"We do need someone to watch them, but you two have the night shift as well. Elder Hua and I can just take turns," Ren Yuanyang replied with a nod.
"Chief, I don’t have a shift tonight. Let me watch over them for you!" Xin Wan volunteered.
Nearby, Hua Wen also raised his hand. "I can help Grandpa keep watch! I’m wide awake at night!"
Hua Lingfang ruffled Hua Wen’s hair. "You’re at a growing age. You can’t be staying up late!"
"Alright, Elder Hua and I will take turns on lab duty tonight. Everyone else, get some proper rest. That’s an order!" Ren Yuanyang’s tone left no room for argument.
Lu Jiamei and the others could only answer in unison, "Yes, sir!"
"Elder Hua, you should go get some rest first. I’ll take the first half of the night, and you can take over for the second," Ren Yuanyang continued.
Hua Lingfang nodded. "Alright, I’ll go rest now then!" With that, he led Hua Wen out of the lab.
The others also said their goodbyes and left.
As Ren Yuanyang watched the energetic white mice that had been injected with the Evolution Potion, he suddenly realized something. He probably didn’t need to determine their condition just by observing them!
He immediately reached into the cage and touched one of the white mice.
[Ding! Semi-evolved white mouse detected. Evolution in progress...]
The system prompt appeared instantly.
’It really works!’
Ren Yuanyang’s eyes lit up, but he soon discovered that the system prompt lacked the key information he was looking for—things like how long it would take for the mouse to complete its evolution, or if it would even survive to become an Evolutionary Mouse.
’It’s probably limited by my Mental Energy again!’ Ren Yuanyang thought, shaking his head in resignation. After checking the other groups of mice, he sat down in a nearby chair and started scrolling through his phone.
The regional channel was filled with cries of despair.
"Help! I can’t drive this Evolutionary Fish away! It’s about to chew my raft to pieces!"
"What the hell? The thing I ran into isn’t a fish, it’s a fucking drill! It’s about to bore right through my boat!"
"You guys have it easy. A lot of bamboo rafts have already been sunk by Evolutionary Fish!"
"Instead of wasting time posting here, get a move on! Head for one of the big bases. You might make it before an Evolutionary Fish destroys your boat!"
"I guess that’s our only option. It’s a long shot, but it’s all we’ve got. I’m so jealous of people with metal boats!"
"Don’t be. Our base’s metal boat was attacked too, and it’s nearly destroyed! From what everyone’s reporting, it just seems like metal boats have a lower chance of being attacked."
"That’s right. And the Evolutionary Fish that do attack metal boats are even more ferocious!"
"How are we supposed to survive this?! We finally had a period of peace, and now the underwater creatures are stirring things up again!"
Just as Ren Yuanyang was feeling grateful for the safety of his own base, Si Youqin and her group, having just finished dinner on the yacht, jumped down onto the Duckweed.
A small team was left on duty aboard the yacht, while the others headed to their new homes to rest.
Suddenly, a strange fish leaped from the water, lunging straight for Si Youqin, who was at the rear of the group!
Si Youqin couldn’t react in time and could only watch helplessly as the strange fish came at her.
At that very moment, a Metal Shield materialized between Si Youqin and the strange fish!
DANG!
The impact knocked the Metal Shield back nearly half a meter, stopping just short of hitting Si Youqin.
Fortunately, the strange fish had been blocked and had fallen onto the Duckweed. Only then did Si Youqin quickly scramble away from it.
Jin Ziyu immediately manipulated the shield, transforming it into a Flying Sword that shot toward the strange fish!
But to her surprise, the strange fish hopped a few times on the Duckweed with incredible speed, dodging the Flying Sword before diving back into the water and vanishing from sight.
"What was that thing?" Si Youqin asked, still shaken. "Didn’t the Chief say our base wasn’t worried about attacks from Evolutionary Fish?"
Jin Ziyu shook her head. "I don’t know. The fish’s body looked like it had a lot of rotting patches. It probably wasn’t a normal fish."
"No wonder I smelled such a foul, piercing stench just now!" Si Youqin said with dawning realization.
"Everyone, stay on your guard. Let’s get back to the bamboo houses for now," Jin Ziyu said. "I’ll report this to the Chief."
Si Youqin nodded and then gestured for the others to head toward the bamboo houses.
Jin Ziyu immediately reported what had just happened to Ren Yuanyang on her phone.
Ren Yuanyang was stunned when he received the message. "Are you sure it was a fish?"
"It definitely looked like a fish, but its body was covered in rotting patches!" Jin Ziyu’s tone was completely certain.
"Okay, I understand. You all be careful for now," Ren Yuanyang replied. He then grabbed a branch of a banyan tree and began to sense the conditions underwater throughout the entire Banyan Forest.
Sure enough, a system notification appeared.
[Ding! Bitter grass has entangled a mutated fish. Please proceed to clear...]
After reading the system’s description of mutated fish, Ren Yuanyang finally understood. The creature that attacked Si Youqin was a mutated fish.
Mutated fish were a special species formed when large-scale genetic mutations occurred due to specific factors, such as nuclear radiation or toxic solvents.
It was the same phenomenon that created human Mutants.
After mutating, these fish were no longer considered normal, which meant the effects of the dizzy fish grass on them could be drastically reduced!
The bitter grass beneath the Banyan Forest had entangled two mutated fish, which were still struggling. Including the one that had just attacked Si Youqin, that made a total of three!

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