In exchange for seeking refuge, Kendi entrusted his treasured fossils and notes to Todd. Although Todd repeatedly emphasized that such an action was pointless, Kendi persisted in his decision.

With nothing else to do, Todd decided to start studying Kendi’s fossils and notes.

First, there's the skeletal fossil. Even though Todd is a layman when it comes to archaeology, his knowledge of biology is quite extensive, and he can vaguely discern two things from the fossil: one, this skeleton doesn't belong to humans; two, this fossil may be older than human civilization (obviously).

Todd took a sample from the fossil and placed it under the microscope. When he looked at it closely through the eyepiece, he thought he was seeing things. He rubbed his eyes and looked again. He was so surprised that he forgot to speak. He saw something familiar in the fossil sample—the Sutherland archaea.

That's impossible.

This was Todd's first idea.

Could it be that the fossils were contaminated with Sutherland bacteria in his own laboratory?

To verify this hypothesis, Todd scraped a second sample from the inside of the fossil and examined it under a microscope. To his astonishment, the Sutherland archaea reappeared in the eyepiece.

If it appears on the surface of a fossil, it could be due to environmental pollution. If it appears inside a fossil, the most likely explanation is that the organism in the fossil once contained Sutherland archaea.

But a series of problems followed.

How did the Sutherland archaea enter this organism? Was it due to natural or man-made causes? And what exactly is this organism?

The alchemist Sutherland discovered archaea a thousand years ago, but it's entirely possible that some organism discovered them tens or even hundreds of thousands of years ago. Another theory suggests that tectonic activity caused continental shelf plate shifts, triggering magma eruptions that released the archaea.

Both of these explanations are plausible.

As for what this creature is, Todd does have a way of finding out.

The clue lies in the notebook. Kendi excavated fossils near the Sacred Forest and recorded their shape and size. Now, by trying to recreate these fossilized bones and put them back together, they can find out what this creature was.

This sounds like a fantasy, but piecing together skeletal fossils based on the order, depth, arrangement, and fit of the excavations isn't particularly difficult for a biology teacher. However, the process is not easy and is very time-consuming.

First, the fossils unearthed from the notebook are numbered and their locations are recorded. Then, based on the size and shape of the markings, similar parts are cut out from thin wooden boards. Finally, the task is somewhat similar to assembling a model, using glue and nails to fix the parts together.

From labeling to production to assembly, it took Todd a total of 11 hours. Although some bones are still missing, the basic skeleton of the creature has been built.

"This is the spine."

"This is the coccyx."

"This should be the lower jawbone."

"This is the pterygoid bone... Hmm, that's about it..."

Todd examined the biological skeleton made of wooden planks, and the more he looked at it, the more familiar it seemed.

From the top of the skull to the last vertebra of the tail, it is about 65 meters long, with two thick, pillar-like leg bones, sharp claw bones, short and powerful forelimbs, a lower jaw somewhat similar to that of a crocodile, and a wingspan that can reach 47 meters...

Todd's eyes widened, and he could only stammer, unable to utter a sound, as the notebook in his hand fell to the ground.

After a long while, he managed to squeeze out a sentence.

"This looks like a dragon, doesn't it?!"