The Frozen Earth Plains remained a vast, desolate expanse. A group of Spotted Mice raced along the belt of moss at its southern end. The bitter winter was fast approaching, and if they failed to find a suitable place to migrate to, the entire group would likely starve to death on these sprawling plains.
There were roughly a hundred Spotted Mice in this group. For animals that liked living in colonies, a hundred was hardly a large number; this was a very small colony indeed. But Spotted Mice were not animals to be underestimated. Though barely twenty centimeters long, each had sharp fangs and claws. Agile and adept at attacking in packs, they were creatures no large animal dared provoke when they gathered in force.
Spotted Mice had very few natural enemies on Connors Star, and they preferred living in colonies. If a large colony amassed more than ten thousand of them, almost no creature dared stand against it. Once their numbers reached that ten-thousand mark, only one word could describe what happened wherever they passed: disaster. Spotted Mice simply ate too much.
Whenever a large colony of Spotted Mice migrated, not a blade of grass survived in its wake. They ate both meat and plants, and with their two stomachs, they seemed perpetually hungry, driven by an extraordinarily powerful instinct to eat.
Yet the reason Spotted Mice could not multiply and flourish also came down to that one word: eat. Once their population reached a certain size, no amount of foraging could provide enough food. In the end, after exhausting their food supply, most of them would starve to death. Spotted Mice absolutely refused to gnaw on the bodies of their own kind.
Thus, a vast colony of Spotted Mice would often dwindle to just a few hundred survivors in less than half a month. Those few hundred needed more than ten years to recuperate and breed before they could form another enormous colony, then repeat the cycle of feeding, hunger, death, and rebuilding.
On any celestial body in the universe, nature's law of balance was an iron rule that all living things had to obey.
This group of Spotted Mice consisted of survivors who had endured just such a period of starvation. They were desperate to find a place rich in water and vegetation where they could recuperate and breed.
The Spotted Mouse leading them was larger than the others, nearly thirty centimeters long. Its furry tail stood straight up, and it looked far stronger than its ordinary kin.
This Spotted Mouse had once led more than ten thousand of its kind in a sweep across the entire northern end of the Frozen Earth Plains. No large animals capable of threatening this little group remained here. The leader therefore believed it could guide its kin to a good breeding ground and carry the colony through this difficult period.
The Spotted Mouse King raced at the very front of the group. Though all the Spotted Mice were hungry, their pace was far from slow. They longed to reach the warm south as quickly as possible and find something delicious to eat.
Suddenly, a sharp whistle cut through the air. In an instant, a marble-sized stone flew in from afar and slammed into the head of a running Spotted Mouse. The impact sent it somersaulting through the air several times. It landed, thrashed a few times, then lay still, plainly dead.
Spotted Mice had remarkably tough flesh and bones, famously described as having copper skin and iron bones. After striking the mouse's head, the stone shattered into more than a dozen fragments that scattered in all directions.
The group stopped. Together, they stared warily ahead, having caught a whiff of danger from that flying stone.
A tall, straight figure rose from a jumble of rocks nearly a hundred meters away. Spotted Mice did not have particularly good eyesight, and at that distance they could not make out the dark figure's exact appearance. But as far as these overlords of the Frozen Earth Plains could remember, they had never encountered a creature like this before.
The dark figure that appeared before them was none other than Liu Xing. Ten years had passed since the old man's death, and he had grown into a youth. Though a trace of childishness still lingered on his face, it could not conceal his bold, handsome bearing.
Liu Xing had long since mastered the Nine Great Wilderness Forms. After so many years of arduous training, his physique had become powerfully built, his muscles etched with explosive definition, each one bulging with strength.
More importantly, Liu Xing's black eyes gleamed like dots of lacquer, filled with a sharp, deadly chill. As he regarded the Spotted Mice with that gaze, he seemed to see them not as the overlords of the Frozen Earth Plains, but as delicious food.
A faint stir ran through the group. They sensed an intense killing intent emanating from Liu Xing, making them feel that the unfamiliar creature before them embodied one word: danger!
The Spotted Mouse King decided to attack Liu Xing. As overlords of the Frozen Earth Plains, the Spotted Mice had never encountered any creature on Connors Star that dared stand before them and challenge their authority. Every creature bold enough to do so had paid with its life.
More than a hundred Spotted Mice squeaked as they spread out and charged toward Liu Xing. Skilled at attacking in packs, they naturally knew that spreading out was the most advantageous way to attack when they held an overwhelming numerical advantage.
But Spotted Mice were not intelligent creatures, after all. They had clearly forgotten that this unfamiliar creature was a terrifying killer who could end their lives with a thrown stone from a hundred meters away. And he was standing amid a jumble of rocks, with no shortage of stones of every shape and size at hand!
Watching more than a hundred Spotted Mice charge toward him, Liu Xing seemed to show a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth. After mastering the Nine Great Wilderness Forms, he had no equal on Connors Star. Even the Spotted Mice, known as the planet's overlords, were little more than fine food in his eyes, so long as their swarms did not blanket the earth and blot out the sky.
Fierce though they were, Spotted Mice were also arguably the finest delicacy on Connors Star. Now Liu Xing could finally fulfill his childhood dream: catch the Spotted Mouse King and roast it for a meal!
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