Chapter 78: Chapter 78 - Devouring
It took around a few minutes in order to do it properly and painlessly, but Lily had killed all the mutants and Inhumans within the group— she, however, did leave the humans alive— albeit unconscious.
The reasons she didn't outright kill the humans would be important later, but for now, she needed to quickly devour the bodies of the mutants in order to gain their abilities— she was in a rush because of the gunshot from earlier.
With her scout units, she could see the authorities were on the way— furthermore, people around the area were already curious about what had happened and were starting to gather.
None would enter for now out of fear for their safety— but time would only tell if they would get brave enough to do something foolish.
Currently, there were a total of 24 people before her; 10 of them were mutants, which she had killed, and another 2 were dead Inhumans. The remaining 12 humans she had left alive.
Before she began to devour them, however, she had one important thing to do. That was to use her scrying ability on their bodies in order to find useful information pertaining to the group or anything that may help her find other locations.
Scrying took time and didn't always show what you wanted to see— as the information was often random, and since she didn't have any time, she had to pick a few key figures from them to scry.
Firstly, she did the man who was acting as the Leader of the group, the Reptilian man.
Touching his body, she used her scrying ability to try and see where he had been, see what he had experienced, gain any information she could— but hopefully, information she could use to find the other bases or even people linked to them.
Lily's consciousness delved into the depths of the Reptilian man's experiences. She wasn't reading his memories, not directly, that is.
Her scrying ability wasn't mind reading— it didn't allow her to enter the memory of others; rather, it allowed her to see the experiences that things have been through.
Touching the man's body, she was able to see the experiences the man's body had been through, at least snippets of it. She could see bits and pieces of the man's life— people he had talked to, food he had eaten, activities he had done, crimes he had committed; she even saw some more private activities the man had done.
The stream of information that flooded her mind was chaotic; it happened all at once and so quickly— each scene breaking down from one to another without any clear indication of it happening, some scenes melting together to cause even more confusion.
The ability was messy— but she could control it better than the mutant it belonged to. She had an advantage that mutants didn't: she was a Hivemind.
Her mental capabilities were beyond most mutants, and thanks to this, she wasn't overwhelmed by the information flooding her mind. Thanks to the hive, she was able to process the information all at once, breaking apart the pieces that shouldn't be together and piecing the ones that should.
Thanks to this, she was able to gain a clear understanding of the information she had gained by the time it had stopped, and from it, a few key points caught her attention.
They were fragmented visions, but she was able to see the Repiltian man meeting with a few people in hidden locations, and from the way, the man made sure he wasn't being followed, it was clearly important.
Thanks to this vision, she was able to see the face of the person the man was meeting, another male— and while he had no key features that made him stand out to her, the meeting alone was enough to make him important.
She also saw another vision; this one was interesting because it was a vision of the Repiltian man meeting someone who seemed like a government official.
Whether this was connected to the group or something else, she wasn't sure, but it was definitely interesting information to gain— one that she could use later on.
Aside from that, the other information she gained from the man wasn't very useful— as such, she moved on to the next significant figure within the group that she decided would be a good person to scry.
The mutant with the fire elemental abilities.
Using her scrying ability, she was disappointed to learn that the man had no useful information for her— he was merely a criminal who went out very often. But that was it— petty crimes.
Lily decided to do one more person before she stopped wasting time and just devoured everyone; this one was the doorkeeper that she had seen when she had first entered here.
This man would have seen all the faces of everyone entering and leaving this base; thanks to this, he would have a wide range of useful information that she could use.
Touching the body of the doorkeeper, the scenes began to unfold within her mind with another rush— the doorkeeper's experiences revealed a multitude of faces, people moving in and out of the underground base.
The doorkeeper rarely left the base— in fact, out of all the visions she saw, the man only left the base once. Thanks to this, most of the visions consisted of the base and the happenings of the base.
Sifting through the visions, she noted any key individuals that entered or left the facility— people that weren't amongst the ones she had killed, people that had distinct markings or outfits that stood out. She also tried to see if she could recognize any of them.
