Apocalypse: My Items Can Upgrade Infinitely

Lin Feng had been reluctant to contact Ding Chenghai. On one hand, the man was at the Research Institute, and their research on the Zerg Race and Superpowers might uncover the secrets he was hiding...

On the other hand, that guy had long since shown an interest in his Synthetic Superpower.

But the situation was urgent. Qin Hu was in a coma, and Lin Feng needed to confirm a few things about his condition.

He made the call, which connected after a good while. Then, Ding Fatty’s familiar, gruff voice came through:

"Finally decided to call me, huh? What, did you run into problems advancing to Tier Two?"

Lin Feng grunted in acknowledgment and asked back:

"Is it a good time to talk?"

Ding Chenghai’s voice grew lower:

"No problem, I stepped outside. Go ahead and say what you need to. There’s no surveillance here."

Lin Feng directly explained Qin Hu’s situation:

"Can a Tier Two Awakening regenerate a severed limb?"

Ding Chenghai pondered for a moment, recalling case files he had read: 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"Probably not. The situation you described is quite unusual—the entire leg was severed, and you didn’t recover the limb."

"According to the latest data from the Capital, there was a case where a forearm was severed, then reattached via suture, and it fully recovered during the Tier Two evolution."

"But based on what you said, Major Qin has such great achievements... it’s just a lost leg, not some terminal illness. The higher-ups won’t let him go that easily. They’ll definitely be able to save his life..."

"It’s just that after the wound is healed, it’ll be very difficult to grow a new leg."

"The most important thing right now is that the Tier Two Awakening humans achieve by killing Zergs isn’t complete."

"To put it in simpler terms, humans have some sort of defect. It causes the final degree of improvement to all our Attributes after Tier One Awakening to fall short of perfection."

"Without using Superpowers, a Tier One Late Stage Black Spine Zerg is far stronger than a human of the same level..."

"I thought you were calling about this."

"This is also the Research Institute’s latest discovery. It can’t be leaked to the public yet."

The more Lin Feng listened, the more his brow furrowed:

"You mean that because of this inherent human defect, even killing a Tier Two Zerg won’t grant a complete Tier Two Awakening?"

"Only an improvement in Physique and Spirit?"

Ding Chenghai nodded:

"That’s right. There have already been cases of Tier Two Zergs being killed in various places, and several powerful Tier Two Awakeners have emerged. However, the data we’ve calculated shows they are quite a bit weaker than Tier Two Zergs. Moreover, they’re almost all physical enhancement types; Awakeners with Spiritual Superpowers are exceedingly rare..."

Lin Feng thought about it carefully. ’A Level 19 Awakener has maximum Physique and Spirit values of 150, whereas a Tier One Late Stage Black Spine Zerg or Cyan-winged Zerg, despite its low Spiritual Value, has a Physique of 190.’

’And the Tier Two Zergs they evolve into have a Physique of over 200. That’s a good quarter stronger than humans.’

"Is there any way to make up for this defect?"

Lin Feng recalled his own experience with Breaking the Limit and added another question:

"Is it possible to break through the limit? I’ve seen those Physical Enhancement Awakeners who can boost their Physique Value by 30%. Their burst power at Tier One Late Stage isn’t that far off from a Late Stage Black Spine Zerg..."

Ding Chenghai took a deep breath:

"Yes, but that all relies on the enhancement from Superpowers. To break through the Basic Attribute Values, you need to make changes at the fundamental level of biotechnology."

"Fundamentally improving humanity’s evolutionary potential."

Lin Feng glanced at Shen Jie and the others in the distance, a guess forming in his mind:

"You’re saying... start with the Zerg Race?"

Ding Chenghai didn’t respond, remaining noncommittal. There were some things he could disclose, but for certain classified secrets, especially those involving secret research projects that violated certain prohibitions, he could only mention them cryptically.

Lin Feng understood the rules and didn’t press further, changing the subject to his other purpose:

"What’s the current progress on the research and utilization of Zerg Biological Materials?"

New types of weapons and equipment were Ding Chenghai’s main research focus. At the mention of this, he immediately perked up:

"That woman you specifically escorted last time... what was her name... uh... Fish Fillet or something..."

