63: The cause of biological chaos

In the pitch-black Underground Dark River, a pair of huge, terrifying eyes suddenly opened, looking towards the tiny light above.

At the same time, eight massive tentacles moved, altering the water flow and creating an undercurrent.

"Tsk tsk, is this to deal with him, by blowing the pond to smithereens with a bomb?"

Su Yuan felt a bit fortunate that he had entered the Underground Dark River to evolve; otherwise, he would have truly perished.

An explosion of that magnitude was definitely something he, in his current state, could not withstand.

Even with the Black Light Shield activated, it would undoubtedly shatter instantly.

"Speaking of which, this evolution doesn't seem to have awakened any new skills. What a pity."

Su Yuan thought greedily, then looked at his system panel.

"Species: Adaptable Octopus"

"Rank: 21"

"Body Length: 19 meters"

"Body Aberrations: Elementary Claws (Claws covering tentacles that can retract automatically, received Elementary enhancement, making them sharper);

Intermediate Heroism (Your strength has received Intermediate enhancement);

...Elementary Suction Cups (Your suction cups have been enhanced, making their suction stronger);

Elementary Recovery (Your recovery ability has received Elementary improvement);

Elementary Beak (Your beak has received Elementary enhancement, making it sharper and expandable);

Elementary Endurance (Your endurance has received Elementary improvement);

Beginner Camouflage (Your Camouflage Ability has received Elementary improvement);

Beginner Psionic Sense (Your body can perceive the existence of psionic energy);

Beginner Speed (Your body is better adapted to speed in water)."

"Skills: Survival of the Fittest (Passive skill, can adapt to most environments);

Laser Beam (Active skill, consumes internal energy, activates spiritual energy of heaven and earth to emit a Laser Beam);

Black Light Shield (Active skill, consumes internal energy, activates spiritual energy of heaven and earth to generate a Black Light Shield);

Mind Whisper (Special Edition) (Active skill, consumes internal energy and Mental Energy; you can make your mental voice resonate in the minds of other living beings)."

"evolution points: 2666 / 6000 (Increasing through spiritual energy consumption)"

"Nineteen meters in body length, only one meter away from twenty meters! Elementary Prowess/Valor (Enhancement) has become Intermediate Heroism! No wonder I feel an endless surge of power within me!"

Su Yuan merely flicked a tentacle, stirring up turbulence in the Underground Dark River, and any fish or shrimp caught in it died instantly.

"Now, my strength should be incredibly astonishing."

Su Yuan guessed that even with Elementary Prowess/Valor (Enhancement) before, his strength was already formidable. Among the creatures he had encountered so far, aside from the Big Black Fish, no other creature's strength could compare to his.

Now, with Intermediate Heroism, he was even stronger.

However, his current strength should still be inferior to that of the Big Black Fish.

"I can't stay here. I'll continue along the Underground Dark River; perhaps it connects to other surface water systems."

Su Yuan casually grabbed some fish and shrimp, stuffed them into his mouth, and began to move.

"You devoured a Cave Catfish and gained 0.42 evolution points."

"You devoured a Stone Fish and gained 0.33 evolution points."

"You devoured a Scavenger (Fish/Organism) and gained 0.5 evolution points."

...Dayang Mountain Nature Reserve.

After the Bald Captain and his team returned, they submitted the combat videos from their journey, causing a stir.

"This footprint is truly peculiar. In today's world, most animals with feet have toes. A footprint that is completely round and integrated, without any toes, could it be a horse?"

A scholar frowned, stating that their initial guess was that it should be a primate.

Primates can also swim, which could explain why some footprints started and ended in the pond.

However, primates all have toes, which doesn't match these footprints.

"A horse standing upright and walking? I'd sooner believe that a monkey's feet, in this wave of mutations, had all its other toes degenerate."

A professor joked with a laugh.

"Don't forget, the elongated creature that attacked the Moon Eel earlier wasn't found in the pond either. Perhaps these two might be the same creature."

A professor said.

"What do you think, if an octopus stood up on its tentacles, would the footprints it left be similar to the ones we have here?"

At this moment, Professor Jin Weiguo spoke with a smile in his tone.

"An octopus standing on its tentacles and walking on land? Old Jin, you're still as imaginative as ever!"

A professor who also studied aquatic organisms couldn't help but laugh. However, his expression quickly changed as he carefully considered the possibilities.

"Old Jin, your idea is quite interesting. Octopuses are inherently marine creatures. Since it can adapt to freshwater environments, in this special era, it might not be impossible for it to temporarily adapt to terrestrial environments."

"At the same time, this also explains the gradual decrease in diameter of the elongated creature that attacked the Mutated Moon Eel."

Another professor said with a serious expression.

"Uh, isn't our octopus in Dayang Lake? The pond on this mountain isn't connected to Dayang Lake."

A physics professor asked.

"An octopus's body is very soft and flexible, allowing it to easily pass through very small openings."

"And below our Dayang Lake water system, there is also an abundant Underground River system, so it's not impossible for the two to be connected."

Professor Jin Weiguo smiled faintly.

"This way, it can indeed explain many puzzling points."

Several biology professors who studied other organisms nodded, not expressing any opposition.

"So, what do we do? Should we send people to catch it immediately?"

Several physics professors were a bit excited. They were very eager to understand how the octopus could unleash Laser Beams.

Especially one of the older professors, who specialized in laser weapons.

"It's not that simple."

Professor Jin Weiguo shook his head and said, "Given the intelligence of our octopus, it should have already left that pond. Even if we forcibly blast open the rock structure at the bottom of the pond and enter the complex Underground River network, it would be very difficult to find its trace."

In such a sunless Underground River, network signals are almost nonexistent, drones and other equipment would be useless, and sending manpower into the Underground River is too dangerous; one wrong move and they might be stuck there forever.

"We need to take our time with this octopus. Perhaps it will completely disappear soon; according to the seller we contacted, this octopus is already over two years old."

Professor Jin Weiguo said calmly, and then added, "There will be many opportunities for research. For now, the focus should remain on Dayang Mountain."

"According to our investigation, the cause of this Dayang Mountain disturbance should be a battle, a battle between Mutated Creatures. Based on the traces left at the scene, these several Mutated Creatures are extremely dangerous."

As he spoke, Professor Jin Weiguo played some footage.

It was a mountainous area, but the surrounding trees were all destroyed, rocks were shattered, and the ground of the mountain showed spiderweb-like cracks. Some areas even had small deep pits, looking as if they had undergone a baptism of artillery fire.

"This... are you sure this isn't footage from some battlefield?"

Everyone was shocked. Those deep pits couldn't be made even by elephants, or rather, even prehistoric dinosaurs would have a hard time making them.

"Unfortunately, no, this was filmed in a certain part of Dayang Mountain. It's a pity there were no cameras there, so we don't know the specific situation."

"However, based on the clues remaining at the scene, we have roughly confirmed their identities; they should be a South China Tiger and a Reticulated Python, respectively."

Professor Jin Weiguo said.

Everyone looked at each other. What kind of battle between Mutated Creatures could cause such a widespread disturbance among Mutated Creatures?

It should be known that some of those disturbed Mutated Creatures possessed special abilities!

"According to the latest requirements from above, as a special biological mutation point, we in Dayang Mountain need to expedite research and assess the threat of these Mutated Creatures. If they reach a certain level, the higher-ups will initiate a clearance plan!"

...