Author's Note: If you want me to continue this work, I would appreciate encouragement. Let this novel become famous! I would like you to bring it to 200 power stones. If you have any advice for me, please comment so I can improve.
*****
While the Red Queen's processors spun in circles, attempting to calculate the impossibility of a thinking corpse.
Inside the sealed laboratory of Sector 3, fluorescent lights hummed softly overhead, bathing the room in sterile white. Thick reinforced glass walls separated the lab from the containment corridors outside, where countless infected wandered aimlessly. Their groans echoed faintly through the metal and concrete, a constant reminder that this world had already ended.
Atlas stood motionless near the glass, his reflection faintly visible—ashen skin, sunken eyes, veins darkened by infection. A monster by any human standard.
And yet, behind those dull pupils, his mind was sharper than ever.
His first mission still hovered in the corner of his perception like an execution order waiting to be carried out.
Five zombies.
Level two.
Live—or die permanently.
Atlas exhaled slowly, even though he no longer needed air.
'I've got it.'
Atlas was oblivious to the digital eyes boring into him. His focus was entirely inward, locked onto the shimmering blue interface that hovered before his vision.
He had resources. He had ambition. Now, he needed a blueprint.
'I've got it.' Atlas thought, the corner of his mouth twitching in anticipation. 'The path to godhood starts with fixing this broken vessel.'
He stood amidst the wreckage of the lab, a king in a castle of rot.
'Pleione,' he commanded mentally. 'Open the Biological Modification menu. Show me the currently available evolution paths for Body Evolution. I have 100 Evolution Points burning a hole in my pocket.'
The thought surfaced suddenly, clean and decisive, cutting through the background noise of the Hive and the distant moans of the undead.
[Affirmative.]
The system chime rang out, clear and crisp.
[Scanning Host Physiology: Tier 0 Undead.]
[Analyzing Genetic Compatibility...]
[Generating Viable Mutations…]
[At the user Atlas's current power tier, the following Body Evolution options are available:]
Three distinct holographic windows materialized in the air. They rotated slowly, displaying anatomical schematics of a human body highlighting the areas of effect in glowing gold.
[Available Body Evolutions:]
1. Skeletal–Muscular Optimization (Limb Focus)
Cost: 50 EP
Type: Partial Strengthening of Hands and Legs.
2. Bone-Blade Mutation (Sharp Claws)
Cost: 50 EP
Type: Offensive Mutation.
3. Full-Body Structural Optimization (Complete Overhaul)
Cost: 100 EP
Type: Foundation Reconstruction.
Atlas's dead heart didn't beat—but excitement still rippled through him like an electric current.
Atlas narrowed his eyes. 'Interesting. Pleione, expand the details. I need to know exactly what I'm buying before I let you rewrite my DNA.'
[Acknowledged. Expanding technical specifications.]
The first window expanded, showing a wireframe animation of legs and arms straightening out, muscles thickening and becoming denser.
[Skeletal–Muscular Optimization (Limb Focus) is an advanced biomechanical evolution affecting the user's arms and legs. Through precise cellular restructuring, the limbs undergo axial realignment, correcting inefficiencies in bone curvature and joint load distribution.
As the skeletal frame straightens and stabilizes, bone density increases via layered micro-lattice growth, dramatically enhancing impact resistance without sacrificing flexibility. Simultaneously, muscle fibers are reengineered at the cellular level—myofibrils multiply, tighten, and become more elastic, allowing greater force output and faster contraction cycles.
Tendon and ligament tissues adapt alongside the musculature, gaining heightened tensile strength and recoil efficiency. This results in explosive strength generation, improved balance, and significantly increased agility during rapid movement, jumping, and directional changes.
At the cellular scale, mitotic acceleration increases total cell count within muscle and bone tissue, reinforcing durability and allowing the limbs to absorb stress that would shatter ordinary human anatomy. Microfractures and strain damage are reduced as structural redundancy improves.
This evolution transforms the user's limbs into high-efficiency biomechanical actuators, capable of delivering greater power, speed, and endurance while remaining resistant to fatigue and structural failure.]
Atlas nodded slightly. 'Good for mobility. But let's see the weapon.'
The second window expanded. The wireframe showed jagged, serrated blades extending from the knuckles.
[Sharp Claws (Bone-Blade Mutation): is a rare evolutionary mutation of the skeletal system. Through controlled bone growth and restructuring, the user develops an additional set of retractable bone blades anchored directly to the forearm and knuckle structure.
