Chapter 673.5: Eighth Surgical Modification - Multiple Lungs!
Time Acceleration!
The Catachan larva's body rapidly swelled and changed, transforming toward its adult form.
Under Matthew's gaze, all its organs reshaped rapidly during evolution.
Yet even as its whole outer body neared full adult transformation...
The lung region still showed no change.
Matthew remained unmoved, continuing to sustain the power of time.
He compared the transformations of the larva's body one by one with that of the half-dead Catachan Demon.
Just as the Catachan Demon larva was about to finalize its form and emerge from the egg—
A substantial amount of distorted crystal inside the egg surged all at once toward the larva.
And then, a scene that made Matthew feel "a bit horrified" occurred.
Many of the larva's feats began to disappear under the envelopment and coverage of the distorted crystals.
They simply vanished!
Not replaced or merged—just gone.
Its form also began to shift.
Bigger, stronger, more dangerous.
More like the "models" just taken down at Mount Aso!
At the same time, many of the internal organs of the larva began to distort and change.
Matthew had assumed these distorted crystals would make a mess of the larva's internals.
But to his surprise, many of its internal organs began to fuse under the guidance of some eerie force.
Then, in a very unique manner, they sprouted into lungs.
What struck Matthew most was—
The feat the larva had moments ago—"Legendary Distortion - Malignant Devour."
It was gone too!
Watching the gradually forming lungs of the larva, and its rapidly declining HP due to lack of nutrients from time acceleration—
Matthew clenched his fist lightly.
Crack!
Thunder roared down, instantly shattering the Catachan Demon egg into pieces.
A much smaller Catachan Demon was born!
However, it didn't survive like many of its kin.
It flopped weakly in the viscous fluid for a moment, then collapsed lifelessly.
Its once twisted and fierce body disintegrated with the breaking of the eggshell.
Muscles dissolved, bones melted, tissues vanished.
Matthew regretfully shook his head, glanced at the other eggs that had come into contact with distorted crystals yet still had the "Legendary Distortion - Malignant Devour" feat, and crushed them as well with a wave of his hand.
They could have been extraordinary—but were already tainted before birth.
Matthew stored away the only "unpolluted" Catachan Demon egg, then turned and smiled at the frantically struggling Catachan Demon:
"A bit unfortunate, but next time, you lot might surprise me again."
"Hopefully, you won't be too late delivering them!"
The Evil Shadow Spirit hadn't yet fully understood Matthew's words—when the claw holding its throat suddenly sliced off its head.
Matthew looked down—the twisted pipes twisted and turned but were now visibly withering rapidly.
"12 seconds? So that's their maximum reaction time?"
"Or perhaps it's the command handover time between signals?"
"Or maybe there's an even wider and higher-level command structure involved..."
All these subtle details were recorded by both Matthew and Yaya.
Bay Territory's dedicated research institute would analyze this intel further to study more enemy traits and weaknesses.
Though Matthew was a bit disappointed that he didn't gain more from the Catachan Demon nest—
He wasn't greedy. He quickly sent a message to Angela:
"The enemy's offensive and strength might escalate."
Upon receiving the warning, Angela resumed her systematic preparations.
Matthew and Yaya then began clearing and destroying the site.
The method of destruction was simple—burn it!
Yaya spewed a blast of dragon breath and burned the place down.
Then, she and Matthew headed to the volcano's crater.
A massive number of draconic beasts had already gathered there.
All of them waiting in anticipation!
Yaya blinked, descended slowly, scanned the steaming lava pool, and shrugged with some disdain at the sluggish, powerless Mount Aso:
"Well, for now, this is the best spot we can find."
As soon as she finished speaking, Yaya pulled out a large barrel of dragon blood that had been prepared in advance.
The scorching dragon blood, even outside her body, remained extremely active.
Watched by countless blazing eyes, it churned like a living thing, radiating heat that distorted the air.
Yaya poured the dragon blood into the lava pool while chanting draconic magic.
The dark red lava pool began to expand, its bubbling more intense.
It became like a living creature, greedily siphoning magma from underground to grow itself.
As Yaya chanted, the lava pool absorbed more and more energy.
An unspeakable majesty began to spread, deeply tempting the draconic beasts.
Matthew wasn't idle either—he was tossing various rare materials into the enormous transformation pool.
Seeing the pool radiating terrifying heat, Blackshell the Dragon Turtle gulped, excitedly scanning the surroundings.
He was checking—making sure no foolish draconic beast dared "cause trouble" at this moment!
Fortunately, the combined pressure of Matthew and Yaya was enough to suppress any rash impulses.
Until the transformation pool was complete, all the draconic beasts obediently stayed in place.
Yaya, having consumed most of her mana, looked at the gently swirling vortex in the pool and turned to Blackshell:
"You first!"
"Once you're done, arrange the draconic beasts with over 50,000 contribution points to enter in descending order."
"The pool will recover energy daily and accumulate more power."
"The next transformation tier requires 150,000 points!"
Though mentally prepared, Blackshell couldn't help feeling a surge of emotion and respectfully bowed:
"Thank you for your blessing!"
"Thank you for Lord Matthew's trust!"
With a long yawn, Yaya curled up on a nearby hill and quickly fell asleep.
In truth, her consciousness had returned to her main body and was now chattering at Matthew:
"Ugh, that massive mana burn a few days ago... I need at least three meals to recover."
