The biggest change Great Vajra showed after entering the Lv1 era was its Activity state — and the loss of alloying capability. Fortunately, self-repair remained: when the vehicle took damage, alloying returned to restore it, and extension was still fully functional, actually faster than before.

The speed of it gave Shen Cong an involuntary thought: You're going to be able to transform.

Since they'd entered the Lv1 era simultaneously, the bond between him and Great Vajra had deepened. Great Vajra was no longer a metal object he had to concentrate effort to guide — it had genuinely become a part of his body, the way a limb was. He'd already had one moment where the boundary between himself and the vehicle had seemed to dissolve entirely.

He worked until past midnight recording data, then forced himself back to the bedroom despite having no desire to sleep.

The next morning: clear sun again, snowmelt accelerating.

He woke from a dream to an overwhelming sensation — as if countless tiny ants were crawling through his body from the inside. Every surface of his body prickled with it, deeply uncomfortable.

"What's happening?" He gritted his teeth and tried to think through the discomfort. "Has entering the Lv1 era been a mistake for me?"

There were no examples of an iron person crossing into the Lv1 era. The path was his to discover alone. From Juchao District to New Hefei, from New Hefei to Nanjing — he'd sought larger organizations, hoping for data and accumulated wisdom that could guide his own evolution. He'd found organizations. He hadn't found the answers.

The Old Pearl Mussel's Lv1 transition had been full-body metallic invasion — with life functions intact, the flesh-gold retaining all its original capabilities and gaining more. "Is what's happening to me now the same thing — my muscle tissue beginning to transform toward flesh-gold?"

"What am I becoming?"

He went to the laboratory, found a cutting tool, and opened his own arm.

He watched the cut carefully, looking for evidence of flesh-gold. The skin parted cleanly. Blood flowed — warm, red, unmistakably human blood.…