Chapter 81

At the camp on the other side, Kroya crawled out of his tent and came face-to-face with his subordinate’s gaze. He felt not the slightest discomfort.

The subordinate asked him, “Chairman, how did Saibansi agree to let him tag along with you?”

“That beast shot himself in the foot. He just overdid the showing off back there.”

Kroya didn’t spell it out, but his subordinate could guess the truth well enough.

Saibansi and Kroya were half-brothers, sharing the same father but different mothers. While Saibansi had been treated like a king since childhood, Kroya had scarcely ever received a kind look from the family.

Saibansi was fiercely competitive and resented Kroya’s mother for tearing his own family apart. He saw Kroya as a thorn in his side.

That guy wouldn’t tolerate even the smallest slight in front of the Chairman.

“Has the stuff that kid Lai An left behind been repaired? Was there anything useful?”

“Soi repaired it. But a lot of data was lost, so there wasn’t much useful information.”

The subordinate told him about the King Snake’s bite. Only then did Kroya’s expression slowly turn grave. “What was Lai An doing to run into a Pollution Source?”

They hadn’t even entered the deeper levels of the Sinkhole yet. Had the Pollution Source somehow made its way up to the middle or shallow layers?

That didn’t make sense either. Something that dangerous would have stirred up the military by now—there wasn’t a whisper from their side.

“Any other possibilities? Like… maybe he accidentally got too close to a Pollution Source and picked up its scent.”

The King Snake had an extraordinarily keen sense of smell. It could track a Pollution Source from a hundred miles away and find its way here.

He asked again, “Boss, are you really planning to head back? We’re so close to a Pollution Source this time. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance.”

“I know that full well. But if we go any deeper, we’ll probably run into…”

Kroya trailed off. It wasn’t just him—all the poachers treated that Marshal’s name like a curse. “Better to cut our losses now. It’s not like we can’t come back down here later.”

His reason sounded noble enough, and the subordinate let it slide without comment.

Luo Li still hadn’t returned, which struck Kroya as odd.

He headed toward the great lake and ran into Soi along the way.

“What’s wrong?”

“Let’s go check on Luo Li.”

Soi glanced back. “I just saw him. Want me to call him over for you?”

Kroya hesitated for a moment. “Yeah, that works.”

He trusted Soi more than he could explain.

Ever since they’d met, he’d never seen Soi display any normal human emotions. The man was burdened with a litany of crimes and seemed interested in nothing but the thrill of danger.

No parents, no desires.

And Soi was indeed that sort of person.

He knew it best himself: he was a cold-blooded creature, a venomous scorpion.

He had no needs in that regard, so naturally, he harbored no wicked thoughts toward Luo Li.

When they reached the lakeshore, Soi caught a whiff of something strange.

It was the secretion of a higher-class Dangerous Species, emanating from the shallow waters right by the bank—and it was intensely strong.

By the time he reached the water’s edge, the massive snake tail thrashing wildly on the shore confirmed his suspicions.

The jet-black tail was covered in mottled scales. It was coiled around the boy’s legs, trying to drag him back into the water.

The boy, pale all over, lay prone on the shore. His damp hair hung down as he clutched a shirt to cover himself. But the snake wouldn’t let go. It clung stubbornly to his heels, its tail wedged between his thighs.

Soi narrowed his eyes.

This was…

The motions of mating.

The male King Snake appeared fully mature, enormous in size, with noble tail scales—likely a Boss Leader in his clan.

Yet this frantic method of seizing a mate seemed far too hasty for one of his stature.

It was as if he’d cast all caution aside in his desperation to copulate.

In his agitation, he marked the boy’s body with translucent snake venom, soaking the shirt and letting it drip down his snow-white skin.

Luo Li trembled all over. He stared in panic at the thing in the water, his face ashen.

Only the snake’s tail was visible—no sign of its full form.

And now, its scent covered him completely.

On his cheeks, between his fingers—it was all the smell of a King Snake marking its mate.

He couldn’t go into the water.

If he touched that lake water again… that snake would surely carry him off!

But…

Boom!

The snake tail slammed down hard, as if enraged by something, lunging toward the figure on the shore.

Soi frowned and drew the dagger from his waist, stabbing at the snake tail.

A King Snake in the throes of courtship would never tolerate any interruption—let alone from a hostile adult male.

He struck to kill. The scales on his tail raked a chunk of flesh from Soi’s arm.

Only then did Luo Li realize that everything the snake had done to him before… had just been playing around.

This was the true power of a Dangerous Species from the depths of the Sinkhole.

But Soi didn’t hesitate for an instant. With a swift raise and fall of his blade, he lopped off a good section of the tail.

Without minding the bone-deep gash on his arm, he pulled out a small explosive and tossed it into the lake.

With a deafening roar, the water erupted in a massive plume. Then, slowly, the surface grew calm once more.

The snake was gone.

Luo Li lay there panting in huge gasps, still shaken by what had just happened.

Before he could fully recover, Soi scooped him up with one arm.

The boy curled into the crook of his elbow, his body covered in water stains.

His lashes were damp with clinging droplets, fanned out in damp clusters. His ruby lips parted slightly, giving him the look of someone who had narrowly escaped disaster.

The sticky snake venom clung to his tender skin. Luo Li wrinkled his pink nose, desperate to clean it off.