Lin Feng’s face darkened.

"Her name is Zhang Yurou."

Ding Chenghai said dismissively:

"The name’s not important. What’s important is that set you gave her, the Biological Armor—it was made from a Red-Armored Beetle’s back armor, right? We can make preliminary reproductions of it now."

"The Research Institute has tentatively named it ’Red Armor’."

"A mature cutting assembly line has already been set up in our rear factory. In three days at the latest, large batches of complete Red Armor sets will be sent to the front lines to equip our Federation soldiers."

"Currently, the Red Armor is divided into three levels. Level 1 comes from ordinary Early Stage Red-Armored Beetles and can only stop pistol or small-caliber rifle rounds. But the Level 3 Armor, made from the back armor of Late Stage Red-Armored Beetles mixed with Fine Steel, can even withstand the Giant Mandible attacks of a Tier One Black Spine Zerg..."

"This way, our soldiers will no longer be so vulnerable and passive when facing a close-quarters attack from Black Spine Zergs."

Lin Feng nodded. It had only been about a week since the Zerg Race invasion began. Humanity’s reaction speed was not slow, just as he had expected.

"That’s good. Being able to make use of the spoils of war on hand will lessen the pressure on the supply chain."

Ding Chenghai kicked at the loose gravel by his feet. The frontline Research Institute was located in the suburbs of Jin City, a deserted and desolate area.

"We have you to thank for that. But the factory producing the Red Armor is in your sister-in-law’s hands now, so don’t you go asking us for intellectual property fees..."

Lin Feng laughed and then asked:

"What’s the progress on your research into the Black Spine Zergs and Cyan-winged Zergs? And the Tier Two Tiger Spine Zergs?"

Ding Chenghai was a smart man and quickly guessed the meaning behind Lin Feng’s words:

"We just got word. The Thirteenth Division has a newly acquired Tiger Spine Zerg corpse..."

"This is the real reason you called, isn’t it, you punk?"

Lin Feng nodded and admitted:

"I don’t have a reason to ask the Thirteenth Division directly, and the Major I’m on good terms with, Major Qin, is currently in a coma from severe injuries."

"If he could wake up sooner, I wouldn’t have had to trouble you."

Ding Chenghai hesitated for a moment before replying:

"That thing is indeed being transported back to the Research Institute. We know very little about the Tier Two Zerg Race right now, so this fresh corpse is extremely valuable. It can help us understand the structure of Tier Two Zergs and analyze their weaknesses."

"Of course, the Thirteenth Division isn’t giving it away for free. We need to provide them with research data and our latest experimental technology."

"They also demanded to be the first to receive a supply of the Level 3 Red Armor that’s about to roll off the production line, to be equipped at the same time as the Capital’s forces."

Lin Feng’s brow furrowed slightly. Knowing he couldn’t get it for free, he replied:

"A corpse is dead, after all. There’s only so much you can learn from studying it. But I can provide you with a large number of live specimens for your various experiments..."

Hearing Lin Feng’s offer, Ding Chenghai was tempted:

"We don’t need low-level Red-Armored Beetles; the Research Institute has a huge pile of them. But if it’s Tier One Black Spine Zergs, or even the hard-to-catch Cyan-winged Zergs..."

Lin Feng raised an eyebrow:

"Five Black Spine Living Zergs, one live Cyan-winged Zerg."

"I only want to trade for the Tiger Spine Zerg’s Giant Mandibles. You can keep its torso and brain structure for yourselves."

Ding Chenghai thought for a moment. They only needed to take samples from the Tiger Spine Zerg’s Giant Mandibles to analyze their composition and hardness. There wasn’t much else to study in depth.

Trading them for live Tier One Zergs...

It was absolutely more than worth it.

So he agreed immediately.

"Alright. The Tiger Spine Zerg corpse will probably be delivered this afternoon. We can make the trade tomorrow evening."

Lin Feng nodded, and with the agreement made, he hung up the phone.

With that matter settled, a notification for his Armored Tank’s completed Upgrade appeared before his eyes:

[Flying Wing Tank LV 16/19, Red Quality]

[......]