Han Ning continued releasing Spiritual Power while gently stroking its cool head and spine.
"Little one, follow me and you'll never go hungry again," Han Ning whispered temptingly. Remembering the dried fish in his backpack, he took out a small piece and offered it to the hatchling.
Whoosh!
The baby Crocodile Lizard's tongue shot out like lightning, snatching the fish jerky. After a few chews, it swallowed the morsel whole.
The temptation of food completely erased its last hesitation.
[Unknown creature finds you acceptable and agrees to form a contract.]
[Contract successfully established. Congratulations on unlocking your Soul Companion - Mutated Swamp Crocodile Lizard.]
"Hss... wuu!"
The small lizard emitted an ambiguous hiss.
Simultaneously, Han Ning clearly felt a simple line-art silhouette of a crocodile lizard's head quietly appear beneath his Druid profession panel.
The moment the mark formed, a strange sense of familiarity blossomed between Han Ning and the little lizard.
Not only could Han Ning vaguely sense the lizard's vital signs and simple emotional fluctuations, but an unfamiliar life energy also flowed back to him through this invisible connection.
The energy was faint but steadily nourished his exhausted body and mind.
[Received attribute bonus from Animal Companion. Your physical constitution has slightly improved.]
Immediately after, a stream of information about his new companion flooded Han Ning's consciousness:
Name: (Pending)
Species: Swamp Crocodile Lizard
Gender: Male
Level: 1
Skills: Bite
As the contract took effect, subtle changes occurred in the little lizard on the floor.
Its previously dull Scales gained luster, and its body grew slightly larger. The way it looked at Han Ning now brimmed with dependence and pure obedience.
"Hss wuu..." The small lizard rubbed its head against Han Ning's leg, much like a hatchling instinctively seeking its mother's warmth.
"Now that we've made a contract, you need a name..."
Han Ning crouched down, stroking the tiny bony ridges along the lizard's spine as he murmured:
"You look like a Chinese alligator but with white Scales... I'll call you 'Snowflake'."
The name came from a viral video he'd seen before transmigrating - a Chinese alligator biting a Snowflake Crisp snack.
Names just needed to roll off the tongue easily.
"Hss wuu!" The newborn lizard probably didn't understand the meaning, but eager to please its master, it happily wagged its tail, nearly knocking over a plastic basin under the sink.
After bouncing around the small bathroom, Snowflake suddenly rushed to Han Ning's feet, wrapping its claws around his thigh while staring unblinkingly with golden-yellow eyes.
Stare...
"Hss wuu..." Snowflake made another short cry, its forked tongue flicking rapidly as its gaze locked onto Han Ning's hands.
"Hungry?"
Han Ning immediately understood.
This little creature had just been cut from its mother's body and endured a bumpy journey in the backpack - its energy expenditure had been enormous.
Newborns naturally required constant nourishment.
It was foreseeable that raising this little creature to the size of its mother would likely consume a massive amount of food.
He rummaged through the backpack he had taken with him earlier.
Pulling out the meat he had cut from the small Crocodile Lizard, he placed it in front of Snowflake.
"Sniff~ Sniff~"
Snowflake stretched its nose toward the bloody meat, gave it a couple of sniffs, then turned its head away and let out a couple of ambiguous calls toward Han Ning.
An indistinct emotional message came through.
There was disdain, confusion, but mostly resistance—it was quite complex.
"Not eating? Could it be that it doesn't eat the meat of its own kind, or is there negative energy from the Black Tide in the meat that it doesn't want to consume?"
Han Ning speculated internally.
But he had only brought this bit of meat for testing purposes.
Seeing that Snowflake wouldn't eat it, he took out a piece of hardtack, broke off a small portion, and tentatively offered it to Snowflake's mouth.
Snowflake's tongue flicked out like lightning, precisely sticking to the crumb of hardtack. With a "crunch," it swallowed the piece almost without chewing, then continued to stare eagerly at Han Ning's hand.
"That fast?" Han Ning raised an eyebrow and broke off a slightly larger piece to offer.
The same scene played out again—the hardtack vanished instantly.
Han Ning simply tossed the remaining half-pack of hardtack to it.
Snowflake lowered its head, its tiny, sharp-toothed mouth opening and closing a few times. With a series of crisp "crack-crack" sounds, the rock-hard hardtack was effortlessly crushed and devoured within a minute.
"Grrr!" Clearly still hungry, Snowflake lifted its head again, emitting more urgent low growls from its throat while its short tail swept back and forth across the floor, scraping faintly against the tiles.
"That's quite the appetite." Han Ning clicked his tongue.
Hardtack was incredibly energy-dense—half a piece could sustain an ordinary person for half a day, let alone this little thing devouring half a pack as if it were nothing.
"Come on, let's go to the living room."
Han Ning turned and walked out of the bathroom.
Snowflake trotted after him like a puppy.
Han Ning grabbed a pile of food from their storage and placed it in front of Snowflake.
"Arf arf~"
Snowflake sniffed, drawn by the aroma of the food, looking eager and impatient.
"Go ahead."
Han Ning first tore open a 500g bag of dried noodles.
Snowflake crunched through them without hesitation, devouring every last strand.
Next came two cans of luncheon meat, which clearly piqued its interest even more. It gobbled them down ravenously, polishing them off in no time.
Milk, raw rice, nearly spoiled meat—no matter what Han Ning fed it, Snowflake ate with unbridled enthusiasm.
Only after feeding it roughly 10 pounds of food did Han Ning finally stop.
And Snowflake still seemed ready for more.
Finally, he even tentatively tossed it an empty plastic bottle cap.
Snowflake immediately snapped it up.
"Crunch, crunch!"
The cap instantly deformed under its bite. After chewing a couple of times, it seemed to find it tasteless and unpalatable, promptly spitting it out with a "ptui."
"Wow, you really are a walking trash compactor—willing to eat anything."
Han Ning's eyelids twitched at the sight.
Its omnivorous tendencies were extreme—it seemed willing to try anything that could fit in its mouth.
"Good, being a good eater is a blessing. The last thing I'd want is for you to be picky."
From his observations, Snowflake clearly preferred meat above all else, followed by high-calorie foods like soda, hardtack, and other carbs.
Its interest in fruits and vegetables wasn't as strong as for meat, but it could still stomach them.
After being fed all these things, Snowflake's condition became noticeably more active.
It began crawling around the relatively spacious living room, its movements much smoother and faster than when it was first born.
The newborn little creature was curious about everything, sniffing here with its nose and patting there with its claws.
Plop plop~
The mucus Snowflake brought from its mother hadn't been completely washed off yet, and in the blink of an eye, the living room floor was covered in slippery slime.
"Snowflake, look here—attack this vine."
Now that it was well-fed, Han Ning wanted to test Snowflake's combat abilities.
The moment the vine appeared, it immediately caught Snowflake's attention.
At Han Ning's command, its yellow vertical pupils locked onto the writhing vine. Its body lowered slightly, adopting a predatory stance.
The next second, Snowflake lunged forward. Its short, sturdy hind legs unleashed surprising strength, propelling its body like a gray shadow as it pounced toward the vine.
Squelch!
Its scaled claws struck the vine with precision.
The tough outer layer of the vine was actually scratched open by its sharp claws, leaving shallow gashes.
At the same time, its large mouth full of sharp teeth didn't hesitate—it bit down hard.
Crunch, crunch.
The not-so-thick vine was bitten clean through.