But the effects of the poison arrow were naturally not as gentle and quiet as they appeared on the surface.
The poison arrow was not ordinary venom, but a corrosive toxin fused with digestive fluids.
After being struck by two poison arrows, the many-banded krait began thrashing frantically, like a slug wrapped in coarse salt.
The krait had now completely lost its will to fight and its sense of purpose. It had no energy to spare for Bai Jie's position, unable to lay a single spider hair on him.
But this hair-raising reaction did not last long — after just three breaths, the krait subsided, merely twitching faintly in place.
When the krait became completely immobile, the system notification confirmed that the target krait's status had been updated to "Deceased."
The krait, with a vitality score only 0.1 lower than Bai Jie's, had been swiftly dispatched by just three poison arrows.
A pity the snake barely got to attack.
This also made Bai Jie marvel at the power of his poison arrows.
Yesterday's golden mountain toad probably wouldn't have been a match for them either.
Once his Poison Arrow Spray skill reached a certain level, he might even be able to take down small venomous creatures with a single spit — how satisfying that would be.
"This..."
Zheng Yueling, seeing the krait sink into eternal slumber, was dumbfounded.
The danmaku comments were equally stunned — this wasn't quite what they'd imagined:
[I literally cannot understand, what just happened? Keeping a sub-laser like this, streamer better buy insurance]
[Asking for a friend, if a guy raises one, will the sub-laser spider turn into a spider-girl to repay the favor at night?]
[If that's possible, then Nyx would definitely show up in tight thigh-high stockings and a blue-purple corset to repay the favor]
[For real, the blue-violet laser spider has blue-purple iridescent patterns on its back and a totally black abdomen — so, would a spider-girl have leg hair?]
Zheng Yueling: "..."
She had no choice but to pretend not to see certain comments. The viewers' attention was drifting to increasingly strange places these days.
A few hours later, detecting that Zheng Yueling had fallen asleep, Bai Jie finally began consuming the krait.
Although the krait was both long and thick, its corrosive venom now had far greater dissolving power than before. Once the krait's internal tissues liquefied, Bai Jie completed his meal quickly.
His Satiety reached 98%. Since becoming a spider, this was the first time Bai Jie had ever been this full.
Carrying the satisfaction of a full stomach as well as anticipation for his strength increasing upon waking, Bai Jie sank into a deep sleep.
To Bai Jie's delight, the next day he discovered he had gained yet another new skill.
No, not a brand-new skill — rather, an existing max-level skill had undergone advancement.
[Name]: Bai Jie
[Title]: Night Goddess Nyx
[Race]: Pink-Toed Laser Venom Spider (Mutant)
[Vitality]: 2.8
[Skills]: Urticating Venom Needle Lv.1 (NEW), Poison Arrow Spray Lv.3, Corrosive Venom Lv.7, Spider Silk Lv.12 (MAX), Bite Lv.12 (MAX)
[Talents]: Poison-Refining Gu, Spirit-Devouring Body
[Satiety]: 80%
[Body Length]: Leg Span 48cm
Bai Jie focused his gaze on the first entry in the skill column.
[Urticating Venom Needle]: Advanced from the max-level skill "Urticating Hair Kick." The toughness of the urticating hairs and their launching speed have been enhanced. The hairs have become finer and sharper, capable of penetrating any crevice. Venom can now adhere to the urticating hairs.
Whoa... that sounded incredible. Bai Jie figured this could genuinely be considered a concealed-weapon-type skill.
Once Spider Silk and Bite advanced, what would they look like?
Bai Jie couldn't help letting his imagination run wild. His vitality had also reached 3. It wouldn't be long before he could surpass that witch.
...
Meanwhile, at the Yongan City branch of Gaia Technology Co., Ltd.
Chen Zhang slowly came to. He felt as if he had been dreaming a very long dream, in which he had become a machine-man, stripped of human emotions and reduced to nothing more than a tool of war.
