Chapter 107: 107: The Grass-Cutting and Root-Eliminating Combination
Before doing that, Lin Shen collected the Base Mutation Fluid from the Giant Poisonous Multicolored Centipede’s body. He also wanted the mutation materials, but they were too cumbersome to carry. Considering the number of mutant creatures he might still have to hunt, it was uncertain if he could take them all with him.
As he worried about this, Death Powder swam over, its body swelling up, appearing even larger than during its previous transformations. With Lin Shen’s permission, it swallowed the mutated centipede’s corpse in just one bite and then quickly returned to its slender state, winding back around Lin Shen.
With Lin Shen interfering like this, the steel centipedes fled in fright, burrowing underground.
Since Lin Shen wasn’t in the mood to chase them, he sat down on the grassy slope and attempted to communicate with the watch, eager to figure out its functions.
“What features do you have?”
“Device malfunction, unable to answer the user’s questions.”
“Is there a user manual?”
“Device malfunction, internal files missing, unable to locate the manual.”
“How do I set the teleportation time?”
“Transport settings are as follows: 1. Adjust the date. 2. Set the precise time: hours, minutes, seconds. 3…”
After some time, Lin Shen finally understood how to use the watch-style teleporter.
This watch could actually allow him to set the teleportation time. The date stands for the number of days to enter, and the hands of the watch determine the exact time down to the second for automatic return.
Lin Shen set the time to 11:23 a.m., with the date being one, which meant that he would only stay here until 11:23 a.m. the next day, and then the watch would teleport him back.
Lin Shen felt the watch had far more functions than this, but due to the malfunction, he couldn’t extract more information. It was likely that he couldn’t use other features either.
After all, if the watch were intact, why wouldn’t its owner take it with them?
Even so, this watch was already defying the natural order.
With this watch, he could set the time for teleportation anytime he pleased, no longer needing to go to Gourd Mountain and the Realm King Cultivation Device. Just for that, its value was immeasurable.
It was a mystery who the owner of the cave was to have left such a watch behind.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t found a single word written down in the cave, nor any information about its owner.
Knowing he would soon return, Lin Shen didn’t idle any longer. He first applied some Base Mutation Fluid from the Giant Poisonous Multicolored Centipede to the corner of his lips, but didn’t feel any effect.
After waiting for a while, he realized that some toxins might need to come into contact with blood to take effect.
So, Lin Shen slightly cut his finger and smeared the Base Mutation Fluid on it, immediately eliciting a reaction.
Toxins were quite potent—his wound turned black very quickly.
Fortunately, Evolution Theory was also triggered, and before long, black fluid oozed from the darkened wound. It seemed to worsen, but after a while, the black fluid gradually disappeared, and the wound turned from black back to flesh color, eventually starting to ooze fresh blood again.
With Evolution Theory proving effective, Lin Shen confidently gulped down a large amount of Base Mutation Fluid.
“Absorbed the Base Mutation Fluid of the Giant Poisonous Multicolored Centipede, base mutation rate +0… Absorbed the Base Mutation Fluid of the Giant Poisonous Multicolored Centipede, base mutation rate +0… Absorbed the Base Mutation Fluid of the Giant Poisonous Multicolored Centipede, base mutation rate +1…”
After swallowing all of the Mutant Base Mutation Fluid, a while later, due to the reaction with Evolution Theory, he finally gained a bit of base mutation rate.
“My base mutation rate, here I come.” Lin Shen, accompanied by three Mutated Black Armored Centipedes, began his hunting journey.
The grassy slope he was on now must have been far away from the beach he visited before, possibly not even on the same continent.
The base variant creatures here were completely different from those at the seaside, with Iron Hens being the most common, and various kinds of poisonous bugs.
Lin Shen hadn’t gone far before he encountered a swarm of poisonous toads and even discovered a mutant amongst them; that Mutated Poisonous Toad ended up contributing to his base mutation rate.
When he killed the Mutated Poisonous Toad, his watch also notified him that it had a Base Mutation Egg developing inside.
Subsequently, he hunted a Mutated Venomous Snake, a Mutated Scorpion, and a Mutated Dragonfly, bringing his base mutation rate up to 11 points.
In this patch of grass, the base variant creatures that Lin Shen saw were all at Steel Level. He hadn’t encountered a single Alloy Creature, though the variety was quite vast.
“This place and the seaside are just two extremes. At the seaside, high-level mutants appear easily, and it’s rare to see Steel Level creatures. Here, it’s all low-level stuff…” Lin Shen felt that this was not bad either, as he could safely hunt Steel creatures, and with Evolution Theory protecting him, allowing him to be immune to all poisons, this place was like paradise to him.
Others might have wanted to search for high-level base variant creatures, but Lin Shen was content hunting Mutant Steel Creatures here.
He killed all sorts of poisonous bugs along the way. Those poisonous bug-type base variant creatures were truly all shapes and forms; some looked similar to creatures from his home planet, while others were entirely different. Without his watch’s prompts, Lin Shen wouldn’t have been able to name them.
Aside from the Iron Hens, all the base variant creatures here were venomous. If it weren’t for his Evolution Theory, even someone at Alloy Level or Crystal Base Level might not have had such an easy time.
A high-level Mutator encountering a sky-darkening swarm of poison bees would probably have a hard time dealing with them unless he could kill all the poison bees before his base mutation strength ran out.
That would be too difficult, as those poison bees numbered in the thousands, if not tens of thousands; large swarms had even more. It was simply impossible for an ordinary Mutator to eliminate them completely.
Lin Shen, relying on his ability to remain in a base mutated state and his immunity to poison, braved the dense swarm and managed to kill the Mutated Bee Queen. Afterwards, he ignored the remaining poison bees and let them sting him as they pleased.
Of course, he could have made things simpler by having the three Mutated Black Armored Centipedes take action.
Lin Shen didn’t do so because he wanted to practice his stabbing technique, using Death Powder to kill the poison bees one by one.
Death Powder’s super coagulation worked just as Lin Shen expected; as soon as it punctured a creature, the base mutation liquid inside would start to solidify, causing the base variant creature to gradually lose the ability to move and turn into a steel statue.
The mutated creatures he killed were all eaten by Death Powder, which had also become quite choosy, refusing to eat anything that wasn’t mutated.
Lin Shen took advantage of the time to hunt for mutated creatures, becoming the little overlord of the grassy slopes, the bane of poisonous insects, the little pest control expert, killing an untold number of Steel poisonous bugs and obtaining a few Mutant Eggs in the process – all of which were eaten by Fatty.
Once, Lin Shen even found a nest of poisonous ants and dug out many eggs, which he fed to Fatty as snacks.
Death Powder and Fatty, one ate the corpses and the other the base mutation eggs, forming a combo that left nothing behind.
Fortunately, Lin Shen didn’t need those things now; they could eat their fill, and it didn’t bother him.
“Time limit approaching, would you like to record the current coordinates? You can choose to teleport to these coordinates next time.” As the time was about to expire, the watch vibrated again, displaying this message.
“So, one can choose the teleportation location!” Lin Shen exclaimed in surprise, realizing he wouldn’t have to be randomly teleported anymore.