Chapter 40: Ten Thousand Years of Evolution is Superficial and Ineffective, System Point Allocation

Although Tarlin wanted to teach Nico a lesson, he didn't use much force. He just made Nico feel the pain so that she would know he wasn't joking about it and was serious.

To avoid suspicion, Tallinn closed his eyes and focused solely on teaching the lesson a lesson.

But at that very moment, Tarlin suddenly felt his legs sink, raised an eyebrow with some suspicion, and then slapped him again without mercy.

The feel is off.

Before, it was the right size and incredibly elastic. But this time... how did it become so plump and full?

Somewhat unsure, Tarin slapped down again. Feeling the firm, elastic flesh oozing out from between his fingers, Tarin instinctively opened his eyes.

What came into view was the wave of flesh that rippled across that large, plump peach with each slap... Nico, a Vastayan of the lizard race, was only slightly stronger than a bamboo pole, and certainly didn't have those stats.

"Qiana?!"

"It's not Qiyana!!" Qiyana, who had been stunned for a moment, quickly came to her senses and her face was filled with shame and anger. She immediately pulled away the slap that Tarin had placed on Neeko.

"You! You—you've really overstepped your bounds!!"

His handsome face was half stained with shame and half with anger.

Qiyana could accept being ridden on Tarin's chest, and even accept Tarin's weapons being pressed against her neck and face, leaving bright red marks where they were pressed.

Because Tarin is stronger than her—even if Qiyana doesn't admit it, she knows in her heart that she is no match for Tarin. Even if she suffers some unintentional humiliation, Qiyana can grit her teeth and accept it.

But what is this now? Being slapped in my own image?!

Although I've done something similar myself...

But I still know to avoid people!

Disgusting! Disgusting! Absolutely disgusting!!!

Sitting there, he glanced at Qiyana, who was standing in front of him and holding his arm, and then at her, who was lying across his knees, her face full of unease but also faintly showing a hint of relief.

Neeko seemed secretly pleased that after transforming into Qiyana, the large, fleshy mounds provided a cushion, making the pain much less.

And now, Nico's face screams, "Oh no, we've been found out!"

After a moment of silence, Tarin turned his gaze to Qiyana: "Neeko is using her abilities recklessly... she definitely needs to be taught a lesson."

"...So what?" Qiyana asked indifferently, wanting to see how Tarin would explain.

"So... how about... you take over?" Tarlin asked.

Anyway, all Tarin wants is to teach Neeko a lesson, and it would be the same if it were Qiyana—they're all family.

Upon hearing Tarin's suggestion, Qiyana's cold expression faltered slightly, and she couldn't help but thaw out, revealing a hint of keen interest.

"Will it work?" Although it was a question, Qiyana still looked at Neeko with great interest.

"Unfortunate!!" Nico wailed.

The stun from Tarlin was just meant to teach Neeko a lesson; a couple of stuns and she'd remember how much it hurt, and then it would be over.

But Qiyana's Shuma said she didn't just want to hit him a couple of times, she also wanted to teach him a lesson for his bad behavior.

"No problem."

Tarlin pretended not to hear Nico's screams.

With Tarin's permission, Qiyana enthusiastically approached Neeko, who was tearfully trying to play the victim.

Seeing Neeko's pitiful appearance, Qiyana wasn't sad; instead, she found it strangely amusing.

She had never experienced anything like that... to be precise, Qiyana never had any friends.

And things like parental guidance...

At least in Qiyana's memory, apart from when she was very, very young, her parents paid less and less attention to her as she grew up.

After the age of eight, aside from polite greetings, there was almost no communication or care among family members.

In this context, Qiyana's education largely stemmed from Ishtar's court tutors—

They were all rigid and conservative, spouting traditional etiquette, practically the embodiment of the Ixokeng tradition that Qiyana despised most.

And now...

Qiyana discovered that this little border village wasn't so bad after all? At least it was quite interesting!

Thinking about it, Qiyana swallowed hard, then walked over to Tarin with great interest: "Then I won't be polite!"

Seeing Qiyana's lively expression, just like any other child, Tarin nodded inwardly—Qiana wasn't completely twisted yet, and child psychology was right!

