Lu Chen awakened an F-Rank talent called "Rice Bucket," drawing laughter and mockery from the entire school. Zhao Tai, a wealthy student, openly insulted him, suggesting he shovel manure for a living. Lu Chen remained silent, hiding the truth: his retina displayed an S-Rank Talent called Gluttony, which ignored toxins and converted all matter into energy with perfect efficiency. He left the school without explanation, determined to rise from the bottom.Outside the school gate, Lu Chen turned into a back alley and found a group of middle schoolers beating a stray dog. The dog was near death, covered in mange, pus, and with a broken leg. It had only one good eye, but still defended a piece of moldy bread. Lu Chen activated his Eye of Truth and saw the dog’s hidden bloodline: Hellhound (faint). He also discovered a Taboo Evolution Path: Bio-Demon Dog, with a near-zero success rate that his Gluttony talent could raise to one hundred percent. The required materials were industrial sulfuric acid, corpse flower extract, and a zombie crystal. Lu Chen ignored the dog's foul condition, squatted down, and offered it a contract. Using the last card given by his parents, he formed a pact with the dying creature, naming it Coal Ball. The contract emitted a dark green light from the abyss.Knowing Coal Ball had less than an hour to live, Lu Chen rushed to the West District Chemical Street and entered a shop called Old Li's Chemical Sundries. He bought five hundred milliliters of high-concentration industrial sulfuric acid and an expired adrenaline shot. The shop owner thought he was a pervert planning to kill the dog. Lu Chen ignored him and carried the supplies to an abandoned warehouse. He injected Coal Ball with adrenaline, then forced open its mouth and poured the entire bottle of sulfuric acid into its throat. Su Yao and Zhang Hao, two students from Third Beast Taming High School, appeared and tried to stop him, accusing him of animal abuse. Lu Chen paid them no mind. The acid caused Coal Ball’s body to smoke and convulse, but instead of dying, the dog began to transform. Its skin blackened and hardened into armor, its bones reformed, its body swelled with muscle, and its jaw split to reveal serrated fangs dripping green fluid. Coal Ball stood up, healed and monstrous, and let out a sulfurous breath. Lu Chen responded to the duo’s threats by commanding Coal Ball to attack. The dog spat corrosive acid, burning Zhang Hao’s Water Arrow Frog and splashing Su Yao’s face. Lu Chen warned them and left, knowing the first stage of evolution was complete. The next stage required a highly toxic corpse flower, available from the mass grave outside the city, but he needed money to get stronger first.Lu Chen returned to his rundown neighborhood, Happiness Community, and met his only friend, Fatty Wang. Fatty had brought expensive pet meat cans for Lu Chen’s new beast, but when he saw Coal Ball, he was terrified. Lu Chen explained that he needed five hundred thousand to buy resources for further evolution. Fatty was worried about the high amount but promised to help. Before they could discuss further, the Black Dragon Loan Sharks arrived. Scar Brother and his thugs had kicked down the door of Lu Chen’s house and were destroying everything. They demanded eight hundred thousand in debt or threatened to take Lu Chen’s younger sister to their arena. Lu Chen saw his family photo shattered and trampled. His eyes turned cold. He refused to back down. When the thugs charged at him, Lu Chen gave a single order: “Kill.” Coal Ball moved like black lightning, slamming one thug against the wall and clawing another, its acidic saliva burning through the man's shoulder. Scar Brother dropped his steel pipe in terror, realizing the beast in front of him was no ordinary dog. Lu Chen stood his ground, the fight only beginning, with Coal Ball ready to tear through anyone who threatened him or his family.
