LATEST UPDATES

Molting the Mortal Coil - Chapter 373

Published at 29th of March 2024 06:24:11 AM


Chapter 373: Orientation

If audio player doesn't work, press Stop then Play button again




Chapter 373: Orientation

When the cocoon broke apart, the storeroom looked exactly the same as before. The defensive formation had remained intact for half a year quite seamlessly. As it split apart, the cocoon stopped looking like a huge flower bud and more like a monster punching a hole through a sheet of green metal. A front heavy creature slithered out of the newly formed hole about a foot wide. The disconcerting part was how long it took for it to finish slithering out, the body of the creature coiled on the ground into a man sized mound. As eye catching as the size of the thing was, the coloring was absolutely mundane, being a sandy brown color with black and tan speckling on its scales.

Eventually, the over forty foot long creature had exited the cocoon and had completely coiled up on the ground. The huge snake undulated in a strange pattern without moving anywhere at all, like it was testing its muscles. Then from within the pile the head of it rose up into the air and opened its unusually large eyes. Surprisingly, the cobra didnt have vertical slit pupils. Instead they were more like rounded diamond shapes or a row of three overlapping circles. The center circle slowly bobbed up and down, and the whole pupil had a thin red outline. A moment later the cobra expanded its ribs, flattening its body out and raising its hood. It immediately tripled in width and then started changing colors. Its whole body shifted to green, then blue, then violet. Then it started to vary the pattern with different camouflage schemes. Stripes, spots, speckling, the scales slowly shifted while the head lifted high into the air and watched the changes as they happened.

The three foot wide hood suddenly turned a blinding white, not just changing color but even seeming to be emitting light. Each individual scale on the hood, and there were thousands of them, took a different color and then started to change. It looked like somebody was performing a calibration test on their brand new computer monitor as bright colors swirled and shifted, the cobras hood had become a dazzling lightshow.

Of course, the giant cobra was Sages new body and he was just testing its new capabilities. He wasnt pleased to have completely lost his arms, but from an optimization standpoint the less complicated he made his physical form the more Body Power he had to distribute to other areas. As a snake, there were far fewer individual types of bones to deal with, besides the head and tail, it was mainly a lot of ribs. It was a similar case with muscles and joints. Without having to worry about complicated hip, shoulder, knee, ankle and many other types of joints and muscle structures he could maximize the strength of the other parts. On the downside it was far from the most powerful body type, at least in his opinion. Hed even considered the most highly efficient insect bodies, but it wasnt as compatible with Hypnotic Eyes, Chameleon Skin, and especially Regeneration. An exoskeleton essentially combined the function of flesh and bone. While very efficient, insects didnt heal well. Many injuries could only be healed by undergoing another molt and growing a new outer shell.

While hed lost his arms and legs, Sage had gained a new toy in the color changing hood. The high density of tiny scales along with rapid color changing meant his cobra hood was equivalent to a high resolution LED screen. He didnt have a large mirror, nor would he take the time to do a count, so he didnt know the actual resolution, but he still started experimenting. He tried out a few patterns that hypnotists, or fake ones at least, might use on earth. Circular vortexes, swirling colors, black and white whirlpools, all the classics. What was most interesting was that his cobra hood was three feet wide, over six feet tall, and he had a set of nictitating eyelids that could also change color to hide his eyes without blocking vision too much. Acting carefully, he could use his hood to create the illusion of a full size human, at least a two dimensional one.

That was when the defensive formation finally vanished. Guan Zhenyan was just too lazy to chase after him immediately, so hed warned him about the futility of it before opening the door. Sage felt like hed just been told the yard was fenced before the leash was unclipped from his collar.

Its actually more like Ive got a chip implanted. Damn! Now this bastard has me thinking like Im a pet!

It looks like youve recovered from your injuries. Ive decided you can have a couple days to recuperate and settle in, then its time to get to work. Youve got quite a bill to pay off already. Six months powering a defensive formation, transportation by Flying Ship, your purchase price from the Shou Empire, and thats not even mentioning the consultation fee for all my advice.

Thank you for all your care, Sage tried to speak respectfully, especially since he was completely under his control now. At the same time he also had some questions he needed answered, You mention expense, but it seems Im already your slave. What do I care about the cost? Is this just your method to make me feel indebted to you so I accept it?

Guan Zhenyan blew smoke into the cobra face, Bah. Is that all you take me for? A jumped up slaver? Ridiculous. I operate on merit! Fiscal responsibility! As soon as you pay your debt youll be free to go where you wish and do what you want. If you work hard enough you can pay for more of my guidance. If you donate a large enough sum you can even earn the status of the great Guan Zhenyans disciple.

Wait a second his disciples are a paid membership club? Do you get issued a card?




Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!


COMMENTS