The moment the four-legged snake disappeared from the radar, Shen Cong was out through the roof hatch and scanning visually. Nothing in range. He launched the drone.

The feed found it quickly — about four kilometers out near Zhangshan Township, its passage through the deep snow throwing up wave after wave of white. Moving away.

“Based on its heading, the four-legged snake went into the hills along Provincial Route 312.” He ran the mental map comparison. “Probably heading into the Ershi Li Long Mountain range in the Jianghuai watershed.”

The terrain north of Laian County became progressively hillier and more mountainous — the Jianghuai watershed divide, where the south slope drained to the Yangtze River basin and the north slope to the Huai River basin. The climate difference between the two sides was noticeable to anyone passing through.

His planned route ran exactly along Provincial 312, through Ershi Li Long Mountain, from Laian County’s Banta Town across into Changhe Town in Tianchang City, then onto the Changshen Expressway.

He frowned. “This creature could be a significant problem for the route.”

Some powerful and massive evolved beasts ranged freely rather than anchoring to Oasis territory — the Golden Jiao had been one, operating across barren and abundant zones alike. The Command’s Xuanwu and the death-eaters’ Great Earth Dragon were Nuclear-Weight class, two full tiers above the Golden Jiao, and still operating in barren zone territory. The question of how creatures that large originated — whether they were tied to meteorite fragment exposure or not — remained genuinely unclear.

With the four-legged snake located, he swung the drone in a full perimeter survey.

White in every direction. A featureless snowfield, the surface of the world erased. Aside from the creature’s gradually diminishing displacement in the distance, nothing else alive was visible — just occasional flakes still drifting down, and ground-level snow particles lifted by the wind into something resembling fog.

“Threat cleared.”

He contacted the jeep.

Old Wei, Zhao Zilong, and the others emerged from the snow cave immediately. Old Wei was his usual self — moved straight toward Shen Cong with his question already forming. “Colonel Chen — what kind of evolved beast? How big?”

“Four-legged snake. A hundred meters forward, you can see the tracks.”

He walked over himself to examine them.

The disturbance in the snow was massive — an area of ground that looked as if it had been churned by a mechanical mixer. The claw prints were the clearest evidence. Front paws: five toes, long and narrow, ending in distinct claws, each toe approximately two meters in length. Rear paws: five toes as well, at least four meters each. Body width at the widest point: roughly five meters. Overall length estimate: approximately forty-five meters.

“That’s enormous.” Old Wei stared at the churned snow and shook his head slowly. “How large does a four-legged snake get? Is it actually a snake with legs? Can metal radiation really make a snake grow legs?”

Shen Cong didn’t answer. He had no interest in scientific education.

Zhao Zilong considered it and spoke instead. “A four-legged snake isn’t a snake with legs — it’s the common name for a skink, or sometimes for lizards generally. But based on the body proportions in the snow, the length-to-width ratio is closer to a snake’s. Most likely it’s a grass lizard mutation — Takydromus or a close relative. They naturally have very slender bodies and if the legs were hidden or absent you’d identify them as snakes on sight.”

Lizards and snakes were evolutionarily distinct, but convergent evolution had pushed many lineages toward similar body plans. Grass lizards were a clear example — remove the legs and most people couldn’t distinguish them from snakes. Some lizards — glass lizards, slow worms, blind skinks — had already lost their limbs entirely and were effectively indistinguishable from snakes at a glance.

The tell, if you needed one: snakes didn’t have external ears and couldn’t blink. Any apparent snake that blinked was a lizard.

Convergent evolution appeared throughout nature. Whales and dolphins superficially resembled fish but were mammals. Anteaters, aardvarks, and pangolins had converged on similar body forms despite being from completely separate orders. Moles, marsupial moles, and golden moles had each independently arrived at the same underground-burrowing plan from different starting points.

“So it’s a lizard.” Old Wei nodded. “The Great Earth Dragon was a lizard too. Lizards really take to mutation.”

“Lizards are the most species-rich group among reptiles,” Zhao Zilong said. “High numbers, wide distribution, varied diet, exceptional adaptability. Seeing large lizard mutations in this environment is entirely expected.”

The four-legged snake’s appearance was an interlude. After examining the tracks, Shen Cong returned to Great Vajra and resumed the Siphon upgrade schedule.

Half an hour per cycle, ten cycles, stopping at noon.

Activity Value: 2.526H → 2.662H. Twenty-bull strength holding stable.

Lunch. Sleep. Afternoon for organ recovery.

The snow stopped after lunch. The sun came out — genuinely bright, the first real sunlight in days. Temperature rising. Snowmelt beginning. He cleared the accumulated snow from around Great Vajra and extended the Wings of Light, which had dropped below fifty percent stored charge and needed replenishment urgently.

Evening: another Siphon session. Same rhythm — half an hour, ten cycles.

Activity Value to 2.798H. Close to 3H.

The twenty-bull physical conditioning was beginning to strain at its own ceiling, the way nineteen-bull had before it. Activity was pressing against the limits of what his organic structure could channel. More progress would come through the senses — the sensory systems apparently had more ceiling remaining than the mechanical force components.

“My physical strength appears to be hitting its practical maximum. But tomorrow — I should cross into the Lv1 era. The Siphon upgrade method is extraordinarily effective. I should have tried it earlier instead of fearing it.”

“Evolved beasts are advancing every day. The Command’s jin people and iron people are probably advancing. Even the death-eaters have C1 pushing them forward. I can’t afford to stagnate. Whether this catastrophe is a great explosion of life or a great extinction — whether the old era is being erased or a new era is arriving — none of that matters as much as this: I have the opportunity, and I won’t give anything less than everything to reach the top of the food chain.”

“Apex predator. That’s the goal. It has always been the goal.”

That night was quiet.

December 15th. Clear sky. The sun was brilliant on the snow, and the melt had begun in earnest — but over four meters of accumulation didn’t disappear quickly. At current temperature and sunlight intensity, three days minimum before enough ground became visible to navigate by.

He set his departure for two days out. Great Vajra’s dozer blade could handle whatever snowpack remained at that point, and with the sun reestablished he could use it for orientation, find Provincial 312 again, and get moving.

Two days.

He intended to use both of them to cross into the Lv1 era.

(End of Chapter 241)