Monster Hunter: I can hear the monsters' thoughts

Chapter 517 Undersea Ruins
Lin Lin eagerly took out the small bottle containing oxygen algae and prepared to go into the sea to gather information about the sea dragon.

Of course, while he called it collecting information, all he really needed to do was find the location of the Great Sea Dragon. The rest was to use his own observation and listening to its inner thoughts to confirm whether the Great Sea Dragon matched the information he already knew.

However, Ye Zi grabbed his wrist, stopping him, and shook her head at Lin Lin:

“I don’t think it’s appropriate. No matter what, it’s a super-large ancient dragon. We know nothing about it, and it would be too risky to go and investigate it rashly.”

"At least... if we go together, we can look out for each other..."

Brave didn't speak, but he also shook his head at Lin Lin, indicating his attitude.

Ziyuan's attention was focused on the sketch Yezao had taken out, and she looked thoughtful, completely unaware of Lin Lin's actions.

Niaru stood next to the dates and, seeing Shion's expression, couldn't help but ask curiously:
"What's wrong, meow?"

Ziyuan pinched her chin, her tone somewhat hesitant:
"Didn't the previous description mention that this thing is like a giant of light emerging from the deep sea?"

"Meow, what did you remember, meow?"

Date nodded, and seeing Shion's reaction, a hint of anticipation arose in her heart.

Could it be that Shion had heard something about this guy before?

"I've heard similar stories... but where exactly did I hear them?"

Meeting the expectant gazes of the two cats, Ziyuan tapped her head in annoyance. "Ugh, I can't remember the specifics, but I must have heard about it after we came to Moga Village. Why don't we just go back and ask someone?"

Lin Lin was stopped by Ye Zi and Bref, and just then overheard what Zi Yuan said. Not wanting to insist on his own opinion, he could only nod and say:
"Alright, then let's go back to the village and gather some information."

……

The White Wind Squad first found Sana, after all, as the son of the village chief, he was quite familiar with the environment and monsters around Moga Village, and might be able to get some clues.

(Here's a picture. By the way, ever since I first saw this guy in the CG of the third game, I've always wanted to complain about his open-crotch pants. But thinking about it carefully, isn't it also quite a regional characteristic? Was it because the seaside is too humid and they designed open-crotch pants to prevent eczema or something?)
"A giant of light from the deep sea?"

After hearing the date's description, Sana paused for a moment, then saw the sketch it had taken out, and its expression immediately became somewhat excited:
"You've seen the God of the Deep Sea? Has He finally appeared?"

"god?"

Ye Zi paused for a moment. The words made her involuntarily recall the legends circulating in her hometown, Yanhuo Village, which were also the objects of worship for the two shrine maidens, Huoya and Shuiyun: the Wind God and the Thunder God.

As a child, she firmly believed in this legend. However, after becoming a hunter, especially after traveling around with Lin Lin and encountering various ancient dragons, she began to have some suspicions. The so-called Wind God and Thunder God were probably two ancient dragons whose true forms were unknown. After seeing the original Bubble Fox Dragon's habitat destroyed by the storm and encountering the overlord Bubble Fox Dragon, she became even more convinced of this.

Unexpectedly, it wasn't just Yanhuo Village that had this culture of worshipping gods; Moga Village was the same. The colossal ancient dragon that leaped out of the deep sea was their god of the deep sea.

Sana then realized that these were all hunters from out of town, so it was perfectly normal for them not to understand. Scratching his hair, he smiled sheepishly and quickly explained:
"That's right, this is a belief that has been passed down among us sea people. People have many names for Him, such as 'the new moon floating in the sea' or 'the giant of silver,' but I still prefer to call Him 'the god of the deep sea.'"

Unlike his father, who had been a hunter but later retired, Sana was a true sea dweller, born and raised in Moga Village, and deeply influenced by the culture of the sea dwellers, which naturally included their belief in gods.

Of course, because of his father, he understood that the God of the Deep Sea was essentially a monster, but that didn't affect the Great Sea Dragon's status in his heart.

Bref wasn't interested in any gods or anything like that; he just wanted to know this guy's habits, weaknesses, and fighting techniques. If he confirmed that it was the culprit behind the earthquake, he would find a way to deal with it—of course, defeating a super-large ancient dragon was far too unrealistic; being able to repel it would be the best outcome.

Lin Lin didn't think so. He was quite clear about the moves and weaknesses, but he only had a superficial understanding of the opponent's ecological information. The information the opponent provided could fill that gap.

He pondered for a moment, then uttered a name:
"Nabarudius (Great Sea Dragon)?"

Sana paused for a moment, then couldn't help but laugh:
"Have you ever heard of Him? Some sea people also call Him by this name, which contains the meaning of both crescent moon and deity."

Lin Lin chuckled and subtly changed the subject:
"What was that about when you said 'Has He finally appeared?' Could you explain in detail?"

Sana nodded, not minding that Lin Lin hadn't answered her question, and began to explain:
"That's right. Based on past experience, the Sea God appears in the waters near Moga Village every few years. According to the timeline, this year should be the time for His appearance. However, more than half a year has passed, and no one has seen the Sea God. Everyone thought He had abandoned this village!"

"Thankfully, the date palms have now met Him, so everyone should be much more at ease, right? The Sea God hasn't abandoned us, and we'll still have a bountiful harvest!"

"A bumper harvest?"

As a native of Lokrak, Shion was very sensitive to this word, because every year the Mine Dragon would bring a harvest festival, at which time merchants from almost half the continent would gather in this dusty city, bringing prosperity and flourishing.

