Nose twitching slightly.
Walking lightly through the dense forest, rays of light filtered down through the gaps in the tall canopy above.
The surrounding air was fresh, mixed with the strange smells of grass, trees, and earth.
But Merlin wasn't smelling these; he was tracking other scents lingering in the environment.
In the deep mountains and old forests, especially near water sources, there must be a complete biological chain nearby.
Sniffing the various scents existing in the air, he looked around as he walked, his pupils constantly constricting and dilating with the changes in ambient light.
Various creatures constantly appeared in Merlin's field of vision.
A gray-brown tree lizard camouflaged as bark lying on a tree trunk.
A gray rodent twitching its ears in the grass.
A long-eared rabbit-like creature poking its head out of a burrow and hurriedly retreating.
All kinds of life scenes came into view.
The unique charm of nature unfolded continuously before his eyes.
This kind of natural beauty, rare in his previous life, was everywhere here and even more prominent.
Seeing these scenes, Merlin's heart beat powerfully, and a hunting emotion gradually surged in his heart.
An impulse to run recklessly and jump up and down quietly welled up from the bottom of his heart.
As Merlin walked, his body suddenly jolted, and he stopped, falling into deep thought.
"It shouldn't be like this. Why do I have these 'bestial' thoughts?"
Was it the influence of the [Lynx]?
Yes.
This thought immediately surfaced in Merlin's mind. Long-term [Equipping] of a creature would be subtly influenced by the creature's habits.
Reflecting in his heart.
Merlin's expression became uncertain.
The cunning, vigilance, and hunting biological habits etched in the instincts of the lynx.
This bestiality.
"As the synchronization deepens in the future, will it really affect my own habits and consciousness?"
Merlin dared not be completely sure at this moment that he wouldn't be affected.
One or two types were okay,
But if he equipped many creatures in the future, what would he become?
Hesitation appeared in his eyes, but soon, the hesitation disappeared:
"If I give up eating for fear of choking, the loss outweighs the gain.
"If there is mental influence, then fight it from the mental level."
Use magic to defeat magic.
Merlin vaguely remembered that this world wasn't without techniques involving the cultivation of the mind, spirit, and will.
For example, in Kendo, the ordinary level is to hone skills towards exquisiteness, while at a deeper level, it involves various applications of consciousness, mind, and spirit.
Like meditation, sword zen, etc.
Or the Navy's Six Styles, Life Return. Merlin always felt that techniques similar to pouring consciousness into the body to control oneself involved the mental and spiritual aspects.
Like a kind of visualization or contemplation.
Although he didn't know exactly how to do it, combined with the "vision" gained from reading many "books" in his previous life, this general direction shouldn't be wrong.
The water in this world is very deep. The strong can change the weather and destroy islands. It seems there are no cultivation methods involving dual cultivation of life and nature like in Wuxia or Xianxia worlds, but everywhere reveals various inheritances of cultivation techniques.
Thoughts swirled in his mind. There was light in Merlin's eyes, as if a leaf blocking his vision had been lifted, and the door to a mysterious world was slowly opening a crack before his eyes.
His heart beat powerfully, and the light in his eyes flickered constantly.
At this moment, Merlin couldn't help but sigh in his heart:
Hello, World!
The world wouldn't respond to him, nor would a Devil Fruit fall from the sky and hit him on the head.
Suddenly, Merlin dodged to the side. With the sound of breaking wind, Thud! a muffled sound appeared from where he had just stood.
The corner of Merlin's mouth twitched as he looked at a fruit on the ground.
A bright red, round, unknown fruit, the size of a human head, somewhat resembling a papaya.
Squeaking sounds of delight came from a large tree to the side. Merlin looked up gloomily.
A brown-haired monkey with a face resembling a painted mask appeared on the treetop filled with such fruits amidst the lush foliage.
Its powerful tail wrapped around the branch, and a pair of front paws pulled at its face, making grimaces at Merlin and squeaking mockingly.
Merlin put his right hand in his pocket, gripping a grenade, his gaze becoming unkind.
At this time, the monkey let out a long screech, as if frightened by Merlin's aura, suddenly leaped to another branch, swung quickly among the treetops, and disappeared.
"Stinking monkey, count yourself lucky!" Merlin curled his lip and cursed, "If you had the guts to be a few seconds slower, this brother would definitely treat you to a big treasure."
At this time, surprise appeared in Merlin's eyes because many of the trees in this surrounding forest were fruit trees.
Even the air was filled with a faint fruity fragrance.
Merlin took two steps, bent down to pick up the fruit on the ground, and knocked on it with his knuckles thud thud.
Then, his five fingers dug into both ends of the fruit and pried it open with a crack. Looking at the orange-red flesh growing in a ring inside the peel, like a dragon fruit, Merlin grabbed a piece and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing. It was sweet and sour, full of juice.
