When Eli got back to his apartment, it was 13:02, so he ordered some food and sat down on the couch in the living room. First, he checked the new quest he got after getting the intel.

Quests: 

Main Quests:

1. Prepare for the Apocalypse

Side Quests:

1. Chain Quest: Cleaning up the Bronx: MS-13

Chain Quest: Cleaning up the Bronx: MS-13: You have obtained the intel on all the gangs in the Bronx from the purple skull gang. Now, you need to scare away one of the gangs you have built a vendetta with, MS-13, in the Bronx. It is not only to strike at an enemy but also to scare the rest, and clarify your intentions.

Description: Kill at least 100 members of the MS-13, wipe out at least 8 small rackets (medium-sized rackets count as 2 small ones, and large rackets count as 4 small ones), without leaving any leads to yourself. Optional: Don't severely injure/kill any Civilians or police. Time limit: 5:00 31/12/2021.
Completion rate: 0/100 kills, 0/8 racket points.

Rewards: 30 points, Driving away all MS-13 presences in the Bronx and intimidating the rest of the gangs, Optional rewards: The goodwill of the Police higher-ups of NYC, and they will continue covering up your tracks. The government will possibly try and recruit you behind the scenes.

Penalties: -15 points, The Bronx will turn into a warzone. Optional penalties: The police higher-ups of NYC will consider you as a threat, and they will stop covering up your tracks. Possibly the government will hunt you down as research material.

When Eli saw this, he was more confused than elated. While he understood the quest and rewards, He had no idea why the penalty included the Bronx turning into a warzone. He barely took out 1 small drug warehouse. It should not have left a large dent in the large MS-13. Naturally, Eli was unaware that he killed the son, daughter in law, and unborn grandchild of the local MS-13 leader, who was now in mourning.

Now for the main topic. He needed to kill 100 gang members and raid the equivalent of 8 small drug warehouses in just 3 nights. That actually sounded hard to pull off, and he needed to consider his next course of action. Going to raid smaller rackets, in all honesty, did not appeal to the current Eli. It was far too easy, and it was also a hassle to move from small racket to small racket. At most in a night, he will be able to move between up to 2 rackets before getting back home. So now, his only options were to either take on a large racket or 1 medium racket and a small racket per night.

Inside the Bronx, MS-13 had 2 large Rackets. The first was a weapon smuggling racket, and the second was a human trafficking racket. They also had 5 medium-sized rackets, such as money laundering and drug trafficking, and over 10 smaller rackets. Those were the rackets under the collective control of the MS-13 and their subordinate forces in the Bronx. The police in the Bronx actually knew all of this, but they turned a blind eye since they did not want to mess with an organized armed force like the MS-13, as well as not possessing conclusive evidence on anything.

Eli considered his options, and in the end, decided to go for the 2 large rackets first, starting with the human trafficking one. He had 2 reasons. First, he hated human trafficking, a very legitimate reason. And second, he wanted weapons. If he could store a bunch of weapons in his storage ring, he could be considered as a walking arsenal! It would last him for a long time. If he still did not kill enough, he would just go on the third night to clear a medium racket and a smaller one.

Now for the original plan he had. Originally, he planned on saving up for the Time Stipend upgrade. However, now, he did not see any need to solely save on it before buying evolution upgrades. After all, if he completed the quest, then he would get 130+ points, and with his 72 points, it would exceed the 200 point mark. Doing some rough calculations, he figured that it would not hurt to upgrade his body whenever possible, and it could even be considered optimal!

Just as he was going to continue thinking about his plans, his food arrived. After eating lunch, he continued to think about what upgrade he should pick. The mana options were off, and he already picked instinct and immunity. Out of the 8 that were left, he immediately crossed off Agility, Cognition, Toughness, and senses. Those 4 were reliant on the other 4 stats. That left Strength, Vitality, Dexterity, and Nerves. However, on second thought, he realized that Strength was also reliant on Vitality. After all, increased strength put more stress on the body, and also burned more nutrients and energy. Vitality just so happened to specifically counter that problem. Dexterity would increase his eye to hand coordination, small movements, and general finesse with his hand and fingers, and while it was useful, it was not useful to him right at this moment. Nerves did nothing more than lay the groundwork for cognition and senses. That left vitality.

Eli was actually still suffering from the aftereffects of cancer. Even though his cancer itself was cured, it still left hidden injuries all over his body. His time as a soldier also gave its toll on his body, not to mention that he was shot 3 times in the stomach area before. He could not jug or run for more than 15 minutes since his body seemed to use more stamina, and it was slightly painful too. Perhaps, upgrading vitality would not only cure all of these but even improve his health to a never-before high! And so, he checked the Vitality again.

Vitality: Affects Organ function, Nutrient capacity, Fatal blow survivability, Natural regeneration, Stamina, lifespan.

Eli nodded and looked at the menu, and saw that the evolution upgrade was still grey, so he passed time by reading, and even cooked himself a very large meal that was enough for 3-4 people, and put it on the side. Before long, the grey upgrade option turned white again, so he selected it...

