[This world is on the brink of destruction.]
[No one knows when it began, but one day, a global blanket of blood-colored mist covered the earth. From then on, Disaster descended, Beasts ran rampant, and with technology locked away, humans fell step by step to the bottom of the food chain. After Cities were destroyed, they had no choice but to adapt once more to this perilous World.]
[The Blood Mist overturned the World, but it also brought new opportunities—evolution.]
[Animals and plants grew stronger and more dangerous, even gaining intelligence. Humans developed two evolutionary paths: Awakened and Evolver. The former possessed all sorts of incredible powers, while the latter fused with Blood Crystals, becoming a brand-new lifeform far stronger than the former—but at the cost of losing their humanity. Thus, Evolvers were often stripped of their human status, referred to instead as “Monster” or “Mutant.”]
[Blood Crystal, a new type of energy crystal, is not rare, but is difficult to obtain. It’s commonly found in Beast carcasses and underground minerals. For humans, it is the energy source for technological products to function again, and serves as a “nutrient” for upgrading abilities. For Beasts and mutated plants, it’s also an important “supplement” to promote evolution.]
[—The above is the basic World background.]
A cold voice echoed in his mind, commenting: [A wretched world, but for a story, the more dangerous and chaotic it is, the easier it is for interesting stories to emerge.]
[Before any interesting story begins, the useless protagonist might die first, darling.]
That’s what the black-haired boy said.
The System fell silent for a long moment before replying: [In theory, Blood Crystals should act as a trigger for your power awakening, not cause your Pollution Value to skyrocket and directly throw you off the evolutionary path to become a Monster “Mutant.”]
[Then what’s with my current appearance?]
Chu Xiuyan was going crazy inside, but dared not let any of it show on his face.
The three Mutants surrounding him might look amiable and friendly, but their subtle encirclement made it clear they didn’t truly trust him—especially the gray-haired one, who kept giving him an unnerving look from time to time.
“It’s past six in the evening now. Our Camp has a custom of sharing food. The Fire outside should be burning by now. Our companions are all warm and generous, so there’s no need to worry.”
“But before you can fit in, you’ll need to meet the Chief first. The Chief will welcome you. Oh, and I’m Fanyi.”
The gray-haired Mutant smiled.
Chu Xiuyan quickly gave a fake name, his heart sinking with dread.
Heavens, this is bad, stop smiling, gray-hair bro! The more you smile, the creepier you get!
The System’s delayed reply finally came: [I just checked, and my diagnostics were not wrong. So, even though your Pollution Value is as high as 93%—theoretically, you should be a humanoid Crimson Crystal with no self-awareness—but you’re lively, healthy, and perfectly sane, able to eat two big bowls of rice in one go. It’s too normal, which means it’s obviously not normal.]
Chu Xiuyan: [Aba aba.]
The System ignored his nonsense, hesitating slightly: [While Blood Crystals can trigger power awakening, in truth, the air is full of invisible Blood Crystal Energy. So… isn’t it possible that you’ve already awakened an ability? And your current state is just some manifestation of that ability?]
Chu Xiuyan was shocked: [System, are you saying I’m a chameleon!?]
Mimicry = chameleon, makes sense.
[…How should I know what your ability is.]
The System replied coldly and speechlessly: [Figure it out yourself. I’m not your mom.]
Chu Xiuyan: [I want to apply for a new System.]
[Application denied.]
[Denied your denial!]
[?]
The System barely swallowed back the words “deny your denial of my denial” and simply changed the topic: [Since I didn’t contact you in time when you first entered this World, resulting in a series of issues, I’ll give you compensation.]
[Recall once, Novice Protection Mechanism for one hour, or Free Resurrection. Choose one. You have ten seconds to decide. Timeout means forfeiture.]
Chu Xiuyan: [Ten seconds!? That’s too short! Too much! You’ll go down as a stain in System history for this!]
The System began the countdown mercilessly: [Ten, nine, eight…]
Chu Xiuyan brainstormed so hard his brain nearly smoked.
All the options seemed good, so in the end, he just closed his eyes and did a quick “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.”
[Recall, recall!]
System:[Oh.]
***
Though it had only been a minute or two since he left the Prison for the surface, to Chu Xiuyan, it felt like a century had passed.
Why, oh why, did he have to be stuck with such a troublesome System!?
He wanted a sweet and silly, cute and dumb little System!!
Once again, Chu Xiuyan wondered if he was cursed with bad luck.
The two Mutants behind left, leaving only the gray-haired Mutant Fanyi leading the way.
The Mutant Camp was extremely simple.
Though these people had once enjoyed a modern life, it was as if, when they forgot their humanity, they also forgot all technology, reverting straight to a primitive society.
Seriously, even the weapons are made of beast bones—how weird is that!
