Chapter 378: Triceratops! GET ☆ DAZE!
"So it was you..."
The Purple Elder Dragon, who had no combat ability himself, only poked his head out from his curled-up state after hearing Cheng Tian's voice. His abstract dragon face showed a change in expression... probably from panic to pleasant surprise.
It was clear that his previously tense body had relaxed, showing the Elder Dragon's trust in Cheng Tian.
"How did you end up in this godforsaken place?"
After confirming that Aoko was less than 1.5 kilometers in a straight line from him, Cheng Tian continued to question the Elder Dragon.
"It's all because those hateful aliens captured me..."
Perhaps because he hadn't communicated with anyone for a long time, the Purple Elder Dragon seemed very talkative.
Simply put, shortly after he followed Cheng Tian out of the volcanic cave, which was doubly permeated by lake water and magma, he was targeted by aliens.
Although in this world, the genes of super-powered dinosaurs were released by aliens as an experiment, the Purple Elder Dragon's ability to speak human language did not come from aliens, but was an inherent ability of the Elder Dragons in the MapleStory world view.
In MapleStory 2, a Green Elder Dragon guarding dragon eggs had already appeared, and the Purple Elder Dragon had taken over the position of the Green Elder Dragon.
A dinosaur that could speak human language and possess human-like thoughts clearly met the criteria for a sentient being. It was almost a different species from other dinosaur individuals who only had superpowers but were essentially still beasts. Therefore, the aliens, who monitored the entire globe and observed anomalies at all times, abducted the Purple Elder Dragon.
However, according to the Purple Elder Dragon, his human language and human thoughts actually existed based on the inherited title of "Elder Dragon," and he only knew how to pass it down, not how to enable other dinosaurs to acquire the same higher intelligence.
This overly metaphysical situation, which was not inherited through biological bloodlines, clearly entered the blind spot of the aliens' cognitive system. They even used the Elder Dragon's body cells for perfect cloning, but the resulting individuals were only ordinary large lizards.
Unlike human thinking, the aliens, whose research had hit a bottleneck, simply left the Elder Dragon alone for the time being and began to study other directions that could promote dinosaur evolution. The "released" Elder Dragon then simply established a new Wonder House locally.
"So, do you want to leave here?"
Cheng Tian asked again.
"According to the Red Elder Dragon, the relationship between dinosaurs and humans is currently very extreme. Both sides are hunting each other. Perhaps staying here should be safer—"
"Provided those aliens don't get a whim and do something to you again."
Before the Elder Dragon could finish speaking, Cheng Tian directly interjected.
As the saying goes, a gentleman does not stand under a precarious wall. Cheng Tian would not entrust his safety to the moods of others. The feeling of being manipulated was not very pleasant.
"Forget it, as long as you're happy. Are there any more dragon eggs available?"
Seeing the Elder Dragon fall silent, Cheng Tian stopped pressing and shifted his focus to the dragon eggs.
Although he no longer had the Flurry Bird Mini skill available, dragon eggs could still be obtained.
The Elder Dragon nodded silently, and with a flick of his tail, a platform holding three eggs slowly rose from the crystal slab floor.
Cheng Tian knew the rules, so there was no need for the Elder Dragon to repeat them.
Glancing at his personal panel, Cheng Tian confirmed that the thousands digit in his e-wallet was 7 and the hundreds digit was 9. This meant that the three dragon eggs would be a mount, fruit, and roasted meat, respectively, and among them, the dragon egg would definitely be a five-pointed star bloodline mutated "Triceratops"!
Sure enough, when Cheng Tian touched the dragon egg on the left, he precisely selected a dragon egg with a "five-pointed star" pattern on its surface.
Its attributes were largely similar to the previous Pterosaur egg, but its type was indeed Triceratops.
It could be said that the moment Cheng Tian broke through the wall and entered the Wonder House, the dungeon had already generated the corresponding dragon egg contents based on Cheng Tian's e-wallet number.
Similar to the Plum Blossom Pterosaur Egg, this five-pointed star Triceratops Egg could also have an additional suitable gene selected for fusion. And with the Hammond Innovation Lab currently available, Cheng Tian had many options for genetic manipulation on this egg.
He could even postpone the timing and make adjustments when he returned to space, perhaps incorporating genes from Pokémon like Aggron or Bastiodon, which might be quite good.
Anyway~
"Triceratops! GET ☆ DAZE!"
Cheng Tian raised the dragon egg with both hands.
Having broken into the Wonder House twice in a row, Cheng Tian certainly had quite a connection with it.
However, after learning that the aliens had stolen something from Cheng Tian, and that Cheng Tian had come to reclaim it, the Elder Dragon, who had been silent for a while, suddenly spoke.
"If you're talking about that humanoid metal construct, I'm not entirely sure, but about five hours ago, as humans would say, they seemed to have captured some powerful individual dinosaurs from various parts of the island. I suspect they're conducting some kind of experiment."
Cheng Tian took this news to heart. After thanking the Elder Dragon, he re-entered the Drill Tank and began to advance along the passage leading deeper.
The Elder Dragon's hint was quite crucial. It made Cheng Tian realize again that during the previous fast travel, it felt like only an instant to him and Irene, but the time in the entire dungeon was progressing normally. In other words, this period was already enough for the aliens to conduct research on Gates.
Considering that the aliens' UFO displayed abilities that were completely absent in the original work, and the fact that they had spread super-powered dinosaur genes in the current context, perhaps they had high attainments in both biotechnology and mechanical technology. Their research on Gates might have already progressed to a rather unexpected stage.
With heightened vigilance, Cheng Tian looked at the gradually widening volcanic cave before him, moving slowly, as the straight-line distance to Aoko continuously shortened.
The inside of the volcano was dim with hints of light, the only source of illumination being the flowing, scorching magma.
And in the very center of this vast volcanic cave, a remarkably flat and wide platform, impossible to be naturally formed, appeared. Cheng Tian's Gates LB Aoko was precisely in the center of the platform.
But it wasn't just Aoko.
A Purple Pterosaur, a Green Triceratops, a Pink Plesiosaur, a Blue Allosaurus, and... a Red Tyrannosaurus Rex, five dinosaurs stood silently around Aoko.
However, when Cheng Tian saw them, these five dinosaurs all reacted in unison—
Their eyes all simultaneously emitted dazzling white light, and at the same time, different colored streams of light appeared in the gaps of their bodies... How come the special effects on these dinosaurs look so much like my colorful PC case when it powers on?