Capítulo 2: Chapter 2: Alpha Cells
"You'll pay for what you did to my brother, bastard!" The chubby boy shouted in rage as he looked at his brother whose nose was bloodied.
"That was your brother?" Yang Yichen mumbled, contemplating something.
"You two don't look alike." He had a perplexed expression before continuing, "Actually, now that I think about it, you both share a common feature. It seems that both of you are complete idiots. It's really laughable that both of you can act like such dogs to one person!"
Yang Yichen decided to rile one of them up. If they coordinated an attack, he would probably be badly outnumbered and beaten. Quickly thinking of some insults, he added,
"One looks like a pig, and the other is a complete idiot. How could your brother fall for the oldest trick in the book!" Yang Yichen laughed mockingly, instigating a response from the chubby boy.
Children are quite predictable. The vast majority won't be able to come up with any schemes — mostly being victims of them. They mindlessly do things when provoked and take things at face value. Considering how everyone in the Sanctuary was all orphans and probably uneducated, Yang Yichen had no difficulty in provoking him.
"I'll kill you!" Fatty roared, his hatred for Yang Yichen overflowing.
Without waiting for his boss's command, he immediately charged at him, his large build rushing towards him.
His boss shouted,
"Damn! Wait!"
However, it was too late.
Fatty had already arrived in front of Yang Yichen as he delivered a predictable punch to his face.
Yang Yichen immediately tilted his body, barely evading the attack, before driving his knee into the boy's gut.
Without delay, he followed the move by sweeping his right leg, throwing the boy onto the ground before he stomped his head.
"AHH!"
Crying out in agony, Fatty felt an intense pain on his skull.
Yang Yichen's right foot was planted on the back of the boy's head. Without mercy, he pressed the boy's round face onto the ground.
Applying more pressure, Fatty's face felt as if it was being crushed on the cold, stone floor.
"AHH! Plesh stahp!" He begged, finding it difficult to speak whilst his head was being forcefully pressed down upon.
His head felt as if it had been split open whilst his stomach was burning from the knee that had struck him previously, causing him to take sharp gasps of air.
Their boss had an irritated look.
"Tch, those two idiots."
What was supposed to be a three on one had somehow quickly become a one on one fight between the two.
"No matter. No, this is actually better, I can have my rematch now!" The boy mumbled with a grin.
"I'll show you the difference in strength between us!" He exclaimed as he quickly dashed towards Yang Yichen before suddenly attacking.
Yang Yichen hastily moved backwards, however, the boy was extremely agile — closing the distance between them within an instant.
Yang Yichen immediately braced himself as he raised his forearm to block the kick. The powerful impact immediately caused him to take a few steps back as a burning sensation enveloped his forearm.
'Powerful! He's on a different level compared to the other two.'
That kick wasn't something a normal kid could perform. He thought it may be due to the herbs that were supposed to strengthen their bodies. However, he had no time to think as the boy immediately followed the kick with a punch.
"Serpent Stance!" The boy shouted out one of his techniques, extending his right arm as his fist rapidly whipped towards his opponent.
Bang!
Due to Yang Yichen not raising his guard in time, the punch landed directly on the side of his face as he stumbled back from the blow.
"Ouch." Yang Yichen gritted his teeth, before lightly rubbing his cheek that stung just from his casual touch.
"I've only just started!" The boy shouted as he closed the distance between them once more.
"Tiger Stance!"
The boy executed another move. Yang Yichen barely perceived the attack, only seeing a blur of movement as the boy crouched down and delivered a powerful strike to his solar plexus.
Yang Yichen gritted his teeth from the impact. He hadn't expected the sheer difference in speed and power between the two, causing the attack to successfully hit him with full force.
He immediately felt an intense pain in his chest as he struggled to breathe.
The boy was merciless. Yang Yichen had been incapacitated by his attack, allowing him to rain down even more punches on Yang Yichen.
Yang Yichen was like a punching bag as he was forced to take his enemy's continuous flurry of blows.
Yang Yichen immediately guarded his head whilst tucking himself in so he could reduce the damage.
