Chen Bugu lowered his head in surprise, seeing the blue crocodile turtle egg in his arms trembling slightly.

New cracks were appearing on the eggshell's surface, spreading as the two existing cracks widened.

It’s hatching?

Chen Bugu was startled and quickly continued to infuse his spiritual power into the egg, providing a helping hand to the young beast preparing to hatch.

The cracks gradually spread, but the color of the eggshell surface changed strangely.

The dark red bloodstains, long dried on the eggshell's cracks, seemed to come alive, regaining their vibrant blood-red color.

This touch of red, like a drop of blood in clear water, rapidly spread across the eggshell's surface.

The originally light blue crocodile turtle egg was now gradually turning a faint blood-red, and the white diamond-shaped patterns on the eggshell surface were one by one turning black.

“Chen Bugu, why did this egg change color?”

Yan Kuan leaned in, a bit curious.

Chen Bugu was a bit bewildered; he didn't know either, as he had never seen a monster egg hatch in his previous life.

The red eggshell paired with black diamond-shaped patterns looked somewhat evil; it was hard to imagine this was an Ice Armor Crocodile Turtle egg.

Chen Bugu continuously infused spiritual power. At one moment, he felt as if a gate in his mind had opened, a cool sensation rushed straight to his crown, and he suddenly felt completely clear-headed, followed by a strange feeling in his mind.

Chen Bugu didn't know how to describe this mysterious feeling, it was like an extra sense in his mind, a vague awareness that a life had connected with him.

“Crackle~”

This unusual sound was even more noticeable now; everyone could see a piece of the eggshell falling from the top of the monster egg.

Then, a dark brown crocodile turtle head poked out from the broken eggshell. Its two large red eyes looked around and finally landed on Chen Bugu.

“Yawn~ Yawn~”

The little crocodile turtle suddenly cried out to Chen Bugu.

“Wow, it really is a crocodile turtle.”

“Why is it crying so loudly? Is it hungry?”

“It’s quite cute, but I remember Ice Armor Crocodile Turtles have blue eyes.”

Lin Xiaoxiao and Yan Kuan debated animatedly.

But Chen Bugu didn't pay attention to what they were saying, because he found that he seemed to understand the little turtle's cries.

Mom???

It was calling him mom?

Chen Bugu’s mouth twitched slightly.

Seeing that “Mom” was ignoring it, the little turtle began to bite its eggshell on its own.

Only its head was exposed from the eggshell; everything below its neck was still buried in the shell, but this didn't stop it from opening its large mouth and biting off and swallowing the eggshell, piece by piece.

Gradually, as the eggshell was consumed, the little turtle's entire body was exposed to everyone's view.

It was still a young crocodile turtle, but it seemed to have mutated.

Its shell was dark red, with gray-black solid ice replacing the original blue ice piled upon it.

Its four limbs hadn't unfolded yet, but the original circular ice shards were gone, replaced by red diamond-shaped patterns, which looked somewhat eerie.

Is this still considered an Ice Armor Crocodile Turtle?

Chen Bugu was a bit puzzled; in his memory, there wasn't any monster whose appearance matched this little crocodile turtle.

Seeing the little crocodile turtle finish its eggshell in an instant, it then began to lick Chen Bugu's fingers.

Its tongue was pink, but it wasn't a small fleshy lump; instead, it was forked like a snake's tongue.

As the tongue licked his fingers, Chen Bugu only felt a cold sensation.

“Ba Dou, check its level.”

Chen Bugu suddenly reacted.

“Chen Dage, I already checked. It was Black Iron One Star when it was born. After eating that turtle shell, it completed a breakthrough and is now roughly equivalent to our Black Iron Two Star.”

“That fast?”

Wang Bin looked surprised; they had painstakingly hammered Goblins one step at a time to reach Two Star, and this little guy could reach Two Star just by eating an eggshell?

Chen Bugu was also stunned after hearing this. Although he had never personally touched a monster egg in his previous life, he remembered a certain auction where the auctioneer clearly stated that monster offspring would not drop to a lower rank after birth.

For example, if an Ice Armor Crocodile Turtle is a Black Iron mid-tier monster, then its offspring should be at least Black Iron Four Star at birth, and should not drop to Black Iron Three Stars.

This crocodile turtle not only mutated but also became weaker?

But, he had never heard of any Black Iron low-tier monster being able to break through immediately after birth just by eating an eggshell...

Chen Bugu placed the crocodile turtle on the ground, looked at a tree nearby, and in his mind, gave it an attack command.

This crocodile turtle, only the size of a kitten, suddenly stood up on its hind legs, its two small front limbs waved in the air, then stomped down heavily.

The moment its front limbs touched the ground, streaks of gray-black solid ice formed like ground spikes, attacking the tree Chen Bugu was looking at in a straight line.

“Bang!”

This powerful display stunned everyone.

“Can this little guy release this kind of skill?”

Wang Bin quickly went to check the attacked tree, only to find that the gray-black solid ice stopped in front of the tree, and the tree's surface appeared to be completely intact.

“Huh?”

“All bark and no bite?”

Wang Bin turned back and found that the little turtle had returned to Chen Bugu’s feet, constantly rubbing against his ankle.

Chen Bugu picked it up and touched the black ice on its back with his hand.

The moment his right hand touched the black ice, Chen Bugu felt his spiritual power flowing from his right hand into the little turtle, which startled him, and he quickly pulled his hand back.

The little crocodile turtle continued to affectionately rub its head against Chen Bugu’s hand.

Black Iron Two Star, Ice Armor Crocodile Turtle variant, mutated ice attribute?

That black ice has the ability to absorb spiritual power?

Chen Bugu looked at the black ice spikes on the ground with some surprise.

“Binge Ge, touch that black ice…”

“What is it? Why should I touch it? I… I’ll be damned…”

Wang Bin’s hand had just grasped a black ice cone when he also felt his spiritual power draining, which scared him into swearing.

At that moment, Chen Bugu could feel that the little crocodile turtle in front of him seemed to be experiencing joy.

Could it be that these spiritual powers were being absorbed by this little guy?

Wang Bin noisily told everyone about the strangeness of the black ice. Bai Ting and Yan Kuan and others didn't believe it and also went up to touch the black ice.

Afterward, their gazes towards the little crocodile turtle became much more complex.

If this guy traps enemies in its ice…

“This little guy is quite cute, aren’t you going to name it?”

Lin Lin walked up to Chen Bugu, looking at the little crocodile turtle, seeming quite fond of it. Compared to caring about the crocodile turtle's strange abilities, girls seemed more concerned with names.

“Ah? A name…”

He quickly went through all the pet names in his mind again and again.

Chang Wei, Lai Fu, Wang Cai, Xiao Qiang, Da Huang, Mi Mi, Gui Gui…

At that moment, someone terrible at naming fell into deep thought.