When activated, these claws extend through reinforced channels along the hands, locking into place for combat. When not in use, they retract fully back into the arms, leaving no external weakness.
The claws are composed of hyper-densified bone, far stronger and more resilient than normal human skeletal material. Their edges are naturally honed at a low level, granting exceptional cutting and piercing capability capable of tearing through flesh, hide, and even very light armor.
Unlike external weapons, these claws are a part of the user's body—immune to disarmament, resistant to breakage, and capable of regenerating alongside the user's natural healing or evolution]
'Classic,' Atlas mused, studying the image. 'Basically, Wolverine's claws before the Adamantium upgrade. Useful… and honestly? Kind of a dream come true.'
A grin tugged at his lips. 'I mean, who didn't spend their childhood jamming spoons or pencils between their knuckles, running around making snikt noises and pretending to be Logan? I definitely did.'
The memory of those simpler, cringeworthy days faded as he turned his attention to the final option. The one that would cost him everything.
The third window expanded. This time, the wireframe didn't just highlight a single limb—it lit up the entire body.
[Full-Body Structural Optimization is a comprehensive biomechanical evolution that extends axial realignment and cellular reinforcement across the entire body. The user's skeletal system undergoes complete postural correction and load-path optimization, eliminating structural inefficiencies from the spine, ribcage, pelvis, and cervical frame.
Bones are reconstructed with multi-layered micro-lattice density, drastically increasing overall durability while preserving shock absorption and flexibility. Muscle tissue across the body experiences hyperplasia and fiber compression, enhancing density, elasticity, and contraction efficiency. Every movement becomes stronger, faster, and more controlled.
The dermal layer adapts through epidermal reinforcement, forming a tougher, abrasion-resistant skin structure capable of reducing damage from blunt force, lacerations, and environmental hazards.
Neural pathways connected to the five senses are refined via signal amplification and noise reduction, slightly increasing sensory perception—vision sharpens, auditory range expands, olfactory and tactile sensitivity improve, and spatial awareness becomes instinctive rather than conscious.
At the cellular level, accelerated mitosis and controlled regeneration increase total cell count across all tissues, raising the body's overall growth ceiling and latent potential. Cellular efficiency improves, allowing the body to extract more performance from the same energy input.
A secondary effect emerges in the form of a low-grade regenerative response. Minor tissue damage, muscle strain, and microfractures repair themselves automatically over time, preventing long-term degradation and shortening recovery periods. This healing factor is limited but constant, stabilizing the user's physical condition under sustained combat stress.
This evolution elevates the user into a fully optimized biological combat platform, pushing every physical attribute beyond natural human thresholds while laying the groundwork for higher-tier mutations and adaptive evolutions]
He stood in silence, staring at the glass wall separating him from the shambling mass outside.
Seeing all of this and not being excited would have been a lie so large it insulted reality itself.
He wasn't becoming stronger.
He was becoming something else.
His mind racing. He felt a thrill that transcended the dead nerves of his body. This was the answer to the transhumanist dream—to abandon the weakness of flesh and embrace perfection.
He began to weigh the options, his inner self taking over.
'Option 1 and Option 3 are similar,' he analyzed. 'Both straighten the body and fix the zombie stiffness. But Option 1 is a half-measure. It leaves my spine and neck vulnerable. It's like putting a Ferrari engine in a rusted tractor chassis.'
'The first improves my limbs—immediate combat value. The second gives me a weapon—lethal, reliable, personal.'
His gaze settled firmly on Option 3.
'Full-Body Optimization. It grants the healing factor. It increases my sensory input—essential for avoiding sneak attacks. And most importantly, it raises my "Body Potential." It lays the foundation. If I build a skyscraper on a swamp, it sinks. I need a concrete foundation first.'
It was the most expensive option, draining his entire bank of Evolution Points instantly. It was a gamble to leave himself with zero currency.
'But,' Atlas thought, a cold logic settling over him, 'Investing in the foundation is never a waste.'
Machines always talked about the weakness of the flesh.
Atlas smiled faintly.
"Seems like the problem wasn't flesh," he thought. "It was a poor design."
He knew the truth already.
Eventually, he would take all three.
There was no reason not to.
But right now?
Right now, he needed results. Fast. Clean. Efficient.
Five kills.
No room for mistakes.
Atlas closed his eyes and let the system data replay in his mind.
