Out on a deserted highway late at night.

Lin Zichen looked down at the half-human, half-rat corpse on the ground, his expression puzzled.

‘That was it?’

He had just picked up a rock, thrown it—and killed him?

Were there really Rat God Cult followers this weak?

When he left the flower shop earlier, Lin Zichen had sensed someone tailing him.

At first, he thought it was just a coincidence, that he was being paranoid.

But as he neared the highway, that person suddenly sped up, rushing toward him.

When Lin turned to look, he saw a face covered in fur and eight eyes staring back. Without hesitation, he ran.

But after a while, he realized the pursuer was slow—too slow to catch up.

So he stopped, picked up a rock and threw it to test their strength.

The result? Instant kill.

Was this thing free exp?

Confused but unconcerned, Lin Zichen crouched down, placed his fingers on the corpse and activated devour.

[You have devoured a trace of the Life Origin of a Giant Aberrant Rat]

[Giant Aberrant Rat Compendium: 8%]

‘Only a 1% increase? How pathetic.’

No wonder this Ratman was such trash.

Lin Zichen shook his head, cleaned up the scene and left the highway.

He decided not to continue his nightly jogs. It was too risky.

After all, not every Rat God Cult believer was as weak as this one.

Some of them were far stronger, their mutated bodies durable enough to withstand gunfire.

* * *

Back home, Lin Zichen trained intensively for hours.

From time to time, he heard Shen Qinghan’s sweet singing from the next room.

She was practicing again, preparing seriously for the late December singing contest.

After training, he showered and sat against the wall, scrolling through news on his phone.

Soon, a headline caught his eye.

According to the City Security Minister, the recent string of rich heir disappearances had been confirmed as the work of Rat God Cult followers.

The minister expressed fury and shame, vowing to eliminate the cult and restore order to Shanhai City—or resign in disgrace if he failed.

‘What were the Rat God Cult’s believers doing with those rich heirs? Were they trying to get themselves killed?’

Lin Zichen couldn’t figure it out.

But since it was late, he turned off the light and went to sleep.

Tomorrow was the start of his school-wide challenge; he needed rest.

* * *

The next morning, just before dawn.

Even before his alarm went off, Lin Zichen woke up.

He checked the time—still early—so he stayed in bed, scrolling through the news app.

The top pinned article shocked him.

“Good news! At 3 a.m. last night, the City Security Headquarters, in collaboration with Shanhai University’s Evolution Academy, annihilated the Rat God Cult!”

‘The Rat God Cult was destroyed?’

Lin Zichen was stunned. He quickly opened the article.

The report said the City Security Headquarters had requested assistance from an Evolution Academy instructor, who handled the Rat King while the department wiped out the cult followers.

The instructor was a Gene Fuser with an Advanced-level biological rank, named Wu Tiancheng.

‘Wu Tiancheng? The strongest student in Shanhai High School’s history? Didn’t he just graduate a few years ago? How was he already a university instructor? Right after graduation?’

Perplexed, Lin searched online and confirmed it—the same Wu Tiancheng from his school’s records.

He had graduated two years prior, initially slated to stay on at Kyoto University, but had been recruited back to Shanhai University instead.

Continuing to scroll, Lin found an official video released by the City Security Headquarters.

He tapped play.

The footage showed a remote mountain forest.

As the camera panned, a massive creature—nearly ten meters long—came into view.

It was the self-proclaimed god, the Rat King. Its enormous, mountain-like body loomed over the terrain, monstrous and grotesque.

In the air above, a bird-man hovered, facing it head-on.

Moments later, battle erupted.

The ground shattered, the sky trembled and the clash was terrifying to behold.

Yet within thirty seconds, the enormous Rat King was slain.

The bird-man’s feathers sliced through its gigantic frame like blades, reducing it to minced flesh.

Then, the bird-man folded his wings and landed, his avian traits fading rapidly as he transformed back into a muscular young man.

It was Wu Tiancheng.

He could freely switch between human and avian form—and launch feathers as deadly projectiles.

An Advanced Creature indeed.

‘So powerful…’

Lin Zichen watched the video, burning with envy.

* * *

At the Shanhai City Security Headquarters.

Inside the minister’s office.

A square-faced middle-aged man sat across from a muscular young man, both drinking tea.

“Any word from your teacher, Tiancheng?” the minister asked.

The young man shook his head, “Still missing. Everyone who went to suppress the No.36 Source Site riot is unaccounted for.”

“How’s the situation there now?”

“It’s stabilized. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to come clean up these small fry.”

“Small fry, huh?” the minister chuckled, “Back during the Source 36 riot, you were just a middle schooler. Ten years later, you’ve evolved into an Advanced Creature. Even the Rat King that had us helpless was nothing but a small fry to you. Geniuses truly are different.”

He smiled, then asked, “Since you’re back in town, how about visiting your old high school for a lecture?”

Wu Tiancheng waved dismissively, “No time. I need to return to the Source Site soon. If that Rat King hadn’t eaten so many, I wouldn’t have been sent here at all.”

* * *

Meanwhile, deep beneath Shanhai City.

In a vast underground cavern, a Giant Aberrant Rat over ten meters long trembled before a four-meter-tall, three-eyed giant.

“You started by eating beggars and vagrants, then young and beautiful people and finally even the powerful. I brought you here to Shanhai City to grow your kind and dig tunnels—not to devour humans like a glutton. Tell me, do you deserve to live?”

The three-eyed giant raised his right foot and pressed it against the rat’s snout, glaring down coldly.

“Please, Lord, give me another chance!” the rat pleaded.

“A chance? Maybe... But you’ll have to give something in return.”

Suddenly, the giant drove his hand into one of the rat’s eyes.

Splurt!

A scream echoed through the cavern as he withdrew a massive eyeball, the size of a basketball.

Ignoring the creature’s cries, the giant grinned, opened his bloody maw and bit into the eye, savoring it slowly.

“Still smells foul, but tastes divine, as always. You may be stupid, but at least you’re smart enough to let your brother be the public Rat King while you hide in the shadows. But if you don’t start digging tunnels like you’re supposed to, even self-preservation won’t save you.”

With another wet pop, he ripped out the other eye and ate it, calming his rage through the act.