NOVEL NEXT Ch. 4
Chapter 4: “King Rat” Operation
After the King Rat Operation began, Mo Lin started investigating from the territory that originally belonged to the King Rat Snake.
It had to be said, the King Rat Snake truly lived up to the name of a strong one—“Within a mile, there is the King Rat Snake, within ten miles, no venomous snake.”
Mo Lin carefully explored along the King Rat Snake’s territory for more than a hundred meters, and indeed did not encounter many snakes.
But if Mo Lin were to continue exploring further out, he felt it was a bit risky.
From this perspective, the King Rat Snake had indeed taught Mo Lin a very good lesson.
Just one ambush had been enough to make him set aside arrogance and impatience.
Thus, for several days, Mo Lin still centered himself around his spring and the King Rat Snake’s former territory, gradually exploring outward, searching for traces of venomous snakes while also familiarizing himself with the environment.
And sure enough, this slow exploration truly yielded results for him.
Inside the former territory of the King Rat Snake, Mo Lin carefully coiled within the grass.
His black-brown skin served perfectly as camouflage, helping him evade the searching eyes of large birds in the sky.
But Mo Lin was being cautious not only to avoid aerial predators.
His eyes were fixed firmly on a pile of withered fallen leaves several meters away.
That pile of fallen leaves simply lay quietly on the ground, seemingly without any abnormalities.
If it were the Mo Lin from before he had learned to restrain arrogance and impatience, he would definitely have swum across it without any defense, for after all, a snake’s eyesight was not considered very good.
However, after having battled the King Rat Snake and gained some experience, Mo Lin instinctively felt that the pile of fallen leaves was suspicious.
So he decisively stopped moving, pressing his snake head lightly against the ground to sense the vibrations coming from it.
After several minutes, that pile of fallen leaves still showed no movement.
Just as Mo Lin was beginning to wonder if he was being too paranoid—
“Hiss\~”
There it was!
Mo Lin’s eyes lit up as he cautiously raised his head, scrutinizing the pile of leaves.
Amid the yellow-green fallen leaves and bits of decayed wood, a gray-brown snake was slowly moving, its skin blending perfectly with the environment.
But the triangular shape of its head unmistakably revealed its identity—Five-Pacer!
Mo Lin secretly praised his own alertness, even as cold sweat trickled.
The Five-Pacer, scientific name Deinagkistrodon acutus, was not the most venomous of snakes, nor the most famous, but the volume of venom it could inject was extremely high.
The most venomous Banded Krait could only discharge 4.6mg of venom in one strike, while a Five-Pacer could discharge up to 200mg at once.
And the danger of the Five-Pacer did not end there.
Though the Banded Krait’s venom was stronger, its black-and-white body pattern was strikingly conspicuous in the wild.
Almost everyone could notice it at a glance and instinctively realize—such a black-and-white snake must be very poisonous.
The Five-Pacer, however, blended perfectly with its natural surroundings.
If it coiled itself within a pile of fallen leaves, even someone standing directly before it and staring might fail to distinguish it.
Imagine then, a hidden Five-Pacer suddenly shooting out like an assassin, driving its venomous fangs—several millimeters long—into your body, and releasing venom without restraint.
That sensation...
But thanks to Mo Lin’s vigilance, no matter how well this Five-Pacer hid, it ultimately revealed a flaw.
The greatest danger of a venomous snake lay in its sudden strike and its venom.
Since Mo Lin had discovered the Five-Pacer first, and with his once-shed body already resistant to venom, the scales of victory had tilted toward Mo Lin even before the two clashed.
“Hiss\~”
The Five-Pacer had no inkling that it had already been targeted by a fellow of its kind—and even marked as prey.
It merely sensed that the scent of the King Rat Snake in this territory had faded, replaced by the unfamiliar aura of another snake.
Instinct told it this prey-rich land had lost its original master.
And it was now testing whether it could become the new ruler of this domain.
Unfortunately, the snake that had devoured the previous master had no intention of welcoming a new guest.
