Monster Hunter: I can hear the monsters' thoughts

Chapter 430 I'm Super, Ape!

Old Dragon Man: ?

Was I hallucinating from being too nervous? How could a third voice, besides mine and the young scholar's, possibly appear in a hot air balloon high in the sky?
He looked up and saw that the young scholar had the same blank expression as him.

"Um... hello? Is anyone home?"

The voice waited a moment, and when it seemed to receive no response, it spoke again.

Now the old dragon man was finally certain that this was not an illusion; someone had really flown up to the sky!
But how is this possible?

He grabbed the handrail and stood up, peering out the observation window. He saw a giant, jet-black dragon flapping its wings and hovering at the same height as them, not far from the hot air balloon.

Four legs, two wings, a standard ancient dragon skeleton...

I was wondering how anyone could fly up to such a high place; turns out it was an ancient dragon…

Wait a minute, was that sound real? Did Gu Long fly over to the hot air balloon and talk to us?
Am I awake?
"Hello? Sorry to bother you, but may I ask if you have spotted any traces of the Crimson Armor Beast?"

The voice continued, and the old dragonman pushed up his glasses, finally realizing something was wrong. The voice wasn't coming from the black dragon itself; the speaker was on its back!
"Jump, lower your head a little, or people won't be able to see me."

"Roar……"

Jumpy let out a helpless growl, "Come on, hovering in the air is quite tiring, okay? It's hard to adjust your posture."

The enormous black dragon, which was right in front of him, lowered its altitude slightly, and the old dragonman then saw that there was indeed a figure sitting on its back, waving and greeting him.

"Hello, sir. My name is Lin Lin. I'm a hunter. I just accepted a commission to hunt a Crimson Armor Beast. I was wondering if you could find any clues here."

Seeing the hunter's notebook that Lin Lin showed him, the old dragonman couldn't help but recall the rumors that some scholars in the Observation Bureau had been spreading privately some time ago, saying that some humans could communicate with monsters and make them obey their commands. At that time, he thought it was just an unrealistic fantasy of a young man, but he never expected that he was the stubborn old man who was so old-fashioned.

The old dragon man sighed softly and nodded slightly:

"Red Armor Beast... I remember observing it a couple of days ago. Wait a moment, let's check the records."

The old dragon turned his head, intending to call the young scholar for help, but found that the other's body was trembling slightly without his consent. He gently patted the other, and the young scholar suddenly came back to his senses as if he had been startled awake.

"Feel sorry……"

The young scholar tried to suppress the trembling in his body, but his gaze involuntarily swept over the huge dragon beast that was so close at hand.

Previously, he had always observed from a distance in the sky. This was the first time he had been so close to a monster. When he discovered that it was rushing straight towards the hot air balloon, boundless fear and despair overwhelmed his mind.

Even though the other party later stopped and showed no malice, the pressure from the dragon's enormous size and the invisible oppressive feeling surrounding him made him feel as insignificant as a light worm—a huge difference in the level of life.

"Is this the Ancient Dragon? What a terrifying aura..."

Lin Lin tilted his head and glanced at the young scholar. He was about to say no, but after thinking about it carefully, he realized that Tianhui Dragon was undoubtedly an ancient dragon, but as a juvenile Black Erosion Dragon, whether it belonged to the category of ancient dragon or was "???" was still undetermined until he transmigrated.

He certainly didn't know that in the wilderness after its rise, the classification of the Black Eclipse Dragon was neither "Elder Dragon" nor "Flying Dragon," but rather a newly separated "Sub-Dragon," most likely specifically referring to these Elder Dragon larvae that could grow into Elder Dragons but were not yet fully formed...

After thinking carefully for a moment, Lin Lin answered as follows:
"I think Jumpy is still far from being a true Elder Dragon. If Black Eclipse Dragon is really considered an Elder Dragon, then it should be the weakest Elder Dragon."

The young scholar took a few deep breaths, then tremblingly patted his chest to catch his breath.

Only now did he realize how naive and unrealistic his previous thoughts had been. He was focused on observing the ancient dragon as a hero in the fight against disaster, but he never thought that when he actually faced the ancient dragon (which, strictly speaking, could not even be called an ancient dragon), his mind would go blank and he would almost completely lose control of his body.

