Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, more than two months had passed.
Los Angeles was still hot, and the huge Fireball in the sky was like a beast in heat, wantonly releasing its energy.
At the Orphanage, after two months, the vines were still lush, but compared to before, under the dry and hot sun, the leaves already showed signs of wilting and yellowing.
The Orphanage had changed greatly; the laughter that once sounded like wind chimes had disappeared, replaced by iron locks, sealing away rooms that held countless memories.
However, Mrs. Samantha had not left. Although she was now a flickering candle in the wind, she still illuminated the darkness, perhaps not wanting to see the disappointment of the former Orphanage children returning to find everything changed.
Red wine at $48 a bottle, and a vinyl record with damaged sound quality.
Mrs. Samantha was still busy, a brilliant smile on her face.
Every Friday was her happiest time because James Nixxon would come to see her then and stay for a night.
The empty hall was next to Mrs. Samantha's room. The room was sparsely furnished: a bed, a television, a two-seater sofa, and a coffee table that had been used for decades.
"Ding!"
The sound of the oven woke Mrs. Samantha from her semi-sleep. She checked the time, and a smile appeared on her face.
Ladyfingers were not best right out of the oven; they needed to cool for a while to allow the moisture inside the biscuits to evaporate. Mrs. Samantha didn't understand the specific principle, but she knew how to make the best ladyfingers.
This seventy-five-year-old lady had sharp eyes; she could precisely control the oven's temperature and heat, as if she possessed a special ability.
Ten minutes later, Mrs. Samantha took the biscuits out of the oven. She gently broke a ladyfinger; as the pale yellow biscuit snapped, crumbs flew, and the crisp crunch sent shivers down one's spine.
At this time, Mrs. Samantha would use the residual heat in the oven to warm milk.
This was the result of decades of experience as a Dean of an Orphanage, cultivating frugality.
Everything was so unhurried yet interconnected. Mrs. Samantha always had everything ready the moment the 04 bus arrived at the Orphanage's entrance.
Five minutes later, a yellow-green, very ugly-looking bus stopped in front of the Orphanage. A pair of brown-yellow pants on the lower body, and a blue plaid shirt on the upper body.
Six-year-old James Nixxon, with a tender face, wore a smile like an angel.
And if you observed carefully, you would notice that although the boy had a smile on his face, his lips were closed, and his nose was always twitching slightly.
Time is a terrifying thing; two months might change nothing, but it could also bring about earth-shattering changes.
Compared to two months ago, James seemed to have no changes, except for being a bit fairer.
But in reality?
In two months, James's brain had collected tens of thousands of scents. Even without opening his mouth, he could determine everyone within a hundred meters just by using his nose.
Including their identities, current physical conditions, and even some deeper things.
This feeling was magical, like having an extra pair of eyes compared to those around you, allowing you to see everything within a hundred meters. And if James used his tongue, this range would become even larger.
In addition, James's strength, speed, and body flexibility had also improved to a certain extent.
His body was originally weak, and transforming into a Basilisk should have strengthened it, but in fact, it didn't. In fact, because of the Basilisk transformation, his human body became even weaker.
After all, he was not just a person now, but a juvenile, two-meter-long black snake.
Fortunately, his adoptive father Owen's financial situation was very good. James was able to stay full every day, which made him very satisfied, though it gave Owen a bit of a headache.
He was an adult and ate a lot. Toledo was in puberty, and his appetite was absolutely terrifying. Now, with another big eater, James, the daily consumption of bread, milk, chicken breast, steak, vegetables, and so on at home almost rose in a straight line.
But Owen didn't care. Meat prices in America were cheap. Would a man who could afford a Dodge Challenger care about this little money?
In short, after two months of extensive eating, the Snake Monster Gene in his body gradually began to take effect.
The most significant change was his size. Two months ago, James was still a one-meter-long black snake.
After two months of growth, James's size changed almost daily, and he had now grown into a two-meter-long large snake.
Black scales, a triangular head, two sharp fangs, and a pair of dark gold, indifferent Basilisk eyes—these combined to make James's Basilisk form appear ferocious and terrifying.
He had tested his strength. Breaking an iron pipe seemed a bit excessive, but he could definitely break normal wooden boards.
Moreover, strength was not James's strongest point. His true terror lay in the venom within his venom glands.
James had experimented: 0.001 milligrams of venom could kill the neighbor's German Shepherd in three seconds. Don't ask why it was the neighbor's dog; it was because their child used that dog to scare him.
For a newly hatched snake, growing to two meters in two months was an astonishing achievement. Even an Amazon anaconda's cub couldn't achieve this level of growth.
Moreover, don't forget that James was a venomous snake. For a venomous snake, a two-meter length was definitely adult size, and most adult venomous snakes didn't even reach two meters in length.
And besides the growth in his Basilisk state, James in his human state was also undergoing some changes.
Initially, when he first transformed into a Basilisk, James's physical fitness was really poor.
He could only compare to girls of the same age, and after becoming a juvenile Basilisk, his strength was even inferior to many.
Fortunately, after two months, James's strength had recovered to the level of a normal child, and he believed that it wouldn't be long before his physical fitness would improve to where it should be.
It's just that compared to the feeling of being full of strength after becoming a black snake, his human state was truly too weak.
"Mrs. Samantha, I'm here."
A slightly tender voice rang out in front of the Orphanage.
A happy, benevolent smile appeared on Mrs. Samantha's face. She took out the freshly baked biscuits and James's favorite milk.
The sugar in the biscuits and the essential elements provided by the milk made every inch of James's muscles hum with pleasure.
Unlike the slow, deliberate eating of high society, perhaps influenced by the Basilisk, James gradually began to enjoy the sensation of swallowing.
There were pros and cons. The pro was that Mrs. Samantha was very happy. Although she kept saying, "Eat slowly, eat slowly," the smile on her face never disappeared.
The con was probably that he didn't eat elegantly enough, but James didn't care about that.
In Mrs. Samantha's room, the two sat on the sofa watching a movie.
It was the summer of 1989. There was nothing particularly good to watch, only repeated viewings of Tom and Jerry. But it had to be said, it was a classic animation that always made people laugh unexpectedly.
It was as if no matter how troubled one was, just watching a few episodes of Tom and Jerry would make all worries disappear.
Outside the Orphanage, the 04 bus stopped again. James didn't hear the sound, but he smelled the 04 bus.
He even smelled a strange man getting off the bus.
But the smell of this man?
For some reason, James felt an almost bestial scent on him.
Powerful, fierce, with a strong bloody aura.
This was James's first impression of the man. Through his sense of smell, James immediately discovered that this man was terrifying. In the two months that James had been in contact with this World, he had met many people.
Among them, the most robust was a rugby coach from their school, nearly two meters tall and over 300 pounds, said to be Russian-American mixed-race. Coupled with his abundant body hair, he felt like a rampaging brute bear.
But compared to this rugby coach and the man outside the door?
Truly, James even thought that the man outside the door could punch the rugby coach to death!