After being yelled at by Mio, the fur tribe member shrank his neck in fear.
"I-I want the ability of a ghost," he stammered.
Mio nodded lightly, then turned his gaze to the other fur tribe member.
"What about you?" he asked calmly.
This fur tribe member was much more composed. After thinking for a moment, he answered,
"I want to summon shadow warriors and improve my intelligence."
"Alright," Mio said, nodding again. He took another sip of whiskey, then put the bottle down and opened the cage.
Grabbing one of the fur tribe members, Mio pulled him out roughly. As soon as he did, his domineering aura erupted, causing the two fur tribe members to faint instantly.
"It's a bit of a shame to kill such cute little guys," Mio muttered with a grin, looking down at the unconscious fur tribe member in his hand.
These two cat fur tribe members were undeniably adorable — cat ears, cat tails, cat claws — and apart from those features, their faces and bodies were otherwise perfectly human. In essence, they looked just like real cat maids.
Sighing, Mio didn't hesitate. He drew Raikiri and plunged it directly into the abdomen of the cat-fur tribe member.
Blood splattered.
Without hesitation, Mio withdrew the Raikiri. With a thought, the cat-fur tribe member's body disappeared from his hand and entered the cultivation tank.
As for the genes used in the cultivation, Mio proceeded just as he had discussed earlier.
Since this cat-fur tribe member had requested ghost abilities, Mio used the Gengar gene as the primary template. He supplemented it with several beast genes to enhance basic attributes after cultivation.
Then, Mio tapped on the cultivation button and began waiting quietly.
This time, Mio's heart didn't fluctuate much. After using so many top-tier genes to cultivate Talos earlier, this new cultivation used relatively fewer top genes, so Mio didn't feel as excited.
Still, these two little guys were both cat-fur tribes, and the genes selected were quite good.
Moreover, since Mio intended to use them mainly for intelligence purposes, there was no need to invest too heavily—just enough to ensure competency.
Soon, a prompt appeared.
[Please choose the cultivation direction: Beast form? — Human form?]
"Human form, definitely human form," Mio said without hesitation.
They were cat-fur tribe members after all — humanoid forms were clearly the better choice.
Although the fur tribe naturally had humanoid features, Mio couldn't help but feel excited imagining the changes after cultivation.
Finally—
[Training success!]
[Name: Unnamed]
[Abilities:
Electricity (Innate ability to generate electricity through friction to assist in combat),
Speed (Innate and acquired abilities result in very high speed),
Ghost Body (Can transform into a ghost form, pass through walls, become immune to some physical attacks, and hide in shadows),
Change (A small transformation trick, perfect for scaring people),
Ghost Power (A strong power dependent on development by the user),
Insight (Sharp senses capable of detecting hostility),
Wildness Explosion (Under a full moon, may explode with inner wildness, drastically increasing strength but with a risk of losing control)]
[Strength: Commodore of the Navy Headquarters (Ultimate Combat Strength: Rear Admiral of the Navy Headquarters)]
[Potential not yet developed]
"Not bad," Mio muttered, raising his eyebrows slightly.
This ability panel was quite well-suited for intelligence work — strong survivability and useful in the underground world.
The Ghost Body and Change abilities ensured survival.
Insight helped sniff out trouble.
Meanwhile, Ghost Power and Electricity provided decent combat strength, with promising future development.
And the Wildness Explosion…
Mio couldn't help but think of Carrot's moon transformation in the future.
"Maybe it's a similar ability?" he mused, smiling slightly.
Still, he didn't linger on the thought too long.
"I'll extract the ability later. For now, let's finish cultivating the next one," Mio muttered to himself.
With a thought, the newly cultivated fur tribe girl appeared before him.
As expected, she stood naked, with cat ears and a cat tail, but otherwise looked entirely human — an astonishingly beautiful cat maid.
Mio couldn't help but widen his eyes slightly.
"After cultivation… they really become cat maids?!"
"Master," the girl said softly, bowing respectfully toward Mio.
"Wait here for a bit," Mio instructed.
There was still one more to cultivate.
Mio turned back to the cage, grabbed the unconscious fur tribe member, and, just like before, stabbed him with Raikiri.
Blood splattered again.
With a thought, he sent the body into the second cultivation tank and began the process.
First, he selected the Black Shadow gene.
Then, he added the Gray Wolf gene.
Truthfully, Mio wasn't sure where the Gray Wolf gene would be useful. Based on its description, it primarily improved IQ, which aligned with this fur tribe member's earlier request.
"If she asked for it, I'll give it to her," Mio thought.
After all, improved intelligence could help develop his intelligence network better.
He supplemented the cultivation with some additional beast genes to enhance overall ability.
After everything was set, Mio tapped the cultivation button and waited again.
A quarter of an hour later—
[Please choose the cultivation direction: Beast form? — Human form?]
"Human form!" Mio chose decisively.
Having seen the results earlier, he had no intention of choosing beast form.
After another fifteen minutes, the cultivation completed.
[Cultivation successful!]
[Name: Unnamed]
[Abilities:
Shadow Kingdom (Able to enter a personal space that only she can access),
Summon Shadow (Can summon not just one, but nine shadow corps, though it takes time),
Observation (High intelligence allows her to gather information and spot hidden traces through keen observation),
Electric Current (An innate ability aiding combat),
Wildness Explosion (During the full moon, strength skyrockets with risk of losing control),
Darkening (Due to shadow powers, it's easy for her to blend into darkness; when fully darkened, she may summon even more shadow corps)]
[Strength: Marine Headquarters Colonel (Ultimate Combat Power: Marine Headquarters Commodore)]
[Potential not yet developed]
"This strength…" Mio muttered, raising an eyebrow.
Then he relaxed and chuckled.
"That's about right."
After all, the Shadow Corps themselves weren't particularly powerful fighters; their real use was in intelligence and espionage.
Their existence was meant for infiltration and information gathering, not front-line battles.