Chapter Ch95.2 - Allosaurus
Chapter Ch95.2 - Allosaurus
translator: xiin
editors: apricot & juurensha
The dimly lit cave was soon set up as a makeshift laboratory, and the Coelophysis that was regarded as the ‘ancestor of the Tyrannosaurus’ was respectfully invited up onto the experimental platform for scanning.
––Although this ancestor was only the size of a rooster, it had been fed by Sora until it was particularly plump.
The Coelophysis’ data quickly appeared on the screen, along with a series of enhancement options.
Body type (20 Evolution Points), Speed (22 Evolution Points), Bite strength (7 Evolution Points), Forelimbs (16) ...
Ming Yao hadn’t finished counting the votes when all four of them pointed towards modifying the body.
The sniper snapped his fingers and pressed down on the button. Quarter of an hour later, the law enforcement machines dragged away Ming Yao’s little dinosaur and dumped a good few dinosaurs in front of the cave.
“Carnivorous, 2-3 meters long, 4 of them. Running speed of 20km/h.” Wu Jin looked at the panel and reported, “Life cycle...”
Ming Yao’s brows were already screwed up into a frown.
It was only about 1/3 of the length of an Allosaurus, and it didn’t even run half as fast. The four dinosaurs could be considered as macarons that the Allosaurus could eat after dinner.
He pulled out another 22 Evolution Points, “Dump it into speed?”
The team all agreed.
A while later, the second group of dinosaurs were sent over. They were still 2-3 meters long, but their top running speed was now the same as the Allosaurus. At this point, they looked more like a certain type of Raptor––although their claws were slightly blunted. They were even covered with fine feathers; this kind of dinosaur usually lived in the jungle...
Ming Yao took a deep breath, “How is it? Can it fight? Our little carnivores are so aggressive. If they evolve, they’ll definitely––”
While he was speaking, one of the Raptors quietly lowered its head and ate a mouthful of worms.
Ming Yao: “......”
Ming Yao: “!! ––It eats bugs? We spent so many Evolution Points to cultivate it, expecting it to fight bravely against other dinosaurs, but it-it-it eats bugs?! Holy shit it even eats grass––”
Wu Jin stared steadily at the dinosaur for a long time, then finally spoke uncertainly, “... An evolutionary decision.”
“Our direction––it might have been incorrect to start with. At the end of the Jurassic period, there were a limited number of large herbivores and a limited number of predators. This kind of dinosaur... it’s bound to fail when it competes against the Allosaurus. In order to obtain enough protein to keep its body functioning, it can only choose to eat other prey, withdrawing from the top of the food chain and transforming itself.”
Ming Yao’s expression changed slightly, and his eyes were depressed.
Wu Jin thought about it for a long time. He looked at the small Plateosaurus that was quietly eating grass and said, “I have a theory.”
The rest of the team all turned their heads quickly to look at him.
“Both the population size and its survival time can be exchanged for Evolution Point profits. If our goal is to expand the size of the population––in nature, the population size of herbivores will always be higher than that of carnivores.”
Ming Yao’s processing got stuck, “Do you mean to say, we should cultivate herbivorous dinosaurs? ... But with regards to Little Plate’s size and IQ, it has absolutely no room for resistance if the Allosaurus wants to eat it.”
Wu Jin nodded. “What if the Allosaurus is full?”
The team was stunned.
Wu Jin: “There will always come a time when the predators are full. Compared with trying to create a fiercer predator, the simplest way to pass this stage––is to develop towards abundance, so that the predators can’t possibly eat them all.”
Sora suddenly interjected, “But the predators will procreate and increase.”
Wu Jin glanced at the Plateosaurus and replied earnestly, “Then we’ll make it so that its food&#k2013;&#k2013;reproduces even faster.”
In the Crosson Show broadcast studio, the camera swept through and displayed each hard-working team one after another.
Blood Pigeon commented, “For every team, their biggest opponent are the top predators from the Jurassic periods.”
“Zoe saved the beaked crocodile during the extinction event, but he’s now faced with the king of the swamp, the big-headed crocodile. Wu Jin and Ming Yao need to deal with the Allosaurus, Zuo Botang is currently dealing with a large group of Maniraptora, and Contestant Wei is still developing the Pterosaurs. However, birds have appeared in the late Jurassic period––the cruel struggle for survival in the skies has begun.”
“Contestant Wei Yan–-this is the only contestant who didn’t accumulate any capital during the Triassic period, and he’s still working off a blank slate, but he... beautiful! Contestant Wei Yan has come up with a wonderful idea. His personal kills count has jumped up from 6 to 9...”
Inside the cave, the innocent grass-eating Plateosaurus was finally pushed up onto the experimental table.
The evolutionary development options for herbivorous dinosaurs were slightly lower than those of the carnivorous ones. Wu Jin’s first choice was to modify their body shape. In order to satisfy the Allosaurus, the first thing they needed to have was more meat.
