Monster Hunter: I can hear the monsters' thoughts

Chapter 344 Farewell and a New Journey

As night fell, colorful fireworks lit up the night sky, and the heroes' celebration finally came to an end in a jubilant atmosphere.

Even Shion, who had been bombarded with displays of affection, couldn't help but reveal a look of wistful longing as she gazed up at the fireworks rising and falling in the night sky.

The next day.

As the sun rises as usual, the red village remains quiet, unlike its usual bustling atmosphere.

That's normal, though. After all, people stayed up late last night and need to make up for the lost sleep.

However, this tranquility was only overall; in fact, the village entrance was particularly lively compared to the peaceful interior of the village.

Those were tourists from all over the world. After participating in last night's hero celebration, some of them had tight schedules and needed to get up early in the morning to catch the convoy.

Amidst the bustling crowd, a truck pulled by Bobo appears inconspicuous. However, any pedestrian who passes by the truck will feel a sense of awe and security upon seeing the cargo on board.

'This is practically a mobile arsenal!'

Listening to the exclamations of passersby outside the car window, and looking at the pile of weapons and armor in front of him, Lin Lin touched his nose.

Is this much equipment really that abundant? Wouldn't my in-game equipment box be considered luxurious then?
A set of Barroth armor, a set of Transformed Ice Shark armor, and the Thunder Wolf armor I'm currently wearing... As for the Bloodstained Dog Dragon armor, which I kept purely as a memento, it's in my room on the farm.

A sand-armored shield axe, a transforming ice shark shield axe, a Viking shield, and a chainsaw that exudes a cruel and tyrannical aura simply by sitting there quietly—[Destinietta].

That's right, this dragon-attribute shield axe, crafted from Deviljho materials and enhanced with Elder Dragon blood, was finally completed and delivered to Lin Lin before his departure.

As Lin Lin gently reached out and grasped the handle of the shield axe, the savage aura seemed to find an outlet, pouring down on him. It made Lin Lin feel as if he was holding not a shield axe, but a Deviljho with its mouth wide open, ready to devour him.

As if he were truly being targeted by a Deviljho again, Lin Lin's heart pounded, his blood flow accelerated, and his adrenaline began to surge, putting him almost into battle mode.

"So what if you're dead? What's with the show of bravado? Even if you were alive, you couldn't do anything to me!"

Lin Lin let out a low shout, gripping the wild and untamed shield axe tightly, holding it in a standard sword-wielding posture.

With Lin Lin's low shout, the pressure he was under seemed to ease, and the violent aura was no longer directed at him, but slowly merged with his entire being.

Lin Lin subconsciously rubbed his stomach, a feeling of insatiable hunger welling up inside him, followed by a frenzied killing intent and destructive urge.

Blood! I want to slaughter until rivers of blood flow!
No, no!

Lin Lin shook his head abruptly, his eyes regaining their clarity, but after only a moment, the hunger and rage surged back into his heart.

Something's not right! The lingering mental influence from that Deviljho Charge Blade is way too strong!

Lin Lin suppressed his rising fighting spirit, put the shield and axe back in its original position, and as he released his grip, the hunger and frenzy vanished without a trace.

Lin Lin took a few deep breaths, took two steps back, and put some distance between himself and the strange shield and axe. Only then did he realize that he had just broken out in a cold sweat.

Good heavens, is this what the old man at the workshop meant by "the mental influence is slightly stronger than that of the Thunder Wolf Dragon, but it's not a big problem"?
"That's really an exaggeration..."

Lin Lin put the best-looking Shark Guardian back on his back, looked at Destenetta, and muttered to himself.

Judging from the way he just held the shield axe, it seems that until he finds a way to resist this effect, this most powerful shield axe in his possession will probably have to gather dust for the time being.

I'll ask my master when I have some free time to see if there's any solution...

"Brother Lin Lin?"

The car door suddenly opened, and Ye Zi peeked in, about to say something, when she suddenly sensed that Lin Lin's expression was a little off:

"Are you OK?"

Lin Lin rubbed his face vigorously and smiled at Ye Zi, "It's alright, is the convoy ready to depart?"

