Monster Hunter: I can hear the monsters' thoughts

Chapter 404 is terrifying.

The Black Eclipse Dragon's claws are quite strong and powerful; picking up Jumpy is no different from picking up a chick, and it can be tossed away with a flick of its wrist.

Seeing Jumpy being flung away, crashing through three ancient trees before falling to the ground with a painful roar, Lin Lin, panting heavily and ignoring his physical weakness, rushed forward again, trying to entangle the Black Corrosion Dragon to prevent it from finishing off Jumpy.

Sensing that Lin Lin, a more threatening figure, was approaching, the Black Dragon had to temporarily abandon its plan to chase after and kill the arrogant fellow. Instead, it turned its head and spat out a ball of black energy at Jump, who was struggling to get up from the ground.

Having done all this, the Black Dragon continued its movements, turning around and swinging its long tail at Lin Lin, forcing him to retreat and dodge again, leaving him no time to intercept the bombardment of energy balls.

"boom--"

The energy ball slammed into Jumpy. Even with the protection of the Thunder Wolf Dragon Armor, the intense impact still caused it to let out another painful roar. The burst of dense Mad Dragon Virus that followed almost completely enveloped it.

Lin Lin's heart sank. His knuckles turned white from gripping the sword so tightly. He had finally managed to bring Jump Jump back to his senses and improve its condition by using the fruit to dispel it, but the Black Corrosive Dragon's breath had ruined all his efforts.

Perhaps the only good news is that he can still feel Jump's inner voice, its anger and fighting spirit; at least Jump's rationality has not been overwhelmed by the virus again.

Thinking of a way to break the deadlock, Lin Lin launched a series of harassing attacks to prevent the Black Devouring Dragon from focusing its attention on Jumpy. After the previous exchanges, the Black Devouring Dragon's response also made Lin Lin very uncomfortable.

This guy is consciously using his breath to attack multiple times in a row!
Even though Lin Lin focused on dodging and avoided the energy balls filled with the virus as much as possible, the Black Corrosion Dragon's attacks still made the battlefield a chaotic mess.

This area was originally lush with trees and abundant with water and grass, but now the air is filled with a large amount of dark purple dust. Even the sunlight hanging overhead seems to be blocked by this thick dust, and the entire forest has become dark.

In this situation, the Black Dragon lowered its wing claws, which it had been holding on its shoulders, to the ground. The inside of its jet-black, feather-like wings shone with an eerie purple light, as if emanating from the underworld.

It took a deep breath and let out a loud roar. A pair of tentacles emitting a faint purple light rose from its originally smooth and flat head.

Lin Lin raised his shield to block the sonic waves that came with the roar, and his heart sank slightly as he watched the Black Corrosion Dragon enter this state.

Facing the Black Devouring Dragon in its normal state, both he and Jump were at a disadvantage. Now that the guy has entered a berserk dragon state, it has become even more troublesome. What should they do?
It's important to know that, unlike those creatures that are called "Dragon-Transformed Monsters" due to the onset of the Dragon Disease, the Black Eclipse Dragons, as the spreaders of the Dragon Disease, are not infected with it themselves. Their Dragon Transformation state is characterized by scales covering the ground, their perception reaching its peak, and them fighting with all their might!
It used its breath attack repeatedly just now, all for this moment!
"Roar!!!"

After a roar, the Black Eclipse Dragon locked its target on Lin Lin again, using all four limbs to quickly close the distance. One of its thick wing claws was raised high, as if it wanted to slap Lin Lin to death.

"boom!"

Just as the wing claws were about to strike, Lin Lin quickly lunged to the side, but instead of feeling the tremor of the wing claws hitting the ground, he heard another muffled thud in front of him. Looking up, he saw that it was Tiao Tiao that had once again rammed into him, forcibly stopping the opponent's attack.

"Get out!"

Lin Lin was extremely anxious. The Black Corrosive Dragon's full power was far beyond what Jump Jump could match. After being hit by Jump Jump with all its might, it only staggered slightly before quickly reacting, raising its wing claws, and grabbing Jump Jump's back before Jump Jump could adjust its center of gravity.

This time, the Black Eclipse Dragon was determined to crush Jumper completely. One wing claw held it in place to prevent it from escaping, while the other wing claw was raised high, ready to swat Jumper's head down.

