Chapter 535: Raising Dragon-Blooded Creatures
The fleeing Catachan demon twisted and turned as it frantically dashed through the jungle.
Instead of charging directly toward the dragon-hunting crossbows, it feigned an attack.
But the Thunder Warriors were swift, continuously pressuring its path of retreat.
Its sturdy claws were forcibly broken by heavy hammers swung its way.
Surging lightning interrupted every one of its counterattacks.
Each Thunder Warrior possessed agility and strength above 20 points.
Even though they were at a disadvantage in size against the Catachan demon, their localized combat power didn't fall short.
Irritated by the relentless harassment, the demon decided to retrace its path.
It believed its companions would surely lie in ambush along the way.
Then it could turn the tide, devouring these pests!
At that moment, one of its climbing claws slipped, and the immense momentum caused its massive body to slam into the ground.
The previously solid ground suddenly caved in.
The howling Catachan demon flailed its claws wildly, unable to control its multi-ton body.
It plummeted heavily into a trap.
Dense metallic spikes pierced through its tough armor, leaving jagged wounds.
In pain, the Catachan demon thrashed wildly, clawing upward without pause.
However, the continual blood loss sapped the strength of the massive creature.
Just as it managed to climb halfway out, a bolt shot through the air and struck its back without mercy.
Crack!
The highly penetrative bolt dug into the damaged armor.
The erupting lightning momentarily halted the demon's upward motion. Heat waves and clouds of steam rose from the gaping wound on its back, exposing mangled innards.
Severely injured, the Catachan demon let out terrified howls.
Before it could flee again, Gater, cloaked in lightning, quietly approached.
A cold, lethal straight blade sliced through a gap in its claws.
Splutch!
Blood sprayed forth, carrying a stench of corruption.
Gater carefully avoided the spurting blood and shifted his body further forward, positioning himself in a blind spot of its attacks.
With a powerful thrust, he drove the remaining half of the blade deeper.
The struggling Catachan demon let out pitiful, frantic howls. Its massive body gradually weakened, and its clawing motions slowed.
This fearsome beast was nearing the end of its life.
The Thunder Warriors showed no intention of approaching. Instead, they formed a distant circle, waiting silently.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The heavy sound of arrows cutting through the air heralded the arrival of lightning-imbued bolts aimed at the demon's head.
The massive, grotesque creature raised its head high, letting out a final roar before collapsing.
With practiced efficiency, Gater emerged from beneath the Catachan demon, shaking off blood splatters before rinsing himself clean.
Not a drop of blood stained his body—a basic survival skill for every elite Catachan hunter.
In the dangerous Catachan jungle, even the smallest injury could prove utterly lethal.
Sera, who had been preparing to intervene, glanced into the distance and said in a clear voice:
"Pack it into the demon-sealing storage box, clean up our traces, and reset the traps."
Hearing this, the Thunder Warriors quickly got to work.
"Ding! Your subordinate, Gater, killed 1 Catachan demon and gained 40,000 Destiny Power."
Hearing the notification, Matthew raised an eyebrow in pleasant surprise, feeling reassured about the Thunder Team's situation for the time being.
He turned to look at the trembling dragon turtle under Yaya's watchful gaze. Noticing the soil beneath it slowly hardening, he gestured for Yaya to continue.
Yaya held various Catachan jungle toxins in her hand, beckoning cheerfully to the trembling dragon turtle.
Terrified, the dragon turtle glanced at the frothing, poisoned wyvern nearby. Still, it obediently crawled out.
Eating these poisons might not kill it, but disobedience certainly would.
After all, it had witnessed several mad dragon beasts being dealt with by Yaya right in front of it.
The dragon turtle swallowed the poisoned meat whole and soon felt its stomach cramp. It writhed in pain, howling incessantly.
"HP: 174/176."
"HP: 173/176."
"HP: 172/176."
"…"
Three minutes passed.
The dragon turtle howled for a full three minutes.
Its cries were filled with misery and helplessness, as if it were on the brink of death.
In reality, its HP had only dropped to 165 before stabilizing.
In fact, after about 20 seconds, it even started to rise slightly.
Yet the dragon turtle continued to wail as if it were moments from death.
Excellent acting!
