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Chapter 525.5: Dragon-Slaying Guide
In a week's time, they further perfected the production techniques for the Dragon-Hunting Crossbow.
Matthew cheerfully poured more gold into the project, setting even higher design and production goals.
The researchers, sensing their lord's larger purpose, happily immersed themselves in advancing the technology.
The Dragon-Hunting Crossbow's attributes and production methods continued to improve with each iteration.
This process also boosted Bay Territory's overall capability to produce advanced weapons and equipment.
Meanwhile, hundreds of watchtowers were being constructed at various points along Bay Territory's borders.
An increasing number of Bay Territory residents, through continuous growth and training, met the requirements to become soldiers.
The ranks of Bay Territory's military were steadily growing.
Adventurers intensified their campaigns to hunt dragonblood creatures, gaining ever more momentum.
Many people began to speculate: with the arrival of the Kingslayer Star, the effects of the Mad Dragon Curse would once again descend upon the Material Plane.
All dragonblood creatures affected by the Mad Dragon Curse would experience the impact of "Insane Will."
Most ordinary dragonblood creatures would not be influenced by the insane will.
But those in whom dragonblood power manifested would face a different fate.
If they failed to resist the surge of insane will, their sanity would rapidly deteriorate.
Every ten days, a new wave of willpower attacks would come. Once their willpower was overwhelmed, their sanity would erode completely, turning them into mindless killing beasts.
It's said that this terrifying, almost apocalyptic force was unleashed by the elves over ten thousand years ago.
It led to the eternal madness of most true dragons in the Material Plane.
They completely lost their sanity.
They became little more than beasts, slaughtering any living creature around them.
It triggered a catastrophe that affected the entire Material Plane.
The timing of the Mad Dragon Curse's emergence was suspiciously precise.
The true dragons had just paid a heavy price to defeat the giants who once ruled the continent.
Before they could wipe them out completely, the true dragons suffered such a heavy blow that it was hard not to suspect other forces were at play.
The Mad Dragon Curse's impact on the true dragons was undeniable.
It inflicted irreversible losses on their faction.
Even after tens of thousands of years, the true dragons hadn't recovered.
Reports of true dragons were rare and often dismissed as mere rumors.
Every few centuries, when the Kingslayer Star drew near the Material Plane, it brought another "catastrophe."
As the number of dragonblood creatures dwindled, the curse's impact lessened, paving the way for the rise of humans and orcs.
However, Matthew doubted the elves' capabilities.
The Core Elves were certainly strong, but their response to such a disaster was equally poor, even appalling.
If they were truly behind it, they would have embarked on their conquest of the northern continent long ago.
Instead, they were still fragmented, unable to form a unified government even now.
For now, Matthew was more than willing to make life difficult for the Cole Elf Kingdom.
"With me and Bay Territory around, you'll never swallow the Elves."
Eyeing the Elves' wealth, no doubt!
Especially after they'd just paid their "protection fee."
"Time is tight. We need to accelerate development…"
Confirming that the Dragon-Hunting Crossbows were on schedule, Matthew pushed forward with his other preparation plans.
He decided to prepare an essential companion piece to the "Dragon-Slaying Guide."
Even the best weapon needs a good manual.
Knowing oneself and the enemy ensures victory every time.
When the Mad Dragon Calamity struck, most true dragons wouldn't be affected.
They would either be hiding in other planes, retreating to specially constructed lairs, or simply immune to the effects of the Mad Dragon Curse.
So, even if the upcoming Mad Dragon Calamity was the largest in millennia,
its real impact on Bay Territory would only come from dragon beasts.
Although those dragon beasts could reach legendary levels of power!!
Matthew, accompanied by Yaya, descended to the underground laboratory.
A dense crowd of kobolds and engineering golems were tirelessly at work.
The newly expanded underground lab would be vast, eventually spanning the equivalent of more than ten football fields.
To the right lay the experimental subject area, where massive cages held dragonblood creatures captured by adventurers and hunting squads.
Among them, a ground dragon clad in heavy armor, resembling a massive, plump crocodile.
Winged creatures over twenty meters long.
