Volume 1, Chapter 59: I Just Have One Tiny Request

Zhang Wei looked at the pangolin in front of him, which was about six meters long, with great astonishment in his heart.

Originally, Zhang Wei thought the pangolin was just a relatively powerful mutant whose combat power should be similar to the steel snake Han Xiao had transformed into.

However, what Zhang Wei did not expect was that this pangolin was actually on the verge of evolving to the king tier.

As for how he could tell, it was entirely based on experience, because a flail-like object had evolved at the tip of this pangolin's tail.

Not all king-tier mechanical creatures could evolve other objects onto their original bodies, but as long as something like that evolved, it was unquestionably at the king tier.

Take the king-tier mechanical mouse, for instance; apart from being larger, nothing else had evolved on its exterior.

"Big Brother, did you notice?" The pangolin did not dare to act presumptuously. Even if it advanced to the king tier, it did not believe it would be a match for Zhang Wei.

"Just how many mechanical creatures have you eaten, or rather, how many humans have you eaten?" Zhang Wei's voice turned exceptionally icy.

"Big Brother, you've misunderstood. I haven't eaten any humans, truly." The pangolin spoke up immediately; it certainly did not want Zhang Wei to harbor any misunderstandings.

If this led to some kind of righteous elimination of demons, wouldn't its life be over?

"You haven't eaten humans?" Zhang Wei expressed his disbelief.

It was true that mechanical creatures could evolve by devouring metal, but the speed of evolution would not be that fast, because the digestive capacity of mechanical creatures was limited.

Only by devouring both humans and their mechas entirely could mechanical creatures evolve rapidly; humans acted like a catalyst for the evolution of mechanical creatures.

"Really, Big Brother, I'm not lying to you. I evolved to this point by eating ants."

"Ants? Do you really take me for a fool who knows nothing?"

Zhang Wei silently drew his thermal greatsword; he was already prepared to hack this pangolin to death.

In the early days of the apocalypse, insect-type creatures simply would not evolve into mechanical creatures. Insect-type mechanical creatures only appeared in the third year of the apocalypse.

And the insect-type mechanical creatures of that era would become the primary enemy of all living beings.

"Really, really. There is a source crystal underground that I discovered. That source crystal can turn ants into mechanical creatures, and I evolved entirely by eating ants."

The pangolin had originally intended to conceal the source crystal it had found.

But now it seemed that hiding it was no longer possible. If it continued to conceal it, it would end up hacked to death.

As for resisting or fleeing, the pangolin had never even entertained the thought.

"A source crystal? Mechanized ants? Take me to see it."

Zhang Wei didn't believe a single word the pangolin said unless he saw it with his own eyes.

"Alright, I'll help Big Brother dig a tunnel." The pangolin didn't hesitate and agreed immediately.

Following that, the pangolin went to work, digging with such smoothness that Zhang Wei couldn't help but sigh, realizing that professional tasks truly had to be left to professionals.

If he possessed this kind of ability, he wouldn't have been trapped in the underwater cavern for so long.

He could have broken free in minutes.

Sure enough, it didn't take long before the pangolin excavated a massive cavern large enough for Zhang Wei to enter.

The excavated soil was piled into a small mountain on the ground.

Pity the people who had turned into ice sculptures; they were buried before the ice could even melt.

Moving forward along the tunnel, which was about fifty meters long, Zhang Wei descended to a depth of twenty meters underground once again.

Lin Qianying was left outside the cavern by Zhang Wei. If buried alive at this depth, while Zhang Wei could dig his way out, Lin Qianying lacked the ability to escape.

Zhang Wei was afraid the pangolin might harbor some hidden schemes.

"Big Brother, look, it's right here." The pangolin pointed at a multicolored source crystal as if presenting a rare treasure.

"Another legendary-tier? This..." Zhang Wei's head felt a bit dizzy.

Since when had legendary-tier source crystals become as common as cabbages?

He had encountered two of them in a single day.

In his past life, people fought bloody battles just to get an epic-tier one, and yet this...

"How do the ants turn into mechanical creatures?" Zhang Wei asked after calming himself down slightly.

"Right here. These little things transform into mechanical creatures in half an hour." The pangolin stared at a pit it had deliberately dug not far from the legendary source crystal.

Zhang Wei stared into the pit and discovered that the ants inside this pit, which was over a meter deep, indeed showed signs of mechanization, with individual ants already reaching about twenty centimeters in size.

If fully mechanized, these ants should reach a length of around thirty centimeters.

The crucial point was the sheer abundance; densely packed ants were piled several layers deep, almost filling the pit to the brim.

"How did you discover this method?" Zhang Wei was genuinely curious.

If humans had devised this kind of farming model, Zhang Wei wouldn't have been surprised in the least.

But for this to be figured out by a pangolin was rather miraculous.

Although mutant mechanical creatures were not low in intelligence, it would normally take them several years to conceive of such a farming method.

"I didn't think of it myself either. A few days ago, I just felt something attracting me, so I dug over to take a look. By the time I got here, I already found that there were mechanized ants here."

"And then..."

The rest went without saying; the pangolin ate the ants and left the source crystal untouched.

The endlessly produced mechanized ants became nourishment for the pangolin's evolution.

Just a few days' time was all it took. If given a bit more time, the pangolin would definitely have evolved into a behemoth.

Just like that crab.

One could say that every legendary-tier source crystal could shape a king-tier mechanical creature, and if used well, could even nurture a behemoth.

"Wait, you mean this source crystal can attract you?" Zhang Wei suddenly seized upon the key point in the pangolin's words.

"Yes." The pangolin nodded at Zhang Wei.

"A treasure-seeking mouse?" Zhang Wei exclaimed in surprise.

Wasn't this simply a treasure-seeking mouse equipped with a treasure-hunting function?

If he brought a fellow like this to roam the wilderness, paired with a detection core, what kind of good stuff could possibly escape his grasp?

"Does only a legendary-tier source crystal have an attractive pull on you?"

"Purple-glowing ones work too; I've eaten several of those." The pangolin spoke the honest truth without any hidden motives.

"Why don't you follow me from now on? How about it?" Zhang Wei put forward his proposal.

No matter what method it took, he was determined to poach this pangolin.

One had to know that initial source crystals didn't just descend once; from then on, initial source crystals would fall from the sky every three months without interruption.

Zhang Wei could only vaguely remember where certain famous individuals obtained powerful source crystals; as for the many other epic and legendary source crystals, even if people obtained them, they certainly wouldn't broadcast it.

However, if he possessed this pangolin, whenever the initial source crystals descended, he would only need to take it out for a stroll to reap a full harvest.

He wouldn't need to waste any brain cells trying to recall those vague memories from his past life.

"Ah? This..." The pangolin was tempted.

Following someone like this meant it wouldn't have to fear encountering danger, providing an overwhelming sense of security.

However, the pangolin also knew that Zhang Wei had a request of it, and it couldn't make itself look too cheap, right?

It began to formulate conditions in its mind that Zhang Wei would accept.

"Are you unwilling?" Zhang Wei asked rhetorically.

"No, no, it's just that I have one small request." The pangolin didn't dare to be too arrogant, which was also a result of its inherent timid personality.

Otherwise, as a being on the verge of advancing to the king tier, how could it not dare to go head-to-head with Han Xiao?