Lowering his head, he caught sight of the bloody gash on Soi’s arm and felt a pang of guilt.

“You… are you okay?”

Soi held him without effort. “Don’t worry, dear. I have no sense of pain.”

No sense of pain…?

Luo Li didn’t quite believe him. He wriggled a bit, trying to leap down from his arms.

“Don’t move. That snake venom on you needs to be washed off. Shall I take you into the lake?”

Luo Li recoiled at the idea of that lake.

“It’s fine. With his tail cut off, he won’t be back for a while.”

Soi did his best to soothe him and gradually led him to the water’s edge.

He scooped up some water and rinsed away the sticky Dangerous Species secretions from his body.

Luo Li leaned against his shoulder, stealing fearful glances at the wound still oozing blood.

“You… you should take care of your own injury first.”

Soi loosened his hold a little. “Don’t you have a wound too?”

Luo Li didn’t understand.

The man quirked his lips in a half-smile. “Your little butt’s all swollen, dear.”

Luo Li’s cheeks flushed crimson. He stammered, unable to explain himself.

“Alright, alright, I get it.”

Soi handed him his clothes. “Put these on. Let’s head back.”

The boy took the clothes awkwardly and walked off.

Soi pulled out some emergency wound salve, tended to his injury, and gave himself a quick injection of first aid.

He truly had no sense of pain.

He was a man with absolutely no desires, and his heart remained utterly calm.

He glanced toward Luo Li. The boy had changed into the fresh clothes, his damp hair drying in the wind atop his fluffy head—a few strands sticking up wildly. His little face was clean and fair.

He even lowered his head to sniff at his arm, satisfied that the pungent smell was gone, and let out a relieved breath.

But what he couldn’t smell, the genetically modified Soi could.

And the male King Snake certainly could.

There was every chance that snake would come chasing after him again.

Soi extended a hand toward Luo Li.

The boy hesitated for a second before taking it.

He walked obediently at Soi’s side, taking small, quick steps to match his pace. Luo Li’s hand was soft and warm in his large palm, fitting perfectly.

For some reason, an unfamiliar emotion welled up in Soi’s chest.

He glanced sideways, and Luo Li’s bright, sparkling almond eyes lifted to meet his. In that instant, the boy blushed to his ear roots and turned his head away.

…So cute.

The brief moment of distraction was quickly shattered.

Kroya came hurrying from the direction of the camp, clutching a gun.

When he saw Luo Li, his face drained of color. “Are you alright?”

“I-I’m fine.”

The boy tugged at his shirt hem. “I already washed it all off.”

Washed off what?

He reeked of that Dangerous Species scent from head to toe.

His own faint, sweet fragrance was almost undetectable.

“To think there are King Snakes lurking in this lake.”

King Snakes were unusually active beneath the Sinkhole, which likely meant a Pollution Source was nearby.

Either way, the area was growing dangerously unsafe.

Kroya’s face turned ashen as he scooped Luo Li into his arms. “We need to get out of here right now.”

Luo Li had no idea what he was planning and could only let himself be carried into the tent.

Soi watched from a distance as a faint light flickered to life inside their tent.

He figured whatever came next had nothing to do with him and turned to leave. But then he noticed a rustling sound nearby.

From out of the lake waters, a naked figure with a male upper body slowly emerged.

Blood-red hair draped down his back, sodden strands completely shrouding his face like some drowned ghost.

Lake water traced the contours of his waist and abdominal muscles as it slid downward. That black-and-red snake tail, covered in scales and severed at the end, thrashed restlessly in the water.

Judging by the tail, this was a King Snake in the prime of his life, young and vigorous.

For a King Snake, severing the tail was a profound humiliation. Under normal circumstances, they would immediately return to the Nest to recuperate after such an injury.

But this King Snake did not.

His snake pupils, half-hidden beneath his red hair, stared fixedly in the direction of the tent. His cold, hard scales rippled with tension, and his chest heaved relentlessly.

He was still watching Luo Li.

Soi turned without a word, raising his gun and aiming it squarely at the King Snake’s head.

The King Snake’s gaze shifted, locking onto the gun barrel.

That moment stretched out interminably, yet he did not move a muscle. There was no sign that he intended to flee.

His eyes drifted back to the tent, fixating on the lantern’s glow. A turbulent anxiety churned within him, roiling even the surface of the lake.

It was then that Soi heard a soft whimper.

It had to be Kroya tending to Luo Li’s wounds—the boy’s skin, lashed raw by the tail, flushed bright red at the slightest touch. Even the gentlest contact drew a plaintive whimper from him, tears welling up in his eyes.

The King Snake caught the sound from inside the tent. In his growing impatience, he began edging toward the lakeshore.

“Stop right there.”

Soi’s finger tightened on the trigger. “Or I’ll kill you.”

Yet the specter of death, so close at hand, failed to cow him.

His body surged fully from the lake water, his muscular abdomen flowing seamlessly into the black-red scales below. His serpentine tail gleamed under the moonlight.

The organ swollen with the secretions of a Dangerous Species throbbed with bulging veins, primed and ready.

Viscous snake venom, the mere sight of which struck terror into hearts, dripped onto the shore, splattering in dark spots.

…This King Snake had fully entered his breeding phase.