Claw Form!

"Bang!"

Su Zhe threw a punch, and a low-level soldier-class Shadow Cat was beaten into a mist of blood, which was then consumed by Su Zhe to become nourishment for his growth.

[Consumed Apprentice-level Tier 1 monster, gained 0.1 Devour Points]

Another 0.1 Devour Points in the bag!

Su Zhe felt a surge of excitement; coming to the Wilderness Zone was definitely the right choice. Compared to slowly eating monster meat to improve, direct consumption was far faster!

"Awoo!"

A Shadow Cat nearing the high-level soldier-class, its physique noticeably larger than the others, looked more like a small black tiger than a cat.

Of course, tigers and cats are both felines, after all.

This Shadow Cat was likely the leader of this small pack.

It was searching for an opening to attack Su Zhe, but Su Zhe had long since sensed its intentions and simply ignored it.

Swish--!

Su Zhe's hands transformed into silver-glowing wolf claws—the claws of the Silver Moon Dire Wolf, known as the "Hunter."

The Blacklight Virus could consume and acquire every advantage of its target.

Su Zhe's father was a high-level Warlord-level fighter at the Extreme Martial Arts Hall and the captain of a fighter squad. At Su Zhe's request, he had used the excuse of wanting to collect them, spending a significant price and calling in favors to finally obtain a pair of Silver Moon Dire Wolf claws.

If he knew that the very first thing Su Zhe did upon receiving those claws was to consume them, he would probably be angered to death, right?

Su Zhe thought to himself with amusement while symbolically dodging the Shadow Cats' attacks, each of his strikes claiming the life of another cat.

[Consumed Apprentice-level Tier 1 monster, gained 0.1 Devour Points]

[Consumed Apprentice-level Tier 1 monster, gained 0.1 Devour Points]

The two instantly killed Shadow Cats were devoured by Su Zhe in a flash, and the wounds inflicted upon him by the cats healed instantly.

Normally, for a fighter—especially one operating alone—it was necessary to conserve stamina in the Wilderness Zone to ensure high combat efficiency, meaning they wouldn't use their full strength in every strike.

But for Su Zhe? Conserving stamina? There was simply no need.

As a Blacklight Virus prototype.

Every time he consumed a target, Su Zhe could draw enough energy directly from the target's body to replenish his stamina. Even if he were critically injured and on the verge of death, as long as there was enough flesh and blood, he could recover rapidly; the concept of exhaustion simply did not exist.

All life was a blood bag for Su Zhe!

Su Zhe didn't even bother to dodge the Shadow Cats' attacks... although his footwork was only at an average level, barely reaching the "Micro" level, relying more on his superhuman neural reaction speed to evade, as he hadn't practiced it deliberately.

Su Zhe had, however, learned a bit of blade technique from his father.

But compared to using weapons, Su Zhe preferred to use his own body to fight.

As for whether the blade technique he learned would go to waste, that wouldn't be the case.

In games, Alex Mercer had blade forms that resembled the weapons of the Flame Dragon Knight; reality was not a game, and there were no limitations on forms. As long as Su Zhe continued to consume and devoured more monsters, he would eventually be able to acquire similar forms.

When that time came, his blade technique would be put to good use.

"Puchi!"

A claw pierced through the body of a Shadow Cat, and countless black-red tentacles extended from the claw, stabbing into the cat's body and rapidly draining it into a shriveled corpse, leaving not even the bones or skin behind.

"Hah!!!"

The sturdy Shadow Cat finally could not hold back any longer. Seeing the number of its companions steadily dwindling, it arched its back, activated its Spinosaurus form, hissed at Su Zhe in warning, and in the next instant, lunged forward!

"Awooo--"

Su Zhe mercilessly swung his claw, relying on speed and strength that crushed the Shadow Cat, sending it flying with a single blow.

[Consumed Apprentice-level Tier 2 monster, gained 0.2 Devour Points]

With the sturdy Shadow Cat also slain by Su Zhe, the remaining few Shadow Cats didn't even have time to run before they were all consumed by Su Zhe, turning into Devour Points on his panel.

Beyond the gain in Devour Points, every time he completed a consumption, Su Zhe could clearly feel his internal strength increasing.

[Level Up: Apprentice-level Tier 3]

A breakthrough in realm!

As a Blacklight Virus prototype, Su Zhe's strength breakthroughs had almost no bottlenecks to speak of.

The only thing that might affect Su Zhe's progress would be his comprehension of Laws.

But apart from those geniuses, under normal circumstances, one wouldn't begin to touch upon Laws until the World Lord level, and Domain Lords only just mastered domains.

"I wonder how my talent for Laws is?"

Su Zhe murmured, though he wasn't overly worried.

In the Swallowed Star world, talent for Laws had a significant connection to one's bloodline.

And the greatest advantage of the Blacklight Virus was consuming other life forms to seize their superior genes to enhance oneself.

There was still the Golden Horned Beast on Earth.

The Golden Horned Beast possessed a peak bloodline in the universe, second only to those special life forms; whether it was its talent for Laws or its innate secret techniques, it was incredibly powerful.

The only problem...

It is now February 6, 2060.

Su Zhe furrowed his brows.

At this moment, it had only been half a month since the battle against the Swallowing Beast ended, and the news of Luo Feng's fall was still the subject of casual conversation among the people. The contributions made by Luo Feng, Hong, and Thunder God, along with the other heroes, to the humans of Earth were indelible.

For Su Zhe, however, this was even worse news.

--The Golden Horned Beast had already been possessed by Luo Feng; how was he supposed to devour the Golden Horned Beast to grow stronger?

He couldn't exactly beg Luo Feng to let him take a bite, could he?

That would be too bizarre.

What else was left?

The Octopus Beast Emperor had already been killed by Luo Feng. Although the Thunder Dragon Emperor was still alive, its talent for laws was likely only average; the native monsters on Earth simply couldn't compare to those extraterrestrial beings.

Right.

There was still the Zerg Hive in Shennongjia.

But that Zerg Hive was at the World Lord level. With his current strength, it was hard to say if he could even reach the Universe level even if he devoured every living thing on Earth, let alone devour a World Lord-level Zerg Queen.

So... did he really have to enter the universe after all?

Su Zhe pondered for a moment, then decided to stop thinking about it.

Currently, there were two goals.

The first goal was to devour more monsters to unlock more forms to enhance his combat power, which was also an important way to raise his own level; devouring monsters with powerful physical bodies could also directly increase his strength.

The second goal overlapped with the first: to gather 10,000 Devour Points as soon as possible and see what new rewards he could obtain.

Last time, at 100 Devour Points, he had obtained the Blacklight Virus.

Next time, at 10,000 Devour Points, he would only need to devour 100,000 low-level soldier-grade monsters.

Su Zhe felt that this was relatively simple.