Chapter 126: Renewed Contact with Humanity

After confirming it was non-toxic, Lu Chen quickly devoured the entire prehistoric mutated blood bat, gaining a total of over 3,600 energy points.

Having filled his stomach, he changed direction and continued to explore the misty realm.

Lu Chen finally realized, somewhat belatedly, that due to the lack of light, flora and fauna were scarce in this area, and most of the animals exhibited severe albinism.

White fur served as the best camouflage; often, before Lu Chen could even get close, these creatures would dart into the fog and make a clean getaway.

Of course, this was also because he was already full; otherwise, a single compressed energy blast would have easily dispatched even the fastest of these animals.

Additionally, due to the high humidity, there were quite a few fungi in the soil. In many places, they grew in patches, forming large "fairy rings." Some mushrooms were even two people tall, with white stalks and bright red caps as large as tabletops—a truly eerie sight.

Lu Chen couldn't help but recall a catchy song from his past life: "Red umbrella, white stalk, eat together and lie in a box. In the box, buried in the hill, friends and family come to have their fill..."

He could see traces of animals gnawing on them, and there was even dung left nearby... However, after much hesitation, he didn't dare to pick any to taste.

Just because the creatures of this alien space could eat them didn't mean he could, and besides, he wasn't short on food.

He could use the system to identify them, but it wasn't necessary. Mushrooms weren't like spirit fruits; they lacked flavor and were completely absent from a saltwater crocodile's diet.

Having traveled four or five miles, Lu Chen heard a rustling sound coming from the ground again.

Upon approaching, he discovered it was a swarm of white ants.

Each individual was about the size of a walnut, with a head that took up most of its body and a pair of sharp mandibles that looked quite menacing. They clearly weren't to be trifled with.

Sensing the scent of prey, these creatures quickly lined up in a long column and crawled toward him.

Within a dozen seconds, they had charged to within four or five meters, forming a massive semi-circular encirclement.

Perhaps an ordinary animal would have panicked in this situation, but to Lu Chen, it was of no concern. A single leap would be enough to break through the blockade easily.

However, only after hearing a buzzing sound from the sky did he realize the situation wasn't so simple.

This swarm of ants didn't just have ground troops; there were flying soldiers as well. They formed a white cloud in the air, sealing off the surroundings completely.

If he didn't have his "Earth Swamp" mutation ability, he might have actually been caught off guard.

Watching the ant swarm draw closer, a cruel glint appeared in Lu Chen's beastly eyes.

He then touched his claws to the ground.

Rumble...

The damp soil churned incessantly, rapidly transforming into a vast expanse of viscous swamp mud.

The ants that had charged to the front didn't even have time to react before they were swallowed by the mud, disappearing without a trace.

However, these little creatures were remarkably tenacious. Even when dragged deep into the mud, they showed no signs of dying, constantly wriggling their bodies as they struggled to crawl out.

Lu Chen injected his energy laws once more, and the soft, loose mud suddenly began to compress and harden.

Pop, pop, pop!

In an instant, a series of sounds erupted from the mud blocks as the struggling creatures were all crushed to death.

As for the flying ants, they were just as easily wiped out by compressed energy blasts.

Looking at the thousands of white carcasses on the ground, Lu Chen grew curious, wanting to know how many energy points a single ant could provide.

With that thought, he picked one up with his claw.

After confirming it was dead, he swallowed it.

"Prehistoric marching termite, provides 2 energy points..."

How many?

Seeing the number displayed on the system interface, Lu Chen could hardly believe his eyes.

Individually, these creatures provided few energy points, but if calculated by weight, there were about six to a pound, totaling 12 points.

This flesh-and-blood quality was even higher than the Bull Shark King he had killed some time ago.

Looking at the thousands of ants, Lu Chen’s eyes lit up; he saw tens of thousands of energy points before him.

Truth be told, this misty realm was truly a blessed land for him.

Mining spirit stones, finding ant nests... At this rate, he might successfully evolve to the 6th rank in less than two months.

After leaving a unique mark near the ant nest, Lu Chen continued to roam the misty realm. It took him nearly an entire day to get a rough understanding of the environment within a radius of several dozen miles.

As night fell once more, Lu Chen didn't continue exploring but instead returned obediently to the anchor point to wait.

Just as he expected, half an hour later, he heard the call of Jin Dian.

Soon after, a crack appeared abruptly in the fog nearby.

Lu Chen leaped out of the spatial rift, feeling the cool breeze and the brilliant canopy of stars above.

"All things grow by the sun"—this saying was absolutely correct.

Although the misty realm had its own day and night cycles, it was constantly shrouded in fog, and staying there for long made it easy to lose one's mind.

Lu Chen had only stayed for a day and a night, yet he felt incredibly stifled, with an indescribable irritability brewing deep within.

Now that he was back on the Blue Star, the feeling of breathing freely was truly wonderful.

"Squeak, squeak!" Seeing Lu Chen appear, Jin Dian jumped over in excitement, chirping happily.

Confirming that the misty realm opened every night, Lu Chen wasn't in a rush to return. He planned to rest in the valley for a day and go back the next night to mine spirit stones and destroy more ant nests.

***

Early the next morning, the buzzing sound of a drone echoed from above.

These humans... A flash of murderous intent crossed Lu Chen's eyes.

Previously, when they sent drones to monitor him from high altitudes, he had chosen to ignore them, not wanting to lower himself to their level.

But now, they were lowering their flight altitude and hovering brazenly over the valley.

Did they really think he had a good temper!?

Just as Lu Chen prepared to fire a compressed energy blast to destroy the drone, he suddenly heard a voice coming from it: "Greetings, Dragon King! I am Dong Mingjun, captain of the Tiannan Mountain Crisis Response Team. I apologize for this intrusion, but there is something I would like to discuss with you."

After the other party called out several times, they continued, "I don't know if the Dragon King can understand human speech. If you can, could you please nod?"

Interesting. Sending some kind of team to make contact.

The rank was too low—was this a slight against him?

Suddenly, Lu Chen realized they must have other identities, but there was no need to dwell on that.

He happened to want to learn the latest information about the human world, so he simply nodded in response to their request.

The hovering drone was equipped with a high-definition camera that could record the beast's facial expressions and eye movements, transmitting them in real-time to the rear for professional analysis.

In the meeting room, many team members exclaimed in surprise.

"It's incredible! This beast really can understand human speech. Its intelligence is off the charts!"

"Man... before the Great Transformation, this would have been a full-blown monster."

"It's normal. Even the intelligence of ordinary animals is far beyond human imagination, let alone mutated beasts. Especially this saltwater crocodile; its various miraculous displays have already proven it possesses intelligence no less than that of a human. If it started speaking human language now, I wouldn't even be surprised. And that is exactly why I proposed equal communication between the two sides," Professor Wu said.