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Chapter 26: Upgrade
🕑 Added 2025-06-11 09:17:09 +0000 UTCEthan, as XLR8, focused his high-speed spinning attack relentlessly on Hardman's back. The screech of his bone-claws against the hardened skin was deafening. He actually managed to cut several shallow but bleeding wounds into his opponent's tough body. Hardman, seeing his vaunted defense finally being broken, grew a bit flustered, and his counter-attacks began to get messy and desperate. Ethan seized this opportunity, stopped his spinning assault in an instant, and expertly tripped him with a whip-fast flick of his tail, pulling the larger man down hard to the ground.
Next, Ethan repeated his old, now signature, trick from his fight with Blitz. Spinning on the spot to build up incredible rotational momentum, he grabbed the dazed Hardman and, with a mighty heave, threw him clean off the stage. It had to be said, this guy's weight after activating his physical hardening ability was still quite terrifying. Ethan almost failed to get him airborne. But luckily, despite the close call, he still won the match.
Two hundred thousand credits in prize money was his! The thirty percent reward from the betting pool, he now understood, was not related to the betting odds themselves but to the total amount of credits wagered on him by the people in the stands. For example, if the audience outside the ring had bet a total of 300,000 credits on him to win, then he would get thirty percent of that, which would be 90,000 credits. So, the more he won and built a reputation, the more people would bet on him, and the more he could potentially earn from the pool.
This time, because of his impressive winning streak, most of the people in the crowd had actually bet on him. The total betting pool was about 500,000 credits, so his thirty percent share came out to a handsome 150,000 credits. Adding the base prize of 50,000 credits for the win, he got a total of 200,000 credits from this single, grueling fight. Having now fought a total of six matches in The Gauntlet, he had earned nearly one million credits back and forth!
"It's getting late," Seraphina said, looking at the time on her datapad. "We should probably go."
"To earn so much tonight, this is awesome!" Marcus exclaimed, still buzzing from their collective success.
"It's not just the credits," Ethan said thoughtfully. "Seeing so many different enemies and different psionic abilities, I feel like I've really deepened my understanding of how to conduct battles, how to adapt."
Seraphina nodded in agreement. "This time when we go back into the wild, our teamwork and effectiveness will definitely be much better than last time!"
"That's right," Ethan said, then turned to her. "Seraphina, I remember you said before that you also really want to fight, that you're not content with just being a support psionicist."
Seraphina’s shoulders slumped slightly. "Yes. Don't mind my usually quiet and gentle appearance; I actually have a heart that yearns for battle. It's just a pity that the ability I awakened is a pure support-type. In the future, even if I absorb skill-infused Aura Cores, I can only absorb other support-type psionic skills. I won't have a real chance to fight on the front lines." As Seraphina said this, her tone was filled with a deep, undeniable regret.
Ethan smiled mysteriously. "Next time we go out into the wild, bring some more weapons and equipment with you. A variety. Of course, you don't need a gun." After all, firearms were strictly banned for civilian use in the Global Concord. Even if she wanted to get one, she couldn't through legal channels.
Seraphina looked at him, puzzled. "A support-type like me, of course I have to bring some weapons for basic self-defense. What are you getting at, Ethan?"
"It's a secret," he replied with a playful tone.
Seraphina groaned. "……” "Riddlers can go die!" she grumbled in frustration.
No matter what Seraphina said, Ethan wouldn't budge. He just told her to prepare more weapons for their next trip. Her mood right now was like someone who had just finished watching a thrilling season finale preview, knowing that the next season would have lots of amazing benefits and exciting activities, but still having to wait for half a month for it to air. That feeling of anxious, almost unbearable anticipation was truly agonizing.
The three of them agreed to set out for the wild again in about a week, giving them time to rest and prepare. Ethan immediately went to several other psionic potion stores and, using his winnings, spent a total of 600,000 credits to buy three more advanced-grade psionic potions. He didn't realistically expect to break through all the way to Level Eight in just a week's time; he just hoped he could advance a little further within his current Level Seven. After all, out in the wild, every bit of extra psionic energy capacity meant a slightly higher chance of survival. And the most important thing was, his potential gains might also be a bit more, hehehe. ┐(︶▽︶)┌
After returning home, Ethan immediately locked himself in his room, took one of the precious advanced potions, and began to channel his Aura. It had to be said, this potion was worthy of being a substance made from refined Aura Cores; its medicinal effects were incredibly potent. The moment he drank it, a vast amount of psionic energy nourished his body. This spiritual power was potent but not violent, and its rate of dissipation was also much slower than that of the other two lower grades of potions. Ethan hurriedly transformed to perfectly absorb the potion's energy. His rank also progressed by a solid ten percent within Level Seven from that single dose.