[Strength Upgrade lvl 1 price: 10]
[Vitality Upgrade lvl 1 price: 10]
[Toughness Upgrade lvl 1 price: 10]
[Agility Upgrade lvl 1 price: 10]
[Dexterity Upgrade lvl 1 price: 10]
[Flexibility Upgrade lvl 1 price: 10]
[Cognition Upgrade lvl 1 price: 10]
[Nerves Upgrade lvl 1 price: 10]
[Senses Upgrade lvl 1 price: 10]
[Instinct Upgrade lvl 2 price: 100 points, 5 lvl 1 monster crystals]
[Immunity Upgrade lvl 2 price: 100 points, 5 lvl 1 monster crystals]
[Mana Conductivity Upgrade lvl 1 price: 10]
[Mana Core Upgrade lvl 1 price: 10]
[Mana Sense Upgrade lvl 1 price: 10]

Vitality lvl1: All organ functions are upgraded, Nutrient capacity is tripled, inefficient Nutrient consumption is halved, metabolism is increased, As long as the brain is not damaged you can survive other organ injuries up to an increased degree, Natural regeneration is 5 times faster and can now heal and regenerate organs and heal hidden injuries, stamina and stamina regeneration is tripled, lifespan is increased by 50 years and aging is reduced. Warnings: Expelling impurities, 3 times higher energy consumption for this evolution than normal, and lack of food might lead to death.

Eli was taken aback, this evolution was very good! If a soldier had this, they can be considered super-soldiers! It basically remade a person into a more efficient machine! It even increased lifespan by a whole 50 years! This is incredible! However, he then looked at the warnings. He could understand the higher energy consumption. After all, he needed to upgrade his entire body foundation. However... "What the fuck is impurity expelling?! Does that mean that I will start shitting myself or something?!"

Not knowing what was about to happen, he decided to just forcefully eat 2 people's portions of food, and stripped all his clothes, took a piece of clean cloth, and went to the bathroom to the shower and bit on the cloth. And then activated the evolution.

The moment he activated it, immense pain, far greater than the time he upgraded immunity, shot through his body. The pain was like ants were gnawing at every nook and cranny across his body. The pain only continued to intensify, however, as he felt he was being torn apart alive! Even when he got shot he didn't feel this level of pain! He almost lost consciousness due to the sheer amount of pain, but he endured.

After a whole 10 minutes of pure agony, the pain stopped. Eli then smelled something horrible. He looked at himself and saw that his body was covered in a thin layer of black oily and smelly tar. He also seemed to piss and shit himself with black liquids, and his mouth also had a very very bad taste more horrible than puke. Immediately, he tried to get up but realized he was weak and shaky, it took him nearly 10 minutes just to get up and turn on the shower. He took nearly 20 minutes of intense scrubbing just to remove the grime and filth, and he could swear that he could still felt that there is still some left. After finishing cleaning his body, he also went and thoroughly cleaned his mouth with mouthwash, gentle floss and brushing his teeth. He also finally noticed that his teeth were actually new! The old teeth fell off into the cloth he bit, but was too tired to notice it! Apparently, teeth are considered as organs and not bones. Once done, he finally checked himself in the mirror and was both stunned and horrified!

Eli looked like an emaciated chemo-therapy cancer patient in his final days! At the same time, however, when he looked at himself, he felt that his body had more vitality and youthfulness than before! It was a bizarre experience. Eli was stunned for half a minute, but then his stomach grumbled hard. He was famished. He immediately rushed to the kitchen butt naked, ignoring the cold of late December, and picked food and started eating. Soon, he finished all the rest of the food he cooked, but to his dismay, he was still hungry! Not caring anymore, he opened the fridge and started eating anything he saw. He first ate all the cheese and preserved meats and bread, He then took all the fruits and vegetables and roughly washed them at the sink before eating them raw. He was still hungry, but now he kept some rationality. He took eggs from the fridge, and cooked them with butter on a pan, and ate a whole 6 of them. After finishing eating everything, only then, was he finally full. He then went and dressed with some whites and cleaned up the mess in the kitchen and bathroom.

Only when he was done, did he check himself again. The emaciated man from before was gone, replaced by a healthy, youthful, and energetic version of himself with the glossy fair white skin of a baby, the tan of his skin, gone. Many joint pains and small internal pains, as well as scratch scars and skin flaws, were gone. The long hair on his head also looked more glossy and vibrant with life. He looked even more handsome than before!

"Wait, my hair was not this long before... My stubble... Why is it gone?! My body hair... Gone... I don't even have pubes now... My manliness... Sub*. Wait, where are my bullet scars? Where is my tattoo?! SHIT!!! This evolution even robbed me of them!? FUCK YOU SYSTEM!!!"

Eli then remembered something, the evolution said that it increased all organs... If he even teethed, wouldn't that mean... He immediately confirmed it and checked his nether regions. The originally slightly above average penis at 17cm erect length and 13cm flaccid length, seemed to be 3 cm longer in its flaccid state and was also thicker! His testicles were also a size larger. Eli, as if forgetting his previous pains, said with a happy smile, "Thank you System!".¹The shallowness of men lol

When Eli was done checking himself, he checked the clock, it was actually now 20:46. He needed to prepare for the raid on the human trafficking racket!

bignt

And here is a chap for you! Happy new year folks!

Also, I have a question. I am considering axing or at least reducing mutants, replacing them with intelligent humanoid monsters. Some of the animals would evolve into an intelligent humanoid race like lamias, harpies, dryads, etc. That 'can' be peaceful, or not. Sex with them would also be a possibility. It is a far away question, and there is plenty of time to still change it since I just wrote the description in chapter 2 and did not mention anything after that. So please do give me your opinions and I will be making a poll.