Chen Chao froze.
Alive?
How is that possible!
He hadn't heard a heartbeat before—this was clearly a real corpse. No pulse, no sound of blood flow!
When the corpse suddenly spoke, Chen Chao could hear its heartbeat and pulse revive within its body, as if it had been resurrected from death. Vigorous vitality seemed to seep out through its pores.
Chen Shiyu and Fan Xiangyu exchanged strange looks. This person had been swallowed by the giant snake, and not only did they not suffocate, but they actually fell asleep?
Chen Chao tore off a piece of snake scale and covered the person's vital area with it, then patted his face.
"Stop messing around…" The man turned his head, apparently ready to go back to sleep. Suddenly, as if realizing something, he opened his eyes wide and was immediately confronted with several unfamiliar faces.
"Who are you…" He sat up in shock, only to see, apart from these strangers, the overwhelming presence of the snake's corpse with its pungent stench. The vivid, fiery scales triggered deep-seated memories within him. Shuddering, he exclaimed, "Wasn't I swallowed by it? How is it dead?"
Chen Chao wasn't interested in answering such trivial questions. He scrutinized the young man, his eyes flickering slightly. This must be a self-awakened evolver, and his unique ability likely related to survival; otherwise, he wouldn't have emerged unscathed.
"Of course, we killed it," Fan Xiangyu said, crossing her arms and looking down at him. "You must be an evolver, right? Being able to sleep inside its stomach takes some nerve. What's your name? What's your special ability?"
"Evolver?" The young man scratched his head, puzzled. "I don't know what you're talking about. My name's You Qian, I'm 24 years old, and I… Ah!" He suddenly realized he was stark naked. Horrified, he scrambled to use the snake scale Chen Chao had given him to cover himself.
Fan Xiangyu impatiently snapped, "Enough with the screaming. There's nothing worth looking at."
You Qian looked aggrieved. "How can you say that? I'm still a virgin! I've never even dated anyone, and now… Wait, who exactly are you people? Did you really kill that snake? How? With guns? Huh, no guns… Was it explosives? You…"
"Stop asking so many questions," Fan Xiangyu interrupted irritably. "So, you don't even know what your special ability is?"
You Qian looked blank. "Special ability? Do I have one? I have no idea…"
Fan Xiangyu rolled her eyes, losing interest.
"That means you've likely evolved without realizing it. Try controlling the things around you," Chen Shiyu suggested, adjusting her glasses.
You Qian muttered, "Little girl, you've watched too many cartoons. Control things? Do you think I have superpowers?"
Chen Shiyu clenched her fist tightly, revealing her small canine teeth as she glared at him fiercely. "When I tell you to try, you try! Are you listening?"
"Brainwashed by anime—how pitiful," You Qian said with a shrug, feigning sympathy.
Swoosh!
A silver flying knife hovered near his throat, its cold, sharp edge grazing his skin like needle pricks, causing goosebumps to rise.
"Do as you're told," Chen Chao said coldly. While he generally had no interest in ordinary self-awakened evolvers—given the world's vast array of special abilities—this man's power seemed unique. Based on Chen Chao's understanding, none of the known abilities in later records could allow someone to survive being swallowed by a giant snake at an F-rank stage.
This snake's body temperature was a scorching 90 degrees Celsius, with minimal oxygen in its stomach. Its gastric acid could even corrode steel. To survive inside it, one would need at least three abilities: Air, Regeneration, and Fire Manipulation.
Only by combining these three abilities could survival be possible. Even Chen Chao himself wouldn't survive being swallowed by it.
Feeling the blade's chilling presence, You Qian broke into a cold sweat. "Okay, okay, I'll do it. Just put the knife away. Be careful, don't let your hand slip…"
After Chen Chao lowered the blade, You Qian sighed in relief and followed Chen Chao's instructions, attempting to sense the substances in the surrounding air using the latent power within his cells.
Wind, light, fire…
Under Chen Chao's guidance, You Qian tried one element after another, but nothing worked. It wasn't related to the mystical category. Chen Chao then had him test combat abilities like speed and strength augmentation, but none of them yielded results either.
"Could it be a unique-type ability?"
Chen Chao frowned. Unique-type powers were extraordinarily diverse, spanning countless peculiar domains. They were nearly impossible to test systematically. Judging by You Qian's behavior, his ability was likely passive!
Active abilities were usually accompanied by signals from the body's cells to the brain, allowing the individual to instinctively understand how to use them—like knowing how to move one's arms or clench fists.
Passive abilities, however, were different.
They usually activated under specific conditions. Many passive ability users lived their entire lives unaware of their powers.
Chen Chao stared at You Qian, deep in thought.
Feeling Chen Chao's gaze, You Qian instinctively shrank back and said nervously, "Y-you're not into anything weird, are you?"
Chen Chao wasn't distracted. When he concentrated, external factors rarely affected him, not even fire. After a moment, he thought of a method. He retrieved a set of clothes from his dimensional space and tossed it to You Qian, along with a city map. He quickly located a nearby top-tier hospital.
"So, you're a magician," You Qian muttered upon seeing the clothes appear out of nowhere. He quickly hid behind the snake corpse to get dressed.
Chen Chao crouched down to continue stripping the snake's scales. Once he finished, he instructed Fan Xiangyu and Chen Shiyu to take Ye Fei and You Qian away. He then stored the scales and the massive snake corpse in his dimensional space. This enormous corpse was enough to nurture his golden hound to its mature stage.
After finishing, Chen Chao set off toward the nearby hospital. If he could acquire a microscope there, he could analyze You Qian's abilities. This might be a top-tier, unheard-of passive ability. If Chen Chao hadn't killed the snake, its evolution and growth would have eventually led to You Qian's death, despite his survivability.
He was curious. This person, whom fate had spared through his intervention, should have perished in history. Now resurrected, would they be a mere speck of dust in the great machinery of time, or a boulder capable of jamming the gears?