Chapter 193: Mutant Organism, Codename Zero-One!

The mutated life forms appearing at this moment hardly seemed like native entities from Earth.

Chen Yi could tell that the movements and abilities of this creature far surpassed both the zombies and the original mutated life forms native to the planet.

"Yunxi, can you tell where this thing originates from?"

Chu Yunxi nodded, her eyes fixed firmly on the monsters before them.

Through careful observation, Chu Yunxi detected traces of Martian creature matter within these entities. This substance possessed an extraordinary resilience, completely immune to corrosion from both extreme heat and extreme cold.

In other words, anyone wishing to kill these creatures would first have to find a way to neutralize this inherent defensive power; otherwise, success would be utterly impossible.

Hearing this, Chen Yi instantly frowned.

"None of us around here possess power of such magnitude."

"Indeed!"

Sighing softly, Chu Yunxi let out another frustrated breath.

"Although thinking of a solution is easy, putting it into practice is as difficult as ascending to the heavens. This is precisely why I said that every single one of us has hit a bottleneck period."

"Do not fear!"

At that moment, the Tengshe slithered over to Chen Yi, looking rather smug.

"Even though alien life forms are formidable, my scales share a remarkably similar property!"

Hearing this, a gleam of realization lit up Chen Yi's eyes.

"Are you saying your scales can produce a similar texture? If we were to study them..."

"Wouldn't everyone be able to attain this kind of power?"

The Tengshe chuckled softly. "Actually, why go through all that trouble? My scales are naturally occurring. What if you absorb my blood instead? Wouldn't you then inherit my bloodline power?"

This suggestion certainly served as a wake-up call for everyone.

Possessing the Tengshe's bloodline power would vastly improve their efficiency in turning the dangerous tide.

"Boss."

The Tengshe spoke up once more, sounding somewhat tentative.

"I know you are a good person, but not all good people can understand the temperament and mindset of cold-blooded creatures like us. In fact, I happen to have another identity!"

Chen Yi immediately placed his hand on the dual blades at his waist, but the Tengshe merely smiled.

"Relax, I am not your enemy. To be honest, the Tengshe exists to protect humanity, but I have always been rather lazy, so I never bothered to protect anyone."

"Then what is your true identity?"

Chen Yaxi blinked her eyes, feeling somewhat puzzled.

"Could it be you're a giant, evil snake that secretly feasts on human flesh?!"

"Ahem!"

The Tengshe wore a wry expression.

"How on earth did you come up with that? If I really ate human flesh, why wouldn't I have eaten a kid with such powerful supernatural abilities like you, instead of letting you bully me all this time?"

"Bully you?"

Chen Yaxi immediately hopped over to Chen Yi's side, blinking rapidly.

Chen Yi tapped her on the head and shook his head.

"You are not allowed to be disrespectful to our friend. Yaxi, we must learn to minimize risks right now, and sticking with our friends is the safest course of action."

"Got it!"

Chen Yaxi curled her lips and stood to the side.

At that moment, the Tengshe gave a knowing smile. "Boss doesn't need to bicker with this little girl. Besides, we still need this little girl's shuttle to resolve certain issues!"

"Still, I believe we ought to be a little more serious."

Chu Yunxi still maintained a stern expression as she spoke.

"After all, she is just a child and can sometimes be rather lacking in thoroughness. We cannot simply indulge her."

"I am not a child!"

Chen Yaxi retorted, sticking out her tongue.

She walked straight up, looped her arm around Chu Yunxi's, and pouting slightly, said, "Sister, if you talk about me like that, I'm going to be mad at you."

Seeing the young girl act so spoiled, Chu Yunxi couldn't bring herself to scold her further, though at this critical juncture, she managed to suppress her usual indulgence.

With a straight face, Chu Yunxi slowly began.

"We need to let the Tengshe finish. If his genes can be modified, we can correspondingly grow stronger, can't we? It's not helpful for you to disrupt us right now."

Finally, Chen Yaxi put away her playful expression.

She was not an unreasonable child and could recognize reality when it mattered most. Knowing that this "sister" of hers was a goddess combining absolute intelligence and beauty, she nodded in agreement.

"Don't worry, Sister, I will do exactly as you say."

For their next step, Chen Yi intended to first try modifying the Demon Cat's body using the Tengshe's blood to see if the creature could achieve an evolution.

Upon hearing this, the Demon Cat immediately voiced his protest.

"You've got to be kidding me, fusing snake blood into my body? Boss, you really don't take feline dignity seriously at all!"

Chen Yi smiled at him. "If you don't agree, we can break our contract right here. I am not forcing you!"

"Don't do that!"

Upon hearing those words, the Demon Cat instantly panicked.

Without the contract, his power would undoubtedly be heavily suppressed, so he gritted his teeth and said, "Boss, you can have me do whatever you want. My blood, use whatever you like!"

"I'm not using your blood!"

Knowing the cat hadn't truly listened to his words, Chen Yi sighed softly. "I need you to absorb the Tengshe's blood."

"I know."

The Demon Cat nodded gently, a trace of firm resolve in his eyes.

"Whatever the Boss says goes, that will never change."

As the Tengshe's essence slowly entered the Demon Cat's mouth, a flash of bright crimson cut across the cat's green eyes. The instant the green and red lights merged, the Demon Cat began to convulse violently.

"What's happening?"

Chen Yaxi asked nervously from the sidelines. "Is he going to die?"

The Demon Cat didn't answer, but the agonizing expression on his face was obvious to everyone. Yet, when they looked toward Chen Yi, they saw no trace of concern on his face. For a moment, they genuinely couldn't tell if the Demon Cat was just putting on an act or what.

Following a low roar, everyone witnessed a strange transformation occurring on the Demon Cat's body.

Scales were actually growing out of the cat's fur, bearing an uncanny resemblance to the power possessed by the Tengshe!

"No way, this kind of power actually manifests? I don't want it."

Chen Yaxi shook her head directly, turning her gaze back to Chen Yi. "If I grew scales like that, how ugly would it be for a girl?"

"Is this really the time to be worrying about that?"

Chu Yunxi tapped her on the head. "In an era where merely surviving is a struggle, you're still worried about looking pretty? I can let go of my vanity, so why can't you?"

"Listen to your sister."

Chen Yi furrowed his brows deeply. "We must never take this lightly. We have to dedicate ourselves completely to this task. Anyone who cannot commit will have to leave our team."