"It's a pity I can't just drink too many of these advanced-grade psionic potions at once," he thought. "Otherwise, I really might have had a hope of breaking through to Level Eight within a single week." High-grade psionic potions already involved refined Aura Cores, so the required rest time after drinking one was actually longer than for beginner-grade potions, to allow the body to fully assimilate the dense energy. And more importantly, he now didn't have enough credits to buy that many advanced potions; there was simply no way to push his progress all the way to Level Eight so quickly.
Ethan couldn't do anything about it and could only honestly continue to train diligently. A week later, Ethan's rank had already reached the absolute peak of Level Seven, but he was still just a little bit away from breaking through the bottleneck to Level Eight.
The three of them arrived at their designated assembly point at the city gate early in the morning. Seraphina, as requested, had brought their armor. Ethan's and Marcus's were the same sets of light combat gear as before, but Seraphina, in addition to her original equipment, was also now carrying a long, sharp saber and a sturdy-looking long spear on her back. In her left hand, she held a reinforced psionic shield, and at her waist, besides her usual psionic dagger, there were now three more military-grade combat daggers.
Ethan whistled. "You really prepared a lot, Seraphina."
Seraphina rolled her eyes at him. "Well, didn't you specifically tell me to prepare some? So, what on earth are you planning, Ethan? Are you going to tell me now?"
"I'll tell you when we get out there," he said with a mysterious grin.
The three of them presented their identification to the city guard soldiers, passed through the various channel checkpoints, and once again arrived in the vast, untamed wild.
Marcus, looking at the towering, ancient trees, took a deep breath. "Even though this is our second time out here, I'm still very nervous."
Seraphina, however, was more focused on her other friend. "Compared to being nervous, I'm much more curious to know what on earth Ethan is planning! My patience has already reached its absolute limit!" It was obvious that she, with her warrior's heart, was dying to know what secret he held. Although what Ethan had said before wasn't explicit, he was clearly hinting that he had some kind of solution for her inability to fight on the front lines.
Ethan just chuckled. "What's the rush? Just watch carefully." He lifted the Omnitrix on his wrist and turned the dial a few times, passing his other known forms, until the icon changed to a new, unfamiliar alien hero. He then pressed the watch face down. A flash of brilliant green light, and a strange, new creature appeared on the spot. That creature's abdomen was a stark white, its back a sleek black, and its "face" was covered with a large number of glowing green lines, similar in pattern to a complex circuit board. Its head had a single, large, round green eye. The Omnitrix symbol was situated in the center of its chest.
"Upgrade!" This was Ethan's new alien hero—Upgrade!
Upgrade's species, as Ethan now knew, was the Galvanic Mechamorph from the moon, Galvan B. Its entire body was composed of trillions of intelligent nanomachines, which could be best understood as a kind of living, liquid metal. It could turn its body into a fluid, amorphous state, making it almost completely immune to conventional physical attacks. Even most energy attacks could be mostly resisted or absorbed. Because of this unique characteristic, he could reshape his body parts into any shape imaginable. But Upgrade's most incredible ability was that it could attach itself to, and merge with, any machine to upgrade, control, or even destroy it from the inside out. It didn't even have to be a complex machine; even ordinary metal objects, like a simple sword, would do.
Marcus and Seraphina saw this new form. Although they had anticipated he might have unlocked another alien, they were still a bit surprised by its strange, non-biological appearance.
Marcus was the first to ask, "Okay, Ethan… what crazy abilities does this new form have?"
Ethan, as Upgrade, his voice now a smooth, synthesized tenor, replied, "Just talking about it is meaningless. Why don't you experience it for yourself, Seraphina?"
"Huh???" she stammered.
Before Seraphina could react, Ethan, as Upgrade, without another word, flowed forward like a tide of living technology and directly possessed her psionic combat armor, merging with it completely.
"Aah!!!" Seraphina cried out in shock and surprise as her armor began to glow with green, circuit-like lines
