Monster Hunter: I can hear the monsters' thoughts

Chapter 416 Departure, Destination: Naguli Village

"Thousand-Blade Dragon?"

Lin Lin was stunned for a moment. He remembered that among the bomb phial shield axes, the Thousand Blade Shield Axe had pretty good stats. Although its power was slightly less than that of the Diablos Shield Axe, its sharpness and critical hit rate made up for it. Back when he was exploring 4G, after upgrading his Ore Shield Axe all the way up, the first one he made was the Thousand Blade Shield Axe.

But the problem is, didn't they all send them to the director and his team to research an antidote for the Mad Dragon virus?

However, after a moment's thought, he realized that what they needed for their research was mainly the corpse of the Thousand Blade Dragon. As for the scales, carapace, and flying membranes on the corpse, only hunters would treasure them—perhaps merchants and some collectors as well.

Looking at it this way, didn't I lose a lot of materials by handing over the corpse of that mad dragon that turned into a fire dragon to the guild? Is there any chance of getting it back?
Just as Lin Lin couldn't help but start to let his mind wander, another voice broke into the conversation; it was Sophia, who was watching from the sidelines.

"But the materials from that Thousand-Blade Dragon seem to need to be divided among six people. Even if that Thousand-Blade Dragon is huge, will there really be enough materials after dividing it up like that?"

That's right, not four people, but six.

As the official mascot of the guild who liaises with the group, Sophia has some understanding of the situation of the Ultimate Thousand Blade Dragon that was brought back yesterday.

Originally, the hunt was supposed to be a four-person elite team, but two of them had to leave midway through the battle. Lin Lin and the other two took their place and participated in the hunt. All six of them contributed to the hunt, and the distribution of materials could not be neglected.

Aiden scratched his head sheepishly and waved his hands repeatedly:
"No, I didn't play much of a role in the extermination anyway, so I won't participate in the distribution of materials!"

Sofia shrugged. "Okay, five people can share it, but it seems a bit of a stretch if we want to forge weapons."

"Cough cough."

The blacksmith coughed softly, drawing the attention of the group.

"I was the one who harvested the materials from that Thousand-Blade Dragon. I also have some ideas for making the Charge Blade, and some of the materials from it will be enough."

"Since you haven't finished distributing them yet, why don't I come along and give you some advice on how to gather the weapon materials as much as possible?"

……

The ship-shaped gathering place.

When Lin Lin and the others arrived, they happened to run into Julius, Nadia, and Fabius. Seeing that they were fully equipped and ready to go, Lin Lin couldn't help but be a little surprised.

"Captain, didn't we just come back from a hunt yesterday? What's going on here...?"

"Why are we setting off again, aren't we?"

Julius smiled faintly, then turned his gaze to Aiden, signaling him to return to the team.

Lin Lin nodded. He was indeed quite surprised. Wasn't this intensity a bit too high? Didn't they need to rest at all?
Julius pushed open the door to the meeting place: "Come in and let's talk."

The sun had just risen above the horizon, and the ship-shaped meeting place was quite quiet. Apart from a few hangovers, only waiters were quietly moving about, cleaning up the clutter. The signboard girl on night duty was yawning and getting ready to go home. For any meeting place, the mornings are usually this quiet and deserted. Hunters mostly gather here at night, which is when it is most lively.

"You know the mission that led to the formation of this team, right?"

Having hunted together once, it's no exaggeration to say they're comrades-in-arms who've shared life and death. Although Julius still has that poker face, Lin Lin can sense that they're much closer than when they first met, and even their conversations have become more casual.

"For the Black Eclipse Dragon, isn't it?"

"Yes, although we defeated the Thousand-Blade Dragon and prevented a major upheaval from brewing, the Black Eclipse Dragon escaped."

"It's not Jumpy. In order to perceive its surroundings, it must continuously scatter scales, which would lead to the spread of the Mad Dragon Virus... In that case, it's hard to say whether a new Black Erosion Dragon like Jumpy will be born."

Reminded by Julius, Lin Lin couldn't help but recall the golden light that flashed on the wings and claws of the Black Devouring Dragon when it flew away. The sense of relaxation he had been looking forward to taking a good rest vanished instantly, replaced by a renewed sense of urgency.

