Monster Hunter: I can hear the monsters' thoughts

Chapter 395 The Commander's Invitation

Having been on edge throughout the battle with Haoshanlong, Lin Lin finally relaxed and fell asleep almost instantly.

Date yawned and prepared to lie down in its cat bed. It had been busy running around during the battle and was exhausted. However, it hadn't been infected with the Mad Dragon Virus, so it had one less debuff and was in slightly better condition than Lin Lin.

"Meow?"

Date suddenly blinked and tilted its head to look at the door of the RV. It seemed to have just seen a dark shadow.
Date remained fixed on the doorway. A few seconds later, a furry head quietly peeked out. Meeting Date's gaze, the head was clearly startled, its pair of dark ears instinctively folding back into an airplane shape. However, after realizing that Date was looking at it, it quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Senior Date Maker, you haven't rested yet, meow?"

Nia lowered her voice.

Dates did a cat stretch to loosen up their body:
"It's Nialu... I was wondering where you'd gone, meow!"

It glanced at the empty cat bed not far away and asked curiously:

"What are you doing out here so late at night instead of sleeping, meow?"

Nia Lu secretly glanced at Lin Lin, who was sleeping soundly on the bed, and cautiously beckoned:
"Senior Date Palmer, may I ask you something, meow?"

Meow?
Nia seems to have something on her mind right now.

Date scratched her ear, then got up and got out of the RV, following Nia Lu to a slightly further stone-paved road.

"What's wrong? You look so preoccupied, meow?"

"Senior Date Palmer, could you tell me some tips on becoming a hunting cat?"

Upon hearing this, Date was immediately taken aback. Wasn't this little black cat just thinking about going home? How did it suddenly come up with the idea of ​​becoming a hunting cat?
Since Yeza asked without hesitation, Nia Lu didn't try to hide anything and answered directly:
"Back when I was living in the tribe, the only way to deal with monsters was to run away. But after meeting you all, I realized that if I could become a reliable hunting cat like you, I could protect the tribe from monsters!"

"besides……"

As she spoke, Nialu paused for a moment, seemingly deep in thought.

"besides?"

Date crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

Nia seemed somewhat hesitant:
"I am so grateful to Lord Lin Lin, meow. If it weren't for Lord Lin Lin saving me, I might have died without a burial place long ago, meow..."

"To repay Lord Lin Lin's kindness, if I could become a hunting cat, I should be able to help Lord Lin Lin when he needs me..."

Nia looked up cautiously at the dates, then lowered her head again and whispered:
"With you here, senior, Lord Lin Lin doesn't need my help at all, meow... so this last one is just a thought, meow..."

"I see, meow."

Date nodded vigorously.

It fully understands and supports Nial's feelings, but it has some different opinions about what Nial said.

“When we went back to East Dorma before, you were with me. Since that’s the case, you should know that the boss has a fixed team, meow. The solo mission like that time we went to hunt the fire dragon was just an occasional thing, meow!”

"If you want to help the boss, you don't need to be his follower cat like me! Just join the team and you can help the boss in battle just as well!"

As the date palm uttered these words, Nia's cautious gaze suddenly shone brightly, her black agate eyes reflecting the starlight in the sky, dazzlingly brilliant.

"I understand! Thank you, senior!"

……

The next day.

As usual, Lin Lin woke up on time thanks to the reminder from the Mad Dragon Virus. Before even opening his eyes, he had already popped a Dispelling Fruit into his mouth.

Lin Lin got up, moved his limbs, and checked his physical condition. He nodded slightly.

That's about it. Although he would be in better shape after resting for two more days, he really didn't want to waste any more time.

Even though in the original timeline, the Great Western King's Blazing Dragon Virus, which was plagued by all kinds of diseases, was no less severe than that of the fourth generation of Phantom Troupe Hunters, it was still the complete Blazing Dragon after defeating the Wind God Dragon and Thunder God Dragon.

