Azure Star is also a Pokémon Master!

Although Su Yi initially wanted to tame the female Rathalos, the focus now is on rescue, so he has to postpone this idea.

"There are no clues here, so we have to go to the next location, the shallow swamp."

Su Yi opened the map given to him by the Commander-in-Chief, identified the direction, and then flew off on his Steel-Armored Raven.

It seems I've tested positive again. I have a cough, runny nose, and a fever of 37.5℃. I'm sleeping soundly and my sleep schedule is completely disrupted. I'll go to the hospital tomorrow.

Chapter 181 Aliens in the Swamp

Su Yi and Lu Cao rode on Steel Armored Ravens and flew eastward toward the Great Anthill Wasteland.

The land beneath our feet has been completely turned into wasteland; green has become an embellishment, and earthy yellow is the dominant color.

After flying over rocky terrain composed of undulating rocks, a stream meanders through the earthen-yellow curtain of earth.

"Following the current should lead us to the shallow swamp," Su Yi said.

"Caw!" The Corviknight looked down and flew along the water's flow.

The wind picked up, stronger than before, and the swirling yellow sand assaulted Su Yi and his group.

Fine grains of sand blew into the helmet through the gaps in the mask, forcing Su Yi to close his mouth tightly and breathe carefully.

"Is the sandstorm getting stronger, meow?" Lucao meowed, burying her head in Su Yi's back to shield herself from the sandstorm.

“This weather…” Su Yi looked up at the sky and gazed at the boundless sky in the distance.

The sky seemed to be getting overcast.

"Is it going to rain?"

This is not good news, as it means that many traces will be washed away.

"Caw!" the Steel-Armored Raven reminded Su Yi.

Su Yi looked down and saw that on the ground, multiple streams of water converged to form a large swamp, with patches of purple plants growing on the muddy swamp.

"We've reached the shallow swamp! Something's up!" Su Yi patted the Steel-Armored Raven's back, signaling it to land.

Su Yi and Lu Cao jumped off the Steel-Armored Raven and looked at the horrifying scene before them.

Several armored dragon corpses lay scattered across the swamp.

As Su Yi approached, some of the guide insects that flew out from the guide insect canister at his waist turned blue and then attached themselves to the wounds of the Ankylosaurus.

Su Yi was startled: "!"

"Is it an ancient dragon? Or a battle-hardened individual?" Two possibilities immediately came to Su Yi's mind.

The guide worm only turns blue when it encounters traces left by these two organisms.

Gu Long goes without saying, but the so-called battle-hardened individual, in a precise definition, does not simply refer to an individual who has experienced many battles and has rich combat experience.

This can be explained by the unique ley line energy of the New World.

Ancient dragons on the verge of death migrate to the Rotten Vale and die there.

The immense energy contained within their bodies enters the earth's veins and circulates throughout the New World via these veins, providing energy for the New World's flora and fauna.

These ley line energies will have a certain impact on monsters, and some monsters will become stronger under the long-term influence of ley line energy.

These individuals develop more vibrant body colors, become more powerful in combat, and condense crystals containing ancient dragon energy—Dragon Vein Stones—within their bodies.

Furthermore, the more battles an individual has experienced, the larger the dragon vein stone within their body will be, and the stronger their combat power will be.

And because the ley line energy they absorb is essentially ancient dragon energy, guideflies turn blue when they detect their presence, just like when they encounter traces of ancient dragons.

Above that are the Arch-Tempered Elder Dragons, a level only they can reach because of their long lifespans, which allow them to accumulate even greater amounts of energy within their bodies.

In general, battle-hardened individuals are those who possess ancient dragon energy and have extensive combat experience; they are dangerous beings who are powerful in both physical strength and experience.

Su Yi carefully observed the armored dragon's injuries.

The horrific penetrating wounds, the body dented from being struck hard by something, and the jagged holes in the wound.

These scattered corpses looked as if they had been slaughtered in panic and fear before they were born.

Su Yi first ruled out the possibility that it was Gu Long who did it.

First, the injuries inflicted by the Elder Dragon that may have been lurking in the Wildspire Waste do not match the current situation.

Secondly, Elder Dragons are proud creatures, and they generally do not torture or kill weak creatures like Armored Dragons, which offer them no benefit.

This mark gave Su Yi a vague idea.

“A horned dragon…” Su Yi said, looking at the huge hole in the wound.

The dented corpses were likely caused by the impact of the horned dragon's tail hammer, which resembled a double-headed warhammer.

"But horned dragons probably don't like to frequent swamps; they likely prefer rocky and sandy terrain. Also, those holes and wounds look a bit strange..."

