NOVEL NEXT Ch. 3
Chapter 3: Shedding
“Hiss! Hiss!”
The King Rat Snake, which had been roaming unchallenged within its territory for a long time, never expected that—
A Grass Snake that had first tried to flee from it would actually strike directly at its weak point.
Although it did look a bit sturdier than an ordinary Grass Snake, in the end, it was still just a Grass Snake!
Yet, precisely because of this moment of carelessness, the King Rat Snake fell into a life-or-death crisis.
“Hiss!”
No matter how the King Rat Snake twisted its body, a pair of sharp fangs remained firmly locked onto its seventh inch.
The King Rat Snake even tried to coil its body around Mo Lin to force him to let go.
But Mo Lin knew that if he allowed the King Rat Snake to escape, he himself would be in danger.
Therefore, no matter how the King Rat Snake struggled, he never loosened his bite.
At the same time, after sinking his fangs into the King Rat Snake’s seventh inch, Mo Lin did not stay idle.
While continuing to bite down, letting his teeth wreak havoc inside the King Rat Snake’s body, he also tried to coil his own body in reverse around it.
Although his size was not as large as the King Rat Snake’s, holding its seventh inch meant not only that its fangs could no longer reach his body, but also that its mobility was greatly reduced.
Very soon, after a round of entanglement, the meter-long Mo Lin had suppressed the two-meter-long King Rat Snake in reverse.
Mo Lin bit into one end while tightening his body, strangling the King Rat Snake.
Faced with Mo Lin’s devouring talent and two-pronged assault, after struggling for over ten minutes, the King Rat Snake finally lost its strength and collapsed limply to the ground.
After confirming that the King Rat Snake had truly lost its life and was not pretending in order to ambush, Mo Lin finally loosened his bite.
“Hiss\~”
Joy flashed in Mo Lin’s serpent eyes.
A King Rat Snake!
The King Rat Snake, praised as the “King of a Hundred Snakes,” had actually been taken down by him!
Although the fight had nearly drained Mo Lin, who was still just a Grass Snake, he could not suppress his excitement.
After a brief wave of elation, Mo Lin once again bit the King Rat Snake’s seventh inch and began swimming back toward his spring.
He would bring this King Rat Snake back as his prey.
After devouring it, Mo Lin was certain that he would undergo a transformation.
By then, he would finally have some footing in this new world.
......
Several days later.
A two-meter-long, black-brown serpent emerged from the spring.
It was none other than Mo Lin, who had devoured the King Rat Snake and completed his first shedding.
Mo Lin raised his head, glanced at his “new skin,” and nodded in satisfaction:
“At first, I thought shedding might be like in the real world, a painful ordeal. I didn’t expect that after eating the King Rat Snake, the process would be so effortless.”
“Not only that, but my originally brown scales have partly transformed into black scales because of devouring the King Rat Snake.”
“It seems that what I devour not only strengthens me, but also influences my body’s form.”
“For now, the change from the King Rat Snake is clearly positive. I suppose that’s because it’s of the same snake kind as me.”
“More importantly, the King Rat Snake also brought me an unexpected reward.”
Mo Lin inspected the stat panel conjured by his devouring talent:
【Mo Lin】
【Strength: 25】
【Speed: 26】
【Agility: 28】
【Defense: 22】
【Demonic Power: 0】
【Abilities: Devour, Shedding, Poison Resistance (able to resist most snake venoms)】
After devouring the King Rat Snake, completing his first shedding, and gaining an overall increase in stats—these were secondary.
After all, Mo Lin could achieve similar results by eating other prey.
The most delightful part was that Mo Lin had gained a new ability: Poison Resistance, allowing him to resist most snake venoms.
This was the new power he obtained from consuming the King Rat Snake.
Upon acquiring this ability, Mo Lin’s heart burned with eagerness.
If he hunted venomous snakes like the King Rat Snake did, could he also gain the ability to spit venom like them?
Undoubtedly, using venom came with its drawbacks.
No venomous snake could recklessly use its venom in hunting.
After all, snake venom was essentially protein.
To release it carelessly was to deplete its own protein reserves.
For venomous snakes, it was no different from men indulging in lust—do it too often, and their venom glands would be exhausted.
Moreover, when venomous snakes hunted, even if they injected venom into prey and caused it to die from poisoning, the process still took time.
Even if a single gram of venom could bring down an elephant, death would not be instantaneous.
During this period, the poisoned animal might either flee and die in someone else’s territory, or thrash desperately, potentially harming the fragile-bodied snake.
Thus, such venomous abilities, costly to use and slow to take effect, were not favored by massive pythons.
Truly powerful snakes and pythons relied on far more efficient hunting methods—using thick, powerful bodies to constrict prey, or simply swallowing them whole to digest at leisure.
But for Mo Lin, it was different.
First, the bodily depletion caused by releasing venom could be replenished through his devouring talent by plundering the lives of other venomous snakes.
Second, Mo Lin was still relatively small.
Evolving venomous abilities would expand his hunting methods and also strengthen his means of self-preservation—
After all, few creatures would willingly risk their lives against a venomous snake.
This could become a new trump card.
Even so, while envisioning his plans, Mo Lin remained cautious:
“First, I only have poison resistance, not full immunity. I don’t know whether the toxins of venomous kings like the King Cobra or Banded Krait would still be effective against me.”
“Second, the ability extraction is probabilistic. I don’t know how many venomous snakes I’d need to kill to gain venomous abilities. To succeed in one shot, like with the King Rat Snake, is probably rare.”
“All of this carries risk. When executing this plan, I must be cautious and not careless.”
Mo Lin shook his head twice, sighing:
“Brother King Rat was truly a good one. Helping me shed was already great enough, but he even gave me the poison resistance ability I dreamed of.”
“If not for absorbing his poison resistance, I wouldn’t dare to even consider targeting venomous snakes.”
Mo Lin nodded firmly:
“It’s decided. My next goal will be to find a few venomous snakes and attempt to evolve venom glands.”
“To commemorate Brother King Rat, I’ll name this plan—Operation King Rat.”
Having made his decision, Mo Lin did not rush into action.
Although he felt nostalgic for Brother King Rat, he didn’t want to repeat last time’s mistake—carelessly intruding into another’s territory and being forced into a life-and-death battle.
So this time, Mo Lin acted with much greater caution, probing outward step by step, with his spring as the center.