Choice

[Final Growth: A talent unique to snakes. Life goes on, growth never ceases. Whenever you reach a certain limit, you will shed your skin and become larger. You will also shed your skin when your scales are damaged.]

[Snake Venom: Neurotoxins + hemotoxins. Neurotoxins mainly inhibit the respiratory center in the medulla oblongata and block the nerves, stopping the victim's breathing and causing death. Hemotoxins mainly affect the heart, blood vessels, and blood, causing cardiovascular dysfunction.]

[Strength: As a reptile, you need numerous, powerful muscles to generate the immense strength required to propel your body through the water.]

After satisfying his curiosity, Bai Chuan looked at the last two functions on the Panel.

The Ability Structure Library was easy to understand. Its meaning was clear from the name: it was a storage vault for the abilities he possessed. At present, it held the ability templates of two creatures: a Wild Hare and a Rat.

But why only those two?

Bai Chuan thought it over carefully, then suddenly realized: weren't those the two kinds of food he'd eaten today?

So the abilities stored in this library were related to the food he ate?

Bai Chuan stared at the Panel, trying to guess how it worked. Whether or not he was right wasn't the most important thing right now. He could try it a few more times in the days ahead and figure it out.

Having looked through all that, Bai Chuan turned to the very bottom of the Panel, where its final function was located.

There was an "Edit" button there.

He directed his thoughts toward it. The next moment, something unexpected happened—

In an instant, a force as vast as the abyss and the sea surged into Bai Chuan's body. Then his point of view began to rise sharply, higher and higher!

When he came to his senses again, he was in a deep, pitch-black space, dotted with starlight.

That wasn't quite right. He seemed to have lost any sense of having a body, yet he didn't feel the least bit strange. It was as if things were meant to be this way: I was here and there; I was everywhere.

What drew his attention most in this space was a 3D model of a snake, standing motionless within it.

The instant he saw the model, he instinctively understood what it represented: his current body.

The feeling was like receiving a divine revelation. Everything around him told him so.

Following his instincts, he reached out and lightly touched the head of the model snake with his index finger—if he had a finger, that is.

The next moment, the model opened up. Yes, it opened just like a file. Now he could cut or copy any ability from the Panel's Ability Structure Library that was compatible with his body and insert it into the model.

As long as an ability could be added without any major incompatibility, then once the modification was complete, that ability would evolve in him at once, skipping the long passage of time it would normally take.

This one ability alone shattered to pieces the common sense he'd built up—that for a biological evolution to produce a noticeable effect, it took at least around twenty thousand years.

Given time, he could reach the very top of the world at an astonishing speed.

Just how outrageous was that? It was practically like having a cheat code!

While other creatures' ancestors had spent countless thousands of years struggling and evolving, fighting tooth and nail for their place in the ecosystem before finally reaching the top of the pyramid, he could simply mooch off their achievements.

Good grief. Bai Chuan couldn't help but marvel: what did it mean to be the king of mooching?

This was it!

After learning how powerful the Panel was, Bai Chuan could hardly wait to test it out. He immediately opened the Ability Structure Library.

A lifelike Wild Hare and a sneaky little Rat appeared before his eyes.

Seeing them, Bai Chuan sighed regretfully. "What a shame. I found out too late. If I'd known, I would've eaten more kinds of food today. Then I wouldn't be stuck with only two models to choose from."

Once the Panel's editing function was activated, it would consume at least one point, no matter what happened in the end. The point seemed to activate the Panel's full power; if he didn't use it and simply closed the Panel, it would disappear. It could also be thought of as energy needed for an ability to evolve.

How did he know? It was simply common sense, like knowing that people needed to drink water when they were thirsty.

The one thing he was relieved about was that even if he used up all his points afterward, the Panel wouldn't close again. It had only needed one point the first time because that was when it was activated.

Despite the regret, he still had to make his edits. Bai Chuan refused to believe that the Wild Hare and Rat, both near the very bottom of the food chain yet still far from extinct, had no important abilities at all.

Then he opened the model.

'Species: Wild Hare.'

'Abilities: Agility LV2, Reproduction LV2, Leaping LV1, Danger Perception LV1, Digging LV1.'

'Species: Rat.'

'Abilities: Reproduction LV2, Microbial Symbiosis LV2, Sense of Smell LV2, Intelligence LV1, Digging LV1, Swimming LV1, Climbing LV1.'

"Damn, what a rich set of abilities!" Bai Chuan sucked in a breath and clicked his tongue as he looked at the Rat's impressive ability list, especially after comparing it with the Rabbit's.

It nearly had as many abilities as he did.

No wonder! No wonder humans in his previous life could never wipe out Rats. Sometimes, under special circumstances, they could even bring about terrible disasters. With this ability list, you couldn't help but be impressed!

But why were so many of the abilities grayed out? And why were they all LV2? Bai Chuan looked at them, puzzled.

Unfortunately, the Panel wouldn't give him any answers.

He decided not to worry about it. He'd find out eventually.

He immediately filtered out all the abilities he could use.

'Abilities: Leaping LV1, Danger Perception LV1, Digging LV1, Intelligence LV1, Swimming LV1, Climbing LV1.'

Looking at these abilities, Bai Chuan fell into thought. He could only choose one right now, so which would help him most?

Leaping? He immediately ruled that one out. He couldn't imagine how a snake was supposed to leap. Forget compatibility—just picturing a snake hopping along made his eyes hurt.

Danger Perception? That would be useful. As a King Cobra, he was already close to the top of the food chain. Other than a few rare predators, there wasn't much to fear. But who would complain about being better at sensing danger? He'd keep that one in consideration.

Digging? That seemed all right. At least once he learned it, he wouldn't have to take over other creatures' homes to make a den.

Wherever he went, he could make his own home. That would help with safety, too—especially in the place he lived, where it rained so often that his den could easily get flooded.

Intelligence? If it meant a boost in intelligence, that would be fine. But when he checked the description, it read, [Intelligence: Develops the host's brain and grants the host the intelligence of a Rat.]

The intelligence of a Rat... Seeing that, Bai Chuan knew it wasn't for him. He'd have to be out of his mind to give up human intelligence for a Rat's.

After all, the reason humans ruled the world was that they had such clever brains.

Swimming or Climbing? He didn't even need to think about those before ruling them out, since he already had both abilities.

So it came down to the final two choices?

Danger Perception or Digging?

Bai Chuan looked at the two abilities and pondered for a while. In the end, he decided—