“Indeed, we need to find it as soon as possible... I remember it flew in a southwest direction, perhaps you could start your investigation from there?”

"Thank you for the information. In that case, we need to hurry. Sorry to end this chat here."

Julius gently patted Lin Lin on the shoulder, then walked towards the mission counter.

They were originally waiting at the meeting place for Aiden to retrieve his weapon so they could ask the guild master to arrange for an airship to depart again. Since they had run into Lin Lin here, they decided to have a brief chat and say goodbye.

The blacksmith looked at Julius, then at Lin Lin:

"So, they don't want that material anymore?"

Julius, with his keen hearing, turned to look upon hearing this, then waved his hand dismissively:

"Time is of the essence, and we can't carry a big bag of materials around. We already told the guild master yesterday that we won't take the materials; we can just exchange them for guild points to settle the account."

As he spoke, he turned and glanced at Lin Lin:
"Besides, some people here risked their weapons for this mission, so they need to have new weapons to use, right?"

Lin Lin took a deep breath, looked at Julius, and then turned his gaze to Nadia, Fabius, and Aiden in turn.

Meeting Lin Lin's gaze, they either nodded, smiled, or gave a thumbs up; none of them expressed any objection. Undoubtedly, this was their collective decision, not Julius's arbitrary act.

It's actually... a little touching...

It was clear that Julius and his group were in a hurry. They completed the negotiations in just a few minutes, then said goodbye to Lin Lin and left to embark on their journey to find the Black Corrosion Dragon.

Lin Lin didn't leave. He was a little hungry, so he sat down at the meeting place table and ordered breakfast, also ordering one for the blacksmith and one for Sophia.

"Since none of the four of them want the materials, there are so many materials that only two people can share them. It should be more than enough to forge a shield axe." "It's just a pity that I lost my inspiration for a new armor design. If I use the materials to forge a shield axe, I won't have enough left to make a full set of armor."

"Given the material properties of the Thousand Blade Dragon, it should be able to produce very special effects."

As for armor... if we're talking about special effects, I guess it would be "blade scale polishing," right?
It is indeed a useful skill, but for someone like him who is used to going head-to-head with monsters and relying on brute force to achieve miracles, it is not very practical. He still prefers something simpler and more direct.

Yoko, on the other hand... uses the Insect Glaive, and often has to dodge and weave when facing monster attacks, which is quite compatible with the Thousand Blade Dragon set skills.

Lin Lin was thinking about Ye Zi when the meeting hall door was pushed open, and a girl wearing a Thunder Wolf Dragon suit walked in.

"Brother Lin Lin? And Sophia... And who is this?"

"I'm the blacksmith of the guild, just call me Brother Blacksmith."

Lin Lin's eyes lit up, and he quickly beckoned Ye Zi to come and sit down:

"Yoko! You haven't eaten yet, have you? Let me order you some too!"

Yoko's eyes instantly curved into crescent moons, and she said in a sweet, cloying voice:
"Thank you, Brother Lin Lin~"

"Huh? Where did this clip come from?"

"Clips? What clips?"

"Squeezing your throat! Hahaha..."

Sophia pouted. What a sickeningly sweet couple. Luckily, they're not both hunters from my group, or they'd look terrible.

After a brief exchange of jokes, Lin Lin briefly explained his thoughts, suggesting that the Thousand Blade Dragon armor might be a perfect fit for Ye Zi.

Upon learning that only she and Lin Lin were left to share the materials, Ye Zi originally wanted to give her share to Lin Lin so that he could forge a complete set of weapons and armor. However, after Lin Lin insisted that the Thousand Blade Dragon armor was not suitable for him, she agreed to forge a completely new set of armor.

(It seems that Wilderness has remodeled the weapons and armor of the Pinecone Chicken, but I haven't played it yet, so the version shown here is the old one.)
"Change it to a women's outfit? That's not a problem. The design concept will remain the same, and the actual effect should be no different."

After thinking for a moment, the blacksmith nodded and accepted the order.

"However, I still need to go back and carefully adjust the specific design plan. Also, Lin Lin, your shield and axe, these two orders will take a lot of time. I'll go back and finish the design drafts first."

Although the blacksmith was taciturn, he was very efficient. He finished his meal quietly and returned to his blacksmith shop to get busy. So, only Lin Linyezi, Sophia, and Lin Linyezi remained at the table.

