The light from the meteor as it streaked across the sky was dazzling and brilliant. People often describe it as "fleeting" and "a moment of brilliance," not just because of its speed, but because it was burning!
In fact, if a meteor isn't large enough when it enters the atmosphere, it will burn up due to friction and never reach the ground. Any meteorite that makes it to the ground is much larger initially. Most of its mass burns away in the atmosphere.
This means that the substances on the meteorite that promote biological evolution are mostly dispersed into the atmosphere! Only a small part remains on the meteorite fragments.
So what does it mean that most evolutionary material is spread throughout the air? It means all living beings would be affected! Therefore, the world's current calm is evidently unusual!
There are only two possible reasons for this:
First, the concentration of evolutionary substances in the atmosphere is too low to trigger evolution. This possibility is very small! Why? Because when a meteorite impacts, the huge force and high temperature often cause it to shatter and vaporize. If the atmospheric concentration isn't enough, the concentration near the impact site should be! But there are no abnormalities there.
So, it must be the second possibility: Evolution hasn't started yet!
As incredible as it sounds, only "evolution hasn't started" can explain the unusual, unreasonable calm in an atmosphere full of evolutionary substances!
Watching the winged lion in front of him, Raymond's mind raced, and in an instant, he understood everything. At the same time, he thought of the big dog and the little monkey.
Unlike the lion, they hadn't physically changed. Raymond had puzzled over this. Earth's biological evolution history proves that evolution means change, like with BEN MAO. So why hadn't they changed?
The answer is simple! Because they haven't started evolving! Complex details? Deep principles? Unknown variables? None of those! This is a straightforward logic problem, a basic logical principle:
"If p, then q" is equivalent to "Not q, then not p!"
Evolution means change; they haven't changed, so they haven't evolved. It's such a simple logical deduction!
Realizing this, Raymond almost spat blood, feeling like a fool! The simplest explanation, and he hadn't thought of it! He had made the mistake of assuming evolution had started and based his thoughts on that assumption, not considering that the premise was wrong!
Evolution hasn't started!
As for the dog's suspected intelligence and the monkey's clear intelligence, they had gotten meteorite fragments. Airborne evolutionary substances, no matter how concentrated, can't match those in a meteorite fragment. Animals with fragments showed early signs of evolution. What's strange about that?
All this seemed lengthy but was a momentary thought in Raymond's mind. Human thoughts are fast; the black lion had just entered the bedroom.
Bam!!!
Suddenly, the bedroom door burst open, and a white blur dashed in like lightning.
Raymond hadn't seen clearly before it stood in front of him. It was BEN MAO.
"Meow meow meow!!!" BEN MAO growled menacingly at the black lion.
The black lion seemed not to hear, arrogantly taking two more steps forward, unhurriedly and casually. Seeing this, Raymond narrowed his eyes slightly.
Indeed, he hadn't realized the implications of the meteor's brilliant light earlier, thus misunderstanding that evolution hadn't begun. But that was only until recently.
The eerie rain that started days ago, the monkey disappearing with the meteorite at this crucial moment, the black, winged lion, and... Raymond glanced outside through the hole in the wall, seeing the plants had changed, becoming taller and larger, and somewhat unfamiliar.
"This time, evolution has truly begun," Raymond thought.
The meteor shower six months ago planted the seeds of evolution. Animals lucky enough to get fragments showed early signs of evolution, but it wasn't until the recent eerie rain that the seeds began to sprout and grow.
Hmm? Why does this seem like how I grow vegetables?
Raymond frowned.
While he pondered, the black lion had taken two more steps forward.
"Meow meow!!" BEN MAO's fur bristled, issuing a warning.
Its small body was disproportionately small compared to the visually striking, enormous black lion. The black lion lifted its huge head, exhaling white puffs from its nostrils, and suddenly, in broken human speech, said, "I am... king of beasts. You... very weak... not a match. Leave!"
Raymond's eyes widened, looking at the black lion in shock. "What did you say?!!"
He immediately asked, "Did you just speak human language?!"
Although the black lion's speech was disjointed and halting, it was indeed speaking human language. Unbelievable! Totally beyond Raymond's expectations! Evolution allowing creatures to speak human words? What principle is this? How is it done???
Why can't BEN MAO speak? BEN MAO's form has changed, clearly evolved. Why can BEN MAO understand human speech but not speak it? Is it because it forcibly exited the evolution process, leading to incomplete evolution? Or is it a different principle of evolution altogether?
The black lion glared at Raymond with hatred and disgust, continuing in its disjointed human speech, "Shut up! You disgusting creature, I will... tear... your throat, bite off... your head, dig... out your... heart, don't... think... it can pro...tect you!"
