"Where is my metal exoskeleton?" Jia Yan glanced around the cave with a hint of astonishment.
The cave, only five meters deep and not exceeding one and a half meters in height and width, allowed a clear view of its entire interior at a glance.
However, there was no trace of the metal exoskeleton anywhere.
The metal exoskeleton had completely disappeared!
Doubt and suspicion filled Jia Yan's mind.
"What happened? At that time, I was in such pain, my memories are a bit fuzzy. Did I take it off and throw it down the cliff, or..."
He tried to recall.
During the crisis caused by the mutation, due to the adhesive nature of the clot, Jia Yan couldn't remove the metal exoskeleton.
So much so that he had no choice but to voluntarily ingest the black liquid from the glass bottle!
His idea was understandable. The super-mutagenic reaction caused by the black liquid might have been helpful, or even capable of bursting the entire metal exoskeleton, to someone about to die a miserable death.
And now, he was alive, with his body growing to a length of one meter, and his wingspan reaching about three meters, like a colossal creature!
If the metal exoskeleton were still there, it would have surely strangled him long ago.
But now he was not dead, and the metal exoskeleton was nowhere to be found in the cave!
"It's impossible. Such a large piece of metal couldn't have just disappeared into thin air... There's only one explanation."
Jia Yan couldn't believe it as he looked at the sharp and glossy protrusions of his body.
"Did I actually absorb the metal exoskeleton into my body? This... this!"
Jia Yan muttered to himself for a long time, standing in the cave, his mind in turmoil, without any movement for a while.
In fact, many things could be understood upon closer examination.
Jia Yan thought that since his first mutation, his body had inexplicably increased in size. However, according to physics, mass cannot be generated out of thin air!
Since Jia Yan's body had grown several times, there must have been other objects providing the material source for it.
He thought about it carefully and finally shook his head, recalling some details.
The first mutation occurred in the train carriage. He remembered that when the mutation was completed, the train's metal floor seemed to have melted by something, and even the trash can had some deformation!
At the time, he thought it was originally like that.
The second time was in the aluminum can.
After a successful mutation, the aluminum can twisted as a whole, even changing its shape into a spiral. Although there were no visible gaps, there were obvious signs of corrosion...
As for consuming the mysterious black liquid several times, because there were too many rocks on the ground, he couldn't tell if some were missing!
However, now that his mutation had reached a length of one meter, even if he hadn't paid attention, he could easily see the characteristics of swallowing and corroding!
And this time it was too thorough, directly devouring the entire metal exoskeleton!
"For so long, I didn't notice this! Isn't the law of conservation of energy the truth of the universe? I actually thought that the enlarged body from the mutation was generated out of thin air, which was completely wrong!"
Jia Yan finally realized as he felt his metallic body.
"Since the corrosive properties have given me a mutant body, then the substance causing the corrosive effect must be that kind of clot. I always thought they were just tissues forming clots, but I didn't expect that before forming clots, they also play the role of corroding other substances, and then pulling them into the body as mutant raw materials!"
Jia Yan felt that there were still some things he couldn't understand.
For example, if the clot only devoured stones, metals, and the like, how could it enlarge his flesh and blood body? Moreover, the newly added flesh and blood did not seem to be composed of stones or metals. There must be some critical points in between.
But Jia Yan didn't need to understand these things. After all, he was not a scientist. He only needed to know why he mutated and roughly what the principle of mutation was, which was enough!
Jia Yan looked at his body again. The surface of his dark body still had thick clots of defense. These clots were completely black and seemed to have a metallic feel, which should be the effect of merging with the metal exoskeleton!
"My defense was much stronger compared to creatures of the same size before. Perhaps it was because I swallowed a lot of metal and stone. And this time, the mutation directly swallowed an entire metal exoskeleton, which was made of the latest special steel developed by the United States!"
Jia Yan's compound eyes lit up!
"So how strong is my defense and body strength now? I can't wait to find out!"
With a body of one meter in length, Jia Yan no longer looked weak. Although compared to humans over one and a half meters tall, he still seemed slightly short, when considering his lower limbs, he completely exceeded the length of an average human.
And Jia Yan could feel that after a few movements, his body weight, mixed with metallic substances, might even reach the level of an ordinary human child!
