Monster Hunter: I can hear the monsters' thoughts

Chapter 436 Shattered Dragon: Sophia is a woman who could become my mother.

Lin Lin was also a little annoyed by Sophia's behavior. He shifted his gaze from the Broken Dragon and looked around at the Broken Dragon's lair.

This is a semi-enclosed underground cave with only one entrance and exit, the front passage. It is quite well hidden and safe. If it weren't for the tracking marked by the dye ball, it would have taken them a lot of effort to find this place.

This was quite unexpected for Lin Lin. In his opinion, given the fearless and ruthless nature of the Broken Dragon, who would fight anyone he met, he should at least be imposing, have a wide field of vision, and possess a wild and unrestrained temperament, if not the fact that he made the world his home and the sky his bed and the earth his sleeping place. He never expected that the location of his nest would be so conservative.

"Huh? This is..."

When his gaze fell upon the nest surrounded by a pile of rubble, a glittering white spot caught his attention.

"Dragon eggs? Two of them? And this one... looks like it's about to hatch?"

After all, he had raised Da Kong from a dragon egg, so Lin Lin only glanced at him before making a quick judgment.

"Sophia!"

Lin Lin squatted in front of the dragon egg, looking a little worried. He turned his head and called out, then waved to Sophia.

"what happened?"

Sophia reluctantly stroked the broken dragon's shell a couple more times before walking up to Lin Lin.

Lin Lin pointed to the dragon egg and said, "There was a slight accident; this broken dragon has already laid eggs."

"If we take it away, won't this guy try to come back? Maybe we should send the dragon egg to it when we send the broken dragon away?"

Sophia stared intently at the dragon egg. Lin Lin repeated it again before she snapped out of her reverie and withdrew her eager hand.

"There's no need to worry about that. While Brachydios do have some maternal love, it's not much. They're only slightly better than Electric Dragons, who abandon their offspring after giving birth. I remember a researcher's notes mentioning that Brachydios cubs have a very high mortality rate, and the leading cause of death is being blown up by slime mold on their parents."

Upon hearing Sophia's words, Lin Lin recalled carefully and realized that he did indeed recall this point; it seemed that the video introducing the ecology of the Broken Dragon had mentioned it before.

The slime mold on a shattered dragon is not something it carries at birth, but rather something it inherits from its parents. This inheritance process is extremely brutal; the slime mold from the parents will constantly explode, destroying the tender carapace on the cub's body. Only by persevering through constant breaking and rebirth, and growing an indestructible obsidian armor, can the cub truly achieve symbiosis with the slime mold.

"So... this piece of charred remains is actually a baby dragon?"

Ye Zi had noticed something odd about the shape of a piece of charcoal not far from the nest, and had even reached out to examine it. Upon hearing Sophia's words, her brows furrowed tightly.

Although I knew long ago that I shouldn't project human values ​​onto monsters, this shattered dragon was just too... cruel, as if it weren't its own offspring...

"If that's really the case, I don't agree with sending the dragon egg away with it."

Yoko walked over to the dragon egg, looked at it for two seconds, and then slowly said:

"Given the weak maternal instincts of this monster, it's uncertain whether it will even remember it had offspring after we send it away. Rather than sending the dragon egg there, I think it's better to leave it here to fend for itself. Maybe the chances of it surviving will be higher."

"Hmm...too."

Lin Lin nodded and was about to stand up to call on Tiao Tiao, who was waiting outside the cave, to carry the broken dragon away.

"Wait a moment!"

Sophia suddenly called out to Lin Lin.

Lin Lin: "Hmm?"

Do you still remember Ozora?

Lin Lin chuckled, "That's my kid, how could I not remember?"

If it weren't for the fear of contracting the mad dragon disease, he would have wanted to bring Osora to his side long ago.

Wait, why is Sofia bringing up the Great Sky now? Could it be...?

"Without its mother's care, it would be difficult for it to survive in this cruel nature..."

Sophia held the dragon egg in her arms, her fingers gently stroking the tiny crack on it.

"With its mother's 'care,' it seems even harder for it to survive..."

Ye Zi muttered a quiet complaint.

"No, I want to take it with me. Let me be the mother of this child!"

