Chu Xuan toyed with the Dragon Crystal in his hand. He spoke to the two figures beneath his hoverboard with a detached air, "Perhaps more so than those reward points and side missions, this Dragon Crystal is the greatest haul from our venture. If I'm not mistaken, this object could certainly rival an A-rank Legendary Magic Item, perhaps even surpass some of them in value."

Wang Xia asked with curiosity, "How so? Is this thing that expensive?" Chu Xuan nodded. "Indeed. In fact, this is something I’ve been contemplating: the Overlord’s weapon is simply too powerful. Don't you two feel it? The sheer destructive force of high-tech weaponry is overwhelming. While it might not harm specters or similar monsters, when facing sci-fi horror scenarios or direct team confrontation, such power is terrifying. Consider this: a group of people with strength comparable to ours, we aim this gun at them, and they aim that gun at us. Then, both sides pull the trigger simultaneously... what's the result?" Wang Xia and Overlord's expressions shifted slightly. Overlord said gravely, "The moment the trigger is pulled, everyone on both sides is finished. Anyone struck by that bullet is practically beyond saving..." Chu Xuan nodded. "Precisely, the power is too great... You must be familiar with the history of weaponry development, right? As weapons grew too powerful, shields and armor capable of defending against them emerged.

And as shields and armor became thicker, weapons relentlessly sharpened—bronze, iron, steel, leading up to firearms and cannons. Likewise, armor progressed from leather, iron plates, full plate, composite plating, to alloy armor. When we possess high-tech weapons of such immense power, do you think future technology wouldn't develop adequate defenses? I can certainly envision high-tech defenses like energy shields, but in terms of pure defensive capability, those Legendary Magic Items remain the most practical."

"Starting from the D-rank Jade Pendant, there are numerous Legendary Magic defensive items that can generate force fields. However, these defenses are consumable—they last only for a duration of attack or can absorb a total amount of damage. This holds true for items from D-rank up to B-rank. Only A-rank defensive items seem to possess recharge capabilities, though I can't be entirely certain."

"This Dragon Crystal might not have effects as potent as those specific items, as it only defends against ranged technological weaponry and can detect energy fluctuations. But this is a rechargeable defensive tool, and more importantly, Zheng Zha is essentially a mobile charging station. Once he revives, our team's overall strength will reach a terrifying level. Imagine this: wearing a Dragon Crystal ring like this. And once Zheng Zha fills it with energy, you could become impervious to blades and bullets for a period... Frankly speaking, if we had possessed such a defensive item earlier, Zheng Zha wouldn't have died this time."

Overlord and Wang Xia were stunned again, asking in unison, "This Dragon Crystal can be divided into many portions?" Chu Xuan replied with surprise, "Of course. You’ve seen the effect of this single piece, haven't you? It helped that colossal dragon withstand so many attacks. Only after the dragon died did its effect begin to wane. Such a large piece can certainly be divided. A preliminary estimation suggests that even if each of us only receives one-twentieth. Given that our volume is significantly smaller than the dragon’s, perhaps the defensive barrier appearing outside our bodies will be even more astonishing. In any case, this Dragon Crystal is far more valuable than a single A-rank side mission. No wonder the difficulty of this mission was so immense. The rewards for slaying a Legendary Magic Dragon aren't just those bestowed by the 'Main God,' after all."

Overlord and Wang Xia were filled with both awe and astonishment. The Green Goblin's hoverboard flew on for a long time before Overlord finally sighed, "But this dragon is such a pity. Such terrifying attack power and destructive capability. If we had actually managed to tame it and bring it back to the 'Main God' space, as you suggested earlier, the boost to our team would likely have been even greater than this Dragon Crystal, wouldn't it?" Chu Xuan, however, smiled slyly, "Who says? I suspect there might still be this dragon's eggs undiscovered on that island. If that's the case, perhaps we could actually raise a dragon as a member of our team..." "...In short! Let's return to the city and plan our next steps, figure out how to complete the third side mission, and gather the required reward points and side missions... No matter what, we must revive him. We must bring Zheng Zha back!" Meanwhile, within the aircraft carrier formation, numerous maintenance personnel had moved from below deck onto the flight deck. Their job was to clear a clean path so that the nearly fuel-depleted fighter jets could land quickly. But across the entire deck, besides the ruined runway, there were countless chunks of mangled flesh—the remnants of the dragon blown apart. What sent chills down everyone's spines was that these pieces of flesh seemed to retain a semblance of life; any large chunk constantly writhed, while smaller fragments clung to the larger pieces or bones, ceaselessly growing. This horrifying regenerative ability was enough to strike fear into all onlookers. Not only the maintenance crews but also a large contingent of scientists and researchers rushed towards the dragon with a frenzy of fanatical excitement. Some scientists even shouted wildly at the writhing flesh on the ground, as if they had stumbled upon some priceless treasure. A mass of scientific personnel converged on the dragon's head, wasting no time. They swiftly collected dragon blood, scales, and numerous other materials. Several individuals even loudly commanded Navy soldiers to turn the dragon's head in different directions so the researchers could more easily harvest marrow and brain tissue. This manic scene was even more feverish than the maintenance work.

