Hayes jerked his head up in shock.
What just happened?
The crushing impact he had braced for never came. Instead, the boar let out a shrill, slaughter-like scream.
Turning his head, Hayes saw the boar mutant drop to his knees.
He was bleeding.
No—more precisely, the areas of his skin where cactus spines grew were bleeding.
After the fusion of boar and cactus genes, his body structure had become somewhat like that of a porcupine. A porcupine's quills, much like human hair, fall out easily and grow back later. In combat, they embed themselves in opponents, causing damage. The difference was that porcupines could not actively fire their quills.
The boar mutant could.
To unleash multiple rapid volleys of cactus spines within a short period, his body had evolved further. The follicles that grew the spines had transformed into sac-like pouches capable of storing immature quills—enough for at least four or five rounds of fire.
