The creature that lunged from the darkness was a nightmare made flesh. It was a horrifying amalgamation of an insect and a reptile, about the size of a large wolf. Its body was covered in a slimy, black exoskeleton, with too many spindly legs ending in sharp claws. A pair of sickly, glowing purple eyes were set above a maw filled with needle-like teeth. This was a Sewer Creeper, but one grotesquely mutated by the Abyssal Corruption.
There was no time for analysis. The Corrupted Creeper was already upon them, its claws slashing through the air.
"Rock Harden! Now!" Lin Ke yelled, his voice echoing in the tunnel.
The Rock Vole reacted instantly. The earthy yellow glow enveloped its body just a fraction of a second before the creature's claws struck its shell.
SCREEECH!
The sound of metal scraping against stone was deafening. The Rock Vole was thrown back by the force of the blow, tumbling across the concrete floor. But the hardened shell held. It was scratched and dented, but not pierced.
This was no arena battle. This was a fight for survival.
The creature didn't give them a moment's rest. It screeched again and lunged, its maw dripping with a corrosive purple saliva.
"Dodge, roll into the water channel!" Lin Ke commanded.
The Rock Vole, using its small size to its advantage, rolled into the shallow channel of sewer water. The corrosive saliva splattered on the concrete where it had just been, sizzling and melting the surface.
The Corrupted Creeper, blinded by rage, plunged into the water after it. This was the moment Lin Ke was waiting for.
"Its movements are slower in the water!" he analyzed in a split second. "Rock Vole, use its body as a platform! Jump! Target its eyes!"
The Rock Vole, agile and sure-footed, leaped onto the creature's slick back. Before the monster could react, it launched a perfectly aimed Rock Throw from point-blank range. The sharp stone, imbued with all the pet's strength, struck one of the creature's glowing purple eyes.
The monster shrieked in agony, thrashing wildly in the water, dislodging the Rock Vole.
But the blow had been decisive. Blinded and in pain, its movements became chaotic.
"Don't let up! Pin it! Full power, Tackle!"
The Rock Vole charged through the water, slamming its body into the creature's wounded head. The monster, already disoriented, was knocked off balance and its head slammed hard against the concrete edge of the channel. It convulsed for a moment, then lay still.
Silence returned to the sewer, broken only by the sound of dripping water and Lin Ke's heavy breathing.
He and his Rock Vole had won. It was a messy, brutal, and terrifying fight, but they had survived.
As Lin Ke approached the creature's body, something strange began to happen. The grotesque, mutated flesh started to dissolve, melting away into a foul-smelling black sludge. This was a known phenomenon of corrupted creatures—their bodies were unstable and would break down after death.
But then, something new happened. The dark purple energy of the Abyssal Corruption did not dissipate. Instead, it coalesced from the dissolving remains, forming a small, unstable orb of dark light.
Before Lin Ke could even process what he was seeing, the Gene Editor in his mind flared to life, a new interface he had never seen before popping into his vision.
[Corrupted Gene Essence detected. The energy is highly unstable and toxic.] [New function unlocked: 'Purify and Absorb'.] [Warning: Absorption carries a minor risk of system contamination. Proceed? Y/N]
Lin Ke's eyes widened. A new function? Absorb the very energy of the corruption?
His scientific curiosity and his ambition overpowered his caution. This was a monumental discovery. He focused his will on the 'Yes' option.
The Gene Editor in his vision pulsed with a bright blue light. A beam of energy, invisible to the naked eye, shot out from him and struck the orb of dark purple energy. The orb was drawn towards him, and as it entered the editor's interface, the dark, chaotic energy was filtered, broken down, and re-coded by a storm of blue data.
[Purification complete.] [Raw Corrupted Gene Essence (12 units) has been acquired.] [This essence can be used as a high-potency catalyst for genetic editing and evolution.]
Lin Ke stared at the new resource now listed in his system's inventory. His heart was pounding, not from the leftover adrenaline of the fight, but from the earth-shattering implications of what he had just discovered.
He had found a way to turn the world's most feared poison into his own personal source of power.
The path to nurturing a Mythical-rank pet, which once seemed impossibly long and expensive, had just been given a dangerous, thrilling, and incredibly powerful shortcut.