Lizard Lord - Chapter 9

Chapter 9 - Bait

This centipede had a deep red shell and dozens of pairs of sharp long legs. The most striking feature was its exaggerated pincers, which looked very powerful.

Its body length was astonishing. At first glance, it was almost the same length as Tang Zhao. It was probably able to match prehistoric giant arthropods such as the prehistoric millipede.

At first, Tang Zhao thought it was holding some food, but upon closer inspection, he realized that it was actually holding a large cluster of small centipedes.

These small centipedes were still in their larval stage, their shells had not fully developed, and their bodies were all milky white.

Tang Zhao was quite lucky. He had encountered a centipede that was carrying eggs. They were one of the few arthropods that took care of their offspring.

The larvae did not have the ability to survive in the wild. Under normal circumstances, the centipede mother would stay close and take care of them until they were able to survive on their own.

The hatching of the eggs took over a month, and raising the young centipedes also took a considerable amount of time.

Seeing Tang Zhao approaching, the centipede raised its body and assumed a threatening posture.

Its lower body was still tightly wrapped around the small centipedes, indicating that it was not willing to let go.

If this centipede had been in good condition and encountered Tang Zhao, they would probably have had a fierce battle. But now, it was a different story.

The centipede wanted to protect the small centipedes, so its lower body was fixed and unable to move. After a long incubation and nurturing period, this centipede was actually very weak and was no match for Tang Zhao.

In fact, in nature, there were cases where a mother centipede died and used her body as nourishment for the small centipedes. Tang Zhao was now taking advantage of the situation and had found a centipede in a very poor condition.

However, this advantage also came with some psychological burden for him.

Although arthropods had little intelligence and their parenting methods were simply the result of natural selection, from Tang Zhao's human perspective, the actions of this centipede could be considered as great maternal love.

If he were still human, upon seeing a centipede carrying eggs, he would silently leave. But now, he was a lizard, a predator in desperate need of food.

After a few seconds of internal struggle, Tang Zhao finally moved his claws and walked towards the centipede.

The hunting process went smoothly. Tang Zhao pounced on the centipede, immediately restraining its pincers, pressing its head to the ground, and then using his claws to remove its thick armor.

After removing the shell from its neck, Tang Zhao began his usual attack process—decapitation, removal of the pincers, and swallowing the blood core.

Looking at the pile of small centipedes crawling together beneath him, Tang Zhao sighed inwardly and finally started eating.

Not to mention the approaching team of the Third Princess's call, nor the fact that keeping the other party would pose a hidden danger for future generations. These were still young centipedes, and without protection, they wouldn't survive.

Instead of being soft-hearted and seeking self-satisfaction, the key was to make full use of resources.

Stealing bird eggs and eating insect eggs was something  Tang Zhao had done many times before.

In his view, fully utilizing every bit of resources from prey was a form of respect and appreciation for life.

After devouring the small centipedes, Tang Zhao struggled to drag the body of the giant centipede into his hole.

By the time he arrived, it was already noon. Then, after two hunts, it was now dusk.

Like other large reptiles, he didn't plan to go hunting at night when the temperature was too low and would affect his physical activity.

After sealing the cave entrance, he began to eat inside.

It was a time-consuming task as it would take a while to consume both animals.

Even though his digestion was much stronger than that of an ordinary lizard, he couldn't eat whenever he wanted. He wasn't a garbage disposal site.

After being full, Tang Zhao began to rest, making the most of his time.

The next day, Tang Zhao woke up and had another hearty meal before dragging his somewhat heavy body to the edge of a small stream to bask in the sun.

Digesting the food heated his body. Without wasting any time, after warming up his body, he started preparing to hunt again.

He found a carnivorous mantis, but it was small in size and surprisingly had no significant toxicity. Tang Zhao dealt with it quite easily.

Not finding any suitable insects to prey on, Tang Zhao resorted to using traps and waited patiently.

The remaining half of the mantis was a good bait. Tang Zhao found an open area, placed the insect corpse there, and began to wait in ambush.

He could have migrated and searched for another place, but he would have to abandon the insect meat he had stored. He couldn't carry hundreds of kilograms of meat, and he didn't want to waste anything, so he had no choice but to stay in the same place for a while longer.

His current strategy suited him better for a nomadic-like lifestyle.

After cleaning up the area, he would immediately migrate to another location to find food and resources.

This method was much faster than waiting for prey, and would provide him with more hunting opportunities.

With the help of bait, he managed to catch a carnivorous beetle, but before he could extract the blood core, he encountered an unexpected guest once again.

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