Raymond frowned and suddenly said, "King of Beasts, huh?"
"Hmph!" The black lion arrogantly aimed its nostrils at Raymond.
Raymond chuckled and said, "Sorry, but from my years of watching anime, the King of Beasts is usually the first to die."
"Roar—!" At Raymond's words, the black lion gave him a cold look and roared mightily. Thunder roared out of nowhere!
The tremendous roar reverberated in the small space, shaking the furniture, whipping the curtains even though the windows were closed, creating a windstorm. The glass of water on the bedside table groaned under the strain, not breaking but clearly impacted.
The power of the roar was terrifying!
Raymond winced, covering his ears as his eardrums throbbed in pain. The confined space amplified the sound, making it more deafening than if it had been outside. This effect of a single roar exceeded Raymond's expectations. Compared to this black lion, that big dog was nothing.
Is this the difference between pre-evolution and post-evolution? Raymond thought this black lion must have obtained a meteorite fragment; otherwise, this would be too much.
If it hadn't, and had evolved to this extent just from airborne evolutionary substances, the world outside would be extremely dangerous! Although Raymond could revive after death, he didn't enjoy being killed! He had committed suicide twice, once out of boredom and once to heal an injury, but both were by his own choice. Suicide and being killed are completely different concepts.
Facing the lion's thunderous roar, BEN MAO's fur stood on end, its tail straight up, ready for a fight. It didn't roar back, knowing it would be useless. The black lion took its cold gaze off Raymond.
It didn't understand why it hated this weak human, but as the King of Beasts, did it need to find reasons to hate an ant? No. It could just crush him.
But this time, it had found an interesting little creature.
The imposing black lion lifted its head slightly, snorted disdainfully, and looked at BEN MAO, "You are... weak, not my... opponent. Follow... me, serve me, I will give... you... power!"
"Meow meow!!!" BEN MAO angrily meowed at the lion. Raymond couldn't understand, but it clearly refused, without hesitation.
The black lion's eyes showed intense rage and disbelief at BEN MAO's refusal: "This is... your last... chance... surrender or... death?"
"Meow!!" BEN MAO meowed and pounced.
"Overestimating yourself!" The black lion's eyes widened in anger. It flapped its wings forcefully, causing a whirlwind that scattered the furniture. Raymond squinted against the wind.
Almost simultaneously, a loud bang came from his left, like something had crashed into the wall. Raymond's eyelid twitched, feeling a bad premonition. He turned to see a deep dent in the wall, covered in cracks from the impact.
Dust and debris fell on BEN MAO, who was embedded in the wall. Raymond's face darkened. He turned coldly to the black lion, which was smugly wagging its tail, full of arrogance and disdain.
Suddenly, he felt furious, extremely furious!
"Meow~" Suddenly, BEN MAO's meow sounded. In a flash of white, it was back in front of Raymond. Its previously white fur was now dirty and disheveled, looking battered but not seriously injured, much to Raymond's relief.
"Meow meow~" BEN MAO turned to Raymond, meowing as if to reassure him. But at that moment, a sharp black shadow, with a piercing sound, struck from BEN MAO's blind spot, hitting it hard.
"Meow—!" BEN MAO cried out, being flung away.
The attack was sudden, timed when BEN MAO was distracted, with a tricky angle and incredible speed. BEN MAO hadn't noticed it and couldn't defend.
The black lion smugly flicked its tail, almost twice the length of its body, looking down on the injured BEN MAO. "Foolish! This is... the consequence... of not... surrendering! Follow... me, serve me, and I will give you... power! I am... the King of Beasts!"
Raymond's face had completely darkened. He stared coldly at the black lion. Even when the big dog had tried to kill him, Raymond had found it somewhat amusing. But now, he was genuinely furious!
The anger burned in his chest like a raging fire!
Meanwhile, far away from Raymond's city, a jaguar standing on two legs, behaving much like a human, sheathed its sword. It then removed its cowboy hat and bowed gracefully.
Suddenly, its eyes showed surprise, as if sensing something, and it looked in a distant direction. After a moment, it replaced the hat and walked towards that direction.
Behind it, the way it had bowed, stood a gigantic wild boar, three stories high, like a small mountain. A faint bloodline appeared on its forehead, quickly spreading. Blood gushed out!
Boom!!
The giant boar collapsed, and blood rained from the sky.
Sensing Raymond's angry gaze, the black lion turned to him, coldly saying, "Arrogant!"
A weak human dared to look at it like this! Arrogant! Too arrogant!
The black lion swung its long tail fiercely at Raymond, with a sharp whistling sound!
It wanted to crush this insolent, weak human!