Yoko is debuting early because of me. If it weren't for me, she probably wouldn't have been certified by the guild and officially obtained the Hunter's Notebook yet!
If it was all just her overthinking and nothing actually happened, then it would be a false alarm and everything would be fine. But what if Yezi really encountered the Black Devouring Dragon...? She'd only recently advanced to five stars, and with the Mad Dragon Virus affecting her combat power, it would be truly dangerous...

And then there's Jumpy, who, despite fighting alongside me through many battles, is ultimately just a yellow Velocidrome. The symptoms of Dragon Fever are drastically different in hunters and monsters…

Just thinking about this situation made Lin Lin feel breathless, and he naturally didn't want to drag it out any longer.

"Date, get your things ready. I'll go to the gathering place to pick up an exploration quest first, and then we'll head to the Unknown Tree Sea."

"Good meow!"

"Then meow, then meow? Can I go with you, meow?"

Lin Lin lifted the horned dragon weapon hanging on the weapon rack beside him, performing routine maintenance as he replied without looking up:

“If you stay in Barbare, the Unknown Forest is too unfamiliar, and you can’t be sure what kind of monsters you will encounter. Dates and I can’t take care of you.”

Clearly, Nialu was not willing to accept this:

"Don't underestimate me, meow! I'm not some city like Melalu that hasn't seen any danger! You're looking for someone, meow? I'm very good at searching for traces and hiding my tracks, meow! Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to drift to Senqiu alive, meow!"

To be honest, Lin Lin was actually somewhat convinced by the little black cat.

In terms of trace detection, he considered himself fairly competent; at least he wasn't like Yoko before, whose work became a liability without Fukuki. However, the difference between competent and excellent was not so simple.

After a moment of contemplation, Lin Lin nodded:
"Alright, but let's make this clear first: just like back in Senqiu, once a fight breaks out, we really can't take care of you. You'll have to rely on yourself to protect yourself."

"No problem, meow! I definitely won't hold you back, Lord Lin Lin!" Nia Lu was overjoyed.

Suddenly, Yezao called out to Lin Lin.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"Boss Meow, when we came here, we didn't bring many items besides weapons and armor, meow! Now our supply of Destroyer Fruits is seriously insufficient, meow!"

This……

Lin Lin's expression immediately turned somewhat grim. After being infected with the Mad Dragon Virus, he consumed an average of five Dispelling Fruits per day, making his demand for these items extremely high. If he didn't have enough Dispelling Fruits, he simply wouldn't be able to set foot in the hunting grounds. If the virus wasn't suppressed and the Mad Dragon Disease flared up, he wouldn't be confident he could handle even some three- or four-star monsters.

“It’s alright. Barbare is a city where caravans gather, there will always be someone selling it. What else do you need? Tell me, and I’ll buy it all later.”

"Okay, meow! Besides the 'dispelling fruit,' there are also recovery potions, antidotes, energy drinks, and dispelling agents..."

After Lin Lin made a note of everything, he shouldered his weapon, stepped out of the RV, and prepared to first find someone to buy all the supplies before going to the meeting place to accept an exploration mission in the Unknown Forest. However, not long after he left, an uncle wearing a cowboy hat approached him.

"Haha, I must say, you really are a hunter! You look so energetic after just one nap!"

"Huh? Commander?"

Lin Lin blinked, a bad feeling rising in his heart. This early in the morning, he had just stepped out when the commander blocked his way. What was he trying to do?

"Haha, good morning! Lin Lin!"

“Sophia must have told you, right? I’ve formed a troupe and am traveling all over the continent. I’ve come to Barbare in search of companions and some clues.”

Lin Lin's sense of foreboding grew stronger.

"Look!"

The commander took off his hat, pulled out the pure white dragon scale inside, and showed it to Lin Lin. Sunlight shone on the hard dragon scale, reflecting a dazzling golden light.

"This is what I meant by finding clues. Isn't it beautiful?"

"How about it? Want to join our group and find out the truth about this thing with us?"

Lin Lin: ...

If this were a game, he would now be presented with two choices. The first is to answer "yes," and the guild leader would give him an induction test. The second is to answer "no," and the guild leader would laugh and say, "Come on, come on, don't say that," and then forcibly give him the induction test...