A dragon turtle as big as a small mountain, with four heads and a coiled tail.
And even a wyvern that had granted Matthew the Extraordinary Feat—Commander—was confined here.
Matthew calmly examined their attributes, ignoring their faintly intimidating presence.
These once-defiant beasts now sat docilely in their iron cages, not daring to move a muscle.
The reason was simple: Yaya had "had a talk" with them when they were first captured, curbing their unruliness.
Yaya, whose strength was rapidly growing, had no trouble bullying these dragon beasts, pseudo-dragons, and dragonblood creatures.
Even in her juvenile phase, Yaya had already begun to demonstrate the formidable combat abilities of a true dragon.
Her size, strength, defense, and battle techniques were all honed through dominating these creatures.
Behave, and you'll get fewer beatings!
If they disobey, beat them until they obey.
Yaya was already planning to thoroughly train these not-so-bright underlings.
Even if they couldn't be used as henchmen in the future, raising them as pets was still a good option.
So whenever Yaya showed up, even the dim-witted ground dragons became unusually well-behaved.
A large group of researchers followed closely behind Matthew, carefully listening as he recited the "Bible":
"When dealing with dragonblood creatures, keep these special precautions in mind."
"Don't stand in front of them; don't end up at their tails."
"No one can withstand their fangs or breath, and their tail sweeps are equally lethal."
"Don't be fooled by their size; they're actually quite agile…"
Just saying this wasn't clear enough, so Matthew signaled to have the ground dragon's cage opened.
A delighted Yaya hopped onto the ground dragon's back.
Under the researchers' "horrified" gaze, the ferocious ground dragon obediently opened its mouth and raised its tail.
The display left everyone dumbfounded.
Matthew walked over nonchalantly, first casting two cleansing spells into the ground dragon's open mouth, then carefully explaining:
"See that? Besides the sharp, serrated fangs, its jaw muscles are also highly developed, indicating incredible bite strength…"
"Do you see the small holes hidden in its throat? Those are glands for storing acid, which is the raw material for its breath attack."
"Take a bit of that acid and analyze its corrosive strength…"
"Check the strength of its scales all over—its back can reach a level of +8, while its belly is two grades weaker, and its magic resistance is quite decent…"
"Record its sprinting speed, noting both the minimum and maximum values…"
"Just recording speed isn't enough; we also need data on how fast it turns and launches attacks…"
"…"
Over the course of more than an hour,
the "obedient and well-behaved" ground dragon demonstrated everything to the onlookers.
Concluding his explanation, Matthew, noting the ground dragon's "resentful" gaze, coughed lightly and said:
"Give it a pig."
A freshly slaughtered pig was dropped into the cage's feeding chute.
Overjoyed, the ground dragon bit it in half with ease.
The crisp "crunching" sounds made everyone's skin crawl.
They gazed with awe at their lord and Yaya, watching their nonchalant expressions with overwhelming reverence.
But worship was out of the question—the lord had called that "superstition."
Matthew walked over to the strongest wyvern, and Yaya flexed her pale, delicate little fists, eager to show her strength.
The wyvern obediently lowered its head, its previously menacing face immediately becoming "peaceful," with its vertical-pupiled eyes welling up with tears.
"What can I do for you, master?"
Seeing it so compliant, Yaya patted its head and said seriously:
"Good, I'll give you something tasty later!"
Feeling the wyvern's formidable aura, the researchers suppressed their fear and continued to take notes.
The odd dynamic in the underground laboratory persisted throughout the day.
After gathering enough data and information, Matthew gestured to the others, saying:
"When dealing with other dragonblood creatures, you have to consider multiple angles."
"Don't just focus on their raw power; try to understand why they're so strong…"
"Find their weaknesses—it doesn't have to be a fatal flaw. If they had one, they wouldn't have survived until now."
"Beyond individuals, study their groups as well…"
Guided by Matthew's insights, the researchers in the underground lab began delving deeper into the study of dragonblood creatures.
Gradually, they forgot about the disparity in strength and poured their energy and passion into analyzing various dragonblood creatures.
