From the look in the python's stubborn eyes, Caroline understood. Its body had surrendered. Its mind had not. And if the mind refused, then she would break the mind too. So Caroline began a full two-day mental training session on the giant python. No food for it, but she and Raven ate right beside it. No rest for it, but she and Raven slept just fine. No freedom for it, as she kept it pinned, bothered, and disturbed. Two days. Just two days. The once plump giant python had visibly thinned. The python didn't understand how this was happening. Snakes didn't need daily meals. One hunt could last days. It had eaten just two days ago. So why was its body burning through fat like crazy? Not only was it starving, it was exhausted to the point its whole body felt ready to slip into hibernation. But those two demons refused to let it rest. Every time it tried to curl up, those two would take turns tormenting it. Icy blasts that froze its scales. Stones hurled at its side. A stick prodding its ribs. Even flames licking across its tail. And on top of that, some kind of crushing force kept slamming into it, shaking its organs until they felt like they were turning over inside its body. In just two days, the bright gleam in the giant snake's eyes had already faded to a dull, tired glaze. Its hatred for Caroline shifted into fear. Even Raven, small compared to it, made the giant python tremble. These two were monsters. And Caroline was even more ruthless than it thought. She healed its injuries with spirit spring water—so she could test whether a sound body but a beaten-down spirit still couldn't be stored, then she would injure it again and test whether both physical and mental submission were required. She wanted a clean comparison. Without noticing, she was starting to act a little like Nelson.Finally, after the python's spirit was fully crushed and its will beaten down to mud, Caroline reached out and tried again. This time, the python slipped straight into the ranch. Caroline had expected it to freak out like the giant fish. But instead... The python entered, curled up into a huge coil, and fell asleep instantly. All hostility vanished. When Caroline approached, it didn't even open its eyes. Even when Jasper strutted over to provoke it, the snake could only flick its tongue and glare weakly at the little creature—a far cry from the fierce, unstoppable predator it had been before. "This python looks totally deflated, like it's about to keel over," Jasper said, tilting his head as he stared at the giant python coiled in the middle of the pan. "Probably tired..." Caroline muttered, remembering the last two days. Maybe she had gone a little overboard. But she wasn't done experimenting. She went back into the mountains, captured a few more mutated animals, and ran tests. Finally, she understood the rules of the ranch. To store a mutated creature, it needed two things. Submission. And fear. As long as the creature no longer had the desire to attack Caroline, she could store it. Fish ponds worked differently. The pond didn't care about mental state. Toss a fish in and it was done. But the ranch needed absolute safety. Creatures had to be compliant. "So tossing enemies into the storage space mid-battle isn't happening. Looks like I really do have to beat them into obedience first." Caroline sighed. Nothing in life was ever that simple. She glanced at the giant python now happily digging a hole to make a nest. Her mouth twitched. Was it ... enjoying itself? She didn't know it, but the golden python was thrilled. Back during the deep freeze, it had been freezing outside, half-asleep all day. But because it had mutated, it needed more food, so every time it dozed off, hunger yanked it awake again and forced it to hunt.And when it finally went out to hunt, humans caught it. They jabbed needles into the gaps between its scales day after day. After every injection, it didn't even feel like itself anymore. Its temper snapped easily, and its whole body felt wrong. When it finally escaped, a female human randomly snapped off one of its horns. It had never suffered humiliation like that. Once it ran off, it spent days throwing its weight around outside, stuffing itself on anything it could catch. It finally put some meat back on its bones and just wanted to settle down and hibernate for a while. But no. A bunch of human kept trying to kill it for meat, making so much noise it couldn't rest at all. And then there was that one time... A group of human in green uniforms driving big machines crushed its den flat and blasted it with weapons that spit fire.