Chapter 936 - Failure
Any Monster Gecko needed to eat the fruits hanging from the bone trees for survival. On top of that, it also seemed that it was their prime mode of nourishment. Krune hadn't seen them hunt anything else from the waters above the Primary Landmass.
Well, even if they did, they didn't do it anywhere near him, so he hadn't witnessed such actions. In any case, it seemed the roots of the bone trees either absorbed the water from the ocean or the blood mixed into the ocean as the fishes within killed one another.
Either way, it accumulated a lot of Blood Essence, condensing them into the fruits. So, any monster that consumed such fruits would absorb all the Blood Essence in it, developing accordingly. Throughout its life, as it consumed more and more of such fruits, its body would continue evolving until it became a mutant.
And, the end of such a journey was it becoming the king of its species. For a moment, Krune was inclined to eat a fruit to experiment. He didn't have such a notion at the start. After all, he didn't know what the fruit did.
But, now that he realized that it was beneficial to the monsters, he wondered if it would help him as well. If it did, then he would also be able to increase his physical might. And with an increase in his might, he would be able to use his Passive Abilities more frequently.
In the future, it might also help him a lot when he tackled the Tertiary Landmass and obtained an active ability. That way, he would obtain a lot of strength, enough to dominate Layer 3 and accumulate a lot of Godly Points in such a fashion.
This way, he would eventually be able to reach Layer 1 and leave the Sub-Realm. Committing suicide at present wouldn't be damaging to him since a fragment of Little Krune was in the Lawless Plains. So, he would easily revive there.
Though, Krune didn't wish to do that. After all, he was curious about the treasures present in the Sub-Realm. Just the passive abilities and the Pestlor that he obtained here were already worth it. So, Krune anticipated just how strong he would become at the end of this place.
He didn't wish to miss out on such opportunities. After all, if he died right now, all his accumulations wouldn't be transferred over to the Little Krune fragment in the Lawless Plains. Not to mention that his subspace was also with him currently.
There was no chance that it would be able to leave the Sub-Realm and appear in the Little Krune fragment due to the powerful spatial laws protecting the Sub-Realm. Losing the subspace would definitely be a tremendous loss for him.
So, after thinking it through, he didn't wish to be reckless, planning to first see if his method would allow him to harvest Godly Points.
Krune brought over the Monster Gecko he had captured, pushing it closer to the massive fruit hanging over the bone tree within the cave. To ensure it wouldn't kill him the moment he set it free, Krune dislocated its arm joints, making it emit muffled screams.
As it was gagged, it couldn't scream normally. Krune left it as is, gazing at the massive fruit hanging before him. He didn't know if it had fully ripened or not, unable to determine it. So, as he stared at it, from time to time, he glanced at the bound Monster Gecko, looking at its reaction.
After suffering from the pain of its arm joints getting dislocated, it slowly returned to a normal mental state, soon becoming allured by the massive fruit. With its changing expression and wagging tail that turned intense as time passed, Krune was eventually able to get an idea.
He then stretched his hand, intending to pluck it out when the Monster Gecko looked with an anxious expression. Upon seeing that it wasn't the time yet, Krune stopped. At regular intervals, he attempted to do the same, keeping watch of the Monster Gecko's expression.
Eventually, when the Monster Gecko no longer looked anxious as he stretched his hand, Krune realized that it was okay to pluck it out now. All he did was just sever the tiny bone branch by poking with his dagger.
It seemed that it was already in a delicate state, having to bear the tremendous weight of the massive fruit. So, all it needed was a light touch to break. When the massive fruit fell on the floor, the Monster Gecko stirred up, looking desperate.
Krune didn't say anything and untied it, watching it pounce on the massive fruit immediately. As it was unable to use its hands, all it could do was use its mouth to struggle while eating the fruit.
Though, as time passed, it seemed unable to endure eating, looking like it was on the verge of giving up. Upon seeing this, Krune frowned, realizing that it wasn't as easy as it sounded. After all, no matter how much it tried, the Monster Gecko seemed to have reached its limit.
