Do you believe me when I say I’m not a dragon?

The person who caused this scene was none other than Mercer.

Facing the attack of the gray dragon, he was forced to ignite the forest and turn it into a roasted dragon. Although he was also covered in bruises, he did win as the system said.

He acquired three skills in one go, which should only increase his voice [Roar], [Regeneration] which is suspected to be related to accelerating metabolism, and [Skeletal Mutation], which has no specific clue yet.

No way, the skill names given by this system are too general, just like the first skill. If you don't experiment it yourself, who would know that the ability of [Eat Earth] is to increase the hardness of scales and bones.

Mercer could probably feel the changes they brought to him with the first two skills, but he really needed to think carefully about the changes caused by [Skeletal Mutation].

Sitting high and looking into the distance, Mercer's thoughts gradually deepened.

Bone mutation...which parts are mutated?

Mercer raised his hand and touched his forelimb, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

Whether it was an illusion or not, Mercer felt that the skeleton of his forelimbs had become thicker.

He pinched the hind legs again, only to find that compared to the front limbs, there were almost no changes in the hind limbs.

Larger bones mean that larger muscles can be squeezed out, which means that the strength of Mercer's forelimbs has been enhanced.

Before, Mercer found that his appetite had increased again. He thought it was due to his regeneration skills. From this point of view, the strengthening of muscles on the thick bones was also one of them.

...However, the changes brought about by the skeletal mutation may be more than that.

Mercer turned around and came to the stream flowing behind him, lowered his head and admired his appearance.

——The childishness of the black dragon's face has faded, and ferocity and majesty appear on his face at the same time; a layer of horny sheaths has grown on the upper and lower jaws, forming the shape of fangs on the lips. In this way, even if Mercer does not open his mouth to roar, It can also make others feel an aura of calmness and self-power; the scarlet vertical pupils exude a faint light, as if magma is surging in the eyes.

His neck is short and strong, and similarly, the biting muscles covered under the scales and horny sheaths also have amazing strength; on both sides of the head, a pair of the thickest sharp horns extend backward, and the other sharp horn-like spikes can only They are thorns extending from the skin. These thorns can interact with the muscles and cover the ears if necessary.

...In fact, the ear hole itself is difficult to detect. In addition, Mercer can control the opening and closing of the ear hole himself. He doesn't know what this ability can be used for. Maybe it looks more handsome?

He touched his cheek intoxicatedly, not to mention, if this face were used to soak the little female dragon...

Wait, why did you suddenly think of this place?

When he thought of some slender and enchanting dragons, Mercer hurriedly shook his head, trying to put away the distracting thoughts in his mind.

Not sure if it was because his brain had become alien, but Mercer felt that his thoughts were gradually alienating.

He stopped this thought and returned to business.

In addition to his hands, the parts that have changed since he acquired the skeletal mutation are also the sharp horns on his head.

The volume of the sharp corners has become wider and longer. Judging from the hand measurement, I am afraid that the hardness has also increased.

However, although his horn has grown, it will not become deformed. With this sharpness, if it is stabbed like this, no one can stop it.

After touching the sharp corners with satisfaction, Mercer winked at the water for a while, then spread his wings and flew up.

——He did not return to the waterfall where he had lived for four years, but came to a corner of the forest.

The original waterfall was no longer suitable for living. There were no edible fruits or animals there, so after the banquet, the monkeys began to move to an area with many fruit trees.

That was the territory of a huge giant bear, but after Mercer appeared, the giant bear left there aggrievedly and never dared to offend again.

A black shadow flashed in the sky, and leaves fell one after another. Mercer folded his wings and landed on the ground. He shook the fallen leaves off his body and walked into the cave.

This cave was originally the giant bear's house, but now it is naturally taken over by Mercer.

However, Mercer frowned when he looked at the food stored in the cave.

It will be winter soon, and fruits are already scarce. In addition, the monkeys are not familiar with the surroundings when they first arrive here, so they collect very little food.

Mercer also didn't expect that this would be the case after the carnival.

After all, based on past winter experience, these foods simply cannot survive the winter.

Moreover, nearly half of the forest was burned down, and the creatures inside suffered heavy deaths. Although eating and drinking was fun at first, as time went by, it was probably Mercer and the monkeys who suffered.

Not to mention, Mercer is also a big eater.

With a slight sigh, Mercer climbed out of the cave and looked around.

