At the end of the diary, there was a signature： Bi Dejin.
This person was a minor celebrity on a hiking forum, having traveled to many places both domestic and abroad.
But what truly made Bi Dejin widely known among netizens was his public confession.
One day before the Great Cataclysm, Bi Dejin passionately declared his love for someone on the forum.
The person he confessed to was named Zhang Dekai.
You know—a man confessing to another man always sparks heated discussion among netizens.
Back then, many netizens debated two questions：
Zhang Dekai—just how wide open can he be？
Bi Dejin—just how tightly shut can he be？
No one expected that Bi Dejin, rejected by Zhang Dekai, entered the colorful pillar of light with nothing left to live for.
To Zhao Hao, whether Bi Dejin was straight or gay didn't matter — the dead are the greatest.
"Damn, even plants are alive here. This tree hole isn't going to swallow me whole, is it？"
After reading the diary, Zhao Hao shuddered, grabbed his backpack, and jumped out of the tree hole.
Slinging the hiking backpack over his shoulders, he stuffed the folded Swiss Army knife into his pants pocket, then picked up the 18-inch chopper and said seriously to Da Hei, "It's getting dark, Da Hei. Can you find a safe place to rest？"
Da Hei looked at him blankly, clearly not understanding what he meant.
Zhao Hao smiled bitterly — his expectations of Da Hei were too high.
He made a decision: stay far away from the forest plants, and strode forward.
After walking a few hundred meters, Da Hei let out a strange bark and suddenly leaped up.
Above Zhao Hao's head, a black vine wrapped around a tree branch suddenly moved, coiling toward the back of his head like a venomous snake. Luckily, Da Hei spotted it in time and pounced, biting the tip of the black vine tightly.
Zhao Hao broke out in a cold sweat. He swung the 18-inch chopper wildly, chopping the vine into several pieces.
"Squeak！"
The black vine was indeed alive — it actually let out a pained, strange shriek.
Once he started, Zhao Hao didn't stop. He put the hiking backpack on the ground, jumped up, and went on a chopping spree against the nearby vines.
Only when all the vines within ten meters were severed did he stop, drenched in sweat.
"Woof！"
Da Hei suddenly barked excitedly, ran over, picked up a tender green vine full of vitality, and started chewing contentedly.
Zhao Hao was astonished. Usually, Big Black only ate meat and bones, not even touching dog food, but today it had actually turned vegetarian？
Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he spotted a shiny object at the source of the vines.
Using the tip of his knife, he pried the object out—it turned out to be a crystal the size of a fingernail.
Holding the small crystal in his palm, Zhao Hao felt a strange energy within it drawing him in.
Just then, the vast and profound will in his mind transmitted：
“E-level Evolution Technique activated. Can refine evolved creature crystals.”
At the same time, a surge of warmth flowed through Zhao Hao's body.
That warm current followed a specific rhythm, carrying a sense of profound mystery.
Zhao Hao's gaze was calm as he entered a state of complete oblivion. He operated what was called the 'Evolution Technique,' just like a martial arts master circulating his energy in meditation in those martial arts dramas—cross-legged on the ground, a faint layer of white mist shrouding his body.
During this process, the small crystal in his palm gradually shrank, with its essence being absorbed little by little by Zhao Hao.
“Successfully refined a primary original crystal. Obtained 1 point of original gene.”
After a long while, that mysterious will transmitted its message again.
The small crystal in Zhao Hao's palm had vanished without a trace.
He glanced at his watch with its luminous glow—the refining of the crystal had taken him a full five hours.
It was now deep in the night, pitch black all around, so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.
A chill ran down his spine as a wave of fear washed over him. Luckily, Big Black was lying beside him on guard—otherwise, who knew how many unknown dangers he might have encountered during those five hours of refinement.
Standing up and stretching his limbs, Zhao Hao felt a strange mix of emotions.
Having absorbed 1 point of original gene, he sensed a slight increase in both his strength and speed.
This power-up was rather subtle, yet it made one truly feel the progress. It was like someone with only ten bucks in their wallet suddenly discovering their cash had turned into eleven yuan—the increase wasn't big, but the change was obvious.
"Roar！"
Suddenly, Dahei glared behind Zhao Hao and let out a beastly roar.
Zhao Hao turned around, pulled out a flashlight, and couldn't help but curse, "Holy shit！"
A crooked tree as thick as an arm was slowly shuffling over, just like the Ents from The Lord of the Rings.
The tree moved at a snail's pace, similar to a turtle crawling, but Zhao Hao could clearly see it shifting.
A cold night wind blew through, and under the pale glow of the flashlight, a tree crept slowly, its leaves rustling in a way that made one's scalp crawl—the scene was unspeakably eerie and terrifying, enough to scare the piss out of the faint-hearted.
Zhao Hao, who often watched horror movies, was pretty gutsy, so he picked up his eighteen-inch chopper and charged.
With a swift blow, he hacked off a few sharp, tentacle-like branches.
"Squeak！"
Just like the black vine, that crooked tree let out an ear-piercing shriek.
Zhao Hao turned into a plant killer. He first chopped off the leaves and branches, then aimed at the tree's root area, unleashing a frenzy of wild hacking. Gradually, the crooked tree couldn't even let out a whimper anymore and wilted to the ground, listless.
At this moment, Dahei suddenly pounced over and started digging frantically at the ground.
Zhao Hao joined in, pulled a folding shovel from his bag, and dug with all his might.
Before long, several vibrant roots were exposed.
Zhao Hao spotted a small crystal growing in the tree roots, and mercilessly dug it out with his Swiss Army knife.
Dahei, on the other hand, cheerfully grabbed a wriggling root and chomped away happily.
Zhao Hao felt an itchy feeling, so he sliced off a small piece of root and put it in his mouth. A few seconds later, he spat it all out... It tasted awful, no different from ordinary tree roots, definitely not to his liking.
Staring into the endless night, he came up with a hunch： in this primitive forest, those massive towering trees were probably harmless. It was the smaller, seemingly harmless plants that posed a deadly threat.
He led Dahei into a tree hollow, and sure enough, just as he guessed, Dahei didn't growl in warning, meaning this place was safe. Zhao Hao breathed a sigh of relief, ordered Dahei to lie at the entrance as a lookout, then gripped the Tree Crystal and activated that mysterious evolution technique to absorb the energy within.
“Successfully refined the Primitive Crystal, gained 1 point of Primitive Gene.”
Five hours later, a thought came through again.
Zhao Hao opened his eyes with renewed energy, and saw a ray of sunlight outside the tree hollow.
The sky was now fully bright, and his mood matched the brilliant sunshine outside, seeing hope for survival.