Chapter 202: Starfall - Genetic Recombination

Chapter 202: Starfall - Genetic Recombination

On the interface, several lines of text were displayed on the left, while a virtual image of the giant lizard appeared on the right.

Monster: Nile Monitor Lizard

Level: Calamity-Flood

Alien Species: Genetic Recombination, Invisibility, Mimicry, Cornified Scale Armor, High Resilience, Rapid Regeneration, Claws of Fury, Intuitive Reflexes, Keen Olfaction, Electrostatic Field, Electric Shock, Water Gathering, High-Pressure Jet, Flood Form, Vitality Torrent, Aquatic Respiration

Ji Xinghuo had never seen a monster with so many alien species before.

A total of 16 alien species! The virtual image of the lizard highlighted the location of each alien species, including its head, body, and limbs, indicating that even its entire corpse was considered a separate species.

Ji Xinghuo found it hard to believe.

After all, it was just a monster, even if it was a calamity-level creature. How could it possibly possess 16 alien species? Even legendary aliens, after using expansion artifacts, rarely had this many. An average of around 10 species would already be considered remarkable.

Moreover, none of these species had an asterisk next to them, indicating that they were all naturally awakened and could be collected or fused.

"This is ridiculous!"

As Ji Xinghuo's doubts grew, he managed to read the name of the first alien species clearly.

In that instant, his heart skipped a beat.

"Genetic Recombination?"

"This..." Ji Xinghuo thought he must be mistaken, "Is this a Starfall species?" At that moment, a flood of information flashed through his mind.

Genetic Recombination was indeed a well-known alien species, even among the top few within the category of Starfall abilities. If one could unlock its full potential, its effects would rival, or even surpass, those of the Eclipse species.

It allowed a creature to devour and plunder the genes of other organisms, combining them with its own to accelerate its evolution tenfold or even a hundredfold. The stronger the genes of its prey, the faster its own growth and evolution, potentially even leading to the birth of an entirely new species.

This species held infinite possibilities.

Its potential was limited only by the strength of the organisms it devoured. However, Genetic Recombination was not without restrictions.

Each tier only granted a single opportunity to devour and absorb.

This was similar to aliens evolving and gaining a chance to fuse with an alien species. Genetic Recombination would also count against the number of fusion opportunities. If the creature being devoured was too strong, belonging to a tier far above the user's, the attempt would most likely fail, wasting a fusion opportunity or even resulting in genetic collapse and death.

Additionally, devouring another organism would not grant the user their existing abilities. New abilities would have to be awakened based on the recombined genes.

Genetic Recombination merely created the potential for greater power.

Its risks were immense.

Generally, whether it was a Star Realm alien or a Galaxy Race, intelligent beings were rarely willing to fuse with "Genetic Recombination." After all, failing to fuse with other species usually resulted in minimal harm, but failing with Genetic Recombination could lead to sudden death.

Even if one succeeded, there was a high probability of growing strange and bizarre organs and body parts, resulting in an unnatural and distorted appearance.

One might even transform into an entirely new race.

A better option was to let battle pets fuse with Genetic Recombination, allowing them to evolve faster, as their forms as monsters were already unconventional.

Thus, Genetic Recombination had another name: "Evolution Devourer."

It was the dream of every Beast Master.

Information about Genetic Recombination could be found in the alien species databases of governments and the ADC worldwide. However, there were no public records of anyone on Earth having obtained this species.

And yet, he had now encountered it!

Ji Xinghuo suddenly realized why this lizard had so many alien species.

It was highly likely that during its mutation, it had awakened "Genetic Recombination," devoured other monsters, accelerated its evolution, and then awakened new abilities.

However, it had devoured indiscriminately, driven by instinct, resulting in a chaotic and disorganized set of abilities.

While it possessed a large number of species, it was not utilizing them to their full potential.

Aside from Genetic Recombination, the lizard also had three ultra-limit species: Invisibility, Electrostatic Field, and Flood Form, all of which were extremely rare and highly valuable.

The benefits of Invisibility were self-explanatory.

Electrostatic Field was one of the template-constituting abilities he sought for the Magnetic Maniac.

Flood Form was also extremely precious, as it allowed an alien's body to transform into a liquid state, becoming a flood that could perfectly manipulate hundreds of times its own volume of water. In a place with a large body of water like a lake, river, or sea, their combat power would increase exponentially.

Just moments ago, the group had nearly met their end on the riverbank due to this ability.

These three ultra-limit species alone were worth over 200 million.

There were also several other exceptional species, including Mimicry, High Resilience, Rapid Regeneration, and Cornified Scale Armor, each of which was valuable and highly sought after in the market.

However, all of these species combined were not worth as much as a single Genetic Recombination.

But how could he explain this to his teammates?

As Ji Xinghuo contemplated this, Jing Ji, who was standing beside him, asked, "What is it? Did you find something?" Of course, he had no idea that Ji Xinghuo had already fully grasped the lizard's alien species information.

"You guys are about to strike it rich!" Ji Xinghuo turned to his companions with a smile.

"Of course!"

Chi Zhonglin's electrical injuries had been healed, and he excitedly rubbed his hands together. "At least three ultra-limit species—Invisibility, Electrostatic Field, and another species that allows it to transform into a water flow, most likely Flood Form, which is also very valuable. Selling it to those Water Masters would easily fetch a price of over 100 million!"

"One hundred million!" Lu Yunhai exclaimed in surprise.

Yuan Chongzhen laughed and said, "That's the price, and it's even a bargain. With so many Water Masters around the world, who knows how many people would be vying for it."

The Great Kun people's racial talent was "Water Gathering," and as bounty hunters relentlessly hunted them down, this species had become quite affordable, costing only a few tens of thousands of Asian dollars. This was just a fraction of the price of other exceptional species, so many aliens chose the "Water Master" template.