——Many monkeys climbed on the trees, squatting quietly, and some were still picking at the black scales covering their wounds, but no matter what they did, they no longer had the vitality of the past.

Mercer seemed to notice something. He twitched his nose and looked in one direction.

It was a female monkey with her back to him, and Mercer knew who it was just from its back.

The female monkey's appearance was very popular among the monkeys. She had recently found a strong mate and was pregnant at this time.

Mercer stared at it with scarlet vertical pupils, and the bonus brought by [Ferocious Aura] was like a knife grazing its hair.

The female monkey was suddenly startled and the object in her hand fell to the ground.

——That is a flying bird. Although it is as big as a chicken in the previous life due to the wonderful shape of this world, it is indeed a common flying bird.

The bird was disemboweled, and when it landed on the ground, it released a bloody smell. When they smelled this smell, the surrounding monkeys became restless.

Looking at the female monkey, her mouth was full of blood, and the surrounding hair was dyed red with blood. She was obviously eating secretly.

Mercer growled, his eyes a little unhappy, but not angry.

Although it is offensive to eat secretly before the leader has eaten, after all, it is pregnant and it is natural to desire more nutrients. There is nothing that can be done about it.

The female monkey was sitting on a branch, too scared to move. She was trembling all over. At the same time, Mercer also felt a wave of emotion coming from her body.

——Fear, regret, begging for mercy.

Mercer was startled for a moment, then narrowed his eyes and looked at the wounds on the female monkey's body, and understood.

Perhaps it was because the body and scale powder began to merge, and the emotions they exuded could be conveyed to Mercer through the scale powder.

After understanding that it regretted its behavior, Mercer's eyes gradually calmed down, and he let out a low growl, warning it not to do the same thing again, and then let it go.

However, after Mercer diverted his attention, the female monkey immediately climbed under the tree, and the flying bird continued to gnaw wildly, its white teeth stained red with blood.

Chapter 54: Black Riots

——Things are starting to get worse.

Mercer spread his wings and flew on the lush branches, looking away sadly.

A few days have passed since he discovered the incident of the female monkey stealing food. The weather has become colder and colder than in previous years, and the food has become so scarce that even for the monkeys, they are not full.

Moreover, according to past experience, the down on the monkeys' bodies will become thicker at this time, as if they were wrapped in a down jacket.

But due to the forest fires caused by Mercer, their fur is even sparser than before, making it difficult to prevent such a winter.

But the worst thing is not this problem. Because of the symbiosis with the scale powder, the monkeys began to eat more and began to crave more nutritious food.

In other words, they begin to become less interested in foods such as fruits and vegetables, and have a stronger desire for flesh and blood.

In other words, the female monkey that Mercer saw eating birds last time was not an accident, but a sign.

Although Mercer's scale powder can give them strong vitality in a short period of time, it may come at a certain price. If this price cannot be compensated in a long time, the scale powder will consume their lives.

——Because of this, Mercer is thinking of ways to do this.

The monkeys almost saved his life, and Mercer did not intend to ignore their loyalty. It would be a bit despicable to just leave the monkeys alone.

But that's the case, Mercer has no clue at all now. All he can do at the moment is to let the monkeys survive in this situation.

The method is easy but difficult. Simply put, it is enough to add a lot of food to them. But now that winter is approaching, many animals have begun to hibernate, and the smell they emit is even more difficult to track.

Mercer sniffed the smell in the air, suddenly changed his direction and threw himself to one side.

As his body fell from the leaves, the scenery on the ground appeared before his eyes.

The most obvious ones are several boulders on the ground covered with fallen leaves. The boulders vary in size, with the largest being seven or eight meters long.

They may be perfectly disguised in front of other creatures, but it is too obvious to an experienced dragon like Mercer.These stones are actually creatures similar to herbivorous dragons. These stones are actually the carapace on their backs. These creatures are omnivorous animals. When winter is approaching, they will eat a lot and then lie down on the ground disguised as stones to hibernate.

However, their camouflage is not to put their limbs and head into the turtle shell like a turtle, but to dig a hole about the same size as the body in the camouflage place in advance, and then stuff all the parts except the carapace into the hole.

Concerned about their hiding, Mercer naturally rushed forward without saying a word. He grabbed the two largest stones with his strong hind limbs, stabbed his sharp claws into the carapace and caught the two poor guys. , flying into the air again.

