Monster Hunter: I can hear the monsters' thoughts

Chapter 366 Horned Dragon Armor, Ultimate Stats

Ziyuan's lips drooped, her eyebrows furrowed, and she said in a muffled voice:

Yes, it's all here.

Damn it, I shouldn't have used so many bombs; all those materials are ruined now...

The signboard girl had a strange expression, but she managed to suppress the urge to laugh and completed the calculation for Shion with a serious face, branding the third star on the cover of her Hunter's Notebook.

"Ahem, congratulations! From today onwards, you are a three-star hunter and can now accept three-star level missions."

As expected of a strictly trained mascot, she doesn't laugh no matter how funny it is; she actually managed to hold it in!
Shion thanked him, picked up the bag of gold coins that had been handed back along with the Hunter's Notebook, weighed it in her hand, and couldn't help but sigh again.

This little bit of money wasn't even enough to cover the ammunition she fired and the explosives she used, and yet it had to be divided among four people...

Of course, neither Ziyuan nor the other three members of the team really cared about such a small amount of money, but the fact that they were spending more than they earned inevitably made Ziyuan feel a little regretful.

She comes from a wealthy family and has no shortage of money, so it doesn't matter if she spends more than she earns. But what if she were a hunter who could only make a living by hunting and got poorer and poorer with each job she took on?

Ziyuan shook her head, and couldn't help but recall a sentence Rachel had said when she was instructing trainees who didn't know which weapon to choose at the training camp:

"Why use a heavy crossbow if you don't have money?"

At the time, she didn't quite understand, but now, looking at the money bag in her hand, she truly understands the meaning of those words.

In every battle, heavy crossbowmen don't fire crossbow bullets, but rather tiny, golden darlings. The more they fire, the less they earn. Therefore, skilled heavy crossbowmen often develop a unique skill: achieving maximum effect with minimal budget. Rachel's signature "stealth kill" tactic exemplifies this.

Of course, none of this was a problem for Ziyuan. The only lesson she learned from this hunt was that sometimes you shouldn't burn too much money, otherwise the money you burn will turn around and burn the materials you should have gotten.

……

Carrying the small bag of materials, Shion didn't go straight home, but instead strolled over to the weapon crafting shop.

After finally hunting a new monster, although most of the materials were destroyed, what's left should... maybe... perhaps enough to forge a weapon?

After consulting with the owner of the workshop with a mix of trepidation and excitement, Ziyuan breathed a long sigh of relief.

Fortunately, the requirements for Suckermouth Dragon Heavy Bowgun [Type 46 Lurking Heavy Cannon] are not actually that high. It only requires [Suckermouth Dragon Hide] and [Suckermouth Dragon Carapace], which Shion happens to have. The remaining materials are the more common Swallowstone and Dragon Bone.

So Ziyuan happily placed the order without hesitation, while listening attentively to the shopkeeper's explanation of the [Type 46 Lurking Heavy Cannon]. After all, as a hunter, one must have a thorough understanding of the weapon in hand in order to fully unleash its combat power!
"As a sea monster that lives in the desert, the materials of the Turtleback have excellent moisture retention. For this reason, this heavy bowgun is very suitable for water-cooled ammo and is very useful when hunting some monsters that are weak to water."

"In addition, it can load the three common types of crossbow bullets: normal bullets, piercing bullets, and shot. It has the highest compatibility with normal bullets, and can load six Lv3 normal bullets at once. The loading capacity of piercing bullets and shot is not high. Piercing bullets cannot be used at Lv3, and shot can only be loaded at Lv1."

Ziyuan stroked her chin. So, this Type 46 stealth heavy gun mainly uses water-cooled shells and Lv3 standard shells? Penetrating shells and shotgun shells are just an extra, adding a little more choice in battle.

After explaining the specifications of the Lurker Heavy Bowgun to Ziyuan in great detail, the workshop owner picked up his water glass, took a sip, and looked at Ziyuan thoughtfully:

"By the way, I remember you and Lin Lin, the Shield Axe user, were teammates, right?"

Shion was lost in her wonderful daydreams about the new equipment when she heard this and exclaimed "Ah!" before snapping back to reality a moment later.
"That's right, that's right."

"Then please pass on a message for me: the enhancement of his horned dragon weapon is going quite smoothly. Let him come over tomorrow to test it out and see if there's anything else that needs adjusting."

"Huh? That fast?"

