From the unknown to the known, from being at a total loss to finding the first threads of a pattern—the Hunters brought back new information with every expedition and investigation.
Meanwhile, the scholars worked through the night without rest, piecing together every sliver of evidence to analyze and summarize the changes and characteristics appearing in plants and animals affected by "Blue-shifting."
The entire Forward Research Base now resembled a massive experimental facility. Samples, jars, and vials were scattered everywhere. Lifting a tent flap revealed mountains of books and notes; rolls of parchment covered in text, symbols, and drawings trailed from tabletops all the way to the floor.
The scholars were on the verge of madness, and a self-inflicted one at that. Had the Commander not ordered some of them to be forcibly tied to their beds to sleep, someone likely would have dropped dead from exhaustion right at their desk.
Hunters had to tread carefully when entering the tents to avoid kicking over specimens or stepping on parchment, lest they be "arrested" by a scholar and subjected to endless, terrifying nagging.
Investigation and research took time. To achieve accurate results—rather than being like the proverbial blind men describing an elephant after feeling only a single part—one needed even more time to ensure no mistakes were made.
Unaware that the surface world had descended into such chaos, Asterion had not stepped out of the Elder's Recess for quite a while. He only knew that some time had passed; the section of the leyline corridor where his nest lay was now almost entirely covered in Bioenergy crystals. The life energy stored within the Kulve Taroth egg was growing increasingly dense. Everything was progressing in the right direction.
Aside from watching the egg and observing the self-propagating Bioenergy crystals, Asterion had not been idle. Sifting through his library of consumed traits, he finally decided to make use of the Velkhana's power.
Behind his flame sac, a brand-new organ had evolved. Several conduits branched out from it, encasing the flame sac and internal heat organs like a protective cage.
This organ secreted the supercooled water that allowed the Velkhana to reign as an Elder Dragon. However, the organ was not large; it couldn't allow Asterion to cover his shell in a thick layer of ice with every breath like a Velkhana. It was used strictly for internal cooling.
To ensure he wouldn't suffer an internal "misfire" or an explosive failure during combat or unforeseen circumstances, Asterion had put a great deal of effort into this. Even though his body already possessed eleven thermal exhaust vents, he still didn't feel safe. It was understandable—if the flame sac or heat organs truly malfunctioned, not even twenty-two vents would be enough to save him.
With this internal water-cooling system, Asterion would at least have an emergency window to react if something went wrong—such as directly ejecting the failing organs from his body.
In Asterion's philosophy, the strong were strong regardless of the situation or environment. If one could not maintain power under any condition, it simply meant they weren't strong enough yet and needed to work harder.
He would strive to become the perfect dragon.
The Kulve Taroth egg was taking longer to hatch than Asterion had anticipated. While his days grew more comfortable, time marched on, and as the Hunters' investigation into the Blue-shifting phenomenon deepened, even the Glavenus Tribe of Grimalkynes began to experience unrest.
The Grimalkynes had evolved again... or rather, more of them were evolving.
At first, none of the cats cared. To a Grimalkyne, the Blue-shifting phenomenon was dangerous, but then again, the Ancient Forest had never been truly safe. Adding a few aggressive plants or animals didn't change much.
Given the vastness and abundance of the Ancient Forest, if some of the plants they gathered or the prey they hunted turned a strange, ghostly blue, they simply needed to avoid those specific spots. The mutations were, after all, still a minority; the forest was mostly full of normal flora and fauna.
But now, that had changed.
In an unprecedented event, one Grimalkyne lost every single hair on its body overnight. It became a completely bald, fleshy cat, looking just like one of those hairless "Ape-wyvern species." This was a catastrophic event that shocked the entire tribe!
It was nothing short of social death! He had no face left to show the other cats. No Grimalkyne ever wanted to look like that!
"Meow! I'm gonna die, meow!"
Wrapped tightly from head to toe in woven grass and leaves, this Grimalkyne wailed heart-wrenchingly. Though it was a pitiful sight, the Grimalkynes surrounding him couldn't help but want to... laugh.
Well, it couldn't be helped. No matter how tightly he wrapped himself, his head and four paws were still sticking out. Completely bald without a single hair, his pink paws and pink head were actually quite cute.
Of course, no Grimalkyne found this "cute." Seeing their kinsman's state, they all sucked in a breath of cold air and fought back their snickers.
"Waaaah, meow! My pride and joy, my black fur, meow! The shiniest, glossiest fur in the whole tribe, meow... all gone, meow!"
"Liar! My fur is the prettiest, meow!"
"No, mine is!"
"Mine!"
Losing all sense of tension, the onlookers didn't agree with the hairless cat out of sympathy. Instead, they began brawling over who held the crown for the most beautiful coat.
"Make way, meow! Everyone move, meow! The Ape-wyvern doctor is here, meow!"
As the cats were mid-scuffle, a shout came from the edge of the crowd. They turned to see several human scholars being led in by a Grimalkyne. The "Ape-wyvern" in the middle was mumbling something.
"It's 'scholar,' not 'doctor.' There's a big difference..."
"Save me, meow! Ape-wyvern, meow!" The hairless cat lunged forward as if he'd seen a savior, grabbing the scholar's leg. "Save my fur, meow!"
By now, the Grimalkynes had a general understanding of Astera and even the Old World. They knew these "Ape-wyverns" possessed advanced technology and medicine. No matter the illness, finding them was the right move!
Especially since the Hunters were currently conducting a massive investigation into every anomaly in the Ancient Forest. A cat suddenly losing all its fur was naturally treated as a major anomaly and reported to the Hunters.
"Calm down, calm down," the human scholar said, caught between laughter and pity. "Don't worry, we'll check you thoroughly. Could everyone please step back? Find us an empty hut, and don't crowd the patient."