The problem is, this is the treatment reserved for the fourth generation protagonist! If I agree to it, wouldn't I be completely taking over the position of the fourth generation protagonist?

Even now, though the game's protagonist was absent during the battle against Haoshanlong, Lin Lin still harbored a glimmer of hope: perhaps there was just a slight deviation in the timeline, causing that protagonist to miss that ship and board another one instead? Maybe the other party has already arrived in Barbarena by now?

But what if the main character is truly and completely absent?

Without the participation of the fourth generation of protagonists, will many things and many disasters have a greater impact and result in a worse outcome?
If that's the case, he might as well grit his teeth and try to take over the protagonist's position! Anyway, he already replaced the fourth generation protagonist in the opening scene when fighting against Haoshanlong.

Lin Lin pondered for a moment, neither agreeing nor refusing outright:

"Well, Commander, I came to Barbare because I have some urgent business to attend to."

"If I've finished these things and you still haven't found a suitable candidate, then I can join the troupe, how about that?"

The guild leader put away the dragon scales, put his hat back on, and grinned.

He could tell that Lin Lin was serious when he said this, and there was no intention of being perfunctory or evasive. In any case, his journey had already lasted for a long time, so stopping in Barbaredo for a while was not a problem at all.

As for the other suitable candidates Lin Lin mentioned? Sorry, with the high-ranking hunter Fabius ahead and Lin Lin fighting against the Mountain Dragon alone with his cat behind, he really couldn't find ordinary low-ranking or novice hunters worthy of his attention. As for high-ranking hunters, almost all of them had a lot of things to do, and it was impossible for them to be willing to join like Fabius.

The only thing that surprised the leader was that when Lin Lin saw the mysterious dragon scale, he didn't show the excitement and curiosity he expected. Instead, he seemed a little worried. Could it be that he knew something about that thing?
Unfortunately, Lin Lin seemed to be in a hurry, so the urgent matter he mentioned was probably quite urgent, otherwise the commander would have definitely pulled him aside to ask him for clarification.

He had been searching for the truth about these scales for quite some time, visiting countless places and asking countless people, but he had always come up empty-handed. Now, seeing that Lin Lin seemed to know something about them, his heart was itching like Ailu's claws were constantly scratching at him.

'Never mind, we've waited so long already, there's no need to rush for another two or three days. Once he joins the Phantom Troupe, there'll be plenty of time to find out the truth...'

……

Lin Lin walked along the streets of Barbare. In the distance, at the end of the road, was the huge ship-shaped meeting place. On both sides of the road were tents and stalls of various colors, general stores, fried rice stalls, blacksmith shops, equipment shops... and trucks occasionally drove by on the road.

Just now, Lin Lin brushed past a truck pulled by a Marutiao. Looking back at the equipment worn by the driver, Lin Lin couldn't help but reveal a hint of nostalgia in his eyes.

He had worn that set of equipment before; it was the first set of equipment for most novice hunters in Yukumo Village. At that time, he had only been in this world for a few days and hadn't even learned the local language yet. It was Kevin who funded the purchase of that set of equipment for him, which started his journey as a hunter.

Of course, unlike him, the Yukumo hunter who just passed by was carrying a katana on his back.

"Tsk, the katana and Yukumo Village are strangely a perfect match..."

Lin Lin shook his head and his gaze fell on a general store stall next to him. The owner was a dragon-human merchant. For some reason, Lin Lin felt that this guy looked a little familiar.

Why does it feel somewhat familiar?
"Hey young man, what do you need?"

Lin Lin shook his head, banishing those random thoughts from his mind, and said in a deep voice:

"I need to buy a batch of items, including recovery medicine, antidote, energy drinks, dispelling agents... and a large quantity of dispelling fruits."

Wow! What a huge order! This deal is going to be incredibly profitable!

The dragon-human merchant immediately perked up and began rummaging through the boxes and cabinets in his RV, which he was using as a stall. Soon, bottles and jars filled the space in front of Lin Lin.

"Hiss... Everything else is fine, but these three Dispel Fruits probably don't meet your 'large quantity' requirement, right?"

(End of this chapter)