"So this is... a new world?"
Orochimaru slowly stepped out of the rift, his golden, snake-like eyes sweeping over his surroundings.
His voice was hoarse and magnetic, with a peculiar rhythm, as if he were chanting some ancient incantation.
"The energy concentration in the air... How interesting."
He stuck out his astonishingly long tongue and licked his lips.
"It's neither chakra nor Natural Energy... This is a much more violent, more primal energy, yet it's also teeming with life."
"And..."
Orochimaru's gaze fell on the half-mechanical Thunder Tyrannosaurus beside them.
His usually placid, snake-like eyes suddenly blazed with astonishing intensity.
"The fusion of biology and machinery? The nerves have been forcibly severed, and external devices are being used to maintain its vital signs and channel its energy..."
"Crude. Far too crude."
Orochimaru shook his head. Though he called it crude, his tone was full of praise.
"Still, the idea is wonderful. This sense of desecrating life... I like it."
Qin Feng looked at the man radiating a terrifying aura and curled his lips into a smile.
He'd bet right.
If Grey Wolf was the pinnacle of mechanical engineering, then Orochimaru was the godfather of bioengineering.
With him on board, the plans for Artificial Soul Rings, artificial Martial Souls, and even artificial Soul Masters would no longer be mere fantasies!
"Welcome to Douluo Continent, Dr. Orochimaru."
Qin Feng stepped forward and held out his hand.
"There's no chakra or ninjutsu here. But there are Soul Beasts, Martial Souls, and countless strange life forms you've never seen before."
"And..."
Qin Feng pointed at the backs of Tang San and the others, who hadn't gone far yet.
"A special genetic sequence called Twin Martial Souls."
At the words "Twin Martial Souls," Orochimaru's eyes narrowed to slits.
"A special genetic sequence?"
"You mean... a Kekkei Genkai?"
"More interesting than a Kekkei Genkai," Qin Feng said with a smile. "Everyone here is born with an accompanying power called a Martial Soul. It can be an object, a beast, or even their own body."
"As they grow, they have to hunt powerful creatures and plunder fragments of their genes—the Soul Rings—to evolve."
"Plunder... evolve..."
Orochimaru murmured to himself, his expression growing more and more feverish.
"This is... paradise."
In this world, there was no need to rack his brains over Cursed Seals or Living Corpse Reincarnation. The laws of this world were a naked feast of genetic plunder!
"I think we're going to get along very well."
Orochimaru reached out his cold, slick hand and shook Qin Feng's.
"As long as you can provide me with enough... specimens."
"Specimens are no problem."
Qin Feng gestured toward the vast Soul Hunting Forest.
"This is the biggest all-you-can-eat buffet around."
"And..."
Qin Feng turned to look at Xiao Wu, who was cowering in a corner.
Xiao Wu was so terrified that she could barely maintain her human form. Her rabbit ears drooped as she curled into a ball, not daring to look at Orochimaru.
It was a shudder that came from deep within her soul.
Snakes were a rabbit's natural enemy.
All the more so when it was a Shinobi World snake who had honed a tangible killing intent through countless human experiments.
Orochimaru followed Qin Feng's gaze.
"Hmm?"
He gave a quiet murmur of surprise.
His figure blurred.
In the next instant, Orochimaru was standing in front of Xiao Wu.
He moved so fast that even Grey Wolf's radar only caught a blur.
Orochimaru reached out and gently lifted Xiao Wu's chin with his slender fingers.
"How interesting..."
"She looks human, but the blood of a beast flows through her."
"And the sheer magnitude of her life force... It's almost as if she were a Tailed Beast wearing human skin."
Orochimaru licked his lips again, greed practically spilling from his eyes.
"A perfect transformation technique? No, this is a reconstruction at the genetic level."
"If you don't mind, young lady..."
"Could you let me... cut you open and have a look?"
"Ah!!!"
Xiao Wu finally broke down.
With a scream, she shoved Orochimaru away, then scrambled behind Grey Wolf, clutching his tattered robe and weeping miserably.
"Uncle Wolf! Help! This guy's a pervert! He's a snake psycho who eats people!"
Grey Wolf was usually unreliable, but when it mattered, he still protected his own—mostly because Qin Feng had said this rabbit was emergency rations.
He raised his Frying Pan and stood in front of Xiao Wu. His knees were shaking, but he still steeled himself and shouted:
"Hey! Long-haired weirdo! Stay away from my emergency rations!"
"I spotted this rabbit first! If anyone's cutting her open, it's me!"
Orochimaru's interest had been interrupted, but he didn't get angry. He merely glanced at the Frying Pan in Grey Wolf's hand.
"An unusual metal construction... It gives off no energy fluctuations, yet it feels dangerous."
"This world is getting more and more interesting."
Qin Feng stepped forward at just the right moment and positioned himself between Orochimaru and Xiao Wu.
"Dr. Orochimaru, take it easy."
"This rabbit is still useful. You can't cut her open for now."
"But..."
Qin Feng pulled out a fine steel dagger he'd seized from Xiao Chenyu earlier and tossed it to Orochimaru.
"If you're itching to get your hands dirty, the person who just left..."
Qin Feng pointed in the direction Tang San had gone.
"He has two Martial Souls."
"One is a plant, and the other... is a hammer."
"His body is unusual, too. It seems he's trained in some kind of ocular technique and internal cultivation method from another world."
"I think you might find him even more interesting."
Orochimaru caught the dagger and deftly spun it by the hilt.
"Two Martial Souls... techniques from another world..."
"Heh heh heh..."
A bone-chilling laugh echoed through the ravine.
"Qin Feng, you understand me so well."
Orochimaru turned toward the depths of the forest. His snake-like eyes seemed to see through the trees, fixing on the figure stumbling along ahead.
"In that case..."
"Let's go say hello first."
"I'm curious to see what color the 'chosen one' of this world is on the inside."
Meanwhile.
At the edge of the Soul Hunting Forest.
Tang San was supporting Yu Xiaogang as they struggled back.
Suddenly.
An indescribable chill shot up from his tailbone and spread through his body.
It felt as if a cold snake had wrapped itself tightly around his neck.
"What is it, Xiao San?" Yu Xiaogang noticed something was wrong and asked with concern.
Tang San stopped and looked back into the depths of the forest.
It was pitch-black. He couldn't see a thing.
But he clearly sensed a pair of greedy eyes watching him from the darkness.
That gaze was even more terrifying than Qin Feng's cold indifference.
It was the gaze of someone who saw him as food, as experimental material.
"Teacher..."
Tang San's voice trembled.
"We... seem to have gotten ourselves mixed up with something even more terrifying."
Just then.
A streak of purple lightning suddenly flashed across the sky above the forest.
In that brief burst of light,
Tang San thought he saw a gigantic white python phantom atop the treetops, its jaws gaping as it gave him a sinister grin.
And on the snake's head,
a long-haired man stood against the wind, his lips moving as he soundlessly mouthed four words:
"Found. You. At. Last."
Before you continue