Receiving this update from Matthew, Yaya narrowed her eyes and chuckled, pulling out a vial of healing potion and a high-grade nutrient solution. With a flick of her fingers, she beckoned once more.
"Drink these, and your wounds will heal…"
The dragon turtle's eyes quivered. If it could speak, it likely wouldn't dare utter a single complaint.
It dragged itself "feebly" forward, only to have Yaya firmly grasp its jaw and pour the potion down its throat.
Though Yaya was no larger than one of its teeth, the dragon turtle dared not move, enduring her treatment without resistance.
After drinking the potion, its HP rose to 172, nearly fully recovered from the poison's effects.
Seeing it restored, Yaya wasted no time. She promptly tossed another toxin into its mouth.
The familiar cries and theatrics began once more.
Matthew quietly recorded the data, noting not only the potency of each poison but also the physiological changes within the dragon turtle as it "resisted" them.
The other dragon-blooded creatures around them were now exceedingly well-behaved. They made no sudden movements, even breathing cautiously.
The smarter ones had realized Yaya and Matthew's intentions.
Fear filled their hearts as they dreaded the possibility of undergoing similar horrifying experiments in the future.
The less intelligent ones assumed the dragon turtle was being punished. They, too, quaked in fear, hoping to avoid any undue misfortune.
Matthew had several important reasons for these actions.
He had already gathered druids, led by Old Lee, to establish another druid greenhouse at Fort Hope.
The Catachan demi-plane was perilous.
But within such danger lay immense opportunity.
The bizarre, mutated, and twisted creatures alone could provide Matthew with countless unique abilities and talents.
Not to mention the peculiar flora.
To begin, he tasked the adventurers with gathering as much information as possible about the various mutated plants and toxins in the Catachan jungle.
These plants often exhibited randomness and mutation. Finding identical toxin strains could be extremely challenging.
A druid greenhouse would allow these plants to be preserved, enabling detailed research later on to unlock their value.
Brewing potions, extracting toxins, substituting magical plants, and selective breeding.
Multiple research avenues could transform these unique plants into a treasure trove for the Bay Territory.
Just like the rare potions already being produced.
Beyond exploiting the value of these toxins, Matthew naturally aimed to study antidotes and neutralizing agents.
This would serve as both a research endeavor and a contingency.
If successful, it would enable soldiers and adventurers to explore the Catachan demi-plane without fear.
Once the toxin issue was resolved, the dangers of the Catachan jungle would decrease by almost 40%.
Considering that dragon-blooded creatures had thick hides, special draconic lineage, and unique information encoded in their blood, using them for experiments was far from wasteful.
After all, the Bay Territory wasn't housing them for free.
In fact, capturing them was, in a sense, for their own benefit.
Imagine if the Bay hadn't brought them to the Catachan demi-plane.
The upcoming Dragon Frenzy had a high probability of wiping them out entirely. It could take decades or centuries of breeding to recover.
Some dragon-blooded creatures, which were already difficult to reproduce, might never bounce back.
Ultimately, they would vanish into history, going extinct.
In Matthew's view, dragon-blooded creatures were immensely valuable, with every part of their bodies serving as top-tier magical materials.
If magical plants could be cultivated and livestock could be raised in herds, why not raise dragon-blooded creatures?
Matthew spent time inspecting the domesticated swamp crocodiles.
He also exchanged knowledge on magical creature husbandry with the Truth Organization.
Together with Yaya and Old Lee, he carefully researched the feasibility of raising dragon-blooded creatures.
Concluding that the plan had a high likelihood of success, he decided to proceed.
With the plan in place, the next step was finding a suitable location.
The Bay Territory was unsuitable.
The area was small and would easily attract attention from hidden adversaries.
The Underworld wasn't ideal either.
Though vast, it lacked resources.
Dragon-blooded creatures were voracious eaters, easily consuming hundreds of kilograms of food per meal.
Transporting such quantities of food underground would impose a tremendous burden on the Bay Territory.
Matthew chose the Catachan demi-plane.
While not as boundless as the primary material plane,
it remained largely unexplored and undeveloped by any kingdom or faction.
Spanning 500 to 600 million square kilometers, it was no smaller than Matthew's original world.
