Monster Hunter: I can hear the monsters' thoughts

Chapter 438 Rider Training Program
Two days passed quickly, and the modification of the Isana was successfully completed. Finally, the group boarded the deck of the airship, ready to head to East Doruma as planned.

Compared to when they first arrived in Naguli Village, the group has grown a bit, with two new members now.

One of them was the little dragon that Sophia kept by her side. Lin Lin had originally suggested naming the little thing Guilliman, since this little guy had a childhood that none of his kind had. The two were quite similar in this respect. However, Sophia felt that the style of the name was not quite right. It was too different from names like Xiong Er, Tiao Tiao, Pao Fu, and Da Kong. So after thinking for a long time, she finally named it "Bao Bao" based on the characteristics of slime explosion.

Lin Lin felt the name was a bit unlucky, but everyone else thought it was good. He could only helplessly complain that Sophia should keep a close eye on the little one in the future, so that they wouldn't end up getting separated.

Well, it shouldn't be that bad. After all, there's neither Zaun nor Piltover here; this is the world of Monster Hunter.

Secondly, there's Gemma, the daughter of the village chief of Naguli Village. The young girl grew up in this secluded village and had long been curious about the vast world outside. In addition, she got along very well with everyone in the troupe and became an apprentice of the blacksmith brother. Coincidentally, she designed the Isana herself, so it was only natural that she joined the troupe.

It was clear that Gemma was quite popular in the village. When the airship was about to take off, almost half of the villagers came to see Gemma off. Her doting father cried his eyes out, feeling incredibly reluctant to part with her. However, he knew very well that his daughter had grown up, had her own wings, and would eventually have to go out and make her own way in the world. It was only after the brigade leader comforted him and repeatedly assured him that they would take good care of Gemma that he finally let go after giving his daughter a tight hug.

As flames scorched the air on the airship, its airbags bulging and slowly lifting the large, reddish-brown whale into the sky, the villagers waved their hands, not just to Gemma, but to bid farewell to the entire troupe. Although the troupe hadn't stayed in Naguli Village for long, less than a month, the changes they had brought to the village during that time were still fresh in their minds. The villagers weren't ungrateful; they were naturally grateful.

……

Although the tour group had to make an extra trip to East Doruma compared to the original plan, it didn't actually take up too much time. After all, the airship was quite fast, and by evening, they could already see the towering city below when they set off from Naguli Village in the early morning.

The only minor incident was that as the Isana approached, the Black Devouring Dragons flying on either side of it jumped around, alerting the city's defenses below, who aimed their crossbows and cannonballs at it from afar.

However, it seems they received orders from their superiors very quickly. Although they still gathered together and watched the hopping above warily, they eventually lowered their cannons and ballistae slightly and did not launch an attack in a moment of rashness.

This relieved Lin Lin. Luckily, he had added Jumpy to the guild's whitelist beforehand, otherwise, he would probably be riddled with arrows by now. He was well aware of the power of these heavy ballistae used for city defense; even the shell of the Peak Dragon could not be easily ignored.

Soon, guided by ground signals, the Isana slowly landed at the edge of the airport. A large area around it was cleared, and a line of guards surrounded the area, ready for action.

Sophia had never seen such a large gathering before, and she couldn't help but feel a little nervous. Yoko walked to her side and gently patted her shoulder.

"Don't be nervous, it's just a normal procedure."

It was indeed the normal procedure. When they flew over from Lokrak last time, they were greeted with the same scene. However, this time the defense team reacted much faster. After all, last time Jump and Guga came down from the airship, but this time they flew over directly next to the airship.

As soon as Lin Lin stepped off the airship, he saw an old acquaintance.

"Manager?"

The guards parted, and out stepped an old dragonman who looked rather listless. He was the guild master in charge of the East Dorma Lower Rank Hunters' Gathering Place.

The old dragon looked at Lin Lin, then at Tiao Tiao, who was quietly lying beside the airship. He wanted to speak several times, but finally shook his head helplessly and changed the subject:
"Barbare has already reported your achievements over this period. You dealt with that Ultimate Thousand Blade Dragon, nipping a major problem in the bud. You did a great job."

"Then the director of the Mad Dragon Virus Research Institute also sent back a message that the first batch of prototype Mad Dragon Virus antidote has been completed. After verification that there are no problems, the official antidote will soon be delivered to you hunters who are fighting against the calamity on the front line."

"Whether it's the discovery of the Mad Dragon Disease, the intelligence on the Black Erosion Dragon, or the development of the antidote for the virus, all of these achievements are inseparable from your contributions. You are heroes of humanity, thank you for your hard work... As for the reward, the Grand Elder hasn't decided yet. He means he wants to ask you if there's anything you'd like."

The guild leader gently patted Lin Lin's arm. Without this young hunter, the Mad Dragon Virus might have spread rapidly, eventually causing a calamity that could sweep across the entire continent. Such an achievement was unmatched even by many high-ranking hunters.

"Um...actually, I didn't do anything."

Lin Lin scratched his head sheepishly. In truth, he had only done what he could. Whether it was reporting the transformation of the Mad Dragon into a Male Fire Dragon, defeating the Ultimate Thousand Blade Dragon while searching for Jumpy, or bringing Jumpy, who had evolved into a Black Eclipse Dragon, back to Barbare to provide some materials and information for researching the antidote, he had only done some small things in line with the situation while satisfying his own selfish desires. He could hardly be called a hero.

"So you don't want the reward either?"

The usually serious guild leader was making a rare joke, which showed that he genuinely appreciated and liked the young man in front of him.

"Ahem, we still need this."

Lin Lin coughed lightly. After all, it's foolish not to take advantage of a good deal... No, it shouldn't be called taking advantage, it should be called...

