The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 170

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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Chapter 170. Breaking Through Limits (2)
Through Predation [S+], Camirus’s genetic markers were being inscribed into my body.
Beneath my skin, adipose tissue writhed and repositioned itself.
Around my organs, fat accumulated in thick layers.
Within my bone marrow, even fatty tissue transformed into a high-density energy reservoir.
◆Your current maximum usable caloric capacity is 101,000 Kcal.
…The increase in my caloric limit fell short of my expectations.
A mere 1,000 Kcal.
It might as well not have increased at all.
There were two primary reasons for this.
The first was the incompleteness of Predation [S+].
The skill’s rank had been absorbed as [D], not [C+].
“The problem is my body fat percentage is far too low.”
The second reason was that my body possessed almost no adipose tissue.
Could it be around 1%?
It probably wasn’t even that much.
In other words, my state was little different from death—lacking even the essential fat necessary for bone marrow and vital organs.
The reason I didn’t die was Nutrient Synthesis [B].
It continuously synthesized the essential fats I needed.
The caloric cost of this process was substantial.
Without exaggeration, calories were evaporating with every breath I took.
Yet gaining weight now was out of the question….
“Gaining fat right now is simply impossible.”
Not because my body would become sluggish or my reaction speed would slow.
It was literally impossible.
Accumulating body fat was an advanced form of evolution.
Because fat was far more than mere tissue.
When famine strikes, it becomes energy.
When bitter cold descends, it becomes insulation.
When impact arrives, it becomes a buffer.
Thus, fat was a multifunctional nutrient with infinite survival applications.
Therefore, gaining weight wasn’t simply a matter of eating more.
It was the talent to store everything consumed without waste.
In other words, it was the product of advanced evolution that maximized survival probability.
Only organisms that achieved advanced evolution could possess this ability, and humans too had the capacity for fat accumulation, but….
“The Ogre’s abilities are problematic in many ways.”
My body, evolved through Predation [S+] of the Ogre.
Particularly due to Ultra-High-Density Muscle Fibers [A+], the function of fat accumulation had completely atrophied.
My body was too preoccupied with maintaining muscle.
As a result, my body’s genetic priority had shifted from fat to muscle.
Fat was consumed without any chance to accumulate, and its production was suppressed as well.
And unfortunately.
Even Camirus’s abilities couldn’t solve this fundamental problem.
But now was a time before The Emperor began his full activities.
Accordingly, The Continent was teeming with rare creatures in endless variety.
“If Camirus exists, then this one should too.”
There was another rare ability that could solve this problem.
* * *
After wandering through the Desert for several hours.
“Is that it?”
A peculiar presence caught my attention beyond the sand dunes.
The same appearance as Camirus.
But there was a difference from Camirus.
Namely, two prominent humps rising upward.
“That seems to be it.”
Using Predator’s Instinct[S], information about the creature appeared before my eyes.
==【Individual Information】==
Individual: Bacterion
Classification: Monster-type Mammal, Artiodactyla, Camelidae
Gender: Male
Age: 13 years
Characteristic: Dual-Lobed Reservoir[C]
Bacterion.
This was the creature I had been searching for.
As the classification revealed, it was a monster that had undergone mutation from a camel like Camirus.
However, while Camirus was a mutated individual of a dromedary, Bacterion was a mutated individual of a Bactrian camel.
Though both belonged to the Camelidae family, their monsterization created a difference at the ‘species level’.
Therefore, cross-breeding between them was impossible.
Monkeys and chimpanzees.
Just as breeding is impossible despite both being primates.
In other words, Camirus and Bacterion were genetically distant, and thus possessed different abilities.
In that sense, the dual humps.
With two humps on the back, the fat storage capability was also ‘dual-layered’.
◆Dual-Lobed Reservoir[C]
: Upon acquiring this skill, the player’s adipose tissue evolves into a [Dual-Lobed Storage Tissue] that mimics the dual-hump structure. Caloric accumulation efficiency increases by [+200%] per [1g of fat].
【This skill is permanently applied upon acquisition as a passive skill.】
Fat contains 9 Kcal per gram.
It possesses the highest caloric content among nutrients.
Dual-Lobed Reservoir[C] was an ability that increased this fat’s accumulation efficiency by [+200%].
Simply put, it meant I could compress and store 18 Kcal per gram of body fat.
The efficiency of fat storage varies.
With it, the maximum accumulative caloric capacity also increases.
By simple calculation: twofold.
But when combined with the high-density adipose tissue [C] I had previously devoured [S+]?
As the density of adipose tissue strengthens by [+500%], the caloric accumulation efficiency per gram of fat simultaneously improves by [+200%].
By simple calculation: tenfold.
I could compress and accumulate a staggering 90 kilocalories per gram of fat.
