Chapter 44 Chapter 44

When Herry woke up, he found himself in an unfamiliar swamp.

The swamp was filled with soft, rotten mud that was dirty and smelly, and there was a strange, dark green mist floating in the air.

Half of his body was stuck in the mud, and he was still sinking slowly. He struggled frantically, and the huge bat wings behind him pulled out of the mud, rolling up a lot of mud, which covered his body and head.

After spitting out a few mouthfuls of mud, Herri noticed that his body had become so big.

It was so big that he couldn't control it, and he could only stumble through the swamp, falling into deep holes with every step.

His body was too big and too heavy, and he would sink deep with every step he took. It took Herri a long time to learn how to move on the soft swamp ground using his bat wings and all four limbs.

This swamp was very large. There was endless mud in front, behind, left and right of Herri. He had no idea where to go and could only rely on his instinct to find higher ground.

After trekking for a whole day and night, he finally found a relatively solid high ground where he could take shelter.

He lay on the high ground, panting heavily, with the bat wings covered in mud drooping weakly behind him.

At this time, Heli was dirty, tired and hungry.

He whimpered softly, tears welling up in his eyes. He wanted to go home, and he also missed his father.

But when he regained consciousness, he clearly recalled what happened the night before.

Not only did he not listen to his father and secretly ate all the gems, but he also tore down the house after his body grew bigger.

The broken scene flashed before his eyes. Herri sniffed and big tears fell.

Sad and scared.

When he was still a little dragon cub, he had always hoped that he could grow up quickly and become a majestic big dragon. But now that he has really grown into a big dragon, he is not happy at all.

Growing up is really sad for Long.

He wanted to go back to his original self, to be with his father, and never grow up again.

Ruan Shiqing towed the second-hand landspeeder he had bought earlier to Fita Manor.

He had bought this second-hand landspeeder with the intention of refitting it, but due to being busy, he had not been able to find the time to do so. Now it came in handy.

He asked the Xiong brothers and 09 for help and began to dismantle the landcraft.

Ordinary landspeeders can only move forward on flat ground. If they are placed on special terrains, such as deserts and swamps, they cannot maintain normal driving. Take the swamps for example. If Ruan Shiqing drove an ordinary landspeeder into the swamps, the engine of the landspeeder would stop working in less than an hour because it was blocked by a large amount of mud.

In order to facilitate access to these special places, both Naxi Company and Gaoke Shipyard have produced special desert landcraft and swamp landcraft.

But there are few of these special landspeeders, and there are none on B3024. So he can only modify it himself, converting the ordinary landspeeder into a swamp landspeeder, so that he can enter the Lost Swamp to find Heli.

He dismantled the engine at the bottom of the landspeeder, leaving only the anti-gravity device, and sealed the chassis; then he found a turbine, removed the fan from the turbine, and installed it at the stern of the landspeeder as the propulsion power for the swamp landspeeder.

The turbine fan is connected to the fuel chamber and the control system, and the speed of the landcraft is controlled by changing the fuel distribution method and the fan speed.

In addition to solving the core power problem, it is also necessary to install fenders, seal and reinforce the cockpit, add oxygen filters, and so on.

By the time the work was completed, another night had passed.

The sky was just getting light, the two moons were sinking below the horizon, and in another hour the sun would rise.

Ruan Shiqing prepared all the necessary items, entered the cockpit, and said goodbye to everyone else.

Morley was still trying to persuade her, "Why don't you wait a little longer? Mr. Rong has tried his best to come back when he heard that you were in trouble. It would be safer if Mr. Rong were here."

When Ruan Shiqing insisted on entering the Lost Swamp, Mo Li contacted Rong Heng.

After Rong Heng learned the news, he tried his best to rush back.

But Ruan Shiqing didn't dare to delay even for a second. He didn't know if He Li, who had lost his mind, would hurt him. He didn't know if his body suddenly became so huge, would bring any sequelae. He didn't know if He Li would be in danger if he really entered the Lost Swamp...

