Chapter Sixty-Four: The Monstrosity’s Aberration

After crawling out of the cave at dawn, Lu Chen began working with his sharp claws. Thud, thud, thud... Under the steady blows of stone, large chunks of cinnabar ore were quickly reduced to dark red powder.

Next, he approached a dogwood tree as thick as a washbasin, digging into the tough, resilient bark with his claws. Several grooves two or three centimeters deep appeared, and from them began to seep a milky white sap, sticky and reminiscent of milk.

This was the sap of the dogwood, a kind of natural gum that would dry to a golden brown, highly adhesive. Lu Chen then placed a mineral water bottle he’d found in the jungle beneath the wounds in the bark.

In this hot spring valley, the dogwood bark was rich in moisture. At first, the sap dripped out slowly, but soon turned into white threads... In just half an hour, he’d collected more than half a bottle.

When the dogwood sap was thoroughly mixed with cinnabar, it became a dark, viscous red. Thus, his all-natural cinnabar pigment was complete.

Dipping a branch into the mixture, Lu Chen carefully applied it to the grooves of the rock painting. The once faint images instantly sprang to life.

While Lu Chen was busy, three saltwater crocodiles and a group of monkeys from the valley had already gathered before the rock wall, watching with eyes full of curiosity and confusion...

Soon, a massive saltwater crocodile five meters long with sturdy limbs was revealed before the valley’s animals. Its body was covered in dark red scales, exuding an indescribable sense of weight. With its slightly open, blood-red maw and fierce, baleful eyes, the aura of a jungle overlord was unmistakable!

After admiring his self-portrait, Lu Chen felt quite proud. It was a pity, though, that such a magnificent work lacked an audience, leaving him with a touch of regret.

As for the creatures before the rock wall... With their intellect, they could hardly appreciate art, let alone grasp the meaning behind the image.

Lu Chen naturally chose to ignore them.

As the rock painting was gradually covered by cinnabar, the entire piece took shape. Dark red trees, four dark red crocodiles, dark red monkeys... The scene gave off an eerie, otherworldly feeling.

With a mischievous thought, Lu Chen wondered: If one day humans discovered these rock paintings in the valley, what kind of amazement and wild guesses would they make?

Suddenly, Jin Dot let out a sharp cry.

The little fellow wasn’t very big, but its voice was loud. The unexpected shout startled Lu Chen.

What on earth... He instinctively turned around.

Jin Dot’s cries were urgent, tinged with excitement and delight as it scratched at its own furry face with its tiny paws. It seemed to have discovered something remarkable, yet couldn’t express itself clearly, growing frantic in its efforts.

As Lu Chen puzzled over this, the little creature suddenly pointed at him, then hopped to the rock painting, pressing its paw against the largest crocodile image and calling out again.

Could it really have understood? Lu Chen was stunned.

Was this the power of a great work, able to move even a monkey to grasp its intention? Was the little fellow pointing at random, or was this pure coincidence?

As Lu Chen hesitated, the monkey bounced over to the crocodile leader, pointed, then returned to the mural and indicated the much smaller crocodile. Then it pointed to a monkey in the tree and back to itself.

It truly understood!

Lu Chen hadn’t expected such intelligence from the little creature—it was almost unbelievable.

He remembered reading that many primates had intelligence comparable to three- or four-year-old human children, with some individuals reaching the level of ten-year-olds. Lu Chen had always doubted this, but now he was convinced: Animals were far smarter than humans imagined.

Nearby, the crocodile leader continued to stare at the images of crocodiles on the stone wall, its beastly eyes filled with confusion.

Suddenly, it let out an excited call, attempting to convey its joy to Lu Chen.

Could it be... that this creature recognized itself as well?

With Jin Dot as precedent, Lu Chen instinctively thought so.

He responded with a hiss, trying to confirm if the crocodile leader could truly recognize itself.

To his surprise, the great beast slowly approached the mural and bumped its head against one of the crocodile figures.

In his previous life, Lu Chen knew of the famous mirror test in animal research—a test of self-recognition based on whether an animal could identify its own reflection in a mirror. It was believed that those who passed the test demonstrated a form of self-awareness, and even an understanding of another’s perspective.

Species such as orangutans, bonobos, dolphins, orcas, some elephants, pigeons, magpies, and humans all passed the test, recognizing themselves in the mirror.

Yet gorillas, leopards, cats, and dogs—species once hoped to pass—did not.

Lu Chen was certain that crocodiles were not among those that passed the mirror test.

Moreover, recognizing oneself in a mirror and recognizing oneself in a painting were two entirely different matters; the latter was even more difficult!

The crocodile leader’s behavior was highly unusual, and Jin Dot’s intelligence was equally astonishing.

Using bait to set traps, bartering for goods... Lu Chen felt the fog over his mind suddenly part, revealing a crack of light.

The behavior of the three young saltwater crocodiles and Jin Dot had long surpassed that of ordinary animals—they possessed a special intelligence.

Yes, a kind of spirit beyond mere animal instinct!

There was no doubt: this world was not normal; its environment was far removed from that of Earth in his previous life. Lu Chen was once again convinced.

But what had caused this transformation?

Finally, his gaze returned to the valley.

His earlier speculation seemed correct: the geothermal hot springs here likely contained some mysterious substance yet undiscovered by humans, causing the animals within to undergo strange mutations.

Moreover, these mutations had not occurred long ago—perhaps only a few months. Lu Chen deduced this from the changes in the valley’s creatures.

The three young crocodiles had not received any system support, yet their bodies had undergone astonishing changes. The crocodile leader, in particular, stood out.

Before entering the valley, it had been only a meter long and weighed less than ten kilograms. In just a few short months, it had shot up to thirty kilograms and a length of one and a half meters.

This rate of growth was already comparable to an ordinary four-year-old saltwater crocodile.

The other two, though not as extreme, were each over a meter long as well.

Even the snakes Lu Chen had previously killed in the valley were about a third larger than their counterparts outside, suggesting they had only been in the valley (or mutated) for a few months.

This valley, then, was truly a land of treasure—or perhaps a spiritual land.

Suddenly, Lu Chen recalled his exploration of the cave’s depths. Because the water temperature was too high, he had ended his investigation hastily.

But just before surfacing, he had glimpsed a faint red glow...

Could the mutation be linked to that red light?

What lay deeper within the cave remained a mystery, and Lu Chen’s curiosity burned.

Unfortunately, with his current strength, he could not endure water temperatures nearing a hundred degrees Celsius, so he could only sigh in longing.