentioned "new abilities" next, some people paid attention.
There wasn't much to do here anyway, so listening to others talk was one of the few forms of entertainment.
Victor realized it then.
Old Ford was preparing to let him convince others to be the first to try it willingly.
He only provided the opportunity but offered no other substantial help.
This wouldn't stump Victor.
Before coming, he had anticipated needing to persuade others himself and had already prepared a set of arguments.
Clearing his throat, he raised his voice, letting his words reverberate through the pipe and spread around.
"Regarding my ability, I've named it 'Transaction.' It allows me to designate specific items as 'commodities' and, with the original owner's consent, take them and claim them as my own.
And this specific 'commodity' is mutant abilities."
His words were concise and clear, yet extremely practical.
From the surrounding pipes, many oddly shaped heads popped out, casting complex gazes of doubt, hope, and longing towards Victor, who was "speaking big words."
Yet, no one was ready to step forward; they were still skeptical and worried if there was a trap.
Victor was not in a hurry; facing Old Ford's spectating gaze, he continued loudly: "Perhaps in some people's eyes, this ability seems too incredible.
They might wonder if there are serious side effects? Genetic collapse? Or is the ability only temporarily gone? Or is it to trick mutants into doing damned scientific research?
There's no need to worry about any of that.
After the transaction is complete,
I will also stay here for 24 hours so everyone can see if there are any side effects.
Believe me, I am a very careful person and wouldn't joke with my own life.
I've also just acquired this ability, and through it, I've recently gained many other abilities.
This at least proves that I do have a way to acquire other people's mutant abilities."
Victor raised his hand, using his telekinetic hand to pull up a candle stuck to the bottom of the pipe, controlling it to float in front of him.
He was demonstrating his telekinesis.
The flickering candlelight floating in the air was like a spark of hope, igniting the fire of hope in the hearts of a few.
Victor naturally had to press his advantage.
"As for worrying that the mutant ability is only temporarily eliminated, so what? Could things get any worse?
Look at the surrounding environment; doesn't anyone want to live like a normal person?
Perhaps some will doubt my motives.
There's absolutely no need to guess; I just want to collect more abilities.
As you've seen, I have the ability to control objects, but it didn't originally belong to me. Do you understand what I mean?"
These words clarified all the worries and doubts.
In the depths of the surrounding mutants' originally dead eyes, a flicker of hope ignited, burning fiercely like a prairie fire.
But.
The first person to try something new requires courage—the courage not to fear death.
And if there was anyone present who didn't fear death, they wouldn't be barely surviving here.
They were all waiting.
Waiting for someone else to be the first to try, to confirm that it was indeed delicious, harmless, and feasible, and only then would they rush forward eagerly.
This is human nature.
Those willing to sacrifice are, after all, a minority.
He glanced at Old Ford, who remained calm and collected, showing no intention of cooperating.
He, too, was waiting for others to take the risk first.
So.
For the current stalemate, Victor's options seemed limited.
Either wait passively—there would always be mutants whose desires would outweigh their patience, and the more severe their physical mutations, the more likely they would be to give in first.
Or take the initiative, forcing those present to step forward.
Victor chose the latter.
He looked at Old Ford, complaining with a mix of sigh and helplessness: "Speaking of which, my ability has some flaws..."
This opening immediately made people inwardly rejoice.
Heh, there really was a trick to it.
...Before coming to your stronghold, I also visited another mutant stronghold; there weren't many people, only 14 mutants.
Then I discovered.
I can only store a maximum of ten mutant abilities; after that, if I want to absorb other abilities, I need to give up one of the previously absorbed ones before I can absorb another.
Currently, I have two good abilities that I plan to keep.
Other abilities, like absorbing sunlight instead of eating, or sensing mutants in a small area, I'm not really satisfied with.
Which means I still have 8 backup slots.
There are 36 mutants here, which should be enough to fill them. If there are no better mutant abilities after that, I'll choose... Haha, maybe I'm overthinking it, after all, everyone here is a morphological mutant, so there might be a lot of repetition."
Victor's words made most of the mutants present look displeased.
Along the way, the 'Dimension Radar' had only triggered 3 E-rank abilities, with the remaining 33 all being the lowest F-rank.
The 3 E-rank mutant abilities would definitely take up 3 slots.
The remaining 33 F-rank mutant abilities would compete for potentially only 5 slots.
So what are you waiting for?
Of course, whoever goes first gets it!
A figure reacted first, sprinting from near the entrance. When he got closer and saw the other person's appearance, he understood why he was so urgent.
No matter who was wearing Peppa Pig's head, they wouldn't be confident in competing with others—regardless of their abilities, this ugliness would stick with them for life.
Given the limited slots, his only use was to be the first to try—this was perhaps his only chance to return to being a normal person.
Furthermore,
According to Victor, he would stay here for 24 hours afterward, so the credibility was quite high.
If he didn't take a gamble now, would he really live his whole life in this godforsaken place?
So.
This pig-headed man stepped forward, being the first to sprint towards Victor, but unfortunately, he was the furthest away.
The other dozen or so mutants with relatively weaker abilities, though slower to react, were closer, and thus got ahead of the pig-headed man.
This made the pig-headed man anxious, and he immediately let out an angry howl. Victor almost burst out laughing.
You're a mutant, even if you're a pig-headed man, your howl shouldn't sound like a pig's squeal, should it?
The pig-headed man's howl had no practical effect.
Instead, a green-skinned middle-aged woman beside him opened her mouth and shot out a long tongue, tying up several people in front of her. Then, her tongue retracted, and she used the momentum of the others to fly towards the top of the pipe.
The arc's endpoint was right in front of Victor.
Before she could even smile, a figure darted out from a side pipe, grabbed the middle-aged woman's leg, and threw her backward. He then pushed off the top of the pipe and quickly rushed towards Victor.
How could the middle-aged woman be willing to give up?
She flicked her long tongue again, wrapping it around the jumper's leg, pulling him forward for a distance, and both fell into the group of mutants initially blocked by the long-tongued woman, getting entangled in a mess of pulling and tugging.
The pig-headed man and others who rushed in afterward also crashed into the pile, desperately trying to squeeze towards Victor, only to be pulled back by the people behind them.
The 5-meter diameter pipe was so crowded that no one could get close to Victor.
Who still remembered that no one wanted to be the first at the beginning?
And all this change was just because of a single sentence from Victor.
Why did all this happen?
Understand supply and demand marketing.
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PS: 1 extra chapter for every 5000 recommendation tickets. Clearly priced, no supply and demand marketing here!