Chapter 78: Chapter 65: Evolutionary Source Material, Paths and Choices
Lin Feng carefully cut open the soft gel-like connective tissue, the substance bonding the true skin of the Rock-Horned Horse to its outer armor, full of collagen.
Perhaps it would be quite delicious in a hotpot.
A thought flashed through his mind, and facing Lisa’s inquiry, Lin Feng collected his scattered thoughts, pondered for a moment, and then responded with his limited past and present knowledge:
"Evolution is when life breaks through its original upper limit, attaining stronger physique and spiritual power. During the breakthrough, special abilities also awaken, previously known as superpowers or abilities, which is a key feature distinguishing Evolvers from Enhanced People..."
Lisa smiled and continued to ask:
"Then how do you break through the original enhancement upper limit?"
Lin Feng hesitated slightly, then voiced the mainstream answer known in the Wasteland:
"Consume evolutionary meat... inject evolution potion..."
Lisa acknowledged with a sound, swiftly removing the rock slab on the side of the Rock-Horned Horse Corpse and the abdominal armor, then sliced open the belly, further questioning:
"Evolution agents are extracted from evolutionary meat, but where does the evolutionary meat come from?"
Lin Feng blurted out:
"It naturally comes from completed Tier One Desolate..."
But even before finishing his words, Lin Feng realized that the real question from her was not referring to the surface in front of them.
He paused his cutting action and responded instead:
"Wait, you’re referring to the initial evolution, the apocalypse crisis then..."
Lisa nodded slightly. Only by tracing back to the source could everything be explained clearly, disentangle the logical relationship inside, and help Lin Feng more readily accept the truth behind:
"Accompanying that apocalyptic crisis then, a sweeping wave of evolution arose globally, humans were just one member among Earth’s myriad creatures, besides us, numerous plants and animals also received the gift."
"But the initial evolution was utterly chaotic, disorderly, no one knew the exact steps to evolve or strengthen, unclear on the grade division of evolutionary power."
"Moreover, those truly capable of achieving evolution were exceedingly few, the vast majority of humans and mutated creatures were stuck at Level 9 enhancement stage."
"Nevertheless, even so, the life on the globe after evolution became much stronger in physique and spiritual power than before, enabling humans to have the ability to cope with the crisis."
Lin Feng strained to recall the research reports back then, although at that time, global humans were frantically constructing engines and underground shelters, some research institutions still published various studies on evolution:
"I remember there were news reports stating those Evolvers and evolutionary creatures contained a certain substance within them, which could promote qualitative changes in the cells inside, and this was the source of initial evolution..."
Lisa exhaled deeply. Speaking with newcomers to the Wasteland was convenient since they still remembered much of the history and had not been brainwashed by various Wasteland doctrines and theories:
"Correct, and that thing is right in here."
Saying this, Lisa reached into the abdominal cavity of the Tier One Rock-Horned Horse Corpse, extracting a large, still pulsating heart from the bloody mass of organs.
The size was about as large as a washbasin, with the aorta and veins still in rhythm with the myocardial contraction, drawing old blood in, expelling new blood out.
This scene caused discomfort among several nearby people.
Despite being dead beyond measure, the body of the Tier One Female Rock-Horned Horse appeared to still be alive, maintaining operations.
As if transformed into a brainless zombie.
Lisa looked at the still-beating horse heart, her tone slightly excited as she continued:
"The substance that promotes evolution has many names: some call it Life Source Material, Life Energy, others refer to it as Evolution Factor, God Factor..."
"In your Asian District, it’s apparently called Evolutionary Source Material."
"Regardless of the name, it all appeared during that crisis then."
"Initially, Earth’s life couldn’t withstand its transformation, the vast majority failed to evolve, until later, with numerous samples advancing one after another, leading to the birth of Human Evolvers and Evolution Beasts."
"Then gradually developing into what today’s evolution levels are, along with specific steps to evolve and strengthen..."
Lisa suddenly shifted her tone, tossing the heart pulsating in her hand before Lin Feng:
"But after setting up the path of evolution, they also completely blocked other evolution directions."
"Followers wanting to achieve evolution can only walk the evolutionary path they paved, eternally only able to chase behind them but never match..."
After Lisa finished saying this, Lin Feng was dazed.
The amount of information in her words was too vast, Lin Feng hadn’t yet reacted, until he connected the cause and effect, relating to the start of evolution...
A slightly dark truth,
gradually surfaced in Lin Feng’s mind.
Thus, he hurriedly asked:
"You mean, using Life Source Material from other evolutionary creatures will also absorb the impurities within, thereby following their evolutionary path."
