Contract

When Lin Shen had touched it before, he had already felt that this thing did not really look much like a snake. Now that he was looking at it, it seemed even less like one.

Snakes had heads, but this thing's head was utterly indistinct. At a glance, it looked more like an earthworm or something similar. Only at its tip was there a tiny hole, almost too small to see, which was probably its mouthpart.

Yet its body did not resemble an earthworm either. It was somewhat like a snakeskin rope woven from dark-red metal wire.

All in all, if one did not look closely, this thing looked like a rope.

Lin Shen could not tell what the thing was, nor did he have the time to think about it.

As though it sensed that Lin Shen had awakened, its body suddenly swelled. Its body, originally only around three centimeters thick, had its front end expand in an instant until it was as thick as a water bucket.

Its mouthpart, which had previously seemed no bigger than a needle hole, expanded along with it until it was large enough to easily swallow a human head.

Inside that mouthpart were rings upon rings of blood-colored crystal sawteeth like gears. They slowly rotated within its body, flashing with alternating bright and dim bloody light, like a blood-crystal pulverizer starting up.

If a head were swallowed into it, it would likely be ground into bloody pulp in an instant.

As the monster's terrifying mouthpart was about to swallow Lin Shen, he struggled desperately. Because the front half of the monster's body had expanded while the rear half had yet to do so, a sliver of space opened around Lin Shen, who had originally been tightly bound.

At the instant the monster's mouthpart was about to descend, one hand suddenly tore free.

Lin Shen threw caution to the wind and smashed his fist viciously into a red dot beneath the monster's head. That was the pressure point he had spotted on its body.

Because the monster had expanded, that red dot had grown much larger as well.

Bang!

Just as the monster's mouthpart was about to devour Lin Shen's head, his fist slammed heavily into that red dot.

Lin Shen could feel the searing pain radiating from his finger bones. His fingers were probably either broken or cracked.

The monster's body had not been completely immobilized at all, but it had become somewhat sluggish and continued swallowing toward Lin Shen's head.

The Pressure-Point Strike had not fully worked. In terms of strength alone, Lin Shen's strength could not even break through the monster's defenses.

Lin Shen desperately twisted his head to one side, dodging the monster's bite, while his fist frantically hammered the red dots on its body.

A heart-rending pain tore through his finger bones, but Lin Shen could not spare it another thought. Even if every bone in his hand shattered, that was still better than losing his life here.

Blood splattered across the monster's body. It was all blood from the torn flesh of Lin Shen's fist; the monster itself was completely unhurt.

The monster was still moving slowly. It had not been completely immobilized, but its movements had become extremely sluggish, and the force binding Lin Shen's body was gradually weakening.

Lin Shen's other hand finally broke free as well. Pressing against the monster's swollen front end, he pulled his body free.

By then, Lin Shen's first hand could no longer even clench into a fist. His fingers hung down in unnatural bends, their split flesh a blur, blood dripping steadily from them.

The monster's body was also shaking violently. With every tremor, it wriggled bit by bit amid the shaking, as though it were about to break free from the restraint of the Pressure-Point Strike.

Lin Shen knew it was not that the Pressure-Point Strike was useless; his own strength was simply insufficient to seal the monster's pressure point completely.

It was like someone wearing a suit of armor. Even if one knew where the pressure point was, if one's strength could not pierce the armor, it naturally could not penetrate through to affect the pressure point.

It was already a stroke of great fortune that the vibrations from the blow could travel inside and have some effect on this monster.

Lin Shen used his uninjured hand to feel for the clothes by the bed, intending to retrieve the Pet Capsules of the Superspeed Gunslinger and the Steel Tail Scorpion.

But when he searched, he did not find the Steel Tail Scorpion's capsule. He only found the Superspeed Gunslinger's capsule.

There was no time to think about it. He pulled out the key hidden close to his body and directly activated the Pet Capsule.

The Pet Capsule rapidly transformed, and the Superspeed Gunslinger appeared before Lin Shen. At his command, it drew its gun and fired at the monster.

The bullet struck the red dot, yet it ricocheted aside, leaving only the faintest white mark. The monster's body instead wriggled even faster.

Lin Shen's heart jolted. He understood that the Fire Seed's ability only worked when he used it himself. Even if outside force struck a pressure point, it would not have the effect of a Pressure-Point Strike.

That only further proved that a power like the Fire Seed was fundamentally unscientific.