……

"Well, we always need to leave some room for error when we report the estimated time. There haven't been many new orders lately, so we're naturally faster when we're busy."

In the Chamber of Commerce compound, facing Lin Lin's astonishment, Zi Yuan perfectly imitated the tone and expression of the workshop owner at that time.

Lin Lin glanced back at Tiao Tiao and Gu Jia, who were safe and sound, and breathed a slight sigh of relief.

The mediation efforts over the past few days have been quite effective. Judging from the current situation, they shouldn't start fighting even if I'm not around.

Immediately afterward, Lin Lin became somewhat impatient. With [Destinieta] still difficult to control, the Horned Dragon Armor would be the most powerful shield and axe in his hands.

"Okay, I'll go tomorrow then. I'm really looking forward to it..."

……

"Haha, don't worry, the power of this weapon will definitely satisfy you!"

In the workshop, the owner lifted the curtain covering the weapon rack, revealing the grotesquely shaped weapons. Just looking at their appearance, one could feel an oppressive aura, like that of a tyrant.

The shield clearly mimicked the head shape of a horned dragon, with sharp bone spikes all around it and a pair of curved horns on the shield surface that were almost proportionally reduced. The shape of the charged sword was even more exaggerated, and it could no longer be called a sword, because it had no blade at all. The blade was made up entirely of four curved and intersecting horns. Lin Lin reasonably suspected that if he swung this sword and slashed, the damage should be classified as striking rather than slashing.

(The Diablos Charge Blade from the Old and New Worlds not only has a very different appearance, but also a different name; they are not the same weapon at all. Since we are still in the Old World here, we are using the Diablos Charge Blade from the Old World. PS: Pictures 1 and 2 are from the Old World Diablos Charge Blade, and picture 3 is from the New World.)

Lin Lin reached out and picked up the Horned Dragon Armor, weighing it in both hands at the same time. The heavy weight made his arms feel slightly sluggish.

No wonder this horned dragon weapon is so powerful. With its weight, it probably can't even compare to a lighter hammer. A large part of its power comes from its weight.

"As you may have noticed, this shield axe is so heavy that if the user's strength is not strong enough, it is difficult to control the attack without it going astray. As a result, if the angle of the attack is slightly off, the effect of the attack will be greatly reduced. Generally speaking, we call this characteristic 'negative critical hit'."

"However, the predecessor of your Diablos Armor, the Sand Armor Shield Axe, actually also had this characteristic, but it was amplified after this upgrade, making the negative critical hit effect stronger. But since you were able to control the Sand Armor Shield Axe before, I suppose the negative effect of this Diablos Armor is something you just need to get used to, and it won't be a problem for you." Lin Lin nodded, casually swung his sword a few times in the air, and then tried the sword and shield combination transformation into axe form. The whistling sound of the weapon as it swung made the shopkeeper next to him break out in a cold sweat. If this thing accidentally slipped from his hand and hit him, he would probably have to start over on the spot.

Fortunately, after trying to wield it for a while, Lin Lin disassembled the weapon and put it back on his back. This relieved the boss, and Lin Lin nodded again, indicating his agreement with what the boss had said.

Negative critical hits are not a problem for him. Thanks to the training from wrestling with Xiong Er, his strength has greatly increased. Although the Diablos Armor is heavy, it is still within his control and he can overcome it completely.

"As for the other flaw of this horned dragon weapon..."

The shopkeeper wiped the cold sweat from his brow and pointed to the deadly weapon, "That's the chopping block..."

"This design, which uses the horn of a horn as the blade, ensures maximum damage with every hit, but it is also particularly easy for blood and flesh residue to seep into the gaps. Overall, the sharpness rating is not high, still only blue, and it needs to be sharpened frequently."

Is the chopping power low...?

Lin Lin pulled out the charged sword again and examined it for a moment. He couldn't help but click his tongue. Indeed, it would be absurd if this design could have any sharpness.

Of the two drawbacks, only sharpness counts as one for him, but compared to the impressive stats of the Diablos Armor, this minor flaw is negligible.

If we could later add a set of armor with artillery skills, or a talisman with artillery buff, to further enhance the already impressive stats, that would be even better...

Overall, Lin Lin was quite satisfied with the new weapon. After getting his hands on it, he couldn't wait to go to the training ground to practice with it.

