Monster Hunter: I can hear the monsters' thoughts

Chapter 362 Who is more miserable, me or the otherworldly simp?

Lin Lin, who was swinging the pickaxe, paused slightly.

What is that? Do I have to run up to its head to see it?

What's even stranger is that there's something in this vast desert that could pique Mrs. Fengshanlong's interest?

Lin Lin dropped his pickaxe and jogged to the top of Madam Fengshan Long's head, looking down as she pointed.

Upon seeing this, he finally understood why the other person had become interested and even asked him to come and see it together.

Compared to the shield beetles that desperately burrowed into the soil to hide themselves, the axe beetle that stood there quietly was so unique that it was hard not to notice it.

It's important to know that ancient dragons are known as moving natural disasters. Wherever they go, living beings do everything they can to stay away. Even if there are any fearless creatures, it's because they are also ancient dragons or have combat power no less than that of an ancient dragon. But this axe-beetle below is covered in such severe injuries, and it doesn't look like it has any stones on it at all.

At that moment, Lin Lin couldn't help but share the same question as Mrs. Fengshan Long: Was it completely unafraid of death?

"Could it be that the injury is too severe and he can't move?"

Mrs. Fengshan Long recalled the scene when she used her fangs to build a bridge for Lin Lin and the others, and was very certain that the little one had not lost his ability to move.

So you're really that brave enough to risk your life?

Mrs. Fengshan was getting restless. She wanted to see if this guy was truly fearless or simply arrogant and didn't take her seriously at all.

However, before it could unleash its Great Heavenly Dragon attack, Lin Lin quickly stopped it:

"Wait a minute, we're still on your back!"

"It's easy to find out what it's thinking; just let me take a look!"
Standing atop the mountain dragon's head, a little distance from the axe-beetle below, Lin Lin heard the voices in his mind in a fragmented manner. However, after carefully sensing for a moment, Lin Lin managed to piece together the whole story from those scattered fragments.

-

You were reincarnated as an axe beetle. Your luck isn't exactly good, but it's not bad either; it's just average.

Why do you say that?
The reason it's considered good is that compared to small monsters like the Velocidrome and Shield Bugs, you, with your body length of over six meters, barely qualify as a large monster. These small animals generally don't dare to provoke you. In fact, the females of your species occupy a high ecological niche, no less than apex monsters like Diablos. If you're lucky enough to find a good wife, you'll likely live a peaceful life.

The problem lies in the females of the same species. For the axe beetle, there is simply no possibility of finding a good mate. If the original heavy beetle is an extremely sadistic queen to the piercing beetle, then the cannon beetle is a complete slave owner to the axe beetle, and the kind with mind control abilities. Whipping a spinning top with a small leather whip is considered gentle.

When battle is needed, the cannon beetle will lure the axe beetle to its side by emitting pheromones. Then, its terrifying long tail, known as the "Crescent Tail," will plunge directly into the ground, clamping the axe beetle and pressing it onto its back. Under the control of pheromones, the axe beetle will ignore the wounds inflicted by the clamp and wholeheartedly assist the cannon beetle in the battle.

But that's not all. The cannon beetle has a signature move called "Beetle Cannon." When using this move, the cannon beetle compresses its body fluids and then fires them out. If the battle is close, or if the cannon beetle is particularly impatient, it will simply use the axe beetle as a cannonball. Whether the enemy dies or not is unknown, but the axe beetle used as a cannonball is most likely to die—a blatant expendable resource.

Unfortunately, as a newly born axe beetle, you were targeted by a particularly cruel slave owner and lost your freedom.

This slave owner is constantly fighting other monsters. Today he's battling a Tigrex, tomorrow a Tiger-like Dragon, and the day after a Horned Dragon. He's a true battle maniac.

Frequent battles mean frequent depletion of the axe beetles. You watch helplessly as your brothers are torn apart, their limbs severed and fragmented. The axe beetles larger than you become fewer and fewer, and your heart grows increasingly fearful. Despite your strong resistance, under the control of pheromones, you are unable to escape the volatile slave owner.
Finally, when the slave owner was fighting with a Windfang Dragon again, you were chosen to become a soldier who would fight for the Queen. The terrifying pincers of the Moon Tail almost cut you in half, but you seemed oblivious.