“Swish!”
As the Five-Pacer slithered to within five paces of Mo Lin, he seized the timing, lunging fiercely and sinking his fangs into its seventh inch.
A venomous snake that could not use its fangs or venom was no match for Mo Lin.
Thus, after merely trembling for a dozen seconds, this new would-be master ceased all struggle.
The contest between snakes was sometimes this swift and uneventful.
They were cold-blooded assassins of this world, always seeking a single lethal strike.
Mo Lin dragged the Five-Pacer’s corpse into a nearby rock crevice.
This was a safe spot he had discovered in recent days.
Here, he could feast to his heart’s content.
Very quickly, Mo Lin swallowed the entire Five-Pacer, including its venom glands, into his belly.
Closing his eyes, he could sense his snake body growing a bit stronger, while somewhere in his brain began to itch, as though something was about to sprout.
But though the itch lasted a long time, nothing happened in the end, save for his Strength, Agility, and other base stats increasing by +1.
Mo Lin opened his eyes, thoughtful:
“Looks like a single Five-Pacer isn’t enough for me to extract venom.”
Since one venomous snake was insufficient for evolution, the King Rat Operation had not yet ended.
With caution as his shield, Mo Lin began his hunt for venomous snakes.
Five-Pacer, Short-Tailed Viper, Bamboo Viper—the more he hunted, the more astonished he became, and the more grateful he felt toward Brother King Rat.
Where one snake fell, myriad snakes arose.
Mo Lin had not expected that the venomous snakes he had never encountered during all his days of wandering before the King Rat Snake’s death would suddenly emerge like bamboo shoots after rain.
There was even one time he was ambushed by a Short-Tailed Viper.
Had he not already devoured the King Rat Snake and several venomous snakes, greatly enhancing his resistance, he might truly have fallen then.
But now, naturally, all those venomous snakes ended up secured—into Mo Lin’s stomach, that is.
In terms of danger toward venomous snakes, Mo Lin now far surpassed the King Rat Snake.
For the King Rat Snake only struck venomous snakes within his territory, while Mo Lin hunted them proactively—whether they came to him or not.
For instance, at this very moment, Mo Lin flicked his tongue toward a Banded Krait.
His head itched greatly, as if something were growing, and his skin once again turned dry.
【Mo Lin】
【Strength: 50】
【Speed: 50】
【Agility: 50】
【Defense: 50】
【Demonic Power: 0】
【Abilities: Devour, Shedding, Venom Resistance】
From experience, Mo Lin knew this meant it was time for him to shed again.
And this shedding came less than a month after his last one.
Such a quick second shedding was surely tied to his recent frenzy of devouring venomous snakes.
Lately, when glancing at his reflection on the water’s surface, Mo Lin had noticed his head growing pointier, beginning to resemble a triangular venomous snake’s head.
Perhaps this was because venom glands were about to grow on both sides of his head.
Looking at the black-and-white patterned, fearsome Banded Krait before him, Mo Lin guessed that once he devoured it, he would undergo shedding again.
By then, the venom glands at the sides of his head would surely emerge.
Gazing at this snake—once hailed as the most venomous in all of Huaxia—Mo Lin no longer had the panic he once felt when facing venomous snakes.
Now, he fully lived up to the title of “Venomous Snake Slayer.”
“Hiss hiss!”
Just as Mo Lin was about to strike the Banded Krait and hasten his second shedding, he suddenly sensed vibrations on the ground—from a third presence other than himself and the Krait.
“Swish!”
Suddenly, a snake fork shot out from the grass, striking precisely at the Krait’s seventh inch.
No matter how it struggled, the black-and-white patterned venomous snake was pinned firmly beneath the fork.
“Haha, Father, I caught a Banded Krait! Our family’s tax payment for this year is secured!”
As the voice fell, a young man wearing rain boots and carrying a snake basket at his waist emerged from the grass.
Mo Lin’s pupils contracted.
Humans!