Chapter 86: The Black Spot Transforms

Although the little creature was not of the same kind, after spending so much time together, Lu Chen had developed some affection for it. Faced with the current situation, he naturally felt anxious, but had no idea what measures to take.

Suddenly, a scorched smell drifted through the air. The swollen body of the black dot abruptly transformed into a massive fireball. Its feathers exploded outward, igniting rapidly.

Before Lu Chen could react, the creature’s feathers had been completely burned away, leaving behind a bare, pitch-black thing. Now, it truly was a black dot.

"Chirp-chirp..." The magpie let out a pained cry as it stretched its slender legs and dashed toward the shallow waters of the river.

Bubbling noises arose—the heat radiating from its body was so intense that the surrounding water began to boil in small patches.

Still alive, still breathing?

Only now did Lu Chen recover from his shock. Even after being engulfed in flames, the black dot hadn’t been roasted alive; it was still making noise.

Was this a mutation?

Watching the creature’s swollen body slowly contract, Lu Chen finally felt somewhat at ease, then couldn’t help but burst out laughing in a snorting, pig-like way.

It was just too comical... Had anyone ever seen a magpie without feathers?

Lu Chen turned away, shifting his attention back to his saltwater crocodile companions. The three of them showed no signs of abnormality, standing on the riverbank watching the black dot in the water, their eyes filled with confusion.

Perhaps their bodies were too large and the energy contained in the spirit stones they’d consumed was too little to cause a mutation? That was the only explanation Lu Chen could come up with.

Over the next few days, the black dot underwent visible changes. First, its appetite grew immensely—it was as if its stomach was a bottomless pit. It lingered by the stone traps in the shallows, constantly catching fish.

In just two days, new soft down began to sprout all over its body. At the same time, it rapidly grew in size.

Originally no larger than a fist, after a week it had swelled to nearly five pounds. Its feathers were no longer a pure black, but a dazzling, iridescent black. When sunlight touched them, they gleamed with a jade-like luster, making the bird appear exceedingly beautiful.

And that wasn’t all.

One morning, after circling Lu Chen and calling out for a while, the little creature suddenly spat out a fireball the size of a glass marble!

The fireball shot out more than a meter before vanishing with a puff.

What on earth—was it breathing fire?

So it had developed a fire-type mutation?

Seeing the black dot spit flames, Lu Chen felt utterly dumbfounded. Glancing at himself and the three other crocodiles, he could only lament, "Comparisons are odious, whether between people or goods."

This so-called "ancestral bloodline mutation" ability, apart from inspiring fear in its own kind and prey, seemed to have no other use. It was, in short, quite useless.

Of course, perhaps the black dot was no ordinary bird, which would explain such a dramatic transformation. After all, it was born in the hot spring valley and had always behaved differently from other magpies.

After marveling for a bit, Lu Chen decided to test the temperature of the fireball.

He quickly gathered a pile of dry twigs, placed some soft tree fluff atop them, and had the black dot perform its skill.

This time, after much effort, the little fellow spat out another fireball.

Whoosh—the fireball landed and instantly set the tree fluff ablaze, the flames roaring to life.

The three crocodiles watched the rising flames, curiosity glinting in their eyes. Old Croc, in particular, couldn’t resist stretching out a claw to touch it. Immediately, it let out a wail and darted several meters away, its eyes now tinged with fear.

Lu Chen noticed that after spitting two fireballs in a row, the black dot seemed listless and weak, its calls growing feeble.

Clearly, producing fireballs was not without cost; it required a substantial expenditure of the creature’s own energy.

Still, Lu Chen found this ability rather unscientific. The ignition point of wood was generally between 200°C and 290°C. For the fire from the black dot to ignite the tree fluff, the temperature must have been at least two hundred degrees Celsius.

How could a bird’s body withstand such high temperatures?

But then he thought of those bizarre electric eels in the deep pit and found the answer: once mutation sets in, science no longer applies.

From then on, he knew he had to change his perspective and view things through the lens of mutation.

As time passed, Lu Chen discovered that Old Croc and the others were also continuing to grow.

Old Croc and Second Croc both broke the two-hundred-pound mark, their bodies now nearly three meters long. Even the smallest, Little Sister Croc, weighed over ninety kilograms.

Now, the three of them together consumed almost four hundred pounds of food every day. The fish in the stone traps were no longer sufficient to satisfy their hunger.

Their hunting grounds extended deeper and deeper into the forest.

Recently, the wildlife within dozens of miles had suffered immensely.

Wild boars, musk deer, sambar deer, red muntjacs—all had become food for the crocodiles.

But the most remarkable transformation was still the black dot. In just twenty days since devouring the spirit stone, it had undergone a complete metamorphosis.

Its wingspan was now nearly half a meter, and it weighed over five pounds—almost as much as a large adult egret. It had grown more ferocious, able to hunt small animals like hares, snakes, and young goats on its own.

Sharp talons and a powerful beak were its best weapons.

At the moment, the black dot folded its wings and landed in front of the nest. After squawking at the four crocodiles, it turned and flew toward the main river channel.

Had it found another large group of prey?

With its aerial advantage, the black dot was now even better at locating prey than Lu Chen.

He led Old Croc and the others downstream, crossed a tributary, then followed the main river upstream, soon arriving at the waters where the giant saltwater crocodile had once hunted humans.

Lu Chen sniffed the air but could not sense the presence of that creature nearby.

It seemed likely that it had already been killed by humans.

Following the river for a few more miles, the black dot veered off into the forest.

A roar soon echoed from up ahead.

A Bengal tiger? Could the magpie have found another tiger? Lu Chen grew excited.

Sure enough, as he entered a dense forest, a familiar scent greeted him—it was the tigress and her cubs. There was also the scent of a pack of dholes.

Dholes attacking a Bengal tiger... Did those creatures really have such nerve?

This was surprising. Under normal circumstances, dholes would avoid Bengal tigers, as the two were worlds apart in size and ferocity.

While there were stories from his previous life about dholes killing tigers, none came with video evidence. Moreover, in those tales, the dholes paid a heavy price—about half the pack was killed, with thirteen dying on the spot and nine more succumbing to injuries soon after.

Pushing through the thick foliage, Lu Chen soon saw the two sides in combat.

More than thirty reddish-brown dholes had surrounded the tigress and were launching repeated, coordinated attacks.

The Bengal tigress, leaping and dodging, was moving awkwardly on one hind leg—it must have been injured.

Now Lu Chen understood why the dholes dared to attack: they were bullies exploiting the weak.

Truly, the saying "when a tiger falls on hard times, even dogs dare to bite" was apt.