Super Gene Hunting Ground

Chapter 7: Chapter 7: The Mutant Ant

Huang Wen led Chen Fei and a dozen other girls, setting out along the mountain path behind the academy, and they arrived at Biyun Mountain Pond half an hour later.

The pond covered an area of more than ten acres, a natural accumulation of rainwater which collected here when it rained down from Biyun Mountain, and as the years passed, it had formed a large pond.

Biyun Mountain had long been designated a scenic area of Dawn City, with no villagers living here.

When Huang Wen and the others arrived at the pond, they found that a dozen or so people were already there. These people were all students from Kongming Academy, who had broken into several groups. Some of them had prepared equipment for boiling water and were now boiling water.

It seemed everyone had the same idea.

The pond was surrounded by gentle slopes, a usual spot for wild cookouts, and there were many small stove pits dug before on the slope. Huang Wen instructed some people to collect firewood from the surrounding woods, then start a fire, and get water from the pond to boil.

Looking at the clear water of the ten-acre pond, everyone started to feel a bit hopeful; at least they had water to drink now.

There were a few gentle, shallow areas in the pond, and some people were even catching fish in them. Indeed, there are ways through every hardship!

While waiting for the water to boil, and with everyone feeling bored, some girls went to catch fish by the pond, while Huang Wen and Chen Fei and a few girls sat by the pond and chatted.

Chen Fei suddenly pointed to the center of the pond, saying with surprise:

”Everyone, look, what is that?”

Looking over, they saw a shadow, several meters in length, beneath the surface of the water. The shadow was motionless at first but then began to move slowly, creating a ripple on the surface of the water.

”Is that a fish?”

Everyone knew there were fish in the pond, wild small carp which everyone had caught during cookouts in the past.

”How could that be possible, how could there be such a big fish in this pond? With the length of that shadow, it must be at least 2 to 3 meters, could it be a snake?”

”It’s autumn now, snakes can’t possibly be swimming in the water, can they?”

Not many noticed the abnormality in the pond, and in several spots by the pond, people were fishing in the water grass.

After dealing with the great calamities, enjoying some peace by this pond was a rare treat, so everyone was relaxed and hadn’t anticipated any danger.

Chen Fei saw the shadow in the water heading towards a spot by the pond where there were people and felt an indescribable sense of foreboding.

Huang Wen and the others saw it too.

Suddenly, the shadow in the water sped up, moving at a startling speed.

Water splashed on the surface.

Huang Wen suddenly stood up and shouted to the people fishing by the pond:

”Run, danger!”

No sooner had Huang Wen’s words fallen than a splash was heard, and a three to four meter long monstrous fish leaped out of the water, its giant mouth opening to reveal sharp teeth, and it dragged a girl from the pond’s edge away.

Everyone was petrified with fear.

The girl was dragged into the water before she could even cry out, and moments later, a patch of bright red blood surfaced in the center of the pond.

Huang Wen, Chen Fei, and the others trembled with fright, and someone yelled out:

”Run, there’s a water monster in the pond!”

Thus, people fled in a panic down the mountain, leaving even the boiled water behind.

They ran all the way to the vicinity of the academy, distancing themselves from the pond, before they finally stopped to catch their breaths, each of them shaken to the core.

Soon, the news that a water monster in Biyun Mountain Pond had killed a person spread.

Everyone started to vaguely sense that, maybe, what Gu Bo from the Genetic Store talked about regarding gene mutation was true.

Yang Xiao woke up around 6 pm as usual, and at that time, the sun was still in the sky, about three feet above the horizon when looking from far away.

Yang Xiao unscrewed his water bottle, took a few sips of water, stood up to stretch his body, and then prepared to have dinner.

He had just taken two steps when he heard a crisp crack beneath his foot, feeling similar to stepping on an egg.

Yang Xiao was startled and quickly lifted his foot to look.

There was an egg-sized, unknown bug that he had stepped on and crushed on the rock.