——After a while, Mercer returned to the habitat of the monkeys. After throwing down a "stone", he also grabbed his own share of food and started to eat it.

As for the other portion, before Mercer could finish it, the monkeys swarmed up and grabbed the food rudely.

After swallowing the food in his mouth, Mercer looked aside, where there was a small amount of food collected by the monkeys, but the amount was pitiful.

Several thin monkeys did not get the food. After seeing Mercer stop eating, they tiptoed to his food, pinched a few pieces of meat and stuffed it into their mouths.

Looking over them, Mercer sighed and pretended that he had finished eating.

The current situation is almost like taking care of a patient, but it doesn't seem to be any different.

......

These days continued for a few more days, and the weather became colder and colder, but it still didn't snow, just another heavy rain.

In such weather, rain was more unbearable than snow. Mercer made all the monkeys crowd into the cave, and he pulled a piece of wood from outside and lit it on fire.

Faced with the only warmth, the monkeys gathered around him one after another, regardless of their psychological shadow.

Mercer lay on the ground and planned to take a short rest, but several more feelings came from the air.

——Hungry, cold, painful, anxious...

Faced with this situation, Mercer felt helpless and could only close his eyes and continue to pretend to sleep.

However, after a while, when the sounds among the monkeys quieted down, a few more whispering sounds were made. Mercer opened his eyes and found that several monkeys were tortured by hunger and could not sleep, and came behind Mercer. Planning to steal the food he stored here.

Mercer narrowed his eyes and swept his tail, blocking their way.

Mercer met Mercer's hungry eyes. The monkeys had the largest black scales on their bodies and were also the most painful. Their eyes were filled with the desire for food, but they had already eaten it a day ago - the more food they had, the more painful it was. It is getting harder and harder to find, and there are still a few months left until the winter. Mercer has to change the food from one meal a day to one meal every two or three days. For monkeys not covered with black scales, this may be Normal diet.

But as each day passes, the black scales have an increasing impact on their bodies.

Under Mercer's gaze, the monkeys huddled in fear not far away, hugging each other for warmth, and some biting their nails in an attempt to satisfy their hunger.

If this continues, they may really die...

Mercer sighed helplessly again, closed his eyes and continued to fall asleep.

After a while, the sound came from the side again, and the monkeys crawled over quietly again. Mercer half-squinted his eyes and could even see the saliva dripping from their mouths.

When they looked at Mercer, Mercer immediately closed his eyes and took a steady breath.

--Only this one time.

The scene when the monkeys faced the giant gray dragon reappeared in front of Mercer's eyes. He warned himself like this and pretended to find nothing.

However, once they ate the food, the monkeys immediately became agitated. They stuffed the food into their mouths without caring about anything, making obvious chewing sounds.

The sound soon woke up the rest of the monkey group. They looked at the food behind Mercer and the several monkeys who were gluttonously eating the food, and immediately became crazy.

——Hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry...

Before Mercer could open his eyes to stop their behavior, several monkeys stepped on his body and got into the food.

Mercer immediately opened his eyes and let out a shocking low roar that echoed in the cave.

But the situation was still beyond his expectation. The monkey group rushed behind Mercer and snatched the food regardless, including the former leader.

The food was quickly eaten up, but the crazy group of monkeys did not stop. Perhaps one monkey bit the hand of another monkey in order to snatch the food. The commotion went further and turned into cannibalism among the same kind.

Along with the riot, the bloodshot eyes in the monkeys' eyes gradually turned black - that was the color of Mercer's scales.

Chapter 55: Loneliness

"Roar--"

Mercer roared, and the ferocious intimidation finally calmed them down, causing the monkeys to stop.

Blood slowly dripped from the faces of the monkeys, and the snow-white hair was filled with black scales and scarlet blood stains. The gaze staring at Mercer felt extremely strange to him.

——Food, hunger, cravings...

Confusing emotions flooded into Mercer's mind. Facing their gaze, Mercer's breathing became heavy.

Watching the saliva slowly dripping from their mouths, Mercer understood that they had regarded him as food.

How can I do?Mercer's thoughts were racing, trying to find a solution.

The monkeys were only mentally affected by the scale powder. In this case, let them calm down first.

Still keeping his guard against the monkeys, Mercer let out a low growl in his throat, ordering them to stop.

The monkeys ignored him and surrounded Mercer with hungry and greedy eyes. The former leader opened his mouth first and pounced on Mercer.