"Eh?"

Ye Zi was completely stunned by Sophia's words, while Lin Lin smirked.

Sure enough, inspired by her own actions, the girl also decided to take the eggs home and incubate them!

Looking at Sophia holding the dragon egg, an image involuntarily flashed into Lin Lin's mind:
Dragon Slayer: Sophia is a woman who could be my mother!
It's bizarre, yet unexpectedly logical...

"Hey! Is it okay? Is it okay?"

Sensing Sophia's expectant expression, Lin Lin felt somewhat helpless:
"If you think it's okay, I have no objection."

After all, he did it himself.

Hmm... Speaking of which, if Sophia really raises the Shattered Dragon, given her feelings for it, the bond between them might not be any less than that between me and the Sky. If there's a lucky coincidence, it's not impossible for her to create a Bond Stone as well.

"Great!"

Sofia looked overjoyed.

Nia looked around at the three adults talking, her face full of confusion.

It didn't understand, and was deeply shocked.

So, you can actually hatch and raise monster eggs yourself after you find them?

Seeing that the three had finalized the agreement in a few words and were about to start moving the shattered dragon, it quickly caught up, tugged at Yoko's greaves, and whispered:

"Aren't there two dragon eggs over there, meow? Why did Sophia only take the bigger one, meow?"

"Well..."

Ye Zi glanced back, the same question arising in her mind. Lin Lin, upon hearing this, casually replied:

"Because the other one is a dead egg, and no baby dragon can hatch from it."

Otherwise, Sophia would have had to carry both eggs back.

……

The transport after capture went very smoothly. Under the effect of the anesthetic jade used for capture, the Broken Dragon slept very soundly, almost like a dead pig. Jump Jump carried it for half a day, finally delivering it to a volcanic peak fifty kilometers away from Naguli Village.

The dragon's snoring only subsided after Jumpy put it down.

"Alright, that's enough for now. The anesthesia should be wearing off by now."

Lin Lin clapped his hands. "Tiaotiao, let's go back."

Upon hearing this, Tiaotiao unusually showed resistance, which puzzled Lin Lin: "What's wrong?"

"Roar……"

I fought this guy and got injured, then carried it all the way, I'm exhausted and hungry, I can't fly anymore...

Lin Lin slapped his forehead:
"It was my oversight. I think I saw some traces of a dinosaur nearby. Let's go eat first, and then we'll leave."

Hmm... if there are any leftovers, just give them to this broken dragon. It's a good deal for the guy; he can wake up from a nap and have something to eat without having to hunt. "Roar!"

……

Naguli Village.

The capture mission was successfully completed, and Lin Lin and his group returned safely on the Jumping Black Dragon flight, just in time for the completion ceremony of the brigade's airship.

"Haha, it's finally done! Now I can finally continue my pursuit of the truth about this thing!"

The brigade commander crossed his arms and looked at the giant whale-shaped airship in front of him, his voice filled with barely concealed excitement.

"Is the next stop Sinard Village?"

The blacksmith walked up to the brigade commander and unfolded a map.

"Master, don't bother looking anymore, it's not in this picture!"

Gemma skipped over, seemingly in a good mood about the completion of the airship.

"No? What does that mean?"

The brigade commander was hunched over the map, searching carefully, when he heard this and was startled. If they couldn't even find their destination, how could they possibly get there?

“Sinard Village is a village of the Dragonkin people, located in the distant Kingdom of Xiqi, which is already close to the Fenglong region. This map only shows part of the Old World, so of course you can't find it!”

"That's it..."

"Don't worry, the 'Isana' has a complete map!"

"The Isana?"

The brigade commander repeated.

"That's the name of this airship! I already told Yoko and the others about it, didn't you know, Commander?"

The leader blushed slightly and said, "Ahem, haha, they've been busy hunting lately and forgot to mention this little thing. Hmm, that must be it."

"Huh? They're back!"

The dragon-human merchant and the cat chef finished packing their luggage and came to the group leader's side. They happened to see Lin Lin and his group who had just landed, so they waved and greeted them.

Sophia, holding the dragon egg and breathing heavily, was taken aback by the sight:
"This is……"

"The airship is complete, and we can set sail at any time!"

