Monster Hunter: I can hear the monsters' thoughts

Chapter 378 Wilderness Demo

Shortly after.

Nia rubbed her slightly swollen belly and let out a satisfied sigh.

Since that attack and being forced to separate from its people, it has wandered and suffered countless hardships. Today, it has finally had a full meal. The bitterness it has endured is beyond words.

only……

Nia secretly glanced at the tall hunter sitting quietly beside her, seemingly busy with something. Sensing her gaze, the hunter slightly raised his head and looked over.

When she met the other person's gaze, Nia Lu trembled slightly, then forced herself to look away again, her mind racing.

It's strange. I clearly heard the clan chief say before that we must never steal from humans. If we are caught, we will be skinned and dismembered, then marinated with sauce, and finally roasted over a fire.

Until recently, when the other party handed her a bowl of meat porridge, Nia felt like she was about to be turned into cat meat skewers.

Strangely, the other party seemed to make no move at all, instead focusing more on a leather scroll in front of them, occasionally sketching something on it, as if they weren't particularly paying attention to him.

If you were going to roast it and eat it, would you have this attitude, meow? Aren't you afraid that once you're full, you'll have the energy to run away, meow?
And there's this tall, strong Palico next to him. It looks like it's a companion to the hunter. If the hunter really eats the Palico, would their relationship be so harmonious?

"What are you thinking about, meow?"

Date put down the bowl, moved her limbs slightly, and noticed that the little black cat seemed to be in a daze, so she couldn't help but ask curiously.

Nia Lu dared not admit that she was wondering if they would eat her.

It hurriedly looked around, trying to come up with a suitable excuse, and soon its gaze fell on Lin Lin.

"I'm wondering what the hunter is doing, meow..."

"Hmm? Boss Meow?"

The date palm peeked out and quickly nodded:

"Boss is marking the map, meow. Based on the various traces found yesterday and the terrain explored, he's filtering out locations where the fire dragon is more likely to appear, meow."

"What is a fire dragon?"

Nia blinked. As a Meralu living in a wild tribe, her vocabulary wasn't very extensive, and she could only look confused when she heard unfamiliar words.

"It's a red flying dragon cat, a huge monster cat that breathes fireballs from the sky!"

Nia didn't understand the noun, but when the date described it, she immediately realized that they called that big red thing a Fire Dragon Cat!

"I see, meow. Finding places where it's more likely to appear allows us to avoid dangerous areas, right, meow?"

"It's not a cat."

Date palm put her hands on her hips, looking somewhat smug.
"Don't underestimate us, meow! We're here to hunt it, meow!"

Just as the date palm had predicted, Niaru showed a shocked expression. For this Melalu, this was probably even more shocking than when she thought she was about to be eaten by the hunter.

Because this was beyond its comprehension; how could such a gigantic, terrifying monster be defeated?
"So, hunters are all this strong, meow..."

Based on the chieftain's descriptions, it had previously thought that hunters were stronger than the Meralu, but not by much, and at best could only put up a fight with those jumping bandits.

If I survive this, when I return to my tribe, I must remember this lesson and warn the other members of my tribe never to provoke these powerful creatures.

"Wrong, meow!"

Date seemed quite excited, "Not all hunters are this strong, meow! A powerful hunter like my boss, who has the strength to challenge a wyvern, is one in a hundred, meow!"

This tall Palico looks like it's proud?
Nia swallowed hard and cautiously began to speak:
"You and the Hunter are quite close, meow?"

Date puffed out its chest forcefully, "Of course, meow! We're partners who've been through thick and thin together!"

Nial felt a slight sense of relief. Ailu and Melalu were basically the same. Since Ailu could become such close comrades with the hunters, she shouldn't have to worry about the terrifying future of becoming cat meat skewers.

It seems that although the hunters are powerful, they are not as brutal as the chieftain said...

Not only did they forgive its theft, but they also rescued it from the perilous wilderness and gave it a full meal after it had been starving.

