Monster Hunter: I can hear the monsters' thoughts

Chapter 394 Arrival! Barbare!
"boom!"

With the roar of heavy cannons, a burst of raging flames exploded on the massive, drill-like head of the Hawthorn. The intense shock caused the Hawthorn to instinctively twist its head and dodge.

Although it did not cause any obvious damage, it successfully interrupted the attack of the mountain dragon and saved the sand boat that was already teetering on the brink of collapse.

Although the shot hit its mark precisely, Lin Lin did not dare to relax and his expression remained tense.

This sand barge was not specifically built to fight off a colossal ancient dragon. Although it was equipped with ballistae, cannons, and even large bronze gongs as defensive measures, taking into account the dangers of navigating the sand sea, its ammunition reserves were not large, only enough to meet immediate needs.

At this moment, the ship's ammunition was exhausted. After firing that last cannon shot, they would have to rely on the large bronze gong to interrupt the Haoshan Dragon's attack when it launched another attack. However, living beings are adaptable, and repeatedly striking the large bronze gong in a short period of time would only make it less effective. They couldn't hold out for much longer.

"Woo-"

A deep horn sounded in the distance, and Date Palm perked up. Looking into the distance, she shouted excitedly:
"Great, boss! Reinforcements have arrived, meow!"

Lin Lin looked over and breathed a sigh of relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted off his shoulders.

The horizon, no longer an endless expanse of withered yellow, now stretches out as a tender green, like a budding sprout, and before that green edge, dust rises in all directions.

A fleet of sand barges came sailing in, and among them, a dragon-slaying ship with a sharp, cold glint at its tip stood out.

It seems the information relayed by the commander's peregrine falcon was useful. Although it was rushed, a defensive force was finally organized and arrived.

He was a bit slow to arrive, and if no one came to his aid, he doubted that the journey of this group would end before it even began.

"Date, fire the last restraint round!"

"I'll lower the sails to slow the sand barge down and put some pressure on this guy!"

……

As the dust kicked up by the Hausan Dragon appeared on the horizon, the sound of a huge gong resounded throughout Barbare.

In an instant, the entire city came to life, and the sand boats scattered throughout the desert converged upon hearing the commotion, rushing towards the enormous, brownish-red ancient dragon.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Heavy artillery shells bombarded various parts of the Haoshanlong's body, spreading dazzling flames and acrid smoke, causing the enormous beast to let out low moans of pain from time to time.

Having been entangled with the brigade's sand barges all the way and subjected to Lin Lin's various methods, the Haoshan Dragon, though not suffering any obvious injuries, had indeed suffered considerable exhaustion. Now, after being subjected to repeated heavy artillery barrages, it was showing signs of weakness.

It was getting a little too much of a bombardment and was now fidgeting restlessly, trying to escape the concentrated fire of the other ships.

However, the Haoshan Dragon's body was already heavy enough, and now, with the restraint bullets connecting it to drag a sand ship as a burden, its attempt was meaningless. It had no room to dodge, and round after round of heavy cannons bombarded its body without stopping.

Julius, holding up his binoculars, glanced at the location of the Haoshanlong, then at Barbare in the distance, his usually stern face now showing a grave expression.
"This guy is too close to Barbare; we absolutely cannot let it get any closer!"

His gaze then swept over the sand barge not far from Haoshanlong, which was suspended behind it by restraint bullets, and he nodded slightly:

"We'll move to its right, fire restraint rounds, then lower the sails to slow it down and force it to turn!"

Most of the sand ships around Haoshanlong were scattered teams that rushed over to help after hearing the commotion. There was no unified command, so apart from unleashing cannon fire on Haoshanlong, the overall situation was still somewhat chaotic.

But after seeing the example set by the guild's sand ships and the dragon-slaying ships of the top teams of hunters, the captains of those sand ships also lit up and followed suit, firing restraint bullets.

"whoosh"

"whoosh"

"whoosh"

One restraint bullet after another embedded themselves in the armor of the Hawthorn, and the weight hanging on its body continued to increase. For a moment, the already somewhat tired Hawthorn's momentum faltered, its entire upper body rising high, yet unable to take another inch forward.