He had too many worries and didn't dare to waste a single minute.

"The landspeeder is equipped with a communication and positioning device. If Hurry is found or I am in danger, a signal will be sent back."

These few days were very chaotic, and thanks to Ma Lin's selfless help, Ruan Shiqing's expression eased and he said sincerely: "I understand your worry, but I can't wait."

After saying this, he waved his hand, lowered the protective shield, and the landspeeder sped away.

Calling up the map navigation, Ruan Shiqing headed west.

It's roughly the west side, close to the Lost Swamp. The further west you go, the more desolate the surroundings become.

Unlike the wasteland filled with metal waste in the outer city, this place was completely deserted and silent. In the overgrown land, not even a single insect could be heard, let alone a human footprint.

The silence is terrifying.

In dead silence, Ruan Shiqing drove for four hours before finally approaching the edge of the Lost Swamp.

Looking from afar, there was an uninhabited area shrouded in a layer of strange dark green mist.

Ruan Shiqing slowed down, turned on the headlights, detection devices, and oxygen filters, and then carefully drove into the range of the green mist.

The land speeder cut through the mist and moved forward slowly. The detection device continuously sent back environmental analysis data. Ruan Shiqing looked at the displayed data with a more solemn expression. Marin was right. This swamp was very dangerous.

In general, swamps are rich in species, with all kinds of plants and animals living in the swamps. But in this area, apart from thick dark green moss, there is no sign of life.

According to air composition analysis, the dark green mist contains a trace toxin that can paralyze the nerves of living things. If you just linger on the edge, this toxin will not cause any effect. But if you go deep into it and inhale too much toxin, the human body will gradually fall into a state of paralysis.

In such a situation, the result of the senses and body falling into a state of paralysis can be imagined.

At this time, Ruan Shiqing didn't want to find any trace of He Li here.

Due to the thin mist, the light here is very dim. The headlights illuminate the surroundings alternately. Ruan Shiqing pays close attention to the screen, looking for any trace of Herri - with Herri's current huge size, if he really has been to the Lost Swamp, he must have left any traces.

After lying on the high ground for an unknown amount of time, Herri opened his eyes in a daze.

It's getting darker here.

My stomach is growling with hunger.

Rubbing his protesting belly, Heli looked around, hesitated for a moment, and chose a right direction to see if he could find something to eat. But as soon as he stepped out, he sank into the mud.

The sudden feeling of weightlessness made him pull out his claws in panic, and he fell to the ground in shock.

The swamp seemed to be deeper than when he came here. When his claws sank into it just now, he almost couldn't pull them out.

Sitting hopelessly on the only high ground, Herri let out an angrily roar.

The dragon's roar is extremely penetrating.

Ruan Shiqing was so keen that he caught the faint roar of a dragon coming from afar, and even his heartbeat quickened.

He had been in the swamp for a day, from before dawn to when dusk was gradually deepening. The landspeeder had passed one-tenth of the swamp, but found no trace. The dead silence and suffocating environment made people feel anxious, and Ruan Shiqing could only keep calm by giving himself psychological hints.

The dragon's roar was like a cardiac stimulant.

He cheered himself up, increased his speed, and rushed in the direction where the sound came from.

The further you go inside, the thicker the green mist becomes.

The swamp covered with green mosses seemed full of life at first glance, but if you look closely, you will find animal carcasses scattered underneath. Ruan Shiqing even saw quite a few human skeletons.

His heart became heavier.

After walking for another half an hour, it was already completely dark.

The light from the artificial moon barely leaked through the mist, and Ruan Shiqing could only rely on the light of the headlight to move forward.

The landspeeder finally came to a stop in a depression.

In the area illuminated by the headlights, one could see that this low-lying area was covered with traces of struggle, as if some gigantic creature had fought here. Ruan Shiqing walked forward along the traces and saw blurry footprints again.

The swamp is fluid, and the footprints left behind are quite blurry, but after comparing the sizes, Ruan Shiqing was almost certain that they were the footprints left by He Li.

