Shen Cong concluded that Shrimp Soldier and Crab General were not going to fight anytime soon. The two evolved beasts had locked themselves into a battle of pure intimidation and showed no sign of escalating.

"Fine. The whole area around this lake is steep hillside — only the center pool has any water left. Whether they fight or not, neither of them is going anywhere. I'll come back tomorrow."

The sky was dark and he felt uneasy staying out. He headed back to Great Vajra. These two weren't going to make a break for it — they were aquatic evolved beasts, ill-suited to crossing mountain ridges, and neither had enough brainpower to go searching for a new water source on their own.

Back aboard Great Vajra, the first order of business was testing the three new Activity fruit he'd brought back.

Standard procedure: let Blackhead play guinea pig first.

Blackhead had no complaints about its guinea pig career. It responded to Shen Cong's summons immediately, abandoning the ant eggs it had been carefully tending, and trotted over to his feet with evident enthusiasm.

Shen Cong tossed it a water chestnut.

Blackhead crunched through shell and all in seconds, finished with visible excitement, and immediately asked for more. No toxic reaction of any kind.

Shen Cong didn't enjoy raw water chestnuts himself, so he boiled a pot.

He cracked one open and ate it.

A surge of Activity spread through him — that familiar, satisfying wave of physical enhancement he'd come to know well. And the flavor was excellent: soft and slightly flaky, sweet, fragrant.

"Crisp Water Chestnuts." He decided on the name immediately and recorded it in the Apocalypse Journal along with the relevant details.

The Activity in Crisp Water Chestnuts fell within the normal range. No reproductive capacity.

Next, he fed Blackhead a section of lotus rhizome. Blackhead consumed it without hesitation and showed no adverse reaction.

Raw lotus root — acceptable. Activity within normal parameters.

"Crunchy Lotus Root." Recorded in the Apocalypse Journal.

The third fruit was the lotus seeds, grown from the same plant as the lotus…