Lin Lin was in a great hurry. He threw the Flying Insect directly forward, pulling his body to rush towards the Black Corrosion Dragon. At the same time, his sword and shield merged. As he rushed to the face of the Black Corrosion Dragon, his shield and axe also transformed. He drew a semi-circle in front of him and chopped down at the head of the Black Corrosion Dragon.

Even without the energy bottle, the sheer power of the giant axe itself in striking down was still formidable.

Having already taken two blows to the head, plus the aerial super attack that it dodged, the Black Eclipse Dragon had fully experienced just how powerful this little guy's attacks were. It didn't want to compare the hardness of its head with the claws and teeth of the other creature, so it ignored the Jumpy it had just grabbed, casually tossed it aside, and used its other wing claw to brace itself against the ground, tilting its head back as it tried to avoid the trajectory of the giant axe's attack.

However, the Black Devouring Dragon was a massive creature nearly twenty meters long. Even with his best efforts to dodge, he only managed to avoid the vital spot on its head. Lin Lin's axe still managed to strike the Black Devouring Dragon's wing claw that was supporting it on the ground.

"Screech—" "Crack!"

The Black Dragon's claws were extremely hard. Lin Lin felt as if he had struck a sparrow stone with this axe. The recoil made his hands weak. In addition, the Mad Dragon virus was raging in his body, and his strength went limp, almost causing him to drop his weapon.

Of course, the Black Eclipse Dragon was not in good shape after being hit. A long, narrow wound was cut on its left wing, and the hard claws at the front of its wing were bleeding profusely. A section of the claw broke off under the impact of the enormous force and flew off the wing.

This black dragon only has three claws left on its left wing.

"Roar!!!"

The Black Corrosion Dragon let out a painful roar, but Lin Lin had no time to pay attention to how much damage he had inflicted on the creature. After disassembling the sword and shield, he launched another flying insect to create distance between himself and the Black Corrosion Dragon, wanting to check on Jump Jump's condition.

Continuing to entangle with the Black Devouring Dragon is not a solution. He plans to have Jump retreat first, while he will deal with the Black Devouring Dragon for a while and then try to shake it off to find it.

However, after seeing the situation clearly, Lin Lin's pupils suddenly contracted.

No?

How can it be!

How could it just disappear without a trace? Even listening to its heart's voice, I can't sense its thoughts!
This riverside woodland had already been ravaged by his battle with Jump and the Black Devouring Dragon. Even if Jump lost consciousness, such a large body could not possibly be missing!

Having one of its claws severed, the intense pain gnawed at its nerves, enraging it so much that it swung its claw at Lin Lin.

Hearing the whistling wind behind him, Lin Lin immediately put away his shield and axe, threw the flying insect again, and leaped into the air, landing on a giant tree.

"boom--"

The Black Devouring Dragon slammed its claw into the giant tree, instantly tearing a large hole in the middle, causing the tree to sway precariously.

Lin Lin gripped the tree trunk, forcibly steadying himself, quickly scanned the surroundings, and then his gaze settled on the wide river.

Although the current is swift and the river is wide, there are still many rocks, dead branches and aquatic plants protruding from the water near the bank, among which a splash of emerald green stands out.

"call--"

A gust of wind swept by, and Lin Lin caught a glimpse of another ball of energy hurtling towards him. He leaped from the tree trunk, casually tossing out a flying insect to propel himself rapidly towards the riverbank. "Boss, I'm here to help you, meow! Big guy, take this boomerang!"

A familiar voice rang out, and Lin Lin turned his head slightly to glance back. From a distance, he saw the oversized boomerang thrown by Ye Zi, and Ye Zi's figure rushing towards the Black Dragon with her insect club.

Yoko and Dates followed the commotion and came looking for them!
Damn it, this is too reckless! Yoko is still weak after just waking up from a coma!

Fighting the Berserker Black Eclipse Dragon in its full-power form in this state is too dangerous!

His mind raced, but it didn't affect Lin Lin's actions. Taking advantage of the brief moment when Ye Zi and Ye Zao attracted the Black Erosion Dragon's attention, Lin Lin landed and rushed to the riverbank in a few steps, where he clearly saw the true form of that emerald green creature.

It was armor made from the scales of a Thunder Wolf Dragon, stained with dark purple blood. However, the bloodstains were fading rapidly under the wash of the river water and would probably be washed away in another ten seconds.

