Monster Hunter: I can hear the monsters' thoughts

Chapter 429 Jumping and Hot Air Balloon
Faced with the sword and shield offered by Lin Lin, Ye Zi naturally had no reason to refuse. She handed the Horned Dragon Horned Insect Staff to Lin Lin, let Xiao Jia rest on Lin Lin's body for the time being, and took the weapon in the standard left-sword-right-shield stance.

"Hmm...it's still a bit heavy..."

Ye Zi weighed it in her hand. The Thousand-Blade Dragon Shield Axe didn't look very heavy, but it was quite heavy once she held it. As someone who was used to using light weapons, she was a little unaccustomed to it for a while.

"Sunk?"

Lin Lin then more directly felt the difference in strength between the two. For him, the Thousand-Blade Dragon Shield Axe was really well-tuned. He tried swinging it a couple of times before, and it felt like an extension of his own arm. Changing moves was much smoother. It was definitely not comparable to the previous Horned Dragon Armor, which only had weight.

"Sink~"

Yoko pouted, feigning weakness and helplessness.

Lin Lin twitched the corner of his mouth. He was clearly a genius hunter who could unscrew the skull of a monster, so it was a bit too exaggerated for him to be unable to even open a bottle cap!
Even an average person couldn't hold two charged swords steady...

"Cough cough..."

Lin Lin coughed lightly: "Let's see what this 'Blade Scale Set' is all about. I'm also very curious to see how much sharpness it can recover under the set's enhancement."

Ye Zi nodded, stopped acting strangely, looked around for a while, found a piece of dead wood, ran over excitedly, and started chopping with her knife.

Since we're testing the sharpness recovery ability, we naturally need to make a few cuts to wear it down first.

Then, with a single stroke, the piece of dead wood split open...

Yoko blinked, picked up the charged sword and glanced at the blade, finding no signs of wear or tear whatsoever.

Lin Lin seemed to remember something, went back to the village, and soon returned pushing a cart.

Under Ye Zi's watchful gaze, Lin Lin picked up several pieces of the ghost frog's shell and tied them to a small tree about the size of a washbasin.

"Try this."

"Huh? Just cut the materials directly?"

Lin Lin waved his hand, "Anyway, the materials from the ghost frog are useless. They're just gathering dust. I might as well put them to good use."

So Yoko swung her sword again, and after a series of slashes, she switched to her axe form, swung it a few times, and stopped after smashing the toad's shell to pieces.

After separating the sword and shield, Lin Lin and Ye Zi went over together to carefully examine the blade.

"It's really recovering..."

Lin Lin stroked his chin. "It feels much faster than when I used it alone before."

only……

How did it recover?

We, Takk... Monster Hunter is a world of science, so at least we should respect the law of conservation of mass-energy. This blade couldn't have just grown out of thin air, could it?

After carefully sensing it, Ye Zi nodded in understanding:
It should be 'qi'.

"I can feel that after wearing this armor, I and this shield axe seem to become one. When the 'ki' circulates in my body, it also passes through the shield axe. It will slowly recover under the stimulation of life energy."

So that's how it is; it consumes life energy...

Ye Zi then carefully examined the edge of the shield. "The shield is also recovering, and it doesn't consume much 'qi'. In the heat of battle, when the body's metabolism is more active, its recovery speed should be even faster."

Relying on "qi" to restore sharpness is essentially similar to the Rising Dragon Technique and Kamui Iaijutsu of the katana, which reminded Lin Lin of Bref far away in East Dorma... Oh no, they should be adrift at sea right now...

"That makes sense. Let me try it again and see how much its recovery ability can reach without the set bonus."

……

The testing of the new Charge Blade did not take too long, and Lin Lin was quite satisfied with the results.

Even without the Thousand Blade Dragon armor set, after several attempts, Lin Lin successfully infused his aura into the shield axe, achieving initial harmony with it.

The reason he didn't continue practicing was because the blacksmith's request to Sophia had been approved. He needed to hurry up and find a Red Armored Beast to give the blacksmith time to forge the Mycology Bead. This way, the trouble with the Shattered Dragon could be resolved before the airship was completed and the troupe set off from Naguri Village.

