“Anyone else? I only want to ask： anyone else?”
The next afternoon, Zhao Ritian stood in the howling wind, striking the pose of a lonely-as-snow master.
He had earned the title of Plant Killer. With Dahei's keen sense of smell, over the course of that day, he had taken down a flower, a blade of grass, and a tree, successfully hunting three evolution crystals.
A person who would brag about stepping on a flower—there's probably no one else but Zhao Hao who would do that.
Finding a safe tree hollow, Zhao Hao conducted an experiment.
Refining one evolution crystal takes five hours, too long, and the process is fraught with uncontrollable dangers. So he came up with a new idea： Could he refine three crystals at once by holding them in his hands？
He held one crystal in his left hand and two in his right, and began to operate that E-grade evolution technique.
Five hours later, Zhao Hao opened his eyes, and his mind swarmed with over eight hundred alpacas.
Successfully refined a primary raw crystal, gaining 1 point of raw gene.
It turned out he could only refine one crystal; the other two remained untouched in his hand.
No way around it—from now on, he would have to refine them one by one.
On the morning of the third day, the remaining two crystals were finally refined.
When he studied the changes in himself, he discovered a whole new world.
Evolver： Zhao Hao.
Raw Genes： 5！
Combat Power： 5！
Longevity： 72！
Combat Skill： None.
Evolution Technique： E-Grade！
This mental interface, resembling an online game stats panel, really startled Zhao Hao.
His lifespan was actually displayed in numbers—unbelievable.
Longevity 72, does that mean my natural lifespan maxes out at seventy-two years old？
Combat power 5, so my buddy is just a legendary five-point-zero loser？
5 points of raw genes correspond to 5 points of combat power—does that mean 1 raw gene equals 1 combat point？
Combat skill, none... What the heck is a combat skill? Fighting techniques? Martial arts moves, boxing routines?
Zhao Hao fell into deep thought, a string of question marks flashing through his mind.
The missing combat skill silently rang an alarm bell.
He was naturally gifted physically. When it came to playing basketball, he had excellent skills. When it came to fighting, he was passable too. Based on his records from a few gang fights, he could take down two or three peers his age. As for things like martial arts or self-defense, he had never trained in them. In that regard, he wasn't any different from an ordinary student dog.
“Could it be that surviving in the evolutionary world requires mastering ultimate martial arts？”
“I heard those military suicide squads came in carrying guns, even rocket launchers. There's a post online saying foreign special forces came in armored vehicles, some in attack helicopters, and an African warlord sent people driving a tank charging into the colorful light pillars... No matter how good your martial arts are, you're still afraid of guns and cannons. What the hell use are those combat skills？”
“No, this world's magnetic field is weird. Many instruments can't work. If a fighter jet flew in, it would probably crash on the spot. Whether guns can be used is still a question mark. Maybe those mysterious combat skills are somewhat useful.”
In this unknown evolutionary world, a lone human endured endless loneliness.
This kind of loneliness was terrifying. It was said there was a form of torture where a person was locked in a silent, dark room, and in just a few days, that person would go insane.
Zhao Hao was relatively lucky, at least having Dahei by his side.
Since he couldn't find anyone to talk to, he unknowingly developed the habit of asking and answering himself.
“Dahei, let's roll！”
Zhao Hao set out with Dahei, searching for a way out while slaughtering evolutionary plants.
A few days later, his original genes reached 20 points, and his physical fitness had noticeably improved.
The black dog had changed even more. After eating many of the plants' essence parts, Dahei could already understand some simple commands.
From Dahei's eyes, Zhao Hao could vaguely detect a spark of intelligent alertness.
This intelligence clearly surpassed that of a highly trained police dog.
"Strange, didn't Bi Dejin's diary mention poisonous birds and a giant wolf? Logically, the primeval forest should be full of birds and beasts, so why haven't I seen a single animal?"
Zhao Hao sat on the ground, completely baffled.
Next, he faced an even grimmer problem.
Despite scrimping and saving, the six bottles of mineral water in his backpack were all gone.
He still hadn't found a water source, hadn't bathed in days, and stank so bad even he couldn't stand it.
"Big Black, water... this stuff, can you find it？"
Zhao Hao held up the empty mineral water bottle and mimed drinking.
Heaven be praised, Big Black actually understood this time and responded with a "follow me" gesture.
Overjoyed, Zhao Hao followed Big Black in a mad dash.
Half a day later, he heard the sound of a spring flowing.
The tinkling sound was like heavenly music to Zhao Hao's ears.
Ahead, a tiny mountain spring wound its way, flowing to who knows where.
Zhao Hao rushed to the spring in ecstasy. Having developed survival instincts after days of danger, he managed to keep a shred of reason amid the immense temptation, holding back the urge to gulp. He asked, "Big Black, is this water safe to drink？"
Big Black crouched by the water, twitching his nose as he sniffed, then stuck out his tongue to lick the surface.
Then, he started drinking in big gulps.
Relieved, Zhao Hao filled a bottle with water and drank to his heart's content.
After downing two full bottles of spring water, he finally had his fill and filled all six saved plastic bottles.
"Come on, time to have fun, go wild！"
This jerk really got all excited, stripped naked, and washed himself squeaky clean in the spring.
Bi Dejin's leftover shampoo and soap came in handy at this very moment.
After a thorough half-hour scrub, Zhao Hao felt fresh all over and started believing in love again.
His smile was radiant, as if he had ushered in the spring of his life.
Then he changed into a new pair of briefs, squatting by the spring to wash his stinky old clothes, and even wiped down his basketball shoes. Before long, a thermal underwear, a set of sportswear for winter, and a pair of bright red underpants were fluttering on a nearby old tree.
The sportswear left by Bi Dejin fit perfectly, making Zhao Hao look brand new.
He didn't know how long he would be stuck in the primeval forest; if he couldn't get out in a few years, these three outfits would probably wear out.
“Awooo！”
A sudden wolf howl broke the silence of the jungle.
The wolf was massive, the size of a horse, with a dazzling silver coat.
The giant silver wolf's eyes flickered with a crimson glow, its hind leg severely injured, limping and hobbling as it ran.
Even so, its speed was astonishing, pouncing to the spring’s edge in a few bounds.
“Roar！”
After evolving, Dahei rarely barked like a dog anymore, increasingly making those beast-like roars.
It growled low, charging at the giant silver wolf with full fighting spirit.
Barring any surprises, this giant wolf was the culprit that devoured Bi Dejin. Zhao Hao felt a strong urge to avenge his fellow human, a murderous intent rising in his heart as he rushed in with his 18-inch chopper.