——He once fell into a swamp, struggled to get out, and then left with great difficulty.

The dragon roar he just heard was most likely made by He Li and was not his illusion.

Ruan Shiqing followed the footprints and searched forward.

Herri lay weakly on the high ground.

Because of hunger, the strength in his body seemed to be gradually draining away. He tried to flap his huge bat wings, but he could only lift them up and flap them twice before they drooped down again.

The mud on its body had dried up, and as its bat wings fluttered, mud and dust fell off its body.

Woo.

I'm so hungry.

He groaned in pain a few times and kicked the ground with his paws to vent his anger. When he saw his dirty body covered in mud, he was stunned again.

The smooth and moist scales like black jade became gray and dull because of the mud. The gaps between the scales were filled with green moss and mud. He must look very ugly now.

He lowered his head again, sniffed, and was overwhelmed by an indescribable stench.

Tsk.

So stinky.

He Li couldn't bear it and shook his head wildly, and at the same time he felt even more sad.

When at home, the little dragon was never hungry or so dirty.

He is no longer his daddy's pretty little dragon cub.

Herri lowered his eyes sadly and wanted to cry again.

He realized belatedly that he couldn't leave here, nor could he go home again. No one would like an ugly and smelly dragon.

And he also damaged the house.

The heartbroken little dragon cub lay on the high ground in despair, staring at the moon that was looming in the mist with his eyes wide open.

Suddenly, my ears caught a familiar call.

"Herri, Herri."

It's Dad's voice. Dad is coming to find him!

The excited little dragon suddenly climbed up, tried to stand up straight, and looked around eagerly.

He was tall now and could see far, and indeed he saw a small cluster of faint light in the distance, which came from a landspeeder.

It must be dad!

Just as he was about to respond, the little dragon noticed his dirty claws again.

The response that reached his throat was swallowed hesitantly. He stretched out his paw and took a look. The scales were black, and the claw hooks were curved and sharp. It looked extremely fierce, not at all as round and cute as before.

When his father cut his nails in the past, he praised his paws for being so cute.

But now, it's not cute at all.

And it's ugly.

He Li pursed his lips sadly.

If his father saw him like this, would he no longer like him or even be afraid of him?

Chaotic thoughts lingered in the little dragon's mind, and his courage dissipated, replaced by fear.

Not only did he not make a sound in response to his father's call, but he shrank his body and hesitantly hid in the swamp.

The little dragon cub was a little lucky, maybe he could quietly follow his father and leave here, then make himself a little cleaner and prettier, and then go home.

This way I won’t scare my dad.

Ruan Shiqing followed the remaining traces of the swamp and found a high ground.

This highland should have been a small hillside. After being swallowed by the swamp, only the tall top was exposed. There was no grass growing on it, only a lonely dead tree standing there with a strange posture.

The tracking traces were cut off at the plateau, but there were still traces of activity around the plateau, indicating that Herri had at least stayed here.

But now there is no trace of him here. Ruan Shiqing is not sure whether He Li flew away after resting or if something happened here.

After a slight hesitation, Ruan Shiqing drove the landspeeder to the high ground, put on a gas mask, put on protective clothing, and carefully left the landspeeder.

He checked the plateau first, then noticed the claw marks on the dead tree, which made him more certain that Herri must have stayed here before.

He turned on the loudspeaker on his waist and played the audio - this was the audio he had recorded in advance, calling Herri's name over and over again.

Dragons have keen hearing and may be able to hear his voice.

Hiding in the swamp, Herri held his breath and carefully grabbed the solid soil on the edge of the high ground to prevent himself from sinking completely.

He heard his father calling him and could not help but sniffing sadly, but he forgot that he was sinking in the mud and unexpectedly inhaled a nose full of mud.

!!!!!!!

The foul smell of the swamp made it impossible for him to hold his breath any longer, and he popped his head out and started coughing.