Compared to last year, there weren't many changes in Lokrak's training ground. The only difference was that next to the mechanical bird that Rachel had created, there was now a mechanical dragon. Judging from its appearance, it was an old friend that Lin Lin was very familiar with: the Barroth.

Lin Lin stared at the mechanical dragon whose head was encased in metal to simulate the hard skull of the Sand Dragon, pondered for a moment, and then nodded knowingly.

Indeed, the primary purpose of the simulated mechanical beasts used for newcomers is for tutorials. To familiarize students with the attack patterns of large monsters as early as possible, it's best to imitate common and somewhat threatening monsters. Lokrak is located in a desert, and the most common and somewhat threatening monster is undoubtedly the Barroth. It seems the guild leader is quite knowledgeable...

Although there were other hunters on the training ground, they were scattered around, and most of them were trainees from the hunter training camp. Lin Lin saw that there was no one around the mechanical dragon, so he drew his Diablos Armor and walked over, intending to do a set of gymnastics to warm up and get used to the feel of the new weapon.

"Hunter, are you planning to use the mechanical dragon cat?"

Ailu, who was in charge of the facility, noticed Lin Lin's approach.

"Yes, please start it up for me. I'll select headbutt as the attack mode."

"Okay, meow, please wait a moment, meow!"

"Crack crack crack!" "Whoosh, whoosh, bang! Boom boom boom!"

As the mechanical dragon was activated, Lin Lin swung his shield and axe to clash fiercely with it. The sound of metal clashing against metal filled the air, and a deafening roar echoed throughout the arena.

"Please, please wait a minute, meow! Let me catch my breath, meow, I'm about to be knocked unconscious, meow!"

After a smooth GP transformation, Lin Lin unleashed a powerful attack, preparing to try a super attack, when the Elysium, controlling the mechanical dragon, couldn't hold on any longer.

Because the control mechanism is located on the back of the mechanical dragon, Ailu is sitting on the dragon's back when controlling it. However, this means that the vibrations from the collision between the weapon and the mechanical dragon are also transmitted to her. Lin Lin was only slightly sweating, but the poor Ailu was already sore all over and her head was spinning from the vibrations.

In order to continue using the training facilities, Lin Lin had to stop and give the poor Ailu a little time to catch her breath.

As his attention shifted from the mechanical dragon in front of him, he realized that, without him noticing, the students who had been practicing on their own had gathered around him to watch, whispering among themselves.

"What kind of weapon is that? Why does it look so ferocious? Even the Sand Dragon King doesn't seem that scary..."

"Sword and shield combined, it's clearly a shield and axe combination, can't you see that?"

"No, I meant the materials used to make this shield axe..."

"Oh, this... It should be a horned dragon, right? I heard my dad say that the material for horned dragons is this brownish-yellow?"

"Hiss... Desert Tyrant? That level of equipment is already a family heirloom!"

"Definitely! My dad's biggest regret is that he didn't have the courage to challenge the Diablos before he retired. If he had succeeded, our family would have had this set as a family heirloom... *slurp*..."

"Damn it, wipe your drool. Your dad didn't take on the challenge, but if you had tried harder, you would have achieved the same result, wouldn't you?"

"How can that be the same? Hunters who can challenge monsters of that level are the elite of the elite. Talent, hard work, and good fortune are all indispensable. Do you think they're like cacti that you can just have whenever you want?"

Listening to the conversation between the two novice hunters, Lin Lin scratched his head.

Is he already among the elite? Oh right, I'm already five stars... The captain of the city's guerrilla team is only five stars, and when I first met Master Kevin, he was using a Diablos Charge Blade...

Wow, time flies! Before I knew it, I had grown from that unlucky guy who had to rely on Xiong Er's protection to survive to someone who was almost as good as my master Kevin back then.

"I'm all rested, meow! Hunter, are you going to continue practicing, meow?"

Ailu's voice snapped Lin Lin back to reality. He gripped his weapon tightly and chuckled softly.
"Come on! Let's continue!"

Sweating profusely on the training ground, Lin Lin returned to his residence to cultivate the brotherly bond between Tiao Tiao and Gu Jia as usual. On days when he didn't need to go out hunting, Lin Lin's life passed by in such a regular and peaceful manner, until Ye Zi and Zi Yuan's new weapons were completed one after another, and an airship bearing the emblem of the Zi Jin Merchant Guild also docked at the airport in Lokrak.

(End of this chapter)