Unlike its previous opponents, the Wind Fang Dragon was extremely agile, dodging all of the Cannon Beetle's attacks. Instead, the Wind Fang Dragon's counterattacks added several wounds to the Cannon Beetle's body, making the Cannon Beetle extremely irritable.

Unfortunately, this time you became a expendable commodity for the slave owner, and were fired as a cannonball for the "Beetle Cannon".

But you were also lucky. The cannon beetle missed its target, and because the Wind Fang Dragon was in mid-air when it was aiming, you didn't crash into the ground or be torn to pieces like your predecessors. Instead, you were propelled far away by inertia until the cannon beetle's pheromones could no longer control your movements.

You are free.

But you are also seriously injured and very weak, and I'm afraid you won't be able to enjoy the air of freedom for much longer.

Under such circumstances, you struggle to survive and luckily find a small oasis. Although the water source here is at best a mud pit, in the arid and water-scarce desert, it is the source of life.

However, before you could even rejoice for long, the earth suddenly trembled, and then a colossal beast far beyond your comprehension emerged from the sea of ​​sand behind you. Its magnificent form could crush you as easily as an ant could be crushed with a single movement.

But just when you're terrified and racking your brains trying to escape, you suddenly discover that this behemoth, despite its terrifyingly large size, is incredibly gentle, the complete opposite of its slave owner. It even tolerates creatures smaller than you climbing onto its body, which is... just like a god!
-

Lin Lin smacked his lips, his expression somewhat puzzling.

To be honest, from a human perspective, this axe beetle is really pathetic. Even if you were a guy in the original world who unfortunately met a gold digger and got swindled out of all his clothes, you wouldn't be nearly as miserable as this axe beetle.

He couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for such a tragic experience.

Mrs. Fengshan Dragon lowered her head a little further, getting even closer to the axe beetle. She was very curious about what Lin Lin had sensed from this little guy.

"Emmm... This guy is a bit pitiful. The reason it didn't run away is because it thinks you, Long Mei, are kind-hearted and worships you like a god."

Lin Lin briefly told Mrs. Fengshanlong the story of the axe beetle. Mrs. Fengshanlong was amazed by the wonders of the world and realized that such a species existed. She was surprised to learn that even in the desert she thought she knew so well, there were many things she was unaware of.

Madam Fengshanlong suddenly became interested. The terrain outside the Sand Sea was inconvenient for its movement, so it could only imagine the world outside the Sand Sea based on Lin Lin's description. But could it observe and see things it had never noticed before in the Sand Sea?
“Suspended.” Lin Lin thought to himself as he climbed down from Madam Fengshan Long’s head.

"Your body is so enormous that all other monsters tremble in fear and flee at the mere sight of you. There are very few creatures like this axe-beetle. What can you observe?"

Mrs. Fengshan Long thought about it again and realized that it made sense; the things Lin Lin described were simply beyond its ability to see.

For the first time in its history, Mineyama Ryu-chan felt that being too large might not be a good thing, causing it to miss out on countless wonderful things.

You're complaining now? Your size is your invincible asset, something countless monsters envy. How lonely it must be to be invincible, right?

Lin Lin muttered a complaint to himself, then jumped back onto the sand boat along the fangs of the Fengshan Dragon.

Mrs. Fengshan Dragon didn't linger for long before her attention was drawn to Lin Lin's actions. She tilted her head in confusion to see Lin Lin's movements more clearly, but even so, she still couldn't figure out what Lin Lin was doing.

Lin Lin smiled, and while putting Recovery Potion G, Life Dust, and Nutrient Solution G into his item bag, he mentally responded:

"This guy looks so pitiful, let's see if we can lend him a hand."

Mrs. Fengshan Long was still somewhat confused. It wasn't that she didn't understand Lin Lin's meaning, but she simply didn't understand his motives.

