Chapter 103 Evolution Theory

In the night, a shadow as large as a tiger or leopard was moving through the forest.

Its speed was very fast, and due to its gray-black fur, it was even harder to detect against the night.

It had chosen the strongest deer in the forest as its prey for the day and decided to claim the strong antlers of this deer as its own.

Moonlight gradually broke through the clouds, illuminating the forest and revealing the shadow's form.

The hunted stag also realized the danger at this moment, it suddenly turned its head in defense, but still stiffened up violently and easily lost its life.

Afterwards, a creature that looked like a massive mix of rat, lizard, and something indescribable, stretched out tentacles from under its torso and gradually devoured the strong and graceful stag.

Finally, the tentacles also swallowed the antlers, and moments later, the massive creature shook its head, and black horns began to grow atop its head.

After growing horns, the creature roared at the moon, a roar that made the entire forest tremble.

It was determined to become the most powerful existence! All those weaker than it would be devoured to augment its strength! By devouring, it could eventually become everything in the world!

So, it's absolutely impossible for any other life to be more powerful than it; its evolution is the most perfect.

This faint roar also reached the ears of Jinzi, Lezi, and Huozi, who were all striving to grow their brains.

The trio felt something was off.

"Swoosh?" Isn't this voice somewhat familiar and annoying?

"Meow." Yes, asking for a beating.

"Chirp chirp!" Yes, asking to be set on fire!

"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh." But wasn't that sea monster already dealt with by us? It couldn't possibly revive.

"Meow." Don't know about that, maybe a disaster that lasts a thousand years?

"Chirp roar." Don't know about that, but even if it comes now, it definitely can't beat the three of us!

Saying so, the creature that had grown to nine meters tall, with scales now like flaming rubies, a large lizard, began frantically sharpening its claws to increase the hardness of its scales.

This creature now hardly resembled a normal being, looking a bit like... a dragon from Western legends.

Jinzi looked at it.

And then looked at Lezi beside it.

Lezi's body was even larger than Huozi's.

Standing at ten meters tall, it had black fur with golden patterns, looking more like a wolf but far more powerful and dangerous than any ordinary wolf.

At least in the battles between Huozi and Lezi, Lezi would dominate Huozi seven times out of ten.

Thus, Jinzi also wondered which was more formidable: growing brains or growing bodies.

But after Lezi grew to ten meters and Huozi to nine meters, their bodies had reached the limit of growth.

Meaning, the evolution they chose had already ceased.

And they became the rulers of this land.

If one doesn't overthink it, this might just be the end of evolution.

Already being the rulers of the land, even capable of freely roaming the seas, what more could they wish for?

They could live long and happily in this world until the end.

Therefore, Jinzi was determined to grow its brain—because it realized that while physical evolution might stop due to environmental limits, the brain does not.

So, Jinzi always maintained upright walking and mostly stayed below three meters tall without growing further.

From the first day of choosing the path of wisdom, it clothed itself, wore shoes, and donned a hat.

On the third day, it created weapons based on the characteristics of plants and animals.

On the fifth day, it made fire.

When flames came from the small stick in his hand, Huozi beside him was stunned.

From this day on, they became them. Even the bloody food started to smell tantalizing.

But that was as far as it went; even if Goldie tried hard to grow a brain and keenly sensed the changes in the world, it couldn't create any epoch-making tools in such a short time.

However, Goldie still firmly believed that growing a brain was useful—because on the sixth day, it keenly noticed that in this seemingly endless forest, the water was becoming scarcer, the fallen leaves were increasing, and the weather was getting colder.

Most importantly, the prey and food seemed to be diminishing.

So, starting from the seventh day, which was also their twenty-eighth day ashore, Goldie began to instruct Lezi and Huozi to go on frenzied hunts, burning torches to dry meat into jerky, and started looking for salt rocks in the forest to crush and rub onto the meat to make salted meat.

At this time, Goldie's slightly smaller size proved to be more agile and useful.

And he was still earnestly trying to grow wings for himself.

By the thirtieth day, his arms had become longer, the scales and fins on his arms started to elongate and connect. His arms resembled shiny, smooth-scaled wings, though they still couldn't fly.

At most, he could glide by jumping from high places.

But he was satisfied, having climbed to the tallest tree to glide and overlook the forest, he found the most suitable cave—

At the eastern edge of the forest was a mountain, connecting the sea and the forest, tall and massive, resembling a tower reaching the sky, standing there indestructible.

"Swooosh swooosh!" Quick, quick! Take our food, bedding, and furs! To that mountain below!

"Roar." Huozi was somewhat reluctant to move; it felt a bit tired from hunting these past few days.

"Ying!" Lezi slapped it over, and if Huozi's body hadn't been large enough, that paw might have sent it flying.

"Ying ying ying stupid trash!" Unsatisfied with just one slap, Lezi gave two more for good measure.

Haven't you noticed that hunting has become increasingly difficult these days?! It's getting colder! Use your brain! A disaster is about to strike!

This was something Goldie had already guessed. Although Lezi enjoyed amusement, it was exceptionally sensitive to changes in the surrounding environment.

Only Huozi, growing in its simple-minded way, hasn't developed much intellect to this day.