After he regained some of his wits from the attack to his solar plexus, Yang Yichen quickly thought of a way to escape from the boy's relentless attacks.
As the boy continued his barrage of attacks, Yang Yichen waited for a chance. After a few seconds of being pummeled, he eventually found an opportunity!
Stab!
"AHHH!"
A scream pierced the air.
Yang Yichen had swiftly pierced the boy's left eye with his index and middle finger.
The boy took a few steps back as he held his left eye in pain.
Droplets of blood trickled down his arm as he felt a hot sensation building up within one of his eyes.
"Y–You, you stabbed me in my eye! You bastard! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" The boy grinded his teeth as his expression was almost crazed, completely filled with bloodlust.
He suddenly reached into his pocket and took something out.
It was a sharp rock that he had found within the Sanctuary. The boy had taken multiple lives with this rock — it had been a weapon he heavily relied upon to survive in the Trials.
The boy immediately rushed at Yang Yichen with bloodshot eyes, his hand tightly clenching onto the rock that was about to pierce into his enemy.
'A weapon! This kid is really trying to kill me!'
Yang Yichen's irises immediately constricted as he reached out with his left hand to block the sudden attack.
However, he couldn't grab the boy's wrist.
Instead, a sharp and searing pain quickly enveloped his left palm.
The boy punctured his left hand — the weapon protruding out from one side to the other.
Drip. Drip.
Blood immediately spilled, flowing down Yang Yichen's left arm and dripping onto the floor.
Yang Yichen's face quickly contorted from the intense pain before he decided to strike the boy's throat with his right hand.
Being in such close proximity with an insane child carrying a weapon meant he had to counter as soon as possible, lest he wants to become a punching bag again — the only difference being how he'd end up with countless holes instead of a few bruises!
Thwack!
"Huk–!"
The blow to the trachea immediately caused the boy to back off as he released his grip on the bloodstained rock, dropping it on the ground.
The boy staggered, gasping for air, giving Yang Yichen the opportunity he needed.
Without wasting any time, Yang Yichen promptly threw his weight on him, pushing him onto the ground where he placed his two hands on the boy's throat.
"You want to kill me?" Yang Yichen spoke in an icy tone, his expression cold.
The boy immediately panicked. He felt that he was in a crisis as he attempted to pry Yang Yichen's hands from his neck, however, Yang Yichen was like a python that caught its prey in its iron grip, unmoving and unrelenting.
His hands slowly tightened, causing the boy to panic as his nails dug into Yang Yichen's skin.
To his despair, Yang Yichen didn't waver in the slightest
"My thumbs should apply pressure on the windpipe," he murmured softly.
"My index fingers on the carotid arteries and my middle fingers should squeeze at the jugular vein."
If Luck applies pressure on those areas, he can effectively block the oxygen supply going to his brain.
The struggling boy couldn't understand what he was saying as he had begun to feel light-headed, but he instinctively felt that these words were coming from the grim reaper himself.
"Did you know," Yang Yichen continued, his tone almost detached, "in 15 seconds, you'll quickly lose consciousness due to the lack of oxygen being transported to your brain."
"And in two minutes, cerebral hypoxia takes place, causing irreversible damage to it."
With each second that passed, the boy's struggles became increasingly more frantic — his face almost turning purple.
"Finally, at around 6 minutes, life simply slips away..." He ominously added.
The boy's futile gasps for air were prevented by the suffocating pressure around his neck.
A primal fear began emerging within the depths of his soul as he looked at Yang Yichen's abyss-like eyes.
He was simply met with a chilling calmness.
The boy thought he was really going to die.
"... S–sorry." He pleaded, squeezing out a word with all his effort as snot flowed out of his nose and tears began forming in his eyes.
He was horribly frightened. He didn't want to die!
However, Yang Yichen was unmoved, his fingers clamping down on the boy's neck even more firmly.
Soon, the boy's eyes rolled back, evidently losing consciousness.
After a few more seconds had passed, Yang Yichen slowly loosened his grip.
'Phew!' Yang Yicheng breathed a sigh of relief as beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.
'I don't want to kill this kid. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get away with it.' Yang Yichen contemplated. He was simply bluffing so the kid wouldn't dare to make trouble with him again.