While pondering, Tarlin also reminded her, "Just give her a simple lesson; don't actually hurt Neeko."

"Don't worry, it won't happen!" Qiyana nodded, then rolled her eyes and asked curiously, "Neeko, can you transform into Tarin's appearance?"

Tallinn: "?"

Nidalee: "...?"

Tarin's assessment of Qiyana's request was to tone it down.

Neeko, as the person involved, was also slightly taken aback—perhaps if Qiyana were to transform into Tarlin, she would go easy on her?

Thinking this, Neeko didn't transform. Instead, she looked at Qiyana with a pitiful expression and said:

"Nico...Nico is uncatchable..."

"You can't do it?" Hearing this, Qiyana looked surprised. "Can't you transform into anyone? Why can't you transform into Tarlin?"

"Because...because Tarlin is strange," Nico said, sniffing.

"Although Tarlin's soul is very warm, every time I try to transform into Tarlin, no matter what form Tarlin takes, I feel extremely uncomfortable after transforming, and I can't hold it for long before I revert to my original form..."

Tarin wasn't surprised at all—because long before Qiyana arrived, Tarin had already tried to make Neeko look like him.

But in the end... well, let's just say that the human form was alright, and it could barely be maintained for a while.

However, if this continues for a while, it will spiral out of control due to ecological reasons, and revert to its original state.

Furthermore, the dragon form and the dragon-human form cannot be changed at all.

Simply put, the ecosystem is too complex, exceeding the limits of what Nicole can currently comprehend.

In the game, Neeko can transform into Dragon Lord Thor and Bard, the Wanderer of the Astral Plane. But that's just in the game; in reality, the Misttails' transformation abilities have corresponding limitations.

Because this is different from the game.

In the game, Neeko cannot use the corresponding hero skills when she transforms.

In reality, Nico can directly access another person's knowledge and memories through Shuma Reading, and can also transform into that person's body form to possess corresponding physical attributes and special abilities.

The Misttail tribe lives far from the world and has almost no combat experience. If driven solely by instinct, they can transform into ordinary people with life levels similar to their own, which is generally acceptable for Vastaya.

But something slightly more powerful... like Nidalee's jungle cat form, is something Neeko can't handle right now.

Otherwise, in the original storyline, Neeko could have escaped Mrs. Piltover's trap on her own. Why would Nidalee have needed to intervene personally?

In particular, Tarin also possesses beaded ornaments as enhancements to his equipment. These products of dragon vein alchemy can also interfere with the perception of life energy.

However, in Tarin's conjecture, even after he removed the bead, a single monster ecosystem, such as a pure Odogaron ecosystem, should still allow Neeko to transform once her abilities reach the required level.

As for the more complex ecological combinations, even Tarlin isn't entirely clear on them yet. After all, in the Monster Hunter universe, there are many conflicts inherent in the ecosystem itself.

For example, the Odogaron is a fire-attribute monster—although it only exhibits the laceration ability in battle.

However, this fire-based ecological characteristic also makes Odogaron incompatible with some ice- and water-based organs, such as ice sacs and water bladders.

Even the paralyzing agent of the Great Paralyzed Dragon was achieved through a clever method—using the Odogaron's already highly developed combat glands.

However, Tallinn doesn't have many ecological entries yet, so we don't need to consider that.

Qiyana was quite surprised to hear Neeko's words.

"It can't transform into Tarin?" As she spoke, Qiyana looked at Tarin, recalling his dragon-human form in battle, and nodded in deep agreement.

"That's true... You do look very strange. I've never heard of a Vastayan like you, or a shapeshifter."

Qiana is well-read, specializing in early axioms, but also possesses considerable knowledge thanks to the 6,000-year cultural accumulation and historical records of Oken.

Whether it's a flesh-toothed beast, a shapeshifter like Nidalee, or even Neeko's Misttail...

Even if she had never heard of it, Qiyana could still make some connections through some of her ancestors' textual records.

Only with Tarlin did Qiyana feel that things weren't so simple.

Because Qiyana couldn't sense traditional elemental magic in Tarin.

And the ancestors of Ixtal... also had no way of understanding dragon vein energy, life energy, a unique product of the Monster Hunter world.

