Chapter 75

Ye Nan hung upside down from a tree branch like a bat, one hand gripping Kenneth, the other Edgar, leaving them dangling in midair.

Beneath them lay a writhing mass of snakes—countless vipers tangled together in a vast pit, mating, their bodies a grotesque ball of scales and revolting saliva.

“How could there be so many vipers? Are they in mating season?” Kenneth muttered, staring down. He’d seen snakes mate before, but never so many giant vipers together—these were all predators.

“Looks like we took on a dangerous mission,” Edgar rolled free from Ye Nan’s grip, grabbed a tree trunk, and stared downward, every muscle taut.

“Beyond our wildest expectations,” Kenneth moved instantly, flipping upright and leaping onto a branch, sitting to Ye Nan’s left.

Ye Nan, now empty-handed, flipped over himself, gripping the tree with both hands, his face pale.

Though he’d seen films in his past life, and had mentally prepared before arriving, facing it now still made him feel sick.

“You didn’t tell me there were this many mutated giant vipers. Though their strength is far weaker than I imagined,” Edgar said, his expression grim as he stared down.

To professional soldiers like them, giant vipers weren’t much of a threat—only their saliva posed real danger, highly corrosive; a single touch could melt flesh.

“Everyone, disperse. The gorilla is mine and Edgar’s responsibility,” Kenneth murmured, pressing his earpiece.

“Received.”

Boom! The earth trembled violently, crushed under an unimaginable force that groaned in agony.

The giant vipers, previously entwined in frenzied mating, coiled their bodies and turned toward the direction of Jin Gang—then instantly spotted Ye Nan and the others.

“Gentlemen, looks like we’re in trouble,” Ye Nan joked. At this moment, he looked more like a warrior than a billionaire.

Even Kenneth felt a pang of dread under the gaze of countless vipers. “He’s focused on the gorilla—we’re just bystanders.”

“Then what are we waiting for? Run!” Ye Nan leapt suddenly toward a nearby tree. “I don’t want to be sandwiched between two kinds of beasts.”

Kenneth and Edgar exchanged a glance and immediately followed Ye Nan. From the start, their sharp minds had noticed his difference—he’d fled the moment the gorilla hadn’t even moved, as if he’d foreseen it.

“This Ye Nan clearly has secrets.”

In the Snake Valley, countless giant vipers hissed proudly, coiled like loyal guards around the blood orchid.

Jin Gang sprinted from afar, originally intending to catch more small prey—but the brilliant crimson blood orchid seized its attention. In an instant, it forgot Ye Nan and the others, fixated greedily on the flower before it.

With its limited brain, it couldn’t comprehend what the flower was—but its body, its instinct, screamed: swallow the blood orchid, and gain immense benefit.

Seeing Jin Gang fixated on its blood orchid, the vipers erupted in fury. They thrashed wildly, slithering up trees and through grass, charging at Jin Gang without fear of death.

Far away, Ye Nan, Kenneth, and Edgar halted, staring in stunned silence.

“How… how many giant vipers are there?”

Endless. Not just the vipers entangled in the pit, but countless more surging from the forest—as if the entire earth had become an ocean of serpents.

Over thousands of years, countless vipers, nourished by the blood orchid, mutated, mated, and gave birth to new mutated giants. They were the undisputed masters of this Amazonian jungle—at least, of this patch of primal forest.

“Thank heaven we didn’t act rashly. Otherwise, the frenzied vipers would’ve drowned us all,” Kenneth said calmly, pulling a sharp dagger from his belt. “I’ll retrieve the blood orchid.”

“No need. I’ll go myself,” Ye Nan refused, taking the dagger from Kenneth, leaping lightly through the trees, and sprinting toward the cliff.

Since gaining his power, his body had evolved—but he’d only guessed his limits, never tested them in battle. Now was the perfect chance.

As Ye Nan thought this, his gaze locked onto the three vipers circling the blood orchid, their tongues flicking.

The three vipers included one with two slight bulges on its head—like horns. In Eastern terms, this signaled a serpent on the verge of becoming a dragon.

“Little serpent, dreaming of becoming a dragon? Today, you’ll be my stepping stone to test my strength.”

Hiss! The vipers guarding the blood orchid spotted Ye Nan, instantly flicking their tongues, locking cold, warning-filled eyes on him.

"You little beast, you even know to warn me?" Ye Nan smiled, idly twirling the dagger. "You'd be smarter to step aside and run."

As if sensing insult, the viper hissed sharply. The other two surged forward.

Ye Nan didn’t flinch or retreat. He stepped forward, swung his dagger, and severed one viper’s body. Crimson blood spilled across the ground.

As Ye Nan killed the first, another viper whipped its tail—slicing through air, it cracked against Ye Nan’s side, flinging him backward.

“Not bad, speed’s quick,” Ye Nan muttered. A deep crimson gash marred his right side; his clothes were ripped open by the tail’s strike.

The viper stared coldly, coiled sharply, then launched like an arrow loosed from a bow.

Ye Nan had already read its movement. He rolled sideways, slashing repeatedly with the dagger—each cut carving open the viper’s scales.

“Animals are always just animals.”

Ye Nan sneered inwardly—then felt a sharp pain on his knuckles, his arm numb. Two puncture wounds appeared on his dagger-hand, dark crimson blood oozing out—clearly poisoned.