Recalling this, a chill ran down his spine.
A sharp sting and an itching soreness emanated from the back of his neck. He instinctively reached to touch it, but a cold hand intercepted his.
Such a cold hand! Cold like it didn't belong to a human.
He looked toward the owner of that icy hand — a tall, stern man wearing sunglasses.
Chen Zhang remembered. This was someone from Gaia Technology's security division. His name was Liu Wei.
"You're awake. Congratulations, the operation was a success — you're already a girl."
Xia Qimeng's voice suddenly rang out beside his ear.
Chen Zhang stared blankly at her, then his face instantly went deathly pale. He hurriedly reached down below.
His taut features instantly relaxed. His little calf was still there. Chen Zhang ground his teeth: "Xia! Qi! Meng! Do you think you're funny?"
Xia Qimeng spread her hands: "Just a joke, to lighten your mood."
"Pfft." A strange sound escaped.
Chen Zhang and Xia Qimeng both looked over. They saw Liu Wei hurriedly covering his mouth, letting out a couple of coughs and recovering his stoic expression.
Chen Zhang's lips moved, but he chose to swallow the profanities he'd been about to utter — after all, he'd only been able to get this smart chip implanted in the back of his neck through Xia Qimeng's connections.
And this smart chip was his crucial asset for further investigating Zheng Yueling.
He was going to tear off Zheng Yueling's hypocritical mask and uncover the truth behind Bai Jie and A Xiao's disappearances.
"By the way, while you were asleep, some big news broke." Xia Qimeng suddenly put away her smile and grew serious.
"What is it? Don't tell me... someone else has gone missing?!" Chen Zhang's brow furrowed as he asked.
Xia Qimeng slowed her speech, enunciating each word: "No. The news says the culprit behind the disappearances has been caught!"
Chen Zhang's knitted brows slowly parted. Then his eyes went wide and round, his mouth gaping wide enough to fit a duck egg.
"You're not joking with me again, are you?"
"This is real. See for yourself if you don't believe me."
Xia Qimeng handed Chen Zhang a phone already opened to a webpage link.
Chen Zhang took it, half-doubtingly. He found it was a news article — one published by Xingchuan University's official media account. His expression gradually grew complicated.
"It's not just Xingchuan University's official account. 'Yongan News,' and even the federal official media published it too. It also includes a report from the Criminal Investigation Department." Xia Qimeng said.
"The suspect is a 30-year-old male living in Beicheng Huayuan Residential Complex, who worked as a security guard at Xingchuan University. Right, I recall you said Zheng Yueling also lives in that complex."
"The Criminal Investigation Department discovered four male bodies in his home. Through testing and identification, they confirmed all victims were students who had gone missing from Xingchuan University."
"Their causes of death were all due to shock, including hemorrhagic, septic, and cardiogenic shock."
"This way, the fact that A Xiao and Bai Jie's phone GPS signals placed them at Zheng Yueling's home could be attributed to the recent federal-wide satellite signal instability."
"However, three points of confusion remain. First, Bai Jie's body was not among those found. Second, the suspect's motive is insufficient. Third, the suspect's method is still unknown."
"Because..."
At this moment, Chen Zhang finished reading the article. He slowly raised his eyes and looked gravely at Xia Qimeng: "That man has already gone insane."
"A tragedy. But perhaps I should be grateful that Bai Jie wasn't among them."
Chen Zhang's expression held both sorrow and confusion. His mind was a tangled mess right now, utterly lost.
"Yes. Perhaps Bai Jie isn't dead. And Zheng Yueling remains our point of entry."
Xia Qimeng adjusted her glasses. "And... don't you think this suspect going crazy is just a little too coincidental?"
Chen Zhang's gaze immediately sharpened, a thoughtful look crossing his face: "You mean..."
"Is he the real culprit, or a scapegoat pushed to the front?"
Xia Qimeng's clear voice rang out with conviction in the laboratory.