“How many points do I have?” Lizarius asked the system.
The system replied,
**”10,410 Evolution Points, 12 Earth Tortoise Gene Points.”**
Lizarius, hovering invisibly in the air, commanded,
“Fuse Genes.”
A powerful shock suddenly ran through his body.
The system announced,
**”Fusion complete.”**
Lizarius, still invisible in the air, continued,
“Use 1,000 points to evolve each Gene.”
A powerful shock coursed through Lizarius’s body.
His body suddenly went limp.
He began falling from the sky, slowly becoming visible as he plummeted toward the ground.
**THUD!**
Lizarius struck the ground with a heavy impact.
Dust billowed outward, creating a small crater beneath him.
His fall immediately caught the attention of the crocodiles.
The three Blue Scale Crocodiles turned toward the rising dust and stared intently.
As the dust slowly cleared, Lizarius could be seen lying inside the crater.
His body trembled violently.
His teeth were clenched tightly as waves of pain coursed through him.
He tried to push himself up, but his body continued shaking.
*I knew it would hurt, but I didn’t think it would be this painful.*
*I’m barely holding on to consciousness.*
The two crocodiles that had been lying beside the water suddenly charged toward him.
Even the crocodile that had been in the water quickly began swimming in his direction.
Lizarius saw them approaching.
His body was still trembling.
His teeth remained clenched.
*I’m going to die.*
*I have to quickly run away.*
He slowly began spreading his wings.
“System, how long will it take?” he asked.
The system replied,
**”Your evolution will be completed in 10 seconds.”**
*I’m going to die before that.*
*I’m not even able to move my body.*
Lizarius’s thoughts became frantic.
The crocodiles continued getting closer.
The system announced,
**”8 seconds before complete evolution.”**
*Move…
move…
move!*
Lizarius desperately urged his body to respond.
The two crocodiles in front of him suddenly launched themselves forward, their massive jaws wide open.
**”7 seconds before complete evolution.”**
At that moment, the crocodile that had been in the water suddenly appeared beside Lizarius.
Its jaws opened wide as it lunged toward him.
His teeth were still clenched from the pain.
*Move!*
He desperately willed his body to move.
**”5 seconds before complete evolution.”**
The crocodiles’ jaws were about to clamp down on Lizarius.
But suddenly—
Lizarius swung his wings.
**WHOOSH!**
His body shot upward, narrowly escaping their jaws.
**”3 seconds before complete evolution.”**
Lizarius’s body was still trembling.
*I almost got myself killed.*
*I need to quickly get away.*
He swung his wings, attempting to fly farther from the crocodiles.
But suddenly—
A massive blue tail appeared beside him.
Lizarius was unable to react.
**BANG!**
The tail struck his body, sending him flying into the stream.
**SPLASH!**
The system announced,
**”Evolution complete.”**
The crocodiles immediately dove into the stream, chasing after Lizarius.
Inside the water, one of the crocodiles spotted a white figure that appeared to be Lizarius.
It quickly swam toward it, its jaws wide open.
As the crocodile got closer—
**CHOMP!**
It bit down.
But the white figure was nothing more than the scales Lizarius had shed.
The crocodile was still holding the shed scales in its mouth when—
Two glowing yellow eyes suddenly appeared beside it.
Lizarius was there.
Invisible.
He swung his tail.
**PIERCE!**
His golden scales pierced through the side of the crocodile.
The system announced,
**”Mutated White Scale Lizard, Rank 5 Mid Stage.”**
The crocodile coughed out blood.
The poison from Lizarius’s golden scales coursed through its body.
Moments later, it stopped moving.
Lizarius looked at the dead crocodile.
*It’s dead.*
*I guess now that I’ve evolved into Rank 5, the poison from my golden scales is stronger than before.*
*That was dangerous.*
*I knew it was going to hurt, but not that much.
I almost got myself killed.*
Lizarius released a bubble of air from his mouth.
*I can’t keep holding my breath.*
Still invisible, Lizarius began swimming upward toward the surface.
Meanwhile, the other two crocodiles were swimming near the surface.
Suddenly, the water shifted.
Lizarius shot out of the stream at the same time the crocodile’s corpse floated upward, hovering above the water.
Lizarius remained invisible.
He looked toward the other two crocodiles.
They were quickly swimming toward the floating corpse.
As they got closer, both crocodiles opened their jaws wide, preparing to bite down.
Lizarius watched them.
*What are they going to do?*
Both crocodiles bit down on the corpse.
**CRUNCH!**
Each tore off a piece of flesh.
Blood from the carcass immediately mixed with the water.
Lizarius slowly became visible.
His yellow eyes glowed.
Lightning began crackling around his body as he gathered it around his horns.
*Damn beasts!
They’re trying to take my Evolution Points!*
Lizarius launched a lightning bolt.
**BOOM!**
The lightning struck both crocodiles and the corpse simultaneously.
The crocodiles let out loud roars of pain.
Lizarius quickly flew downward, landing beside the stream.
Now, Lizarius was noticeably larger than before.
His height had reached **76 centimeters**, while his wings had grown to twice his height.
Lightning crackled around his body.
He released another lightning strike.
**BOOM!**
Lightning slammed into both crocodiles.
They roared in pain as steam rose from their bodies.