Chapter 105: The Theory of Evolution

Bang!

A fierce beast with black fur and golden stripes sent one predator after another flying with powerful swats.

Shaking his head, deep blue eyes began to show intense impatience and annoyance.

"Tsk."

There’s no end to them.

Absolutely no end.

Sometimes, the wild beasts charging from all directions seemed almost unkillable.

Merely sending them flying wasn't enough; their hearts had to be torn open, and the red stones within them either crushed or devoured.

Initially, Jinzi, Lezi, and Huozi had a clear advantage.

Not only because they had just evolved by consuming red gems, but also because they formed a triangle, able to assist each other and collectively fight off others instead of being overwhelmed.

But the number of wild beasts, red-eyed and frenzied, was simply too great. And the more of them that died, the more red gems were left behind, attracting even more wild beasts.

It was a vicious cycle.

Eventually, the trio ran out of energy, not only ravenous but also covered in wounds.

Lezi and Huozi had each devoured at least five red gems.

Jinzi had his doubts about the red gems but ended up absorbing three himself.

After all, with each absorption, the body's functions were triggered, the feeling of exhaustion vanished instantly, and even minor wounds would heal on their own.

The more one consumes, the harder it becomes to resist such powerful strength and the incessant evolution.

Jinzi pierced a giant snake that opened its gaping maw at him with his spear, but was then flung away by the snake's tail.

He found himself airborne, yet faced the assault of three massive vultures.

Once again feeling weary and enraged, watching from the sky as beasts below frenziedly tore and fought over the snake's heart, he momentarily wanted to dive down, kill all the beasts, and roar out that it was his prey! His trophy!

But suddenly, he calmed down.

"Can't, not like this."

He told himself.

"Can't be like this."

He repeated, and the madness and anger in his eyes diminished significantly.

This kind of madness is wrong, and so is this form of evolution.

He turned to look at Lezi and Huozi, unsurprised to find them both devouring the hearts of various beasts with wide-open mouths.

Their eyes had reddened, and their bodies had swollen to the size of small hills, unclear on how many red gems they had consumed or how much power they had gained.

"Slurp, stop!"

Jinzi couldn't help but shout at them, seeing their state.

But these two, engrossed in their frenzy of slaughter and battle, completely ignored him.

They were surrounded by hundreds of terrifying beasts, as if they wouldn't stop until they fought to the very last moment and secured the final victory.

Jinzi: "..."

Jinzi in the sky angrily swatted away a vulture that tried to claw him.

Then, with an angry dive, he launched a flying kick right into Lezi's beastly face!

"Did you not hear me when I told you to stop!! Huh! Are you awake now! Stop, stop, stop, do you hear me?!"

After stomping several times, Lezi reluctantly ceased his actions with a howl.

How could you step on his face with shoes on? At least, you should take off those straw sandals and wash your feet clean before kicking him.

"Whine! Tui!"

As Jinzi moved to step on Huozi's face after Lezi, Lezi, not at all pleased, roared and rushed over, delivering a powerful kick to Huozi that sent him flying out of the fight.

Boom—

"I, what?"

Huozi, dazed, shook his head to clear it.

Then he was kicked again: "Run! Head home!"

It's too easy to get caught up in chaos and become surrounded here.

"Those who join the fray first seldom survive till the end! Let others fight; we lay low! Survival ensures everything in the end! Got it?"

Huozi was somewhat confused, primarily because his fighting spirit and excitement were fully ignited, making it hard for him to hold back.

But in the end, the three of them, amidst Jinzi's roaring, suppressed their swirling desires and ran home.

Mainly because Jinzi was yelling:

"Don't look back! Keep running forward! Anyone who looks back gets a massive kick from me!"

"Don’t you feel your brains getting filled with useless battle junk? Wake up! Joining the fray now is a dead end!"

"It's a conspiracy! A trap! Everyone, cool down physically!"

Speaking of cooling down, they all rushed to the seaside and plunged their heads into the icy sea water.

When the bone-chilling cold made their heads ache a bit, they mostly snapped out of it.

Yet, hearing the distant howls of the beasts in battle, their hearts couldn't help but race, and their blood boiled uncontrollably.

Racing to their cave entrance, Jinzi realized Lezi and Huozi had grown so large they could barely fit through.

Just from fighting dozens of beasts and consuming a dozen red gems, the size they had taken a whole winter to reduce had bloated back to its original, even larger, size.

Even the feathers on Jinzi’s arms were now vibrantly colorful to an extreme.

Jinzi touched his arms and feathers, his expression darkening.