Four chubby little dinosaurs were soon left outside the cave. They’d inherited the Plateosaurus’s genes, and their body length had returned to their peak level prior to the Triassic period at between 6 and 9 meters.
One of them was happily eating grass as it laid eggs, and another was laying eggs as it stomped around...
Ming Yao was in a daze, “It’ll be really hard to explain this if it doesn’t make it to the end...”
Wu Jin hurriedly smashed some Evolution Points towards ‘child raising’.
Four dinosaurs of around 9 meters in length appeared. They had dark brown backs and looked like gentle platypuses. They began to carefully build up their nests as soon as they landed on the ground––their flat, duck-like beaks covering the grapefruit-sized eggs.
Wu Jin thought carefully, “I seem to remember this type of dinosaur... Maiasaura!”
He flipped back to the information page in his memories, “They’re slightly different from the standard Maiasaura––of course, a proper Maiasaura is from the Cretaceous period. It takes nearly a year for a mother to raise up a baby dinosaur, and they’ve been chosen as one of the ‘greatest reptilian mothers’ for several centuries in a row. They have no defensive measures on their bodies and survive mainly by living in groups, through sheer numbers...”
Wu Jin fell into a momentary daze.
There were a total of four Maiasaura outside the cave. It would take them a whole year to raise up their eggs. It was almost impossible for them to adapt to the high-intensity competition pace at the end of the Jurassic period.
Wu Jin was struck with inspiration and said suddenly, “Wait a minute, breeding populations don’t necessarily have to raise their children. They can cope with their low survival rate through a high number of offspring...”
There was a figure in his mind, a group of excellent herbivorous dinosaurs that were almost symbolic of the end of the Jurassic period.
“Also, they need to be large.” Wu Jin added, “The bigger the better––”
Ming Yao pointed to the panel, “Do you want to try adding brain capacity? Make them a little smarter so they know to avoid the Allosaurus rather than running around like targets.”
Wu Jin quickly shook his head, “No, this kind of dinosaur is the Allosaurus’s lunch dinosaur. It doesn’t need to run or escape––as long as it learns the most basic of instincts and knows how to eat and lay eggs.”
“......” Ming Yao was in a trance and the expression on his face was strange, “Are you sure? Isn’t it going against evolution to make their brain capacity smaller...”
Wu Jin looked at him, “No. Wisdom is a weapon, but evolution doesn’t favor the strong.” He repeated, “It’s the survival of the fittest, not the strongest. A reduction in brain volume is a concession to the characteristics of other species in order to survive. As long as the herbivore is large enough, it can stand still and resist all external threats. If the herbivorous dinosaur evolves to become 30 meters––”
30 meters.
Lin Ke’s breath was the first to catch. He exchanged a look with Sora and thought of a huge behemoth.
Another quarter of an hour later, a 12 meter long dinosaur with chubby front limbs appeared.
Two hours later, the 20 meter long Apatosaurus landed, four heavy feet stomping on the ground.
“Look,” Wu Jin spoke quietly, his gaze following one of the creatures that were at the pinnacle of the Jurassic evolution, “Prey must grow bigger in order to resist predators––meaning that they must fall down to all fours in order to support their heavy bodies.”
“Tens of millions of years ago, dinosaurs used their bipedal structure to stand at the top of the ecosystem, but they’re now switching back to a slower, four-footed form. It’s not a degradation in evolution; it’s because some of their previous advantages must give way in order to save the population as a whole.”
For the Apatosaurus, they could only live longer by giving up on running.
The Apatosaurus didn’t have the Maiasaura’s passion for raising children. They basically laid eggs and buried them into a hole. The surroundings around the cave were soon filled with a mess of egg pits. Wu Jin even saw a dinosaur mama dig a hole––see that there was already an egg inside and simply stuff more eggs in.
This kind of herbivorous dinosaur really lived up to their zero brain capacity.
However, this made it easier for them to survive compared to any other dinosaur.
They had a high survival rate and ate all the time, creating the next generation when it had nothing else to do. It was a mature and self-sufficient species that could continue breeding and procreating after the Allosaurus had eaten their meal––after all, they couldn’t gorge themselves on the 20 meter long Apatosauruses even if they wanted to eat them all.
The little dinosaurs came out of the eggshells one after another and rushed around the forest happily. Although most of them would disappear before they reached adulthood, countless Apatosauruses joined the ranks of the adult dragons.
One day later, the team successfully received the first bucket of Jurassic period gold from the group of Apatosaurus. Adding on the previous mess––42 Evolution Points.
“4 homo sapiens, 44 dinosaurs. Two of the large ones were eaten...” Ming Yao counted the dinosaur population with a small notebook in hand. He looked overjoyed.
With the return on investment from the initial Evolution Points, the team of four once again engaged in some crazy research and development.
They continued to enlarge the dinosaurs––obtaining a 30 meter long dinosaur, the Diplodocus.
