"Congratulations to the host for successfully naming the new species *Yang's Long-haired Goat*, current mission completion 100/100."
As the final system prompt echoed in Yang Lin's mind, the work of recording one hundred new species was finally complete, bringing him one step closer to upgrading the system to level 3.
"Finally done, that was quite the effort."
Taking his hand off the goat in front of him, which bore a striking resemblance to a punk rocker with its slanted bangs, Yang Lin let out a long sigh of relief.
Although it seemed like evolving these animals only required a single beam of evolution, Yang Lin had discovered some drawbacks after actually performing the operations.
For example, the hedgehog that evolved first, after firing all its quills, was almost caught by a passing eagle owl.
Yang Lin had no choice but to revert this evolutionary trait.
Then there was the super-fast sloth, which had only evolved its demand for other food sources but not a corresponding digestive system. As a result, when it ate an apple thrown by a tourist, it almost died from diarrhea.
After several animals evolved with problems like these, Yang Lin no longer dared to be too reckless.
For subsequent animals, he merely made their fur a bit heavier, changed their pupil color from green to yellow, and their short fur to long fur.
It took him a full day to gather the remaining forty-plus new species.
"The number of new species is sufficient. Next should be the number of awakened animals, which is much simpler."
Having made up his mind, Yang Lin didn't bother with the late hour. He turned and continued searching for suitable candidates within the park.
From the main park to the free-range areas, from the grassland zone to Bear Ridge.
An hour later, the remaining three animals with the golden talent were successfully gathered.
Two hours later, the target of 1000 awakened animals was also successfully met.
The moment the last criterion was fulfilled, a familiar system prompt sounded.
"Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully meeting the conditions to upgrade the level 2 system to level 3. Do you wish to proceed with the upgrade immediately?"
"Yes!" After saying "yes" without hesitation, the system voice spoke again.
"System upgrade commencing. This upgrade will last for 24 hours. After 24 hours, the system will be upgraded to level 3 and related level 2 functions will be unlocked."
"The system will be temporarily shut down for maintenance during the upgrade process. Please stay tuned."
Yang Lin was not unfamiliar with this prompt; the system had undergone a similar process when upgrading from level 1 to level 2.
The only difference was that the maintenance time for the upgrade had doubled.
"System, there should be compensation after this maintenance, right?" Yang Lin asked expectantly, recalling the previous upgrade.
"Of course. In addition to maintenance compensation, upon completion of this system upgrade, new functional modules will be unlocked."
With a confirmed answer, Yang Lin breathed a sigh of relief, his face filled with excitement.
The upgrade from level 1 to level 2 had already brought about significant improvements. This upgrade from level 2 to level 3 would surely be even more powerful.
"I'm so impatient. Why does it have to take 24 hours?"
"Never mind, since I have to wait anyway, I might as well go back and rest."
Just as Yang Lin was about to return to his room to rest, his phone, which hadn't rung for a long time, suddenly buzzed.
Glancing at the caller ID, he saw it was Teacher Xiao Liang, and a hint of confusion flickered across his face.
As soon as the call was connected, Teacher Xiao Liang's familiar voice came through.
"Old Yang, something's happened. Something's happened in Diannan."
Hearing Teacher Xiao Liang's words abruptly, Yang Lin was taken aback for a moment before quickly asking:
"What's going on? What happened in Diannan?"
"Did the animals escape from the Diannan Zoo?"
His first thought was that it had something to do with animals; otherwise, Teacher Xiao Liang wouldn't have specifically notified him.
However, what Teacher Xiao Liang said next made his brow furrow.
"Check your email. I've sent you some things. Currently, only a few people know about this matter, and it's inconvenient for me to talk too much with you on the phone."
"Let's talk after you've read it."
With that, Teacher Xiao Liang hung up.
With a trace of doubt, Yang Lin soon found the items Teacher Xiao Liang had sent in his inbox.
It was a document with the header of a classified file from the Kunming Insect Research Institute.
As soon as he opened the document, one stunning photograph after another appeared before his eyes.
"These are..."
At first, the pictures only showed beautiful butterfly specimens.
But as he looked further, a picturesque valley appeared in the numerous photos.
Then came some incredibly large bees and butterflies, each as large as a human face.
Looking at these magnified bees and butterflies, Yang Lin had a sense of déjà vu.
The next second, the words "Dolphin Island" appeared in his mind.
"No way, this can't be a coincidence. Is there a place in Diannan similar to Dolphin Island?"
Back then, he had only thought that the unique island ecosystem had caused the species on Dolphin Island to mutate.
But if such a place also existed in Diannan, then the mutation of species on Dolphin Island might have another cause.
To ascertain whether this valley was the same as Dolphin Island, Yang Lin continued to flip through the photos.
Without exception, the photos showed giantized animals.
However, these were not the main point, as he had seen many large animals by now and wasn't lacking a few more.
The key was in the last photo.
The photo was taken in front of a waterfall, high in the center of the valley. A giant cocoon, nearly a hundred meters tall, hung in mid-air, resembling a colossal structure.
The moment Yang Lin saw this giant cocoon, his expression changed.
He couldn't imagine what kind of creature could produce a cocoon of such immense size.
He also couldn't imagine what size a creature would reach if it were to break out of the cocoon in the future.
And from what era did this giant cocoon originate?
A string of questions made Yang Lin's head ache.
"The giant beast at the bottom of the Dolphin Island abyss, the giant beast at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean, the giant beast at the bottom of Mount Neon, and now this giant cocoon appearing in Diannan – this is definitely not a coincidence."
"Where did these giant beasts come from? Were they bred on Planet Blue, or did they come from outer space? Or perhaps Planet Blue rightfully belonged to them?"
Yang Lin had a premonition that more giant beasts would appear in the near future.
"Perhaps I should go to Diannan to see it, to see that giant cocoon."
With that thought, he quickly opened a flight booking app and booked a ticket to Diannan.