Monster Hunter: I can hear the monsters' thoughts

Chapter 406 Breaking out of the cocoon
After hurriedly finding a relatively secluded spot and observing the surroundings for a moment to confirm that it was safe, Tiaotiao could no longer suppress her sleepiness and lay down on the ground with her eyes closed.

It could sense that as it devoured the corpse of the Thousand-Blade Dragon, all the life energy within its body was absorbed and integrated into the power of the raging dragon within its own body, making it grow stronger and more turbulent.

Previously, after Lin Lin awakened it from its spiritual world through the resonance of the Bond Stone, the rampant power of the mad dragon that had been raging within it gradually calmed down. After it absorbed the life energy of the Thousand Blade Dragon and grew stronger, it not only did not destroy its body again, but instead became completely docile, as obedient as a soldier waiting for orders.

Jump had a feeling that, if it wanted, it could completely control this enormous energy and integrate it into its body, strengthening its muscles and bones, making itself bigger, faster, and stronger—of course, it didn't know that this was a miracle brought about by a combination of chance and bond, which allowed it to successfully overcome the Mad Dragon Virus, turning it into its own, and becoming a manifestation known as an "extreme individual".

The reason for feeling sleepy is that there is too much energy accumulated in the body, but the body is not strong enough to fully bear this energy, so it needs to sleep to digest the energy and strengthen the body.

However, just as Jump Jump subconsciously tried to follow his instinctive reaction and let this enormous life energy strengthen his body, several of his most memorable battle scenes from the past surfaced in his mind:
Working together with the leader to hunt the Thunder Wolf Dragon, they made thorough preparations and used traps to severely injure it. However, it could only serve as a mount in battle, and was almost completely rendered incapable of fighting after being grazed by the opponent's attack.
On the summit of Lingfeng, looking up at the sky, one can see the Great Sky carrying the leader struggling in the wrath of the gods, while the one born without wings can only helplessly watch from below.
On the banks of the Tree Sea River, the leader's condition continued to decline due to the Mad Dragon Virus. It desperately attacked the Black Devouring Dragon, but was easily thrown aside by the powerful wing claws, unable to help the leader at all.
Even with the enhancement of the Mad Dragon's power, how strong can Huang Sulong's frail body become? With its short forepaws, slender frame, and lack of wings, such a physique is simply unsuitable for combat!

It also longs to grow a pair of wings, and it also wants to carry its leader soaring through the sky!

Driven by Jumpy's intense subconscious desire, the massive energy that had been slowly flowing into its limbs and bones, gradually improving and strengthening its body, quietly changed its operating mode. Most of the energy converged on Jumpy's originally thin shoulder blades.

'Perhaps, when I wake up, I'll also have a pair of wings that allow me to fly...'

With this thought flashing through her mind, Tiaotiao stopped resisting the increasingly strong drowsiness and quickly drifted off to sleep.

……

On the other side, the four members of the elite team, Lin Lin and Ye Zi, along with two cats, were heading towards the unknown forest.

"I smell...it must have left in this direction, meow!"

Nia bent down, sniffed the ground carefully, then looked up and pointed in a direction.

"Well done, Nialu."

Yoko rubbed its head and praised it, which made Nia scratch her head shyly.

Melalu, whom Lin Lin picked up, is indeed exceptionally talented. Cats are naturally good helpers for hunters when hunting due to their keen senses and other advantages. Nialu's senses are among the best even among cats. At least, Date Palm could not detect the residual scent after half a day of effort, even though Date Palm had deliberately concealed its scent.

Lin Lin looked somewhat worried, and as he walked, he would occasionally look down at the bondage stone he was clutching in his hand.

I wonder how Jumpy is doing now. As a species from the desert, this guy isn't very good at swimming. In addition, he's infected with the Mad Dragon Disease, and the fact that he was hit by the Black Devouring Dragon's breath has made his symptoms much more severe. It's really worrying.