"From that new mala hotpot place on Victory Street!"
Of course, the draconic beasts had no idea their great True Dragon Yaya was already off to hunt for food.
Their full attention was locked on the transformation pool, panting heavily, yet not daring to move.
None dared disobey Yaya's command—they all waited for Blackshell's first transformation!
Without delay, Blackshell composed himself and decisively stepped in.
Sizzle!
"ROAR...!"
The earth-shaking roar spread from the volcano's summit downward.
Seeing the faint red clouds forming in the sky, Feili wiped her forehead.
Her emerald eyes flashed with disbelief as she felt the surging power climbing higher. She turned to Elio and asked:
"Which draconic beast is that? Was he hiding his strength?"
Feeling the rising heat in the air, Elio calmly adjusted a magic cannon and answered:
"Judging by the voice, it's likely Blackshell. He's very powerful."
"With Yaya's help, he might break through the Extraordinary peak and enter Legendary."
Stepping into Legendary!
A beautiful, enticing realm.
Feili squinted excitedly, sensing a stir deep within, and eagerly asked:
"When will Lord Matthew launch the Fire Dragon Project?"
Sensing the temperature rising, Elio walked to the next magic cannon and pointed at the agitated twisted plants outside:
"It's already begun. Soon, we'll be able to pick our own fire dragon companions."
Choosing a fire dragon!
That was an incredibly tempting "proposal"!
While staying alert, Feili nudged Elio:
"Should we go check Elona's lab?"
"Maybe they've already started picking."
Elio ignored her puppy eyes and lightly bopped her head before ordering:
"If you've got that much free time, lead the next defense shift. It'll help us collect more data."
Feili pouted and pleaded.
"Take me with you~..."
"I'll pick the coolest fire dragon for you, boss!"
"I'll settle for the second coolest myself."
She finally got Elio to cave.
With a promise to let her visit the lab after the battle.
She grinned and dashed out, shouting brightly:
"Prepare for battle!"
The faint rumble of artillery reached Matthew's ears.
He was inscribing the massive, intricate magic formation structure, channeling mana into each section, verifying it segment by segment.
At the core of the large hatching formation—
Elio and a team of Druid researchers.
Were performing final checks on the first 10 draconic eggs slated for modification.
"Check activity levels!"
"Egg 1: Active!"
"Egg 2: Active!"
"Egg 3..."
"..."
They also had to check the internal formation structures.
"Check formation interfaces."
"Interface 1: Stable!"
"Interface 2: Stable!"
"Interface 3..."
"..."
They also had to verify the injection of transformation materials, and ensure the monitoring array was stable.
Annie, the city lord who had just finished inspecting the fire element energy pool, gazed repeatedly at the vast formation array, its bases and components, and couldn't help but ask:
"How much does all this cost?"
Matthew, having completed his checks, didn't hide anything:
"Each fire dragon transformation costs roughly 2 million gold."
2 million gold per fire dragon?
That was incredibly expensive!
Even modifying a Dragon Warrior in Bay Territory cost about the same.
Hearing that, City Lord Annie looked at the assorted dragon eggs and thoughtfully nodded:
"This demi-plane's value is high. Using fire dragons to seize it would be a very worthwhile deal."
Matthew reviewed the fire element pool and dismissed the Druids who had completed their inspections.
Then activated the large formation, watching as surging flames filled the incubation space.
Feeling the active, excited bloodline energy, he smiled at the curious City Lord Annie:
"Actually, even with the fire dragons' help—"
"It's still a long way before we can fully conquer the Catachan demi-plane."
"I just want to give Bay Territory's soldiers some strong enemies to fight!"
The roaring flames gradually surrounded the glowing dragon eggs.
Under the influence of the fire element, the eggs' surfaces turned red, revealing beautiful flame patterns.
Watching, City Lord Annie sensed Matthew's powerful aura and his control over the surrounding flames, and said with a playful grin:
"If they find out, they're gonna be real pissed, huh?"
Boom!
Massive vines crushed a large patch of twisted plants.
The Evil Shadow Spirit, freshly awakened in pain, gritted through the aftereffects as it told its companions what had happened.
Despite the pain, its voice burned with rage.
Angry?
No—furious!
Terrified!
"Bay Territory and their Lord... they know we exist now..."
"They're far more dangerous than the Catachan people!"
Saying this, it suddenly felt ashamed.
An odd emotion after facing its own fear.
"Good thing I didn't volunteer for that mess."
Evilfang smacked its lips, resisted interrupting, and did its best to stay invisible.
The other Evil Shadow Spirits, however, were outraged.
They roared and raged.
"Bay Territory must pay the price!"
"We can't let them keep rampaging freely!"
"Even if it means dying, we must station troops to monitor Bay Territory."
"They can't crack the secret of the Worm Web. They'll never understand us."
"Fine! Let them take Mount Aso—we've found a new target to attack."
"Exactly. Split our forces to keep Bay Territory pinned down."
"..."
The noisy Evil Shadow Spirits had made up their minds.
Even if they had to feed twisted monsters to Bay Territory, they had to stop them from wreaking havoc elsewhere!
Evilfang, not daring to speak up, glanced at a similarly miserable companion and then at the towering walls around Mount Lazu.
How to send them?
Let them do it!
"I'm heading to the Catachan tribe that hasn't gotten Bay Territory's help!"
"Yeah, that's my specialty!"