abnormal mutation

Chapter 136 Membership Benefits and Nicknames

Roland knew about the Extraordinary Contract, but it wasn't 100% secure; there had been many cases of people exploiting loopholes or avoiding the consequences of breach of contract.

In comparison, he trusts his mind lock more, but this should be based on mutual benefit and voluntariness, including the future Hive Network.

The Mind Lock not only prevents leaks but also protects against prying eyes and torture by those with extraordinary abilities. If the holder is infected and not strong enough, erasing their memories is also a possibility.

"Are you interested in working with me?" He looked intently at Colin.

“Uh, join the Northern Merchant Guild? I don’t really like being tied down, and your salaries are really just so-so.” Colin certainly had the right to say that; he was a renowned detective who made a fortune from every case.

"No. I joined a secret organization, by recommendation. Members communicate across space and telepathically, never meeting in person, and all use code names. Transactions are conducted in the same way."

The transaction involves awakening bloodline abilities, with only one or two opportunities per person, and is quite expensive. However, all of this depends on a magical item that also has the effect of preventing leaks and protecting the mind; it must be returned upon withdrawal.

Roland pretended to be just a member of the organization and used his bloodline ability to lure the other party. Abnormal mutation is also considered a bloodline ability, and it's really expensive; he himself hadn't decided what price to sell it for.

"Is this how you acquired your bloodline abilities?" Colin sat up straight, his eyes wide, as if he had discovered some incredible secret.

Roland smiled and said nothing.

"I... I'll think about it." Colin was tempted, but also afraid of falling into a trap. What if he could only go in and never get out, his life and death out of his control? That would be truly tragic.

Cross-space transactions are unheard of; if it's true, it must be a super organization.

Roland pressed on: "I'm very interested in the collaboration you mentioned, but I also need to consider the risks. It's not difficult for me to obtain extraordinary materials from within the organization, such as Dream Dust."

"You didn't expect me to come today, did you?" Colin asked suspiciously.

“If I had that ability, I would have moved the weapons from the vault first, and this whole mess wouldn’t have happened. The organization has no managers, only commissions. Everyone is equal, and we stick together. Your abilities and intelligence are very valuable.” Roland chuckled.

"If I refuse, will our cooperation fall through?" Colin asked, looking conflicted.

"Haha, of course not. You can come find me anytime, I like making friends too." Roland thought Colin was a talented person, and his connections in the detective and extraordinary circles must be extensive.

"I believe you. How do I join?" Colin suddenly stopped hesitating. He didn't believe in that mysterious organization, but he believed in Roland.

He had thoroughly investigated Roland before he came, and all his labels were positive. Even when he left Ice River Town, he took several burdens with him, so his character was impeccable.

Another important reason is that the Karan family is so famous that there are no "bad guys" in their circle. It may seem like a joke, but for thousands of years, no one has broken this rule.

"Uh, then wait for me a moment." Roland didn't expect his attitude to change so quickly.

He hurried upstairs and used the materials he had just collected to weave three divine mind locks. He had already figured out what to do with the other two.

A few minutes later, Colin sat on the sofa with a blank expression and empty eyes.

In his mind, a system interface was glowing faintly, with a pop-up window in the center displaying his avatar.

"Dear new user, welcome to Hive Network. Now, please choose a username. For your security, please do not use your real name."

A spiritual message snapped him out of his daze. He calmed himself down, pondered for a moment, and then named himself "The Singer" because he couldn't sing!
The pop-up disappeared, the screen switched, and the word "Honeycomb" was written at the top, the word "Help" was written in the upper left corner, and a row of numbers was jumping in the upper right corner. Colin could tell at a glance that it was the current time.

Your profile picture is displayed in the upper left corner of the page, and "Singer" is written on the right. Below are several columns of information: Attributes, Wallet, Personal Information, Recommenders, and Settings.

At the bottom of the interface is a row of buttons, also in Arkadian: [Messages], [Contacts], [Discover], [Trade], and [Me], with [Me] currently highlighted and selected.

"Hello singer, you can now view your personal attributes to help you understand your abilities. Or you can complete your personal information to help Hive better serve you."

Colin was somewhat bewildered; the respectful and sweet telepathic message made him think he had entered some high-end club.