With fat accumulation efficiency itself transformed, I could extract considerable returns even from minimal body fat percentage.
◆You have defeated Bacterion!
◆You have acquired 80 combat experience!
* * *
Due to the incompleteness of Devour [S+], I could not obtain complete genetic factors in a single consumption.
Besides, I needed to accumulate Sanity points anyway.
After that, I continued to traverse the Desert, searching for Camirus and Bacterion.
However, the Desert’s harsh environment naturally harbored little life, and both specimens were so rare that I could not locate them easily.
Thus continued several days of hunting.
Unfortunately, I could not gather all the Sanity points required for Super Regeneration [A].
◆High-Density Adipose Tissue [C+]
◆Multi-Storage Tissue [C]
Still, I managed to secure the complete genetic factors for both abilities.
With this, my currently available caloric capacity is—.
◆Your current maximum available caloric capacity is 194,500 kilocalories.
Approximately 190,000 calories.
It fell slightly short of my target of 200,000.
Though fat efficiency had amplified tenfold, my body fat was so minimal that my maximum available caloric capacity did not increase proportionally.
Yet I could not gain weight.
The ability to gain weight had completely “atrophied.”
In other words, 190,000 calories represented my genetic limit.
…Or so it seemed.
If I had no memories of my past life.
If I lacked the biological evolution knowledge Iliana had taught me, that would certainly have been the organism’s limit.
But now it was different.
This was not the end.
Camirus’s high-density adipose tissue [C+].
Bacterion’s multi-storage tissue [C].
These two abilities could never naturally combine in nature.
Camirus and Bacterion cannot interbreed with one another.
Therefore, their two abilities could not genetically merge.
But my ability, Devour [S+].
I could obtain both of these distinct evolutionary abilities.
And by combining the two abilities, I could develop them even further.
◆Combination Skill acquired: Ultra-Compressed Adipose [U]!
◆Ultra-Compressed Adipose [U]
: Upon acquiring this skill, the player’s adipose tissue takes on a [+1,260%] compressed structure while simultaneously forming [Multiple Storage Layers]. As a result, the caloric accumulation efficiency per gram of fat increases by up to [+1,180%], and the total caloric accumulation limit expands by up to [+3,190%].
【This skill is permanently applied upon acquisition as a passive skill.】
【This combination skill is formed by merging High-Density Adipose Tissue [C+] and Multiple Storage Tissue [C].】
Its rating tier is [U].
It was a Unique ability that could never naturally combine in nature.
And combination skills weren’t simply mixing two abilities together.
They mutually compensated for the limitations between two abilities.
Creating a synergistic effect—a form of ‘evolution’ in essence.
◆Your current maximum accumulation capacity is 31,900,000 Kcal.
I had obtained a maximum caloric capacity that exceeded my expectations.
It was practically fusion reactor-grade fuel. This was.
With a bit of exaggeration, my body had become an Arcanoheart-class storage tank.
With this, there was no need to gain weight or anything like that.
The fat accumulation efficiency itself had reached a different dimension.
Even with an extremely low body fat percentage, I could now extract tremendous efficiency.
I had surpassed my limits—no, I had broken through them.
However, there was one thing.
“I can’t utilize all of this.”
For one, my body fat percentage was extremely low.
“There seems to be a bottleneck.”
In simple terms, the speed at which I could decompose the ultra-compressed adipose tissue and convert it into ‘calories’ was slow.
The storage tank had grown larger, but the opening remained the same.
Ultimately, the calories I could immediately utilize were….
◆Your current maximum usable caloric capacity is 332,000 Kcal.
Approximately 330,000 calories.
It was disappointing, but acceptable.
My target for maximum accumulation capacity had increased.
Not the 200,000 calories I had originally aimed for, but 330,000 calories instead.
Most importantly, this was a problem caused by the bottleneck.
If I resolved the bottleneck?
I could harness a staggering 31,900,000 Kcal of fusion reactor-grade energy.
My ability Devour [S+] could continue to transcend the limits of life, and I already possessed the evolutionary ability in my mind to resolve the bottleneck.
With this.
“I’ve surpassed it.”
I had broken through my limits once again.
“Now then, shall I go?”
All preparations for advancing to The Continent were complete.
* * *
The trading city of Caravana.
Unlike other Free Cities, it had developed with a focus on commerce and distribution.
Countless merchant guilds from across The Continent had established themselves in Caravana.
Caravans of camels shaking off sand and dust.
Ships preparing to set sail from the harbor.
Nomads pitching their tents, and so forth.
Diverse races and cultures from across The Continent had gathered in Caravana, united by the common purpose of profit.
As such, the trading rights of Caravana were far more than a simple market expansion.