"Hooooo——"

After a mournful cry, the Haoshan Dragon twisted its body and fell to its right, changing its swimming direction—since most of the sand boats were hanging on its right side, under the influence of classical mechanics, even if the Haoshan Dragon was unwilling, it could only change direction.

"call--"

As the sand ships attempted to intercept the Haoshan Dragon, it came quite close to Barbare. The sandstorm it stirred up as it swam even entered Barbare, covering the colorful tents with a thick layer of yellow sand.

Fortunately, with everyone working together, the Haoshan Dragon was ultimately stopped outside of Barbare and failed to invade human territory.

"Yay! Long live the hunters!"

"Long live the Sand Ship Regiment!"

"Wuhu! Thank you! You are all heroes!"

"I am about to play a piece to prove my heroism!"

The Barbares, terrified by the approaching Haoshan Dragon, watched helplessly as it drew near, only to be stopped. Aside from getting a mouthful of sand, it caused no real damage, and the joy of surviving immediately sent the crowd into a frenzy.

... "Click"

"Click"

Hearing the sand barge groan under its own weight and the constant trembling as it was dragged, Lin Lin took a deep breath, swung his stripping knife, and cut the restraining ropes connecting them to Hao Shanlong.

This ship has reached its limit. If it continues to hold out against the Haoshan Dragon, the only consequence will be that it will fall apart and become a pile of broken planks. Even though this is a desert and there is no need to worry about the ship sinking, it will undoubtedly cause too much delay.

Next, it's up to them...

Lin Lin glanced at the dragon-slaying ship that was being dragged along by the Haoshan Dragon not far away, and at the several rather familiar hunters on board. He waved to them, then raised the sails again, turned the ship around, and headed back towards Barbare.

Julius glanced at the unfamiliar hunter waving, nodded in approval, and waved back slightly in response.

Judging from the dilapidated state of the sand ship, it had been entangled with the Haoshan Dragon before their reinforcements arrived. By now, it was probably out of ammunition and supplies, and withdrawing from the battle was the right choice.

Julius didn't think he had deserted halfway. The other side had done enough. If it weren't for the hunters on the ship slowing down the speed of the Jaw Dragon and giving Barbare time to prepare, it would have been too late to organize a defense by the time the Jaw Dragon got close to Barbare.

Aiden blinked, trying to get a better look at the somewhat familiar figure, but after the other person disconnected the restraint blast, the distance between them increased rapidly, and soon the figure became a tiny dot, making it impossible to see clearly.

Nadia noticed that Aiden kept looking in that direction, and couldn't help but ask curiously:
"What's wrong?"

"The hunters on that ship, I feel like I know them?"

"is it?"

Nadia tightened the winch of the heavy ballista twice and laughed:

"When we return to Barbare and settle down, why don't you introduce us to him?"

"It seems he was fighting the Mountain Dragon all by himself before we arrived, right? To be honest, I'd be quite happy to get to know such an excellent hunter."

Julius nodded slightly, but didn't reply, only saying:
"Focus on the battle first."

Nadia smiled, glanced at Aiden, then at Fabius, who had just swatted away the sandfish that had jumped onto the deck with a shield, and once again acted as the translator:
"Julius means that he also wants to meet the hunter, but for now, we need to defeat the Hawthorn first and not get distracted during the battle."

Aiden nodded vigorously and said, "Yes!"

Fabius's gaze swept back and forth between Julius and Nadia, and he sighed inwardly.

These two really have great chemistry. I'm not sure if I can fit into this team after joining at the last minute...

……

When the rickety tour boat docked next to Barbare, they were greeted with a warm welcome from the crowd.

"Thanks to your timely message and for slowing down Haoshanlong's advance, otherwise Barbare would have suffered heavy losses this time."

The crowd suddenly parted, and a small, old dragonman emerged from among them, holding a pipe, with patched trousers and a bullet hole in his cowboy hat—this was the guild master of Barbare, known as the Guild Master.

