Rebecca Star was a beautiful planet. Its sky was as blue as Earth's, and its iridescent clouds made Zhang Fan feel as though he had entered a fairy-tale world.
Rebecca relied primarily on biological technology, supplemented by magic energy technology.
To Zhang Fan, this place was nothing short of paradise. Unfortunately, it was not a paradise for humans!
Zhang Fan sent several Protozoans down the river, away from the city, while he hid within it, observing the Rebecca People's daily activities to learn their habits and weaknesses.
Zhang Fan was careful, and he was patient. In the sewers, he slowly devoured creatures resembling Earth's cockroaches and rats, analyzed their genes, and added the best ones to his own Gene Chain.
"Mother, I've noticed something really strange lately!" A Rebecca girl pointed toward the kitchen, her face alight with the excitement of discovering a new continent.
"What did you find? A planet spinning in the kitchen? Haha!"
The Rebecca girl pointed at a cute bug with big, blinking eyes. "This... I found him in the sewer."
"What kind of creature is this? He's adorable, but you can't keep sewer creatures as pets."
"No, what I mean is, those disgusting Chuchu Bugs haven't appeared in the kitchen anymore."
"Well, he could save us a lot of trouble, then. Are you planning to keep him?"
The Rebecca girl turned and ran off...
Zhang Fan was surprised. He had already made himself perfect. Only after devouring two Rebecca pet dogs and combining all their best traits had he evolved into this form. Did the little girl not like him?
Just before the Rebecca girl released magic energy toward him, she came running back with a transparent box in her arms.
Zhang Fan knew he had succeeded. This goblin-like Rebecca girl had taken a liking to him. He had officially become her pet.
"My name is Lisa. What about you? Purple scales, little spikes on your back... I'll give you a name. How about Purple Thorn?"
Zhang Fan could not understand what she was saying, nor did he want to. He only wanted to use this innocent girl to supply him with food-meat, kinds of meat he could not obtain in the sewers.
The Rebecca People had one habit Zhang Fan found utterly incomprehensible: they burned any meat they could not finish, while only vegetable scraps were dumped into the sewers.
Even more baffling to Zhang Fan was the fact that the Rebecca People were the only carnivores on this planet.
And Zhang Fan was the second...
After he endured three days of hunger, the Rebecca girl finally put slices of meat into his cage.
New genes...
This genetic sequence belonged to an animal with its own Magic Energy Sac, capable of spraying a kind of Plasma Fluid. The Protozoans sent outside the city had never encountered it.
Zhang Fan did not dare test its power yet. He needed more information, and Lisa could provide no more.
One day, Lisa's friend came over, a Rebecca boy. They seemed close.
But when the boy, whose name was Huateng, saw Zhang Fan, he asked, "What is this thing?"
"Purple Thorn. I found him."
Lisa whispered to Huateng, "He eats meat!"
Huateng exclaimed, "I eat meat too. I even drink blood. Does he?"
After looking him over, Lisa shook her head. "None of us drink blood. Why do you?"
"Because I'm the strongest. These lowly creatures are nothing but my slaves. They should feel honored that I eat their flesh and drink their blood."
Lisa did not seem to want to continue the conversation, but Zhang Fan was interested in him. It looked as though he could get more from this boy.
Lisa certainly would not give him away, though. That left only the question of whether these two good friends would share.
Zhang Fan underwent amitosis right in front of them...
When two Purple Thorns appeared in the glass box, Huateng immediately exclaimed, "He turned into two! Can you give me one? If not, I'll buy one."
Lisa hesitated. If there had been only one, she would never have given him away, but Purple Thorn had actually become two.
Best friends ought to learn to share.
Huateng took Zhang Fan's duplicate home... to a mansion several times larger than Lisa's house. He actually lived there alone.
That made things much easier for Zhang Fan. As soon as Huateng settled him in, he brought him several slices of meat, then sat quietly beside him and watched him eat. It was as though he were staring at a mountain of gold, his eyes filled with greed.
"Little fellow, you duplicated yourself just now, didn't you? I saw it. Can you make another copy?"
Zhang Fan could not understand him at all. Right now, nothing mattered more than devouring the genes in this meat.
Huateng treated him well enough, supplying plenty of meat, though every day he said things beside Zhang Fan that Zhang Fan could not understand.
Still, he was clever enough to communicate with Zhang Fan through gestures. Zhang Fan soon understood what he meant: he wanted him to divide.
As it happened, Zhang Fan had stored enough energy. Since Huateng was actually asking him to divide, how could Zhang Fan refuse?
Huateng picked up the newly split duplicate and planted an excited kiss on him.
He... actually sold the individual Zhang Fan had split off... to a neighbor for 500 Starmoon Coins.
When he returned, however, he rewarded Zhang Fan with meat worth five Starmoon Coins and told him, "From today on, you belong to me. I'm your only master."