They were a great gateway through which one could extend influence across the entire Continent.
Countless merchant guilds from across The Continent lined up at Caravana’s city hall, vying for those trading rights.
And overseeing the authorization of trade permits was the administrative clerk, Fenric.
Fenric glanced at the man standing at the reception counter.
Black hair—uncommon on The Continent.
He appeared remarkably young.
At most, early twenties?
Yet his complexion was so flawless he could have passed for a teenager.
‘A young noble, it seems.’
This noble youth before Fenric sought authorization for a trade permit.
So Fenric examined the trade license application he had submitted….
‘Night Beer…?’
What manner of product was this that he’d never heard of?
The name alone was utterly terrible.
At first glance.
‘Just another pretentious young noble with delusions of grandeur.’
It happened often enough.
Provincial noble youths, drunk on their own importance, frequently tried to push their own brands.
But the results had never been favorable.
Not even once.
Commerce was hardly an easy endeavor, after all.
There was nothing more to see.
Still, Fenric clicked his tongue disapprovingly and turned another page of the document.
===
[Monthly Production] – 8,000,000L
[Inventory Turnover Rate] – Average 0.6 days
[Recontract Rate] – 99.9%
===
‘…What is this?’
Fenric’s eyebrows twitched involuntarily.
Eight million liters per month in production volume?
No brewery on the Continent could operate at such a scale.
The combined output of twelve merchant guilds distributing liquor in the eastern territories barely reached six hundred thousand liters monthly.
Yet this operation produced eight million liters—over ten times that amount?
From a single merchant guild?
In one month?
It made no sense whatsoever.
It wasn’t merely nonsensical—it bordered on absurdity.
And what of the inventory turnover rate?
‘Average of 0.6 days?’
This meant that prepared inventory was completely depleted in less than 0.6 days—not even half a day.
In simpler terms, stock sold out the moment it arrived.
Goods vanished from the warehouse without a trace.
Even merchant guilds distributing the most phenomenal products couldn’t achieve such turnover rates.
The Ernain Merchant Guild—one of Caravana’s four great merchant houses.
Even the Ernain Merchant Guild, renowned for exceptional inventory turnover, averaged thirty-five days.
Yet 0.6 days?
Clearly, these were impossible figures.
At least fabricate something plausible.
‘And a 99.9% contract renewal rate is what exactly…?’
Fenric understood immediately.
It was a lie.
In other words, they’d falsified the ledgers and inflated the numbers.
To easily obtain trading permits in Caravana.
But whom did they take him for?
Fenric had spent fifteen years grinding away in Caravana.
Even if one were to fabricate records.
Shouldn’t one at least make it convincing enough to deceive?
…Never had he encountered such an incompetent amateur.
“Sigh…”
Fenric exhaled a frustrated breath.
Pressing his temples, he fixed the man standing across the counter with a sharp glare.
“Are you joking with me right now?”
“What problem is there?”
Look at that shameless face.
Fenric tapped the documents repeatedly as he spoke.
“These figures. Are you certain they’re accurate?”
“Yes, they are.”
“…Is this really all of it?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Now listen here, you little brat….”
Fenric no longer felt the need to maintain civility.
“You little fool, if these numbers are all true, then we’re talking about a monstrous product capable of shaking the very foundations of the Continent’s entire distribution structure.”
But then.
“Such a product emerges from the hands of a mere child like you, and now you stand before me at the reception desk asking for a single approval stamp?”
“Is there a reason it shouldn’t be approved?”
“…Are you joking? Forget it.”
There was no point in arguing further.
“Get out of my sight this instant. I’m calling the guards to drag you out—”
That was precisely when it happened.
CRACK!!
A rough hand struck the back of Fenric’s head with brutal force.
“─Ugh!”
With a strangled cry, Fenric’s face slammed directly into the desk.
“…What madman dares—!”
Fenric held a considerably high position as an administrative clerk.
There were only a handful of people in the entire office building with a rank higher than his….
“Me, you fool.”
…That voice was familiar.
Fenric slowly lifted his head to see the face of his assailant.
And in that instant, all color drained from Fenric’s face.
“M-M-Mayor?!”
The Mayor of Caravana.
Levantis Pel Guardian.
He was the man who held absolute control over all trade rights in Caravana—a legendary figure whose mastery of commerce and distribution had shaken the very order of the Continent itself.
The famous 1,004-day trade war.
That he brought three kingdoms to their knees without spilling a single drop of blood remained a legendary tale spoken of to this day.
The Trade King who commanded every Merchant Guild across the Continent.
Even a kingdom’s own sovereign dared not treat him carelessly—and that man was Levantis….
“Do you have a death wish?”
And now that very Levantis glared at Fenric as though ready to beat him to death.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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