"I never thought that today, this 'desolation' would save Ben Mao and me." However, this "desolation" is only in the context of the "whole city." If we consider the number of evolved creatures alone, it is still very large. Just the ones he saw along his way during the day numbered in the dozens, and that was only in a part of the nearby area. Looking at the entire city, even on the lower end, there would be tens of thousands of evolved creatures. As for the mutated ones, there were even more.
Raymond classified those creatures that had evolved to gain intelligence and whose behavior had completely changed as evolved creatures. In contrast, he categorized those that had not gained intelligence and had only undergone physical changes as mutated creatures.
Of course, strictly speaking, mutated creatures are also evolved, so this classification was just his personal bias.
What kind of mutated creatures were there? Many, far more than evolved creatures. Mainly two types—insects and plants. During the day, Raymond had seen some insects, like fist-sized bees and mosquitoes with huge mouthparts and blood-red bodies. According to his observations, although their forms had changed, their behavior was similar to before, not showing signs of intelligence. Why was this? He guessed it was because insects' nervous systems were too primitive.
Even if such a low-level nervous system evolved, the improvement would be limited, merely from "too primitive" to "primitive," still incapable of complex information processing, hence unable to develop intelligence.
Of course, the fact that insects were mutated creatures and not evolved ones was good news for Raymond. After all, gaining intelligence would also mean awakening hatred towards him (although Raymond had no idea why, feeling very wronged about it). Insects, often acting collectively and in vast numbers, far outnumber cats and dogs. Just imagine, swarms of giant bees seeking revenge... Too terrifying!
So, it was indeed fortunate that insects hadn't gained intelligence and were merely mutated creatures.
Of course, this didn't mean that insect swarms were easy to deal with. It was still better to avoid provoking them in the future. As for plants, without even a nervous system, they naturally couldn't develop any intelligence. So far, apart from growing taller and bigger and some changes in form, there wasn't much to worry about.
However, although insect swarms were terrifying, Raymond thought that evolved creatures were more dangerous. After all, those evolved creatures would actively attack him.
"Cats, dogs, rats, crows..." He silently counted the evolved creatures he had seen. Although their forms had changed, their original forms were still recognizable. Moreover, for each type of creature, he had seen several different evolved forms. For example, dogs: he had seen dogs with a single horn on their heads, dogs with two tails, dogs covered in blue scales, and dogs bigger than elephants. Of course, these were just the main features; there were many detailed differences.
"Common cats, dogs, and rats are one thing, but I've never seen a lion around here before..." Thinking back to the evolved creatures he saw during the day, Raymond thought of the black lion. Had it only recently arrived, so they hadn't encountered each other yet? Or had it been hiding before evolving, avoiding contact? After all, that lion wasn't an honest character. If it were the latter, then it likely had been watching him for a long time.
Thinking this, Raymond felt a bit angry. "Are you crazy? I didn't dig up your ancestors' graves, so why are you targeting me?" This feeling of inexplicably becoming an enemy made him feel very wronged. But he preferred the latter scenario because it meant that the black lion had already harbored hostility towards him before the strange rain, indicating it was a special individual showing early signs of evolution due to getting a meteorite fragment.
But if it were the former, meaning the black lion had only coincidentally arrived in the past few days, then whether it had gotten a meteorite fragment was unknown. If it had evolved to that extent just by absorbing the evolutionary substances in the air, then the outside world was indeed very dangerous now.
"Let's summarize." Raymond rubbed his forehead and silently thought, "First, the number of evolved creatures is much smaller than expected. At least for now, in this city, that's good news. Second, mutated creatures like insects and plants, although changed in form, haven't gained intelligence, so they shouldn't attack me for no reason, but their danger should not be underestimated. Overall, that's also good news. Third, because I don't know if the black lion got a meteorite fragment, the level of danger in the outside world is still uncertain."
Thinking of this, Raymond couldn't help but regret how he treated the little monkey before. He should have patted the little monkey's head a few more times! If it hadn't disappeared, it could now serve as a reference for special individuals. Raymond really wanted to beat it up!
While thinking, Ben Mao suddenly moved in his arms, and he quickly looked down. Ben Mao slowly opened his eyes, and upon realizing it was being held by Raymond, it contentedly squinted its eyes and rubbed its head against him. "Alright, alright," Raymond laughed and patted its head. Although Ben Mao had seemed fine before, it wasn't until it woke up that Raymond finally felt relieved.
"Meow~~" Ben Mao jumped out of Raymond's arms and then signaled him to extend his right hand.
"What for?" Although puzzled, Raymond extended his hand. Ben Mao stretched out its front paw, and realizing it wasn't tall enough, it shakily stood on its hind legs and gently placed its soft paw on Raymond's right hand. Immediately, Raymond felt his palm heating up, and a very strange sensation arose in his mind, hard to describe in words. When Ben Mao, a bit exhausted, withdrew its little paw, Raymond suddenly felt a connection with it and couldn't help but get excited.
"Hey, hey! Can you hear me? If you can, please respond!" He called out in his mind twice, but there was no response, like a stone sinking into the sea.
Ahem… It seems it's not telepathy. But that's okay, since he called out in his mind, Ben Mao didn't hear it, so it wasn't embarrassing... probably.
Raymond blushed, coughed lightly, and spread out his palm, asking, "What is this thing?"
A sliver of moonlight came through the window, revealing a cute light gray cat paw print on his right palm. The four small imprints were below his four fingers, excluding the thumb, while the larger imprint was slightly below the center of his palm. Because the paw print was so cute, Raymond felt it was quite unsuitable for him and looked rather odd.