Jing Ji raised his curved blade, ready to begin collecting the exotic species.

The others also took out their backup knives and began to cut into the lizard's body, only to discover that its skin and flesh were incredibly tough. Their regular knives struggled to make a dent, and it was arduous work.

Lu Yunhai exerted all his strength, managing to create a cut only a dozen or so centimeters long. He stood there, dumbfounded.

Only then did he realize how terrifying the giant lizard was!

"We'll take it from here," said Chi Zhonglin.

"Your turn," said Ji Xinghuo, tossing Lei Chi to Zhuoligetu. He then used his magic sound, and Chi Zhonglin used the tip of the Tian Nu Bixue spear as a knife, cutting with great speed.

"Listen to me while you work," Ji Xinghuo instructed his teammates, worried that they might damage some of the exotic species. He flipped over the lizard's severed head and said, "Cut in from here." Of its 16 exotic species, more than half were located in its head.

Under Ji Xinghuo's direction, the team made precise cuts, extracting one exotic species after another, each one intact and without causing excessive damage to the corpse.

A waterproof cloth had been spread out on the ground.

As the team gazed at the over a dozen exotic species laid out on the cloth, they sensed something amiss.

"Here's another one, probably Cornified Scale Armor, an exceptional species," said Jing Ji as he cut a piece of pale yellow scaled skin from the lizard's abdomen. He could feel its abundant vitality as he placed it on the ground next to the other bloody organs and parts, each one a distinct exotic species, including the three ultra-limit species. They had collected them all.

"Fifteen exotic species!" Yuan Chongzhen counted, his eyes filled with disbelief.

He had been hunting monsters and enemies in the Star Realm for almost two decades, and he had never come across a monster that yielded so many exotic species. It defied all logic.

Aside from Ji Xinghuo, the entire team exchanged bewildered glances.

Zhuoligetu scratched his head. "How did we even kill it? It's unbelievable."

Chi Zhonglin stroked his chin. "It has a lot of exotic species, but they don't seem that strong."

"Yes," Jing Ji nodded in agreement.

"Are there any more exotic species?" Lu Yunhai couldn't help but look at Ji Xinghuo, who had displayed sharp eyes during the collection process, always accurately locating the exotic species within the lizard's body.

However, they noticed that Ji Xinghuo was looking up at the sky.

But there was nothing in the sky.

"What are you looking at?" Chi Zhonglin asked curiously.

Ji Xinghuo retracted his gaze.

After collecting the fifteenth exotic species, his first reaction was to look up at the sky.

There were no celestial phenomena!

Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief. Starfall and higher-level exotic species would only trigger celestial phenomena upon their birth in the Star Realm, but there would be no such signs on Earth or any other planet.

He looked at his teammates and said softly, "There's one more exotic species."

"Where?" asked Jing Ji.

Jing Ji raised his curved blade, ready to make another cut, when Ji Xinghuo patted the giant lizard's massive corpse and said, "It's this. The entire corpse of the lizard is an exotic species. You just need to eat it to fuse with it."

As Ji Xinghuo's hand touched the lizard's corpse, a interface popped up in his vision.

[Exotic Species: Genetic Recombination]



[Grade: Starfall]



[Fusion Success Rate: 71%, 98%]



[Upgradeable: No]



This was the third exotic species he had encountered that couldn't be upgraded—the first being Bloody Frenzy and the second being a regular Ether Sensitivity.

There were two fusion success rates listed. The first was his own, and the second belonged to Qinghong.

71% was not a high chance; in fact, it was quite low.

More importantly, the fusion method for Genetic Recombination was ingestion, and the entire body had to be consumed. The lizard's corpse weighed four tons, and even if he wanted to fuse with it, he couldn't possibly eat it all. Even if he ate nonstop, frantically digesting day and night, the corpse would rot long before he finished.

And the probability of failure was immense.

On the other hand, Qinghong's fusion success rate was astonishingly high at 98%, surpassing that of any previous exotic species.

This was evidently due to Qinghong's ability to enlarge and swallow the giant lizard whole, and the fact that their forms were relatively similar, both being amphibious reptilian species.

"The lizard's corpse is an exotic species?"

Everyone's eyes widened in surprise. They had never heard of such a thing.

"Are you serious? You're not pulling my leg, are you, Xinghuo?" Chi Zhonglin exclaimed in shock.

"What exotic species is it?" asked Jing Ji.

Although the exotic species databases of various countries recorded Genetic Recombination and provided detailed information, they omitted a crucial detail: the fusion method for Genetic Recombination required consuming the entire body of the target organism. As a result, most people wouldn't think that the corpse itself was an exotic species.

Ji Xinghuo didn't answer right away. Instead, he said what he had planned to say: "This is an extremely valuable exotic species, but none of us can fuse with it. We must consume the entire lizard's corpse to have a chance at fusion."

"Eat it?" Chi Zhonglin was left speechless.

The team stared at the massive creature before them, and Yuan Chongzhen swallowed audibly. "How long would it take to eat all of this?"

Even if he transformed into the largest form of the Black Iron Giant Ape, it would take him two months to finish.

Jing Ji circled the lizard's corpse, examining it closely.

But he couldn't discern anything unusual.

"Stop keeping us in suspense. Just tell us what exotic species it is," Jing Ji urged.

"I can't disclose the specific exotic species, but I want this one," Ji Xinghuo said sincerely. "If you're willing to let me have it, I'll transfer one hundred million Asian dollars to each of you when we get back. And I promise that within five years, I'll give each of you another ultra-limit species as compensation."

The next chapter will be updated at 00:02.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end