Ruan Shiqing was startled by the sudden noise. He quickly pulled out the blaster from his waist and turned around. He saw a huge black dragon struggling in the mud, throwing mud everywhere.

“…”

He put down his gun, looked closer, and recognized the muddy, dirty creature. "Herri?"

He Li's body froze and he lowered his eyes, not daring to look at him.

Without bothering to ask him why he was in the quagmire, Ruan Shiqing strode forward and extended his hand to him: "Come up quickly."

He Li glanced up at him quietly, and seeing his anxious expression, he carefully extended his claws towards him.

The black claws were much bigger than Ruan Shiqing's hands. He didn't even dare to hold his father's hand, fearing that his claws would accidentally scratch him.

Ruan Shiqing didn't care about that. He grabbed He Li's claws with both hands and asked, "Can you get up by yourself?"

If that didn't work, he would have to use the landspeeder to pull him up.

Heli nodded, uttered a low "whoosh", and rolled and crawled up to the high ground by himself.

He was filled with deep regret. He dared not look his father in the eye. He curled up like a dragon, wishing he could burrow into the ground.

He doesn't need to smell it carefully to know how dirty and smelly he is. If he had known this, he wouldn't have hidden in the mud.

Ruan Shiqing was angry and amused when he saw him like this. He also came to his senses now. Since He Li had been here all the time, he must have heard his voice before.

But instead of responding to him, she appeared in the mud, obviously trying to avoid him.

"You've grown up." Ruan Shiqing snorted, sat down next to him, and slapped his paw in anger: "I'll settle the score with you when I get home."

The little dragon looked at him sideways and asked cautiously, "Can I go home?"

Ruan Shiqing frowned: "You still remember to go home?"

The little dragon immediately lowered his head guiltily.

He has been wanting to go home for a long time.

Seeing him like this, Ruan Shiqing softened his heart again. He softened his tone and held the little dragon's dirty paw: "No matter what you become, you are still Daddy's Heli. Daddy will never abandon you."

The little dragon sniffed, clasped his paws together, and held his father's hand.

"Can you still fly now?" Ruan Shiqing asked.

Heli shook his head, and the bat wings behind him fluttered twice in a disorderly manner. He was able to walk so far in the swamp before, all by instinct. Now that he was hungry and had his father to rely on, the little dragon didn't even want to move. If it weren't for his huge size, he would have already crawled into his father's arms.

"Then it looks like we have to wait for rescue here." Ruan Shiqing said.

He was always worried about what would happen if he left the kid alone here to seek help. So he could only send a message to Marin, telling him that he had found Heli and sent his location, asking him to send someone to the Lost Swamp to pick him up.

After receiving Marin's reply that he would be there soon, Ruan Shiqing breathed a sigh of relief.

After taking another oxygen supply device off the landcraft, Ruan Shiqing originally wanted to put it on the little dragon cub. However, the dragon cub was too big now. It was not suitable for the oxygen mask. He could only remove the mask and let him breathe directly with the oxygen hose in his mouth.

Although the toxins here currently seem to have no effect on the little dragon cub, it is still better to be on the safe side.

After doing all this, Ruan Shiqing sat down next to the little dragon with a small signal transmitter in his hand.

"Wait a little longer, Uncle Marlin will be here to take us home soon."

He Li held the hose obediently and uttered a low "hmm".

They had already entered the center of the Lost Swamp. Although they had located it, it would still take some time for Marlin to find them. Ruan Shiqing was still talking to the little dragon, but after only half an hour, his voice gradually became quieter, and he fell asleep tiredly leaning against the dragon.

It took about six days from the time the dragon cub went missing to the time he found the Lost Swamp. During this time, he barely slept, relying entirely on psychotropic drugs to stay awake.

After finding Heri, he stopped replenishing his medicine. A strong feeling of fatigue came over him, causing him to fall into a deep sleep quickly.

He Li froze and dared not move, for fear of waking him up.

The little dragon lowered his head and noticed the dark shadows under his father's eyes.

