The Genetic Zest

Roar!

A small bulge lumped suddenly from the drain and as the water broke away, a bloody mouth with sharp teeth gaping, ready to attack. Its rancid breath that reeked from its massive mouth was nauseating.

The muscular arm of the brawny man, who was the closest to the drain, was instantly bitten by the mouth. He was appalled, hallowly barking, "Defense!"

His arm muscles engorged out of the blue, veins popping up like dragons under the skin; his arm seemed to be pumped with blood as it turned red, hot and steaming.

Lo and behold, the monstrous mouth that looked like it could crunch down steel could not actually bite through the man's arm! Its sharp teeth had barely pierced through the surface and were jammed up by the solid muscles.

It was then that the five member-team got a good look at the monster. It was reptile-like and was covered in protruding scales only the size of a fingernail; its head looked like a crocodile while fins grew on its back. Its bloodthirsty eyes were emerald green, flowing with ferocity.

Bang!

The pistol in Zhao Bingbing's hand was still smoking when the head of the monster whos teeth were sunk into the brawny man's arm exploded. It fell in a direct plunge and was caught by its muscly victim just as it was about to drop into the water.

"Anything not feeling right?" the red jacket young man asked.

The brawny man shook his head. His arm had already recovered to its initial state except for the two rows of tiny punctures that were still bleeding.

Zhao Bingbing walked over prodding her glasses with her eyes glowing blue and said collectedly, "This monster's weaknesses are its head, chest, heart, and the fins on its back. Its bones and muscles are around twice the strength of humans while its biting force is one ton. There is a light venom on its teeth that needs to be disinfected as soon as possible. Otherwise, your arm will be swollen to the size of your thigh after an hour."

When Zhao Bingbing was done sensing the monster's information, the brawny man tossed it aside and muttered, "Jesus, luckily my special power is Defense, double-strengthening my body, or else this arm would have been gone if it were any of you guys."

"If it were us, we won't even stay so close to the drain," Zhao Bingbing retorted coolly.

Taken aback, the man flushed before rubbing his head.

The younger brother of the twins grabbed some antiseptic from the backpack and the man's wound was quickly bandaged after Zhao Bingbing cleaned and wrapped them.

"We got off on the wrong foot huh, already seeing blood before we start," grumbled the muscly man.

Zhao Bingbing affirmatively slapped the bandage on his arm, oblivious to him hissing in pain, and said nonchalantly, "This is only a low-level monster that's kicked out of the higher food chain and could only stay around the sewer. If you're still careless later, you'll probably stay here for the next half of your life."

She turned back and nudged her glasses, speaking in a low tone, "Follow me closely. The faint scent of blood has dissipated in the air. We must hurry."

Grim-faced, the other four men hastened their steps tailing her.

A few minutes into their trek, Zhao Bingbing suddenly stopped. A giant black shadow was seen crouching on at the corner of the drain in front of them; from its outline, it was a reptilian monster double the size of an adult crocodile.

Shimmering blue from her eyes, Zhao Bingbing scanned the dark silhouette before she was stunned and sprinted towards the unknown creature disregarding her team.

The rest of the men were shocked. Zhao Bingbing did not have a strong physique, she would be easily injured if she battled the monster from a close distance.

When they caught up with the monster, they managed to discern its appearance from the torchlight's mild illumination. However, what baffled them was that the monster was already dead!

This monster looked the same as the one in the drain, except several times larger in size. It was hunched over the passage beside the drain, bleeding profusely it lay in stink on its stomach; its head was completely busted, brain splattered on the electric cable on the wall.

"This…"

"Could it be killed by other monsters?"

The four men looked around on their guard but Zhao Bingbing pulled out a plastic bag from her pocket to slip on her hand and probed around the smashed head. After some time, she withdrew her arm and produced an onyx bullet between her thumb and pointer.

"It's killed by a human!"

The rest of her team exclaimed once they saw the item.

Zhao Bingbing's eyes were still gleaming in blue when she stated, "This is a pistol's bullet. From the bullet's spot and the monster's temperature, it's been less than half an hour since its death. Which means, someone has entered half an hour earlier than us and took the same route as well. From the surroundings, it also seems that this monster didn't struggle much. The shot aimed right for its lethal point, the head, and was killed instantly, leaving it no chance to struggle or spasm…"

The red jacket young man was astounded. "Half an hour ago? How is that possible? I've been observing with the binoculars during that time and absolutely no one will be able to sneak in here under my watch!"

"What if the person's also an Evolved like us?" Zhao Bingbing stared at him straight in the eyes.

The young man was stupefied.

Zhao Bingbing tossed the bullet away and commented, "This person's power is possibly invisibility or tunneling, thus avoiding your scrutiny. The person's also a marksman and knows the monster's weakness very well. I'm thinking, maybe this person's like me too, someone with an evolved vision."

"How is it possible!" The brawny man exclaimed in shock. "Can one person have two special abilities?"

"Don't know. It's impossible in terms of genetics but such an absurd virus is out there right now, it's not exactly impossible to produce an Evolved with two powers," Zhao Bingbing analyzed and answered.

"What's this person here for? Could the person have discovered the little thing like us?" the red jacket young man questioned with a frown. If it were true, they would have to face another tough competitor.

Zhao Bingbing shook her head. "The chances are slim, about twelve point eight percent. The walking grass has been under my tracking. If this person can turn invisible, I should be able to detect it still. It's very probable that the person is here for other goals. As for what purpose, I guess that it's related to the monsters here. Perhaps there's something on these creatures that's worthy of the person's attention and that something could be highly relevant to evolving."

If Lin Chao were here, he would have been impressed by the lady's intelligence as she analyzed almost everything correctly.

"Evolving?" The red jacket young man's eyes shone. "There's something on these monsters that could promote our next evolving? Can you detect what that is?"

Zhao Bingbing scanned the reptilian monster again and answered, "I don't know what it is. At least, this monster shows no sign of being dissected Everything's just my guess, but I think that it's better we stay away from this person. I have a feeling that this person is… very dangerous!"

The red jacket young man beamed, "It's still one person against five of us no matter how capable the person is, and three of us are Evolved with firearms. The person will still have to die."

"I don't want to complicate the matter. As long as we can grab that which is walking through grass, it's enough for us to build our influence in the military," said Zhao Bingbing with a dead stare.

The red jacket young man could only sigh softly, being at the receiving end of her cold gaze, chuckling dryly, "Alright, anything you say."

.

Lin Chao crawled out of the sewer.

Based on the map he had memorized, this should be the activity area of the zoo's herbivores.

Herbivorous animals that were infected by the virus, however, were all mutated carnivores now. The reason Lin Chao had chosen here was that these creatures were relatively weaker in the early stage.

His goal was obtaining the Genetic Zest within them. The item was not as effective as the evolution nucleus in special zombies but it was abundant. Almost every mutated creature would possess more or less some genetic zests in them.

A wide pane of grassland and forest spread out.

Vague moving shadows could be seen in the forest, so Lin Chao told the Golden Hound, "Wait for me here."

The Golden Hound licked his shoes obediently and nodded a few times to let him know that he could leave without worries.

Lin Chao patted its head and tied a mini bomb to its neck, saying softly, "If you plan to run away, this bomb will go 'boom' and make your head explode."

The dog was frozen, its tongue that was hanging outside dared not even drawback; it looked at Lin Chao pitifully, blinking its eyes.

Lin Chao patted it again smiling, hiding by controlling the light before he moved toward the forest.