Everything was getting better.

After a day of genuine suffering, Shen Cong had adjusted — both psychologically and physically — to his new body.

December 17th. Sunrise.

No hair anywhere on his body. No teeth. No fingernails. No toenails. The crawling sensation that had plagued him for days was gone. The low fever had broken. Aside from his appearance, he felt entirely normal.

When he made a fist and tested the force behind it, a single phrase surfaced unbidden:

"I went bald, and I got stronger."

The strength that moved through his limbs was clearly beyond twenty-bull. By how much, he couldn't precisely quantify — without fingernails, striking anything properly was awkward, and without teeth, chewing required the improvised metal dental plate he'd fashioned and wedged into his gums. Full-force testing would have to wait.

A check of his gums showed new teeth already emerging at the root lines. The two front teeth in particular had metal tips visibly breaking through. He wasn't actually toothless — he was between sets. Human beings went through one tooth replacement in their lives, milk teeth replaced by permanent teeth. He was going through a second. The permanent teeth being replaced by something new.

He named them iron teeth. An iron person's teeth.

Evolution was remodeling him from the inside out.

Activity Pearls had driven a third physical development — height from 177cm to 190cm, body composition improved throughout. Now this: a second tooth replacement, iron teeth displacing permanent teeth. Both were challenges to the basic biological assumptions about what "growth" meant for a human body.

With his health restored, his emotional state stabilized. The anxiety and irritability of the past two days cleared away. Whatever his appearance became, the goal was the same it had always been: strength and survival.

"Move out."

The snow had melted substantially. Only slush remained — roughly half a meter deep. No obstacle for Great Vajra.

"Understood." Zhao Zilong's voice from the jeep. Her vehicle would struggle in the slush, but with Great Vajra breaking the path ahead, the risk of dropping into hidden holes was much reduced.