Unfortunately, she didn't recognize anyone from the memories, but she did gain a few faces that weren't amongst the people here, ones that she could hunt down and deal with separately.
Aside from just the faces of the people entering and exiting the base, she was also able to gain the times they entered and left— creating a pattern that hinted at the group's activities and the times they were most active.
It was important to piece together a proper mental map to try and figure out the group's plans or purpose— if she could do that, finding the entire group would be easier.
The last person she decided to use the scrying on was one of the older Inhumans— unfortunately, she wasn't able to find anything interesting.
With that, she had concluded her scrying period, and she was satisfied with the knowledge she had gained.
Lily then shifted her focus to devouring the mutants and Inhumans as she was running out of time with the sirens growing closer in the distance.
Each consumption brought a surge of power, her body naturally breaking down and integrating the DNA she gained from each of them in order to create or improve existing information— transforming her own capabilities to a new level.
She could feel the strength of the Repilitian man, the elemental powers of the mutants, and the other abilities fusing with her very being, new XGenes being created, and existing XGenes adapting or fusing with them to be better.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
ZeroX0666
ZeroX0666 Suggest some ideas for abilities you think the mutants should have; might use some.
Chapter 79: Chapter 79 - Feel The Power
She could feel the Repilitian man's strength, the mutant elemental power, and the other abilities fusing with her very being, new XGenes being created, and existing DNA adapting or fusing with them to be better.
The process of devouring the mutants and Inhumans was quick and progressed seamlessly. After each assimilation, her body rapidly broke down the information and improved her own; new layers of strength and capabilities were being added to Lily's already formidable repertoire.
Each surge of power felt intoxicating, and her body tingled with the enjoyment of it— eating 12 super-powered individuals at once was beyond pleasing.
As she finished devouring them, she could feel her body had completely broken down each of the new information she had gained and created new ones. Some of the most prominent ones were ones she expected, such as the reptilian and fire elemental abilities— but others were a pleasant surprise.
She checked her status panel and peered only at the ability section, checking the new abilities she had gained.
Skills:
Hivemind
Adapt, Evolve, Overcome
Mimic Creation
Werecat XGene
Weredog XGene
Radioactive Body XGene
Lesser Demon Physiology
Acid Secretion XGene
Astral Projection XGene
Energy Condensing XGene
Ink Manipulation XGene
Elemental Transmutation XGene
Scrying XGene
Vampire Physiology
Animal Physiology - The user possesses a wide range of animal capabilities from a wide range of different species of Earth Animals.
Mental Mastery - Mental Mastery is a skill that combines all the mental-related abilities gained by the user into one, allowing them to further expand each of these abilities as a whole and integrate them together perfectly.
Reptilian XGene - The user has the abilities of a reptile even in their normal form, having capabilities such as enhanced hearing, sight, smell, taste, and even touch, along with things that can be found commonly among a wide range of reptile species.
Lesser Pyromancy - The user has developed a combination of fire elemental skills into Lesser Pyromancy, allowing them to create and manipulate this created fire to an extent.
Superior Body - The user has a wide range of physically enhancing abilities; these have integrated perfectly with each other and further enhance the user's physical body, allowing them to not only have an increase in common physical capabilities such as strength, speed, durability, senses, and more, but also an enhanced regenerative factor, resistance to physical alignments, and more.
Barrier Creation XGene - The user is able to create weak semi-translucent illusions from their hand to cover the surface area of things they touch.
Temperature Regulation XGene - The user is able to manipulate the temperature of their own body, allowing them to resist high or low temperatures with better capabilities.
Bioluminescent Glow XGene - The user is able to emit a faint bioluminescent glow from their skin.
Microscale Telekinesis XGene - The user is able to move things within sight with limited capabilities. This ability is very limited and does not allow the user to move heavy things.
Mild Sonic Vibration Generation XGene - The user is able to generate very mild sonic vibrations from their body that vibrate things around them or within touch.
Pheromone XGene - The user is able to naturally produce a pheromone that is found attractive to a wide range of species.