Even if he wanted to kill him, he wasn't sure if he could take a life so casually. He was quite the law-abiding citizen in his previous life.
After gathering his thoughts, he first stood up and examined his injuries. He observed the deep wound on his pale left hand and the scratch marks that covered both his wrists. 'That child's strength is really terrifying!'
He decided to hastily wrap the wound up from the cloth he tore from the unconscious boy.
'With my weak body, if I lose too much blood, it definitely wouldn't bode well for me...'
However, as he was about to wrap his wound up, he suddenly felt an incessant itch on his injuries.
Then, through the observable eye, Yang Yichen witnessed his wounds closing at a visible speed as muscle tissues reconnected. His bleeding had also promptly stopped as new flesh was rapidly being created, gradually covering the deep wound.
In a few seconds, all of his injuries had completely disappeared!
A miracle!
The only thing that proved that he had been injured was the visible scar on his palm.
'This... What's going on?'
Yang Yichen had an extremely perplexed expression. He first hastily looked around and noticed how the three people he had beaten up weren't focusing on him — making him sigh in relief.
'Good, no one saw that phenomenon.'
He quickly left the scene, going to his sleeping quarters. He eventually arrived after taking a few wrong turns.
He noticed all the caves as he walked. Some had rock walls covering them, indicating that a person was residing inside whilst others were open and empty. Furthermore, names could be seen clearly carved onto the wall next to the cave, showing who it belongs to.
As he walked, he eventually stumbled on a cave with an engraving that spelt out 'Luck' on the wall.
The cave was currently open and empty.
'Luck, short for Luckwyrm?' Yang Yichen guessed.
He noticed how there had been another engraving just above it, but it had been crossed out so he couldn't read it.
Yang Yichen first examined all the caves to make sure that it was his. After some time, he decided that it was his as Luck was the closest thing to Luckwyrm.
'I guess this is where I sleep.' He thought, before entering and sliding the rock wall to close off the cave.
Inside the small space, there was a candle that lit up his room, its yellow glow illuminating the interior. There weren't many things in the room that he could spot.
The cave had some moss on the corners and walls, while there was a hole at the farthest side of his room, emitting a faint, foul stench.
Yang Yichen quickly deduced it was a toilet with dried-up faeces from the previous owner of his body.
There was only a straw mat which was where he guessed he'd be sleeping on, and a stone slab with a single book on top of it.
After making sure he didn't miss anything, he placed his attention on the book.
With his curiosity peaked, he examined the book that had no name. It simply looked liked an ordinary, plain book.
However, he did notice how the state of it seemed very good as if it was freshly made.
Opening the book, he immediately noticed the pictures on each page that seemed to show a man performing a set of moves.
There were also brief descriptions on how to perform them, telling the reader how to correctly respire and what the technique focuses on. Luck was momentarily surprised that he could also understand the writing of the strange language.
He guessed that this was the only memory he inherited from the past owner of his body.
Yang Yichen mumbled.
"These are the moves all the kids have to learn?"
He knew from the girl that all the kids fight each other whilst performing these moves.
He then thought about that kid he had nearly strangled to death. He had used a series of moves that overpowered him rather easily. Each punch and kick felt like he was getting hit by a metal bat, despite him successfully blocking some of them.
Strength like that nearly surpassed even adults! Or perhaps it was merely because his body was so pathetic!
If Yang Yichen hadn't been so ruthless with his attacks, he probably would've been beaten to a bloody pulp.
As for how his injuries had miraculously healed, Yang Yichen was even more baffled.
Such healing capabilities were impossible even for lifeforms on earth that were renowned for it — such as the axolotl.
As he racked his brains on his strange circumstances, he suddenly remembered something.
There was one lifeform he had remembered that possessed such an ability...
It had been the creature that had been discovered in space — the one Yang Yichen had been experimenting on before his transmigration...
The lifeform resembled a small blob of flesh, around the size of his palm, that had unique cells making it up.
Yang Yichen had discovered that the creature was hyper-sensitive to its surroundings — its cells continuously adapting at ridiculous speeds. For example, if the temperature was too hot, the cells would evolve and adapt to survive in it.
