Chapter 274

Chapter 274: Time to Slim Down

"Ah woo… ah woo…"

"Not bad… not bad…"

Trilobite dragged the Moschops corpse into shallow water and feasted heartily.

"Hmm, archosaur meat… tastes familiar."

"Ah, but just passable…"

Honestly, predator meat wasn’t that tasty.

Low fat content, not flavorful, and rather tough.

But Trilobite felt his standards had dropped since becoming non-human. Things once unpalatable to humans now seemed delicious.

He’d eat anything raw now.

The only drawback…

"Hmm, lost the head. That Kunpeng Pterosaur snatched it."

"Whatever. She helped out, so sharing’s fair."

"Besides, heads have little meat anyway."

Though Trilobite enjoyed exotic foods, organs like eyes or brains weren’t his favorite—just mediocre.

Take-it-or-leave-it stuff.

No great loss if the pterosaur took it.

"Speaking of, isn’t she my client?"

"Consider it a freebie. Should earn me brownie points."

"Boosts customer retention, right? Definitely boosts retention!"

Imagining the pterosaur returning with her gal pals for consultation services made Trilobite’s heart soar.

"Hmm…"

"Let’s check my Chaos Energy…"

"Oh!?"

"Nice!"

He’d received 250,000 Chaos Energy from Lady Kunpeng Pterosaur earlier. Now this Moschops kill added 350,000.

"Total…"

"600,000!"

"Yay!"

"Now… what to splurge on…"

"Hmm…"

As an air sac crocodile with stubby legs and a beer-barrel belly, Trilobite lumbered clumsily on land. His aquatic capability remained equally unimpressive.

But the air sac crocodile counted on its tough build and tyrannosaur-thick skull, making nobody dare mess with it!

Plus their prey was just early synapsids like the Water Lizard—too slow to escape "sluggish" predators like the air sac crocodile over short distances. One chomp finished them.

“But that wouldn’t work now.”

“This world’s space-time’s all tangled.”

“Moschops showed up, Serpent Tooth Dragons crawled out too.”

“Might even get speedsters like Lystrasaurus; critters like Siberian Cup Dragon pack serious bulk.”

“So…”

“Gotta have long legs.”

With that thought, Trilobite pulled up the "Evolution STEAM Store" to browse upgrade projects again.

“First, reshaping this body.”

“Getting chubby as a seal.”

“Need stronger, leaner…”

【You purchased body reshaping, costing 250,000 Chaos Energy.】

【You purchased limb structure correction (agile upright type), costing 150,000 Chaos Energy.】

“Oof, that’s pricey!”

“Makes sense though.”

“Body reshaping” here wasn’t just instant slimming—it warped round shapes into ovals.

Like stretching a hippo into a giraffe…

Trilobite’s change wasn’t that wild, but bodies aren’t playdough. Bones, organs, muscles, nerves—all evolution’s tangled junk.

Tweak one thing, everything wobbles.

“Stretching” meant rebuilding the body, sometimes from the ground up!

So…

“Sssk…”

“Crack—!”

Bones snapped short or vanished; muscles knotted and squirmed; vessels snaked longer, nerves spiderwebbed; organs writhed, swelling or shrinking.

And Trilobite…

“Roar—!”

“Thud—!”

He slammed face-first into muddy ground, shuddering as guts rearranged.

Felt like getting drop-kicked in the guts.

So damn painful…

“Ungh…”

"Gululu…"

Despite the pain, Trilobite didn’t forget his safety.

"In my current state, my combat capability must be pitifully low."

"That Moschops earlier could’ve crushed me easily."

"Need to find hiding!"

"Hey—!"

He snatched the half-eaten headless Moschops and slowly sank to the water’s bottom, clawing through sludge to bury himself alongside the carcass.

"Huff…"

"Lying low here for now."

"Hmm, let’s see…"

Trilobite felt this wasn’t secure enough.

"Must spend energy to buy a self-defense organ."

"You’ll do!"

【You purchased a lungfish’s bladder for 20,000 Chaos Energy.】

"Seems all parts got pricier."

"Still affordable though."

Lungfish—those "useless fish" that drown in water—had one survival trick.

When droughts struck, they’d secrete a sticky cocoon trapping moisture. This membrane halted liquid loss while slowing their metabolism to a crawl. Using lung-breathing, they’d endure harsh dry spells, even hibernating four years inside their self-made bladders.

"Now I can sleep soundly while installing this new part!"

"Splash… splash… splash…"

Trilobite kept digging into Primal Mud until fully submerged.

—-

God’s War had ended, yet the Sea of Ether churned violently, deterring lesser deities.

Only when stillness returned…

"Buzz—!"

Two Outer Gods from the Void streaked across the sky, circling above as if scouting.

Soon their debate erupted:

"Bloodscent."

"Battle marks!"

"Void Energy lingers between Fantasy Trees!"

"No corpses though—gone without trace!"

"No wounds visible—can’t ID the kill method!"

"No other god’s aura nearby…"

"Only suspect left is Gimmerly!"

"Witnesses! We need witnesses!"

Luck favored them.

Witnesses emerged fast.

"Pop—!"

"Pop—!"

"Pop—!"

Three pairs of ear blades pierced the swamp’s surface.

The blood octopus Outer God!

It glanced around, diving repeatedly into the Sea of Ether to scavenge through Primal Mud—clearly preoccupied.

But the Void envoys cared not for its business.

As imperial emissaries, they demanded:

"You there!"

"By order of the Supreme Members—greatest of Demon Gods, mighty Barbatos—answer us!"

"Did you witness the battle!?"