Inspired by the Pelycosaurs’ spine sail, the herbivorous dinosaurs were given a threatening decoration––they obtained the Morelia-like Iguanodon.
They gave the herbivores armor––Stegosaurus.
Two Allosauruses came close to the cave. They walked slowly, and it seemed that they’d been fattened up quite a lot. They roared in low voices––they finally captured one of the bred dinosaurs that they’d never eaten before and brought it back to the forest to enjoy.
Lin Ke wondered, “How come I feel that their eating has slowed down?”
Ming Yao tsked and disparaged them, “They’re eating from a buffet every day. It would be strange if they didn’t turn weird from all the eating!”
However, Ming Yao’s tastes were quite similar to the Allosauruses––there was a barbecue rack in front of them, and two slow-cooked eggs were still boiling steadily. Ming Yao burped, looked up, and finally found a small Little Xiao hanging off the back of a Diplodocus.
Behind the scenes of the Crosson Show.
The program producer stubbed out a cigarette butt and wondered, “Our program is a survival show, right? Not an agricultural diversity story?”
The little director nodded repeatedly. Seeing the program producer glance over, he trembled and quickly started to shake his head.
The program producer slapped the table, “Then what are you doing? Remove the barrier and call the stage crew to prepare. Have the teams start fighting––”
The mountains roared and quaked.
Wu Jin, who was currently riding on a dragon, looked ahead. He spoke suddenly, “Enemy attack, enemy attack––”
Ming Yao leisurely swallowed down a mouthful of steamed egg and looked up thoughtfully, “If I save this for the captain... holy shit? Ca-ca-captain?!”
Ming Yao bounced off the rock and stood up, pointing off to the distance. His face was red as he showed off, “Do you see? My captain is so handsome––wait a minute, who’s fighting my team captain?!”
Lin Ke stammered, “Wei, Wei Yan...”
Ming Yao was shocked and angry. He wanted to pack up and go deal with Wei Yan, but Lin Ke hurriedly pulled him back, persuading him to wait for the sandpiper and the clam to fight then reap the benefits themselves. Ming Yao immediately retorted that his captain wasn’t a clam, he was clearly a pearl, and it was at this time that another cloud of dust and smoke billowed in.
sandpiper and clam – it’s basically a saying that means that when two parties fight, a third party can come in and reap the rewards
Thin Fire showed up with a long string of feathered and flashy Harpymimus. He sat on the back of what looked like the head of the flock, using his selfie stick as a commanding knife while his troops were a writhing mess of chaos behind him.
To one side of the river bank, Zoe slowly drove the crocodiles over. They were covered in silt, and Zoe’s expression was full of the vicissitudes of life.
Caesar, as a blank board with a total of 0 Evolution Points, was currently crouched anxiously in the jungle––after this elimination match began, he’d actually gotten fat, and his little paunch was pasted against a tree.
Further away, the two Dolma contestants who had been assigned to the same group clustered around their world treasure that had taken up all the Evolution Points of their team––their one and only Tyrannosaurus Rex as they also moved forward.
Lin Ke’s eyes were full of adoration, and he barely refrained from spitting out water, “How come the Tyrannosaurus Rex is walking so slowly?”
Sora: “... The Tyrannosaurus Rex was always slow. Didn’t you know?”
“Then why don’t they walk ahead first? Why are they waiting to move with the Tyrannosaurus Rex?”
“In order to take care of the Tyrannosaurus Rex’s dignity.” Sora made a wild guess.
The barriers between the teams had finally been removed.
All the contestants were driven towards the center area by the program group. There were still 84 contestants remaining.
Ming Yao put on all his equipment and was preparing to climb up onto a Diplodocus to start fighting, “Hey, can you guys count again? How come I feel like we’re 4 people short, that’s a whole team––”
A glider suddenly appeared in the sky, and Ming Yao vaguely recognized one of them as Contestant Wei’s teammate.
Following that came two giant shadows––
They were wider than any glider and were like albatrosses flying wantonly in the updraft. Their wingspans were nearly 13 meters wide.
They flew up in the sky at an altitude of over 3000 meters.
Wu Jin lifted his head, the wings that covered the sky and sun reflecting in his eyes.
Someone was screaming, “Quetza––”
Quetzalcoatlus, two of them.
The palm that was settled on the Pterosaur’s neck applied a slight pressure. Wei Shi commanded, “Go down.”
Behind him, another Quetzalcoatlus’ back was empty, its head probing around.
Wei Shi pointed to Wu Jin, who was so small in the distance he was merely a dot, and beckoned to the second Pterosaur, “See him?”
The Pterosaur let out a long cry.
The two Quetzalcoatlus swept down at the same time––
Bringing the dowry and welcoming the bride.
Juurensha: Awwww dinosaur dowry for Little Witch!
xiin: make your own dinosaur... i wanna play that game too