Chapter 61: New Ability: Launching Adhesive Silk

As Liu Hen entered the room, everyone suddenly looked toward Zong Ni, their gazes carrying a subtle change.

The Wu siblings wore looks of envy tinged with a hint of awe.

Liu Hen's previous remark was, for all intents and purposes, a disguised form of favoritism toward Zong Ni. From this moment on, Zong Ni was someone close to Liu Hen, a person they could not afford to cross.

Chen Ye felt envious as well. Having truly witnessed Liu Hen's strength, and especially after learning that Sister Chang intended to follow Liu Hen for a period, she held nothing but profound reverence for him.

Chang Xin patted Zong Ni on the shoulder. "This is your chance. Cherish it well."

Feeling somewhat undeserving of such favor, Zong Ni said, "There is... really nothing between him and me. Perhaps he was simply unaccustomed to me changing how I address him."

Chang Xin smiled faintly and said no more. Even if Liu Hen truly was just unaccustomed to the change in address, it was undoubtedly an opportunity for Zong Ni; whether she could seize it depended entirely on her own abilities.

...

Upon entering the room, Liu Hen immediately opened the manufacturing tab of the Creation Workbench, placing the six pieces of sticky silk wood core bark along with a magic crystal inside.

The countdown was one minute.

*What kind of function will this have?*

He wondered with quiet anticipation.

A minute passed quickly, and a brand-new thermal hood was successfully crafted.

Liu Hen chose to claim it and checked its information within his spatial backpack:

[Thermal Hood (Sticky Silk): ...; Wearing this thermal hood allows the wearer to consume their own vital energy and spirit to produce temporarily existing sticky silk. The duration and toughness of the sticky silk are related to the quality of the wearer's vital energy and spirit.]

*It really is sticky silk?*

This was essentially inheriting some of the characteristics of the sticky silk wood.

Liu Hen immediately removed the thermal hood of his current set, taking it off to switch to the new one.

However, the moment the original hood was removed, the set bonus instantly expired, and the five hundred kilograms of strength granted to him vanished.

Immediately, the lingering effects of his previous frostbite struck him all at once, causing him to stagger and nearly fall.

"Milord..."

Little Heishi materialized out of nowhere, hurriedly steadying him with a nervous look on her face. "Are you alright?"

At that moment, a knock sounded at the door, and Chang Xin's voice came from outside, "Do you need any help?"

"No need. I am busy, do not disturb me."

Liu Hen replied coldly, then pushed himself to put on the new thermal hood. He soon discovered that this basic-tier thermal hood could not be integrated with the bronze-tier set modules.

*As expected...*

This was well within his expectations.

*It seems that only modules of the exact same tier can form a set bonus.*

With no other choice, he had to craft other set modules matching his body size anew.

Outside the building.

Chang Xin stood hugging her severely undernourished and meager chest, deep in thought. *It seems that such a terrifying burst of power earlier was not without a cost. That makes sense.*

She possessed a special tracking ability, allowing her to view a person's state over a past period based on their aura.

Earlier, she had harbored some suspicions and thus checked Liu Hen's condition during his time on the roof, discovering that there was a period when he could barely stand steady.

Originally, seeing Liu Hen act as if nothing had happened as he went out to gather materials and showing no abnormalities upon his return, she had thought she was overthinking it.

*It seems that during this period, I, the future king, will have to work a bit harder. I cannot always let my future general stand at the front lines for everything.*

Chang Xin lifted her Tang saber, pointing it into the darkness with deep, contemplative eyes.

...

*The lingering effects are more severe than I imagined. It seems that unless absolutely necessary, I must never use the ultimate-yield thermobaric bomb again.*

Inside the homestead building.

When the new thermal garments were crafted, Liu Hen removed his bronze-tier thermal suit and prepared to put on the new ones, only to discover patches of frostbite covering his upper body.

Severe chilblains had formed in numerous areas.

Previously, while wearing the bronze-tier thermal set, the formidable strength enhancement combined with the suit acting like a second layer of skin—somewhat akin to local anesthesia—had dulled the pain of the injuries.

The moment the ultimate-yield thermobaric bomb was detonated, his entire body's temperature had instantly drained away, leaving him feeling as though he had turned into a block of ice.

Even though the bronze-tier thermal set had managed to draw warmth from the campfire to supply his body in time, he had still suffered severe frostbite.

And prior to that, he had only used the ultimate-yield thermobaric bomb three times in total.

Perhaps it was because the final time required squeezing his body temperature to its absolute limit that such lingering effects were caused.

"Milord..."

Plump Little Heishi—looking completely different from her previous skin-and-bones appearance—wore a look of deep concern as she gazed at the frostbite on Liu Hen's body.

"Rest assured, a few minor injuries like this cannot affect your lord."

Without changing expression, Liu Hen put on the new thermal garments, showing not a shred of worry himself.

That was because the upgrading of the All-Things Pickaxe would repair his physical injuries.

As each module of the thermal set was crafted, he simultaneously removed the bronze-tier set modules and replaced them with the new ones.

Finally, factoring in a brief interval spent gathering small blocks of wood and small iron ore veins, it took a mere dozen minutes or so to forge the brand-new set.

When he put on the remaining modules, they immediately fused with one another, forming an all-inclusive jumpsuit that covered his entire body, hood included. At that moment, the brand-new set bonus finally came into being.