(As shown in the picture, the old man's tone of voice in the game is quite interesting, he speaks in a gentle and soft voice.)
"Thank you so much!"

Lin Lin scratched his head a little embarrassedly, "Oh, it's nothing, we just happened to run into each other. Anyone would have done their best if they had encountered the same situation."

"You are such a humble hunter! But we cannot ignore your achievements just because of your humility!"

The guild master's tone of voice was very distinctive, with intonation and soft, gentle manner, giving people a soft feeling. Lin Lin felt that this must be a very gentle old dragonman.

Hmm, perhaps all the dragonmen who become guild leaders are similar in temperament? As far as Lin Lin has encountered so far, apart from the Grand Elder, almost none of them have a particularly serious style.

The guild leader of Yukumo Village is an old drunkard, the guild leader of Lokrak is an old lecher, Hoshino Minoru of Flamefire Village is a toad rider, the guild master of Dongdoruma is always dozing off, and the guild leader of Barbare looks like an old smoker.

However, although the Guild Master always carried his pipe, he didn't indiscriminately expose others to secondhand smoke. For example, right now, he simply tucked his pipe into his waistband and led Lin Lin and the rest of the guild toward the heart of the city, to the large ship that served as their meeting place, while also showing them the sights along the way.

Upon learning that the guild planned to temporarily camp in Barbare, the guild master specially cleared out a plot of land in the heart of the city for them to stay in, and even provided four RVs—one for Lin Lin, the guild leader, Sophia, and the blacksmith. The reason they were RVs instead of regular hunter's huts was that there were practically no permanent residences in Barbare; RVs were considered a relatively good option, as most people on the outskirts lived in tents.

—Lin Lin fought against the Mountain Dragon aboard the Guild's sandship. Such heroism is a feat of unparalleled contribution to saving Barbare. No one would dare object to the Guild Masters granting him preferential treatment. As for the Guild? Lin Lin fought using the Guild's sandship; he's definitely a hunter in the Guild. Giving him preferential treatment is perfectly justified!
Sophia was shy and felt embarrassed about this, but the leader accepted it without any psychological barrier. When he felt Sophia's gaze, he smiled mysteriously and did not explain.

If he initially only wanted to try contacting Lin Lin because of Sophia's recommendation, after witnessing Lin Lin's performance in dealing with the Mountain Dragon, he made up his mind to bring this excellent hunter into the guild.

What? What if they refuse?
Just kidding! With his charisma and that pure white dragon scale in his hand, he doesn't believe that a skilled hunter could resist the temptation of exploring unknown monsters!
Anyway, Lin Lin will definitely become a hunter in their guild, so what's wrong with the guild master giving them preferential treatment because of Lin Lin?
Besides, even if it weren't for Lin Lin, without their sand ships, no matter how powerful Lin Lin was, he couldn't cook without rice, could he? Their troupe also deserved credit for defeating Hao Shanlong.

Not long after entertaining the group, the guild master took his leave. Although the attack on Barbare was unsuccessful, it would still bring a lot of messy things. As the backbone of the Barbare gathering place, he needed to hurry back to the gathering place to keep things in order to prevent chaos.

Stepping into the RV provided by Barbare, Lin Lin skillfully took out a Delight Fruit and swallowed it. Then, he lay back on the bed and let out a heavy sigh.

This encounter with the Mountain Dragon was quite different from the one at the Harvest Festival in Lokrak. There were no teammates or other sand ships to support them. All they had to rely on were limited cannonballs, crossbow bolts, and the large bronze gong. They had to stay on their toes and concentrate all their energy to deal with it. Several times they failed to interrupt the Mountain Dragon's attacks, and it grazed the edge of the sand ship, almost resulting in the ship being destroyed and everyone dying.

I had originally planned to head straight to the Unknown Forest to find Yoko and Jumpy after arriving in Barbare, but after fighting with Gouyama Ryu all the way, my recently recovered condition has become exhausted again...

(End of this chapter)