Chapter 24: Orlando
Compared to simply using a speed advantage to shake off enemy pursuit, utilizing some simple low-level minor skills and complex terrain to kite enemies is what truly tests a player's fundamental skills.
Frost Breathing, which inherited most of the skill effects of Ninja Arts and Ninja Prosthetic Arm Arts, allowed Roland to move through complex terrain without too many restrictions.
Coupled with Gecko's ability to move by clinging to walls, as long as he opened up his thinking, one or two opportunities to get into the blind spot of his pursuers would be enough for Roland to shake off the Clones.
After shaking off the Clone's pursuit, he entered a civilian house and hid in the attic.
The E3 Barrier Generator was activated, and a transparent energy barrier concealed his figure.
Roland leaned against the wall, running his Breathing Technique to accumulate stacks, while simultaneously observing the movements of the main Ghoul forces using the eye of ishu, a reconnaissance device placed outside.
Upon discovering that the enemy's team had spread out over a large area, conducting a carpet search of the entire region, he instantly formulated a countermeasure for his next move.
"These Ghouls can only pinpoint a general area; precise locations are mainly obtained through reconnaissance by highly agile units.
This leaves a lot more room for maneuver. Relying on the terrain and using guerrilla tactics to gradually wear them down is currently the best strategy."
However, before that, there was one more important task to complete!
Roland took out the corpses of the Magic Ape and Black Dog from his storage space, threw them at his feet, and then placed a black "crystal" on the Magic Ape's chest, saying softly:
"Eat!"
The next second, the crystal cracked, and a black-red liquid substance like asphalt flowed out, covering the Magic Ape's entire corpse in just a few breaths.
Symbiote!
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This alien parasitic organism from the Marvel Multiverse grants the host powerful physical attributes after forming a symbiotic relationship.
In the terms of Wheel of Reincarnation Paradise, it can significantly increase the host's Strength, Agility, and Stamina attributes.
Among the Marvel heroes born from achieving symbiosis with it, the most famous and well-known is "Venom"!
The Symbiote in Roland's hand was something he specifically prepared for entering the tokyo ghoul world. It cost him roughly over 300,000 paradise coins to acquire a dark purple quality "original embryo" from a high-tier Contractor.
An "original embryo" is equivalent to a Symbiote in its infant state, a tissue that can only be separated under very rare circumstances.
These original embryos are extremely pure, having never accepted any host, and thus have never been subjected to any genetic contamination.
In fact, without enough life vitality to activate it, it will remain in its primitive form, without independent thought or consciousness, in a daze, essentially a dead object.
And even if an original embryo is activated, growing it into a complete Symbiote that can provide buffs and even assist in combat still requires consuming a large amount of life vitality.
The resources consumed in this process are enormous, so generally, these Symbiote original embryos are only considered as strengthening materials to improve the toughness and ductility of equipment when forging.
Until, in Season 5, an accidental operation by a player in the tokyo ghoul world changed everything... After Roland acquired the original embryo, he immediately used methods including but not limited to roasting by fire, electric shock, and strong acid immersion to further reduce its life vitality.
The purpose of this move was equivalent to severely starving a child, stimulating its survival instinct, making it realize that if it didn't eat something, it would starve to death.
Although the original embryo had no self-thought or consciousness, it possessed the instincts of a living being. Under the threat of death, it urgently needed to absorb substances related to life vitality to sustain itself.
The original way Symbiotes attached to hosts to survive thus transformed into drawing and devouring the host's life vitality.
On this basis, Roland also fed it the Monstrosities, Clones, and Ghouls he had killed since entering this world.
It's important to know that Symbiotes have the ability to replicate the host's personality, emotions, and genes. In the Marvel storyline, after being separated from Spider-Man, it was able to grant subsequent hosts Spider-Man's abilities.
After continuously consuming more than a dozen Monstrosities, as well as Kirishima Ayato and Nishio Nishiki, two legitimate Ghouls, some biological characteristics and abilities belonging to Ghouls were also imprinted into the original embryo's body.
Among these was "Cannibalism"!
Cannibalism is the act of Ghouls eating Ghouls.
Because eating a Ghoul means absorbing rc cells from the consumed object, the concentration of rc cells in the body also increases accordingly.
Therefore, in theory, Cannibalism enhances a Ghoul's physical attributes and combat abilities, and the stronger the Ghoul consumed, the greater the potential for ability improvement.
If Cannibalism is repeated, the Ghoul itself may evolve into an even more monstrous "Kakuja".
Simply put, feeding Ghouls to the original embryo allows one to obtain equipment with various Ghoul abilities, and this equipment can continue to grow through further feeding.
"At this stage, the child is still picky and only eats Ghouls. Once it's better nurtured, it can be fed the flesh and blood of other high-level creatures, potentially reaching legendary equipment status."
Roland watched the Symbiote's meal with eyes full of anticipation.
In a short while, the Symbiote finished eating the two corpses of the Magic Ape and Black Dog, but it still seemed somewhat unsatisfied.
The viscous, asphalt-like substance continuously swelled and changed before Roland's eyes. In a fierce transformation, a black-red beast opened its fanged maw at him.
"Oh! The initial conscious form appeared so quickly?"
Roland smiled and pierced it with his nichirin blade. A continuous stream of cold air flowed from his arm, through the blade, and onto the Symbiote, forming a layer of ice crystals on its surface.
"Do I need to keep reminding you who your master is?"
The Symbiote didn't last long before it was defeated, showing an attitude of submission, and re-contracted its body, reverting to the appearance of a black water droplet.
"From today onwards, your name shall be Orlando!"
Roland completely encased it in ice crystals, put it into his chest pocket, and patted it twice as he spoke.
"Next, it's time to actively hunt those Ghouls to feed Orlando! This world's Ghouls have extremely high nutritional value; it's grown so much after eating so little, it can already assist me in killing Ghouls! Coming to this world was definitely the right choice!"
Before this, to kill Ghouls, Roland mainly relied on his superior physical attributes to suppress them first.
Then, after applying the negative effect of reduced health regeneration provided by [Subordinate Fangs], he would deal excessive damage that exceeded their regeneration limit in a short period, only then managing to kill the Ghouls.
While this combat style could quickly resolve opponents, it was quite draining for him, especially during such continuous high-intensity combat.
With Orlando, it's different!
Having gained its initial conscious form, Orlando could already cooperate with Roland to a certain extent to "feed."
By attaching to Ghouls and drawing out their rc cells, it could weaken their powerful regenerative abilities.
"My Breathing Technique stacks have accumulated to forty-one layers, that's enough! It's time to take the initiative and reverse hunt those Ghouls!"
Roland put away the energy barrier, stood up, and his eyes gleamed with excitement.