Chapter 1398 – More Mutating

Just those two mutations are going to cost me one hundred and sixty five a piece. It’s so expensive to mutate at this tier… and it’s harder than ever to get a decent amount of Biomass! Those stomach mutations are a lifesaver, seriously.

Moving on, I think it’s time to take a look at some other, key body parts that could use some powering up. First of all, the Vestibule.

I’ve focused entirely on increasing the range so far, all the way to +30 and it really pulls in the Will, that’s for sure. At the +35 level, I have no idea what sort of options are going to show up, but I probably don’t need any more range? Surely there’ll be something interesting.

I mean, all the Vestibule does is pull in Will, or receive Will, or whatever, and send it into my body, which gives a variety of effects. My remarkable endurance is due to the Vestibule, after all. The only thing it doesn’t help me regenerate is mana.

Improving the range is amazing, but there has to be a limit. I mean, no matter how much I mutate it, it’ll never reach the second stratum from the fifth.

Diving into the menus once again, I look around for anything that might prove useful. Despite its seemingly limited function, there’s still a lot of options for the Vestibule, and I take the time to read a selection to try and get a sense for what is possible.

There’s a few options that take me by surprise, such as one which effectively lets me aim the vestibule? From the description, it seems to… direct the opening in order to extend the range even further? Right now, it doesn’t matter where a member of the Colony is relative to me, so long as they fall inside the area of the Vestibule’s effect, I’ll receive the Will they send me. With this mutation, I could point the Vestibule ‘up’, and only receive Will from ants above me. It sort of makes sense, since most of the Colony are generally above me in the Dungeon, but even if it doubled the range, I still don’t think it’s worth it.

Another option lets me shut the Vestibule? I mean… why? If I think of the Vestibule as a gateway, this mutation lets me put a door on it? I really don’t see the benefit… but hey, it’s in the list, so it must have a purpose… probably.

There’s one that puts some sort of… watchdog on the Vestibule? It says it defends it in the description, but again, from what? And how? This, along with the Templars showing up in the Nave, tells me that there’s a lot more to the Vestibule than I know. Clearly, it’s possible to interfere with the energy in a nefarious way, but I can’t imagine how that works.

Eventually, I narrow down the options to a few I feel I can live with.

The first is an Infusing Mutation that will improve the regeneration rate provided by the Vestibule. Faster fatigue reduction, stamina replenishment, organ refill… it hits a lot of boxes and makes the Vestibule better at what it does.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

It’ll also be extremely useful down in the fifth. The more I can regenerate, the longer I can stay in the toxic environment. With the number of ants heading down there, I’ll be able to refill my regeneration gland every few minutes. Gweheheheh.

The other mutation that catches my eye allows the Vestibule to pull in Will faster… which is… interesting? I didn’t realise it had a speed or anything of the sort, but effectively, this will allow me to take in more Will over time from the same number of ants. This will also have the effect of improving my regeneration, but from a different angle. The Will isn’t used more efficiently, but there’s more of it. This mutation will also help refill the Altar faster, which is obviously a win.

Come to think of it, these two would be excellent when fused together. If I reach +45 and combine them, my regeneration will skyrocket. Planning ahead! How fancy!