"Squeak... I feel something’s not right. I feel terrible, with a craving for slaughter."

Huozi stretched his head outside the cave, trying to cool it down and force himself to think.

"But my instincts are telling me to devour those red gems, to evolve, or else I'll end up as food for other beasts."

"So Jinzi, what's the right thing to do?"

Jinzi was still trying hard to think with his brain.

Because he didn't have the answer yet.

His instincts were also telling him to evolve, to devour; it seemed like the only remaining purpose of his life.

But he felt something was off. Standing at the top of the food chain was necessary, but there were more important things not to forget.

……

It seemed like he had forgotten something very important.

"Jinzi?"

Huozi's voice came, somewhat irritated.

Jinzi thought for a moment: "Let's wait and see. For now, let's not join the fray. We can observe from the sidelines and develop slowly."

"Anyway, constantly devouring gems is definitely not right."

"Evolution requires strength but also wisdom."

Unordered and frenzied evolution will only lead to destruction.

Jinzi originally wanted to continue laying low with Lezi and Huozi, but it seemed like the world had noticed their laxity, refusing to let them merely spectate from the sidelines—

On the fourth day after the harsh winter ended, when the surviving large beasts began slaughtering each other, a nightmare-like disaster started across the world.

First, huge waves, mountainous in size, arose from the sea, terrifyingly tossing countless large fish out of the water, never to find stability in the sea again.

Jinzi and his companions quickly climbed what seemed like a mountain connecting heaven and earth upon noticing the waves, watching as their cave was completely submerged.

And, numerous large fish, already quite big, desperately struggled for life after being slapped onto the forested mountains.

"Ah—ahhh! I don’t want to die, why, why must I die like this?"

"Forgotten, forgotten! No! It's wrong! Evolution went wrong! I'm dead, I can never go back!!"

"I am not a fish, I am not a fish, I am not a fish!!!"

Jinzi and Huozi, hearing the dying cries of the large fish thrown onto the mountain and near them by the waves, were horrified.

What does this mean.

What went wrong? Where to return? If they are not fish, then what are they?

But they could no longer ask, as those fish died after uttering their last words.

Then the ground shook violently.

The forest was submerged by seawater.

Even if Jinzi and his companions didn't want to join the fray, with the world turned into an ocean and only this towering mountain as refuge, all remaining life would converge here.

Thus, the surviving, bloodthirsty, powerful evolvers began slaughtering each other anew.

Jinzi led Huozi and Lezi, trying to minimize their presence and hurriedly ascend the mountain, yet they couldn't avoid one battle after another.

To not fight meant death; to fight meant madness. It seemed this was the only path left in this world.

Thus, when forced into unavoidable battles, Jinzi gritted his teeth and said to Huozi and Lezi: "Let's not stray too far from each other! Remember, always stay alert and rational!"

Stay alert! Stay rational!!

The tremors of the earth and the tsunamis continued, with torrential rain pouring down incessantly.

Jinzi didn't know how much time had passed or how many fierce beasts and monsters he had killed.

He somewhat numbly drove his poison dagger into the heart of a beast, then skillfully dodged its roaring mouth and swinging claws, tearing open its chest with his sharply nailed hands to extract the red gem.

The gem before him was endlessly enticing, causing his hand to tremble as he held it.

But ultimately, he closed his eyes with difficulty, murmuring to himself, "Stay alert, stay rational."

Then, he placed the gem into the animal skin backpack behind him before continuing towards the mountain's summit.

All around him were wild beasts and monsters engaged in a frenzy of slaughter.

Some looked like wild beasts, but many were bizarrely shaped monsters.

These oddly shaped beings seemed powerful, with some having six legs or wings growing out of their heads, appearing like demons, yet Jinzi understood they had strayed from the right path, their seemingly formidable bodies possessing fatal weaknesses.

And by finding that weakness, they could be killed more easily than one might imagine.

Hmm.

Jinzi looked up towards the mountain summit; he was still some distance away. Unfortunately, he had become separated from Lezi and Huozi; he had to walk this path to the summit alone.

The higher he climbed towards the summit, the sharper his mind seemed to become, filled with increasing flashes of imagery.

He tried to grasp the contents of these images without success. However, since ascending made him more alert, he was determined to reach the very top no matter what.

Regardless of whatever monsters or fierce beasts stood in his way.

Moreover, he just remembered something very important—

His name is Chen Shijin.

He is not a fish, nor some kind of primate; he is a human.

Thankfully, he had once chosen to emerge from the sea's darkness to crawl and then to walk upright.