"You didn't believe in me."

The amphibia stared at Chang's face.

"I didn't mean that." Chang squeezed out a smile. "Your a.s.sertion almost caught me, but what do you want from me? The whole purpose behind this conversation was to sow discord between Qing Shui and me, so by the time you can talk to him in person, you'll be able to take control of the conversation. That's your intention, isn't it?"

"You aren't wrong." The amphibia didn't deny his intention.

"What do you want exactly?" Chang asked.

"Reproduction ability," the amphibia answered, grinning.

"I thought you're capable of that already. Look at your kid Liu Xin, he looks all healthy and energetic." Chang didn't let go of his curiosity. "Although you're all alone now, I believe your offspring will grow as time pa.s.ses by. Why would you want to risk yourself to get in touch with Qing Shui?"

"Those kids you saw are merely a secondary me. They were split copies of me." The amphibia couldn't help but sigh. "I'm the only one of my kind who is capable in splitting, and I spent a long time to push myself to evolve in that way."

"Wait, what? You can evolve along with your own will?" Chang was shocked by the news. "That means you can evolve according to your needs?"

"Correct." The amphibia nodded. "In fact, everybody is capable of that, it's just the fact that you guys are much slower. The process of evolution will take dozens of generations, and I happen to be capable of accelerating that."

"That isn't as easy as how you talk about it. Four years, you only took four years to achieve what you want the most." Chang laughed wholeheartedly at the amphibia's humbleness.

"As you said, this isn't a slow process. But that doesn't help in solving the most urgent problem." The amphibia was deeply worried. "If I die, that will be the end of my species."

"Then what kind of help you're looking for?" Chang asked. "You think Qing Shui can help you solve the reproduction problem?"

"Oh yes! He's an expert in genetic research, and I've heard about the Modifier he made. To tell you the truth, I'm somewhat interested in that little vial." The smile on the amphibia soon faded. "We're in the same boat as humans, the Modifier sheds light into my predicament."

"I understand," Chang said, agreeing.

"Let me tell you this straight, I need that Modifier to add on top of my rapid evolving ability. I believe my next copy will be a reproducible individual." Hope flashed on the amphibia's face. "What do you think? Will you bring this message to Qing Shui?"

"Sure, why not?" Chang nodded decisively.

"Though, just to be safe, I'll send someone else to him first. The person will be informing Qing Shui about your visit. What do you think?" The amphibia leaked a slight grin on his face. "We'll see his reaction first, and then we'll determine if you're a qualified chip."

"I don't see any sincerity in you for doing this."

Chang was disappointed, he shook his head in remorse.　　

"Well, I'm a cautious being," the amphibia argued. "Mr. Liu, be welcome in my humble home. I'll make sure the message is delivered to Qing Shui in person.

"While you're staying here, you're free to go around my castle, but stay within a kilometer of it. Exceeding this limit is prohibited and there will be strict punishment for it.　　

"Oh wow, I guess thank you?" Chang inhaled, lifted the bucket-like teacup from the table, and gulped a mouthful of tea. "If there is nothing else to talk about, I'm really interested in going to the river sh.o.r.e. There must be some interesting organisms that reside under the turbid river."

"Sure, feel free to go, please. I suggest you bring Liu Xin with you, though. The sh.o.r.e is dangerous and sometimes I myself can't directly confront the behemoths." The amphibia stood up with a humble gesture. "Mr. Liu, I hope you don't take what happened today seriously. I yearn to establish a good relations.h.i.+p between humans and myself and hope you don't treat me as an enemy of your kind."

"Don't worry, I'm mostly happy about my upcoming stay in your place, with sufficient food supply and everything, perhaps it's better to live here than my own house in the city."

Chang smiled reluctantly as if he was self-comforting. He walked out from the s.p.a.cious living room, then went up toward the outside world.

The sand castle was too humid, and he felt like he was suffocating when inside. Perhaps the amiphibia preferred a damp living environment, but as a pure human, Chang didn't want to stay an extra second in this kind of humidity.

He made his way to the sh.o.r.e and sat down on the wet sand with his legs crossed. The Yellow River roared, galloped, and ignored Chang's frustration. His heavy sigh was inundated by the great symphony composed by the Yellow River.

Liu Xin followed Chang, first looking out from the sand hole and then quietly approaching him.

"Hey." He lightly kicked Chang's arm with his three-toed foot.　　

"What?" Chang glanced at him. "Go away! I'm not in a mood for talking."

"What brings you the bad mood?" Liu Xin asked, sitting down.　

"I'm a captive now, and obviously that's the reason why I'm not happy." Chang turned his head away to see Liu Xin. He stood up and dusted off the sand off his pants. He slowly walked toward the riverside. "Don't talk to me."

"Hey! It's dangerous at the riverside!" Liu Xin shouted. He knew what was lurking under the water, deliberately waiting by the sh.o.r.e to attack the animals who came to drink from the river.

"Go away."

Chang was irritated, and then a horror welcomed him to the sh.o.r.e—there was a giant splash and something pounced on him. His instinctive reaction pulled him back and saved him from a huge mouth that had emerged from the water and bit down where he'd been standing just moments ago.

Two rows of sharp teeth firmly clenched. The crystalline sound hinted of strong biting force. Saliva burst out from the teeth gap and showered Chang.

To propel himself from the monster, he placed one of his booted feet against the teeth so that he was able to make a backflip to jump away from it.

The huge head retracted. The roaring waves concealed the terror, and the river looked as if nothing had happened.　

"It seems like those who live in the Yellow River generally have a superior body size compared to the land animals."

The monster that had just attempted to swallow him had a head that was as big as Chang's whole body. Its neck was elongated, resembling a snake. The indistinct shadow below the water hinted that its torso was t.i.tanic .

"Oh yeah. A lot of these beings used to live in the ocean, but they were out-competed and so they migrated to the river. We call them Ozean, and it isn't a surprise that they're so large considering their origin."