Global Survival: I Got the D-Rank Personnel Simulator-Chapter 67: First Prayer

Lin Ye bypassed the shattered D-Class personnel, dragging his agonized body as he crawled inch by inch toward the depths of the mine shaft. He wasn't desperate enough to treat his living kindred as materials - the mutations wouldn't kill them, only prolong their suffering.
"Eeeek..."
"Aaaah..."
"Wuuuh..."
Piles of flesh emitted wretched cries. The mine had no light; they couldn't see Lin Ye but sensed something moving past. They directed their wails toward this presence, as if pleading to some deity for absolution of their sins and the right to finally die.
Though technically half-deity himself, Lin Ye's current state was scarcely better than theirs. No savior dwelled here - just one desperate human fighting for survival.
Amidst the screams, Lin Ye crawled while adapting to his new bodily structures. Soon he left the cries behind, entering the mine's deeper recesses.
Without light, Lin Ye relied on spiritual energy to perceive his surroundings. His first enemy appeared quickly - a forearm-length rat. Lin Ye thanked his preparations; otherwise he'd have been gnawed upon first.
The rat circled Lin Ye several times before succumbing to bloodlust and pouncing at his mangled form. It died instantly upon impaling itself on Lin Ye's spike-tipped appendages.
As a first-level spiritual energy user, predicting rodent movements was trivial. Strangely, he could kill the rat yet remained alive despite his grievous wounds.
Lin Ye experimented with mutating the rat's corpse into his body like a weapon attachment. Soon he'd grown another spiked limb.
The mine's depths formed a chaotic labyrinth of branching tunnels leading who-knew-where. Lin Ye navigated them blindly - unaware why the others couldn't die, uncertain if answers lay within these tunnels. But staying put awaiting divine mercy wasn't an option.
He continued eliminating cave rats encountered along the way, incorporating their corpses into his growing arsenal. But the tunnels housed more than rodents - centipede-like worms of varying sizes. Smaller ones fell easily; larger specimens required avoidance.
Giant cave spiders posed greater threats, their webs spanning certain junctions as they awaited prey. Lin Ye desperately wanted spider legs for mobility, but approaching those webs in his current state would make him the delivered meal.
'Need an offensive mutation organ... preferably ranged...'
'Should've studied that heart's structure more. And the first-level eyeball. Can't use my true form's power in simulations, but knowledge is power. If I could develop potent mutations in D-Class bodies...'
'Wait - I'm divine too. Could I pray to myself? Ask myself to deliver the mutated heart?'
'The priest's Mind Crystal contained ritual knowledge...'
'But deity-related rituals are notoriously difficult. My true form's asleep in the Shelter - no one to answer... Brother Chicken... probably not...'
'...Would she answer? Given her skills, she's likely mutation-specialized. Sharing the divine seat makes us colleagues, right?'
'Worth trying... She wouldn't get mad...?'
Lin Ye tore off his entire arm plus half a shoulder, adding rat appendages and worm segments as sacrificial offerings for his first ritual.
The ritual itself wasn't complex - functionally similar to long-distance communication with three components:
The sender (sacrificer)
The receiver (deity - or any sufficiently powerful entity, if the sacrificer didn't mind)
Most crucially - the communication channel.
This third element made rituals dangerous - mistakes invited catastrophe. But Lin Ye bypassed this concern entirely - his direct connection to the divine seat ensured success if the recipient agreed.
Through this link, power could theoretically be projected.
Closing his eyes, Lin Ye connected to the divine seat and offered his first sincere prayer. Immediately he encountered a fatal flaw - he didn't know how to address her, nor if she'd recognize him.
After contemplation, Lin Ye whispered:
"O great deity Lord Lin Ye, please fashion these scraps into a ranged weapon. Tonight I shall prepare you a sumptuous feast in gratitude."
Repeating this several times, Lin Ye opened his eyes to find the refuse pile replaced by a flesh-crafted gun barrel.
"My deepest thanks for your assistance," Lin Ye intoned solemnly.
The barrel automatically integrated when attached, growing into his body until it seemed more natural than his original parts. Dissection would suggest this was his true form with other parts being add-ons.
Spiritual energy probing revealed nothing about its mechanisms, yet operating it felt as natural as moving a limb.
Lin Ye began crafting ammunition from mutated flesh. The barrel came preloaded with one superior round - too precious to waste on spiders.
Armed, he sought webbed tunnels, soon finding a cave spider - a first-level mutation creature with a meter-long body and mutation organ between its abdomen and thorax.
*Thwip!*
His transformed right arm-shot struck the spider's mutation organ perfectly. The creature, unfamiliar with firearms, died without resistance.
Processing the corpse, Lin Ye focused on attaching eight spider legs for proper mobility. The priest's Mind Crystal provided knowledge of xeno-organ integration, while the Patchwork Humanoid's splice runes simplified the process.
Twenty minutes later, though still limping, Lin Ye could finally walk properly with his new spider-leg attachments.