"So subsequent evolutions will always be constrained by this pathway, forever limited within?"
Lisa raised an eyebrow, the lips under her mask slowly curled up on one side, revealing a smile:
"That’s right, it’s like this."
"This is the truth of evolution in Oasis Town."
"Someone as smart and cautious as Mr. Lin shouldn’t find it difficult to guess the reason behind this..."
"Whether it’s the evolution potion extracted by large families or the pure evolution surgery promoted by the Church, at its essence, it’s all for their long-lasting rule."
"But there’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world."
"Now on the wasteland, aside from the mutated desolate beasts and organizations mastering different evolution paths, only within the ancient ruins are there still some remaining initial evolutionary source materials left."
While speaking, Lisa pointed a dagger at the Rock-Horned Horse corpse in front of the two:
"The evolution path extracted from the Rock-Horned Horse Herd relies on the Rock-Horned Horse to exist."
"Directly consuming evolutionary meat to evolve, versus handing it over to Nongzhuang Village to exchange for purified evolution agent, in fact, there’s not much difference. Direct consumption risks excessive impurity pollution."
"But once you use the evolutionary meat from the Rock-Horned Horse for evolution, later on, to achieve further quality evolution, you inevitably have to submit to Nongzhuang Village and crawl at the feet of Patriarch Li."
"The subsequent evolutionary source material is controlled by them."
"This is a road destined to never stand out."
"So, do you still want to try?"
Lin Feng frowned slightly, thinking about the task given by Father Su An, to go into the ruins and find something.
Could it be this so-called initial source material...
The purpose is naturally simple, for his daughter, Su Yueyue’s future evolution.
But he himself is already a mid-level member of the Holy Spring Sect, lacking neither power nor status, why does he still want his daughter to pursue an unknown evolutionary path?
Unless there are hidden secrets within the Holy Spring Sect.
Now the Oasis Race is untrustworthy, and the Holy Spring Sect is no good haven either.
But without the power of an evolver, going to the perilous prehistoric ruins is practically certain death.
So the problem of evolution facing everyone is actually just a problem, it hasn’t been solved.
Yet now, after what Lisa said, the valuable Tier One Rock-Horned Horse corpse before us doesn’t seem as enticing as it did before.
Lisa scraped out all the viscera from the Rock-Horned Horse’s belly, revealing two active loin sides of the spine, eagerly poised with the dagger in her hand.
However, she seemed to sense the eerie atmosphere around her, so she waved her hand and spoke comfortingly:
"Don’t be so anxious everyone, these words were meant for Lin Feng to hear, he awakened an incredibly rare superpower before even achieving evolution."
"Gifted and talented, the future is limitless!"
"That’s why I wanted to remind him not to be seduced by temporary gains before him. Sometimes, seemingly convenient paths are already littered with traps by others."
"As for us ordinary people, being able to become evolvers in this lifetime is a tremendous blessing, and we’ll only reach mid-Tier One at most with our efforts."
"The shackles of any evolutionary path have limited impact on us, because these paths of evolution, we actually won’t reach the trap-laden endpoint in our lifetimes."
"Regardless if it’s the evolution potion from Holy Spring Village or the Church’s evolution surgery, everyone can rest assured to adopt them, though if you must distinguish between good or bad..."
"For sure the Church is better, after all, the Holy Spring Sect is a ruling presence over the great city, while Li Family from Nongzhuang Village is just a local noble family."
"This depends on your future development direction, if you want to stay in Oasis Town and live a stable life, the Rock-Horned Horse is a good choice. If you aim to develop in the great city, then seeking out the Church is the right move."
After saying this, Lisa looked down at the man who had fallen silent, using the blade in her hand to cut down two slabs of loin meat weighing a hundred kilograms.
Along with the horse’s heart, she placed them before the man.
Then she slowly spoke:
"Lin Feng, you have the potential to become a high-tier evolver, the world of Oasis Town is too small, for you it’s only a few years before you will reach the top..."
"It’s too small here, it can’t give full play to your talents."
"Do you want to remain in one corner until your old age, or venture into the great city, or even further, to explore this world, and perhaps solve Three Days in the Sky, breaking the curse that hangs over all life on the wasteland..."
"Become the legendary human Savior."
The man looked at the large, pulsating heart before him and the twitching tender loin, removed his mask and smiled:
"Sorry, I just want to survive first."
As he spoke, the corner of his eye had already shown a reminder:
"Rock-Horned Horse Evolutionary Meat Level 11, Red Quality"
"..."