The 17th Evolution — — Primordial Aerodactyl
Cheng Tian's egg-hatching efficiency was faster than expected. Clearly, the Sun God Gem Shard's additional hatching physique, combined with the insane joyride, also helped immensely.
If it were anyone else, the hatching speed with a constant temperature nest would probably be even faster.
However, just as this prompt appeared, a decisive choice prompt also popped up.
"The egg is about to hatch. Please decide the existence form of the hatched unit in advance — — Minion or Combat Mount."
The egg, which had originally shown cracks and tremors, was paused at this moment, clearly waiting for Cheng Tian to make his final decision.
Cheng Tian's face showed contemplation.
Minion and Combat Mount, both forms of existence had their own advantages and disadvantages.
Theoretically, all players could acquire minions, and the biggest feature of a minion was its ability to grow alongside the player.
Taking Wutan as an example, even though he was still a temporary minion, he could receive main quest completion rewards. When Cheng Tian completed the main quest, gaining free attribute points and free skill points, he would also receive 60% of those numerical rewards. Rounding up, if Cheng Tian got 7 free attribute points and 2 free skill points, Wutan would get 4 free attribute points and 1 free skill point.
Additionally, depending on the minion type, there were various exclusive characteristics. For instance, the mercenary units in Diablo could wear some equipment and even be trained as half a player, while Wutan, despite having four weapon slots, couldn't wear other equipment.
Usually, players would only recruit one minion at most, because the second minion was not only generally harder to acquire, but the attribute and skill point acquisition after completion would also drop to 30%, and so on.
Theoretically, players could acquire more minions, but the more there were, the more the growth potential of subsequent minions would be reduce, and players holding more minions would also have to pay more fees for it.
It was more cost-effective to invest all resources into a single minion rather than blindly raising multiple ones.
As for another difference from Combat Mounts, minions could be resurrected. If one couldn't afford the money, completing quests could also resurrect them.
The reason why Curry Singh was so decisive in letting his Onix self-destruct was that the Onix was his first minion unit and could be resurrected.
Although there would be a significant penalty of reduced intimacy, being able to survive at a critical moment was better than anything.
The weakness of minions was that they usually started in a relatively weak initial form, requiring time and the player's main quest completion rate to grow. Even if minions could be cultivated into the desired form through artificial intervention, they would inevitably go through a weak period.
As for Combat Mounts, they could generally be compared to the Mammoth War Elephant and the Crimson Tyrannosaurus Rex. They were fully formed upon appearance, possessing considerable combat power, but also essentially exhausting their future growth potential, making it very difficult to improve them further.
Moreover, essentially, Combat Mounts were items that could be traded, but they couldn't enjoy equipment item enhancement functions, and once they died, they were permanently dead. Their strengths and weaknesses were clear at a glance.
Oh, and another crucial point was that only one mount or Combat Mount could exist at the same time.
Cheng Tian could summon both the War Elephant Mammoth and the Crimson Tyrannosaurus Rex simultaneously because the War Elephant Mammoth was judged to have a composite attribute of Combat Mount and biological vehicle, with the biological vehicle being a Metal Slug exclusive attribute. As long as Cheng Tian kept it in the War Chariot Matrix sequence, it could be summoned simultaneously with other Combat Mounts.
Ultimately, Cheng Tian decided to let the Dragon Egg contend for a spot with the Crimson Tyrannosaurus Rex.
One Genetic Research Ape was enough for a minion; the newborn Aerodactyl should directly appear in its adult form!
The moment Cheng Tian made his decision, the dragon egg immediately cracked open. A stream of light flew out from his inventory, obscuring the natural light above Cheng Tian's head.
Before Cheng Tian could react, he was grabbed around the waist by a powerful claw, and with a violent gust of wind pressure, he was instantly lifted into the air.
The broad dragon wings, massive head, powerful two feet, and strong tail—these basic body structures were identical to the "Aerodactyl" with Pokedex number 142 from the Pokémon blueprint.