"Furthermore, why would a herbivorous ceratopsian actively kill an ankylosaurus?"

Just as Su Yi was trying to reconstruct the whole story of the massacre in his mind.

On the other side, Lucao looked curiously at the carcass of the Ankylosaurus.

"There are some strange marks around here, meow." Dewgrass approached the Scaly Dragon and noticed some drag marks in the mud next to the corpse.

Gulu...

"What's that sound, meow?!" Lucao exclaimed in surprise, looking towards the source of the sound.

The armored dinosaur's belly suddenly trembled, as if something was wriggling inside.

The next moment, a blood-soaked figure rushed out of the hole and pounced on Lucao.

"Meow!?" The cat's fur stood on end, and it instinctively swung its knife to slash.

With a bang, the loach-like monster was knocked aside, but then it immediately pounced again with a "whoosh".

"What's wrong, Aibo?!" Su Yi heard the noise and immediately turned around to look.

The monster's roar acted as a signal, and the bellies of the surrounding armored dragon corpses began to writhe.

The next moment, several monsters of different sizes but the same shape burst out of their bellies and pounced on Su Yi and Lu Cao.

In that instant, Su Yi could see the flesh and blood between the monsters' sharp teeth.

"What the hell!"

Su Yi was startled by the sight that resembled an alien bursting through a chest.

Goo!

A monster more than two meters long leaped up and pounced on Su Yi.

"Get lost!" Su Yi used his shield to knock the monster away, then slashed at it with his sword, while more monsters pounced on him.

A Steel-armored Raven swooped down from the sky, grabbed one, and tossed it into the distance.

Su Yi released the scratching bird and shouted, "Get it!"

"Gah!" The scratching bird picked up a rock from the swamp, leaped a few times, and hurled it at the monsters one by one.

After several monsters fell to the ground and could not get up, the remaining monsters gave up and quickly disappeared into the swamp.

"Phew! That scared the hell out of me!"

Su Yi breathed a sigh of relief, then squatted down to carefully examine the monster whose head had been split open by the scratching bird.

"This looks like a mudfish cub?"

Su Yi poked at the large, long-legged mudskipper and confirmed the identity of these little monsters.

These mudfish-like juveniles, resembling loaches with legs, enjoy eating internal organs. They will crawl into the host's body through various "holes" to gnaw on flesh and blood.

Furthermore, they have barbs on their cheeks to grip their host and prevent them from escaping.

The carapace dinosaurs that were being slaughtered by the ceratopsians became their buffet.

"Those strange holes and wounds on the armored dragon's body must have been caused by them." Su Yi nodded, and now the situation was much clearer.

Lu Cao calmed herself down and looked curiously at the mudfish dragon cubs. Suddenly, one of the mudfish dragon cubs trembled.

"Meow! There's still a live meow!" Lucao shouted.

“Oh? Alive, then…” Su Yi took out a capture ball.

The Mudfish Dragon, a type of ichthyosaur monster, is said to have existed in this form for a long time, and they have become highly adapted to the swampy environment.

This also means that its mobility will be greatly reduced on land or in deep water.

Su Yi couldn't think of any further potential for it, so he had no intention of taming the adult Mudfish Dragon.

But Su Yi was curious about what abilities Mudfish would have after becoming a Pokémon.

Moreover, these are just cubs, so raising them isn't a big burden for now. At worst, they can be handed over to ecological researchers for care later.

After testing positive again, although I wasn't as weak as the first time, my cough and runny nose were worse than before, and my voice became hoarse.

Chapter 182 A Song in the Rain in the Wasteland

The capture ball gently touched the little mudskipper, and after being captured, it offered no resistance and was easily captured.

"Let me see." Su Yi curiously opened the "Hunting Guide".

Name: Mudfish Dragon

Race: Mudfish Dragon (Male)

Attributes: Water, Ground

Ability: Mud Armor (While in Mud Armor state, it is only weak to Water-type attacks. After taking a certain amount of damage, this state is removed, and Mudfish loses its Ground type. It can be re-applied with mud to restore the Mud Armor state.)

Moves: Bite, Play in the Mud, Play in the Water, Mud Shot, Dig, Sticky Mud (Exclusive move, power 70, Ground type, Special move, a sticky mud mixed with a special liquid, super effective against Ground type, greatly reduces the target's speed upon hit)

Carrying props: none]

"Actually, it's not bad," Su Yi said.

There is only one Water/Ground type Pokémon, and it is a Grass type that is four times weak to it.

However, the Mudfish Dragon's unique ability can turn this four-fold weakness into a normal two-fold weakness, and it is inherently deceptive.