Super Gene Ⅱ: Evolution

As they made their way outside the base, they indeed saw many Mutators hastily walking toward the exterior of the base.

After leaving the base, while most Mutators headed in the direction of the Blue Tree Sea, Lin Shen and Wei Wufu chose a direction different from the Blue Tree Sea.

Sure enough, there were far fewer people in this direction, but the two hadn’t walked far when they saw a Red-cap Mushroom Beast lying in the bushes.

Upon seeing the two humans appear, the Red-cap Mushroom Beast let out a strange screech and charged out of the bushes, ferociously pouncing toward Lin Shen and Wei Wufu.

Wei Wufu’s hand moved, and his blade fell, chopping off the Red-cap Mushroom Beast’s head, which flew off as its headless body collapsed to the ground with a thud.

The severed head, however, split open from beneath the mushroom cap, spewing out a dozen or so small Base Mutation Eggs.

“The Mushroom Beast is actually hatching Base Mutation Eggs on its own body; this thing sure can breed, producing so many eggs at once. No wonder the Mushroom Beast horde is developing so quickly,” Lin Shen said with some surprise as he picked up a Base Mutation Egg.

Although they were only Steel Mutant Eggs, the fact that a single Mushroom Beast could nurture so many Base Mutation Eggs was astonishing. They had encountered so many Mushroom Beasts before; if they all could breed, how many young Mushroom Beasts would be born at once!

“Forgot to ask how often a Mushroom Beast lays eggs,” Lin Shen murmured as he collected all the Base Mutation Eggs and packed them into his backpack to use as snacks for Fatty.

He didn’t have time to hatch these Base Mutation Eggs now, and even if he had time, he didn’t have an incubator. At normal temperatures, Base Mutation Eggs will not hatch.

The two dared not venture too far from the base and just wandered nearby, leading to a rather surprising find for Lin Shen.

Just by circling near the base for a while, they had encountered four Red-cap Mushroom Beasts, and inside each mushroom cap of the Red-cap Mushroom Beasts, they nurtured several to over twenty Mushroom Beast eggs each.

This caused Lin Shen’s heart to race; if the Black-Capped Mushroom Beasts and the Blue-cap Mushroom Giant Beasts were also this prolific, what a terrifying outcome that would be.

Thinking of swarms of Blue-cap Mushroom Giant Beasts and herds of Black-Capped Mushroom Beasts charging towards Yashen Base like a tidal wave, Lin Shen couldn’t help but shiver.

“It shouldn’t be that bad, steel creatures lay eggs with less energy and fewer materials needed, making it easier to lay eggs in large numbers. Alloy Creatures and mutant creatures probably won’t lay eggs as easily if they want to breed large quantities,” Lin Shen thought to himself.

“Mushroom Beast,” Wei Wufu suddenly pointed in a direction and said.

Lin Shen was puzzled. Wei Wufu was not one to talk nonsense, and there was no need to tell him about seeing a Mushroom Beast. Just go up and chop it with one slash.

If he suddenly said something like this, it must not be an ordinary Mushroom Beast.

Looking in the direction Wei Wufu was pointing, a Mushroom Beast that was almost the same size as a regular Red-cap Mushroom Beast appeared. It had a purplish-red mushroom cap with white spots and was slowly coming out from the trees in the distance.

“A Purple-cap Mushroom Beast, haven’t seen one before. Is this a steel creature?” Lin Shen scrutinized it carefully. It seemed to be a steel creature, but it was different from the Red-cap Mushroom Beast. He wondered if it was a mutation or something else.

“Let me do this,” Lin Shen said without letting Wei Wufu go. He pulled out the Angel Revolver and fired a shot at the Purple-cap Mushroom Beast.

The capsule turned into a steel creature and struck the Purple-cap Mushroom Beast with lightning speed, smashing its head and the mushroom cap to pieces.

The Base Mutation Fluid and the Base Mutation Eggs inside the mushroom cap fell out. Just as Lin Shen had thought, this was indeed a steel creature.

The two went over to pick up the Base Mutation Eggs that had fallen to the ground and were left inside the mushroom cap; there were only three in total, which seemed to be much fewer than the number of Base Mutation Eggs nurtured by the Red-cap Mushroom Beasts.

“Lin Shen, Little Star,” Wei Wufu pulled out a Base Mutation Egg coated with Base Mutation from beneath a mushroom cap and was about to hand it to Lin Shen when he suddenly withdrew his hand and blurted out this sentence.

“Little Star? What Little Star?” Lin Shen watched Wei Wufu with a puzzled look.

“One… two… three… Little Stars…” Wei Wufu pointed in front of him, seemingly counting something.

“Throw the Base Mutation Egg away,” Lin Shen realized something was wrong, threw away the Base Mutation Egg he was holding, and commanded at the same time.

In fact, Wei Wufu had already thrown away the Base Mutation Egg in his hand, but his pupils were now covered in a layer of purple mist.

Lin Shen also felt that something was off with his body, itching all over, and vaguely saw flickering spots of light swirling around, with tiny fairies flying in front of his eyes.

“We’ve been poisoned, the Purple-cap Mushroom Beast is toxic!” Lin Shen identified the source of the problem and quickly reached into his pocket, taking out two vials of medicine, one for Wei Wufu and the other intended for himself.

These medicines could treat both external and internal injuries, but it was unclear if they were effective against toxins, although they were at least harmless.

Wei Wufu opened the medicine and drank it down, Lin Shen was about to drink his vial when he felt the Evolution Theory inside his body kick in.

“The Evolution Theory can also resist poison!” Lin Shen rejoiced internally and put the cap back on the vial.

As the power within his body circulated, the itching on his skin grew more intense, and the flickering fairies dancing around him made his head spin.

But soon, the little stars in his vision began to diminish, and the itching sensation on his body quickly faded.

Under the toxin’s influence, Lin Shen felt his body undergoing some changes but swiftly returned to normal.

Wei Wufu was still counting stars, clearly unaffected by the medicine’s purgative effects.

Fortunately, the toxin was not potent and only induced hallucinations and an itching sensation. Just as Lin Shen was about to pull Wei Wufu back to the city, Wei Wufu’s symptoms from the toxin began to lessen, and after a while, he recovered considerably.

Although the effects of the toxin were not very strong, if it struck during a beast wave, even the short span of time affected could prove deadly.

Lin Shen told Wei Wufu to take some rest while he carefully picked up another Base Mutation Egg and didn’t get poisoned again.

He also touched a bit of Base Mutation Fluid with his finger, this time feeling a bit itchy but without any further hallucinations.

The Evolution Theory took effect again, and soon the itching sensation vanished.

When Lin Shen came into contact with the toxin-laden Base Mutation Fluid of the Purple-cap Mushroom again, he felt almost nothing, suggesting his body had evolved to withstand the mushroom’s poison.

To make sure it was the Evolution Theory working, Lin Shen let Wei Wufu, who had recovered, try touching the toxic Base Mutation Fluid again.

As a result, Wei Wufu fell victim to the poison once more, experiencing brief hallucinations, showing no resistance built from the previous exposure — at least not as strong as Lin Shen’s.

The toxin’s effect on Wei Wufu, an Alloy Mutator, was not severe, inducing only some hallucinations, which were short-lived. Wei Wufu’s visions faded quickly.

Lin Shen, however, was excited at the prospect; he could use toxins to strengthen himself in the future and could also develop a resistance to poison.

While fantasizing about becoming immune to all poisons, Fei Zai, the creature in his backpack, suddenly jumped out on its own and stood on Lin Shen’s shoulder, staring sharply in a direction within the forest.