Giant Mutant Rat Atlas

On the way into the park.

Lin Zichen found the rotting meat in his hand cumbersome, so he opened the bag and tossed it into a bush by the roadside.

The rotten Ghost Shadow Squid meat reeked more and more strongly, its stench growing ever sharper. Just smelling it made him feel sick. There was no reason to keep it anymore.

He might as well put it to use, giving it back to Mother Nature, who nurtured all living things, and letting the decomposers in the natural world feast on it.

As for how he'd explain it to his parents when he got home, he'd say he'd run into trouble caused by Heretic Cult followers and lost the meat by accident in the chaos.

Also, to avoid unnecessary trouble, if he wanted to buy Exotic Beast meat to consume in the future, he'd have to find someone to buy it for him...

As he pondered this, Lin Zichen had already followed the Public Security Team into the park.

At a glance, purple-blue smoke still hung in the air, though it had mostly dispersed, revealing a wide stretch of scorched earth that was still smoldering.

Moving closer, he saw a deep crater about one meter in radius at the very center.

He stepped closer to look inside. What met his eyes was a completely charred corpse.

It was the Heretic Cult follower who had transformed into a Giant Mutant Rat.

Lin Zichen was a little surprised.

The Laser Cannon had been so powerful, yet it hadn't completely erased the Ratman. It had only blasted him into a lump of charcoal?

Gene Fusion really was powerful.

"Unauthorized personnel aren't allowed any closer. Student, please leave at once!"

A Public Security officer standing by the crater spotted Lin Zichen and immediately called out to drive him away.

As soon as he spoke, the Public Security Team captain said, "Let him stay. We'll be taking him back to the station to give a statement anyway."

"Give a statement?"

The officer looked confused. He didn't understand why Lin Zichen would need to go back to the station to give one.

He didn't know that Lin Zichen had secretly helped the hostage escape from the Heretic Cult follower earlier.

Just then, Lin Zichen's phone rang. Shen Qinghan was calling.

As soon as he answered, Shen Qinghan's worried voice came through.

"Xiao Chen, it's been more than ten minutes. You still haven't come back. Did something happen on the way?"

"I'm fine, don't worry. The Mechanical Cyborg took care of that Ratman. I stayed behind to check out the scene. Wait at the convenience store for a bit. I'll be back soon."

"Should I come find you?"

"No, it doesn't feel very safe. I'll come get you now. Wait for me. I'll be there in a moment."

Lin Zichen quickly hung up and ran to pick up Shen Qinghan.

Before long, he had brought her over to the park.

Shen Qinghan stared at the scorched ground before them, her little face full of astonishment.

She could hardly imagine what had happened here just moments ago to leave it in this state.

By then, the people from the Public Security Team had pulled the corpse out of the crater. They placed it on a stretcher and carried it to the trunk of the patrol car.

Fortunately, the patrol car's trunk was designed to hold all kinds of large equipment and was spacious enough. Otherwise, there would have been no way to fit the stretcher.

Looking at the completely charred corpse, Lin Zichen recalled that the Public Security Team captain had mentioned something about the Rat King Gene when requesting backup.

The Heretic Cult follower, now reduced to charcoal, had most likely fused with the Rat King Gene.

And the Rat King Gene was definitely a type of Exotic Beast gene.

So... could he consume the Rat King Gene inside the corpse?

The thought suddenly occurred to Lin Zichen.

He considered it and decided it should work. When they got to the Public Security Station, he'd find a chance to touch the corpse as he got out of the car and test his theory.

Soon, everything at the scene had been taken care of.

The Public Security Team captain turned to Lin Zichen and asked, "We're heading back to the Public Security Station. Do you two know where it is? Can you ride your bikes there yourselves?"

"Our bike chain broke. We can't ride it."

"In that case, come back with us in the patrol car."

"Could you bring our bicycle too?"

"Sure. Go get it."

"Thanks."

After exchanging a few words, Lin Zichen went outside and wheeled over the bike with its broken chain.