Tallinn, however, remained quite calm about the situation.

It's normal for a young girl to feel confused.

After all, the ecosystems you've evolved over hundreds of thousands of years are somewhat superficial, while the ecosystems my system has evolved bit by bit have a solid foundation.

This isn't just idle talk, because the human body does indeed have many organs that aren't very useful.

For example, the appendix used to be used to digest plant fiber. Now, its only way of showing its existence is by becoming inflamed, painful, and then being removed.

For example, the arrector pili muscles are used by animals to keep warm and to make themselves appear larger and more intimidating. But for humans, they are useless for keeping warm, let alone making them look scary.

The rest include wisdom teeth, palmaris longus muscle, nictitating membrane, and so on...

Tallinn, however, does not have this problem.

Because these are all remnants of evolution, they will all gradually disappear.

For example, the palmaris longus muscle, the tendon that protrudes in the middle of the wrist when making a fist, is absent in about 15% of people. However, its presence or absence does not affect grip or strength, and it can be removed without any problems.

Well, it's not entirely useless... For example, if a finger tendon is torn, the palmaris longus muscle can be cut off and replaced—more useful than the appendix.

Tallinn, on the other hand, has absolutely no need for anything like that.

When Tarin merged with the Odogaron ecosystem, his body had already begun to self-adjust and evolve into its perfect form. Unnecessary energy-consuming organs and evolutionary remnants were all optimized.

As for spare body parts like the palmaris longus muscle... there's no need for that.

The powerful regenerative and recovery abilities of the Odogaron species mean that Tarlin can almost always recover and grow back naturally unless he dies instantly—not to mention the enhancements provided by the beads.

In particular, the dense network of capillaries in teeth and nails gives them the ability to heal themselves.

For most people, losing a front tooth means getting it filled, but in Tallinn, drinking a glass of milk to get calcium is usually enough.

Luffy? When did he arrive?!

This ecological compatibility is not merely a one-sided enhancement of Tallinn's humanoid form; in fact, Tallinn's humanoid form complements Tallinn's dragon form even more...

Surely no one really thinks the human body, still evolving, hasn't been fully developed yet? The dual weapon slots and throwing system for standing up are just too sneaky.

Still evolving = late stage.

No, the evolutionary war was actually over when they stood up again.

Do you understand the benefits of efficient heat dissipation for enhanced endurance, and the added value of two weapon slots?

In the game, you have to buy a house while it's banned.

Two weapon slots = the start of conflict?

No, two weapon slots = the end of the conflict.

Putting aside other factors, while the dynamic vision of the Odogaron was quite good, its eyesight was extremely poor, and it relied mostly on its sense of smell to track objects, and it could only distinguish a limited number of colors.

With the addition of human form, the cone cells of the Odogaron dinosaur in Tallinn were replenished.

With superior dynamic vision, trichromatic vision, an efficient cerebral cortex, efficient heat dissipation from sweat glands throughout the body, and increased muscle load due to efficient heat dissipation...

High-level mechanics on the left, high-level stats on the right!

Call the Vaal Hazak!

In summary, given Neeko's current level, with further growth in the future, she could simulate the ecology of the Odogaron, which has evolved in nature for hundreds of thousands or even millions of years.

However, trying to simulate Tallinn's solid ecosystem, built up through systematic upgrades, is truly a pipe dream.

Seeing Tarin standing there so relaxed, Qiyana tilted her head in slight confusion, but didn't pay too much attention. She then turned her attention to Neeko beside her and said with great interest:

"I'll teach you a lesson you won't forget! I'll show you the consequences of offending Queen Qiyana!"

"Ugh!" Neeko immediately begged for mercy: "Neeko, you bastard! Queen Qiyana, please forgive Neeko! Queen Qiyana, you bastard, you bastard, you bastard, you bastard, you bastard~~!"

What, is Ixtal going to have a tariff war too?

A smug glint flashed in Qiyana's eyes at this, and she loosened her grip, but her words remained unforgiving: "Begging won't help!"

Meanwhile, Nidalee tilted her head slightly, somewhat puzzled as to why Qiyana and Neeko were reacting so strongly.

Isn't that normal? Tallinn often pats the base of her tail...