Did it really fall into the river?

No wonder it disappeared in just a few seconds...

I hope this guy doesn't drown and can hold out until I find it...

Lin Lin turned his head and shouted at Ye Zi and Ye Zao:

"Retreat! Don't fight it!"

Yoko gasped for breath, her weak arms managing to muster the strength to propel herself backward with her Insect Glaive, then released a Wirebug to propel her body a second time. In the blink of an eye, she was already on the treetop. Date was equally decisive, throwing out a whole bunch of flashbangs, sonic bombs, and stench bombs without a second thought, regardless of whether they were useful or not. Then, her claws moved so fast that they left afterimages as she dug a large hole and crawled inside.

The Black Eclipse Dragon had just discovered two new enemies and was in a rage, intending to kill them both with a single slap. But as soon as it raised its claws, the two creatures it sensed vanished without a trace with lightning speed, just as silently as they had arrived.

So it turned its attention back to Lin Lin, flapping its wings and charging towards him.

Lin Lin glanced back at the rushing river, gave the Black Corrosion Dragon the middle finger expressionlessly, and then leaped into the water.

As the water washed over him, the scales on Lin Lin's body quickly lost their activity. This caused the Black Erosion Dragon to perceive that an active life form had vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye. It could only stop in its tracks, looking around blankly, trying to sense the presence of the enemy through sound.

Unfortunately, after listening carefully for a long time, it only heard the rushing sound of the water and the chirping of the light worms and thunder worms—the dense mad dragon virus seemed to have no effect on these little creatures at all.

……

"Gululu!"

"Grrrrrr!"

"Gulu!"

This time, the mental world was different from before. The icy river water kept pouring into his mouth and nose. Lin Lin wanted to swing his arms and legs to swim, but due to the influence of the Mad Dragon Disease, his body was much weaker and powerless than usual, and he couldn't stop himself from sinking.

How could this be?! After installing the Swimming Beads, swimming was so easy!

After his brain began to feel dizzy due to lack of oxygen, Lin Lin vaguely remembered that before setting off to hunt the fire dragon, he had specifically added several fire resistance beads to his transforming ice shark armor set because of its negative fire resistance, replacing the original swamp crossing beads. However, after the hunt, he was anxious and irritable because of the Mad Dragon Virus and Ye Zi's matter, and completely forgot to change them back...

I hope I don't become the first five-star hunter to drown instead of die in battle...

His consciousness gradually faded, and his hands, which were pushing the water, became increasingly weak. Just as Lin Lin's vision went completely black due to lack of oxygen, he vaguely saw a figure swimming towards him.

……

"Boss! Boss, wake up, meow!"

"Brother Lin Lin!"

"Still no response, meow! How about you do another round of CPR, meow, Yoko-senpai?"

Lin Lin felt a constant buzzing in his ears. After a while, he realized that it sounded like someone was talking.

He felt a soft touch on his lips, followed by a breath of fresh air. Before the dazed Lin Lin could even savor the sensation, he felt a rhythmic pressing on his chest, so forceful that Lin Lin couldn't help but feel some pain.

"It's reacting, meow! Boss's pupils are reflecting, meow!"

The sounds around him grew clearer and clearer, and Lin Lin gradually regained consciousness. Before he could say anything, he felt a weight on his body, as if something was pressing down on him.

Upon opening his eyes, he met the gaze of a girl with a pale face, furrowed brows, and tears in her eyes. Who else could it be but Ye Zi?
Seeing Lin Lin open his eyes, Ye Zi took a deep breath, blinked hard to squeeze out the tears from the corners of her eyes, but did not move her body and still held Lin Lin tightly.

Feeling the soft yet warm touch against his skin, Lin Lin took a deep breath, slowly raised his hand to embrace Ye Zi's waist, and then gently patted her:
"Okay, okay, it's alright now. Get up, you're not breathing..."

Yoko sniffed and said with dissatisfaction:
"I'm not that heavy."

Despite her words, she still obediently sat up.

"I'm not in a good state right now..."

With the pressure on his body eased, Lin Lin sat up and looked around.

This should still be a shallow beach by the river. Yezi, Yezao, and Nialu were all gathered around, and their transforming ice shark heavy armor had been removed and placed aside.

I didn't see Tiaotiao anywhere.

(End of this chapter)