Monster Pet Evolution

Upon being placed on the altar, the Inferno King Crab gradually shrank as if it was being cooked. Smoke began rising from the crab's shell into the air, as if the altar actually was cooking it.

Strange. Why did this cooking analogy suddenly pop into my head? thought Gao Peng, shaking his head. "How long will this take?"

The dwarf pondered Gao Peng's question for a moment. "Four days, give or take. This crab's level is higher than the ant from before. Breaking it down completely will be a lot harder."

"You've been telling me that you've broken down the bodies of gods and Overlord-tier monsters by the hundreds in the past, so why do I get the feeling that this is all just empty bragging on your part?" Gao Peng had a hard time believing that breaking down an Emperor-tier monster corpse would take so long, especially if the dwarf was as good as it claimed to be. If that were the case, wouldn't an Overlord-tier monster or higher take months or even years?

"I'm not in the best shape right now. My altar is still damaged. Back in my prime, I could definitely break down monster corpses a lot quicker," said the dwarf with an awkward cough.

The dwarf's display of its abilities so far had fallen short of all the expectations it had built up with its bragging to Gao Peng.

"So what will it take for you to regain your former glory?" Gao Peng wondered aloud.

"Just let me continue breaking down monster corpses." The dwarf's eyes twinkled. "Think of it as exercise. I also benefit from the process, if only slightly. Every monster corpse I disassemble will contribute to my altar's recovery."

"Oh? So how much have you recovered since joining my crew?" Gao Peng shot back.

The dwarf looked away, at times glancing at Gao Peng. It then let out another cough. "Probably only a hundredth."

Upon hearing what it said, Gao Peng knew that something was up. This altar had quite an appetite. Notwithstanding the corpses of two Emperor-tier monsters and a number of King-tier monsters that Gao Peng had already offered it, the altar was still a long way away from a full recovery. One might even liken it to a bottomless pit.

"Let's just take things slow, eh?" The dwarf didn't seem to mind this at all. It didn't have a strong concept of time. It was, in a manner of speaking, immortal. The Great Altar Cutter was no ordinary object. It had been stolen before and even reduced to a pile of rubble a few times.

However, none of that mattered in the long run. It was a permanent fixture in the tapestry of life. Even if it were reduced to dust, it would always put itself back together. The only problem was that this was a time-consuming process.

Even though it was long accustomed to this eternal cycle of deconstruction and reconstruction, the fact still remained that immortality could be a tad boring. It would never slip into a deep slumber unless it absolutely had to.

Only when one had tasted the boredom of immortality would one come to appreciate the meaning of life. The altar sometimes even treated the threat of pain as a welcome distraction from the tedium of eternity.

When night fell, Gao Peng ordered Goldie and the others to search the Inferno King Crab's den. The Inferno King Crab had kept huge amounts of Wood and Fire-type artifacts.

Even though a Fire-type monster such as itself couldn't directly absorb the wood element contained within Wood-type artifacts, it could still use them through indirect means. Wood-type artifacts usually worked well with fire elemental energy, especially in places that were abundant in the fire element.

On the other hand, most of the Fire-type monsters in the crab's den had all been consumed by it, save for a few that were still in their growing phase. The seven little Dragon Ants they found were completely submissive after witnessing Goldie's clash with the Inferno King Crab.

They had gradually come to terms with reality. They hadn't seen their mother in quite some time, so something must have happened to her. Even though reality was sometimes a bitter pill to swallow, the only thing they could do was make the best of it.

These seven little Dragon Ants had been working hard to appease Gao Peng the past few days.

Sometimes, the intelligence of these creatures far exceeded the human imagination, especially when their survival and evolution were concerned. Only then did their intelligence truly shine. Even though they could tell that Gao Peng was the weakest in the group, the seven Little Dragon Ants knew that the person they should be sucking up to was him.

After being fed and nurtured by Gao Peng for the past few days, the little Dragon Ants had each grown fatter and bigger than an adult golden retriever.

Elder Baby was standing on its hind legs right now, using its front legs to give Gao Peng a shoulder massage. Third Baby and Fourth Baby were curled up near Gao Peng's feet, both giving him a foot massage. The other little Dragon Ants were waiting in line to pamper Gao Peng.

Silly gave its juice box one last sip as it gazed at Gao Peng's back. After carefully placing the empty box back inside its portable space, Silly shook its body, which in an instant, expanded a few times back to its original size. It floated behind Gao Peng with a solemn look on its face.

Silly wrapped its tentacles around the little Dragon Ants that had surrounded Gao Peng, like an adult lion picking its cubs up with its mouth by the scruff of their necks. One by one, they were placed in an empty space nearby.

"Go play somewhere else. I'll give master a massage myself," declared Silly, asserting its monopoly over all things massage-related.

It then let its tentacles dangle over Gao Peng and began pinching and squeezing various parts of his body.

"Gao Peng, is this okay?" asked Silly.

Gao Peng was somewhat taken aback by Silly's sudden enthusiasm. Why does it suddenly want to give me a massage? However, he soon pushed his suspicions out of his mind and simply let Silly massage his body.

"Yes, it's just right, though you could try digging your tentacles deeper into my back. Also, I have quite a stiff neck after last night. Could you massage my shoulders some more?"

"Okayyyy."

...

Four days passed, and the Inferno King Crab had vanished without a trace on the altar. In its place were six items.

"I was able to break down the Inferno King Crab's corpse completely," said the dwarf proudly. "I think it had a dream while it was still alive."

"A dream?"

"You may not know this, but I've noticed something after centuries of breaking down so many monster corpses; the intensity of a monster's obsessions when it was alive tends to affect the number of materials I can make from it," explained the dwarf. "I have no idea why this happens."

"So do you know what this Inferno King Crab's dream was?"

"How should I know? I'm not a psychic." The dwarf yawned. "This disassembling business really wears me out. Go take a look at what you got. I'm sure you can identify your loot yourself."

The dwarf had seen many monsters and even humans in its lifetime, but it had never met anyone as strange as Gao Peng. Fundamentally speaking, only it knew the properties of the products of its disassembly process. However, Gao Peng was able to figure them all out on his own without being told what they were.

The dwarf wasn't interested in knowing his secret. If he didn't feel like letting it in on his secret, then that was fine.

"Go take a rest then." Gao Peng gathered up all six items that were left on the altar.

On the left were a Soul Essence and Meat Essence. Next were the crystallized products of the Inferno King Crab's Level-3 Energy Amplification, Level-3 Flame Resistance, and Level-3 Flame Control. The sixth and final item was a faint red twelve-sided crystal.

[Item Name]: Flame Devourer Fruit

[Item Description]: Any monster that consumes it will have a certain likelihood of obtaining the Flame Devourer ability. Usage is limited only to Fire-type monsters. Should the ability fail to adjust to its new host, it will be considerably weakened.