[Thermal Set (Decayed Wood): The wearer gains an additional one hundred kilograms of strength on top of their base strength...; Set Bonus: Fire Sticky Silk (Consumes vital energy and spirit to produce a temporarily existing strand of sticky silk shot from the palm. The other end of the sticky silk possesses extreme adhesiveness. The duration and toughness of the sticky silk, aside from being related to the set tier, are also related to the quality of the wearer's vital energy and spirit. Upgrade materials: 100 blocks of iron ore, 100 magic crystals)]

As expected, this new thermal set provided enhancements to strength and physique as well.

Such enhancements seemed to be the foundational effect of the set.

Meanwhile, the previous thermobaric bomb and the current sticky silk projection appeared to be special effects.

The foundational effect remained unchanged; only the special effects varied.

*Fire sticky silk?*

With a thought from Liu Hen, a nearly transparent strand of sticky silk instantly shot from his palm.

With a soft *thwip*, the other end of the sticky silk firmly adhered to the wall. No matter how hard he pulled, it would not budge—nor, of course, did the sticky silk snap.

With his current strength, he simply could not break this astonishingly tough, nearly transparent sticky silk.

*Why does this feel somewhat reminiscent of Spider-Man's web?*

He felt a mild sense of puzzlement. Was he supposed to play extreme sports in the night fog world?

The environment certainly didn't allow for it; those low, twisted trees offered nothing to swing from.

Moreover, this sticky silk seemed to lack direct lethality, providing negligible amplification to actual combat prowess.

Standing nearby, Little Heishi couldn't help blinking, staring in astonishment at her lord's 'new ability.'

She could tell that her lord's ability seemed to be connected to the new clothing.

This realization sent a quiet shock through her, as she already knew that her lord could endlessly manufacture this kind of clothing.

Could it be that, given sufficient materials, her lord could acquire a continuous stream of new abilities?

This... was simply incredible!

Little Heishi's heart surged with turbulence, and she couldn't help wondering: are true extraordinary beings all this terrifying?

That Chang Xin outside didn't seem weak either; that ability to bestow titles upon soldiers—if she grew stronger and could bestow titles upon a sufficiently large number of soldiers, the resulting impact would be astronomical.

Of course, that was assuming the other party could truly bestow titles upon enough soldiers.

Furthermore, the other party apparently possessed miraculous tracking methods.

Liu Hen continuously tested his new ability, firing strands of sticky silk toward the surrounding walls.

Soon, he discovered to his surprise that while this ability seemingly lacked great direct lethality, its consumption was remarkably low.

Just like now, when he fired the sticky silk normally, he could barely feel any energy drain.

Furthermore, there was no restriction on the length of the sticky silk. As long as he was willing to expend his vital energy and spirit, he could continuously draw out silk from his palm for as long as he pleased.

Naturally, he could sever the sticky silk at any time with a single thought, as these sticky silks were entirely materialized manifestations of his own vital energy and spirit.

Even sticky silk that had already left his body could be severed just as easily. His own ability could never become a source of trouble for him.

In this regard, it was even more convenient than Spider-Man's webs.

Additionally, the moment the sticky silk was fired, it possessed a certain piercing effect. While far inferior to a bullet, hitting someone with it would undoubtedly cause a sharp sting.

Though the indoor space was too confined to test the maximum firing range of the sticky silk for now, based on his tactile feedback, he estimated the maximum effective firing range should be around ten meters.

As for the projected sticky silk, it could persist for a maximum duration of about ten seconds.

And this was merely at the Decayed Wood tier, completely unupgraded.

*This is practically materializing sticky silk out of thin air. Although this set bonus doesn't show much amplification to combat power for now, its potential feels formidable.*

Liu Hen still decided to upgrade it to observe its subsequent effects.

The previous thermal set's initial effect was merely an air cannon; the Black Iron tier added an air compression bomb, and only upon reaching the Bronze tier did it transform into a thermobaric bomb.

*Since that's the case, let's upgrade.*

He was eager to see what kind of functions this set would evolve.

As the already-gathered one hundred small blocks of iron ore and one hundred magic crystals vanished, the upgrade countdown began.

The upgrade duration was likewise one hour.

*Well then, next up is building the encampment...*

Liu Hen retracted the hood back into the collar of his thermal suit to conceal it, and just as he prepared to head outside, a thought struck him.

*My homestead doesn't seem limited to just one; I can build multiple. As long as there is a campfire, the homestead building mode can be activated.*

*If that's the case...*

His original plan had been to use the free-building mode with large rubble to pave the ground, creating a flat area, and then construct thick perimeter walls along the edges.

However, the free-building mode would not receive the campfire's tier blessings, and building houses would be restricted to using the raw prototypes of materials.

Unless he used small stones, the construction speed would be far too slow.

On the other hand, using large materials for construction would be too wasteful, and the walls would be overly thick, occupying too much space—a classic case of the losses outweighing the gains.

*Then I'll just set up a few more campfires. These campfires don't need to be upgraded too high, nor do they even need to be lit ordinarily; as long as they can reinforce the building modules, that's enough.*

Those campfires could be lit the next time they faced crises such as demon invasions, sharing the pressure with the primary campfire and vastly increasing the safety of the encampment.

With this thought in mind, he immediately retrieved large batches of materials and swung the All-Things Pickaxe to begin gathering.

His encampment, even if merely a temporary resting post, had to be built solidly enough. This was taking responsibility for his own life.

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(End of this chapter)