Chapter Seventy-Four: Traffic Police! Stop!

In the middle layers of the Valley of Miasma, Su Yi walked along a road formed from the remains of the Serpent King Dragon mixed with earth and stone. Beside him were Dewgrass, the Savage Jaw Dragon, and the Grim Claw Dragon. For the first time, Rotom Phone observed this deep valley up close, snapping photos as it marveled at the eerie land of bones.

"Alright, this spot will do. Let's take this section," Su Yi stopped at the edge of the slope, gazing at the fan-shaped bone blade extending from the Serpent King Dragon.

"My apologies, Serpent King Dragon, and thank you for your contribution to cross-world fossil revival research." With these words, Su Yi released the Savage Hyena Dragon, instructing the Savage Jaw Dragon and Grim Claw Dragon to join it in using their abilities to cut from the base of the bone blade.

Bang! Bang!...

The accompanying beasts tore and struck at the joints of the skeleton with all their might. Yet, the bones proved exceptionally tough—even after countless years since the Serpent King Dragon's death, they remained remarkably resilient. After two minutes, they managed to carve only a four-finger-deep notch.

"As expected, it's not so easy to obtain." Su Yi sighed. He worried that smaller fragments would be difficult to study, so he aimed for a sufficiently large and intact piece. Though bones were everywhere, taking one proved troublesome.

It made sense—these monsters were always racing and raging atop the graves; without solid bones, they'd have fallen apart long ago.

"Maybe try another spot?" Su Yi guessed that the fan-shaped bone blades were tougher than the other bones; perhaps the head or rib section would be easier to retrieve, as marked in his notes.

Just as Su Yi pondered a change of location, the Grim Claw Dragon suddenly froze, pressing one side of its head to the ground to listen, then gave a low growl in warning.

"What's wrong?" Su Yi immediately became alert.

Dewgrass twitched its feline ears. "I hear a rumbling sound, meow!"

"Rumbling... That must be the Hammerbone Dragon!" Su Yi quickly recalled the Savage Hyena Dragon and Savage Jaw Dragon, then swung onto the Grim Claw Dragon's back. Dewgrass nimbly climbed onto Su Yi's shoulders.

"Climb up the rock wall beside us."

The Grim Claw Dragon, agile as ever, scaled the rocky platform adjacent to the slope, clearing the path below.

Sure enough, the rumbling grew louder. In the distance, a wheel made of bones charged forward with imposing force; as the gigantic bone wheel rolled, countless bones flew off, battering the surrounding cliffs.

"Good grief, racing again."

Su Yi watched as the Hammerbone Dragon rolled down the slope toward them.

Bang!

The Hammerbone Dragon used its momentum to leap, its massive form slamming into the ground. Then, it raised its head, warily watching the Grim Claw Dragon and Su Yi atop the cliff.

"You two are old rivals," Su Yi laughed, patting the Grim Claw Dragon beneath him.

The Grim Claw Dragon snorted, clearly disdainful of the Hammerbone Dragon.

Roar!

The Hammerbone Dragon let out a deep roar, seemingly daring the Grim Claw Dragon to make a move.

"Don't push your luck," Su Yi said impatiently. This creature wasn't his main concern today.

"Su Yi, it looks like it has wounds, Rotom," the floating Rotom Phone remarked.

"Wounds?" Su Yi looked closely and saw indeed some cut and bite marks on the Hammerbone Dragon's body; many sections of its skeletal armor had shattered.

"Racing and got busted by the authorities, huh?" Su Yi chuckled.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, the Hammerbone Dragon shifted its gaze from the Grim Claw Dragon. Su Yi followed its eyes, hearing a roar before seeing its source—a roar so fierce, laced with a metallic screech, that it made Su Yi clutch his ears in pain.

"That creature!" Su Yi's eyes widened.

A monster with the classic wyvern structure—two wings and two legs—appeared below the slope. Its muscular forearms were winged and pressed against the ground. Its body was a tawny brown adorned with gray-blue tiger stripes, and its wide maw was filled with enormous, razor-sharp teeth.

"The Absolute Predator—Thunder Dragon!" Su Yi's brow furrowed.

"Absolute Predator!?" Rotom Phone exclaimed in astonishment.

Roar!

Thunder Dragon opened its jaws, letting out a thunderous roar. Its powerful limbs propelled it forward, charging ferociously at the enormous Hammerbone Dragon.

The Hammerbone Dragon curled up, transforming once again into its bone battle car, rolling down the slope as if to crush everything in its path.

"You'll soon understand what that means," Su Yi said.

The bone battle car gathered momentum, colliding head-on with Thunder Dragon, who did not dodge but instead extended its foreclaws to grab the rolling bone wheel.

Bang! Crack! Crack!

The Hammerbone Dragon's momentum abruptly faltered. Thunder Dragon's claws halted its movement and tore off its bone-spiked armor piece by piece. Then, Thunder Dragon bared its savage fangs, violently biting and ripping the skeletal armor from Hammerbone Dragon, shredding it bit by bit.

Howling in rage, the Hammerbone Dragon unfurled its body, shaking in an attempt to throw off the Thunder Dragon clamped onto it.

But before it could muster strength, Thunder Dragon unleashed its brute force once more, slamming Hammerbone Dragon heavily to the ground. A vast swath of bone shattered, leaving only the black tar that bound the bones together. The prideful bone armor was ripped off without mercy.

"Such incredible strength, Rotom!" Rotom Phone gasped.

Crack, crack, crack!

The chilling sound of gnashing teeth filled the air as Thunder Dragon savagely bit at Hammerbone Dragon's vulnerable neck. The massive creature's movements grew weaker and weaker, until finally, it lay still.

"We have to go!" Su Yi knew this was no time to confront such a monster head-on.

Yet Thunder Dragon had other ideas. Driven by its hunting instincts, it pursued any living creature it saw. Catching the scent of Grim Claw Dragon, it immediately looked up.

Seeing another predator "eyeing" it from above, Thunder Dragon's violent nature flared again. It abandoned Hammerbone Dragon and, limbs thrashing, aggressively began to climb toward the rock wall.

"Move!" Su Yi urged, patting the Grim Claw Dragon beneath him. It snorted, then nimbly scaled the cliff higher.

Boom! Thud! Bang!

Thunder Dragon, like an unstoppable bulldozer, smashed through every obstacle in its path, charging with ferocious strength. Its roars, one after another, battered Su Yi's ears mercilessly.

"Take this!" Gritting his teeth, Su Yi aimed his launcher at the Thunder Dragon chasing them.

Zzzzt!

A flash grenade exploded, the blinding light stopping Thunder Dragon in its tracks. It shook its head, claws flailing at its surroundings, and in its confusion, lost its footing and tumbled off the rock wall, crashing into a heap of bones below.

Grim Claw Dragon seized the opportunity to pull away, while Thunder Dragon, still blinded, raged and roared amid the bone pile.

"So the furious beast is Thunder Dragon. As for the other one—could it be the monster that wounded Hammerbone Dragon?" Su Yi pondered.

Was it the Tyrant Dragon from last time, or some other creature?

It seemed this journey through the Valley of Miasma would be anything but peaceful.