Chapter Seventy-Seven: Evolution Island (Part Three)

The shell of the Turtle Hermit style had been destroyed.

Luo Hanya let out a strange cry, borrowing the immense force from the hunter’s slash to spin away into the distance. Even as he retreated, he waved a hand in farewell, appearing calm and unruffled, as if nothing could faze him.

The hunter, watching Luo Hanya escape, howled in frustration, urging the giant wolf to pursue swiftly in the direction where Luo Hanya had fallen.

As soon as Luo Hanya disappeared into the towering forest that reached the clouds, he stopped and began climbing the tallest of the giant trees. From afar, this tree must have been a hundred meters high, its trunk piercing the sky, a true emblem of the rainforest—a sky-reaching tree.

From the top of this tree, looking down, the hunter’s position was clear as day. Luo Hanya decided not to hurry away, instead sitting atop the tree, pondering his next move.

Player Flesh-Cutting Blade has evolved into a Third-Tier organism—an Intermediate-Tier creature has emerged! Other players, please accelerate your evolution!

“So soon?” Luo Hanya’s mood was interrupted before he could appreciate the view, disturbed by the system prompt. He didn’t panic, but said leisurely, “I wonder which method this one chose? Did they evolve by brutally slaughtering low-level creatures, or did they hunt a higher-dimensional being to complete their evolution?”

“The key is, this death game’s system prompts are meant to agitate the other players. If someone happens to be locked in combat right now, even the slightest distraction could cost them their life.” Luo Hanya fixed his gaze in a particular direction, as if having chosen his goal. “For now, I’ll evade those fellows and find a place that suits me.”

Suddenly, the sky-reaching tree shook violently, leaves falling in great swaths and the trunk emitting squeaking sounds.

“What a troublesome pair!” Luo Hanya frowned, glancing down at the giant wolf and hunter climbing the tree. He thought to himself, “If I don’t shake these two off, there’s no way I can reach that place.” Without waiting for them to climb further, he darted like a nimble monkey onto a neighboring giant tree, constantly shifting his position.

The giant wolf and hunter roared angrily in unison, chasing Luo Hanya’s shadow from tree to tree. Occasionally, weaker trees were snapped clean through by the wolf’s ferocious charge. Just as they were about to catch up, Luo Hanya twisted mid-air, leaping in the opposite direction. The wolf and hunter, unable to stop their forward momentum, crashed into the jungle ahead. The wolf’s terrifying strength became evident as it barreled through the trees, leaving splintered trunks in its wake.

“Damn it!” Luo Hanya dared not look back, but from the commotion behind, he could guess what had happened. He cursed aloud, “How did I end up provoking such monsters? That hunter and his giant wolf could easily dominate this tropical jungle together.”

Despite his complaints, Luo Hanya did not pause for a second, constantly changing direction. The wolf and hunter, due to their massive size, gradually fell behind in the dense jungle. After another twenty minutes of pursuit, the hunter emitted a few unwilling cries and tugged at the wolf, abandoning the endless chase. Luo Hanya pressed on without stopping, only halting when he encountered a new area.

Before him lay a vast tropical savanna. Lions hunted on the plain; wild elephants, buffalo, giraffes, cheetahs, and all manner of creatures frolicked and fed, making the place almost indistinguishable from a real savanna. The only flaw, perhaps, was that despite its breadth, it was still confined to a few hundred square kilometers.

It was then that Luo Hanya noticed the hidden attributes gained through his continual upgrades. Health didn’t merely reflect injury status—its increase also extended his stamina. He felt he could now run at full speed for a whole hour.

Moving stealthily through the tall grass, Luo Hanya was but a dark shadow rustling along the savanna, startling flocks of birds hiding in the grass, which took flight in a flurry of wings. At one point, he noticed a cheetah chasing after him, seemingly racing him for sport; the cheetah soon gave up, realizing it could not catch him.

Luo Hanya continued running, resting every hour to recover his strength, and after four hours finally left the savanna, drawing ever closer to his target.

During his rapid movement, player Flesh-Cutting Blade had already evolved into a Fifth-Tier creature, while another player, Flash Nightmare, had reached Fourth-Tier. Only one player and another creature remained at Second-Tier, yet to evolve once.

Leaving the savanna, the light dimmed significantly, and ahead was a forest. In the fading light, the woods appeared especially foreboding—one could only imagine how terrifying it would be after nightfall, a shadowy jungle not to be underestimated.

Upon entering the forest, Luo Hanya heard a strange sound: “Tastin’go.” As someone very familiar with monster-themed games, he immediately recognized its origin—the guttural tongue of trolls, “Tastin’go,” meaning “very good.”

“Very good?” Luo Hanya sensed trouble, turning to evade whatever it was, but he was a step too late. A giant net descended from above, wrapping him from head to toe.

“No way, I just arrived and already ran into this?” Luo Hanya looked miserable, thoroughly annoyed as he stared at the net enveloping him, not daring to move. The net was woven from vines, but these were not ordinary vines; each strand glowed faintly green, clearly not something simple. “The more I struggle, the tighter it’ll get,” Luo Hanya thought. “I just hope the troll is friendly.”

“Caught prey! Caught prey! Ha ha, dinner! Dinner!” A gigantic monster, over three meters tall and radiating a greenish glow, burst from the forest. Judging by its words, it was clearly a man-eating troll; who knew how long it had gone without tasting human flesh? Its gray-brown eyes had turned a sickly green, and drool streamed from its massive tusks. It stepped closer to Luo Hanya, as if ready to swallow him whole in the next moment.