"Huh? But..."

She couldn't help but lower her head, looking at the dragon egg in her arms. She had originally thought she would stay in Naguli Village a little longer, as the volcanic environment here should be more suitable for the child's growth...

Just as she looked down, the dragon egg in her arms suddenly shook.

Sophia: ?!
Before she could react, the crack on the eggshell rapidly expanded, covering the entire surface of the dragon egg in the blink of an eye.

"Click"

(The picture shows a juvenile Brachydios, and you can see that it is quite different from the adult.)
A small, azure head peeked out of the dragon egg, topped with a piece of broken shell. Its round, large eyes swept around its body before meeting Sophia's gaze.

The little dragon blinked its eyes and let out a fierce yet adorable howl.

"Ow~"

"Wow! So cute!"

Sophia was trembling with excitement. If she weren't afraid of startling the little dragon, her screams would probably have blown the roof off.

Those eyes are practically radiating hearts! Can you please tone it down a bit?

Sigh, dragon fetishism...

Well, on another note, this little wrathful dragon is really cute, much cuter than that delinquent-looking adult wrathful dragon. And, this guy seems to really see Sophia as his mother...

Lin Lin leaned closer and reached out to poke the little guy's face, but the little dragon wasn't as docile and cute towards Lin Lin as it was towards Sophia. It bit his finger with a yelp.

Fortunately, the little thing was newborn and didn't have much strength, and Lin Lin was also protected by armor on his hands, so apart from getting his hands covered in saliva, he wasn't injured.

After finally managing to pull his hand back, Lin Lin's lips twitched, speechless with emotion.

With his telepathic perception activated, he clearly understood why the little thing had so readily given him a bite: it disliked his strange, foul smell.

Damn mycology beads!

I managed to get a lot of its carapace after the battle with the Brachydios, so I'll quickly craft the Fungal Pearl to replace this thing with its serious side effects!
The birth of the little dragon attracted the attention of the entire guild. The airship that everyone was excitedly discussing was replaced by this fierce-looking little thing.

"This is a baby wrathosaurus... It doesn't seem that powerful..."

The brigade commander muttered to himself.

"Looks like you can eat a lot, meow..."

The cat chef, carrying a large iron pot on his back, examined it carefully for a moment and confirmed it.

"So cute and fierce!"

Gemma was beaming with excitement. After witnessing the harmonious relationship between Lin Lin and Tiao Tiao, she was now quite accepting of the idea of ​​humans raising monsters. She was already thinking about whether she should pick up a monster and raise it herself if possible.

"I wonder if this thing will explode? If it does, I don't know if the airship can withstand it..."

The blacksmith paid close attention to the little wrathful dragon's fist. Although there were basically no traces of slime mold, it was still a wrathful dragon after all.

"So, why did you go out hunting and come back with a live baby dragon?"

The dragonman merchant raised an eyebrow, sensing that everyone else's focus seemed a bit off.

"Cough, it's like this..."

Surrounded by a large crowd, the little dragon couldn't help but feel a little scared.

Some creatures stiffen, shrink back, and diminish their presence when they are afraid, while others bluff, bar their teeth and claws, and appear fierce but are actually weak.

Clearly, this little dragon belonged to the latter category. Its body was still in Sophia's arms, but its head had already turned towards the crowd of onlookers, letting out a childish roar while waving its claws wildly.

Sophia quickly and gently swayed her body, patting the little dragon's back with her palm, just like coaxing a child.

Strangely enough, after Sophia coaxed it like that, the little dragon really did calm down, just burying its head in Sophia's arms and glancing at the group of people around it out of the corner of its eye.

While coaxing the little dragon, Sofia slowly recounted how she brought the dragon, which was still an egg, back to her home.

"...I think, since there are precedents like Jump Jump and Da Kong, I can give it a try too."

As Sophia spoke, she turned to look at Lin Lin:
"Do you remember when we first met in Yukumo Village? At that time, Teacher Mia proposed a research topic on monster friendship."

Lin Lin nodded. "I remember, you said you'd be in charge of researching the friendship of the Shattered Dragon."

Then he looked at the baby dragon huddled in her arms. "But is this really 'making friends'?"

(End of this chapter)