Monster Hunter: I can hear the monsters' thoughts

Chapter 420 Three Punches Kill the Ghost Frog
Sophia, with an expression that was hard to tell whether it was regret or lingering satisfaction, explained to Lin Lin:
"This explosive slime that coexists with Darlings will spread around during battle. A large portion of it will quickly explode, but a small portion will be buried and will not explode at the time. Instead, it will enter a dormant state until it is dug up and reactivated by other wrathful dragons."

"Of course, this is ultimately a low-probability event. More often than not, they will simply exhaust their energy and perish while in hibernation, or be unearthed by other monsters like just now, only to be met with a belated explosion."

Sofia pointed to the tiny, almost invisible speck of slime mold remaining on the scale:

"These slime molds have already consumed most of their energy in the explosion. The little bit of residue left cannot last long and will soon die out completely."

Sophia put down the scales and turned to look at the underground river:

"Just now, Jump Jump must have accidentally unearthed the slime mold that was hidden underground while playing in the water. This kind of slime mold is not suitable for living in damp places, so it must have been left here a long time ago, before this place was an underground river."

Sofia summarized:

"Also, according to the records, darlings prefer to appear in the hot environment of volcanoes, so the chances of us encountering them are very small!"

As expected of Sophia, her understanding of the Shattered Dragon is truly meticulous...

Lin Lin twitched the corners of his mouth, but his tense expression finally relaxed a lot.

Indeed, before the blocked lava resumes its flow and the underground caves revert to underground volcanoes, the environment here is quite pleasant, and shattered dragons generally don't come here.

"That makes sense, but we still need to be careful and stay vigilant."

Lin Lin nodded slightly, still not completely relaxed, and couldn't help but add another word of advice:
"If you do encounter a Brachydios, don't get too excited. Stay hidden and try to avoid fighting if possible."

Sophia gave a perfunctory "uh-huh" twice, but when she met Lin Lin's disapproving gaze, she coughed lightly, thought seriously for a moment, and promised:
"Okay, I'll try my best to control my emotions..."

Lin Lin: Stare—

"I absolutely won't cause you any trouble!"

Lin Lin sighed. This dragon fetish was hopeless...

也不知道要是以后什么时候真碰上了碎龙，它会不会因为你那满腔的爱意就不抡着拳头揍你……

"Jump Jump, let's go. Let's hurry up and deal with Ghost Frog, then go find Night to meet up."

The news that the Broken Dragon had once roamed the area made Lin Lin feel a sense of urgency. He no longer planned to continue using the "hunter's method" to deal with the Ghost Frog. He wanted to use some rider's methods.

Tiaotiao bent down, and Lin Lin rolled over and sat on Tiaotiao's neck, then waved to Sophia.

Sofia: ?

Lin Lin:

“Come up here. Ground search is too inefficient. Let’s search from the air.”

Sophia subconsciously pointed to herself, "Me?"

On the way to Naguli Village, Tiaotiao would take Lin Lin for a ride in the sky twice a day. She was surprised that she could also receive this honor and fly along with him.

Lin Lin was speechless.

"Do you really think I'd just leave a weak woman like you, who can't even kill a chicken, here and then fly off with Jumpy to investigate?"

Sofia: ...

That seems to be true...

……

The place is very hilly, and climbing up and down the ground can be quite a hassle for hunters, hence the name "Underground Crematorium". But when you sit on Jumpy's back, feeling the wind in the air and looking down at the ground below, the feeling is completely different. It's simply exhilarating.

However, since it was an underground cave, the space in the sky was not very open, and the monsters' flying ability was somewhat limited. Therefore, some monsters that were good at flying did not really like to come here. As a result, without the obstruction of those monsters who felt that their airspace had been violated, Jump Jump flew quite smoothly all the way, and Lin Lin soon saw a huge figure with an orange-red body.

The creature looked like a giant toad, but its tail wasn't as vestigial as that of the paralyzed gas frog, which had almost completely disappeared. From above, it looked like it had five legs.