With their help, Matthew saved a great deal of time, gaining a thorough understanding of the dragonblood creatures.
For now, these researchers could only assist behind the scenes.
In the future, they would forge new paths.
By studying dragonblood creatures and combining the many advanced and supreme feats he had collected, Matthew finally finalized the fifth surgical modification target!
Matthew decided to base it on the trolls' extraordinary healing ability.
He sought to create a more potent regenerative capacity capable of resisting and diminishing magical damage and disruption!
Typically, extraordinary feats were incredibly powerful.
Even a single feat, if honed and refined to its utmost, could yield tremendous results.
This meant that developing and modifying extraordinary abilities was extremely challenging.
A blank slate is easy to work with.
Conducting large-scale modifications on a skyscraper runs the risk of toppling the entire structure.
This time, Matthew chose troll test subjects.
After all, their regenerative capabilities were exceptional.
Initially, Matthew would teach the trolls to learn feats similar to the dragonblood creatures' unique magic resistance.
Then, he would use lower-powered magic to stimulate the trolls.
The first batch, without exception, failed.
Prepared for this, Matthew calmly utilized destiny force.
Soon, Matthew identified several unique trolls.
They possessed stronger magic resistance.
Once they "acquired" the dragonblood creatures' magic resistance feat, they quickly recovered from magic-induced injuries.
Of course, this rapid recovery also rapidly consumed their stamina and nutrients.
However, as Matthew gradually increased the potency of the damaging spells, the trolls began to struggle.
Matthew didn't recklessly amplify the spell's power; instead, he carefully tested at this threshold.
Analyzing the effects of various spells.
Recording recovery times for different spells.
Observing how different spells inflicted damage.
Amid seemingly similar data, Matthew silently searched for patterns.
The numerous experimental results and increasingly clear experimental principles allowed Matthew to move forward steadily and methodically.
The trolls' steadily "improving" strength and their gradually enhanced healing magic capabilities
were all accelerated by daily infusions of one million destiny force, significantly shortening the time required to collect and analyze data.
On the eighth day, after more than 5,000 experiments, Matthew finally "created" a satisfactory extraordinary feat in several supreme troll test subjects.
"Extraordinary Healing LV1, extraordinary feat: Max HP +50, Constitution +4, HP regeneration +5, rapid healing of all injuries except lethal wounds, recovery speed increased tenfold."
"Learning prerequisites: Constitution 20, Strength 18, Agility 15."
With such stringent learning prerequisites, Matthew figured that apart from Bay Territory's modified warriors, almost no one else would meet the criteria.
Creating this extraordinary feat was only the first step in completing the fifth surgical research project.
While Matthew was engrossed in research,
under Yaya's leadership, the researchers who had made significant breakthroughs completed the most crucial section of the "Dragon-Slaying Guide."
Types of dragonblood creatures.
Habits of dragonblood creatures.
Attacks of dragonblood creatures.
Weaknesses of dragonblood creatures.
How to hunt dragonblood creatures!
Taking a moment to refine the "Dragon-Slaying Guide," Matthew made an interesting decision.
This guide, which had cost significant manpower, resources, and dragon power to compile,
would be made available to all adventurers in the territory who achieved over 2,000 merit points.
Of course, "available" didn't mean they could disclose the information. Before viewing this level of classified information, they would have to sign a magical contract.
When news of the "Dragon-Slaying Guide" spread, it caused a massive stir among Bay Ridge's adventurers.
The reason was simple.
With the "Dragon-Slaying Guide" in hand, as long as one had the proper weapons and equipment and a team unafraid of death, there was a 50% chance of slaying a dragon!
It was an irresistible money-making opportunity!
Most adventurers didn't expect that the guide would come with detailed descriptions of various weapons.
"Dragon-Hunting Crossbow: 50,000 gold!"
"Dragon-Slaying Spear: 1,000 gold."
"Dragon-Slaying Potion: 2,000 gold!"
"Dragon-Slaying Knife: 300 gold!"
"Genuine goods, fair pricing!"
Everyone now had one thing on their minds: find a dragon and kill it!