Outskirts of River City.
This is a small mountain range, bought by the Li family a few years ago. Later, the entire mountain was sealed off, surrounded by electrified fences, and outsiders were strictly forbidden entry.
At the center of the mountain, a laboratory covers several hundred square meters.
From the outside, the laboratory looks cold and metallic, the entire building painted a dull blue-gray.
Inside the lab, dozens of cages are lined up, each holding an animal.
There are mountain monkeys, weasels, snakes, and rabbits.
The cages are neatly arranged along one side of the lab.
In the very center hangs a transparent glass chamber, suspended in midair and filled with thick, brown-yellow liquid. Inside, a naked man floats—none other than Caleb Li, who was nearly killed by Evan Lin’s relentless attacks.
Caleb Li’s eyes are shut, his body pierced with tubes, liquid constantly being pumped into him.
"Heart rate stable."
"Pulse index normal."
"Muscle infiltration rate: zero point five percent."
"Pupil diffusion level: 2."
Dozens of researchers in white coats, fully geared up with masks, moved around the lab.
From time to time, a cold female voice came through the central intercom, reporting the current status.
"Very good."
Dr. Soul, hunched over, pushed up his glasses and lifted his head to look at the sleeping Caleb Li.
"Once the muscle infiltration rate reaches one hundred percent, you can attempt the second stage. Caleb Li, you might become the most successful subject I’ve ever studied!"
"Normally so high and mighty, Caleb Li—do you want revenge? If you do, then fight! Fight to breathe, fight to absorb, fight to survive!"
Dr. Soul grinned, his eyes cold and sinister.
Nearby, a man in a white lab coat walked over. "Doctor, the first-stage drug input formula is complete. This round, forty-five test subjects received the drug, and ten survived the first stage. Should we proceed to second-stage testing now?"
"Mm, let's go take a look."
Dr. Soul nodded, and the group walked to a corner area.
There, behind a glass wall, were two cages: one held a wildcat with blood-red eyes, the other a burly Siberian tiger.
"Second-stage drug injection program initiated."
"Prepare the input protocol. Target: the wildcat that survived stage one."
"Program running. Target matched successfully. Proceeding to next-stage drug injection."
A string of icy female voices rang out. Inside the glass wall, a robotic arm injected a vial of blood-red drug into the wildcat's body.
The wildcat bared its fangs and claws, struggling desperately, but it was useless.
"Second-stage drug injection successful. Monitoring vital signs."
"Vital signs normal. Heart rate accelerating."
"Warning, warning! Body temperature rising! Rising!"
Dr. Soul glanced at the wildcat collapsed on the ground and waved his hand. "Release the Siberian tiger."
"Yes, sir."
The doors to both cages slowly opened.
Locked in its cage and already furious, the Siberian tiger roared when the door opened, spotting the wildcat lying not far away!
The wildcat curled up in its cage, letting out deep, low growls. Its claws scratched at the wall, and though its body was only sixty centimeters long, every hair stood on end.
"Roar!"
Starving for ages, the Siberian tiger's eyes flashed coldly at the wildcat. Its hind legs tensed, and with a powerful leap, it lunged at the wildcat.
Mutation occurred.
In the next instant, the previously weak wildcat suddenly swelled up in size.
The cat's face twisted grotesquely, its eyes sliding to the sides of its head. The entire head split in two, and a long tongue emerged.
That tongue glowed red, twisting in midair as it shot straight toward the Siberian tiger's head.
The Siberian tiger couldn't dodge in time. The seemingly soft tongue instantly pierced through the tiger's skull, brain matter splattering everywhere!
In a flash, the Siberian tiger stopped moving. Almost by instinct, the wildcat rushed over, its two heads splitting open into a huge mouth, swallowing the entire tiger in one bite.
"Interesting. The second stage is clearly different from the first, which only strengthened the body. This drug causes DNA mutation."
Dr. Soul grinned, staring through the glass at the mutated cat lying on the ground after feeding, its belly grotesquely swollen. His eyes burned with madness.
......
"Train D1501 to Leighton City departs in ten minutes. Ticket inspectors, please organize passengers and check tickets at the gate."
In the high-speed rail station waiting hall, the broadcast sounded.
Evan Lin, carrying a backpack and wearing a baseball cap, heard the announcement, stood up in the waiting hall, queued, and boarded the train.
He found his seat according to his ticket number.
He had just sat down when two men arrived and took the seats next to him.
The two men, eyes fierce, scanned the area before sitting down. Muscles bulged on their bodies, killing intent radiated from them, and the other passengers instinctively shrank away.
"Boss, I heard that the champion of this year's Leighton City Underground Boxing Tournament not only gets to marry Wendy Ding, but also receives the Ding family's ancestral magic artifact. Is that true?"
One man looked at the other, lowered his voice, and asked.
"Of course it's true! This time, Derrick Ding himself made the announcement. No one knows exactly what powers the artifact has, but even the weakest magic artifact is still an artifact! Its value is easily millions."
"And Wendy Ding is famously promiscuous. They say over a hundred men have thrown out their backs in her bed. If we win first place, wouldn't life be sweet?"
At this, the man couldn't help but laugh, licking his lips.
"First place, huh? That should be tough. I hear a lot of people are coming this year. Derrick Ding is the underground king of Leighton City, so there'll be no shortage of challengers."
"It's fine, we can just go to broaden our horizons. I heard even people from Medicine King Valley are coming. We might not stand out, but if we can get on their good side and beg for a few immortal pills, that's a huge win."
At this, the two men exchanged a glance, their eyes full of anticipation.
"Magic artifact?"
Evan Lin muttered to himself.
The Soul-Sacrifice Beauty Scroll in his backpack technically counted as a magic artifact, but its grade was far too low to interest Evan.
Glancing coolly at the two men, Evan Lin pondered for a moment.
"No rush. Might as well go take a look."