Transcendent Gene
Chapter 43: Blackwing Blood Serpent [3]

Chapter 43: Blackwing Blood Serpent [3]

’How did it get so far?’

Gio didn’t expect the serpent to be this resilient. Unlike monsters, beasts had a strong desire to live that surpassed everything else, so he did expect a struggle, but for it to almost reach the cave entrance?

The gas had cleared up and Gio approached to look into the tunnel, but he never thought his eyes would lock with those of his target.

For just a moment before they lost their light, he saw it, and it saw him.

’That could have gone terribly.’

With just a little more power, it would have charged out of the cave. Even if it would have fallen regardless, Gio didn’t want to risk any kind of contact.

’But it should be fine now.’

He physically watched the life fade away from its eyes.

He still approached slowly, but with much less caution. The beast was nothing more than a corpse, so he didn’t need to fear it.

’There isn’t a smell of blood, but a smell of poison, so nothing will be attracted in the short term. Once I cut it open, though, it’ll be a problem.’

He had to be quick.

The belt around his waist was filled with the equipment he would need.

’Extracting Essence Blood isn’t a short process, but it’s easy to set up. I just need to find its heart...’

He tapped the screen on the watch that now adorned his wrist. It was also borrowed technology that he took from the lab, but this one he’d be forced to return.

A light left the watch, hovering over the serpent corpse and becoming brighter until it illuminated the whole thing. That light wasn’t just any scanning mechanism. It was the light of Aether, able to pierce through the protective coating of those scales and see what was within.

Soon enough, an image was formed on Gio’s wrist. He followed it, finding the spot that corresponded to the diagram. He was on top of the serpent’s body at this point, roughly thirty feet from its head.

’This should be good.’

He reached into his belt and found a syringe-like object. He then found a bag filled with fine needles and attached the longest one to the syringe tip.

Slowly, he inserted the needle into the space between the serpent’s scales, digging into its skin.

An ordinary syringe wouldn’t be able to pierce this skin, but the needle was specifically manufactured to pierce through beast skin of an even higher level than this serpent. As for the syringe, it was also a special product.

The moment Gio was sure the needle was as close to the heart as it could get, he pressed a small button into the syringe.

The space within suddenly lit up. A vacuum force was released, keeping the syringe stuck inside of the beast’s body.

It couldn’t be seen, but at this moment, the tip of the syringe was being infused with Aether and elongated so it could pierce the heart. That same Aether coating acted as a filter, allowing only Essence Blood to enter the syringe.

The Essence Blood of a beast or monster was the core of its life force. If one had to find a comparison in the human body, it was the Original Gene.

The core abilities and traits of the beast were stored in its Essence Blood just as Original Genes were the core of a human.

There was a limited amount of Essence Blood in the body of a single beast, only enough to fill a single special syringe like the one Gio had, made for the purpose of extracting it.

And, unlike the blood that flowed through the body, Essence Blood remained in the heart, allowing it to be collected in one fell swoop. One only needed to wait for it to be filtered out and suctioned.

’The rest of its body is full of treasures too. The truck won’t be able to carry it all.’

They’d come with only a single vehicle because Gio wanted the operation to be quiet, however, the Old Lady had access to many things. She had people on standby to bring more vehicles over to transport cargo when the time came.

Of course, she didn’t do it for free. She and Gio were like family, but if she was going to support his crazy ambitions, she was going to take a cut of the money.

After all, this operation would have been wholly impossible for another year if it weren’t for her intervention.

Gio waited, thinking such things as he waited for the Essence Blood to be extracted. He watched the syringe as its vial was first filled with clear liquid which was then slowly replaced by a thick, almost black kind of blood.

There was only one thing Gio forgot to consider.

Well, it wasn’t that he forgot to consider it. Rather, it was something he didn’t know.

After all, there were only a couple dozen Blackwing Blood Serpents that had ever been discovered in the world. Their habits were largely known, but not entirely explored.

There was one particular trait it possessed that couldn’t be discovered unless one approached it the way Gio did.

The Blackwing Blood Serpent was known for its powerful venom and its ability to spit poisonous flames. Those poisonous flames were especially dangerous, as they were colorless like gas.

Right...

The flame-breathing ability of the Blackwing Blood Serpent was derived from the base ability of some Blood Serpents to spit poison and poisonous gas.

Therefore, the gland it used to produce its fire was very similar to those glands. It was an improved form, even.

The poisonous gas invaded the serpent’s lungs, heart, and other organs. The sleep-inducing properties invaded its brain and shut its mind down.

But its nervous system was being kept alive by the pain being forcefully transmitted through its receptors.

Even if it wasn’t awake, it was awake.

And even if all of its other organs were gone, there was one that was specifically made to resist poison gas.

As Gio stood there atop the serpent’s back, he felt a slight jolt. He felt an extremely slight movement in response to the first bit of Essence Blood that entered the syringe.

His eyes widened immediately. He jumped off of the snake, but it was already too late.

He was too hasty.

He went for its Essence Blood before its bodily systems had completely halted their function. There was no consciousness in the snake’s eyes, but it reacted as if it was alive.

—!

There wasn’t any sound as it opened its mouth in what looked like a bellow. Its head raised off of the ground, and soon enough, its body rapidly whipped to the left.

"Shit!"

Gio exclaimed as he rapidly threw himself onto the ground.

BANG!

The snake’s body slammed against the cave wall, sending rocks and debris flying into the air. Gio rolled away, trying to get on his feet as fast as possible, but he was forced to floor himself again before he ever had the chance.

BANG!

The snake’s body moved only to move, slamming from side to side. From its wide open mouth, drops of liquid sputtered out, landing on the ground and igniting it. A small sea of flames was starting to spread through the tunnel.

And Gio...

Gio was under the serpent, rolling desperately to avoid its flaying tail and body.

He looked into those flames and into the exit past it. His eyes went up to the glint of metal he could see in the serpent’s back.

The syringe was still inside its body, sucking up its Essence Blood.

The syringe was probably also what activated its bodily functions, creating this situation.

In other words, unless he somehow managed to escape, he was going to be stuck here until the Essence Blood was completely removed.

He could have never imagined that the first time he’d face death in the Wilds was against a beast that was already dead.