More than two hundred years ago, bizarre creatures with metallic bodies suddenly appeared across the globe and became humanity's worst nightmare.
The creatures, which humans referred to as Base Mutation Creatures, were a completely different type of life form. Their bodies were composed of metal or even crystal, utterly unlike the flesh and blood of humans.
Even the lowest-level Base Mutation Creatures had bodies as hard as steel. Ordinary bullets could not effectively harm them. The higher-level Base Mutation Creatures possessed physical durability so unimaginable that humanity's prized heat weapons were virtually useless against them. Human society was destroyed in a matter of moments.
It wasn't until humanity discovered that the Base Mutation Fluid inside these creatures could lead to incredible transformative growth—*like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly,* granting metallic armor-like bodies and enabling control over Base Mutation Creatures via the Base Mutation Key—that they finally gained the ability to wage war against these creatures.
Fast-forward over two hundred years, and now it's an era dominated by Mutators and their Base Mutation pets. Bases constructed from materials derived from Base Mutation Creatures are increasingly common, and humanity's civilization is showing signs of revival.
"Is this really happening? This is totally unscientific!" Lin Shen stared at the bizarre creature frozen like a statue in front of him, unable to contain the excitement in his eyes.
It was a Steel Level Base Mutation Creature resembling a cross between a horse and a bull, its entire body glowing with a cast-iron sheen. It stood motionless in the pose of a galloping horse, as if it were a solid iron statue.
But Lin Shen was certain this wasn't just a statue, as mere minutes ago, it was rampaging like a tank and nearly knocked him to the ground.
Although this was just one of the lowest-level Steel Beings among Base Mutation Creatures, its strength and speed far surpassed those of ordinary humans. Even creatures gifted with *divine power,* like elephants and rhinos, couldn't compete.
Yet all Lin Shen had done was touch it with his finger, and the Steel Level Iron Horned Beast froze in place, *as if sealed at an acupoint.*
Lin Shen did not, of course, know how to perform acupoint sealing. The concept of "acupoint sealing" seen in film and television was not the same as how it worked in real life. The kind where a simple touch immobilizes someone only existed on-screen.
Even in this modern era where humans could cultivate evolution, no matter how much strength they gained—whether that meant piercing steel with their fingertip—they still could not perform acupoint sealing on a regular human, let alone on a Steel Level Base Mutation Creature.
Lin Shen rubbed his fingers, still finding it difficult to believe that he had truly succeeded.
Not long ago, in the warehouse, he discovered a very peculiar Base Mutation Egg. Base Mutation Eggs are essentially the eggs laid by Base Mutation Creatures.
Since the emergence of Base Mutation Creatures over two centuries ago, humans had already developed comprehensive theories and methods for utilizing these creatures to cultivate evolution.
Base Mutation Eggs weren't particularly rare; some low-level eggs cost no more than the price of a meal.
Lin Shen, being someone who worked in the Base Mutation Egg business, had seen countless variations of these eggs, but he had never encountered one as bizarre and peculiar as this one.
The egg appeared as if covered in a constantly shifting mosaic of tiny, colorful grids, giving it a dreamy and surreal appearance.
Lin Shen studied it for a long time but couldn't discern what was unique about the egg. Even when he showed it to his store employees, they couldn't see the mosaic effect at all. To them, it was just a regular Steel Level egg with a black metallic sheen.
This made Lin Shen suspect he was hallucinating. However, after going to sleep, the egg mysteriously returned to normal, the mosaic effect disappearing, and Lin Shen found a strange piece of information imprinted in his mind.
[Failed Super-Base Evolutionary Fire Seed—Acupoint Sealing: Influences a creature's state by tapping on specific points of its body.]
After that, things started to become eerily peculiar. Whenever Lin Shen stared at a creature for a long time, he could see a faint, indistinct glow at specific points on its body. This phenomenon appeared on both humans and Base Mutation Creatures, differing only in quantity and location.
Ordinary humans had more of these glowing points, while Mutators and Base Mutation Creatures—especially higher-level ones—had fewer.
Unable to resist his curiosity, Lin Shen decided to experiment today on one of the Iron Horned Beasts he kept at home. The results were astonishing: he had truly sealed the beast's acupoints.
Standing beside the Iron Horned Beast, Lin Shen stretched out his finger again and tapped on one of its faintly glowing points. In an instant, the previously frozen beast returned to its original rampaging state, darting forward uncontrollably and crashing into a metal pen, letting out a low, pained cry.