This species of monster is very peculiar, and may indeed be described as pitiful and miserable, but what does that have to do with you? Why should you lend it a hand?
Lin Lin patted his bulging prop bag, pulled out the sand boat, and slowly walked towards the axe beetle.

"Perhaps this is the difference in our ways of thinking. Maybe in your eyes, the law of the jungle and natural selection are natural laws and nothing more than normal."

"But in my opinion, I am a kind-hearted person. If I feel sorry for it, I will want to help it so that it is not so pitiful. It has nothing to do with its thoughts, it is just for my own good mood."

Mrs. Fengshan Long seemed to understand but not quite, only watching his actions thoughtfully.

Lin Lin didn't explain anything to it anymore, and instead focused his attention on the axe beetle in front of him. At this moment, the axe beetle also noticed Lin Lin's approach and became somewhat wary, subconsciously adopting a defensive posture.

In the wild, it's perfectly normal to be wary of any unfamiliar life that approaches you, because 99% of those creatures are approaching with the intention of eating you.

How can I tell it that I have no ill intentions?

Lin Lin first reached out and pinched the Bond Stone, trying to convey his thoughts, but there was obviously no bond between him and the axe beetle, and the communication failed.

Then he grabbed a handful of life-giving dust and sprinkled it onto the axe beetle with the gentlest possible motion.

The axe beetle was startled and quickly dodged backward, reacting swiftly to avoid getting the dust on its body. Having lived in the shadow of the cannon beetle for a long time, it had long since developed PTSD from these smoke and dust, because the cannon beetle would release a thick, smoke-like pheromone whenever it needed cannon fodder.

Lin Lin's face stiffened for a moment. Was this guy really so stubborn? Although he could understand through telepathy, he was still speechless.

However, even though the axe beetle was using the life dust as a means of attack, it simply stayed away from the dust-covered area, neither attacking Lin Lin nor making any deterrent moves, but remaining vigilant.

Lin Lin glanced back at Madam Fengshan Dragon, who stood as immovable as a mountain, then looked back at the Axe Beetle with a hint of understanding in his eyes. Goodness, this guy is clearly nervous, yet he can still restrain his urge to attack. I'm only doing this because of Madam Fengshan Dragon.

Lin Lin was quite pleased that he hadn't gotten into a fight because of his slightly reckless actions, but then he was immediately faced with a dilemma: how could he demonstrate that he meant no harm?
"Gulu..."

A low hum suddenly came from inside the axe beetle, followed by a faint twitching in its abdomen. With this movement, dark green fluid began to seep from the wound in its abdomen once again.

Are you hungry?
Oh, right. Wild monsters only have two ways to deal with injuries: eat and sleep. Without enough nutrition, wounds will naturally be difficult to heal.

Lin Lin finally came up with a solution. He moved his feet and returned to the sand boat. After searching for a while, he actually found what he was looking for.

"Snapped"

The axe beetle, already weak and listless, was startled by the sudden sound and instinctively became alert again, looking in the direction from which the sound came.

It saw a piece of... meat?

Raising his gaze slightly, he could see that strange human was staring at him, even extending its forelimbs in a show of defiance? No, was it gesturing towards that piece of meat?

The axe beetle hesitated for a moment, then cautiously stepped forward, used its sharp forelegs to pick up the piece of meat that looked somewhat dark in color, and brought it close to its mouth to sniff it gently.

That's right, it's raw meat. Although it's not very fresh and has a strange smell, for a semi-scavenging beetle like the axe beetle, stale meat is what it eats most often.

Driven by hunger in its stomach and the constant stinging pain from its wound, it brought the piece of raw meat to its mouth and devoured it in a few bites. After doing so, it looked up at Lin Lin again.

That human was so kind as to share food with me; how gentle, just like the giant beast next to me…

Thinking this, the axe beetle felt a surge of exhaustion deep within its body, its head grew heavier and heavier, and finally, its body swayed twice before collapsing to the ground.

Before its vision faded into darkness, the axe beetle vaguely saw the human approach it, taking out various bottles and jars...

(End of this chapter)