He subconsciously tapped on the attribute, the page switched, and several pieces of information appeared before his eyes:

Life: 423/423
Spirituality: 302/317
Strength: 159
Damage increase: 5%
'What does this mean?' He gets an explanation for each attribute he clicks on, but he doesn't fully understand it because of the lack of comparison.

He then clicked on the wallet, but a message popped up saying he didn't have enough permissions.

"What do you mean by insufficient permissions?" he couldn't help but ask.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, you just joined. You'll be able to use the trading, wallet, and authentication functions after you receive your membership benefits in a while," Roland explained from the side.

"There are membership benefits too?" Colin thought it was a bit like a dream. Not only did he not have to pay money, but he also got some benefits. "Yes, there are surprises." Roland didn't say much.

The so-called membership benefit is the "infectious abnormal mutation." If you are not infected, you cannot transmit life. The connection between the chessboard and the holder is not deep enough, so trading, wallets, and authentication are naturally unusable.

Colin didn't complete his personal information. Instead, he clicked on the recommender, who had a blurry profile picture with the word "mysterious person" written next to it.

"What's your online name? I'll add you as a friend." Roland's voice rang in his ears.

"The Singer".

A few seconds later, a number 1 appeared on the contacts button, and the screen vibrated slightly, conveying a message to him:
"A mysterious person wants to add you as a friend. If you don't want to be disturbed, you can turn off message notifications in your settings."

Following the instructions, Colin clicked "agree" and entered a chat interface.

Mysterious man: "I am Roland. You can chat with me on this screen from now on. If I am not online, you can leave a message or initiate a telepathic communication."

Colin fiddled with it for a while before finally figuring out how to use it. It was actually quite simple; it only required thought. It's just that most people hadn't seen this before and needed to get used to it.

Singer: "So 'Mysterious Person' was your online name. I thought there really was a mysterious person."

Singer: "How much of an ordinary person's life is?"

The two were face to face, yet they started chatting online in a strange way.

The mysterious man said, "The lifespan of an ordinary person is probably between 100 and 200. Only the extraordinary have spirituality, which should start at 100. This is just a reference; the core is still extraordinary ability."

Singer: "My lifespan is over four hundred years, what level is that? How many years is your lifespan?"

Mysterious man: "I have over a thousand, while a typical Sequence 8 only has around three hundred, and four hundred is already pretty good."

Singer: "..."

Colin was a bit withdrawn and suddenly didn't want to talk to him. He exited the private chat and started looking at other features.

The "Discover" section contains various observations and stories, roughly divided into observations, announcements, notices, and intelligence. There is a plus sign in the upper right corner, and anyone can post them.

There wasn't much content, only a dozen or so entries. These were all posted by Roland, Charles, and Drake for experiments. The top entry in the intelligence category was "The Great Unveiling of the Seventh Authority."

In addition to the title, there is a brief introduction below, which states that the intelligence records the history and overview of the Seventh Authority, most of the information about the lower sequence stages of the Seventh Apostles, and the core abilities of the higher sequence stages.

Just as Colin's face lit up with joy, the system popped up a message: "Insufficient balance, this post requires payment to read."

Sure enough, he saw the publisher's name and the number 100 below the profile.

"Did you send out the intelligence about the Seventh Authority? Is 100 German dollars? That's not expensive at all," Colin asked.

“100 is life!” Roland raised an eyebrow. “After the wallet is activated, you can deposit your life into it and exchange it for Hive Coins. You can deposit a maximum of 10% of your life at a time, and you can only deposit it again after it is restored.”

"Ah, this, this..." Colin was startled; this approach seemed wrong.

"Don't make a fuss. It's like selling blood; it doesn't harm your body," Roland said calmly.

"Okay." Colin felt something was off. Life has many uses, and it certainly doesn't necessarily have anything to do with cults.

He casually clicked on the "Trading" section, and immediately stood up excitedly, his eyes wide and his breathing rapid.

[Bloodline Awakening] Once, type random; Stock: 1; Publisher: Hive; Fee: To be discussed.

【Spiritual Glimmer】A set of ten, purity 99.9%+; Stock: 100 sets; Publisher: Hive; Price: To be discussed.

【Dust of Dreams】...

[Knight's Path Sequence 9 Paradox Potion]...

"I want to top up my account! Right now!"

(End of this chapter)