The Superspeed Gunslinger fired at other parts of the monster's body, with even worse results. Shots at the red dots left traces so slight they might as well not have existed, while shots elsewhere could not leave any marks at all.

The bullets fired into the monster's mouth struck the blood-crystal-like sawteeth and were directly shattered to pieces.

Those blood crystals were even harder than the monster's body. This reminded Lin Shen of what Uncle Cang had said before: this thing had suffered an accident while advancing to the Crystal Gene Level and had already developed part of a Crystal Gene Body.

Seeing that the monster was about to break free of the Pressure-Point Strike's restraint, Lin Shen had no choice but to rush forward himself. He wrapped a bedsheet around his hand and used his other uninjured fist to strike the red dot.

After several punches, threads of blood seeped through the sheet wrapped around his hand. The monster's body became extremely sluggish once more, nearly unable to move.

But Lin Shen knew this was not a solution. If he kept striking like this, his hand would be crippled sooner or later. Once the monster was no longer restrained by the Power of the Pressure-Point Strike, let alone Lin Shen, the entire Lin Family Courtyard might be bathed in blood by the monster.

This was a Gene Mutation Creature with Crystal Gene Level power. If Third Brother and Fourth Brother were here, there might still be a way, but there was currently no one in the entire Lin Family capable of contending against such a Gene Mutation Creature. Calling people over would only be sending them to their deaths.

Thus, at first Lin Shen had not had a chance to press the alarm and call anyone over. Now, there was no need to call anyone over.

The rooms where the siblings lived were all specially designed, with strong defenses and excellent soundproofing. After all this commotion, no one outside had heard anything and rushed over.

Lin Shen's first thought was to flee, preserving his useful body so that he would still have a chance to rise again someday.

If he lost his life, even the greatest family fortune would be useless.

Just as he was about to turn and flee, Lin Shen's heart stirred. He thought of the Fire Seed he had acquired before—the Boundless Strength Contract.

The Boundless Strength Contract required forming a Blood Contract with a living creature. It did not say that the contract had to be made with a newborn creature.

It was only that adult creatures would no longer grow, so signing a contract with them would be useless. Under normal circumstances, one would naturally make a contract with a juvenile.

But the Boundless Strength Contract actually had another benefit: after making a contract with a creature, that creature would effectively become a pet and would find it difficult to defy its master's commands.

Of course, this contract was not completed simply by dripping blood on it. One had to use blood to draw a Blood Contract on the other party's body, and the other party could not resist during the process. The moment it resisted, the Blood Contract would fail.

If he had a choice, Lin Shen naturally wanted to sign the Boundless Strength Contract with a Gene Mutation Creature that had sufficient potential for growth.

But for his own life, the safety of everyone in the Lin Family, and the Lin Family's assets, he could only see whether he could sign a Boundless Strength Contract with this creature.

Of course, it was not without benefits. This creature's level was high enough. Although he might not be able to use it to enhance his own strength, he would gain a powerful pet, which would be of enormous help on the trip to Gourd Mountain.

As for whether it was willing or would resist, Lin Shen had no intention of asking for its opinion. He only needed to use the Pressure-Point Strike to forcibly control its body and complete the Boundless Strength Contract.

Having thought it through, Lin Shen hesitated no longer. Enduring the waves of piercing pain from his finger bones, he punched the red dot on the monster's body once more.

He activated the Boundless Strength Contract, while his other hand trembled as it drew a Blood Contract onto the monster's body. His hand was covered in blood, so he even skipped the step of biting his finger open.

Strangely enough, after he activated the Boundless Strength Contract, Lin Shen's blood touched the monster's hide, which was harder than steel, and actually seeped in as though a branding iron had scorched flesh.

Even while restrained by the power of the Pressure-Point Strike, Lin Shen could still see the monster's body visibly shudder, as though it had been burned.

Unfortunately, beneath Lin Shen's frenzied, relentless strikes that spared no damage to himself, the monster could not move at all and was unable to disrupt the formation of the Blood Contract.

By the time the hand striking the red dot was nearly numb, Lin Shen finally completed the Blood Contract.

At the instant the Blood Contract was completed, the originally dull blood-colored pattern suddenly blossomed with a scorching glow like magma.

The next second, the blood pattern and the scorching glow both seeped beneath the skin and vanished. The monster, which had been shaking violently, also fell still.