Chapter 715: Life Within a Dead Zone
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Now that w.a.n.g Zhong was in the desert personally, he had actually seen a mutated iguana with 300 eggs! It was three times as much as the recorded data he had once learned in biology cla.s.s. Also, the resources needed for their growth were in minute amounts. A little piece of the rhizome from plants was all an iguana needed to reach full growth. Most of the time, they absorbed the ubiquitous energy from radiation to survive. Only with this kind of G.o.d-speed breeding could they continue to evolve under the predation of countless natural enemies, successfully avoiding extinction.
Additionally, it was precisely because of the existence of these small species that allowed such a colorful ecosystem to develop in the barren desert. Being at the bottom of the food chain, their large populations were vital to the ecosystem. It was obvious that every mutated species had been constantly evolving and continuously pursuing improvement, refining the abilities and features that nature had provided them with. People could only marvel at the tenacity of life and nature’s magical properties and power.
It was not just those mutated iguanas — but everything that w.a.n.g Zhong had seen and heard in the desert — that gave him an unprecedented feeling.
This was the power of life, permeating the seemingly dead and silent world. It was endless, similar to waves on a beach. It also contained a hint of desire, which affected w.a.n.g Zhong greatly.
Mu Zi obviously had a unique understanding of life and death, which was the source of his great power. w.a.n.g Zhong’s first step to increasing his power was understanding how things worked. He was not in a hurry because, even though there was much to be learned from Mu Zi, whatever suited Mu Zi may not be suitable for himself. However, it had to be a train of thought and a kind of comprehension. Naturally, it was extremely precious. In fact, he was very grateful to Mu Zi for sharing his experience.
Aiolos and Mu Zi were a strange kind of friends to w.a.n.g Zhong. They met by chance and only knew each other for a short time, but they had survived adversity together. However, they were different from Gong Yi and the others because death and victories were merely part of the process. It was more like they were like-minded, or more accurately, it was fate that brought them together.
The journey alone made him stand in the shoes of a quiet observer during this experience, as though he was merely a pa.s.serby. If one inspected the world in a novel way or began to look and think from other perspectives, one might arrive at completely different realizations or conclusions for the many commonly neglected phenomena or even supposedly commonsensical occurrences.
Other than that, after immersing himself in the desert experience and arriving at his own understanding of life and death, w.a.n.g Zhong suddenly realized that he no longer needed water. It was due to him getting used to this extremely harsh environment, allowing his body to naturally absorb water from the air and automatically reduce the evaporation of water. w.a.n.g Zhong’s body surface radiated with a type of coldness, similar to the creatures in the desert. That was why Mu Zi could survive in the desert with ease.
The strength of one’s body was not simply the strength of one’s muscles. Mu Zi was referring to a deeper level. That process of achieving that kind of stronger life force was called — Evolution.
w.a.n.g Zhong did not go wild with joy after arriving at that conclusion. His door had opened, and he knew.
Naturally, the journey was not merely about observation. Things like observing iguanas in a leisurely and relaxed way obviously did not happen every day. There was also great terror and danger in the desert.
To seek ants in the desert was to court death. That was a very popular saying in Tutankhamun.
The once insignificant little ants had already become the most horrifying existence in the desert. They had a strong sense of discipline, fearless swarm attack tactics and were omnivorous, leaving nearly every single place they pa.s.sed by barren. The most terrifying among them were the metal-devouring ants and the bullet ants. w.a.n.g Zhong had yet to encounter any metal-devouring ants, but as for bullet ants…
Long before the Dark Ages, bullet ants had already made a name for themselves around the world. They were extremely toxic and were included on the list of insects that had the most painful bites. They were originally a species on the South American continent, but after the Dark Ages began, they migrated to deserts in Tutankhamun via unknown channels. They eventually grew roots and expanded their population, destroying everything they pa.s.sed through; this would eventually earn them the name as “a super hurricane” that engulfed the entire desert.
At this particular moment, an army of terrifying bullet ants was right behind him.
To be more precise, they were right on w.a.n.g Zhong’s tail. It was a frightening number of ants, nearing tens of thousands. The overwhelming black ma.s.s seemed never-ending as they pursued w.a.n.g Zhong relentlessly. Each bullet ant was the size of a palm. The even scarier thing was that they had evolved a pair of thin, cicada-like wings that allowed them to glide for short distances to conserve energy. They were extremely fast and specialized in long-distance pursuits.
w.a.n.g Zhong had encountered this army of bullet ants on a hill about seven or eight miles away. They could sense living things over a far larger area than w.a.n.g Zhong could. When he had just picked up on their existence, the army of bullet ants had already a.s.sembled and was charging toward him. Furthermore, this particular army was merely a small unit of their whole population. w.a.n.g Zhong revealed a face of terror as he spotted their huge nest before making his getaway. They were spread out everywhere over the hills and dale, covering almost all of the golden sand in w.a.n.g Zhong’s view with their black bodies.
His only thought was to run. This was definitely the fastest w.a.n.g Zhong had run in his entire life. Having the Great 5 Elements Const.i.tution, w.a.n.g Zhong was much faster than the army of bullet ants when he ran at his maximum speed. However, his stamina then became a problem. High-speed sprinting was obviously not suited for long distances. Once he had expended too much physical strength, he grew tired and his running pace slowed, evening out both his and the ants’ speeds. It soon came down to a marathon race between the two.
With their ability to glide, the bullet ants were superb in long-distance pursuits. Their evolved hind legs were powerful, being able to propel them exceptionally far with a single jump. Then, they would glide over a long distance with their wings, allowing them to charge across long distances with little physical effort.
After having chased w.a.n.g Zhong for half a day, the distance between them had remained unchanged. w.a.n.g Zhong began to frown a little; he had previously a.s.sumed that these guys would have a territorial sense and would not leave their nest too far behind to chase after their prey. But it seemed like he had thought wrong! If he ran out of energy, he would definitely be torn apart by them.
He was already in a spot when something threw a wrench in his works. As he approached a sand dune, a 6th rank mutated Chromatic Dragon emerged from it.
Its body was about three or four meters long and its sharp teeth and claws were sparkling. What was unique about it was its skin, which could adapt to its environment almost instantly, rendering it almost invisible. This was actually a variant of the mutated desert chameleon. However, even if the traditional species had mutated due to radiation exposure, it was extremely rare for one to develop into a 6th-ranked creature. Most of the mutated creatures on earth at the 6th rank or higher were higher-order legendary creatures. These had the bloodlines of the dimensional creatures that had landed on earth and were least likely to be native creatures of Earth…
This mutated Chromatic Dragon obviously thought of w.a.n.g Zhong as its lunch. It hid beside the hill and attempted to smack w.a.n.g Zhong. w.a.n.g Zhong’s Mind’s Eye had already sensed it long ago; therefore, he evaded the attack easily. The Chromatic Dragon grew enraged that such an insignificant human being, which appeared to have weak Soul Power, managed to avoid its paw. But as it was about to chase after him, it noticed the army of bullet ants which were right behind.