Terrigen Fragment - The user has gained a fragmented piece of Terrigen Crystal information.
From everything she had devoured, Lily had gained a wide range of abilities, and while not all of them were strong, they could still be useful to her.
Not to mention, more information was better since her body could combine them to make new ones— as she noticed it had done.
A few listings were missing from the panel, and that wasn't because they had been removed or forgotten; rather, her body had adapted them into new abilities using a combination of different ones.
Namely Animal Physiology, Mental Mastery, Lesser Pyromancy, and Superior Body.
The abilities these had been developed from were self-evident, but Lily was pleased with them nonetheless— especially with Mental Mastery, combining not only the abilities she had but also the increase in mental stats.
Another interesting addition to the list of abilities that had caught her attention was Terrigen Fragment.
It was less an ability but more information her body was trying to break down in order to use as material to improve itself. It was obvious she had gotten it from the Inhumans, but she didn't have enough of it for her body to use.
To fully complete it, she would most likely need to devour more Inhumans or try to acquire Terrigen Mist or even pure Terrigen Crystals. However, both things would be very difficult to acquire due to their low quantity and usage.
They were used to awaken the abilities of Inhumans, and because of this, they were highly sought after by Inhumans, and any existing ones would either be in the possession of Inhumans or searched for by Inhumans.
While she didn't mind getting in the way of Inhumans to acquire them, certain Inhumans would prove to be very dangerous— and she didn't want to even encounter them.
Shaking her head, she broke that thought out from her mind for the time being— that was for the future— for now, she finished glancing over the information and was satisfied with it.
They weren't great, but what could she expect from a little group that was basically made up of street thugs and common people— the real power wouldn't be in this small base; it would be in their main base.
She did acquire some pleasant surprises, though; Vibration Creation, Barrier Creation, and even Temperature Regulation were all hidden gems that she could use— and would gratefully use.
But for now, she had to get going quickly— there was just one more thing she had to do before she left.
She shifted her focus over to the group of the remaining unconscious humans. Time was of the essence, and the approaching authorities added to her urgency; as such, she quickly moved on to the next step of her plan.
These humans were useful, as they could prove to be useful pawns in order to find the other bases, draw out the attention of the other members of the group, or even cause them to raise their alertness.
While having them raise their alertness may sound counterproductive, that would actually work in Lily's favor. By increasing their security, they would, in turn, create a lot of movement that Lily could catch onto using her Hive Scouts.
This would make finding them much easier. And in the off chance they instead decide to lay low— this would allow her to find them all at once without having to find their scattered members.
Plus— this might draw the attention of the leaders, and if she could get to them, it would be worthwhile.
She wasn't too worried about them sharing her appearance as eventually her true appearance would be leaked— and it wasn't like she couldn't shapeshift to take on different looks.
And any being that was strong enough to prove immediately terrifying to Lily could easily acquire knowledge about how she looked.
The only thing she was worried about was them getting arrested— if that happened, they wouldn't be able to relay the information to other members, and it would become troublesome.
As such, using her newly acquired Mental Mastery, she tapped into their minds.
It was beyond easy— they were normal humans, and she was a hivemind with hundreds of beings apart of her; entering their minds was like walking through an open door.
Using this, she left a command in their minds, one clear and simple command— get up and escape. The suggestion took hold almost instantly, and their minds jolted their bodies awake— groggy and disoriented, they slowly stumbled out of the abandoned building, their memories clouded by the manipulation but their goal clear.
With that out of the way, Lily now had no more reason to stay here— using her Lesser Pyromance, she started a fire in the base, one that rapidly spread to the entire building.
And with the fire as a distraction and her camouflage as a cover— she vanished into the city.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
ZeroX0666
ZeroX0666
Sorry for the delay; my sleep schedule has been all sorts of messed up.
Also, I would like to thank everyone who left a review, as reviews, comments, and general engagement with the story really motivate me to keep writing. I enjoy seeing people enjoy the story or even come up with their own ideas.
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