The bug’s shape looked both familiar and foreign.

What on Earth is it?

Yang Xiao squatted down and observed carefully.

The insect wasn’t completely dead yet; its antennae were still twitching, and a few legs were struggling.

Yang Xiao looked more closely and became increasingly alarmed.

Isn’t this insect just an enlarged version of an ant?

Yes, it’s an ant.

But how could an ant become so huge? That’s just against all reason!

Yang Xiao’s heart was immediately filled with terror, and he glanced around, only to be stunned to see dozens of ants the size of quail eggs crawling over the boulders.

”This, could this be the so-called genetic mutation? Wasn’t it supposed to happen after seven days?”

Yang Xiao then remembered what Gu Bo had mentioned about Genetic Fragments. He stepped on the boulder and crushed a dozen of the large ants, but apart from their bodies turning into a pile of pulp, there were no so-called Genetic Fragments?

He definitely couldn’t stay here any longer; otherwise, he might get killed by ants without even realizing it.

Yang Xiao drank half a bottle of water, ate half a pack of biscuits, two salt-baked chicken wings, tidied his backpack, and prepared to descend the mountain.

Suddenly, a sensation like an electric current emerged in his body, and he reluctantly sat down.

The current flowed through his body as usual and gradually disappeared after several minutes.

What on earth is happening?

Why does this strange current appear every time after eating?

Yang Xiao thought for a while, then took out a salt-baked chicken drumstick to eat. After finishing it, that sensation of an electric current appeared in his body again.

Could it be that this current is related to food?

With that thought in mind, Yang Xiao ate a bag of beef jerky, two packs of chicken wings, and a bag of biscuits.

He noticed two things: first, the current was indeed related to food; second, the intensity of the current was also related to the type of food. The same amount of food generated a similar current for both beef and chicken, but it was much stronger than that generated by biscuits.

But why would food generate an electric current?

What effect does this current have on his body?

Additionally, he realized that he seemed to never feel full. After eating and generating the current, he was immediately able to eat other things, but he wouldn’t feel hungry if he didn’t eat.

Recalling the effects of the current, Yang Xiao suddenly realized that every time after the current emerged, he would be in an excited state, feeling like he had endless energy, and had the urge to punch the rocks.

Yang Xiao saw a tree root as thick as an arm on the ground, hesitated for a moment, then picked it up and snapped it with both hands, ”crack” – the tree root as thick as an arm was broken in half.

Yang Xiao was startled and stunned for a long time.

What’s the situation? Have I mutated too?

Seeing the sun was setting, Yang Xiao had no time to ponder this question. He put his backpack on, armed with an iron rod and a watermelon knife, and prepared to go down the mountain. Before leaving, he picked up two flattened ant corpses from the ground, wrapped them in leaves, and put them in the outer pocket of his backpack.

Half an hour later, dusk fell, and Yang Xiao walked out of Biyun Mountain to the playground.

The playground was scattered with a thousand people. Apart from Xiao Zhe’s team, several other large teams of over a hundred people had appeared. Everyone was huddling together for warmth, and even Huang Wen’s girls’ dinosaur team had taken in a dozen or so helpless girls.

The playground was somewhat chaotic, and no one noticed Yang Xiao.

Yang Xiao walked straight into the Genetic Store.

Gu Bo seemed to have some impression of Yang Xiao and greeted him with a smile:

”Young friend, haven’t seen you for a few days.”

Yang Xiao nodded, took the crushed ant corpses out of his backpack:

”Mr. Gu Bo, take a look, are these the mutated creatures you mentioned?”

Gu Bo glanced at them and said indifferently:

”Today is the third day. These creatures are in the process of mutating. This thing should not have completed the mutation process yet.”

On hearing this, Yang Xiao took a sharp breath.

If ants that haven’t even completed mutating are already the size of quail eggs, how big would they be once the mutation is complete?