Chapter 499

Chapter 499: You’re Going Backwards

“Hmm—!”

“This time span is quite large.”

Trilobite looked at the “medium-sized” fellow that appeared in the consultation room and wanted to roll his eyes.

Well, it was fine to have creatures from the Paleozoic Era and the early Mesozoic Era, but now, creatures from near the Cretaceous period were showing up.

The beast before him was about four meters long.

It had a large head, a long jaw, and sharp teeth.

It walked on four legs but didn’t look sluggish or clumsy like a big lizard or Loricatosaurus, which often drag their bellies or have thin limbs with large heads and thick bodies.

Instead, its limbs were strong and slender, well-proportioned, clearly built for running.

But the bones under its skin were thin, missing the obvious, exaggerated “armor” that most crocodiles have.

It was around five meters long, with a sturdy, heavy build that gave a sense of power and explosiveness. It likely weighed as much as Trilobite’s “Saber-toothed Beautiful Nodosaurus.”

“That was quite strong!”

“Where was your Majungasaurus weak!?”

“Not to mention it dominated Late Cretaceous Madagascar; its battle record was excellent!”

Majungasaurus lived in the Late Cretaceous period in Madagascar, measuring over four meters. The creature consulting Trilobite was likely one of the largest in its clan.

While other terrestrial crocodiles lived in the shadow of large predatory dinosaurs, this fellow fought fiercely with the local top predator, Majungasaurus, on Madagascar!

One should know that Majungasaurus wasn’t huge, but it measured about four to six meters or longer. There wasn’t a larger predator in Madagascar.

Fossil evidence showed one Majungasaurus had its cervical vertebrae bitten by Majungasaurus. Although it escaped, it got badly hurt.

And the bitten one was five meters long!

The small challenged the large and won…

It was hard to say whether the terrestrial crocodile Majungasaurus was too strong or the Abelisauridae’s Majungasaurus was just disappointing.

But such a customer with a great battle record was clearly showing a strong will to keep “getting stronger” in the consultation room.

【Tata open!】

【Tata open!】

【Always touching Tata open!】

That silly chant echoed through the room.

“Seriously, even after all this, you still want to get stronger!?”

“With your battle achievements and size, you’re already at the top among Mesozoic terrestrial crocodiles, you know!?”

“Ah, wait…

It seems the peak of terrestrial crocodiles wasn’t really you.

Not even the peak of Mesozoic terrestrial crocodiles.

It felt like the whole Mesozoic terrestrial crocodile group was going backwards.”

“And coincidentally, the true peak of terrestrial crocodiles in the Mesozoic Era also lived in the same place as you—Madagascar.”

The peak of terrestrial crocodiles was not the Majungasaurus, which had an excellent battle record against Majungasaurus, nor the Barinasaurus, which later roamed South America in the Eocene, and certainly not the Gungnarosaurus, which fought back and forth with ancient giant lizards in Australia.

Instead, it was almost the earliest member of terrestrial crocodiles—the Sarcosuchus!

You see, just hearing the name sounded impressive.

It wasn’t even called a crocodile anymore; it was directly called a “dragon.”

Of course, Sarcosuchus was still a true terrestrial crocodile, and it was even thought to be part of the “Cybosaurus” group that lasted into the Mesozoic Era.

They lived in Madagascar during the Jurassic period.

Geographically, they overlapped with the Majungasaurus; in time, they lived alongside the Beautiful Nodosaurus, Megalodon, and other Megalodon family dinosaurs.

They could be seen as childhood friends of the Beautiful Nodosaurus.

However, this creature was much stronger than the Beautiful Nodosaurus.

From known fossils, Sarcosuchus could grow over six meters long; some broken fossils show these huge terrestrial crocodiles might reach eight meters or more!

At six meters long, Sarcosuchus weighed about one ton; but for those over eight meters, their weight hit two tons or higher!

That was amazing.

Usually, crocodiles in freshwater grew that big because water helped them float.

Growing so large on land without air sacs was rare.

Back then, even among large theropod dinosaurs, few reached that size, so it could truly challenge the Megalodon.

For a while, at least in Madagascar, it felt like the age of the Loricatosaurus had returned, only stronger.

But dinosaurs growing larger was unavoidable, and they all started to get bigger.

By the late Jurassic, theropod dinosaurs bigger than Sarcosuchus were common, and even herbivorous dinosaurs grew too large for Sarcosuchus to match.

Finally, after Sarcosuchus vanished, terrestrial crocodiles became minor players; then the Senomanian-Turonian Mass Extinction wiped out most giant theropod dinosaurs in the southern hemisphere, letting the Abelisauridae rule.

Though terrestrial crocodiles were just “wildcats,” without tigers, they could fight the “monkeys” and see who controlled the southern hemisphere.

“Is this trying to bring back our ancestors’ glory!?”

“Sure! I’ll make it happen!”

“And, I’ll make some tweaks.”

“Make you stronger!”

“Hmm…”

Trilobite thought and started the “surgery.”

—-

“Whew… Wow, this thing… is huge…”

“The skin… is so thick too!”

Sotiko squinted at the mountain-sized monster in front of her.

Her fierce pounce was knocked away by the creature in one hit; luckily, Sotiko reacted fast and landed safely on four legs.

“Whoosh—!”

Like a giant dragon, the divine body exhaled a murky breath.

“Sure enough, those two were immature ‘Mountain Types.’”

“A fully matured one was not easy to handle.”

“But hard or not, she had to fight!”

Though the Vast Dragon God of the Mountain Type was too foolish to talk and only roared like a beast, it had strong group awareness.

If a “sentinel” spotted a target, it would likely call for more companions.

Then, Sotiko could not handle it!

To stop this, she had to wait until all mortals inside Valaharl left, and until Valaharl recovered the entire “Bubble World’s” energy. Only then could she end the fight.

“Up—!”

After a fierce shout, Sotiko tried to jump onto the creature’s back.

This time, she made it, but the skin there was thick and tough, with magic gathered under it, forming a solid “magical bone layer.”

“Clang—!”

When Sotiko bit down hard, she found her sharp teeth could not pierce the thick skin or magical bone layer, making a sound like clashing blades.

“Truly a Mountain Type!”

“So hard to chew!”

“Eh!?”

Just then, Sotiko’s body swayed.

“Roar—Roar—Roar—!”

Though not thrown off, the Vast Dragon God of the Mountain Type sensed danger and raged at something “riding” its back!

It shook its divine body wildly and ran hard, trying to fling off the intruder.

“Thud…Thud…Thud…”

Its heavy, thick legs shook the Sea of Ether and the Primal Mud!

The jolting from running made it impossible for Sotiko to keep her balance on the Mountain Type’s back.

But her claws and teeth gripped the tough skin tight, and even though she could not cut through, she held on firmly.

In that situation, falling off was no joke!

But just then…

“Zing—!”

The Mountain Type stopped suddenly!

“Eh!?”

“Ah—!”

Sotiko screamed as she lurched forward!

“Splash—!”

She was lucky, landing in a shallow “Ether Sea puddle”; the Primal Mud below cushioned some impact.

As for the outcome…

Her teeth and claws tore off a patch of tough skin, but the Mountain Type did not bleed.

“Whew—!”

“Roar—!”

The Vast Dragon God of the Mountain Type snorted and crept closer.

Its double eyes were blood-red, full of killing intent!

It meant to crush this audacious one with its heavy divine body!

To smash it into paste!

“Roar roar roar—!”

It raised its strong front foot.

But just then…