Rock-type dependents... those that were too weak would surely have only mediocre effects. The first thing Luo Yu thought of was using a Dominion Talent as the core and fusing over a hundred Ink Fish with Rock Element Affinity Talents to complete an evolution. That could probably produce a top-grade rock Devil Beast, right?!
It might even give rise to a top-tier rock-type talent!
Rock and water types weren't necessarily incompatible. Giant Rock Sea Turtles, Rockspike Starfish... there were plenty of rock-type mutant sea beasts in the ocean too.
Individual Ink Fish had already appeared with "fire element" and "lightning element" talents, so finding one with a "rock element" talent wouldn't be difficult either.
When the time came, with a Monarch Level rock Devil Beast's powerful rock talent as a foundation, July would surely be able to master terrifying rock power too.
Luo Yu had been wondering all along: if the path of a Common Species contracting a Monarch dependent really worked, which talent traits would be the best fit for July's Monarch dependent...
Now it seemed rock type could be one of the candidates. First, it would let him create magma out of thin air even over the sea or in the sky. Second, it could uncover his connection to this Ancient Evolution Stone!
But that depended on whether contracting a Monarch dependent above his own level worked. If the Ink Fish turned the tables during evolution, everything would be for nothing.
And using a dependent's power to grant a pet beast power of a particular attribute was the simplest method.
There was also a more laborious method with little to show for it: use various rock-type resources to force July to learn a rock-type ability, in an attempt to increase his compatibility with the evolution stone.
But that method wasted both resources and effort, and the results were mediocre. It was like a struggling student with no talent for learning: no matter how many tutoring classes he attended or how many brain-boosting supplements he took, getting into a top university would still be difficult.
Talent was what mattered most; hard work after the fact could hardly surpass it.
Unless he cheated through the back door! And the dependent system was just such a back door.
It was like finding a talented stand-in to take the exam for him, then refining that stand-in's abilities for his own use.
"Why couldn't that Honey Water Bee with the 'Water Element Enhancement Talent' have a 'Rock Element Enhancement Talent' instead?" Luo Yu actually had another Honey Water Bee that could strengthen water element control. If only he could swap its attribute.
If it were a Rock Element Enhancement Talent instead, that would be a killing blow. He would definitely choose the Sting Training Method first. After all, the Five Senses Enhancement individual had already shown Luo Yu the astonishing effects of a Senior Level Enhancement Talent.
That thing was more effective than any special training. Most importantly, it was cheap, and July wouldn't have to waste his effort developing an attribute he was weak in.
"Once I get back, I can try breeding for it. After all, the offspring's talents can 'combine and mutate' into a new talent."
Whether it was an Ink Fish with a Rock Element Affinity Talent or a Honey Water Bee with a Rock Element Enhancement Talent, he could try breeding for both at the same time. After all, not every breeding project produced results; it all came down to luck. When the time came, he'd use whichever produced results first...
Run into a problem that was hard to solve? First try solving it by breeding mutant beasts with special talents... Luo Yu had already developed a reliance on that approach.
Seeing that Luo Yu's Earth Penguin had failed to evolve, Yu Lei was helpless too. The opportunity had been given, but fate had fallen a little short. They could only wait for new research results in the future.
Director Yu Lei said earnestly to Chen Zhuo and Luo Yu, "Whether our Mirror Moon Island can become great again depends on this Ancient Grotto... you two, do your best with the research."
"Try to develop this place into a popular attraction like the Golden Waterfall."
"When the time comes, we can find someone to advertise on Aocang Island and pay the alliance's reporters to promote it. Maybe then our Mirror Moon Island's tourism industry can get back on its feet." At the thought of that day, the corners of the director's mouth rose involuntarily.
"Director, we'll do our best." Chen Zhuo smiled wryly.
Luo Yu asked, "Aocang Island is that Island of Scholarship, right?!"
"That's right, the one that regularly hosts the academic exchange conference." The director nodded.
Of the many islands under the Sea Tamer Alliance, Azure Waves Island was the undisputed core.
But besides Azure Waves Island, there were many other well-known islands.
Aocang Island, for example, was known as the Island of Scholarship and was very famous. It was both the birthplace and place of death of the alliance's most renowned biologist. To commemorate his contributions to Beast Taming, Aocang Island held an academic exchange conference at intervals, attracting countless biological scholars to discuss and exchange ideas.
Luo Yu understood. So that was why Director Yu Lei valued the Ancient Grotto so highly: he wanted to develop tourism...