On the bare ground, a Fire burned, blackened vines screeching as they burned.
Around the fire sat a group of Mutants, their ragged clothes barely covering their bodies, with blood-red crystals exposed, making them look savage and grotesque, like Crystal Monsters sitting cross-legged.
Even their conversations dripped with a “Monster” mentality.
They saw humans as food, killed without empathy, and even mocked and belittled the act of “someone sacrificing themselves to save their companions” as if it were a joke.
Ah, fists clenching, getting angry, so angry…
Chu Xiuyan’s smile gradually twisted.
The gray-haired Mutant walked ahead, calmly introducing the Camp members.
But in his mind, he was sizing up the newcomer “Huga.”
Though he couldn’t judge his strength yet, his perseverance seemed decent.
Despite just hours of Blood Crystal pollution, the guy had still kept his sanity, not losing his mind and rampaging.
Must be pretty talented.
And he looked simple-minded enough, so if properly guided, might become a good follower.
With this in mind, the gray-haired Mutant turned back—only to find the newcomer had vanished.
The next moment, a commotion rose by the Fire.
“Damn you, bastard! Are you trying to die? Hot!—”
A black-haired Mutant covered in Blood Crystals had been kicked into the Fire, face-down, the vines burning as fuel binding him tightly.
He struggled frantically, scattering sparks everywhere.
The black-haired youth cheerfully retracted his foot, shoved his hands in his pockets, and said apologetically, “I just saw a huge bug on your back, so I instinctively kicked you… You alright? Gonna die? If you die, I can handle your corpse for you, no need to thank me.”
The surrounding Mutants were stunned: “Oh ho.” This newbie’s guts!
The black-haired Mutant crawled from the fire, his twisted face like a fiend’s, looking at Chu Xiuyan with murderous intent: “You little punk, you’re dead.”
Chu Xiuyan tilted his head: “Ah, is that a self-introduction? Hello, I’m Huga.”
The black-haired Mutant was furious, black ashen smoke rising from his Blood Crystals.
He stepped forward, the ground caving beneath his foot—clearly about to teach this newcomer a harsh lesson.
“Hei Ya, stop. If you have the energy, go search the nearby human strongholds overnight instead of picking on newbies.”
Fanyi walked over with a chilly smile, stepping between the two and warning the black-haired Mutant, then turned to Chu Xiuyan, with even more menace in his eyes.
“And you—provoke anyone again, I won’t save you.”
Chu Xiuyan: “I didn’t provoke him. I just wanted to get along with the seniors. Did I go too far?”
“Or is it, Hei Ya, that you’re embarrassed you couldn’t even dodge that kick?”
Fanyi’s eyes narrowed.
He realized he’d misjudged: this was a young wolf already showing its fangs, eager to challenge the Wolf King’s position.
Hei Ya accepted the challenge, cracking his knuckles and sneering maliciously: “Kid, I’ll teach you what it means to kneel before the strong. But now’s not the time. How about a little warm-up first?”
A Mutant dragged over a relatively flat stone, and soon a crowd gathered, egging Hei Ya on to put on a show.
“Go on, Hei Ya, crush him!”
“Is this newbie’s brain rotted by Blood Crystals? Even dares to mess with Hei Ya.”
“Fanyi probably didn’t get to warn the newbie not to cross Hei Ya. Ah, the boss is gonna be mad again.”
“I bet a Blood Crystal we’ll eat the newbie’s flesh tonight.”
“Getting hungry…”
Chu Xiuyan wore a bright, beaming smile, an air of dopey innocence about him, so none of the Mutants took him seriously.
Fanyi chose to coldly watch from the sidelines.
“Huga” was too conspicuous. No matter how talented, he wouldn’t be Fanyi’s choice.
***
The System also thought its host was too flashy.
This place was dangerous, and the host didn’t even know what his own ability was.
But Chu Xiuyan wasn’t worried.
Worst case, he could Recall, right?
Let him have his fun first.
Simply put: the System’s here, his golden finger’s activated—Chu Xiuyan felt invincible again!
On the stone slab, two right hands from two different “people” locked together.
Hei Ya bent down, his blood-red eyes locked on Chu Xiuyan’s, and said wickedly, “I can already feel the thrill of crushing your hand to a pulp.”
Chu Xiuyan smiled too.
Though he also had red eyes, his lacked the gore of other Mutants—there was even a bit of innocent clarity.
He spoke in that naive, pure tone: “Hei Ya, I’m really sorry about earlier. I didn’t mean it.”
Hei Ya sneered, “Too late to beg for mercy now…”
Chu Xiuyan: “Now it’s on purpose! Hahaha!”
Hei Ya saw black for a second, then pain exploded in his temple as a flying kick sent him soaring.
