Monster Hunter: I can hear the monsters' thoughts

Chapter 390 The Top (Pen Tip) Team is Officially Assembled
After leaving the Grand Hall, the three high-ranking hunters went to the Public Tavern.

With important business to attend to, they were certainly not there to drink, so unlike the other hunters who simply found a place to sit outside, they went into a private room.

Not long after, there was a knock on the door of the private room. A young man with a mohawk peeked in, and after seeing the white-haired man who always seemed to have a cold face, he made sure he hadn't come to the wrong place and walked in confidently.

"Master, are you looking for me?"

Julius nodded, a barely perceptible smile appearing on his usually stern expression, and turned to Fabius to introduce him:
"This is Aiden, my disciple, currently at four stars."

Because of the obstructed view, Aiden did not see Fabius and Nadia sitting on the other side. Only when Julius spoke did he realize that there were other people in the private room, and he quickly greeted them.

"Ah, Nadia-senpai is here too! And this one... um..."

Aiden scratched his head and suddenly realized that he didn't seem to recognize this gray-haired uncle.

“My name is Fabius, a six-star spearman.”

Fabius took the initiative to speak.

"Um, um, Senior Fabius..."

Aiden looked around and finally looked at Julius, momentarily lost in thought.

These three high-ranking hunters are gathered together, something big must have happened. In this situation, why did my master call me here?

Julius casually pointed to the chair next to him, using concise language:
"sit."

"Your master means that things are complicated, so he wants you to sit down and listen to him explain slowly."

Nadia shook her head helplessly and acted as a translator. She and Julius had worked together for so many years, and when they first started working together, they were hunting monsters like the Poisonous Bird. They had already developed a considerable understanding of each other.

"Oh……"

Aiden sat down obediently. Just as Julius was about to speak, his brows furrowed slightly, his nose twitched, and his gaze turned to Aiden.

"You went hunting the Peach-furred Beast King?"

"Forehead……"

Aiden's expression stiffened for a moment. He raised his arm, brought it close, and sniffed carefully, but didn't detect anything unusual.

That's not right. He had clearly washed it so many times, almost scrubbing off the skin, and cleaned the protective gear carefully several times. Logically, the smell should have been mostly gone by now. How could he smell it so easily?

"Yes."

Julius nodded slightly, saying nothing more, but quietly shifted his seat slightly away from Aiden.

This kid truly lives up to his title of "top rookie." His growth rate is incredibly fast. Back when he led the team to hunt the Peach-haired Beast King, this kid was clumsy and only caused trouble. In the blink of an eye, he has grown to the point where he can now hunt the Peach-haired Beast King solo without making a sound.

It seems that it wasn't careful enough during the battle. Just from that slight stench, you could tell that it had either been hit by a pile of dung thrown by the Peach Fur Beast King or was covered in its stinky fart smoke.

Julius took out a stack of documents and placed them on the table, gesturing for Nadia and Fabius to look at them themselves. Then he turned to Aiden and said, “The guild has issued an order to investigate an unknown monster of mysterious origin. A special team has been formed for this purpose, and I have been appointed as the team leader.”

Aiden glanced at the two high-ranking hunters who were looking down at their documents, then pointed to himself:

"So, I'm the fourth member of the team?"

He was no longer the clueless newbie he was when he first debuted, and he understood how foolish it was that he had made the impulsive decision to intercept Yan Feilong when he was a complete newcomer. In the five-person team at that time, he was the one who was dragging the team down.

But now, look at these three people. They are all high-ranking hunters. If he joins such a team, won't he still be the one who drags the team down?
"The fourth fleet that set off a few years ago traveled across the ocean and needed elite hunters to protect them. After the establishment of the Dragon Academy and the support of the guild, some of the best hunters were transferred away. The remaining dozen or so high-ranking hunters also need to run all over the continent to put out fires. They just happen to be away from here now. The current guard of Dongdoruma is empty and there are not enough people to organize a full squad of high-ranking hunters."

Aiden swallowed hard. "But even so, there are still quite a few five-star hunters, aren't there..."

Julius shook his head slightly:

“You actually have the ability to reach the five-star level a long time ago, but I haven’t let you advance in the assessment just to temper your temperament.”

"Besides, you are my disciple. Any random five-star hunter would not have the experience to work with us. You are the best candidate for the remaining position."

Since Julius had said so, Aiden thought about it carefully and realized it seemed to be true. Although he was still a little uneasy, afraid that he would mess up such an important mission for the guild, he clenched his fists tightly.
"Okay, Master, I will do my best!"

Seeing Aiden clench his fists, as if his spirits had been ignited, Julius nodded slightly and then looked at Nadia and Fabius.

"Gentlemen, you've reviewed the information enough. Do you have any thoughts?"

Nadia sighed, threw the documents on the table, and shook her head in complaint:

"The guild has really given us a tough problem. With just this speculative information, we can't even be sure if this monster even exists. How can we possibly find it?"

Julius wasn't too surprised; he simply nodded slightly and turned to look at Fabius.
"Fabius, you have extensive experience in ecological surveys, do you have any suggestions?"

Fabius gently rubbed his temples with his fingers, pondering for a moment:

"If we assume that the speculative information provided by the guild is true, and that monster really is the culprit behind the spread of this virus, then there are still clues to find its location."

Aiden's mind worked very quickly:
"I understand. If a large number of infected monsters appear in a certain place, then the unknown monster is most likely there!"

Julius nodded, then shook his head:

"That's a good idea, but don't forget, the guild wants us to investigate that monster in order to stop the spread of the virus and prevent its impact from expanding."

"Moreover, the information mentions that the Mad Dragon virus has an incubation period. If the target monster does not have the ability to fly, it's fine. But if it can fly, by the time a large-scale outbreak of Mad Dragon disease occurs in a region, the culprit may have already left. By the time we arrive, it may have already spread the virus to a new area."

Fabius smiled. "Of course I know, so we can't just wait passively like this."

He pointed to the word "desert," which was mentioned repeatedly in the documents, and said, "We can start our investigation first, while waiting for the guild to synchronize the new information we obtain during this period."

Nadia smiled. "It seems, Fabius, you already have a target in mind?"

(End of this chapter)