Mysterious Zone 16, at the edge of the island.
The giant sea turtle had paddle-like feet and a brown body, with speckled markings on its neck and enormous, bright black eyes.
Judging by its appearance, the giant sea turtle had an indescribably simple, good-natured air.
"This world really is insane. Crabs the size of water tanks, sea turtles the size of trucks..." Zhang Ming hid inside his tent, quietly sizing it up.
The turtle chomped away at the crab shells on the ground. The crunching sounds had been coming from its mouth. Its face actually wore an expression of ecstatic enjoyment. Even though there was no meat left inside the shells, it couldn't stop eating, chewing up the turf beneath them as well.
Watching how happy it looked, even Zhang Ming couldn't help salivating.
But... what was this supposed to be?
Was this turtle eating kitchen waste?
"I know crab tastes good, but those are just shells. There's no meat."
"Wake up, turtle! Just leave already. Hurry up and go once you're done eating!"
Zhang Ming tightened his grip on the metal pipe, his palms growing slightly sweaty. He wouldn't dare provoke a turtle the size of a truck. All he could do was keep praying that it would leave soon.
Sea turtles... probably didn't eat people, right?
The next instant, the giant turtle sensed Zhang Ming's furtive gaze and turned its enormous head.
Its two glossy black eyes looked toward the tent.
It had been enjoying its meal so much that it had neglected its surroundings.
The air went still.
The eerie silence grew heavier, like the terrifying calm before a storm.
Terribly nervous, Zhang Ming hid in his tent and kept adjusting his attributes.
[Physique] continued to rise.
He glanced at the remaining crab legs.
"If that turtle charges over, I'll throw out the remaining crab legs to distract it, then make a run for it."
Every second before the storm felt agonizingly long. More and more sweat gathered on Zhang Ming's forehead as he ran through one battle plan after another.
The next instant, something unbelievable happened!
The giant turtle backed up a few steps, looking increasingly confused.
Suddenly, its eyes went perfectly round, and an expression of utter panic and terror appeared on its face!
Zhang Ming called that expression "terror" because the turtle looked far too human. He strongly suspected that the creature had evolved a rudimentary intelligence.
The giant sea turtle slowly withdrew its head into its shell.
"It's scared?"
"What... what's wrong with it?"
A second after that shocking thought struck Zhang Ming, the turtle moved!
With its head tucked in, it shuffled its two hind legs, turning its shell little by little like a sluggish spinning top.
Once its head pointed toward the beach, it took off running for its life, its four enormous paddle-like legs pumping on either side as it raced toward the ocean!
Thud, thud! Thud, thud!
The sight was so bizarre that Zhang Ming's eyes nearly popped out of his head, and he almost bit his tongue.
It ran away! It actually ran away!
Didn't it need to watch where it was going? Wasn't it afraid of crashing into a tree?
How graceless!
The turtle barreled through everything in its path, leaving a deep trail through the bushes. It even knocked several coconuts out of the defensive formation Zhang Ming had deliberately set up.
"Who said a turtle couldn't outrun a rabbit?!"
It took Zhang Ming two seconds to react. He leaped out of the tent and shouted after the turtle, "Hey! Could you spare me a little turtle meat?!"
"Whatever abilities you've got, give me some!"
Even one mouthful would do! I, Zhang Ming, want to be your best friend!
Please, don't run away so fast!
Ten minutes later, Zhang Ming ultimately decided against chasing those fleeing "attribute points."
The creature fleeing was one thing. Whether he could beat it if he caught up was another. He absolutely couldn't underestimate the ability of these mutated creatures to fight back when facing death.
Still, the incident had served as a reminder: food with a smell had to be stored properly. Even scraps needed to be cleaned up promptly and thrown as far away as possible.
Preferably into the ocean.
This time, it had been a timid, gluttonous turtle. Who knew what kind of monster might come next?
He went back and ate a few mouthfuls of crab meat.
"Delicious!"
Another beautiful day had begun!
He allocated his attribute points.
[Physique: 47/47] [Perception: 33/33] [Spirit: 27/32] [Lifespan: 24/29] [Total attributes: 141] [Ability: Strength burst (activated)]
His surroundings weren't exactly friendly, but he was full of... anticipation for the days ahead?
Anticipation wasn't quite the word. He just wanted to stay alive.
Zhang Ming seriously considered what he should do today. Should he keep hunting crabs, raid birds' nests for eggs, or seek out other mutated creatures?
Or... explore the ultimate mystery at the center of the island?
"In theory, as long as these mutated creatures have superpowers, I can transfer those powers to myself by eating them."
"With a hundred or a thousand superpowers, couldn't I fly through the sky, roam the earth, tank a nuclear bomb with my bare body, and blow up a planet with one punch?"
"My late-game potential is solid. Once I get going, I'll be able to beat any monster."
Then he resolutely chose-to keep hunting crabs. With a perfectly straight face.
Because humans were fundamentally creatures of repetition: hunt little crabs at level 1, big crabs at level 10, and super crabs at level 100.
At level 1,000, hunt immortal crabs.
At level 10,000, hunt invincible god crabs.
As a human, he couldn't escape the law of repetition.
He had to hunt crabs...
Ahem. In all seriousness, knowing one's limits was important. Zhang Ming's current combat skills were so awful they were painful to watch.
He used to be a code monkey. He had never even killed a chicken.
The fiercest fight of his entire childhood had been in kindergarten, when he kicked another boy in the balls. The poor kid made a great show of wailing for half an hour, and the teacher punished Zhang Ming by making him stand in a corner for half a day. In the end, he even had to bow and scrape as he apologized.
From then on, he had learned a lesson: don't hit people. If someone hit you, lie on the ground and cry your heart out. Even if it wasn't serious, pretend it was.
Now, even with
the boost from his attribute panel, he might have been stronger than Bear Grylls, but there was absolutely no way he could strangle a crocodile with his bare hands.
So he would be perfectly satisfied bullying an opponent he had already beaten and collecting a few crab legs.
"That's settled, then!" He clapped his hands sharply.
A craftsman needed sharp tools to do a good job.
He spent half an hour improving his weapon: he cut a blue dress into long strips and braided them into rope. Using the rope, he lashed the pointed end of a crab leg firmly to the metal pipe, creating a sturdy spear.
"Women will only slow down my draw, so I'll destroy all these clothes first." (Actually, he simply thought women's clothes were useless. If he ever started running along the beach in women's clothing, that would mean he'd gone mad.)
[Spirit +1]
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