Upon realizing that the other party had not devoured her intentions, Nia breathed a sigh of relief and felt a deep sense of security.

These are powerful hunters who can challenge fire dragons. If you have them protecting you, you can not only roam freely in the wild, but you also basically don't have to worry about safety issues anymore!
You must cling to the powerful figures!

Nia adjusted the subtle expressions on her face, suppressing her previous shock and relief at surviving the ordeal, and revealed an expression of admiration.

"Hunter-sama, and this senior is so amazing, meow!"

"Ahem, it's alright, there's still a lot of room for improvement, meow..."

The dates were getting a little carried away by the praise:

"Also, don't call me senior, my name is Date, and the boss's name is Lin Lin."

"Okay, senior date palm, could you tell me about your hunting exploits with Lord Lin Lin?"

"No problem, meow, but we've hunted together so many times, meow, where should I begin, meow..."

Just as the two cats, one black and one white, were chatting happily, Lin Lin put down his pen, stood up, and stretched.

In the short time he had just finished organizing the information he had collected, he had also made a plan for his next steps.

"Let's go, Date, take this little black cat home, and then call the rescue team to come along. Then we can officially begin our operation."

Date smacked its lips, seemingly still wanting more. It has to be said that showing off is indeed addictive, especially in front of a little female cat. Seeing her look at it with amazement and admiration gives one a strange sense of satisfaction.

It shook its head vigorously, trying to clear those emotions from its mind. It needed to get down to business; it couldn't let random feelings distract it...

Taking two deep breaths to suppress the smile on her lips, Date turned to look at Niaru:

"Where is your home, meow? We'll take you back, meow!"

Then, it saw the little black cat that had just been looking at it with adoration now looking completely dejected.

"There's no going back, meow..."

"Why can't it go back, meow?" Date was a little puzzled, but thinking about how the little black cat had been driven to desperation last night and was forced to steal food from the hunter's camp, a guess suddenly popped into her mind.

Could it be because the tribe was attacked by monsters and all the other Meralu died?

Hiss... Nature has always been cruel, and perhaps such a possibility cannot be ruled out.

While this possibility exists, other possibilities cannot be ruled out, right? Otherwise, wouldn't that be too tragic?

Then Niallu's subsequent narration shattered Date's lingering hope:
"Actually, my kind lives in a cave in the desert, but one day we were attacked by a terrible monster, and I only managed to escape by sheer luck..."

"I've been wandering and suffering all this time, I have no idea how much time has passed or how far I've run, that's why I fainted last night, meow..."

"This……"

Dates remained silent for a moment, then tried to comfort her:
"On the bright side, maybe the monster's attack didn't last long, and many of our people survived?"

Nia Lu managed a forced smile despite her dejected expression, as a way of thanking her senior for his comfort.

"What monster attacked you? Do you remember?"

Lin Lin, who had been silent all along, suddenly asked a question.

Upon hearing this, Nia Lu pondered for a moment, nodded, and then quickly shook her head.

"What do you mean?"

"I remember, but I don't recognize the cat... and because I was so flustered at the time, my memory is all jumbled up..."

Can't you even describe the features?

Lin Lin nodded slightly and fell into deep thought.

In that case, I'm afraid I'll be completely clueless...

"But if I see it again, I'll definitely recognize it, meow!"

Yezao turned to look at Lin Lin. Although they didn't speak, they were so familiar with each other that Lin Lin could guess Yezao's meaning with just a glance.

It was asking if it could help this poor little black cat. The creature was so thin and weak, and judging from the development of its paws and teeth, it seemed to be a sub-adult. If it was allowed to continue wandering in the forest, it would probably die without a burial place soon.

Of course, the specific reasons were all made up by Lin Lin himself, but there was no doubt that Yezao wanted to help the other party.

"In that case, you can stay with us for now. After this hunt, we'll escort you home. If you encounter the monster that attacked you, at least we can deal with it."

Upon hearing this, Nia felt a great sense of relief, but was also deeply moved.