There was indeed a successful precedent. Golden Island, where the Golden Waterfall he mentioned was located, had used that very approach.
Golden Island possessed a blessed site, the Golden Waterfall, where a Low-Rank Ordinary Species, the Golden Carp, could leap over the dragon gate and climb the waterfall to become a Lower Monarch Species in one stroke!
But Golden Island hadn't kept this blessed site to itself. Instead, it had opened it to the public. Any beast tamer could bring a Golden Carp to challenge the waterfall and gamble on that minuscule chance of evolution. All they had to do was buy a ticket to the waterfall scenic area.
Although even in a year, there might not be more than a few Monarch Dragons, what beast tamer wouldn't want to take a chance? They all flocked there.
As the number of outside visitors grew, Golden Island's tourism industry developed, and schools of fish leaping over the dragon gate became one of its iconic sights.
Tourism could be called Golden Island's pillar industry, bringing in countless revenue. The carp leaping over the dragon gate was undoubtedly a marketing miracle.
But Mirror Moon Island had no such core industry. Among the alliance's many islands, it was undoubtedly one of the poorest.
Its agriculture, biological resources, and geographical location were all mediocre...
Of course, Mirror Moon Island had been wealthy before. The reason the Mirror Moon Fleet had made the island its territory was that it had initially discovered abundant mineral resources there. Unfortunately, the mutant mineral resources were soon mined out, and the island fell on hard times again after only a brief period of prosperity.
And now, the excavation of the Ancient Grotto had undoubtedly given Director Yu Lei hope again.
That was why he wanted to copy Golden Island's playbook and turn the Ancient Grotto into a tourist destination too.
Under the banners of "ancient revival" and "dinosaur inheritance," he could build a dinosaur-themed nature park on the mountain. Maybe Mirror Moon Island's tourism industry would take off.
By breeding and selling large numbers of bird-type mutant beasts while selling tickets to the Ancient Grotto, money would undoubtedly come pouring in by the handful. That was how it had been for Golden Island.
At the same time, Golden Island had used its home-field advantage to become the first to fully raise a dragon legion, then used its tourism revenue as military funding to support that legion, creating a virtuous cycle. It could be called the culmination of this entire profit-making system.
So Yu Lei's current plan was to find a way to reliably evolve Waterfallen Chickens and more bird-type pet beasts, then attend the exchange conference on the Island of Scholarship and use it to promote Mirror Moon Island's Ancient Grotto.
Through selling points like "atavistic evolution" and "return to the primordial," he would attract more tourists to spend money and buy pet beasts on Mirror Moon Island.
But for now, the plan was still stuck at the first step.
That Waterfallen Chicken's evolution had involved too much chance. At present, Mirror Moon Island simply couldn't replicate it.
"It's all right. We don't have to think that far ahead yet. We can take things one step at a time," Director Yu Lei said.
Luo Yu sighed inwardly. This old director... really had worried himself sick over the island's development.
He was just like those heads of culture and tourism bureaus in small places before the apocalypse, who worked desperately and tried every way they could to make their hometowns famous and bring in more revenue.
Luo Yu didn't know whether the Ancient Grotto could ultimately spur the development of Mirror Moon Island's tourism industry as Director Yu Lei wished.
But with him around, Mirror Moon Island could definitely become great again!!
Medical Ink Fish?
Enhancement Honey Water Bees?
Those were only appetizers.
Luo Yu's continued research into Water Devil Beasts on Mirror Moon Island certainly couldn't be kept secret forever. In the end, he would definitely have to cooperate with the island.
After all, for an experiment like having a Common Species contract a Monarch dependent, he would definitely need to find a guinea pig to test it first. He couldn't risk himself.
Where would he find a guinea pig? The island would have to provide someone.
And the island would definitely cooperate wholeheartedly.
After all, the increase would be in real, tangible military strength!
Golden Island could indeed raise Monarch Dragons through carp leaping over the dragon gate, but it seemed the process had never been very reliable, and there were very few Golden Carp qualified to evolve.
But were Ink Fish qualified to evolve to Monarch Level rare? In theory, yes, but his eyes were a measuring stick. Through breeding, he could have as many as he wanted. It was an extremely reliable evolutionary path!
Agriculture? Tourism? Education? Healthcare?
Once their military strength was great enough, none of those would be a problem. If they had no money, they could rob pirates and hunt powerful mutant beasts. Say it a thousand ways, but in this era, the biggest fist was what counted.
Still, healthcare, education, and the military... Luo Yu felt he was the one who ought to be director, or even island lord.