Ye Zi glanced at Lin Lin suspiciously before nodding and getting down to business:
"Yes, we'll be leaving in three minutes."

The journey from Yukumo to Dongdoruma spans almost half a continent. If one were to travel solely by land, it would likely take at least several months. If one were to be harassed by monsters along the way, this time could be extended to half a year or even longer.

Therefore, at Kevin's suggestion, the group finally decided to travel overland from Yukum to Lokrak, and then transfer to an airship there, which would reduce the travel time to about a month.

The current destination of this convoy is, of course, Lokrak.

As for why not just take an airship from Yuukumu to East Doruma? Well... besides birds, the skies of this world are also home to all sorts of flying monsters. Accidents like the two scholars from the Dragon Academy crashing are not uncommon, so opening up air routes is a long and arduous task...

So far, only the guild headquarters in East Doruma, the dusty city of Lokrak, and the Dragon Academy in the distant village of Belna have relatively mature and well-developed airship ports.

"Brother Lin Lin, the harvest festival you mentioned before was held in Lokrak, right? If we go this time, will we have a chance to participate?"

Lin Lin smiled and shook his head slightly, "The Harvest Festival will only be held when the monsoon begins and the Peak Dragon appears. It's only the beginning of summer now..."

Seeing Ye Zi's expression shift from expectation to disappointment, Lin Lin couldn't help but add two more sentences:

"Hmm... but I won't be able to see the Harvest Festival. If I want to see Mineyama Ryu, I should still have a chance."

"Huh? Why? Wasn't it said that the Mine Mountain Dragon only appears when the monsoon season begins?"

Lin Lin smiled mysteriously, "Who can say for sure about things in nature?"

As the two were chatting, the truck slowly started moving. Upon seeing this, the two exchanged a glance and jumped out of the truck one after the other.

Compared to the cramped and confined carriage, they preferred to follow the train from the outside, where the view was expansive and they didn't feel stuffy at all.

However, compared to the others in the convoy who were walking, Lin Lin and Ye Zi were quite different.

Lin Lin flipped over and mounted Tiao Tiao's back, while Ye Zi sat on the back of the fanged hound Xiao Bai.

Lin Lin turned to the side, looked down, and couldn't help but smile slightly. Although the Fang Hound was quite tall, reaching three meters in length, it was far too small compared to Jump, which was now over ten meters long. As a result, Lin Lin had to look down when looking at Ye Zi.

"Beautiful lady, if you don't mind, how about riding with me?"

Lin Lin stretched out his palm towards the ground below.

Ye Zi's cheeks flushed slightly. She coughed lightly and, feigning composure, extended her hand, allowing Lin Lin to take it.

"In that case, we'll be in trouble." So Lin Lin exerted a little force with his arm and pulled Ye Zi up, then turned and sat behind him.

Ye Zi sat behind Lin Lin, naturally reaching out to wrap her arms around Lin Lin's waist, and pressing her face against Lin Lin's back.

I was originally thinking of jumping onto the date on Jump Jump's back: ...

It didn't say anything, just glanced in the direction of the violet not far away, and then silently climbed onto Little White's back.

Since last night's hero celebration, it seems like these two have stopped acting altogether...

"By the way, Brother Lin Lin, you'll be away for quite a while this time. Did you say goodbye properly?"

Yoko seemed to remember something and suddenly asked.

Lin Lin glanced back at the gradually shrinking village entrance, where he could still vaguely see several figures waving in the direction the convoy had left. Among them, there might be people they knew.

"We've already said pretty much everything we needed to say last night, so there's no need to go over it again before we leave, is there? It's all so overly sentimental..."

As Lin Lin spoke, he seemed to remember something and suddenly reached out and took out the sky-blue bond stone, holding it in his palm.

Believe it or not, he actually forgot to say goodbye to one person.

Lin Lin glanced at the caravan slowly moving forward with Bobo's movements, then gently patted Tiaotiao beneath him. Tiaotiao immediately understood, and with a few quick tumbles of its long legs, it broke free from the caravan and turned into the woods on the side.

Jump was already very familiar with the destination, and in less than two minutes, it carried Lin Lin and Ye Zi to the familiar cave.