Aside from its orange-red, rock-like shell, its most distinctive feature is its lower jaw, which protrudes significantly from its upper jaw. Its two overbite fangs look incredibly ferocious, resembling the angry face of a demon. It's worth mentioning that, strictly speaking, these two fangs are actually the result of bone hyperplasia in its lower jaw; its real teeth are hidden inside its mouth and are arranged quite neatly.

"The name is quite fitting."

Lin Lin chuckled and prepared to call for Tiao Tiao to swoop down and slap the guy twice.

"Please wait!"

Sofia steadied herself, quickly took out her notebook, and began taking notes.

"It'll be ready soon, almost done!"

Lin Lin didn't really care about this, since it wouldn't take up much time. So he took the opportunity to carefully observe the movements of the ghost frog below.

Whether it was because this guy had poor eyesight or simply didn't have the habit of looking up at the sky, he was completely unaware of the Black Devouring Dragon hovering above his head. At this moment, he was very seriously using his huge fangs to scoop a rock out of the ground, fixed it in his mouth, and slowly began to crawl.

What is it doing?

Lin Lin was a little confused. In his mind, weren't ghost frogs only used their fangs to dig out rocks as weapons when they were fighting?
"They must be building a nest, right?"

Sofia's paintbrush never stopped, and she glanced at the Ghost Frog's movements, "When Ghost Frogs build their nests, they like to dig up rocks and pile them up like this..."

As she spoke, her tone became somewhat enigmatic, as if she had just thought of something.

"Speaking of which, Gemma said before that the lava flow stopped because the Shadow Spiders wanted to build a nest, so they blocked the lava channels with rocks, right?"

Lin Lin nodded. That's true, but why bring this up all of a sudden?

"The Shadow Spider itself doesn't have the ability to dig. It can only find rocks of suitable size and then drag them away with its web. As for rocks the size that can block lava channels..."

Upon hearing Sophia's words, Lin Lin suddenly understood, and when he looked down at the hardworking ghost frogs, his eyes couldn't help but show a hint of sympathy.

Poor ghost frog! It painstakingly dug a pile of rocks to build its nest, only to have the Shadow Spider steal its fruits. Sigh, so unfair... "There's no need to pity it. Ghost frogs are actually quite ferocious monsters. Any living thing that appears within its sight is considered an enemy and will be attacked mercilessly. For the safety of the villagers of Naguli Village, this guy must be eliminated."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Lin saw a Hardened Dragon spawn in some corner below, pawing at its hooves, preparing to unleash a Jade Shattering Charge at a slowly wriggling Shield Bug not far away.

Lin Lin: ...

This Rocket Man is really something else; he's got a temper like this no matter where he goes.

However, this guy seemed completely unaware that when he charged at the shield bug, he himself became the target of an even more powerful being.

With a leap, the Ghost Frog landed squarely on the Armored Dragon, its heavy body and the weight of the rock in its mouth killed the dragon instantly, even with its stubborn head.

The Ghost Frog paid no heed to the flattened mass of flesh beneath it, which had crushed a Hardened Dragon to death. As if nothing had happened, it continued to stride leisurely toward its nest, leaving a long, reddish-brown trail of blood on its belly across the rocky ground.

"This guy doesn't eat it?"

Such a waste! I think you're asking for trouble!

Wait, that's not right. I was actually going to attack it anyway, so never mind.

"Lin Lin, I've finished recording!"

Sophia put away her notebook, looking completely satisfied. Taking Lin Lin's advice and choosing to become the mascot was definitely the right decision!
"Jump Jump, did you hear that? She said we can go on!"

"Roar!"

Jump immediately let out a roar, flapped its wings, and swooped down, its target the ghost frog.

"Huh? Ah? Ah!!!"

At first, the hopping flight was quite smooth, and Sophia didn't feel anything. But now that the hopping had started to dive, the extremely strong feeling of weightlessness and the howling wind made her panic. She wanted to say, "I haven't gotten off the vehicle yet," but the wind that kept pouring into her mouth blocked all the words she wanted to say.

"Don't panic, I'm here for you!"