"Meow, meow!" Ben Mao stood on its hind legs, waving its front paws energetically. "Meow, meow! Meow, meow!! Meow, meow, meow!"
"Are you casting a spell?" Raymond teased helplessly. But he quickly understood that Ben Mao was mimicking fighting movements, indicating combat. His mind shifted, and he walked to the side of the bookshelf. Spreading his feet apart, he squatted slightly, extended his hands to grasp the bookshelf, and lifted it with force.
The bookshelf wasn't very large, but its weight, combined with the books on it, was over a hundred pounds. With Raymond's strength, he should barely be able to lift it, but it would be a struggle, and he wouldn't be able to lift it very high or hold it for long. He figured he might only manage to raise it a bit before having to put it down.
Considering the bookshelf's length, he realized that, according to the principle of leverage, he would need even more effort.
However, the reality was that he easily lifted the over hundred-pound bookshelf. In fact, he almost stumbled because he used too much force. Raymond was stunned. Such a significant improvement in his physical condition was very similar to the evolution seen in the outside creatures!
But he knew clearly that he hadn't evolved like those creatures. What brought about this change was the light gray cat paw print on his right palm.
In some novels and anime, there is a common setting: when two parties form a certain contract, one party's growth is fed back to the other. Raymond tested it repeatedly and felt that the connection between him and Ben Mao wasn't like this.
He hadn't become stronger. Instead, he could borrow Ben Mao's strength through the imprint on his palm.
"I can borrow your strength?" Raymond confirmed with Ben Mao.
Hearing this, Ben Mao looked bewildered and scratched its head with its little paw, indicating it wasn't very clear either.
Raymond was helpless. He had thought that since Ben Mao created the paw print, it would understand it thoroughly. But it turned out that while Ben Mao had some understanding (as shown by its previous gestures), it didn't fully grasp the details. It knew that the paw print could make Raymond stronger but didn't understand how exactly.
Although Ben Mao had awakened, it was already late at night, so Raymond decided to leave after daybreak. He sat down, pulled Ben Mao onto his lap to pet for a while, and after calming down, suddenly asked, "Do you think it's more dangerous in the city or in the outskirts?"
This question, rather than asking Ben Mao, was more like Raymond asking himself. And it was a tough question to answer. Because it was really uncertain.
In the city, the number of evolved and mutated creatures was relatively low because over the past year, the number of animals had sharply decreased. But the outskirts were different. Unlike the city, the ecosystem in the outskirts didn't rely as heavily on humans. The species composition was much richer, meaning the ecosystem had greater resilience and regulatory capabilities, not collapsing abruptly due to the absence of humans.
Additionally, the outskirts were closer to nature, with more abundant food resources. This wasn't a joke. In situations where places like supermarkets were hard to access, the concrete jungle of the city was actually harsher than nature and not suitable for animal survival.
Indeed, during his previous hunts, Raymond had seen far more animals in the outskirts than in the city. More animals meant more evolved and mutated creatures now. Judging by the number of evolved and mutated creatures alone, the outskirts were undoubtedly more dangerous, and the city much safer. But don't forget—one of the meteors from the meteor shower had fallen in this city!
In other words, some of the evolved creatures in this city were special individuals that had acquired meteorite fragments.
While some special individuals might have left, Raymond believed that most hadn't because obtaining food wasn't difficult for those who had gained intelligence early.
So, whether staying in the city or heading to the outskirts was safer remained uncertain. The city had fewer evolved and mutated creatures but more special individuals. The outskirts had more evolved and mutated creatures but fewer special individuals.
Of course, this was just the situation in Raymond's city and its surroundings. Beyond this city, there were certainly places with fewer evolved creatures and no meteorite falls. Or more extreme locations like the Taklamakan Desert or Mount Everest, where there might be hardly any evolved creatures. But, putting aside whether Raymond would want to go there, such long journeys weren't wise given the current uncertainties.
Moreover, having fewer evolved creatures now didn't mean it would stay that way. With the awakening of intelligence, the distribution of food resources would become less influential on them. In short, the chaos was just beginning, and the situation was unclear, making it hard to say anything for certain.
"It's better to stay here for now," Raymond finally decided. Instead of worrying about all that, he should focus on making Ben Mao stronger. Thinking of this, he suddenly remembered the black lion's heart, which he had almost forgotten, and asked Ben Mao, "Is the lion's heart still useful?"
Ben Mao nodded vigorously.
Raymond breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, he hadn't thrown it away.
---
After a night's rest.
The next day, Raymond and Ben Mao found a nearby house and cooked the black lion's heart to eat.
Raymond hadn't intended to eat it—not because he was opposed to it, as lion hearts, apart from being rare, were no different from pig livers or chicken hearts. His reluctance stemmed from recalling the aftermath of eating that dog meat hotpot.
However, Ben Mao insisted he try it, so he did. Amazingly, this time, he didn't suffer any stomach ache, nor did he have diarrhea. Instead, he felt a significant boost in energy after eating it. But the most surprising thing was that Ben Mao had two protruding bones growing on its back!
Wings!
Raymond immediately made the judgment. But unfortunately, it seemed there wasn't enough energy, so Ben Mao didn't fully grow wings, leaving just two small protrusions on its back. This made Raymond both excited and regretful.
After eating the lion heart for breakfast, Raymond quietly left with Ben Mao. He was preparing to return to the house that had been blown up.