He had been researching how the strange cells react with other cells and microorganisms. He found that it could easily dominate all of them. Diseases, viruses and bacteria were devoured by the strange cells — even adopting some of its useful properties.
Yang Yichen had named them "Alpha Cells" due to its nature.
With how the Alpha Cells worked, Yang Yichen attempted to develop a cure for practically all illnesses. However, when he was on the verge of finishing his last test, that explosion had occurred, claiming his life and the lifeform with it.
'Did I transmigrate with the creature? Does my body now comprise of Alpha Cells? How does that even make sense? Both the lifeform and myself were separate entities that had exploded together. How would we even fuse together? Even then, how could cells transmigrate into a foreign body?'
Countless questions filled Yang Yichen's mind. But the more he thought about them, the more questions he had unanswered.
Yang Yichen was a scientist who had a logical approach to all his problems. He was someone that had a thirst for knowledge, to discover the secrets of life and death and to understand even a fraction of the universe in his lifetime. Such a strange phenomenon like transmigration and his abnormal regeneration filled him with an immense amount of intrigue.
Research on the soul had always been a hot topic in his original world. Even thousands of years ago, the soul had always existed, but no one truly understood them. Yang Yichen was a scientist who wanted to explore the mysteries of the countless secrets of the world.
'With my transmigration, doesn't that mean the existence of souls is confirmed?'
Technically, he has a new brain and a new body, yet he somehow retained all his memories and his emotions. Science wouldn't be able to explain that.
'I can somewhat understand transmigration, but fusing with a strange lifeform after death seems too far-fetched. What if the regeneration is from the herbs given to the children? Maybe they have a unique property that causes rapid healing...' Yang Yichen contemplated, knowing this guess was unlikely to be true.
Looking around, he quickly decided he should conduct his first experiment in this world.
Noticing the small candle next to him, Yang Yichen hesitated slightly before extending one of his palms over the flame. His curiosity as a scientist had overpowered him.
As the tip of the flame touched his palm, he immediately felt a torturous pain, his nerves screaming for him to pull his arm back as his face contorted, but he forced himself to stay still through gritted teeth.
A minute passed, and the awful stench of burnt flesh filled the room as the surface of his palm had turned completely black, his flesh thoroughly destroyed.
'It f*cking hurts!' He screamed in his mind, quickly feeling regret over his stupid decision. But such methods and stupidity had always been a part of human nature. That is how one learns and grows. Seeing no results, he decided to leave it there for a few more seconds.
He knows he should still have his regeneration, so his hands should be fine after some time. It wouldn't make sense if his regeneration was just a one time thing. He was only testing whether his theory was true.
But unexpectedly, after a few more seconds of agony, suddenly, the flesh on his palm began to reconstruct itself. The charred bits of his skin fell off, and even with the candle burning the wound, his healing didn't stop or falter. After ten more seconds, his hand started to feel slightly comfortable from the heat. Though, it still hurt — like touching a plastic cup filled with boiling water.
Yang Yichen's heart was thumping.
Pulling his hand back from the fire and examining it, Yang Yichen had an ecstatic look. His mouth curled into a grin before it suddenly turned into a long laugh.
"This is good! No, great!"
This was definitely the work of Alpha Cells!
Yang Yichen had a body that could partially evolve and adapt to anything that threatened him, both internally and externally. Furthermore, the nature of his cells were quite predatory, devouring other cells or microorganisms whilst adopting its useful properties!
The growth of such cells was practically limitless!
In such a medieval world where weapons of mass destruction and firearms still haven't been created, wouldn't he be invincible?
Yang Yichen formed a brilliant smile.
'Luck was it? I'll make good use of your body and thrive in this world. As thanks for this body, I'll inherit your name and make it known throughout the entire world, haha!'
Yang Yichen didn't care about his name, he wouldn't be sentimental over something so trivial. Furthermore, his original name would probably be strange in this world, not like the name Luck was any better. But at the very least, it'll provide a fresh start for him.
As for his full name, Luckwyrm... he completely forgot about it.
Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder