Black Rat turned around impatiently and ran to the door of the medical station, staring greedily at the price tags on the medicine cabinet...
Inside Room 102, Su Wan slowly opened her palm.
The grey, stone-like object had completely transformed.
It was now about the size of a quail egg, its entire body a warm, restrained milky white.
Inside, star-like spots of light could be faintly seen swirling slowly.
Holding it in her palm, a sense of pure energy seeped through her skin in threads, significantly relieving the fatigue and tension she had felt over the past few days.
“Ability Source Crystal...” Su Wan murmured, her fingertips tightening slightly.
She took a deep breath and sank her consciousness into the system.
“System, how do I use this crystal to trigger an ability? What is the process? And what are the consequences of success or failure?”
【Item Usage Consultation: “Ability Source Crystal (Fragment).”】
【Usage Method: Guided absorption. The Host must concentrate fully, hold the crystal with both hands, and attempt to guide the pure source energy through the meridians of the arms into the area near the heart (the embryonic energy center), establishing an initial connection.】
【The system can provide basic energy guidance assistance, but the core fusion depends on the Host’s own will and physical adaptability.】
【Estimated Absorption Time: 1.5 to 2.2 hours (depending on Host compatibility and willpower).】
【Success Results (Probability approx. 68%):】
Stable activation of a Level 1 Ability: The ability attribute is likely related to the original owner of the crystal (preliminary detection suggests a “Life Recovery / Plant Affinity” direction), with a small probability of adaptive mutation into a unique ability better suited for the Host.
Comprehensive physical improvement: Strength, speed, endurance, reaction time, and self-healing capabilities will be significantly enhanced, reaching the level of a rigorously trained special forces soldier.
Initial energy perception: The ability to vaguely perceive surrounding energy flows, including but not limited to abilities, crystal core energy, and Death Tide erosion.
【Failure Results (Probability approx. 32%):】
Energy backlash: Source energy runs rampant within the body, leading to meridian damage, internal bleeding, high fever, and intense pain; in severe cases, it can lead to coma or shock.
Unstable ability activation or mutation: The Host may gain an extremely weak, uncontrollable, or severely detrimental ability, such as one that consumes life force or causes mental mania.
Crystal energy dissipation: Partial or total loss of energy, making it impossible to use again.
【System Note: Given the risk of energy rampage during the absorption process, it is strongly recommended that the Host proceed within the “Absolute Safety Zone”!】
【Within this zone, the Host is immune to any form of damage, ensuring life safety and providing the highest margin for error during the absorption process. Even if failure leads to the most severe consequences, the Host will not die and will only need time to recover.】
【Remaining time before automatic travel back to the original plane (Blue Star): 2 hours and 47 minutes.】
She wouldn't die!
Su Wan’s gaze locked onto the final prompt.
Within the Absolute Safety Zone, she was immune to all damage, including the damage from energy backlash!
What did this mean?
It meant she could pursue that 68% success rate without any worries!
It meant that even if she unfortunately fell into the 32% failure range, she would keep her life, at most suffering pain and the cost of wasted energy!
On Blue Star, she was just a fragile ordinary person. Facing the violence of debt collectors and Gu Huaiyu’s schemes, she didn't even have the most basic ability to protect herself.
Every time she traveled, she relied on the special rules of this building.
But rules were static things; she herself was the variable.
The desire to become stronger had never been as burning and urgent as it was at this moment.
She didn't want to be the Su Wan who could only hide behind rules, unable to even protect her own family.
She wanted to master her own power, whether it was to deal with more complex situations in the apocalypse or to seize the initiative and settle old scores on Blue Star!
There was no time for hesitation, nor was there any need for it.
“System, I’ve decided to begin absorbing the ‘Ability Source Crystal’ immediately!” Su Wan’s voice was resolute, carrying a determination that left no room for retreat.
【Confirming Host’s command.】
【Absorption Environment Check: Located within the range of the bound building “Terminal Station,” “Absolute Safety Zone” is active. Conditions met.】
【Please maintain a calm state of mind, hold the crystal with both hands, and settle into a comfortable sitting or lying position. The system’s energy guidance assistance program is initiating and will begin in 5 seconds.】
【5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Energy connection beginning.】
Su Wan quickly sat cross-legged on the edge of the bed, her back straight. She held the warm milky-white crystal tightly between her palms, resting them in front of her lower abdomen.
She closed her eyes and worked to clear her mind of distracting thoughts, focusing all her attention between her hands, trying to perceive the energy flowing inside the crystal.
At first, there was only the sensation of warmth from her palms.
But soon, under the subtle pull of the system’s invisible assistance, she felt a difference.
Threads of cool yet thick energy began to flow out of the crystal, seeping through the Laogong points in her palms like a trickling stream.
A numbing, swelling sensation spread slowly up the meridians on the inside of her arms. Everywhere it passed, the blood vessels beneath her skin grew slightly warm, and her muscle fibers seemed to sing silently.
The feeling wasn't unpleasant; instead, it was strangely comfortable, like parched earth receiving the nourishment of sweet rain.
The energy flow followed the meridians, traveling through her shoulders and neck into her torso, finally converging toward the area near her heart.
Su Wan’s heartbeat quickened involuntarily. She could clearly feel that in the center of her chest, slightly to the left, an invisible “vortex” was being lit up and activated, sending out faint sensations of suction and throbbing.
Is this the “embryonic energy center” the system mentioned?
She didn't dare lose focus, continuing to follow the system’s initial guidance, using her will to let the energy establish a tighter connection with the forming vortex.
Time passed minute by minute.
The light of the crystal seemed to dim slightly, while a very faint milky-white halo began to emerge on the surface of Su Wan’s skin, most noticeably on her hands and chest.
Her breathing gradually became long and steady, and she entered a mysterious state of being half-asleep and half-awake, yet highly focused.
The crystal between Su Wan’s hands had become nearly transparent, and the swirling star-like points of light inside were so weak they were almost imperceptible.
The vast majority of the source energy had already followed the system’s guided assistance into the increasingly solid “energy vortex” in her chest.
The initial comfortable feeling of nourishment had long since passed, replaced by an increasingly intense sense of fullness and heat.
It felt as though an inflating ball of light had been stuffed into her chest. Every heartbeat caused it to swell violently, pressing against her surrounding organs and bones, bringing a dull, throbbing pain.
Rate on N.U.