However, the one carrying Cheng Tian soaring freely had a vastly different appearance.
Not only did it have a purple skin color from head to tail, like a "Shiny Pokémon," but its head, chin, wing claws, abdomen, spine, and tail end all had rock-textured dark grey keratinized protrusions, making it look even fiercer than an Aerodactyl!
Cheng Tian, who saw the full appearance of the "Aerodactyl" through the Crystal Eye, was stunned, because this appearance was precisely what a "Mega Aerodactyl" should have!
And this was the "Primordial Aerodactyl," born from the perfect superposition of the Primordial Aerodactyl and Aerodactyl genes, directly skipping to its adult form as a Combat Mount.
At the same time, the eggshell remaining in Cheng Tian's inventory collapsed and deformed, turning into a bridle.
"Primordial Aerodactyl's Bridle: Golden Legend / Lv -, Mount Summon, Combat Mount, Flying Mount. Usage Requirement: Agility 45 or Charisma 28. Because you personally hatched the Primordial Aerodactyl, under the influence of the Imprint Effect, you can ignore the requirements and directly summon and ride the 'Primordial Aerodactyl.'
Born from a Plum Blossom Aerodactyl egg with the most primitive and pure bloodline, fused with an Aerodactyl Amber, a highly compatible gene completed a qualitative transformation and fusion, resulting in an aerial overlord that combines the characteristics of both.
Basic attributes are equivalent to the 'Crimson Tyrannosaurus Rex's Bridle.'"
"Primordial Aerodactyl: Combat Mount, Single-Person Flying Mount, Quasi-Boss Template. Riding Requirement: Ignored.
HP = 1080, MP = 180. Strength 24, Agility 42, Spirit 18, Charisma 25.
Mount Characteristics/Skills — — Oppressive Aura, Rock Slide, Primal Power, Dual Fierce Fangs (To be completed)
Oppressive Aura — — Pokémon Characteristic, Passive Ability. The existence of Primordial Aerodactyl exerts immense pressure on opponents, forcing them to increase the consumption of their skills. All skill consumption from enemy targets used against Primordial Aerodactyl will be forcibly increased by 50% to 100% depending on the value.
Continuous Rock Slide — — Active Skill. A special talent in rock throwing gained after interference from the Primordial Plum Blossom attribute, sacrificing single-hit damage for continuous rapid release. Primordial Aerodactyl can grab or condense large rocks with mana and hurl them at the target, dealing damage equal to its Agility value, and has a 30% chance to make the target flinch. The flinching state will forcibly interrupt the target's current skill casting or release. If grabbing rocks to throw, it only consumes 2 MP. If condensing magical rocks with mana, it consumes 5 MP. Cooldown: 15 seconds.
Primal Power — — Active Skill. Releases the primordial power contained within its bloodline as an energy shock, dealing damage equal to the sum of its Strength + Agility + Spirit values to the target. The attack has a 10% chance to trigger "Primal Surge," granting itself a buff of +5 to Strength, Agility, and Spirit simultaneously, lasting 1 minute. Consumes 25 MP. Cooldown: 5 minutes.
Dual Fierce Fangs (To be completed) — — Active Skill. Primordial Aerodactyl's teeth can easily bite through a prey's skin, dealing 3 * Strength points of biting damage, and has a 30% chance to make it flinch. Consumes 15 MP. Cooldown: 3 minutes. If further provided with mutated dragon eggs possessing "Spade" and "Heart" attributes for it to devour, Primordial Aerodactyl's teeth will be able to inflict "Flame Burning" and "Freezing Cold" dual elemental additional damage."
"Additional Evaluation: It's unclear whether the Plum Blossom Aerodactyl or the Aerodactyl served as the Mega Evolution Stone for the other, but in any case, this is a perfect fusion second only to the 'Mega Aerodactyl' form."