If Lin Lin hadn't been holding onto the Bond Stone and instinctively sensing Jump's presence, he probably would have lost control of his emotions by now.

Of course, even though he managed to remain calm, Lin Lin's desire to kill the two culprits who had caused Tiao Tiao's disappearance grew stronger.

Aiden, who was in the elite squad not far behind, weighed his weapon in his hand and glanced at Lin Lin, who was in a low mood. He wanted to go up and comfort him, but he didn't know what had happened. If he spoke rashly, he might accidentally touch a sore spot and do something bad with good intentions.

So he looked around, moved closer to Nadia, winked twice, and gestured towards Lin Lin.

Nadia shook her head slightly, indicating that she was also unaware of the matter.

Aiden turned back to Fabius, who, like the composed man, shook his head slightly.
"The intelligence was all handed over by the captain; the two of us don't know more than you do."

Helpless, Aiden had no choice but to move closer to Julius again.

Julius glanced at Lin Lin, then looked at his apprentice:

“He mentioned it once at the meeting place, saying that ‘Jump Jump’ was still waiting for him.”

Aiden nodded in realization. "Jump Jump" didn't sound human, so it must be a hunting companion like a Palico. His companion was stuck in the hunting grounds, no wonder he rushed back and was in such a low mood.

Aiden then quickly took a few steps forward, came to Lin Lin's side, and gently placed his hand on his shoulder.

Seeing Lin Lin turn around with a questioning look in his eyes, Aiden suppressed his usual sunny smile and only showed a slight smile:
"It's okay, we'll find Jumpy."

As he spoke, Aiden showed off the Insect Glaive he was carrying:

"We'll all help you, don't worry!"

Lin Lin turned around and looked behind him. Julius nodded slightly to him, Nadia gave him a thumbs up, and Fabius punched his chest hard.

Despite the daunting task they carried, the members of the elite team unanimously expressed their willingness to help Lin Lin.

Putting aside the fact that the other party was a major contributor to saving Barbare from Haoshanlong's clutches, Lin Lin's two risky attempts to bring the intelligence back to the guild while battling illness, and his willingness to return to the hunting grounds to share the burden for them, had already earned them their respect.

Ye Zi quietly moved closer, her soft hand tightly grasping Lin Lin's large hand:

"Don't worry, I'll always be with you. Let's find Tiaotiao together."

Lin Lin took a deep breath, gripped Ye Zi's small hand tightly, and nodded vigorously to the four members of the elite team:
"thank you all!"

...Led by Nia Lu, Lin Lin and his group successfully found the site of the battle with the Black Devouring Dragon when the moon was high in the sky. The moonlight pierced through the layers of branches and leaves, falling in fragments on the messy ground, creating shadowy images that looked like the chaotic piecing together of various monsters.

"This is where we fought back then. I only managed to escape its pursuit by jumping into the river."

Lin Lin walked to the side of the ever-flowing river, his gaze following the current downstream, wondering where Tiaotiao had landed...

The members of the elite team scattered to investigate the surrounding traces. As the team's ecological survey expert, Fabius walked to the broken tree trunks and carefully examined the remaining scale fragments. After a while, he turned to look at Lin Lin with a strange expression.

"You're saying that only you and that Black Devouring Dragon were fighting back then?"

"Correct."

"But the fracture marks here are clearly from a battle between large monsters. Does that mean that after you left, the Black Eclipse Dragon fought with other large monsters?"

"No, that was left by Jumpy. Jumpy is a yellow Velociraptor."

Fabius: Huh?

Nadia: Huh?
Julius: ...I think I heard some rumors within the guild before, is it really true?

Aiden: Hunters and monsters become partners and fight side by side? That's so cool!

After a brief investigation of the surrounding area, the elite team reunited and, after some discussion, reached a common conclusion.

"The black dragon didn't stay on the ground for long after the battle ended; it flew away."

"It's not yet certain whether the Black Eclipse Dragon has a fixed territory, but this is at least a direction. Let's use this battlefield as the center and explore the surrounding areas. Hopefully, it won't fly too far."

