Once the flames finally died out and the cave had cooled for most of a day, Logan stepped back inside.
This time, the nauseating stench had completely vanished. This place would serve as his lair for a long time to come. Though the stone walls were covered in blackened scorch marks and the floor was blanketed in gray-white ash, uncontrollable joy still welled up in his heart.
As an animal, he had no luggage to move—just casually spreading the Tobi-Kadachi fur in a corner counted as officially moving in.
After that, the Anjanath never reappeared. Logan once tracked the traces it left behind, but only found a collapsed stone wall; the trail ended there. It seemed the Anjanath had undertaken a long-distance underground journey.
Days passed just like that. As an animal, most of life was actually quite monotonous—eating and sleeping occupied nearly all of it—to the point that Logan almost lost track of time.
He wasn't sure how long it had been. A month? Two months? Three? It didn't matter anyway. The weather was gradually cooling, announcing summer's departure. He wondered if a harsh winter would come here.
That probably wasn't likely. Just looking at the broad leaves on the surrounding trees told him they weren't species that grew in severely cold regions. Even if there was a winter, the lowest temperature likely wouldn't drop below –5°C, and it might not even freeze.
Still, to be safe, while investing evolution points into improving basic physical attributes, extending lifespan, and evolving his brain, he also took time to further evolve his fat reserves in case food became scarce.
Now, within those gel-like nutrient polymers appeared a semi-solid structure resembling a non-Newtonian fluid, with numerous nerve bundles extending through it, tightly connected to his many electricity-generating organs.
This fat layer not only stored richer nutrients and provided better cushioning, but also functioned like individual batteries—directly converting internal nutrients into electrical energy.
During this period, his body length continued growing, reaching 12 meters—officially crossing the threshold into large monster territory.
The spider silk proteins in his scales began extending inward, filling the gaps in his muscles. They formed vast intersecting nets over his organs and even penetrated his bones.
Muscle density increased again, fully transforming into an ant-like prime mover structure—each like a miniature power plant capable of explosive force.
To support his increasingly heavy body, large amounts of evolution points also drove bone evolution. Besides the spider silk proteins, small amounts of metallic substances appeared on the surface of his pure white bones.
These metals, through the bone marrow's hematopoietic function, began spreading throughout his body. This caused countless microscopic metal dust particles to appear in his muscle cells' cytoplasm. The dust was mildly magnetic; under electrical stimulation, it would expand, contract, and link together, adhering to the muscles and making his already immense strength even more astonishing.
The emergence of these metals made Logan feel like he was developing in a mechanical direction—would he one day evolve into a silicon-based lifeform?
But then again, biological bodies naturally contained plenty of metals. Not to mention trace elements like iron and zinc, even calcium—the main component of bones—was technically a metal. His skeleton was simply shifting from a single metal to a more complex, higher-performance alloy.
Whatever. None of that mattered. He was still alive, eating well, sleeping soundly, and growing steadily stronger—what was there to worry about?
...
During these days, Logan had truly lain flat and relaxed. After all, his "pup" had finally grown up—now reaching 7 meters, solidly qualifying as a small-to-medium monster.
As Zhu Peiniang grew larger, the charge shells on her body gradually matured. With this advantage plus her inherently powerful physique, she faced little danger unless encountering apex predators.
Naturally, the burden of hunting fell on her. Though her success rate wasn't high, Logan's highly evolved digestive system allowed him to extract more nutrients from limited food—he ate little but wasted even less, so going hungry wasn't an issue even with smaller portions.
If things got really bad, he could always "eat dirt"! His bodily evolution had changed his diet; occasionally he swallowed minerals to absorb inorganic substances.
Just as Logan was leisurely enjoying life, far away at the Starlight Base, a heated discussion revolving around him was in full swing.
...
"I'm absolutely certain I didn't see wrong—this is an unprecedented major discovery. It represents the possibility of cross-species reproduction, a true miracle of nature."
A Scholar Team member wearing wind goggles excitedly spread a sheet of brown wyvern hide paper on the wooden table. Drawn in charcoal with meticulous detail was a massive beast: layered scales, protruding spines, sharp wrist blades on the forelimbs, and flowing mane on the back—every feature closely depicted. It was unmistakably Logan.
"Impossible!" A hunter sitting nearby laughed heartily, waving his hands repeatedly. "Some white creature born from a Zinogre and a Nargacuga? How could that happen? One's a Fanged Wyvern, the other a Flying Wyvern—different classifications entirely. They can't possibly hybridize."
"Exactly! We might as well believe a Rathian and a Yian Garuga produced a Hypnocatrice."
Seeing none of his companions believed him, the Scholar Team member's face flushed red. He repeatedly insisted he wasn't lying and couldn't have misidentified it.
But his reaction only made the others laugh harder. A burly blond man lifted his beer mug, chugged a big gulp, then firmly patted the scholar's shoulder.
"Then congratulations are in order. If it's real, it'd be the greatest discovery in nearly a century—definitely one for the history books."
Yet from his joking expression, it was clear he didn't believe it either. Only the young woman nearby, dressed in green sleeveless leather armor, showed a thoughtful look.
A powerful crossbow made from Diablos horns was strapped to her back, and a brown satchel hung at her waist. She now unfastened the satchel and pulled out a rolled piece of hide.
"I made some new findings on my recent outing. They might be related to the creature you mentioned."
She unrolled the hide on the table. Inside were three feather-light scales. Two were damaged beyond recognition, but one remained intact, gleaming with an unusual beauty under the light.
"I found these at the Popo's original habitat. There were also remnants of a devoured Tobi-Kadachi nearby. Besides this, I found some damaged white and blue scales—perhaps connected to the creature you described."
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