Chapter 397: Wanting Your Heart.
Behold, the entirety of the Explosive Frag Dragon’s neck carapace had shattered, even embedding into the flesh beneath, its head limply drooping to one side.
After a thorough check, it was clear the spine had been cleanly snapped from the previous blow.
The harder something is, the more fragile it can be; the impact from the localized damage spread across all its shell, making the Explosive Frag Dragon’s whole body far easier to tear apart.
He planned to first disassemble the Explosive Frag Dragon before bringing it back.
The young ones have grown up, no longer as naive as they once were. Jié Jié understood well that even his actions could greatly influence these monsters.
To avoid Fire Dragons deepening their habit of viewing their kin as food, Jié Jié stopped eating Fire Dragons in front of them.
Bringing the entire Explosive Frag Dragon back to feed his own Frag Dragon would be too shocking, so he decided to butcher it first and then take it home.
Frag Dragons don’t naturally possess shells; however, during later mineral analysis, the scales fuse with the original ones, layer upon layer of minerals not only forming a shell but also leaving some parts hollow.
These hollow sections formed naturally during evolution become storage areas for slime molds. Long-term storage of slime molds influenced by Earth Pulse Energy makes this inner shell shine with energy luster, accumulating large amounts of minerals and having slime mold attached, shimmering with an unceasing activated glow.
“So this is the indestructible Core Shell?”
As Jié Jié examined the piece of carapace he had pulled out, there came a panting sound from behind.
Looking back, it was the Glittering Dragon lowering her head, her gaze revealing a hint of longing.
The Glittering Dragon, like other monsters, has a need for minerals, yet strangely, Jié Jié had never seen her feed, nor did he know much about her dietary habits.
“Do you want it?”
Her eyes said it all.
“Absolutely not! I need it myself. If you want it, you’ll have to trade me this for it.”
Jié Jié turned around, lifting his claw to stroke the center of the Glittering Dragon’s chest, where the golden Dragon God Jade rested.
The Glittering Dragon slightly retreated, clearly disliking being touched at her core chest area, especially when transformed into the Extinction Dragon.
Without hastily swallowing this core material, Jié Jié continued dissecting the Explosive Frag Dragon’s corpse, placing the indestructible Core Shell aside as if waiting for the Glittering Dragon to reconsider.
In reality, it was simply because the Extinction Dragon’s mouth was too small to swallow the shell.
He himself thought exchanging the Core Shell for the Dragon God Jade was rather exaggerated.
Peeling away another piece of the Explosive Frag Dragon’s carapace, he found yet another hollow gap storing critical slime mold, the slime adhered to the inner shell, flashing with active light upon contact with air.
Clearly, this was another indestructible Core Shell.
“Emmm…this one’s for my Frag Dragon, not for you.”
Placing the second Core Shell aside, hearing Dì Mǔ Shén’s long, sorrowful cry, Jié Jié continued stripping the carcass.
There couldn’t possibly be a third one, right?
But when handling the Explosive Frag Dragon’s projectile shell, a third indestructible Core Shell appeared—
“This output is a bit high, isn’t it…”
However, if it’s due to the hollow parts storing critical slime mold, the production method of the Core Shell differs entirely from gemstones, and thus, the yield cannot be generalized.
Since there are three of them.
Jié Jié sighed, pushing the Core Shell connected to the projectile shell towards the Glittering Dragon.
“Here you go~”
While handing it over, his gaze lingered on both the Glittering Dragon and the Core Shell.
This uniquely shaped Core Shell with the projectile shell seemed increasingly peculiar, causing Jié Jié to instinctively pinch the projectile instead of holding the base.
No, holding the base felt even stranger.
Still, such gifts for rich ladies, she must like it, right?
The Glittering Dragon stared at the Core Shell, then looked at Jié Jié, feeling both astonished and sensing he might be thinking something strange.
Recalling how he previously touched her chest, she hesitated.
What does she want? What does Jié Jié want?
She finally understood part of Jié Jié’s earlier meaning, not realizing what he jokingly intended to exchange.
Jié Jié wasn’t overly concerned about the Glittering Dragon’s hesitation, imagining she would accept this extra gift.
With each broken carapace piece dismantled, the Explosive Frag Dragon became completely exposed.
After finishing the corpse processing, he divided the edible meat pieces, which seemed to have become tender from the battle’s tension, akin to being kneaded, enhancing their texture.
After completing the dismemberment, Jié Jié glanced back; the uniquely shaped Core Shell was gone, either eaten or stashed somewhere by the Glittering Dragon.
Then, transforming into Queen Mantis form, he neatly packed the meat chunks, glancing around—here, the ground was covered with activated slime molds, requiring just a little impact to reach their critical point and explode.
Unfortunately, he didn’t bring any containers, but in the future, he could cultivate critical slime molds from his own Frag Dragon.
Jié Jié began walking back.
Returning to the Golden Land, Jié Jié happily approached his Frag Dragon, opened the bag containing the Explosive Frag Dragon’s carapace pieces, and took out the topmost Core Shell to show it.
My dear big guy, look what I’ve brought you!
And the Frag Dragon stood frozen, sniffing the scent, then peering into the bag filled with familiar carapace pieces.
Mom’s smell【strike】—
“Hoarrr!”
Realizing these were for him, the Frag Dragon let out an excited roar, eagerly snapping down on the indestructible Core Shell.
“Oof!”
The critical slime mold on the Core Shell exploded, causing him to stumble and loosen his grip.
Biting carefully revealed it was unbreakable.
“Don’t rush. In your spare time, use it to sharpen your teeth.”
Patting the Frag Dragon, Jié Jié retrieved the Core Shell meant for himself, threw it into the air, and transformed into a massive Hōng Lóng, swallowing it whole.
His body started to change, the towering figure glowing emerald green as he stood upright, finally transforming into a full-fledged Explosive Frag Dragon.
Standing before the twenty-meter-tall Explosive Frag Dragon, the ten-meter-long Frag Dragon appeared quite small.
Lowering its head, the Frag Dragon focused on gnawing the Explosive Frag Dragon’s carapace pieces, seemingly hesitant to look at him.
Jié Jié gently patted the Frag Dragon, smearing some slime mold from its body onto his own.
Upon touching his body, the critical slime mold immediately entered an activated state, exploding continuously, proliferating all over him.
In just a few breaths, the mycelium of the critical slime mold had spread across his entire body.
Even the slime mold on the Frag Dragon’s body crackled, as if possessing plant phototropism, splashing toward him.
“Phew, this is the effect of the Core Shell? Too extreme!”
Jié Jié quickly transformed into another form, shedding off many mycelia, but still, some remained attached without further activation.
After some thought, he realized it might be due to his abundant energy, causing even ordinary Explosive Frag Dragon carapaces to exhibit similar Core Shell effects, activating the critical slime mold explosively.
Regardless of his current transformation, some slime mold always clung to him. These might disappear over time or explode during battle.
As long as he transforms into an Explosive Frag Dragon before the slime mold vanishes completely, it will activate again and continue growing.
Chapter 398