The boy was extremely clever. He approached Lisa's parents and bought the original body at her house for 100 Starmoon Coins.
He began amassing wealth at a frenzied pace, and through him, Zhang Fan officially entered the Rebecca People's lives as a pet.
In less than ten years, thanks to Huateng's efforts, Zhang Fan's duplicates had entered countless households. Some of Zhang Fan's minor evolutions delighted the Rebecca People even more, and mutant varieties of Purple Thorn had begun taking the world by storm.
Zhang Fan's original body stayed quietly and obediently beside Huateng. With Huateng's financial power, no one could do anything to him-not even the Interstellar Exploration Committee.
Carrying documents on {Rabid Hound} and accompanied by a group of Exploration Committee officers, Liliwa arrived at Huateng's top-floor office in Skyjoy Tower, the tallest commercial building on Rebecca Star.
He angrily flung the documents on {Rabid Hound} onto Huateng's desk!
"This carbon-silicon life-form was brought back from Rena Star by us, and it was approved by the Interstellar Exploration Committee long ago. Rena Star was even named after my wife. You actually stole our biological specimen..."
Faced with Liliwa's anger, Huateng merely shrugged. "You've been filing complaints against me with the Interstellar Exploration Committee for ten years. Has anything come of it?"
"Of course!" Liliwa confidently stepped aside, and several Interstellar Exploration Committee officers stood in front of him.
"Please hand over Purple Thorn and cease all sales involving him. Mr. Liliwa and his team discovered this species first. All rights should belong to Mr. Liliwa."
Huateng smiled. "Gentlemen, you've misunderstood something. Liliwa is merely my employee. The Starmoon's exploration activities were conducted with my funding and approval."
Everyone stared blankly at Liliwa, who looked just as bewildered.
"Since when did the Starmoon become your employee? We're an exploration vessel registered with the Interstellar Exploration Committee. The Starmoon belongs to me alone."
Huateng smiled at Liliwa's objection. "Just now, before you came in, I bought the Interstellar Exploration Committee. So aren't the exploration vessels registered with me my employees?"
No sooner had Huateng finished speaking than the officers received a notification from the Interstellar Exploration Committee.
"Mr. Liliwa, we're sorry, but we can't help you either. We hope you can reach an amicable agreement with the chairman."
Liliwa stood frozen in place. After bowing to Huateng, the officers left the office hall.
Zhang Fan watched the despairing Liliwa, a discoverer rendered helpless by the workings of capital.
Liliwa left the office hall in silence...
But a war between the explorers and Huateng continued to brew. As the discoverer of carbon-silicon life, Liliwa enjoyed great prestige among the exploration fleets.
He began joining forces with other exploration vessels, preparing to rise up in resistance. War could erupt at any moment, which was exactly what Zhang Fan wanted.
Peace... Once he was exposed, he would become a target for every member of the Rebecca People. On a planet with only one carnivorous species, his Insect Race genes had not improved very much.
War, on the other hand, would bring chaos. Especially when Huateng found himself helpless, he would crave greater power.
Then the whole of Rebecca Star would become Zhang Fan's stage, and the Rebecca People would never imagine that the mastermind behind it all was an inconspicuous bug like him.
Just as Zhang Fan had hoped, war broke out on Rebecca in less than two months.
Huateng's mercenaries and Liliwa's exploration fleet fought a war that lasted three years. Several cities were destroyed overnight, and tens of millions were displaced. Even Huateng, the richest man on Rebecca Star, began to struggle under years of attrition.
After all, he was not the only wealthy man. Plenty of people coveted his position, and those secretly supporting the exploration fleet were too numerous to count.
Several large financial consortiums had yet to act, merely watching events unfold. They, too, were silent hunters. Whichever side fell first-Huateng or the exploration fleet-would become their prey.
Seeing Huateng's troubled expression after one military defeat followed another, Zhang Fan decided to give him a hand!
A female secretary rushed into the office in terror. "Sir, Qidian City has fallen. This is all we have left now. If we don't find a way soon, I..."
Abandoning his usual docile demeanor, Purple Thorn lunged at the secretary. He tore open her throat with a bite and greedily devoured her flesh and blood.
Huateng stared at Purple Thorn in horror and shouted, "Purple Thorn, what are you doing?"
After absorbing the Rebecca People's genes, Zhang Fan could understand him. In fluent Rebecca, he said, "Someone is challenging your authority. I only wanted to help you."
"You... you can actually talk?"
"Hahaha, is that so strange?"
"What exactly are you?"
"Your moneymaking tool, aren't I?"
"What do you want to do? You... what are you going to do?"
"I've served you for ten years. It's time you repaid me!"
Zhang Fan gave him no further chance to speak. After eating Huateng, Zhang Fan began his final evolution on Rebecca Star.
Before that, however, he issued an order to Huateng's army... to fight to the death.
Before you continue