Cat curiosity was a powerful thing. It took quite an effort to drive the inquisitive Grimalkynes out of the hut. One scholar even had to stand up and use a piece of firewood to plug a small hole in the roof, blocking several pairs of feline eyes peeking through.
After much consoling, the hairless cat finally agreed to take off his grass-wrap, allowing the scholars to examine him.
"Can you fix it, meow?"
"Uh, don't rush... what's your name?" The scholar smiled awkwardly. Before today, he never thought he'd see a look of tearful despair on a Grimalkyne's face—especially a bald one. It was very strange.
"Heiguo, meow," the hairless cat replied dejectedly, muttering incessantly. "I haven't even found a wife yet, meow. How did I end up like this... it's all over, meow. No cat will ever love me again, meow, waaah..."
"Well, uh, let me see... Hmm... It doesn't look like you're actually hairless?"
Heiguo was lost in his own world of sorrow, but a single sentence from the scholar made him jump up in excitement.
"Really, meow?!" With his wrinkled cat face covered in snot and tears, Heiguo grabbed the scholar's collar. "There's really fur, meow?!"
"Calm down! Stay still! Hey! You're going to knock the equipment over!"
"Give him this! Quick, let him smell this!"
The scholars were forced to use "chemical" means to stabilize Heiguo—namely, shoving a bundle of Felvine under his nose.
It had to be said, this plant was a weapon of mass destruction against Beast-kin like Grimalkynes and Felynes.
After a good sniff, Heiguo slumped onto the bed with a look of pure bliss. His eyes were glazed, his tongue poked out slightly, and his body was no longer tense with shame. He just sprawled there in front of the scholars... which, in hindsight, felt a bit awkward.
"Don't worry, Heiguo. You aren't becoming a hairless Grimalkyne. You're just molting."
Snap!
With an extremely faint sound, a scholar used tweezers to carefully pick a tiny strand of fur, barely three or four millimeters long, from Heiguo's skin. He showed it to Heiguo before placing it in a clean sample bag.
"See? This is your new fur growing in. It's just very light in color, short, and thin, so you can't see it clearly yet."
"Really?!"
Heiguo sat bolt upright. The cat who looked high on Felvine a second ago was now staring intently at the bag in the scholar's hand.
"Really. You just need to wait patiently for the new coat to grow," the scholar reassured him. "We will stay here for a while to see if this shedding spreads to other Grimalkynes and to find the cause. If anything changes, come find us."
Heiguo didn't reply. He just stared deathly at that nearly invisible hair in the bag.
Until his fur grew back, he vowed not to take a single step outside!
The prideful Heiguo began living as a hermit, refusing all visitors. But what happened to him was merely a harbinger. Before long, four more Grimalkynes in the Glavenus Tribe woke up to find their beds covered in black fur.
Their hearts sank. The moment they saw the fur in their blankets, they knew they were finished.
On the other side of the village—
"Open the door! Catgrass, meow! You had the nerve to laugh at me, meow! Have the nerve to open the door, meow!"
Thud, thud, thud!
"No! Go away, meow! I won't let you see me, meow!"
Heiguo banged on the door loudly. However miserable, shy, and weak he had been a few days ago, he was now twice as arrogant. He stood with his chest puffed out, desperate to show off even the fur at the base of his tail.
The reason was simple: his fur had grown back.
And unlike his previous coat—which was solid black with a white ring around his neck and chest—Heiguo's entire body was now a beautiful pale blue-white, almost greyish. The fur around his chest and neck was slightly different, though hard to distinguish without a close look.
Furthermore, this new fur was very fine, making his skin faintly visible beneath it. On the backs of his four paws, several irregular, lightning-like pale blue patterns extended toward his limbs. These blue markings were particularly prominent at the tips of his ears and tail.
He had also grown taller. While he wasn't half-a-head taller than normal cats like the "Dragon-chosen warriors," he was noticeably a full head taller than the average Grimalkyne.
Though it was startling, the Glavenus Tribe didn't discriminate against Heiguo or isolate him. Very few were even panicked. The reason was simple: according to the old Shamans, didn't the Dragon-chosen warriors look like this when they first appeared?
Those warriors hadn't grown that tall in a single day; they had grown taller, fatter, and stronger bit by bit.
Hearing that a member of the tribe had suddenly hit a growth spurt, even Pot hurried back. He asked a flurry of curious questions, wondering if Heiguo had eaten something strange or snuck into the tunnels where the "Big Boss Glavenus" lived.
Heiguo obviously didn't have the skill to sneak past the multiple Dragon-chosen warriors guarding the tunnel entrance, and he didn't know if he'd eaten anything weird. In the end, Pot could only share his own past experiences, telling Heiguo to eat more, stay nourished, and not be afraid.
Over the next few months, more Grimalkynes in the Glavenus Tribe began to shed their fur and grow new coats like Heiguo. Some cats found these kinsmen strange and their colors eerie, but others thought the new fur looked cool and wished they could change coats too.
Among all the molted Grimalkynes, Heiguo's changes were always a step ahead. For instance, his fur color, which had been a uniform pale blue-white, began to develop distinct boundaries.
The originally black areas became a ghostly deep blue, while the originally white "collar" became a blue-grey. That was Heiguo's current appearance.
But the most striking change was his eyes. His amber pupils had turned a ghostly blue, like the crystals in the mines. They even emitted a soft blue glow, which was exceptionally noticeable in dim light.
The scenario the scholars at the Forward Research Base feared most had finally occurred. The Blue-shifting phenomenon had eventually appeared in the Beast-kin. This meant that under the right unknown conditions, the phenomenon might one day appear in humans and Wyverians as well.
After all, they too were part of nature—living beings inhabiting this continent.
Unless... they fled the New World?
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