"Even a failed Evolutionary Fire Seed is this terrifying. What would a successful one be like?" *Lin Shen was overwhelmed with excitement.* He couldn't help but imagine—such a Fire Seed would be unstoppable for hunting Base Mutation Creatures.
With newfound determination, Lin Shen sprinted out of the pen and shut the door behind him before rushing toward the warehouse. He wanted to see if there were any other eggs with Fire Seeds.
The massive warehouse contained row upon row of shelves stocked with various Base Mutation Eggs. Most of these eggs were low-grade goods, but that wasn't the point since even low-grade eggs could harbor Fire Seeds. Lin Shen's store didn't carry many advanced eggs anyway.
After going through all the eggs in the warehouse, he was disappointed to find not a single egg covered in mosaic patterns.
"Makes sense, really. When these eggs were stocked, I personally placed them on the shelves. If one had existed back then, I should've noticed it." Lin Shen shook his head, realizing he might have been greedy. Owning even one Fire Seed was already an unimaginable miracle; how could he hope for more?
Suppressing his excitement, Lin Shen headed for the store.
His shop operated like an old claw machine arcade, except instead of plush toys, each machine held several Base Mutation Eggs. Customers inserted coins to try their luck at grabbing an egg.
Of course, the machines were rigged with such low success rates that the business was essentially a guaranteed profit.
"Lin, business wasn't great today either," his employee, Zhao Li, said as she came out from behind the counter. Glancing at the empty shop, she added worriedly, "Lin, we need to figure out how to get some high-level Base Mutation Eggs; otherwise, our customers will all flock to the Egg Store next door."
"Hmm," Lin Shen nodded slightly but didn't say much.
He was the fifth sibling in his family, having three elder brothers and one elder sister, so Zhao Li often called him "Fifth Brother."
"The Egg Store next door is being downright shameless. Their employees were blatantly poaching our customers outside the shop today, claiming that all our eggs were garbage, and the claws on our machines are so weak that even if you grab something, it's always junk," Zhao Li ranted indignantly.
But Lin Shen wasn't paying attention to her complaints; his gaze was entirely fixed on one of his claw machines. He was staring so hard it seemed as if he wouldn't blink.
To be specific, his focus was on an egg inside the claw machine, wrapped in that all-too-familiar mosaic pattern.
"Another one?" Lin Shen was filled with incredible joy and disbelief. He rushed to the claw machine and pressed his face against the glass, examining the mosaic-covered egg inside. Urgently, he said to Zhao Li, "Get me the key!"
After Zhao Li brought the key over, Lin Shen unlocked the claw machine and carefully extracted the mosaic-covered egg, turning it over in his hands for closer inspection.
Though this egg differed in type and size from the previous one, the mosaic glow was nearly identical.
"Lin, is there something wrong with this egg?" Zhao Li asked curiously.
"Don't you think there's something unusual about this egg?" Lin Shen replied with a question instead of answering directly.
"Unusual? Isn't it just a Steel Level Base Mutation Egg for the Knife Demon?" Zhao Li scrutinized the egg from every angle but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Confusion clouded her face.
"Keep an eye on the shop. I've got to go," Lin Shen said, offering no explanation before leaving with the egg.
He was puzzled to his core. Due to poor business lately, the eggs in the claw machines had been sitting there for a week or even longer, and he had examined them countless times. He hadn't noticed anything unusual before, so why had this mosaic-covered egg suddenly appeared?
Lin Shen couldn't figure out why a second mosaic-covered egg had appeared out of nowhere. Once home, he spent hours studying it but still couldn't determine how to transfer the Fire Seed into himself.
In fact, Lin Shen still didn't understand how the Fire Seed from the first egg had transferred to him. Despite scrutinizing that egg for hours, he hadn't figured out the cause of the mosaic pattern. Exhaustion had eventually overtaken him, and as he slept with the egg nearby, he awoke to find the mosaic pattern gone and the Fire Seed information imprinted in his mind.
"Looks like I'll have to try again. Hopefully, it works," Lin Shen murmured as he lay down with the second egg placed beside him. He tossed and turned in bed for ages before finally drifting off to sleep.
When Lin Shen woke the next day, his first reaction was to check the egg lying beside him.
Upon seeing it, Lin Shen felt a sensation akin to eating a Ginseng Fruit—every pore in his body seemed to vibrate with joy.
The mosaic on the egg had vanished, and another piece of Fire Seed information had appeared in his mind.