The aircraft carrier's command tower was almost entirely destroyed. Fortunately, neither the dragon nor Overlord had launched any further attacks on the tower, so most officials and soldiers inside were relatively lucky; at least they had survived. Especially the high-ranking personnel of this carrier group—aside from contusions, they hadn't sustained any severe, life-threatening injuries. The commanding officers stared at the scene on the flight deck with lingering shock. One of them said with a tremor of fear, "Was that even human? To face down a dragon head-on and bring it down—that kind of life force is terrifying! And did you see that flying machine? No matter how I look at it, it resembles the Green Goblin's hoverboard from the Spider-Man movie that came out this summer?" Another middle-aged man remarked with astonishment, "You noticed that too? I thought I was seeing things. You really think that was the Green Goblin's hoverboard? A personal aerial vehicle! Those good-for-nothings at the Pentagon, while other nations are already using them in active combat, they haven't even seen a blueprint for one. Damn it! I swear I'll break their spines when we get back!" A major general with snow-white hair spoke coldly, "Quiet down, everyone. Our losses this time have been immense. The Third West Sea Fleet is also rumored to have been completely annihilated... Wait, what have they discovered?"

A wave of cheering—or perhaps, more accurately, gasps of shock—swept across the flight deck. The scientists had discovered a humanoid shape lodged within a mass of the dragon's writhing, regenerating flesh near the severed head. The lower and right halves of this body had been completely pulverized. Only the head and heart were barely functional; almost all other internal organs were gone or too severely damaged. That wasn't the most astonishing part; the moving dragon flesh was actively repairing the damaged wounds, or perhaps 'assimilating' them would be a better description. The missing half of the body was already visibly connected, almost vein-to-vein, with the dragon tissue...

"This is... this is simply unbelievable. The cells of this dragon possess such terrifying regenerative power. Did you see that peculiar, atypical enzyme? I've only encountered something similar in microorganisms found near deep-sea hydrothermal vents, and even those microbial enzymes weren't this potent..."

"That's not the main point. The crucial thing is, from the series of experiments we conducted just now, any life injected with these cells—from rats to rabbits to cats and dogs—will rapidly display enhanced recovery within a short time. However, this duration depends on the vitality of the recipient. Once that period passes, they begin to undergo massive self-reversal and cannibalism, much like cancer cells..."

"Exactly! If we could perfectly eliminate this cancer-like reversal, humans could live to be three hundred years old, and they would be vibrantly, healthily three hundred! Heavens above, this dragon is a miracle bestowed upon us by God!"

In the laboratory beneath the aircraft carrier deck, a large group of researchers frantically studied the dragon tissue cells they had collected. These dragon cells, named X-cells, possessed an incredibly potent regenerative capacity and energy production system. If the human body could successfully integrate these cells, most diseases would become relics of the past, and humanity would possess two to three times its current rate of physical recovery. Unfortunately, these X-cells were too aggressive. Unless a counteracting cell existed to allow for flawless fusion with the host's own cells, the moment the cellular reversal occurred, it would lead to a condition resembling cancer, but a hundred times more severe. To date, experiments involving human cells and the cells of various large organisms had been conducted, but with almost no exceptions, the outcome was failure. The sole exception was that half-man found embedded in the dragon's head musculature—that human life form almost completely assimilated with the dragon tissue. He was the only one to survive the integration with the dragon cells... Jump to