Fortunately, its redeeming quality is obedience.

On their thirty-sixth day on land, nearly all the trees in the forest had shed their leaves. A cold wind blew suddenly, leaving the plants yellowed and desolate.

Just as they reached the foot of the giant mountain bordering both the forest and the sea, Huozi and Lezi used their sharp claws and teeth to dig a large hole in the spot chosen by Goldie, and the three companions began their cave life.

On their first day living in the cave, the thirty-seventh day ashore, a blizzard blew all night.

The one who suffered the most on the first night was Huozi, covered in fiery red scales.

Since reaching the peak of evolution, it had never felt this uncomfortable. The temperature had been suitable before, and even a slight chill could be withstood by its hard scales.

However, when the blizzard came, it suddenly realized that while its scales were hard enough, they were not warm.

Huozi looked enviously and jealously at Lezi, who was comfortably nestled on the side.

Lezi had a body covered in long fur!! And could even let Goldie snuggle into its belly to sleep, seeking favor.

"...Roar squeak." Damn it, he also really wanted to snuggle under Lezi for warmth.

But when his massive body attempted to move closer, he was mercilessly kicked away by Lezi, who was curled up into a ball.

"Ying roar! Scram!" Don't come near me! You think anyone can just burrow into my softest spot?

"Hey! Swooosh! Huo! Tss." There's fire, there's fire, go warm up by the fire. What's the use of being so big? Now you see the benefits of being small, don't you?

Huozi sighed and shivered, guarding the small fire, only able to warm his nose.

Fortunately, the cave entrance was shielded by wooden boards and animal skins, making it much warmer than the harsh winter outside.

They safely passed the first, second, and third days, but by the fourth day, as the blizzard grew stronger, the temperature dropped further, and with food in the cave dwindling and burnable wood becoming scarce, all three felt their lives threatened.

"Swoo... Swooosh... Go, go out."

We can't continue like this; sitting here will deplete our resources, and we'll die. We need to gather more food and supplies while we still have the strength and food left!

"Ying." Too cold, don't want to move.

"...Squeak." Too too too cold and hungry, don't want to move.

The two most powerful fighters, even though they stood at the top of the food chain on land, appeared feeble in the face of the world's disaster.

Especially Huozi, who had already been in deep sleep for two consecutive days, making Goldie worry if continuing to sleep like this could lead to death.

So, Goldie walked over and kicked Huozi hard in the nose, and when he turned to kick Lezi, Lezi defensively almost did a backflip.

"Ow ow ow ow!" Why did you kick my nose? It hurts?!

Huozi felt very wronged.

"Ying ying ying." Lezi looked doubtful as well.

"Swooosh phooey! Stupid! Shrink!"

Your large bodies consume too much energy! And there's not enough food! Make your bodies more compact and solid! You need to concentrate, got it?! The essence is in the concentration!!

Lezi and Huozi were stunned.

Lezi scratched his nose with his claw and began to think, while Huozi tilted his big head.

Ah, so evolution can mean becoming smaller as well as bigger?

And then, he was kicked and slapped by Lezi and Jinzi respectively.

Of course!

Evolution is never unidirectional.

Nor is the path of evolution devoid of regression and reformation.

Thus, over the next five days, the three clad in thick fur, spiritedly ventured into the forests and along the seashore in search of prey and food.

It was only upon exiting their cave that they discovered the ten-day-long blizzard had nearly eradicated ninety percent of life in the forest.

They effortlessly found plenty of edible food and enough dry branches and logs.

Yet, their expressions grew increasingly solemn, and their spirits, increasingly heavy.

More than once, Jinzi looked up at the sky, sensing the vast terror of the natural world.

Amidst this chilling and fearsome mood, on the thirteenth day of the blizzard, Lezi's body successfully shrank to half its size, from ten meters to around five or six, with his fur becoming denser and thicker.

Huozi, however, fared worse. Despite his efforts to shrink from nine meters to four, he lost many of his fiery red scales, and frostbite formed where the scales fell off, making every step painful, nearly driving him to give up.

Fortunately, in his most difficult times, Jinzi and Lezi took turns feeding him. He persevered without giving up, and as the frostbite healed, short, dense, and thick fur grew beneath his scales.

This fur signified his ability to survive the harsh winter.

It also signified another evolution for him.

The blizzard ultimately lasted for twenty days.

For Jinzi, Lezi, and Huozi, it was the most unbearable and painful twenty days of their lives.

These twenty days nearly depleted their reserves, and in the end, their significantly reduced sizes forced them to huddle together, surviving on the last bits of jerky and weeds.

But they eventually persevered.

The moment the blizzard ceased, their survival seemed to affirm the success of their evolution.

Yet, it was also from this moment that the three huddled in the cave began to hear the howls of other survivors from this world.

The sounds came from the sky, the sea, and the snow-covered forests.

Each cry was louder and stronger than the last.

The three lifted their heads and then stepped out of the cave together.

Listening to these sounds, their expressions were tense yet tinged with an undeniable thrill of excitement.

"Roar—"

"Roar—"

"Roar—"

Three roars emanated from their mouths, echoing the other sounds.

This marked the prelude to a "survival of the fittest" evolution among the victors after the blizzard.