"Don't you need me to come along?"

Lin Lin sat on Tiao Tiao's back, looking down at Ye Zi who looked like she really wanted to go with him, and smiled helplessly:

"Forget it. There are Broken Dragons in the area near the village. To find the Crimson Armor Beast, we might have to go much further, and it could take a long time. If any monsters threaten the village during this time, we need to have a reliable fighting force."

"Besides, the Red Armor Beast isn't a tough opponent, and it likes to fart. If you get stuck with it, it's not much better than being hit by the Peach Fur Beast King's stinky bomb. Jumpy and I are enough."

Jumpy growled restlessly; it didn't want to become smelly either.

"Alright, it's settled then, Jump, let's go!"

……

Considering that a broken dragon was roaming the underground volcanic area near Naguli Village, and that the Red Armored Beast might not dare to approach, Lin Lin did not follow the previous route this time. Instead, he and Tiaotiao soared into the sky to search from above.

Although the surface of the volcano and the caves buried deep underground are both within the Elder volcano area, the environments are quite different. Looking down from underground, all you see is the fiery red lava and the ground reflecting a dark red color. Towering rocks overhead block out the sunlight, making it a relatively enclosed and stuffy space. It's fine for a short time, but it becomes very oppressive after a while.

The surface is quite different. Here, gray and black are the main colors, with red lava as just an embellishment. Looking around, the vast mountains appear as a gray expanse, with occasional glimpses of heat-resistant vegetation. Volcanic ash surges from the crater, gathering overhead to form thick clouds of smoke... Although it's not particularly beautiful, at least the space is very open, and even the temperature isn't as high as underground, so you don't have to drink cold drinks to survive.

"Let's search along the foothills..."

Lin Lin vaguely remembered that in the CG of the Red Armor Beast's appearance in Rise of Kingdoms, this guy curled his body into a big ball and rolled all the way down the mountain. Finally, he used the potential energy he was constantly accumulating to knock over a Dratini.

Based on this information, there should be a chance to find traces of Crimson Armored Beasts in the foothills of the volcano. Their bodies are bright red, and when they roll, they should be quite conspicuous against the mostly gray mountainside. They should be easy to spot from the air. Jumpy let out a low growl, and after rising to a certain height, it spread its wings and began to glide slowly.

It has no eyesight now, so Lin Lin has to rely entirely on his own eyes to find what he's looking for. All it can do is fly more steadily so that Lin Lin can see more clearly.

At this moment, it couldn't help but think of Da Kong. That crimson-clad fellow was not only skilled at flying, but also seemed to have exceptionally good eyesight. Although it had now grown wings as it wished and was flying into the sky with Lin Lin, the price it paid was that it had become completely blind. In the end, it was still too weak. If Da Kong were here, perhaps things wouldn't be so troublesome...

"Don't let your imagination run wild!"

Lin Lin tapped Tiao Tiao on the head with a little force.

“Dakong can’t come here. If it also gets infected with the Mad Dragon Disease, it will be a real problem. Not every monster is as lucky as you to be able to turn the power of the Mad Dragon into its own.”

It's already a miracle that Jumpy was able to maintain its original consciousness after transforming into the Black Devouring Dragon. Lin Lin dared not gamble on whether miracles would continue to happen.

“I can observe with a telescope just as well. If you weren’t here, I would have to search slowly on the ground… That would be too troublesome. Without the hot air balloon to provide intelligence, I don’t know how much time it would take.”

While talking to Tiaotiao, Lin Lin moved the lens of his binoculars, scanning the volcanic cluster below.

After observing for a long time, he saw quite a few dromaeosaurids and ankylosaurids, and even some pterosaurs, but he couldn't find any trace of any large monsters.

This hilltop is most likely gone...

I remember back in P3, when the Red Armor Beast appeared, it was eating either flying beetles or giant bees. Let's see if there are any places where those insects gather...

Lin Lin put down his binoculars, rubbed his eyes, and was about to catch his breath before continuing his search when he looked up and saw a hot air balloon floating not far ahead. His eyes lit up immediately.

