Chapter 141: The Orc Project

Lu Chen was essentially feeling his way across the river when it came to creating the Crocodile civilization. As for the processes recorded in human history, they were not entirely suitable for his purposes. Moreover, every beginning is difficult; for a civilization to emerge from nothing, it must inevitably undergo a period of tempering. For now, all he could do was follow his own instincts and help the Saltwater Crocodile leaders improve their strength as quickly as possible to prepare for potential future crises.

For the next several days, Lu Chen remained within his territory. In addition to continuing the training of the leaders in "Crocodile speech," he also taught them how to count. Lu Chen had long since considered the difficulty of teaching Saltwater Crocodiles to count, and he never intended to turn them into mathematicians. Thus, his requirements were low: he only needed the leaders to be able to simply track the number of subjects within their territory. He had previously watched Croc Boss and the others learn to count, and it had seemed effortless—they had picked it up naturally. Black Spot, in particular, could easily count to over a thousand.

However, observing the performance of these powerful, full-grown Saltwater Crocodile leaders, Lu Chen finally understood what it meant to be hopelessly dense. Even with a simple count up to fifty, many of them couldn't grasp it after days of practice. This left him incredibly frustrated, to the point where he almost wanted to fire a compressed energy blast and reduce them to dust. Lu Chen had forgotten that Croc Boss and his peers had grown up under different circumstances. They had followed him from a young age, and through constant observation and imitation, their brains had been stimulated, naturally raising their intelligence significantly. These Saltwater Crocodile leaders were different; they were already adults, and their cognitive patterns were fixed. While consuming spirit stones had boosted their intelligence somewhat, it had not yet triggered a qualitative shift. In other words, their future potential was limited. The real hope lay with the juvenile crocodiles; they were the future of the Crocodile race.

After struggling to teach them for a few days, Lu Chen handed this arduous task over to Croc Boss and Black Spot. He then passed through the spatial rift and emerged into the Blue Star world. Lu Chen had originally assumed that after so much time, the humans pursuing him would have given up. To his surprise, drones were still circling overhead. Soon, a sense of crisis washed over his consciousness. It seemed that those hiding behind the scenes had not given up after all.

Since that was the case, he would settle this once and for all. As he had always said, he would not offend those who did not offend him, but if they refused to cherish the chances he gave them, then he would kill one for every one that came, and a pair for every pair! This time, he would show all of humanity on Blue Star the consequences of targeting him. Compared to a few months ago, Lu Chen had undergone a transformation; conventional weapons could no longer easily harm him. Furthermore, with the alternate dimension as his fallback, he had no fear even if they used nuclear weapons. At worst, he could hide in the alternate dimension for several months. If they dared to risk entering, he would ensure they never returned.

Having made up his mind, Lu Chen immediately bolted toward the distant jungle. It had been little more than four months since the golden rain fell across Blue Star, and the plants in the primitive jungle had generally doubled in size. With lush foliage and dense vines, the landscape was beginning to take on an ancient, primordial aura. Even with Lu Chen’s massive size, he remained inconspicuous as he entered. After running more than ten miles, he stopped decisively. This location was perfect; if a battle broke out, it wouldn't damage the waterfall valley. Moreover, if he faced an insurmountable threat, he would have ample time to retreat into the alternate dimension.

Above the Madura primeval jungle, a dozen armed helicopters suddenly appeared. They flew aggressively and rapidly toward a specific direction. Inside the cabin, a fully armed mercenary captain checked his watch and issued an order through his communicator: "Everyone, be careful. We will reach the target area in three minutes. Following the established operation plan, do not let your guard down until we are certain the target has completely lost its ability to resist. Also, under no circumstances are you to lower your flight altitude!"

"Captain, you’re being too cautious. That mutated beast is fierce, yes, but we are not ordinary humans... we won't be like those guys from a few months ago, completely unable to fight back!" one of the mercenaries remarked, his voice filled with overwhelming confidence.

As the era of the Great Transformation dawned, every nation noticed that the flora and fauna of Blue Star were undergoing earth-shattering changes. While humans had also begun to evolve, the speed of their progress was far behind that of other organisms. At this rate, in a few more years, humanity would be left far behind. The modern weapons they relied upon were gradually losing their effectiveness. Many ferocious beasts had evolved tough, armored hides capable of deflecting bullets. The creatures from the alternate dimension, in particular, possessed absurdly high defensive capabilities. It was foreseeable that in the near future, guns, artillery, and even missiles would become ineffective.

With existing technology unable to achieve significant breakthroughs in the short term, nations around Blue Star turned their attention back to the human body itself. They hoped to find ways to accelerate human evolution to gain an advantage in battles against these beasts. Unlike the Summer Country’s Emergency Response Group, which focused more on internal human cultivation, the schemes of certain corporations in the Merigan nation were more radical, simple, and brutal: the "Orc Project."

With the support of their superiors, they captured mutated beasts to extract DNA serum from their bodies. Through a series of separation processes, they developed genetic agents to be injected into humans. This method allowed ordinary humans to acquire the mutational abilities of beasts in a very short time. After several months of testing, the success rate currently hovered around fifteen percent. Furthermore, their research revealed that the more powerful the Blue Star beast, the higher the quality of the DNA serum it provided, and the greater the strength the human would possess after the mutation.

For instance, the commander of this operation, the mercenary captain Sanchez, had been injected with a genetic agent derived from a mutated lizard over six meters long and weighing 800 kilograms. It had been a painful memory; after more than a week of agony, Sanchez had successfully mutated. In his normal state, he appeared no different from an ordinary human, but once he injected the agent, he immediately transformed into a half-lizard, half-human hybrid. His body surged to a height of four meters, thick scales grew over his limbs and skin, and he sprouted a long tail. He looked no different from a monster, appearing hideous and terrifying. Though ugly, his combat power was formidable. In his transformed state, Sanchez could easily smash through the most advanced armored vehicles with a single punch. That thick layer of scales also provided immense defense, capable of resisting large-caliber anti-materiel sniper rifle rounds at close range. Even more magically, while in his transformed state, Sanchez possessed a regenerative ability similar to a lizard’s. Aside from vital organs like the brain and internal viscera, his limbs and torso would automatically heal after injury. In a sense, he was practically unkillable. Initially, Sanchez could only maintain this mutated state for a little over ten minutes, but through continuous injections, he had now reached half an hour.