He landed with a loud thud three seconds later.
The black-haired youth, still bright-eyed and “innocently dopey,” jumped back down, laughing wildly: “Hei Ya, looks like you were a step too late. Before you can crush my hand, I’ll kick your head like a ball!”
Silence fell.
A burly Mutant nearly two meters tall stepped out, mumbling, “Shi Gu.”
Chu Xiuyan hesitated, then realized it was a self-introduction and replied, “Huga.”
The big Mutant nodded, grasped the smaller hand, and watched out for a sneak attack from the side.
But the next second, a fist slammed into his nose, and the big guy staggered back, clutching his bleeding face.
Chu Xiuyan pumped his fist, shouting excitedly, “Next, next!”
[System, I’m so cool!]
The System didn’t want to comment.
The Mutants began to stir.
One Hei Ya could be an accident.
But Shi Gu was as strong as Hei Ya, and with his guard up, still got hit by this seemingly naive newbie…
Clearly, this “dopey” black-haired guy was no pushover.
While the black-haired newbie crowed, a third Mutant came forward.
Chu Xiuyan headbutted him, splitting his forehead open and sending him crashing down.
Fourth, fifth…
By the time Chu Xiuyan snapped out of it, only Fanyi was still standing.
He waved, “You want to try too? Arm wrestling—I’ve never lost!”
Fanyi studied him for a long while.
“The Chief is still waiting for you.”
Chu Xiuyan: “Eh? Will the boss be mad?”
“This was provoked by you. If you were weak, you’d be torn apart for supper by the angry Chief. But you won. You proved yourself. So, the Chief won’t be angry—he’ll be happy.”
“But it was just arm wrestling,” Chu Xiuyan protested.
Fanyi looked back at the Fire, where Mutants with shattered head crystals lay playing dead, and was at a loss for words.
He finally said, “Have you been hit in the head before?”
Is that why all your attacks aim for the head?
***
Of course not.
He just wanted to see how hard these Mutant skulls were, and whether he could split them open.
But still—he really was this strong now.
Chu Xiuyan opened and closed his hand, feeling something indescribable inside.
The Mutant Camp’s Chief sat in a wooden cabin, hidden in darkness, only a pair of cold, scarlet eyes staring at Chu Xiuyan and Fanyi as they entered.
He said nothing.
Fanyi briefly explained what happened outside, then fell silent too.
Chu Xiuyan didn’t know what to say, so he waited for the Mutant Chief to speak.
However—
A minute passed. Five minutes. Half an hour.
The Chief never made a sound.
System’s time announcement: [It’s been nearly an hour.]
Chu Xiuyan’s legs were numb.
He thought the Chief must be insane.
Just before he completely lost patience, the Chief finally opened his precious mouth.
“Not bad.”
And that was it.
Chu Xiuyan left, utterly shocked.
That’s it? That’s it!?
Fanyi said, “The Chief’s mind isn’t quite right.”
Chu Xiuyan dazedly muttered, “Does he really think that’s cool and intimidating?”
Fanyi: “Exactly. The Chief’s mind isn’t quite right.”
Chu Xiuyan: “We’re not far away yet, can the boss still hear us?”
Fanyi: “I’m saying it for him to hear. It’s the same every time. I get tired standing there too.”
Chu Xiuyan was left speechless.
Another Fire was lit in the open Camp. Mutants gathered around, preparing meat.
Chu Xiuyan watched for a long while.
Fanyi stood beside him, his tone as calm as ever: “I personally admire you, so let me give you a piece of advice. Watch your gaze. The other Mutants won’t like it.”
Chu Xiuyan touched his own eyes and smiled, “What kind of look do you mean?”
The gray-haired Mutant didn’t answer, turning away: “Humans aren’t on my menu. If you can survive the attack that’s coming, head Northwest. That’s the real Mutant territory.”
“The real…” Chu Xiuyan caught on. “So, in your eyes, the Mutants here are just a bunch of rabble?”
Fanyi said nothing and quickly left.
“Wait, what attack?” Chu Xiuyan called after him. “Is this related to the uncle in the Prison?”
He remembered something important, but Fanyi was already gone, so he didn’t follow.
After all, as a newcomer, he already stood out enough.
“But here’s the problem. It’s fine to go hungry for a day or two, but…”
Chu Xiuyan muttered, “Where do I sleep tonight? Just on the ground? So primitive.”
“Buzz, buzz… smack!”
Chu Xiuyan slapped a mosquito dead.
A welt rose on the back of his hand.
Just then, the idle System received an urgent call from its host.
[System! I know what my ability is!]
System: [Isn’t it chameleon? Or…wait, is it a one-hundred-percent kill rate on mosquitoes? Amazing.]
Chu Xiuyan: […System, come out here. We need to fight.]
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