Jump Jump made no attempt to conceal its approach, so as soon as they got close, a bear's head popped out of the cave. After seeing who it was, it roared excitedly and made a move to pounce.

Lin Lin quickly waved his hand, "Wait, wait a minute!"

Xiong Er paused, tilted his head, and blinked in confusion.

What's wrong? Didn't you used to come here for a wrestling match every few days? The winner would get honey-baked fish. Aren't you going to play today?
Lin Lin flipped off Tiao Tiao's back and took three steps at a time to reach Xiong Er.

This guy is quite tall now. You have to look up to see his head. I'd guess he's at least seven or eight meters tall. And he's not the slender type like Jump Jump, but a solid big fat guy. In terms of weight, he's probably twice as big as Jump Jump.

Knowing that Lin Lin was tired from looking up, Xiong Er sat down with a thud, its front paws supporting its weight, its dark, shiny eyes staring blankly at Lin Lin.

Lin Lin couldn't help but reach out and gently tap Xiong Er's dark, moist nose. "You, even though you've become a tyrant, why do you still look so dull..."

In the past, if Lin Lin had made such a casual remark, Xiong Er wouldn't have reacted much, since it couldn't understand him.

But things are different now. Lin Lin has the Bond Stone, and as Lin Lin's first friend and partner after coming to this world, the bond he formed with Xiong Er is undoubtedly quite deep. Therefore, Xiong Er easily understood what Lin Lin meant.

Xiong Er let out a fierce roar to prove that it wasn't stupid, but considering that Lin Lin was right in front of it, it deliberately lowered its voice to avoid shocking him, making the roar sound particularly "gentle" and completely lacking in intimidation.

After roaring, Xiong Er laughed at himself, panting heavily. Lin Lin was so amused that he kept patting Xiong Er's front paws.

After laughing, Lin Lin suddenly leaned closer again and gave Xiong Er a big hug. Xiong Er was a little confused, but he still subconsciously returned the hug.

"Hiss... Gently, gently..."

After Xiong Er released his arms, Lin Lin grimaced and stretched his body. This overlord was still the overlord. Even though he had the strength to wrestle with Xiong Er, being hugged like that still hurt quite a bit.

Under Xiong Er's slightly worried gaze, Lin Lin gradually stopped moving his body and then fell silent.

After a long while, Lin Lin finally raised his head again and met Xiong Er's gaze:

"I'm leaving."

"Roar?"

"It's a very far place, and it may take a long time before I can come back."

"Roar?"

"I can't not go. After all, it's my choice. I want to see more scenery and climb to the highest peak of the hunter."

"Roar?"

"Yes, I will come back, I promise I will."

"Roar?"

"When? Hmm... that's really hard to say. Maybe in a few months, maybe in a few years?"

"Roar……"

"Thanks, you too. Although there are probably no monsters in the stream that can threaten you now, if you do encounter one, you should still run."

"Roar……"

"The village... I'm happy that you're willing to protect it, but the village can't rely on you alone! We still have to run away when necessary."

Ye Zi sat on Tiao Tiao's back, quietly watching the scene before her. The two, a human and a bear, were getting along harmoniously and even conversing fluently. If this scene were told to others, people would probably think it was the delusion of a madman.

But Lin Lin did it. Perhaps it's something only he could do.
Even monsters can be treated with kindness...

Ye Zi looked down at her palm, lost in thought, until Lin Lin's voice sounded beside her, bringing her back to her senses.

"Brother Lin Lin? Have you finished talking?"

"Well... although it is indeed very reluctant, it is really time to go. If we delay any longer, I'm afraid we won't be able to catch up with the main group."

Lin Lin flipped over and mounted Tiao Tiao's back, glanced back at Xiong Er, and waved to it.

Then Tiaotiao let out a low growl at Xiong Er, took off with both legs, and quickly disappeared into the bushes.

Yoko subconsciously glanced back at the giant bear that was still sitting there quietly. It should have been a powerful and fierce creature, but Yoko could see a sense of loneliness and desolation in its motionless figure.

In that instant, Ye Zi couldn't help but think that Lin Lin might also hold a rather special meaning for this blue bear beast.

(End of this chapter)