There was no room left in the trunk, so a tall Public Security officer used a rope to secure the bicycle on the roof.

After that, they all headed to the Public Security Station.

Lin Zichen didn't see Teacher Strawberry in the car. He figured the officers had already taken her to the hospital to get her wounds treated.

On the way, since Lin Zichen and Shen Qinghan were both minors, the Public Security Team captain told them to call their parents and ask them to come to the station.

They both called their parents.

About ten minutes later.

The car finally arrived at the Public Security Station.

After getting out, Lin Zichen went to help unload the Heretic Cult follower's corpse.

While the officers weren't looking, he fought back his nausea and reached out to touch the body, checking whether he could consume the Rat King Gene inside it.

To his delight, he really could!

Genes were the Life Origin—or at least one form of it!

Without a second thought, he chose to consume it.

[You consumed a trace of the Life Origin of the "Giant Mutant Rat"]

[Giant Mutant Rat Atlas: 5%]

5%? That much?

Looking at the progress bar on the atlas, Lin Zichen was surprised.

But more than the progress bar, he was curious about what ability he would gain from unlocking the Giant Mutant Rat Atlas.

After thinking it over, he realized that aside from having eight eyes and being Thick-Skinned, the Giant Mutant Rat didn't seem to have any particularly special abilities.

Of course, it was possible that humans didn't know enough about the Giant Mutant Rat.

After all, the Giant Mutant Rat had only recently appeared in human society, and many things about it were still unknown.

Forget it. There's no point wondering. I'll know everything once the atlas is full.

With that thought, Lin Zichen took a deliberate look at the corpse on the stretcher.

It didn't look any different. Losing the Rat King Gene seemed to have had no effect.

Of course, just like with the Ghost Shadow Squid meat, the effects might take a while to show.

Over the next while.

Lin Zichen and Shen Qinghan sat together and gave their statements.

The Public Security Team captain was very interested in how Lin Zichen had stepped in to help. He wanted to know how Lin Zichen had hit the Heretic Cult follower with a stone.

After all, the distance between them had been considerable, and visibility at night wasn't very good.

Under those conditions, accurately hitting the hand holding the knife with a stone was beyond what a middle school student should have been capable of.

Lin Zichen didn't want to reveal too much of his strength, so he gave the explanation he'd prepared earlier and said he'd used a slingshot.

"Where's the slingshot?"

The Public Security Team captain didn't believe him and asked.

Lin Zichen didn't even blink. He replied calmly, "I accidentally lost it while fleeing the scene."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," Lin Zichen answered without hesitation.

The Public Security Team captain nodded and asked no more questions.

Soon, the statements were finished.

By then, Lin Zichen and Shen Qinghan's parents had also arrived at the Public Security Station.

Both families looked frantic. They hadn't imagined that their children would run into trouble caused by Heretic Cult followers just by going out for a while that evening.

Thankfully, things had turned out well. Neither child was hurt.

Otherwise, their parents would never have been able to live with themselves.

After talking with his parents for a few minutes, Lin Zichen turned to the Public Security Team captain and asked:

"Hello, I'd like to ask when I can apply for the reward for helping someone in danger."

"First, go have your fingerprints compared. Once the results are back and everything's confirmed, I can submit the application for you through the system."

The Public Security Team captain answered.

Once he understood the process, Lin Zichen followed a young Public Security officer to have his fingerprints compared.

Seeing this, both families' parents were confused.

A reward for helping someone in danger?

What was that?

The parents only knew that their children had encountered trouble caused by Heretic Cult followers. They didn't know Lin Zichen had helped save someone.

Only after asking the Public Security Team captain and reading the statement did they learn what had happened.

"Your son is really something. He's only in middle school, yet he's so brave. He stayed calm and faced the danger head-on. A little hero, indeed."

A passing female Public Security officer praised him.

After hearing this, Zhang Wanxin only gave the woman a polite smile. She didn't feel the slightest bit of joy.

She didn't want Lin Zichen to be a hero. She only wanted him to grow up safe and sound.