Lin Lin carefully observed the scholar's expression, then lowered his head and whispered a criticism to Tiaotiao:
"Look at you, you scared him! Why were you in such a hurry when you rushed over?"

Jump Jump let out a loud cry of grievance.

It didn't do it on purpose. Who would have thought this person was so timid? When it returned to Barbare with him before, and when it first arrived in Naguli Village, the villagers weren't scared by it. Who knew it would scare this person like this?

Huh?
That seems to be the case...

Lin Lin thought about it for a moment and realized that it seemed to be true. When he first brought Tiao Tiao back to Barbare, the group of scholars were quite excited. They weren't trembling with fear like the scholar in front of him, who was intimidated by some kind of "aura"...

Lin Lin couldn't help but recall the molting that happened after he hunted the Armored Dragon. Was it because it had grown stronger after maturing...?

But apart from the first few minutes after shedding its skin, I didn't feel any special aura from Jumpy. Oh well, maybe it's because I've been with Jumpy the whole time. I'll ask the villagers later to see if they noticed any changes.

"Found it. It's at the foot of that volcano, ten kilometers to the northeast. The Crimson Armor Beast has been spotted there before."

After reviewing the records, the old dragon returned to the observation window and pointed Lin Lin in a direction.

"Thank you so much!"

With a target in mind, Lin Lin simply patted Tiaotiao lightly, and it eagerly flapped its wings and dashed out like an arrow. Ever since it learned that fighting could promote physical development and make it stronger, it had been itching to fight.

On the hot air balloon, the young scholar and the old dragonman watched the departing figure of the Black Devouring Dragon. After a long while, the young scholar suddenly asked:
"Teacher, why were you so calm just now?"

Old Dragon smiled, looking somewhat gratified.

"It's because of experience. By being serious and focused on every observation, you will naturally understand what the right choice is at critical moments."

"To be a hero, you must first have a good enough foundation."

……

The conversation on the hot air balloon was unknown to Lin Lin. His encounter with them was just a small interlude. Before long, he arrived above the foothills where the old dragon man had pointed out the place where the red-armored beasts roamed.

Lin Lin scanned the area with his binoculars but found nothing.
"I wonder if it has already left this area, or if it's not its active time right now... Should Jumpy land and rest for a bit?"

After hopping around for so long, it was getting a little tired. Upon hearing this, it let out a low growl and was about to swoop down and crush a droopy dragon for lunch.

"call--"

The wind whistled past his ears as Lin Lin leaped and swooped down, the adrenaline-pumping thrill was simply irresistible.

"Bang!" Without Sophia around, Jump didn't need to hold back this time. He slammed down with a precise claw, smashing the skull of the chosen drooping dinosaur on the spot. Ignoring the drooping dinosaurs that were just reacting and fleeing in panic, Jump lowered his head and began to tear and bite them.

Lin Lin jumped off Tiao Tiao's back and stretched his body:
"Don't you want me to cook it to medium-rare for you?"

"Roar……"

While wolfing down its food, Tiaotiao took a moment to yell back at Lin Lin, indicating that with its current appetite, it would be a waste of time to prepare this kind of medium-rare barbecue.

"Tch, fine..."

Lin Lin shook his head. The child has grown up...

"Ok?"

Lin Lin's gaze suddenly sharpened as he looked towards a distance where there seemed to be some movement.
"Roar?"

"It's okay, you keep eating, I'll go take a look."

But before Lin Lin could take more than a few steps, a whooshing sound came from behind. Looking up, he saw a crimson sphere hurtling towards him. Judging by the force of the impact, if it really hit him, broken bones and tendons would be inevitable.

Just as Lin Lin was about to make a dodging move, a thick, jet-black wing claw reached out from behind and struck the crimson figure, sending it flying like a ball.

"boom!"

Under the immense force of the leaping attack, the figure was sent flying horizontally, crashing into several thick rock pillars and shattering them all—Grand Slam!

Under Lin Lin's vigilant gaze, the billowing smoke and dust slowly dissipated, revealing the true face of the crimson attacker.

The monster, resembling an armadillo and covered in red armor, curled up its limbs and became a large, orange-red ball—the very Red Armored Beast they were searching for.

Did they actually come to us willingly?
Lin Lin was not surprised but delighted. He was about to draw his weapon and rush forward when he suddenly sensed something was wrong.

