Chapter 30: Ancestor of Primates? The "Pygmy Tyrant," Nanotyrannus!

At the top of a towering sycamore tree, a Purgatorius that had just awakened from its slumber quietly emerged from a hidden hollow, preparing to forage for food.

This was one of the earliest and most primitive forms of lower primates, the ancestor of all primates that would follow in later ages. Though it was a Purgatorius, measuring only 15 centimeters in length, it hardly resembled a monkey; it looked more like a squirrel. With a pointed snout, large round eyes, sharp little teeth, a furry body, and a long tail, combined with strong, dexterous limbs and curved claws for agile climbing, it was essentially a living rodent. They were typical arboreal mammals, feeding on insects and fruits.

"Squeak!"

Just as it stepped out, the Purgatorius saw several Troodontids scurrying past in a panic through the night. Troodontids were the absolute natural enemies of the Purgatorius, and the timid creature was immediately frightened back into its hollow. It wasn't until it confirmed there was no more movement outside that it cautiously poked its head out again. Finding the Troodontids gone, it finally climbed out slowly.

At that moment, the Purgatorius caught a strong scent of blood in the air, originating from very close by. Looking down from the canopy of the sycamore tree with its excellent night vision, it could clearly see three massive pits in the earth where the stench was strongest. Lying inside the pits were the mangled corpses of the Troodontids!

The young heart of the Purgatorius was deeply shaken by this sight.

Chu Xu, currently fast asleep, had no idea what a profound impact his unintentional actions had made on the earliest ancestor of all future primates.

Upon waking the next morning, Chu Xu checked his traps. As expected, the thieves had been caught.

"So, it was a pack of Troodontids."

Seeing the Troodontids that had been dead for some time in the traps, Chu Xu shook his head and chuckled. He hadn't expected the Troodontids—possessing the highest intelligence among dinosaurs—to be the lucky winners to become the first to perish in his traps. Yet, the high intelligence of a Troodontid was limited to the scope of reptilian dinosaurs; it paled in comparison to later mammals, let alone humans. The only pity was that killing so many Troodontids with traps did not grant Chu Xu any evolution points.

It seemed the system only counted prey killed by his own hands toward evolution points, while those killed by external factors like traps were ignored. Still, these carcasses were not to be wasted; they would perfectly replenish the smoked meat he had lost over the past two days.

First, Chu Xu used his fluid armament to wrap around his body, reinforcing his defenses to prevent accidental injury. Then, he cautiously climbed into the pits, tossing the carcasses up to the surface one by one. After recovering all of them, he leaped with explosive power, easily clearing the two-meter-deep pits.

The efficacy of the traps had been proven in practice; they were terrifying, simple-to-construct, and highly effective weapons against the dinosaurs and other creatures of the Cretaceous period. These three pits could be reused indefinitely, ready to ensnare any future thieves looking to steal his food.

After a busy morning processing the carcasses and rebuilding his smoking rack, the roaring bonfire sent thick black smoke curling into the air, curing the fresh meat, piece by piece.

...

A week passed, and the smoked meat made from Troodontid flesh was ready. When Chu Xu brought it back to share with Mother Dragon, Longyue, and Liuxing, their eyes widened as they began to gobble it down. It was rich and fragrant, the meat fatty but not greasy, lean but not tough, leaving a lingering, savory aftertaste. It also provided more calories than raw meat, offering more than enough energy for their metabolism and activities.

However, even with the stockpile Chu Xu had worked so hard to create, it would soon run out without further sources of food. Over the past week, the prey he had captured was scarce. The medium and large herbivores in the territories of Mother Dragon and Father Dragon had vanished, and the fish in the dried-up riverbeds were extinct. Only the occasional insect, lizard, or salamander could be found; it was a scene of total desolation.

"Roar—!!"

Finally, Mother Dragon made a major decision: to temporarily abandon their patch of land, follow the migrating herbivores southeast, and compete with other carnivores for new territory, only returning once the dry season had passed.

That morning, the faint light of the rising sun acted like a delicate brush, gradually outlining the contours of the land against the dark canvas of the night.

Before the temperature rose and while a breeze still stirred, Mother Dragon woke early, called the three young Tyrannosaurus rexes, and led them onto the path of migration.

It wasn't just Mother Dragon, the master of this territory, who was moving; many other carnivores in the region, unable to hold out any longer, began to migrate as well. There were the "Hell Hounds"—the Acheroraptor packs, small but agile and acting in groups; the "Hell Coyotes"—the Troodontid packs, with their high intelligence and keen senses, capable of coordinated attacks; and the "Hell Raptors"—the Dakotaraptors, medium-sized, combining strength and speed.

Besides these, an unexpected figure appeared.

It was a large Tyrannosaur over seven meters long, possessing the iconic, massive, and ferocious skull, broad and sturdy body, thick hind legs, and heavy tail characteristic of the Tyrannosauridae family. However, this was not a Tyrannosaurus rex. Its forelimbs were exceptionally long, and its teeth were short and blade-like, showing significant differences from the features of a T-rex.

Had Chu Xu been there, he would have recognized it as a Nanotyrannus, known as the "Pygmy Tyrant."

Nanotyrannus was a large carnivorous dinosaur of the Tyrannosauridae family, also living in the Hell Creek Formation of North America. When its fossils were first discovered, paleontologists thought it was a juvenile T-rex. But soon, they discovered many differences between the Nanotyrannus and the T-rex, leading them to classify it as a separate species. The name "Nanotyrannus" literally means the "dwarf tyrant."

"Roar!!"

After Chu Xu’s family departed, this Nanotyrannus brazenly intruded into Mother Dragon’s core territory. Its nostrils flared, sniffing the lingering scents, while its eyes flashed with a fierce, violent glint.

If nothing went wrong, three young, naive Tyrannosaurus rexes had lived here. If they were allowed to continue growing, they would inevitably become its rivals in the future, encroaching on its resources. It was time to find a good opportunity to eliminate these potential threats.