Though most of Catachan's regions were treacherous wilderness,
there was more than enough space to raise hundreds of thousands of dragon-blooded creatures.
Moreover, Matthew and Old Lee established two approaches to raising dragon-blooded creatures.
The first involves artificial cultivation in labs and breeding areas.
This method offers several benefits.
Fast reproduction rates and stable survival.
With various training techniques, the potential of these dragon-blooded creatures can be fully realized.
However, it also has its drawbacks.
Captive dragon-blooded creatures, like other lab-bred species, may face genetic degradation and species decline.
Hence, the second approach serves as a safeguard.
Most mature dragon-blooded creatures will be placed in designated survival zones.
In these suitable environments, they can breed and grow naturally.
But as their numbers increase, food supplies will diminish, forcing them either to compete or to migrate further away.
Through constant battles and challenges, they can evolve into new, genetically improved variants for the labs.
Furthermore, these two approaches are interlinked.
Labs develop dragon-blooded creatures with greater potential and higher limits.
These creatures are then tested and tempered in natural competition, embedding their abilities into their bloodline and turning them into instincts.
As a result, their offspring will naturally grow stronger.
Over successive generations, their potential ceiling will steadily rise.
Combining technology and natural selection achieves the best outcomes.
In Matthew's words:
"Perhaps someday, a true dragon based on the genetic prototype of a dragon-blooded creature may emerge!"
Matthew had great confidence in this idea because it had precedents.
After all, beyond metallic and chromatic dragons, there were already numerous dragon species.
Not to mention the various powerful true dragons in the distant east, each with unique appearances—further evidence supporting this concept.
Of course, that would be the best-case scenario.
For now, Matthew's priority was to provide suitable habitats for these dragon-blooded creatures.
Matthew believed that the dragon-blooded creatures' resilience and formidable strength gave them a strong chance of surviving in the Catachan demi-plane.
Yet mere survival wasn't sufficient for Matthew or the Bay Territory.
These dragon-blooded creatures were acquired at a great expense of gold coins, and losses were not an option.
Therefore, Matthew aimed to enhance their resistance to toxins through training and surgical modifications.
With their physical strength and combat capabilities, dragon-blooded creatures were hardly afraid of the various beasts in the Catachan jungle, often holding the upper hand.
After all, unlike the "wildly mutated" solo predators of the Catachan jungle,
dragon-blooded creatures started with innate learning from their bloodline, constantly growing stronger. Like the "Green Tide" and "Fungal Carpet" phenomena encountered in Catachan, they could adapt and evolve based on their environment.
Thus, what seemed like mere "Big Brother drinking medicine" actually served multiple purposes.
The dragon turtle endured up to the fourth toxin before pretending it couldn't go on.
Seeing this, Yaya and Matthew didn't press further—there were plenty of dragon-blooded creatures to experiment on.
This provided an opportunity to gather information and data on different dragon-blooded species.
In the end, these funny creatures would regret their antics!
Intimidated by Yaya's "awe-inspiring power," nearly a hundred dragon-blooded creatures meekly tasted various toxins from the Catachan demi-plane.
The results showed that dragon-blooded creatures naturally possessed decent constitutions and resistance to toxins, generally enduring at least two rounds.
Matthew could clearly "see" that their "toxin resistance" increased by at least 2 points.
Within two days,
Matthew anticipated that most of these dragon-blooded creatures would achieve advanced "toxin resistance."
At that point, they could be sent out to "venture" on their own.
By evening,
the Thunder Squad, having encountered multiple Catachan demons, retreated to Fort Hope.
They had successfully hunted two Catachan demons, earning a bounty of 360,000 gold coins from the Bay Territory.
The Bay Territory also benefited greatly.
Not only had it eliminated two dangerous monsters, but it had also gained a wealth of valuable magical materials.
The Catachan demon's carapace was incredibly sturdy, yet remarkably lightweight.
It could be used to craft extraordinary enchanted leather armor—enough for 50 sets from just one creature.
These could easily sell for over a million gold coins.
Naturally, the profit wouldn't be that high, but a modest gain was guaranteed.
Moreover, as the Bay Territory solidified its "self-sufficient" internal manufacturing and development cycle,
the nearly 500,000 gold coin production cost would ultimately remain within the Bay, generating value as it circulated through its economy.