Mutant

Lu Heng crouched in the grass by the bank, a dark gray snake tattoo quietly coiled on the inside of his right forearm.

He stared at the river for a moment. The water was clear, and he could see pebbles and swaying water plants two or three meters below the surface. Occasionally, small fish would dart through the cracks between the stones.

You can't see anything below that.

With a thought, Lu Heng felt a slight warmth rise from the tattoo on his forearm. The snake pattern emerged from his skin and transformed into a slender King Snake that landed in the grass. It was not large, its body was dark gray, and its scales gleamed coldly in the sunlight. Its vertical pupils were slightly narrowed, and its tongue flickered in and out twice.

Lu Heng focused his mind and manipulated the King Snake to slide into the water.

The King Snake silently burrowed into the river, barely making a splash.

Lu Heng closed his eyes.

The King Snake's vision was transmitted through the mental link, and it was completely different from what was seen on the water's surface.

The underwater light had dimmed considerably, but visibility was still acceptable. Lu Heng controlled the King Snake, swimming close to the riverbed, its belly brushing against smooth pebbles, while the aquatic plants on either side swayed gently with the current. He controlled the snake's tongue to constantly flick in and out, sensing changes in scent and temperature in the water.

Everything is normal.

Lu Heng was preparing to have the King Snake explore deeper into the area.

A violent tremor suddenly occurred within the mental link.

Lu Heng was startled, and the shared vision shook violently. He reacted instantly, manipulating the King Snake to bounce back. The snake's body taut into an arc shape, then he suddenly straightened it, sending it flying two or three meters away.

The shared view was filled with churning water and scattered aquatic plants.

What is it?

Lu Heng steadied the King Snake, controlling it to slowly turn around, its vertical pupils locking onto a rocky area to the lower right.

The aquatic plants there are moving.

It wasn't the swaying caused by the water flow, but rather something slowly wriggling beneath the water plants.

Lu Heng held his breath, controlling the King Snake to lower its body and remain motionless against the riverbed.

Three seconds. Five seconds.

The aquatic plants in the rocky area suddenly burst open—

A grayish-brown object shot out from the crack in the rock and lunged straight at the King Snake.

Lu Heng reacted extremely quickly, twisting the King Snake's body to barely avoid the attack. But the thing grazed the King Snake's body, creating a violent surge of water that pushed the King Snake half a meter away.

Through the shared field of vision, Lu Heng could make out the outline of the thing—grayish-brown, covered with a layer of sticky mud, irregularly shaped, without a clear head or tail, its entire body was constantly wriggling, and occasionally fragments of bone would peek out from the mud and then retract.

After missing its target, it didn't stop; it immediately changed direction and charged at the King Snake again.

It's very fast.

Lu Heng made a decisive move, maneuvering the King Snake to change direction and dart towards the shore, skimming the water's surface. He controlled the King Snake to maintain a distance just enough for the creature to catch up, darting left and right like a bait line hanging on the prey's mouth, leading the creature towards the shallow water.

The creature pursued relentlessly, its massive body stirring up large swathes of water.

Lu Heng had already opened his eyes, retreated behind the bushes on the shore, and gripped the Rat King Bone Knife at his waist.

The water surface exploded.

The creature emerged from the water, half its body resting on the pebble beach in the shallows, while the other half remained submerged. Having lost its agility in the water, its movements were noticeably sluggish, but it still desperately twisted its body, reaching towards Lu Heng on the shore.

Lu Heng saw its full form—a nauseating mass, with various bone fragments wrapped in the silt at the bottom of the river, protruding from the mud like deformed bone spurs. The entire body had no fixed shape, constantly expanding and contracting, and each wriggling movement produced a sticky, watery sound.

He raised his Wristband automatically displayed authentication information.

[Sludge Mutant

Grade: Bronze Tier

Formed from the silt at the bottom of the river and the bones of wild animals, its body can heal repeatedly, but its core is its only fatal weakness.

Bronze Tier.

Lu Heng drew the Rat King Bone Knife, stepped forward, and slashed down at its torso.

The blade sliced into the mud, feeling like it was cutting into a lump of mushy mud. The bone knife went in half a foot, cutting a half-meter-long gash, from which bone fragments scattered.

But in less than two breaths, the mud on both sides of the wound began to wriggle and close, and in the blink of an eye, the wound disappeared without a trace.

Lu Heng slashed twice more, changing positions, but the result was the same.

It was cut open, then healed. It was cut open again, then healed once more.

He stepped back, staring at the writhing mass, and noticed a detail—each time a wound healed, a faint, dark blue light would flash deep within its body, quickly covered again by the mud film.

Kernel.

The "only fatal weakness" mentioned in the analysis was hidden deep within that clump of mud.

But if physical attacks can't even penetrate the surface, how can they reach the core?

Lu Heng glanced down at the bone knife, channeling his Mental Energy into the blade. A faint blue light spread along the edge.

He stepped forward again, aimed at the spot where the dark blue light was flashing, and slashed down with his sword.

This time the feel is completely different.

The moment the blade pierced through, Mental Energy pierced the water sac like a needle. The mud membrane did not heal; the pierced part collapsed directly, revealing the broken bone fragments and turbid liquid inside.

efficient.

Lu Heng no longer hesitated, focusing his mind to lock onto the core's location, and unleashed a series of slashes with his bone blade. Each strike was imbued with Mental Energy, and each strike landed on the same spot.

The mud film frantically tried to heal, but under the erosion of Mental Energy, the healing speed could not keep up with the rate of destruction.

With the fifth cut, the mud film on the surface of the core was completely peeled off.

The seventh cut caused a crack to appear in the core.

The Ninth Cut --

Click.

The kernel shattered.

The Sludge Mutant body instantly lost its support, collapsing onto the pebble beach like a puddle of mud, its broken bones scattered all over the ground, and the dark blue light completely extinguished.

The Wristband automatically started disintegrating, and a pale blue light enveloped the wreckage. Silt, broken bones, and aquatic plants—everything rapidly dissolved in the light.

In the end, only a thumb-sized, dark blue core remained, lying quietly on the pebble.

Lu Heng bent down and picked it up.

The core was cold, and the surface was covered with fine lines, like the blood vessels of some living thing slowly contracting.

The Wristband popped up a notification--

[Mutant Core]

It can be used as an energy source or to supply plants, and may cause mutations in both plants and wild animals; it also has a strong attraction to wild animals.

Lu Heng stared at the line of text for two seconds.

It has a strong attraction to wild animals.

Before he could think it through, a muffled sound of flowing water suddenly came from downstream.