Probably about thirty to forty kilograms!
Although this weight would pose some hindrance to flying, after feeling his own strength, Jia Yan felt that this weight was completely bearable!
As for the actual situation, he would find out by trying it!
He walked to the mouth of the cave.
At this moment, Jia Yan's body was already very large. If he wasn't careful, it would be difficult to turn around in the cave.
He looked at the full moon in the sky. Today was indeed a good day. As a 'vampire,' he could soar through the sky under the cover of night!
Buzz!
Buzz buzz!!
His wings slowly began to flap behind him.
Jia Yan found that when he took off, if he didn't use a little force, his speed would not increase for a while.
But instead of immediately increasing the frequency of flapping to the limit, he slowly increased it.
Thirty flaps per second, with no sign of movement in his body.
Seventy flaps per second, still no sign of movement.
One hundred and fifty flaps per second, he felt his body starting to float!
Two hundred flaps per second...
Hoo hoo—
When the flapping frequency reached two hundred times per second, Jia Yan's six long legs finally left the ground!
Hoo hoo—
He slowly floated up, and the scenery below began to change gradually.
Hum hum hum!
When the flapping frequency reached three hundred times per second, due to the enlargement of his wings, the edges of his wings broke through the sound barrier and reached supersonic speeds!
"It seems a bit strenuous!" Jia Yan's compound eyes dimmed.
"My maximum flapping frequency seems to have decreased compared to when I was smaller, probably only reaching five hundred times per second. But with such huge wings, maintaining a flapping frequency of five hundred times per second is still quite terrifying!"
To gain something, you must lose something, Jia Yan understood this principle!
Since his body had grown so large, the agility of his body might have been lost. After all, it's unlikely for such a massive body to maintain the same level of agility as before.
Of course, despite having a maximum wingbeat frequency of five hundred times per second, Jia Yan could still execute graceful aerial stops and maneuvers, albeit not as smoothly and agilely as before.
Jia Yan controlled the muscles of his wings, causing them to twist at a certain angle!
Due to the enlargement of his wings and the mutation and strengthening of the wing muscles, gliding for Jia Yan now felt easy and enjoyable!
Whoosh!
Suddenly, the high-frequency wingbeat noise disappeared, and Jia Yan's enormous figure glided rapidly through the air.
"Huh! My gliding speed has been enhanced! And due to the increased weight of my body, stability is also assured. Even in adverse winds, I can still fly so steadily!"
Jia Yan once again discovered a benefit of his mutation.
Gliding flight became more practical!
The scenery of the forest below rapidly receded.
In his antennae auditory organs, all he could hear was the sound of high-speed flight!
Due to the enlargement of his body, his speed had once again experienced a terrifying increase compared to before.
Without any reference points, Jia Yan couldn't accurately gauge his current speed!
In any case, there was a fundamental difference from the feeling of flight before!
This giant and mysterious flying creature soared through the air.
However, what he didn't notice was that beneath the forest, three pairs of large compound eyes shimmered with red light, staring at his rapidly flying figure from below, faintly flickering.
These were three creatures, each with a height of about two meters even when crawling on the ground!
They also had six elongated legs, exceptionally sharp, indicating they possessed formidable attacking power.
These three monsters each carried a huge abdomen, the entire abdomen shaped like a circle, occupying a large part of their bodies.
Compared to Jia Yan, their size and weight were even more terrifying, perhaps reaching several hundred kilograms or even a ton!
They were indeed monstrous beings!
These three creatures gathered together, crawling through the forest in a formation.
Just as Jia Yan flew overhead, the three monsters simultaneously looked up. One of their eyes flickered with light, and then, from the mouth located in their oral cavity, a pair of labial palps stretched out. Something was about to be ejected from the mouthparts into the air toward the large mosquito!
Whoosh!
However, it happened to be the moment when Jia Yan was trying to fly at top speed!
In almost a second, his speed suddenly increased by a notch, swiftly distancing himself from the wooded area where the three monsters were preparing to attack.
The giant monster preparing to attack slightly moved its compound eyes shimmering with red light.
Then, the red light gradually dimmed, and the object in its mouth retracted...
The three creatures continued to move forward in a column, proceeding orderly.