"Hey Lin Lin, when are we going back to Dongdoruma?"

Ye Zi took a sip of tea, rubbed her stomach, and turned to look at Lin Lin.

Even now, she is still curious about how Brother Lin knew she was in trouble as soon as he heard she had come to the Unknown Tree Sea, and how he rushed over from afar to save her.

Now that everyone is safe and Tiaotiao has been found, can we go back now?
I've only lived in that four-story villa in Ziyuan for a few days. Compared to that, this RV in Barbare seems a bit too cramped.

"Not yet."

Lin Lin shook his head slightly. Putting aside the fact that he had taken on the role of the fourth-generation protagonist, he was still worried about Tiao Tiao, who had become the Black Corrosion Dragon.

The evolution of the Black Eclipse Dragon is essentially a battle royale among dragons. A group of Black Eclipse Dragons compete for the chance to transform into a Celestial Returning Dragon. The winner becomes the king, and the scattered scales will immediately stop the transformation of the losers, thus permanently fixing their life form.

Of course, if that were all, Lin Lin wouldn't be so worried. Once the Heavenly Returning Dragon dies and the cycle of reincarnation begins again, the other Black Erosion Dragons will still have a chance to touch the throne.

He feared that if he were to transform halfway through, another dragon would beat him to it and turn him into a chaotic black-and-white erosion dragon. In that case, he would not only completely lose the opportunity to transform, but his short remaining life would also be forever trapped in pain and torment, which would be a complete tragedy. Lin Lin did not want Tiao Tiao to become like that.

However, these things are ultimately difficult to explain aloud, and it's inappropriate to cite fictitious ancient books too many times. Lin Lin simply shook his head:

“I promised the leader that I would join the guild to uncover the truth about the pure white dragon scales. I’ll return to East Doruma after this journey is over… I have a feeling this journey won’t take long.”

Sofia rested her chin on her hand:
"You seem quite confident, even the commander isn't as sure as you."

Lin Lin twitched the corner of his mouth. After all, he was a transmigrator who knew the plot. Even if the actual events deviated significantly from the game's storyline, at least the general direction was still correct.

"Yoko, how about it? Want to join the Phantom Troupe and witness the truth together?"

Yoko blinked her big eyes and smiled sweetly:
"no problem!"

……

With the addition of Lin Lin and Ye Zi, the last piece of the puzzle for the group was completed. Upon learning that Lin Lin had offered a "buy one get one free" deal, the group leader was overjoyed and decisively directed the entire group to pack their luggage and head towards the next stop on their journey.

Barbare was, after all, a well-informed mobile city. After making inquiries in Barbare for some time, they learned that a race called the "Earth Dragon Clan" lived in the village of Naguri, far away in the Latio volcanic region. They were knowledgeable and had extraordinary craftsmanship. Perhaps they could find clues about the pure white dragon scales. So they made a decision.

Everyone in the group has their own RV. In theory, as long as they are connected, a strong Bobo would be enough to get the whole group moving. However, due to Lin Lin, things have changed a little.

Jump Jump has transformed into a Black Erosion Dragon and lost its sight. If it doesn't stay by Lin Lin's side, it can only perceive the world by scattering scales, which would cause the Mad Dragon Virus to spread again. There is no doubt that Lin Lin would not do that.

However, for the guild and the scholars, the Black Eclipse Dragon was a newly discovered unknown monster. The scholars of Barbare had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to observe a live Black Eclipse Dragon up close, and almost none of them wanted to let Jump Jump and Lin Lin leave like this. After Lin Lin explained why Jump Jump was inseparable from him, they were willing to let Jump Jump go with him, but in return, they wanted to travel with the guild!
The group already had a considerable burden with each person in a motorhome. If they were to bring along these scholars, it would be like a mini version of Barbare. If they were to encounter a dragon attack on the way, there would be chaos and countless casualties. How could two hunters possibly manage it all?

Finally, after consultation between the team leader and the institute director, the final result was that the scholars would give up chasing and observing Jump and focus on developing an antidote using the samples left by Jump. As for observing Jump, a representative would accompany them throughout the process—this representative was naturally Sophia.

(End of this chapter)