With his Pokémon's training gradually getting on track, Ace had fewer things to worry about. With plenty of time on his hands, Ace began to focus on a new project: the modification of fossil Pokémon!
In his third-floor attic, Ace invested all his remaining money into a small-scale Fossil Reviver machine. Looking at his meager remaining balance of just over two thousand gold coins, Ace sighed, "I'm broke again. I hope some new quests come my way."
However, the system didn't give him any quests, so Ace could only sigh in frustration.
He walked over to the small Fossil Reviver. This machine was fundamentally different from the ones he was familiar with. The core concept was different! Without a core of life energy, if Ace wanted to revive a fossil, he would have to cultivate it slowly. It would take at least a year for it to be fully revived.
But Ace was willing to wait. After all, if he was going to do research, he had to do something unique. Ace nodded, refusing to admit that he simply didn't have the money to buy a better Fossil Reviver.
Ace took a small fossil fragment from his backpack and placed it in the machine's slot. He pulled a lever, and the Fossil Reviver began to work. The fossil shattered, and its genetic material was extracted. Ace immediately operated the machine, dividing the genes into five parts. He then took one part and injected it into a cultivator to begin the process, while the other four were set aside.
He took four test tubes from the Fossil Reviver and brought them to his workbench. This fossil was one that Gengar had acquired from the Devon Corporation. However, a system scan revealed that while it was indeed a biological fossil, it didn't match any known Pokémon. This piqued Ace's interest. After all, the Pokémon world only showed a fraction of what existed. Future fossil Pokémon would become more and more common; this was just a small part of it.
Ace took a sample and dropped it into a beaker, then used a test tube to add some solution to it. Soon, a wisp of smoke appeared. Ace frowned, discarded the ruined beaker, and continued to take samples from the remaining stock to continue his experiment.
Two hours later, all the samples in one test tube were used up. Ace held his notebook and sighed with a touch of frustration, "Bug-type, extremely high cell activity, mitochondrial muscle cells. Comparing it to known insect Pokémon, it's most likely an ant-type Pokémon. But… what the heck is this cell strength?"
After finishing the experiment, Ace felt a sense of despair. An ant-type Pokémon—how weak could it be? But a data conclusion quickly slapped him in the face. A comparison of the cell strength with existing Pokémon cell strength tests showed that this Pokémon's conservative power level was at least that of a pseudo-legendary.
"What a strange fellow..."
Ace stopped thinking about it. Once the cultivation was complete, he would know what kind of Pokémon it was and what its abilities were.
For now, Ace's task was to start thinking about how to remove the Rock-type that accompanied the revival of fossil Pokémon. Ace knew that if he could accomplish this, his Aerodactyl, for one, would be greatly enhanced. He had a feeling that if Aerodactyl's Rock-type was removed, it would begin to revert to its ancestral form. The Aerodactyl of ancient times and the one revived from a fossil were two completely different concepts!
Based on Ace's current hypothesis, ancient Aerodactyl were definitely not Rock-type. It was more likely that they were Dragon-type. But Ace couldn't be sure of the specifics. For now, he needed to make sure he could remove Aerodactyl's Rock-type.
Unfortunately, Ace had too few fossil samples. He had no idea how many he would need to continue his research.
Time slipped by, and Ace was left with only one of his three samples. However, he had a few ideas on how to remove the Rock-type.
"Decomposing the Rock-type energy organ could cause the Pokémon to collapse..."
"Gene modification is extremely risky, with a survival rate of less than 1%..."
"Energy replacement is too unstable, and the compatibility cannot be guaranteed..."
"Surgical removal is not very feasible..."
"Hmm, I need a guinea pig for my experiments..."
Ace scratched his head, setting his sights on the two Aerodactyl given to him by the League. But he quickly dismissed the idea. The risks were too high, and two Aerodactyl were not nearly enough to be his test subjects.
"System, exchange some books on genetics for me. I'm going to be pulling all-nighters."
"Exchange complete... Insufficient gold coins..."
Ace glanced at his empty wallet, let out a slight sigh, and said to the system, "System, you see..."
"Side Quest (Overcome Fossil Pokémon): The Rock-type within fossil Pokémon has replaced their original type. Removing the Rock-type can more or less increase the strength of some fossil Pokémon. Overcome this problem and complete the research in three months. Quest Reward: 100,000 gold coins, plus quest points based on performance evaluation."
"Side Quest (New Pokémon): A Bug-type Pokémon from ancient times is being cultivated. Successfully cultivate it within three months. Quest Reward: 50,000 gold coins, plus quest points based on performance evaluation."
The system was very thoughtful. Seeing that Ace was completely broke, it immediately presented him with two quests to help him get back on his feet.
However...
"Three months?! Do you think I'm a senior researcher? Even an expert in this field wouldn't be able to solve this problem in three months!" Ace couldn't help but complain. But the rewards for the two quests were too enticing, and with his gold coins depleted, Ace desperately needed the money to buy more books to expand his knowledge.
"Three months it is!" Ace gritted his teeth and said with determination, "I refuse to believe I can't figure this out!"
As soon as he said that, Ace could feel the quest points he had painstakingly saved up weeping. To complete the research in three months, he would definitely need to purchase a perfect body repair from the system. Only then could Ace conduct his experiments without a care and ensure that his test subjects wouldn't easily die.
"I'm all in." Ace cheered himself on. Meanwhile, in the orchard, the two Aerodactyl, who were carrying water buckets and sprinkling water from above, both shuddered. For some reason, a chill ran down their spines, as if something incredibly terrifying was about to happen to them!