"It's a hot air balloon from the Ancient Dragon Observatory. I didn't expect to encounter one at a volcano. This saves us a lot of trouble."

I remember when I first met Jumpy, he was looking for his hunting target, the Sand Dragon King, so he asked the Elder Dragon Observatory for help with the hot air balloon, which gave him the direction.

Lin Lin gave a gentle pat, and Tiao Tiao immediately understood his intention. With a slight flap of its wings, it sped up and chased after the hot air balloon.

Meanwhile, inside the hot air balloon.

The elderly dragon people, holding long telescopes, observed the ecological information of the Elder volcano area as usual, while the young scholars, with quill pens, recorded the information dictated by the elders bit by bit.

"Yawn~"

As he wrote, the young scholar couldn't help but yawn, and the path of his quill pen became distorted. When he no longer heard the old dragon man's hypnotic string of "normal," his eyes glazed over, and he began to drift off into his own thoughts.

Today is another day devoid of Poland...

The young scholar unconsciously tapped his chin with a quill pen, appearing lazy and lethargic.

The old dragon looked around, put down his binoculars to rest for a while, glanced back at the young scholar's condition, sighed slightly, and did not blame him.

The young scholar wasn't always like this. In his memory, when the boy first joined the Ancient Dragon Observation Bureau, he was full of ambition and determination, speaking firmly to himself, expressing his intention to unravel the mysteries of the Ancient Dragons and contribute his own strength to the fight against natural disasters...

However, after finishing his studies and actually boarding the hot air balloon to become a proud observer, the boy discovered that the job was not as exciting as he had imagined. The repetitive and tedious observations quickly wore down the young man's freshness and enthusiasm.

The boy had complained several times about the monotony of his work, and wondered when he could observe an ancient dragon so that he could unleash his passion and become a hero to humankind.

However, the old dragon had lived for too many years, and he knew very well that such a peaceful and uneventful daily life was the best. Once the unusual movements of the ancient dragon were observed, a disaster would likely follow, and a disaster that would kill many people.

Hopefully, this child will understand this principle...

"Alas, I'm getting old. My eyes are starting to blur after observing for a while. Child, can you take over for me for a bit? If there are any changes, remember to let me know immediately."

Actually, he had already observed everything that needed to be observed. The reason I said that was to give him some free time to let loose and prevent the child from becoming so dejected.

So the young scholar switched places with the old dragon man. He took the telescope and began to look around, while the old dragon man sat in his previous spot, watching him with a peaceful gaze.

The young scholar casually glanced around through his binoculars, only to find that the gray volcano below remained unchanged, and the ancient dragon he so longed for was nowhere to be seen. He shook his head and put down the binoculars.

It's the same every day, what's so interesting about it...?

What is that? A tiny black dot?
The young scholar blinked, looked closely, and discovered that the black dot had grown rapidly in just a few seconds.

He froze for a moment, then finally realized what was happening, and his expression visibly changed from nonchalant laziness to wide-eyed panic:
"Yes, yes, yes..."

The old dragon man frowned. "What happened?"

"A dragon is charging towards us!!!"

The young scholar's alarmed voice stunned the old dragon man; he instinctively felt disbelief.

How could that be? They were clearly careful to avoid the territory of those dragons, and the hot air balloon had been specially treated so that those guys would just think it was a dead object that posed no threat.

Could it be that a new dragon has arrived in this volcanic area, and one with a particularly bad temper?

The old dragon man couldn't sit still any longer. He interrupted the young scholar's exclamation and roared:
"Hurry up and prepare for the impact!"

"Ahhhhhh—ah?"

The old dragon man clung tightly to the railing of the hot air balloon, listening to the scholar's exclamation gradually lengthen into a bewildered "Huh?", and couldn't help but mutter to himself.

What happened? Could it be that the dragon was nearsighted and only realized the hot air balloon posed no threat after getting close, so it decided to retreat?

The next moment, he heard a man's voice:

"Excuse me for interrupting, have you observed any traces of the Crimson Armor Beast here?"

(End of this chapter)