Chapter Sixty-Four: The Birth of Royalty (II)

They roared incessantly, their cries unnaturally wretched and hoarse, faces twisted in agony. The next moment, as their shrill howls echoed, the pale spore creatures’ already prominent backs began to swell violently, expanding at a speed visible to the naked eye. Within mere seconds, their size multiplied several times, and the transformation showed no sign of stopping.

A sudden series of sounds, reminiscent of balloons bursting, shattered the stillness of the cold air. With it came a sickening stench, rank and overpowering—the source was the pale spore creatures. The tumors on their backs, after swelling to a certain point, burst open. Yet the wounds left behind were not gory or bleeding; instead, they split cleanly in two, much like the grotesque mandibles of a facehugger from a science fiction film.

“The evolution of life is about to begin; the secondary transformation of their genes will shine within the species,” Fang Zhuowei mused, shifting his gaze to the pale spore creatures, watching them with keen interest. Although they appeared wretched, as their creator, Fang Zhuowei was intimately aware of their condition. At this moment, their bodies were undergoing the first stage of genetic recombination and evolution—a process fraught with unpredictability and danger, but undeniably, the change was a self-driven adaptation to their environment.

In general, evolution signifies a kind of transcendence for life. These pale spore creatures were the elite of their kind, rare fortunate ones. During their invasion of the ancient ape tribe, they consumed the most apes, absorbed the greatest amount of flesh, and achieved the highest genetic compatibility. Now, the accumulation of quantity was giving rise to a qualitative transformation.

The process of evolution exists throughout every species, from birth to death, ceaselessly.

“I’m curious how far these little ones can evolve!” Fang Zhuowei folded his arms, his gaze fixed on the first pale spore creatures to embark on their evolutionary journey. Each time he observed the miniature world he had created, he felt as if he were watching a film. Witnessing these scenes of secondary evolutionary transformation was, without doubt, his greatest delight.

Deep within the layered forest, the serrated flesh strips torn open on the backs of the pale spore creatures began to change again. These jagged strips split into countless thin tendrils, resembling crimson veins, waving and writhing in the cold wind, menacing and uncanny. Yet the transformation continued unabated.

Almost simultaneously, these flesh tendrils grew rapidly before his eyes, spreading and intertwining, weaving together densely, forming a membrane reminiscent of a bat’s wing. These flesh wings were enormous, three times the size of their bodies, though far from graceful. On the edges, clusters of glandular growths dotted the membrane, resembling ragged lymph nodes on a pig, grotesque and ugly.

Yet this ugliness did not diminish their terrifying abilities. With these massive, tumorous wings, the royal pale spore creatures gained the power of brief flight. Though they still crawled on all fours, their speed was greatly enhanced, surpassing that of ordinary spore creatures by twice as much. Their strength had also grown formidable; they could easily toss aside their kin, possessing brute force sufficient to crush any ordinary member of their species.

Strictly speaking, the stage these pale spore creatures had reached echoed the secondary bloodline evolution of the Ancient Ones—a further elevation of their entire life form. However, if compared directly, the secondary evolution of these pale spore creatures was far inferior to the burning of the divine blood of the Ancient Ones. The latter demanded far more from the body, but once overcome, the resulting transformation was profound, not only strengthening the flesh but also greatly extending lifespan.

Still, even if it could not match the divine blood transformation, the improvement brought by evolution was nonetheless formidable. After their secondary evolution, these spore creatures had not only grown vastly more powerful in combat, but more importantly, their life form had ascended to a new level—their status and intelligence were both elevated.

“Royalty?” Fang Zhuowei’s gaze swept over the newly evolved pale spore creatures, as information about them appeared in his mind. Their forms had changed drastically, yet they remained of the same unknown spore species. The difference was that now, their descriptions carried the designation of ‘royal.’

Royalty—a term reserved for lifeforms that have reached a certain stage. Any species might produce royalty, but the difficulty and complexity of doing so varies according to numerous factors. For now, it seemed that non-intelligent or low-intelligence lifeforms were most likely to produce royalty, while the more intelligent a species, the harder it was.

Once a royal appears, it signifies the emergence of a leadership caste, akin to humanity’s ruling class. Royalty are born superior; they command and dominate their kin, exerting an overwhelming bloodline pressure on ordinary members. Crucially, this elevated bloodline may be passed down, with a chance to manifest in their offspring.

In simpler terms, among their progeny, there is a probability that some will be born with royal blood and genes. Provided they mature normally, these descendants will gradually inherit all the traits of royalty.

“To think there’s even a female royal!” Fang Zhuowei looked down, his eyes glinting, considering new possibilities. Among the secondary-evolved spore creatures, one was largest of all—a female. Though she too had undergone secondary evolution, she was a third larger than the others, and on her fanged abdomen, there grew a pouch resembling that of a kangaroo.

This was a female pale spore creature—the only one among the secondary-evolved to be female.

“When a royal spore creature mates with an ordinary one, there’s a ten percent chance their offspring will inherit royal blood. But what if both parents are royalty?” Fang Zhuowei stroked his chin. Without doubt, the probability would increase dramatically; even a mere ten percent rise could profoundly impact the future of the entire species.