He moved his paws nervously, feeling extremely guilty.

At this time, rain began to fall from the sky again. The green mist became thicker and thicker, and even the rain was stained with green.

Remembering what his father said, that the green mist was poisonous, the little dragon nervously raised his bat wings and stood above his father, blocking the green rain.

The rain gradually got heavier, but the little dragon tried its best to use its bat wings to isolate itself from the dry little world.

Ruan Shiqing, who was leaning against him, was sleeping soundly and was not splashed by the rain at all.

Morrie was worried after thinking about it, so he took his men to guard the edge of the Lost Swamp for a whole day.

In the evening, Rong Heng, who had hurriedly driven back in the "Rongguang", also arrived. He wanted to go in and look for Ruan Shiqing immediately, but was stopped by Mo Li.

The Lost Swamp is too big. If they go in to look for someone head-on, what if they don’t find anyone and instead miss the signal sent back by Ruan Shiqing?

Ruan Shiqing's swamp flying boat is equipped with complete communication and positioning equipment, but the signal in the Lost Swamp is very weak, and they cannot conduct real-time positioning and tracking. However, as long as Ruan Shiqing continues to send signals somewhere, they can ensure that the message is received.

Therefore, their best option at the moment is to passively wait for Ruan Shiqing to send a message back.

Intellectually, Rong Heng knew that what he said made sense, but his restless mood could not calm him down.

He sat motionless in front of the monitor, his eyes fixed on the screen without moving, his body tense, like a wild beast trying desperately to suppress his emotions, as if he would explode in the next second.

Morrie had never seen him so restless.

Even when faced with an insect swarm, His Highness was always calm and composed. He never seemed to panic or get scared, and could always lead them out of desperate situations.

But now the other party's anxiety is so undisguised.

Even before the communicator responded, he was the first to rush into the Lost Swamp.

Mori then saw the message on the display and breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, nothing happened.

In the message sent back, Ruan Shiqing explained his situation and sent back his location.

Rong Heng drove Rongguang and searched according to the location sent, and Mo Li followed closely behind.

It started to rain in the swamp, greatly interfering with the vision.

They dared not fly too high, so they could only slow down and try to fly at a low altitude.

Rong Heng was the first to spot the figure on the high ground.

Let Noah take over "Glory", Rong Heng opened the cabin door, jumped down from the sky without hesitation, and landed steadily.

On the high ground, the dirty black dragon held up one of its bat wings, carefully shielding the people beside it from the rain. When it saw him coming, its eyes lit up.

"What's wrong with him?" Rong Heng approached with a serious expression.

He Li whispered: "Dad was too tired and fell asleep."

It turned out that he just fell asleep.

Rong Heng heaved a sigh of relief, and gently lifted the man up, saying to Longzai, "Wait for me here, I'll take him up first."

He Li said "oh" obediently, slowly folded his stiff and sore bat wings, squatted on the spot, and was extremely well-behaved.

Facing such a dirty dragon cub, Rong Heng sneered, but his eyes softened.

Although it's a bit stupid, at least it's not annoying.

He handed Ruan Shiqing over to Mo Li who arrived a step later: "You drive the Rongguang to take him back first, and then find a doctor to check him."

"What about you?" Mo Li asked someone to send Ruan Shiqing to the rest cabin and settle him down.

"I'll get the one down there back." Rong Heng sneered, "I can't let you tie him up with a rope and hang him out. Remember to take all your people away."

Mori understood his meaning, moved to "Glory" himself, and left with his men.

Rong Heng stayed on the high ground.

After Mori and the others had gone far away, he looked at the dragon cub who was shrinking his arms and legs, and said in a fierce tone: "I will carry you back, but in exchange, you have to keep a secret for me, understand?"

?

Although he didn't understand what secret he had to keep, He Li nodded vaguely.

Rong Heng was satisfied. He slowly unbuttoned his clothes and transformed back into his complete beastly form - the adult form of Judeo-Mil.