Well, never mind, as long as the meaning is roughly right, let's not make things difficult for a hunter who wields knives and guns by nitpicking over words.

What? You're saying he was a college student when he time-traveled? Please, who doesn't know that college students often have innocent and naive eyes?

"As for what you want..."

Lin Lin pondered for a moment, but found that he didn't seem to want anything at all, so he turned to Ye Zi behind him for help.

Ye Zi helplessly shrugged. What was she looking at? She was already content to hunt with Lin Lin. If there was anything she wanted, it was probably to hunt with Lin Lin for the rest of her life...

Lin Lin scratched his head and thought for a long time, finally sighed, and tentatively looked at the guild leader:

"Um... I can't think of anything right now. Can I save it for later and cash it out when I've figured it out?"

The guild leader was taken aback for a moment, then couldn't help but burst into laughter twice, before patting Lin Lin's arm forcefully: "Alright, alright, keep it to yourself. Come back and make your request to me when you've thought it through!"

After regaining his composure, he turned his gaze to Tiaotiao:
"So this is the same Yellow Velociraptor King from back then... The guild has basically learned about what happened to it. I never imagined that a monster could cause such an astonishing change in the life form of other monsters..."

"Well... something like Jump Jump is probably an extremely rare occurrence, so the guild doesn't need to worry too much..."

At least until a new Celestial Dragon is born, there will be virtually no new Black Eclipse Dragon.

The guild leader nodded. "That's true. That's what the research institute director said in his letter as well."

"However, Jumpy is now a standard large monster. When it flew over with you, it caused quite a bit of panic. Although we managers understand that it is something that can coexist peacefully with us, it will probably take a long time for the general public to accept this."

“If we let Jump Jump stay in your team’s detached villa as before, it would probably cause quite a commotion.”

After hearing what the guild leader said, Lin Lin roughly understood. After all, Dongdoruma was the number one capital city on the continent. The number of citizens living there was not even comparable to that of Barbare, let alone Naguli Village, which was just a small village. The fact that the earth dragons in Naguli Village could accept Jump Jump's existence did not mean that the general public could accept it in the same way.

After all, unlike themselves, they couldn't perceive the thoughts of monsters. In their long-held belief, apart from those herbivorous dragon-like birds like Bobo that had been tamed for a long time and posed almost no threat, monsters were all ferocious, brutal, and ruthless creatures that would devour people without blinking an eye.

Lin Lin sighed softly and nodded, saying:
“I understand. We’re just here to pick up some things and won’t be staying long.”

He glanced at the guards around him, who seemed to be standing ramrod straight and meticulous, but whose eyes were actually involuntarily glancing at Tiaotiao. "So, during this period, Tiaotiao needs to stay in the separately designated 'resettlement area,' right?"

The guild leader also sighed softly:
"This is a last resort, but the guild is already trying to find a solution. A world where humans and monsters can coexist harmoniously is not too far away."

He then lowered his voice slightly:
"Do you remember when you mentioned the Bond Stone to the Grand Elder?"

Lin Lin nodded, his hand unconsciously touching the sky-blue gem that was fixed to the groove of the armor on his left wrist—this groove was specially modified by the blacksmith brother, so that he wouldn't have to reach into his prop bag to take it out every time.

“We all believe that training ‘riders’ is worth a try. The first trial training is already in preparation, and we are currently looking for and selecting the first batch of riders to be trained.”

Lin Lin blinked, wondering what he meant by suddenly asking this. Hadn't he already told her almost everything he could? Why did he still need to know more about her?

However, Lin Lin quickly came to his senses. No, they were just talking about a world where "humans and monsters coexist harmoniously." So, does this mean that the guild wants to show the world the possibility of this future by training riders?

"However, dealing with monsters still carries certain risks, so it can't be placed directly in the inner city like a training camp for training hunters."

"According to our plan, we will establish a pilot 'rider training base' in the suburbs of East Doruma, which will be directly connected to East Doruma via a specially designed passage."

At this point, Lin Lin nodded slightly, having roughly guessed what the supervisor was about to say:

"So, once this training base is completed, Jumpy Sky and the others can live there, right?"

The guild leader nodded with a smile, "That's right, but it's only a construction plan at the moment, and it will be quite some time before it's completed. Until then, we'll just have to make do with them for now."

"Then can I live there with Bao Bao from now on?"

Hearing this from the sidelines, Sophia couldn't contain her excitement and, holding the little dragon, joined the conversation.

"Bang bang?"

The guild leader pushed up his glasses. He had read through the information about the friends Lin Lin mentioned several times. Xiong Er, Tiao Tiao, Pao Fu, Da Kong, but there didn't seem to be a name called Bao Bao.

However, he immediately met the gaze of the little dragon in Sophia's arms.

As soon as the little guy got off the airship with Sophia, he saw a large group of solemn-looking guards around him. He felt a little scared, but when he looked around, he saw that in addition to Sophia's mother, all the uncles and aunts of the tour group were standing beside him. His confidence immediately returned, and he stared at the supervisor with his eyes wide open, not giving an inch.

"Um...this is how it is..."

Lin Lin could only briefly recount how he had found the little guy, and then summarized:
"Before the hunt, we didn't realize it was a wrathful dragon that had just laid its eggs. We only discovered it was still in its egg after we had already captured it. If we had left it unattended, the little guy would have almost certainly died without its mother's protection."

"If we collect these eggs, it shouldn't be considered an impact on the ecosystem, right?"

The guild leader rubbed his temples; this was a bit too much information for him to process.

Wait, what's wrong with this kid? Does he have some kind of monster/succubus constitution? There are so many hunters across the continent, how come most of these cases of picking up monsters to raise happen around you?

"No, but... I think Sophia could be included in the rider training program."

(End of this chapter)