Why can't I sense even a trace of its true feelings? Has its ability malfunctioned?

The next moment, Lin Lin realized that the problem did not lie with him.

The crimson-armored beast shakily crawled up from the rock fragments, but after taking only a couple of steps, its body went limp and it collapsed to the ground, completely lifeless.

This guy actually died?

Was that slap from Tiaotiao really that powerful?

Lin Lin frowned. Upon closer inspection, the head of the crimson-armored beast appeared to be cracked open. It didn't look like claw marks from Tiao Tiao, but rather the result of a powerful blow from something else.

Could it be the giant hammer? Is it the target of other hunters?
"Roar!!!"

A strange yet somewhat familiar roar came from above. Lin Lin quickly looked up and saw a dark figure slowly walking out from the high platform in the direction from which the Crimson Armored Beast had rolled. It looked to be about six or seven meters tall, with an upper body like an ape and a lower body similar to a lion. It didn't look particularly remarkable, but the moment Lin Lin saw the toothed beast clearly, his hair stood on end.

"I'm awesome, ape!"

How did a golden lion appear here? Should we fight or retreat? Can we even defeat it?
With his mind racing, Lin Lin hesitated for a moment before deciding to abandon the fresh, still-warm corpse of the Crimson Armored Beast he had just killed and instead run towards Jump Jump.

As long as it takes off quickly, this thing poses virtually no threat to them!
However, just as Lin Lin was about to leave, the newly appeared king of the Fanged Beasts did not intend to give them the chance. The moment it saw Jump Jump's massive body, it leaped up and, with its amazing jumping ability, landed straight down on Jump Jump.

The battle is about to break out.

"Be careful, it's incredibly powerful!"

Hearing the sound of wind breaking overhead, Lin Lin knew he couldn't retreat so easily. After quickly giving some instructions, he drew his sword and shield and prepared for battle.

"Oh!"

Through Lin Lin's perspective, Jumpy could clearly see the approaching figure. Its size, which was not much larger than that of the Red Armor Beast and even smaller than its own when it was the Yellow Velociraptor King, made Jumpy underestimate it for a moment. After hearing Lin Lin's reminder, Jumpy tried to increase its strength, and its raised wing claws collided with the Golden Lion's fist.

"Roar!"

A sharp pain shot through Jumpy's talons, and Jumpy couldn't help but let out a muffled roar. But he managed to withstand the blow and successfully knock the golden lion back several meters.

Lin Lin glanced at Tiao Tiao's wing claws, which were somewhat deformed after the collision, and was slightly startled.

As expected of the Golden Lion, such immense power!

After the first collision, the golden lion did not stop at all. After landing, it bent its limbs slightly and sprang out again, charging towards Jump Jump.

Having suffered a minor setback in their first encounter, Jump Jump dared not be careless and unleashed both of its wing claws, slamming them heavily against the charging golden lion.

However, the relatively "small" size of this golden lion brought it great agility. Before being hit by the wing claw, it actually used one hand to forcefully strike, and the other hand to grab it. Its whole body twisted in the process, not only avoiding the other wing claw, but also pressing its whole body onto Jump Jump's back. It raised its fist to smash down hard, and it looked as if it wanted to completely break Jump Jump's wing claw.

"Don't think about it!"

A blinding flash exploded, instantly making the golden lion's eyes see stars. Its hands also loosened their grip due to the momentary dizziness, allowing Jumpy, unaffected by the flash, to seize the opportunity to swing its wing claws and slam it heavily onto the ground. The powerful impact created a large, spiderweb-like crater in the ground.

Lin Lin's face was ashen. The Golden Lion was too agile and ignored him because of Jump's size. Lin Lin, carrying his shield and axe, couldn't catch up for a while and couldn't help much. He could only throw out flashbangs and use items to support Jump.

Fortunately, the flashbang was quite effective.

Having narrowly escaped a severe injury from the golden lion, Jumpy was naturally not going to let it go. While the golden lion was still dizzy and struggling in the pit, Jumpy lifted its entire upper body, brought its thick talons together, and then slammed it down.

"Oh!"

"howl!"

Jumpy's strongest part is its pair of wing claws. Even though they were somewhat damaged from the previous punches and it was difficult to unleash its full power, the force of this attack was still astonishing. Even the sturdy Golden Lion let out a painful howl under this attack.

(End of this chapter)