His eyes gradually lit up.
"Good place! The fruits here should all be edible, right?"
Swallowing the delicious flesh, a smile flashed in Merlin's eyes. At this time, a rustling sound of branches and leaves came.
Merlin looked up and saw the monkey return again. This time, holding an apple in its left hand, Whoosh! it threw it over again.
Merlin's face darkened. But this time he was prepared. His right arm raised agilely, Smack! and caught the fruit.
Seeing this scene, the monkey squeaked in anger, scratching its ears and cheeks, baring its teeth at Merlin.
Merlin didn't indulge it. He took a sudden step forward with his left foot, pulled his right arm back, aimed, and threw it violently.
Whoosh! The apple flew towards the monkey with a faint whistling sound. The monkey was agile but scurried to another branch in panic.
The corner of Merlin's mouth curled up. In the next moment, he took his hand out of his pocket holding the grenade, pulled the pin with his left hand.
And then threw it violently.
The monkey fled to the side again in exasperation.
But just then,
BOOM! An explosion occurred in mid-air. Although the monkey dodged it, it was greatly startled by the explosion and the fire.
"Squeak squeak—"
It screamed.
It tucked its tail and fled into the distance among the treetops.
Seeing this, Merlin curled his lip, then his eyes flashed. His body moved, and he suddenly sprinted in pursuit.
The monkey swung further and further away in the treetops. Merlin moved quickly on the ground. Crossing mountains and ridges, passing through a bamboo forest, before long, Merlin slowed down.
Squeak squeak squeak—
Gah gah gah—
At this moment,
Chasing the monkey, Merlin arrived in a denser forest of ancient, gnarled trees. The surrounding treetops were crawling with monkeys of that same kind, big and small.
The monkey calls were dense, like surround sound speakers turned on.
Merlin's gaze hardened at this time because he vaguely and instinctively sensed danger here.
Clang!
Holding the hilt of the katana with his right hand, the snow-bright blade with flame patterns was unsheathed.
Squeak squeak squeak!!!
The monkeys in the trees screamed piercingly at Merlin, the uninvited guest.
In the next moment, a rain of various fruits fell from the sky, smashing towards Merlin overwhelmingly.
Eye twitching, Merlin turned and ran. Although individual hits wouldn't cause much damage, under this dense offensive of fruits, if he didn't dodge, getting bruised and battered was certain.
If hit in the back of the head, Merlin couldn't guarantee he wouldn't be knocked unconscious.
So.
At this moment, Merlin fully utilized his agility, dodging left and right, moving in a serpentine pattern.
The sharp katana in his hand waved wildly as he dodged.
With Swish! Swish! sounds of the blade, fruits were split in two from time to time.
But there were also Thud! Thud! muffled sounds from his back and thighs. He grimaced in pain, constantly sucking in cold air.
However, the fruits were not infinite after all.
Before long, the monkeys ran out of ammo and could only scratch their faces and screech angrily at Merlin, jumping up and down in the trees.
At this time, during his escape just now, Merlin had unknowingly arrived twenty meters in front of a gnarled ancient tree that was tens of meters thick and had become fossilized at the bottom. The monkey calls around were extremely shrill.
Merlin looked vigilantly at the base of the ancient tree directly in front. There was a tree hole three meters in diameter and five meters high.
A pair of oily green lights, half a meter apart, loomed in the dark tree hole.
Because of the significant difference in light between the inside and outside of the tree hole, Merlin couldn't see the situation inside clearly for a moment.
But Merlin didn't need to think much to guess it must be a big guy.
ROAR—
A deafening roar came from the tree hole, followed by a black shadow rushing out with a whoosh.
Running on all fours, it rushed in front of Merlin in the blink of an eye. Its muscular right forelimb raised, five sharp claws gleaming like daggers, and slammed towards Merlin's head with a whistling wind.
At this moment,
Merlin's pupils suddenly constricted to pinpoints. The movement of this huge black-furred monkey slowed down in his eyes. His body muscles tensed reflexively. While bending his knees and leaping backward, he blocked upward and forward with both arms.
At the same time, the calamity ability in his body instinctively operated, and pitch-black flames ignited on his hands with a whoosh.
Bam! Crack!
In an instant, Merlin felt like he was hit by a speeding cement truck. His arms bent backward instantly, slamming into his own chest. Pfft! He spurred out a mouthful of blood.
Merlin shot backward with a whoosh in the blink of an eye. At this moment, Merlin's consciousness went blank for a second.
Thud! His body smashed heavily onto the ground and rolled away.
But in this heavy blow, the dull, intense pain from Merlin's internal organs pulled his consciousness back.
A hundred meters away, Merlin lay motionless on the ground, but black flames continued to rise from his forearms and hands.