Night fell. Liam sat beside the campfire with the young girl.

  Although Liam had absorbed the power of the Fire Serpent, perhaps due to insufficient genetic compatibility, he could only spray a tiny spark from his tail. It was pathetic, but more than enough to start a fire.

  “Where are you from?” Liam handed her a piece of roasted meat and asked.

  The girl lowered her head and ate. She finished it quickly, then looked up at Liam with eager eyes.

  “How old are you?” Liam handed her another piece of roasted meat and asked.

  The girl took the meat, devoured it in an instant, then looked up at Liam with a cute, pleading expression.

  “Can I hold you?” Liam handed her the meat and asked hopefully.

  The girl took the meat and began eating. Liam took her silence as permission, and soon she was sitting in his arms, eating.

  “Do you have any family?” Liam asked, even though he knew she probably wouldn’t answer.

  The girl just finished her meat and stared at Liam expectantly.

  He half-jokingly said, “Kiss me, and I’ll give you more meat.” Liam pointed to his own lips, his heart pounding wildly. It was his first kiss!

  The girl kissed him without hesitation, then looked at Liam, her eyes filled only with desire for more meat.

  Liam froze. He hadn’t expected her to actually do it. Thinking back, the kiss felt greasy and nothing special… He handed her the meat with tears in his heart, lamenting that his first kiss was gone just like that.

  Finally full, the girl lay on top of Liam, her eyes closing as if she was about to sleep. Liam carried her to a hammock he’d woven from his own hair. He’d purposely made it large enough for two, and the meaning behind it was obvious.

  The night passed quietly. Before dawn the next day, Liam was shaken awake by the girl.

  “What’s wrong?” Liam asked sleepily. With his black armor standing guard, he had slept soundly and deeply.

  As soon as Liam woke, the girl immediately pointed toward the mutated creatures in the Glue Snail territory, then patted her own stomach.

  Liam understood. She was hungry again.

  Her appetite shocked Liam once more that crisp morning…

  …………

  For the next dozens of days, Liam spent his time either devouring slightly powerful mutated creatures or helping the girl saw wood.

  After countless hardships, the giant tree finally fell beneath Liam’s relentless effort. The moment it crashed down, the ground shook violently, and countless birds fled the forest. If Liam hadn’t quickly wrapped himself and the girl in his hair, the sound alone would have killed them.

  Once the chaos calmed, Liam retracted his hair. The girl immediately dug a long, round greencrystal from the tree trunk.

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  “What is that?” Liam asked as he recalled his hair.

  The girl didn’t answer. Instead, she held the greencrystal dearly and even licked it gently with her small tongue.

  Liam hadn’t expected a reply anyway; he just wanted to talk to her. He guessed the greencrystal was related to the redcrystal he’d found inside the Brain Worm. The redcrystal granted superhuman abilities, but he had no idea what the greencrystal did.

  Seeing how precious thecrystal was to her, Liam thought for a moment and said, “I’ll make it into a pendant for you.”

  At Liam’s words, the girl hesitated slightly before reluctantly handing him the greencrystal.

  Liam wrapped thecrystal in his hair and began weaving it into a pendant using ancient talisman knot. It was finished quickly.

  “I’ll put it on for you.” Liam separated the section of hair and smiled as he held up the pendant.

  After placing the pendant around her neck, Liam smiled warmly at the sight of her. The girl wore the black dress he’d woven for her, and with the pendant, the touch of green made her look like a spirit of the night.

  “Thank you,” the girl said, touching the pendant happily, then looked up and spoke with difficulty.

  Liam froze. Thank you?

  “Did you just say thank you?” Liam asked excitedly.

  The girl nodded, then hugged Liam’s arm and rubbed her cheek against it, clearly showing how much she liked him.

  In that moment, Liam felt that all his hard work over the past ten days had been worth it. At the very least, the girl now fully regarded him as her companion and relied on him completely.

  …………

  “Dammit, Elijah! You said there was no danger nearby!” A green-haired man burst from the bushes, roaring angrily.

  A man with a red mark between his eyebrows stepped out after him. “I did say that. But the earthquake was caused by the central tree falling, not a creature attack.”

  “So what?” The green-haired man glared at Elijah, furious. The quake had nearly killed him.

  Elijah adjusted his glasses and pointed ahead. “Look over there. They should be the ones responsible.”

  The green-haired man looked and saw a young man and woman staring at them cautiously. The girl was stunning—far more beautiful than the three slave girls he kept. The man, though… was just a pretty boy.

  “What’s his combat power?” the green-haired man asked immediately.

  Elijah glanced at the man opposite them. “93!”

  “Haha! Die, pretty boy! Your woman’s mine!” The green-haired man’s eyes glinted with greed. He leaped toward Liam in an instant.

  In this world, the weak could only beg for mercy from the strong. Beautiful women belonged only to the powerful. Liam had long known this. An innocent man was guilty for possessing something precious. Being with the girl would inevitably draw the covetous eyes of other men—confrontation was only a matter of time.

  He just hadn’t expected it to come so soon, so suddenly. The ground was still trembling slightly from the fallen tree, so Liam couldn’t use his hair to monitor his surroundings. That was how the two men had approached without him noticing.

  The green-haired man swung a palm at Liam. Liam quickly defended with his hair, only to watch as it was corroded away. He hastily wrapped his hair around a nearby tree and pulled himself backward.

  The green-haired man’s palm was covered in green liquid. He sneered at Liam. “No wonder you’re just a useless pretty boy. Why not die quietly? That beauty isn’t for trash like you!”

  Liam’s hair grew rapidly. He frowned as he watched the liquid from the man’s hand drip onto the ground, burning a deep black hole into the earth.

  Insane corrosive power!

  “Lucas, watch out for his hair. Use your corrosive armor,” Elijah said.

  Liam was about to launch a sneak attack with a thin strand of hair, only to be seen through.

  Lucas had sharp eyes too. Warned by Elijah, he spotted the thin strand of hair sliding along the ground. He sneered, and his body was instantly covered in green liquid, corroding his clothes completely.

  “This is bad.” Liam realized he couldn’t hurt the man called Lucas at all. But he saw no reason to fight to the death. His tail suddenly lifted, spraying thick black smoke. In the next moment, Liam used his hair to wrap around the girl and flee.

  When the smoke cleared, Lucas looked around and roared in fury. “You can’t escape! I’ll kill you! I swear it!!!”

  “Lucas, be careful. That man appears to be a dual-power user,” Elijah said coldly. Now that they were enemies, it was better to eliminate him completely—especially a dual-power user. His potential was terrifying. He must not be allowed to grow stronger.

  Lucas froze, then grinned viciously. “Got it. I’ll butcher him. And that woman? She’s mine.”