Evolution Begins With A Big Tree

Chapter 252, The Black Torrent – the Rat Tide

Translator:  Ashish

Translation Checker: Silavin

At this point, the roots turned and moved their way into the other two treehouses.

In a moment, various peculiar young creatures entered his sight.

There were strange Monkeys with multiple pairs of ears, small Snakes with three heads, and Azure Wolf cubs with two heads.

Deformed offspring – due to the influence of radiation and their inability to resist it, they ended up being the product of tragedy.

In this place, there were dozens of deformed offspring. Each one had a pitiful gaze, and looked pretty cute and cuddly. However, due to their deformities, their lifespans were very short.

Just like Golden Ant, whose lifespan was half of his peers.

Even with Yu Zi Yu constantly nourishing them with his Life Essence, the effect was not that significant

In the end, they had to rely on themselves – either die peacefully after a few months or forcefully break through the ranks to seize lifespan like Golden Ant.

This was the horror of radiation.

Powerful Mutant Beasts could resist it and even speed up their evolution, but as far as these offspring were concerned, it was a true catastrophe. Moreover, the radiation could linger for several years or even decades. This meant that in the future, more offspring like this would continue to be born.

If they were lucky, they might encounter Yu Zi Yu and the others and would be brought to North Canyon, where they would be cared for. However, if they were unlucky, they would have to fend for themselves, most likely end up dead.

“The only thing that’s worth celebrating is that most of these deformed offspring have excellent Innate Talents.” In this rare moment of appreciation, Yu Zi Yu deeply gazed at the young creatures. 

Hundreds or thousands of offspring were supposed to be born in the Misty Mountains in one month. But now, most of them were stillborn, with one or two surviving every now and then. 

And those who managed to survive had to resist the radiation from birth. All those who had weak Innate Talents, they were already eliminated.

It was the survival of the fittest.

The deformed offspring that managed to survive had much stronger Innate Talent than normal offspring. They had gone through the test of life and death, so it was not surprising for their Innate Talents to be outstanding.

It was precisely for this reason that Yu Zi Yu attached great importance to these deformed offspring. He cared for them with dedication, even providing abundant resources. He picked Spirit Plants and Flowers to make for them. Moreover, he infused his Life Essence into their food.

Now, these offspring were lying comfortably in what seemed like cradles, with Black Rats with soft, silky fur akin to silk, tending to them.

“This Leng Feng is quite capable.” Observing the Mutant Black Rats, who were taking care of the offspring with great care, Yu Zi Yu could not help but admire Leng Feng. 

There was no denying that Yu Zi Yu was satisfied at this sight.

The fact Leng Feng had managed to train these Mutant Rats to look after the offsprings to this extent was proof in itself that he was a very dedicated individual.

And at this moment, Yu Zi Yu narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at the small Rats.

Race: Mutant Black Rat

Rank: Tier-0 Level 7

Innate Talent:Gnawing – It can bite through anything and consume.

Unique Abilities: Plunder –It’s able to steal certain abilities of a creature to some extent through gnawing, and then pass it on to the next generation, thereby contributing to the evolution of the entire population (Very, very low probability)

Strengthening – It can continuously strengthen its body through consuming other things. The more it consumes, the stronger is the enhancement (each enhancement is very weak)

Gazing deeply at them, a slight smile tugged at the corner of Yu Zi Yu’s lips.

These Mutant Rats were indeed pretty good. In terms of talent alone, these Mutant Black Rats could not be considered outstanding.

Then again, Mutant Rats were never known for their individual combat power. Species like rodents and even locusts were known for their swarms. The bigger their swarm, the more terrifying it was.

Now, looking at the abilities of these few Black Rats, Yu Zi Yu immediately thought of the horror of the black tide formed by these Black Rats.

The black tide swept through everything, leaving nothing in its wake.

Then, considering the Innate Talents and abilities of these Black Rats, the more they devoured, the more terrifying they became, until no one was able to stop their advance.

“They really are quite terrifying.” Sighing, Yu Zi Yu’s eyes could not help but shimmer.

If these Mutant Black Rats multiplied extensively, they would become a genuine disaster.

Except for certain individuals with out of the world power, even powerful beings like White Tiger, Bull Demon, and others might be reduced into a pile of bones in an instant against them, if they were allowed to form a massive black tide.

….

As Yu Zi Yu pondered this, in ruins not far from the Misty Mountains…

With a thud, a stern-faced young man slumped down on his knees.

“Sister, sister…” The young man’s eyes turned red as he repeatedly cried out for his sister. However, as he looked at these ruins, where even the debris no longer existed, Leng Feng could do nothing.

But after a while, as if thinking of something, Leng Feng suddenly started digging frantically with his bare hands.

“Bam, bam, bam…* As the mud and dust flew into the air, a massive pit slowly took shape.

*Ha* A sigh rang in the distance as a burly man resembling a sculpture shook his head helplessly.

After a moment, Qing Gang lit up a cigarette that he had brought from Maple Leaf City before slowly making his way to Leng Feng.

“Why bother!?” Saying so, Qing Gang handed the cigarette in his hand to Leng Feng.

However, he did not receive any response.

Rather, the man just kept frantically digging with his bare hand, as if he had gone insane.

At this moment, as he looked at the ground, Qing Gang stamped the ground. The very next moment, the entire earth began to shake with deafening rumblers.

Then, to Leng Feng’s pleasant surprise, waves after waves of earth surged as the soil receded into the distance.

“How deep are you planning to dig?” Qing Gang asked in a calm voice.

He couldn’t help but feel helpless at the pitiful sight of Leng Feng. Originally, he was supposed to just monitor Leng Feng. He had not expected to join him in digging through the ruins.

Fortunately, he was an Earth Elemental Lifeform. He could manipulate the earth with just a flash of thought.

“As deep as possible. We used to live nearby… our house has a basement… maybe, maybe my sister is in the basement.” Leng Feng replied in an excited voice, his entire body trembling in anticipation.

“This isn’t like you.” Qing Gang took a deep puff of the cigarette, no longer hesitating.

After a moment, his eyes became focused as his Spiritual Energy surged.

*Boom, boom, boom…*

Accompanied by fearsome tremors, waves of soil surged as a vortex appeared around the ruins.

More importantly, the vortex kept getting deeper and deeper at a speed visible to the naked eye.

In the blink of an eye, an abyss of unknown depth had appeared before the two.