Chapter 162: Mrs. T-Rex, you wouldn't want anything to happen to your dragon egg...
The moment the Crimson T-Rex appeared, it brought an unparalleled sense of oppression.
Whether it was the protagonist group, the player squad, or the Butcher family, most members froze in place the instant it emerged.
This was the deterrent effect of a 'Top Predator'; when the Crimson T-Rex entered hunting mode, it would trigger an area-of-effect check. All units with a Charisma attribute not higher than the Crimson T-Rex had a 75% chance of being paralyzed in place for 5 seconds, though any attack during this period would immediately end the paralysis.
The Crimson T-Rex was clearly an experienced hunter; it started with a crowd control ability, then unhesitatingly opened its mouth, aiming at the protagonist group from the Dinosaur Protection Association, who were at the closest linear distance. Its throat was already glowing a bright red, characteristic of rapidly rising temperature!
Due to its solitary nature and recent birth, the Crimson T-Rex had managed to avoid previous satellite scans and the poacher group's manual searches. As a mother dragon who had just given birth and now urgently needed to eat to replenish her strength, the ravenous Crimson T-Rex was roaming the swamp jungle with bloodshot eyes.
However, the problem was that due to the Herbivore Alliance's joint raid on the poacher camp, the herbivorous dragons that were usually easy to find were now almost nonexistent. Out of necessity, the Crimson T-Rex had no choice but to risk venturing far from its nest, expanding its hunting range.
Subsequently, the bloody scent of herbivorous dragon carcasses mixed with the smell of gunpowder wafted into the Crimson T-Rex's nostrils.
And because of the explosion caused by Cheng Tian's attack on the Cadillac earlier, the Crimson T-Rex, which feared no other existence, approached while also veering towards the sound of the explosion. As a result, when it burst through the low bushes, it was only a dozen meters in a straight line from the dinosaur enthusiasts.
For it, this was merely a few steps away.
It was also at this moment that the most ironic part emerged.
The protagonist group, who considered dinosaur protection their life's work, were, in the eyes of the Crimson T-Rex, merely a group of annoying and unappetizing little things blocking its path to the herbivorous dragon buffet.
To dinosaurs, all humans were enemies, without exception. And to top predators, everything besides themselves was food; the only distinction was tasty or unappetizing, nothing more.
Just as the Crimson T-Rex used its crowd control and breathed fire, Cheng Tian, who had resisted the 'Top Predator' effect thanks to the charisma bonus provided by his mask, managed to 'Quickly Recycle' the war elephant Mammoth, which was in an agitated state, into his void garage.
At the same time, the 9 golden arrows that were just displaying numbers above his head scattered directly, piercing Eileen, Uhtan, Poacher Joe, Bald Butcher, and some of the Butcher's capable subordinates, forcibly waking them from their stunned state.
"A word of advice: if you don't want to die, seize the opportunity and run!"
After speaking, Cheng Tian gave the Bald Butcher no chance to react. The hatch closed, and the Drill Tank and Bat Tank performed a synchronized U-turn and tail-whip, directly rushing in a direction away from the camp.
The drill was at full throttle, this time at the cost of potential damage to the tank, speeding up both its path-clearing and travel.
And just as they drilled into the forest, the Flame Roar, which the Crimson T-Rex had gained after deeply fusing with the Spade Red Dragon, erupted with astonishing heat and dazzling fire.
Cheng Tian did choose to run, but this time his direction of escape was quite telling—
He was heading in the direction the Crimson T-Rex had come from, by taking a detour!
The 'Postpartum Weakness' debuff indicated that the opponent must have a nest somewhere, and it was obvious that the Crimson T-Rex's offspring would be extremely powerful.
Many people might have overlooked the dinosaur strength issue in 'Adventure Island 3'. The five special dinosaurs varied in strength, but the most powerful individual among them was undoubtedly the Red Dragon/Fire Dragon corresponding to the Spade suit.
The Red Dragon in 'Adventure Island 3' could not only breathe fireballs but also move freely in lava as if swimming. This meant that "Spade" was theoretically the strongest dinosaur fusion template in the current corrupted instance.
And even more uniquely, all dinosaurs in Adventure Island could be tamed and ridden!
If the dinosaur units in 'Cadillacs and Dinosaurs' were truly deeply mutated by fragments of the 'Adventure Island 3' blueprint, thereby fully gaining superpowers, then it also meant they acquired the implicit trait of being easier to tame and ride.
Considering that all members of the dinosaur faction are hostile and attack humans, directly taming an adult is almost impossible... But this doesn't mean that baby dinosaurs hatched from eggs will inherit such faction characteristics.
Almost all oviparous animals possess an instinct called the "imprinting effect," meaning they will bond with the first creature they see after hatching, treating it as a family member or even a parent.
Previously, Cheng Tian hadn't fully grasped the key significance of this, but upon seeing the Crimson T-Rex's postpartum weakness, Cheng Tian seemed to understand what the space wanted him to do.
He absolutely had to get that Crimson T-Rex egg!
Using the owl's observation ability, Eileen easily found the traces left by the Crimson T-Rex's arrival. After all, with such a large body, no matter how careful it was, it would leave very obvious footprints, scrapes, and destruction marks.
Due to the Crimson T-Rex's forceful intrusion, Cheng Tian inexplicably returned to the trajectory of his preset plan, only the target temporarily adjusted from a Stegosaurus egg to a T-Rex egg.
The stakes had instantly risen.
However, because Cheng Tian and his team escaped too promptly, they failed to see another invading BOSS creature that emerged from underground—
A giant Sand Worm!
After successfully escaping the Crimson T-Rex's line of sight, Cheng Tian and his team changed their travel method.
They retrieved all the tank matrices, released Eileen's Lightning Rhythm motorcycle. Eileen took the left sidecar, Uhtan the right, and Cheng Tian the main driver's seat. Then, they directly deployed the 'Portable Spring +4' they had previously confiscated from Curry Singh on the ground, allowing the motorcycle to launch the two people and one ape into the sky, entering a gliding state.
At this point, Cheng Tian would then retrieve the ground spring using the +4 spring's remote retrieval effect, achieving frequent group aerial movement.
If there was any downside, it was the potential for attacks from pterosaurs... Eileen loved shooting moving targets.
Very quickly, using their peculiar gliding method, Cheng Tian and his team soon arrived at an area on the west side of the swamp jungle, surrounded by dense foliage. Following the obvious ground traces, they found a spot near a river shallows, where there was a very conspicuous hill made of sand and soil. At the top of the hill, there was a dragon egg with a surface covered in "Spade" patterns!
Cheng Tian, who had returned the driver's seat to Eileen, jumped directly from the vehicle. Just as he was about to land, a pair of Red Devil Wings unfolded on his back, allowing him to land incredibly lightly beside the enormous dragon egg.
It seemed that the power brought by the fusion also caused a drastic drop in the remaining number of T-Rexes. There was only a single, lonely dragon egg in the huge nest... But it didn't matter, your gynecological expert Brother Cheng wouldn't stand by and do nothing!
Cheng Tian first moved the lonely dragon egg aside, then began digging in the empty center of the nest.
And then a brand new, living dragon egg was dug out by Cheng Tian!
Looking at the two Spade dragon eggs side-by-side, Cheng Tian subconsciously licked his lips. He was curious what dragon egg cake steamed from these eggs would taste like.
And just as this dangerous thought crossed Cheng Tian's mind, the Crimson T-Rex, far away in the poacher camp, feasting on herbivore carcasses, suddenly lifted its head as if sensing something, looking towards the direction of its nest—
ROAR!