Chapter 40: Delta Plain, Hell Aquarium!

Having eaten and drunk their fill, Chu Xu packed the remaining food using his previous method, utilizing the stomach bag of the Triceratops to carry the leftover meat, and even made sure not to leave behind the meat of the Montana Champsosaurus.

In his past life, he had already tasted crocodile meat. It was low in fat, low in cholesterol, and high in protein. It possessed both the succulent freshness of aquatic animals and the wild aroma of terrestrial animals.

Moreover, it was said to contain high-efficiency antibodies and uniquely structured hemoglobin, which could enhance one's immune system and blood oxygen-carrying capacity, thus benefiting overall health.

Continuing on their journey, Chu Xu's family followed the footprints left behind by the massive migration of herbivorous dinosaurs, eliminating any worries of heading in the wrong direction.

A week later, Chu Xu spotted numerous Stygimalachis flying across the sky, having also migrated from the north.

Stygimalachis, colloquially known as hell ducks, possessed physical characteristics that combined those of flamingos and ducks. Belonging to the family Presbyornithidae, their existence spanned from the Late Cretaceous all the way to the Miocene, making them one of the few prehistoric bird species that survived the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event.

These Stygimalachis also exhibited migratory habits that changed with the seasons, living near water and resting by sources of it.

Seeing them meant that their destination was now close at hand.

Finally, around dusk on this particular day, a vast, boundless, and mighty river appeared before Chu Xu's family. Along its banks lay a delta plain formed by fertile alluvial soil, stretching out infinitely under the blue sky in a vibrant expanse of emerald green.

This grand river was none other than the main channel of the Missouri River, flowing all the way east from the newly risen Rocky Mountains toward the Western Interior Seaway.

Even the cruel dry season had failed to rob it of its broad embrace, and it continued to irrigate and nourish greenery and life with its inexhaustible source of vitality.

They had arrived!

After more than a month of long-distance migration, Chu Xu's family had finally reached this vibrant and fertile land.

Amidst the humid and warm air, the vegetation was lush and dripping with moisture, and the landscape was interlaced with rivers and lakes. From low, clustered ferns to tall, shrubby tree ferns, from solitary cycads to flower-laden magnolias, and from mighty rivers to babbling brooks and tranquil lakes—

This fertile land, so rare during the dry season, provided an exceptional living environment for all kinds of animals. The diverse biodiversity, rich lineages, and ecological communities combined to form a complete biological chain, allowing various creatures to keep each other in check while remaining mutually interdependent.

The massive migration of herbivorous dinosaurs had arrived just a step ahead of Chu Xu's family. Gazing across the vast delta plain, he could spot their figures everywhere.

The familiar Triceratops, Torosaurus, Edmontosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Thescelosaurus, Pachycephalosaurus, Ornithomimus, Leptoceratops...

For the upcoming period, they would no longer need to endure arduous journeys and exhausting travels, staying here temporarily until the arrival of the rainy season next year, at which point they would migrate back to the north.

In addition to these, there were also various dinosaur figures that Chu Xu had rarely, if ever, seen before.

There was Alamosaurus, known as the "last of the sauropods";
Braasaurus, a "close relative of Triceratops";
Nobleceratops, a "close relative of Edmontosaurus";
Glyptodontpelta, a "close relative of Ankylosaurus";
Navahopus, a "close relative of Stygivenator", and so on.

These dinosaurs were the native inhabitants of this southern delta plain. When compared with the dinosaurs from the northern deciduous forests, many similarities could be found, yet distinct differences remained.

Truly, different environments shape different animals.

Continuing along the main channel of the Missouri River, Chu Xu finally caught sight of a shallow sea beyond the horizon at the edge of his vision.

This was the Western Interior Seaway, which had cleaved the North American continent in two during the Cretaceous period.

The Western Interior Seaway was, on the whole, a massive inland sea. At its largest extent, it stretched from the Rocky Mountains in the west to the Appalachian Mountains in the east, reaching a width of 970 kilometers.

Spanning 3,200 kilometers from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, its deepest points approached 800 meters, and its area was comparable to the Mediterranean Sea of later eras.

However, by the end of the Cretaceous period, the Laramide orogeny caused the North American landmass to uplift, and the Western Interior Seaway gradually shrank as a result, vanishing entirely by the Cenozoic era after the extinction of the dinosaurs.

The Western Interior Seaway before Chu Xu's eyes was now much smaller, but it remained magnificent and deeply legendary.

It was a warm and bountiful marine realm. The influx of rivers made its waters somewhat brackish, teeming with plankton and algae. Crustaceans, gastropods, bivalves, and ammonites existed in immense numbers.

There were also Hesperornis and Ichthyornis, adept at diving for fish; Archelon, of colossal proportions; Tusoteuthis, comparable to giant squids;
fierce predatory fish such as sharks, Xiphactinus, Enchodus, and Gillicus; as well as plesiosaurs and mosasaurs reigning at the very apex of the marine food chain.

Because this sea area gathered a terrifying variety of colossal and ferocious marine animals—something unprecedented in Earth's history—it had earned a chilling moniker: the Aquarium of Hell!

"The land, the ocean, and the sky in North America at this point in time are all running the hell difficulty version..."

Chu Xu muttered inwardly. In this North American version on the eve of the dinosaur extinction, the land, sea, and sky were all set to hell-level difficulty.

The land had Tyrannosaurus rex, the ocean had Mosasaurus, and the sky had Quetzalcoatlus. The rest of the terrestrial dinosaurs, marine fish, and avian creatures also advanced side by side in a hundred schools of thought contending.

Yet precisely because of this, future life would be all the more challenging!

...

As night fell, Chu Xu's family, exhausted from traveling the entire day, found a spot to rest temporarily.

Longyue and Liuxing, worn out to the point of utter exhaustion, fell asleep the moment they lay down. Having endured over a month of long-distance migration, both of them had grown a size leaner than before.

Fortunately, they had persevered through it all, and the days ahead would gradually improve.

The exhausted Mother Dragon crouched down, merely closing her eyes to rest without falling into a deep sleep.

Right now, their family was still in a wandering state and had not yet found a new territory. They could fall victim to attacks from other predators at any moment, so Mother Dragon did not let down her guard.

Chu Xu was in no rush to sleep either. Instead, he looked up at the starry sky, checked his current status, and pondered his plans for the near future.

"Check my attribute panel."

At his mental command, the data panel instantly popped up before his eyes:

【Name】: Chu Xu
【Age】: 12 months
【Race】: Agumon (Male)
【Growth Stage】: Juvenile
【Four-Dimensional Attributes】: Strength 415, Agility 415, Constitution 435, Spirit 425
【Evolution Points】: 30
【Skills】: Flame Claw, Flame Tooth, Flare Charge, High-Speed Movement
【Ultimate Move】: Baby Flame
【Achievements】: Tyrant Potential (Junior), Psychic Perception (Junior), Fluid Armor (Junior)
【Next Evolution Form】: Greymon
...

In the blink of an eye, nearly a year had passed since Chu Xu's birth. Counting the days, his one-year birthday was just around the corner.

However, Chu Xu's physical development at this moment was already comparable to a 9-to-10-year-old juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex, and the adolescent stage at 14 years old was not far off.

When that time came, Chu Xu would also have to leave Mother Dragon and officially begin living independently.