Original Seed Egg

Lin Shen had already completely adapted to Wei Wufu's way of speaking. He knew Wei Wufu meant that this egg had great potential and would allow for a rapid Gene Mutation.

Their current situation was dire. Lin Shen had to undergo Gene Mutation for them to have any chance of surviving. If it failed, given their current condition, death was undoubtedly the only road ahead.

"Are you sure this thing is a Gene Mutation Egg? You sure you didn't take the wrong one? This isn't some boiled chicken egg you brought with your alt, is it?" Lin Shen confirmed again.

Because no matter how he looked at it, it was an ordinary bird egg. It had nothing whatsoever to do with a Gene Mutation Egg.

"If scared... give back..." Wei Wufu said.

"Then I'll give it a try." Lin Shen thought, If this is just an ordinary bird egg, I won't lose anything. But if it's as Wei Wufu says, and this egg has tremendous potential, then I'll have struck it rich. A monster as formidable as Wei Wufu calling a Gene Mutation Egg strong means it can't possibly be ordinary goods. But how come I've never heard of any Gene Mutation Egg that could let someone complete Gene Mutation in such a short time?

Having made his decision, Lin Shen no longer hesitated. He had never been one to drag his feet.

He glanced at the mutated creature, which could not move at all, picked up the bird-egg-like Gene Mutation Egg, opened his mouth, and swallowed it.

That was right—he swallowed the whole thing.

Humans who had not undergone Gene Mutation could not directly consume Gene Mutation Fluid or the genetic fluid within a Gene Mutation Egg. Usually, it first had to be refined into genetic fluid injections, then injected into the body according to the proper dosage.

Humans who had undergone Gene Mutation could directly consume some Gene Mutation Fluid, though that still carried certain risks.

The nature of Gene Mutation Fluid was more like a virus. Humans infected by it gradually coexisted with the virus, then attempted to master and control it, making it a part of themselves.

Of course, that was merely an analogy. In reality, Gene Mutation Fluid differed somewhat from a virus in nature.

For an unmutated human to complete Gene Mutation, they needed to swallow an entire Gene Mutation Egg, shell included, and use its "infection" to alter their body's structure.

Because large quantities of Gene Mutation Fluid injections had already been used beforehand, it was roughly equivalent to having received many vaccinations. The risks of this "infection" were actually not that great.

After all, it was only the lowest-grade Steel Grade Gene Mutation Egg. At worst, failure would cause headaches and fever, much like catching a cold.

When Wei Wufu saw Lin Shen swallow the "bird egg," a trace of approval appeared in his eyes. He secretly thought, Six people who used the Fourteenth Original Seed Egg have already died. No one has succeeded so far. Yet Lin Shen can remain so calm and composed even knowing that failure means death. He truly is extraordinary. Perhaps he really can succeed.

Wei Wufu himself had not realized that his damned way of expressing himself had misled Lin Shen.

Lin Shen had been misled because he had never heard of anyone dying from failed Gene Mutation. The idea had never existed in his mind at all, so he had completely failed to notice the issue and misunderstood the situation.

Of course, if Lin Shen had known, he might have been even more interested.

Third Brother and Fourth Brother had kept urging him not to rush into Gene Mutation. Their intention had been to find him a Gene Mutation Egg with sufficient potential. If Lin Shen had known the origins of this "bird egg," he would likely have made the same choice in the end.

There was another important reason behind his decision: he no longer had any usable pets. Relying only on this body, even walking was difficult. If he did not immediately strengthen his ability to survive, he would still be dead either way.

Under normal circumstances, a Gene Mutation Egg could be processed before being consumed, but there was naturally no such condition now. Fortunately, the egg was not large, and Lin Shen managed to swallow it whole.

The moment the egg entered his stomach, Lin Shen knew it truly was not an ordinary bird egg, but a Gene Mutation Egg.

Almost the instant the Gene Mutation Egg entered his stomach, a chill so cold it nearly froze him stiff surged up from his abdomen and spread throughout his entire body in an instant.

Lin Shen immediately lost control of his body and fell rigidly to the ground. Yet his nerves became incomparably sensitive; even a single strand of hair landing on his skin caused it to ache sharply.

Even dust drifting down and touching his skin would make it immediately redden and swell.

"Pain... fucking hurts..." Lin Shen had never realized there was so much dust in the air.

Dust he ordinarily could not feel at all landed on Lin Shen, making him feel as though needles were pricking every inch of his body.

Wei Wufu watched Lin Shen lie motionless on the ground, and many thoughts passed through his mind.

The Fourteenth Original Seed Egg was called an Original Seed Egg rather than a Gene Mutation Egg because its origins were fundamentally different from those of ordinary Gene Mutation Eggs.

More than two hundred years ago, all kinds of Gene Mutation Creatures suddenly appeared across the world. In the beginning, those Gene Mutation Creatures had all emerged from Gene Mutation Zones.

Ordinary people had little concept of Gene Mutation Zones. They only knew them as regions where Gene Mutation Creatures gathered.

What they did not know was why Gene Mutation Creatures gathered in Gene Mutation Zones, or why Gene Mutation Creatures began appearing from those zones in the first place.

But people like Wei Wufu knew very well that the reason Gene Mutation Zones became Gene Mutation Zones was the existence of Original Seed Eggs.

It was because these Original Seed Eggs, which had come from no one knew where, fell across the world and infected nearby living creatures, causing those creatures to undergo Gene Mutation, that Gene Mutation Creatures came to exist.

After more than two hundred years of effort, a small portion of the Original Seed Eggs in Gene Mutation Zones had fallen into human hands.

The Base Alliance had recorded sixteen known Original Seed Eggs in total. Eleven of them had already been used by humans for Gene Mutation, while no one knew how many more had gone unrecorded.

Every human who underwent Gene Mutation using an Original Seed Egg was far stronger than those who used Gene Mutation Eggs, monsters among Gene Mutators.

Aside from the two who had already died, every other human who used an Original Seed Egg for Gene Mutation had become one of the finest among humanity's Gene Mutators—true figures standing at the top of the tower.

However, undergoing Gene Mutation with an Original Seed Egg was inherently extremely dangerous. Nearly every known Original Seed Egg had claimed human lives.

The Original Seed Egg in Wei Wufu's possession was designated Number Fourteen in the Base Alliance's records. It was the fourteenth Original Seed Egg to be discovered and documented.

The Fourteenth Original Seed Egg had been discovered more than seventy years ago. Six humans had attempted to use it for Gene Mutation over the years, and without exception, all had died.

Every one of those six had made thorough preparations. Their physical fitness and all other aspects had reached the peak of ordinary humanity, yet it still had not been enough.

Wei Wufu could tell that Lin Shen's physical fitness had also reached the limit of ordinary humans. This was the most basic requirement for undergoing Gene Mutation with an Original Seed Egg.

Without such qualifications, failure was nearly guaranteed. Even with them, the possibility of failure remained extremely high.

Lin Shen possessed such physical fitness and had still not undergone Gene Mutation at his age. In Wei Wufu's eyes, was he not simply waiting for an Original Seed Egg?

For some reason, Wei Wufu felt that Lin Shen might succeed. Some of the things Lin Shen had done were difficult even for him to believe, as if they were not quite scientific.

"Threads are emerging..." Wei Wufu saw strands of white silk, finer than hair by who knew how many times and like delicate down, drilling out from beneath Lin Shen's skin. His eyes immediately lit up.