Its hard work paid off; it managed to save its leg... Of course, its sadness and disappointment were real, but in the life-or-death struggle of wandering, there was no time for it to grieve. After drifting for an unknown amount of time, its emotions were naturally not as intense as they were at the beginning. Its performance was at most a little more exaggerated.

But this Lord Lin Lin and Senior Yezao are really kind people. Even though they were complete strangers and I even stole from them first, they were still willing to help me like this...

"Oh, right, there's something I need to remind you of."

Lin Lin stroked his chin and added:
“During the hunt, Date Palm and I will basically be unable to spare the energy to protect you, so you’d better stay in camp…”

"Hmm, that doesn't seem right either. I don't know how long this hunt will take. If it takes a little longer, staying at the camp will only mean starving, and going out to forage alone is even more dangerous..."

Lin Lin pondered for a moment before continuing, somewhat hesitantly:

"You still need to stay with us, but once the battle starts, you'll have to find a good place to hide. Be smart and don't get caught in the aftermath of the battle."

"Boss Meow!"

Suddenly, Ye Zi raised his hand.

"Hmm? Is there anything to add?"

Yezao then pointed with her hand, and Lin Lin was slightly taken aback. Then he looked down and, following Yezao's guidance, took out a bamboo whistle from his body.

Blinking, Lin Lin clapped his hands forcefully:

"Yup!"

How could we forget about the local native Palico tribe! Although they are doing this part-time, as local natives, their adaptability and survival skills are off the charts. If they can come to work as Palico cart pullers, their emergency response capabilities must be quite strong. As long as Nialu goes with them, they basically don't need to worry about them!

Lin Lin nodded, gave the date a thumbs up, then picked up the bamboo whistle, put it to his lips and blew it loudly. When he was washing the ingredients by the river earlier, Lin Lin had also washed the bamboo whistle inside and out, so he felt no pressure to blow it now.

The original plan was to call the rescue and transport teams before the actual battle, but since there are new plans now, there's no need to wait until then.

The sound of the bamboo whistle is very pleasant. When it is blown, the melodious sound travels far. After being blocked by obstacles such as rock walls, it forms an echo, which makes it sound even more ethereal.

After blowing the whistle three times in a row, Lin Lin figured that if any Ailu were nearby, they would definitely hear it by now. He then put the bamboo whistle away and went to the storage box to begin his pre-battle preparations.

The fire dragon's poison is troublesome; we must be careful to avoid it. We also need to bring all the antidotes, including antidotes, traditional Chinese medicine, and traditional Chinese medicine powder, just in case...

Prepare several whetstones; the sharpness of the Diablos Armor doesn't last long, and I don't know how many times I'll need to sharpen my weapon during the battle...

Also, pack the usual healing potions (G) and life dust in your bag, and bring plenty of the anti-dragon Noble Phantasm flash bombs, and also pack a lot of dates...

There's no need to bring a stain ball. With dragons soaring through the sky, no matter how strong the scent mark from the stain ball is, nothing else can pick up the scent. As long as you find out the location of the enemy's nest in advance, you don't have to worry about losing them...

We definitely need to prepare some stench bombs. Although the dragons have clearly defined territories, there's always the possibility of them trying to take over their territory or other large monsters wandering in. Oh, and we also need a separate temporary bag to keep the stench bombs separate from the other items…

With his backpack bulging, Lin Lin pulled out his weapon and began to maintain and polish it. By the time he was almost done, another figure had appeared in the camp.

This is a white Ailu with a relatively traditional coat color, except for an irregular brownish-brown patch on its belly.

"I heard the whistle and rushed over quickly, meow. You're the hunter who hired the cat rescue team, meow?"

“It was me, and not just the rescue team, but also the transport team.”

Lin Lin squatted down and made a handshake gesture:
"Our target this time is a fire dragon. My name is Lin Lin. How about we cooperate?"

Upon hearing the name of the fire dragon, the white Ailu was startled, but after a moment's hesitation, she still reached out her paw and grasped it:
"I am Steak, nice to do business with you, meow!"

(End of this chapter)