Lin Lin pulled up his faceplate, unaffected by the wind pressure, and quietly estimated the distance between them and the ground. When there were only ten meters left, Lin Lin stomped his foot on Tiao Tiao and grabbed Sophia by the collar. The upward force and the falling speed collided, and their bodies paused in mid-air for a moment before resuming free fall.

When they were two meters from the ground, Lin Lin casually released a flying insect, holding onto the silk thread in his hand. With the flying insect's efforts, they hovered steadily in mid-air.

After two buffers, the slight downward speed wouldn't hurt even a clerk like Sophia. As for Lin Lin, he didn't even need to roll to absorb the force; he simply bent his knees slightly and landed steadily on the ground.

"How was it? Exciting, isn't it?"

Sofia was panting heavily, her fair face now deathly pale. She patted her chest, still shaken.

"You're kidding me! I felt like I was about to die!"

Lin Lin reached out and caught the flying insect that had returned. Hearing this, he grinned and said sorry—but Sophia felt that his apology was not very sincere.

Lin Lin turned to look at the battlefield. Just as Jump had swooped down to the last fifty meters, the Ghost Frog finally noticed the movement. But even if it did notice, its clumsy body couldn't react instantly. Before it could turn around, Jump slapped it hard across the head with its wing claw, making it dizzy and unable to move.

At this point, there was no suspense left. After Jump transformed into the Black Devouring Dragon, even though it was still small in size, its strength was already comparable to map kings like the Fire Dragon and the Horned Dragon. Fighting monsters like the Ghost Frog was no different from fighting small animals. Not to mention that it had a huge advantage by launching a sneak attack first. Even if Lin Lin didn't watch the battlefield, Jump could still fight with its eyes closed.

Lin Lin simply explained it to Sophia:
"After all, we're quite conspicuous in the sky. If the Ghost Frog spots us and runs away, it'll be a bit of a problem."

"If we land first and drop you off, the commotion will be easier to detect."

Sophia finally caught her breath. Hearing Lin Lin's explanation, she pouted, knowing that Lin Lin made sense, but she just complained.

"You could at least have told me first, so I could have been prepared..."

"Sorry sorry..."

Lin Lin clasped his hands together. "I just didn't expect this to scare you. After all, you're so enthusiastic about the Shattered Dragon. In my opinion, the moment I discovered the traces of the Shattered Dragon was much more exciting than what just happened."

Sofia was momentarily speechless, stammering twice without finding the right words, and finally managed to utter only one sentence:

“It’s different, Darling…”

Lin Lin: ...

Boy, you are invincible.

While Lin Lin and Sophia were exchanging words, Jump slapped Ghost Frog unconscious. Then, with a second slap, Ghost Frog could only exhale and not inhale. By the time the third slap landed, Ghost Frog was completely paralyzed and motionless.

In ancient times, Lu Zhishen killed Zhen Guanxi with three punches; today, Tiaotiao slaps the Ghost Frog to death with three slaps.

"Roar!"

Jumpy pinned the Ghost Frog's corpse down with its two wing claws, raised its head and roared, its jet-black feather-like wing membranes fluttering wildly, as if it were declaring its status as the victor. However, to Lin Lin's ears, it sounded like Jumpy was displaying its excitement and pride.

Previously, its strength was weak. Apart from carrying Lin Lin to escape enemy attacks, it could only rely on paralyzing venom for support. If it encountered enemies with strong paralysis resistance, it could hardly play any role. But now, it has truly realized how powerful the power of the Mad Dragon really is. In this way, it will definitely be able to help the leader more and more in the future!
"Thanks a lot."

Lin Lin approached and rubbed the scales on Tiao Tiao's head:

"But Jumpy, you've become stronger now, but that doesn't mean you can't help me anymore. You've always been my partner, and even if you were still the same Velocidrome you used to be, I wouldn't look down on you."

Lin Lin's heartfelt words deeply moved Tiao Tiao, who immediately licked him, covering him in saliva.

"Alright, alright, stop licking! Hurry up and dispose of the toad's corpse. We still need to go check on Yoko!"

As Lin Lin was speaking, Sophia suddenly interjected:

"Wait a minute, Jump Jump's size seems to have grown a little bit?"

(End of this chapter)