Julius looked up at the moon overhead, paused, and continued:
"That's enough for today. Let's conserve our energy. Tomorrow we'll begin a large-scale exploration and search for any traces of the Yellow Velociraptor."

……

Jump Jump felt like it had a very long dream. In the dream, it grew a pair of wide wings as it wished, carried the leader on its head, and soared freely in the sky.

That dream was so beautiful that even the sensation of the air currents blowing on my body was wonderful, and I felt no fatigue at all as I flew over various places.

It arrived at Jieyun Village and saw the brute bear standing by the stream, only able to watch helplessly as it carried the leader over its head.

It flew over Flamefire Village, hovering above the head of that guy who liked to make bubbles and act cute, deliberately making him watch it play with the leader. It could only try to attract the leader's attention with its pitiful cries.

But it wouldn't succeed, because with a flap of its wings, Jumpy left Flamefire Village behind and flew to Dongdoruma's courtyard. Although that sycophantic bug could also fly, there were differences between different types of flight. This kind of idiot with elytra could only follow behind it and eat its dust.

Unfortunately, the dream didn't end so happily. After shaking off the giant beetle, it hopped and flapped its wings, feeling a bit hungry. Just as it was about to find a place to hunt and have the leader roast its favorite rare meat, it suddenly heard a whistling wind behind it.

Jumping instinctively turned its head and saw a male fire dragon with its left eye blind flapping its wings and relentlessly following behind it. It tried to flap its wings to speed up and shake it off, but the dragon's flying skills were too superb. Jumping found that not only could it not shake off the dragon, but it was also being caught up by the dragon little by little.

"Ha, Sky's here too? Jumpy, let's play together, okay?"

Jumpy stubbornly flapped its wings in a final effort, but this action seemed to enrage the male fire dragon, which sped up and flew to its side, letting out a loud roar at its head.

"Roar!!!"

However, this roar didn't sound like Oozora's at all; it sounded more like the guy who injured both him and Yoko.
"Roar!!!"

Jumping suddenly jolted awake from her beautiful dream.

Buhou, that voice... it really is that dark golden dragon's!
Jump Jump instinctively wanted to open its eyes and then flee at top speed, but just as it had this thought, it realized something was wrong.

Wait, where are my eyes? Why can't I feel anything with my eyes?
And this body, it feels like... like it has four extra legs, and this part of the shoulders, this feeling... isn't this the feeling of flapping wings in a dream?!
"Roar!!!"

Jumpy instinctively flapped its wings, and then, in its pitch-black vision, a huge figure radiating red light suddenly appeared in front of it. Judging from the outline, this... this was that ridiculously powerful flying dragon! This thing was roaring at me to drive me away!

Jumpy was a little confused. What was going on? When it encountered this guy before, it never used the "courtesy before force" approach. Why was it barking three times in a row to drive it away? Why did this guy seem so wary of me...?

Jump Jump was right; this Thousand-Blade Dragon was indeed very wary of it.

After all, the reason it was infected with the Mad Dragon Virus was because it encountered the Black Devouring Dragon. It fought to defend its territory and was suppressed and at a disadvantage. It was only after the symptoms of the virus first appeared that it was able to turn the tide and drive the opponent away.

Of course, if it were just a Thousand-Blade Dragon infected with the Mad Dragon Disease, it probably wouldn't have the mind to think about these things at this moment; it would just charge in and finish it off. But the Thousand-Blade Dragon here has gradually overcome the effects of the Mad Dragon Virus in many battles, and it is only one step away from completely subduing it and becoming an ultimate individual.

However, since it hadn't fully reached its limit yet, it could think, but not much, and its temper was still explosive. Seeing that three roars hadn't driven this guy away, it didn't hesitate any longer. It took off and flapped its wings, rushing towards Jumpy's direction, and delivered a powerful flying kick to Jumpy's face.

(End of this chapter)