It wasn't able to eat anymore. Unwilling to leave it as is, Krune soon helped cut the massive fruit into pieces and stuffed the Monster Gecko to the brim with it, watching its body balloon. After all, it had consumed a fruit that was almost as big as itself.
If not for the evolutionary property present within the fruit, no creature would be able to survive eating something as big as its own body. Though, it seemed the case wasn't the same for the Monster Gecko.
After all, when he finished stuffing it full, he noticed that it was showing the whites of its eyes already. Moreover, upon a closer inspection, he noticed that its heart was no longer beating. Unable to endure, the Monster Gecko had died.
"That's a loss." Krune scowled, thinking of something as he noticed the bone tree began to wilt. It seemed producing a massive fruit was the limit of a bone tree. So, once it had produced that, it began to lose all vitality.
Krune hurriedly made an incision on the Monster Gecko's tail and tied it to the stem of the bone tree, watching its blood be absorbed into the tree. With that, the bone tree's wilting slowed down. Unfortunately, it seemed as if it was about to die anyway.
Though as he watched the bone tree absorb the Monster Gecko's blood, Krune noticed something amiss, gazing at the Monster Gecko carcass to see its body gradually shrinking in size. This time, not only was the blood in its body being absorbed, but it seemed that even its flesh wasn't spared.
Krune muttered in confusion, "Is it because it's wilting this time and is the reason why it's also absorbing the flesh?"
"Then..." He looked with anticipation. "What will the result be?"
This was how most experiments went. One might have sought out to obtain something but might obtain something completely different instead. Krune looked at his tablet, noticing that he hadn't obtained a Godly Point.
It was obvious since the Monster Gecko failed to evolve and had died during the first phase itself.
And now, the wilting tree began to absorb everything in its body, reducing the rate of its wilting as it began to emit a mild reddish hue. The moment Krune retracted his Neon Radiance, he could see the reddish hue.
It was really dim, but in the pitch-black environment, it was obvious.
Six hours passed in such a fashion as the Monster Gecko became a withered husk. The moment he touched it, it crumbled into dust, as if everything that made up its body was fully absorbed. Though, the bone tree wasn't well-off either, wilting as the once twenty-meter tall tree was crumbling at the slightest touch.
The moment the branches fell on the floor, they crumbled into powder. Finally, when there was only powder in the cave, Krune dug through it using his bare hands, soon spotting a dim reddish radiance.
He continued to dig in such a manner, soon touching something solid, picking it up immediately as he observed it. It was a gem, shinning with a mild reddish hue. It was pretty tiny, only spanning a centimeter in length.
But at the very moment he saw it, Krune's heart thumped with increasing intensity. He was allured by it as his body wished to consume it whole. The moment he held it, Krune realized a certain fact: Eating it would prove to be beneficial to him.
Though, he dare not risk it at present, not in this cave where he didn't have anything to help him. He planned to try it in his cave. At least, if something went amiss, he could gouge out his stomach, swallow a Water Essence and jump into the pool.
That way, he was guaranteed to survive.
Krune carefully pocketed the reddish gem that he hastily called the Blood Essence Crystal and exited the cave, stopping at the entrance as he sighed. "It isn't easy obtaining Godly Points."
Now that he thought about it, Krune understood the reason the Monster Gecko King made all its able-bodied Monster Geckos fight each other to pick out a winner. It wasn't just a tournament. It was to determine the Monster Gecko that had evolved the most.
The stronger it was, the more it evolved it was. It meant that it had survived for a longer time by eating the fruits daily. That way, its body was more robust. So, the strongest Monster Gecko would be able to handle devouring the massive fruit and remain alive until it finished evolving into a Mutant.
It wasn't as if any Monster Gecko would cut it. So, Krune's plan was flawed from the start. "I cannot capture those Monster Geckos."
He sighed as he thought about it. It wasn't easy determining their development. After all, unless it was a Mutant or a King, all the Monster Geckos looked more or less the same. Only through a battle would the extent of their development be determined.
Krune didn't have the time to fight with the Monster Geckos to determine that. It would be too risky. That was why all he did was blind them first through his Neon Radiance before finishing them off immediately. He wasn't able to determine their strength and development in this manner.
So, Krune's plan of farming for Godly Points had wholly failed.