For thirty seconds, the world faded away—the zombies, the Hive, the Red Queen watched through the camera, her algorithms trying to predict his next move.
There was only calculation.
Only choice.
And when he finally opened his eyes again, something cold and decisive settled into them.
'Pleione,' he whispered in the sanctity of his mind, his voice firm. 'I've decided. Execute Option 2.'
He paused, justifying the gamble to himself as if arguing with an invisible critic.
There was no hesitation in his choice—only calculation.
He did not rush blindly toward power. That kind of stupidity got people killed early. Atlas had already planned several steps ahead.
I'm not an idiot, he thought coldly. If I waste my points now on partial optimizations, I'll slow my long-term growth.
His gaze flicked briefly toward the glass wall, where the infected continued their mindless wandering—colliding, falling, rising again like broken puppets.
I'll complete the quest first. Kill more. Accumulate Evolution Points. Then I'll straighten and optimize my entire body in one sweep.
The healing factor—no matter how weak—was non-negotiable.
Survivability comes before perfection.
He clenched his fists. 'I will not give up on the healing factor. But survival starts with teeth. Or in this case... claws.'
The System AI responded instantly, her voice carrying a tone of detached professionalism.
[Affirmative, Atlas.]
[Transaction Processed: -50 Evolution Points.]
[Item Acquired: Evolutionary Trait - Bone-Blade Mutation.]
[WARNING: Invasive Biological Restructuring Imminent. Please prepare for neural synchronization.]
Atlas scoffed internally. 'Prepare? Prepare for what? I'm a zombie, Pleione. My nerve endings are dead. I don't feel p—'
The thought was cut off by a sensation he hadn't felt since his heart stopped beating.
FIRE.
It started in his fingertips—a searing, white-hot agony that raced up his arms like liquid magma.
"Maghhhhhhhhh... AGHHHHHHH!"
Atlas crumbled. His knees hit the linoleum floor with a wet thud. He clutched his right wrist with his left hand, his eyes bulging. This wasn't just pain; it was violation.
It felt as if invisible, red-hot needles were being driven into his marrow. Beneath the grey skin of his forearms, something was moving. His muscles spasmed violently, rippling like water as the bones underneath began to fracture, liquefy, and reform.
CRACK. SNAP.
The sound of his own radius and ulna splitting echoed in the silent lab.
'Shit! Shit! Why didn't you tell me it would hurt like this?!' Atlas screamed mentally, his mind teetering on the edge of fracturing.
"ARRGH!! FUCK!!"
He writhed on the floor, thrashing against the overturned tables. He could feel the new calcium deposits hardening, density increasing a hundredfold in seconds. The flesh between his knuckles tore open from the inside, then knitted back together, only to tear again as the channels for the blades were carved out by raw biological force.
His arms convulsed violently. Muscle fibers tore and reknit in rapid succession, flesh bulging and contracting as something new forced its way into existence.
"AGHHHH—SHIT—ARRRGHH!!"
He had been shot before.
Four times.
Two times through the arm. Once grazing his chest, the last one in his heart.
This was worse.
Those bullets had been sharp, fast, merciful in comparison.
This pain was slow.
Deliberate.
Bone inside his forearms thickened, elongating, compressing as hidden channels were carved beneath the skin. He felt the sensation of something growing, sliding forward along his arms—dense, heavy, wrong.
Every nerve lit up in protest.
Veins bulged black beneath his pale skin. His jaw clenched so hard he felt cracks spider through his teeth.
"GHHH—WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME IT WOULD HURT THIS MUCH?!"
[I did inform you.]
[You were not listening. -_-]
Pleione's voice was maddeningly calm against the backdrop of his screams.
"MUGHH—FMHH—AAAAAGH!!"
His screams echoed through the sealed lab, raw and animalistic—far more human than any sound the infected outside could produce.
"Muggggfmhhhhha... aghh..."
Atlas curled into a fetal position, his breath coming in ragged, useless gasps. He didn't need oxygen, but the ghost of his human instincts forced his diaphragm to spasm, trying to hyperventilate through the agony.
The skin along his forearms split in thin, precise lines as bone structures forced their way forward, then retracted, then extended again—testing alignment, pressure, stability.
Atlas lost all sense of time.
When the agony finally began to recede, it did so reluctantly, like a tide dragging razors back into the sea.
For ten minutes, the lab in Sector 3 was filled with the sounds of snapping bone and guttural roars.
"Huff… huff…"
He lay there for several seconds, unmoving.