But how did the sea dragon become associated with a bountiful harvest?
So Sana then told a legend that had been circulating among the sea people for a long time:

-

There was a sea as deep as an abyss.
There was nothing in that area except for the endless horizon.

Even the sound of the waves has vanished into the vast, empty sea.
When a huge light shines here

Countless schools of fish gather in this mysterious sea area where incredible phenomena occur.

If you're lucky, the fishermen who happen to witness all of this here...
You will surely receive the blessings brought by the big fish.

-

Date palm nodded in agreement. The legend matched the phenomenon it had witnessed perfectly. Through the telescope, it clearly saw a large number of fish gathering in that sea area. It seemed that the creature that appeared last night was indeed the sea dragon that Sana had mentioned.

"But meow... if the Great Sea Dragon appears in the waters around Moga Village at fixed intervals, then there were no earthquakes when it appeared before, meow? If not, then could it be that the earthquakes in Moga Village recently weren't caused by it, meow?" "Earthquakes?"

Sana found it hard to believe that dates linked the sea dragon to earthquakes. He instinctively wanted to refute it, but when he thought of the enormous figure of the deep-sea god that people talked about, he hesitated.

With the immense power of a deity, even a simple impact would likely be enough to trigger an earthquake...

"Well, we won't get anywhere by just speculating here. We'll find out what's going on by conducting an on-site investigation!"

Lin Lin stepped forward:

"At least according to this legend, the Great Sea Dragon is not the kind of ancient dragon that is particularly aggressive. Otherwise, how could those fishermen have had such a good harvest after coming into close contact with it?"

Sana finally came to his senses and nodded repeatedly:
"That's right, that's right, we'll have to investigate to find out the specifics!"

If the earthquake was indeed caused by the god of the deep sea, then is this the legendary divine punishment?

If the villagers heard about this, even if it was just speculation, it would surely cause turmoil throughout the village...

Lin Lin gestured for Yezao to take out a map and show it to Sana the area marked on it where the Great Sea Dragon had appeared:

"This is the sea area where it appeared. It's not far from the village, but neither Brave nor Shion have been to this area before. Is there anything we should be careful about there?"

As a native of Moga Village, Sana was quite familiar with every sea area around him. Just seeing the mark on the map made him imagine the environment there.

"So it's there...?"

He hesitated for a moment, then turned and walked in a certain direction, signaling Lin Lin and the others to follow him.

Lin Lin and the others exchanged glances, feeling slightly puzzled, but still followed.

Sana led them to see his father, who was also the village chief of Moga Village, and explained the purpose of Lin Lin and his group's visit.

The old man, shirtless and wearing only a coat, sat on the steps, puffing on his pipe, showing no airs of a village head.

After hearing his son's explanation, he smiled and invited the hunters to sit down, then slowly began to recount the history of the village.

Moga Village has a very long history, having undergone hundreds, even thousands of years of changes, to evolve into the small fishing village it is today.

It is said that Moga Village once had a very prosperous past. At that time, Moga Village could no longer be called a village, but a city-state that was similar to Dongdoruma and Lokrak.

However, a massive tsunami swallowed up all the prosperity. The survivors left the original Moga ruins and established a new Moga village nearby, while the original Moga city sank into the deep sea due to violent geological changes and a massive tsunami.

When the village chief got to this point, even someone as slow-witted as Ziyuan realized that the village chief couldn't have been rambling on about history that had nothing to do with what they were about to do for no reason.
"So... that place is the old site of Moga City?"

The village chief slowly nodded, his expression a mixture of melancholy and wistfulness.

"To be precise, it should be the ruins of the ancient Moga, a wasteland that has sunk into the deep sea."

"The depth there is simply too great. Even most sea dwellers would find it difficult to withstand that level of water pressure, so I'm afraid I can't offer any assistance to your investigation."

"but……"

The old man turned his gaze to Sana beside him:

“Sana, you used to go to that place a lot when you were little. When it comes to knowing the underwater ruins, no one in our village can compare to you. Why don’t you go with us and see if there’s anything you can do to help…”

"No problem, Dad!"

……

When the sun is directly overhead, it is the brightest time of day. Even though this light intensity is negligible for the deep sea hundreds of meters below, it is better than nothing.

Beside the makeshift campsite set up on the island, Lin Lin stretched his body, put the oxygen algae in his mouth, and then put on his face shield.

Looking back at his fully armed companions, Lin Lin gave a thumbs up, then leaped off the sea cliff and plunged into the water.

Behind him, Bref, Yoko, and Shion followed in turn. Sana, who was acting as the guide, glanced back at the two cats and two ghouls left behind at the camp, and then jumped down as well—unlike the four fully armed hunters, he was only wearing a three-piece diving suit specifically designed for long-distance diving.

In addition to the mask being filled with a large amount of oxygen algae, this set of equipment also has a large number of compartments on the waist specifically for storing "oxygen jade". These gadgets were specially developed for underwater operations. Simply put one in your mouth to greatly stimulate the activity of the oxygen algae, thereby significantly extending the time spent underwater.

The group of five descended rapidly in silence. The surrounding light gradually dimmed from its initial brightness, and the environment slowly became dark and claustrophobic. The water pressure gradually pressed against their bodies, and the sounds around them gradually became muffled and indistinct, until they almost disappeared completely. Only a deathly silence surrounded them, and they could only communicate with each other by hand gestures—and they couldn't be too far apart, otherwise the dim light would make it impossible to see their hand gestures.

Frankly speaking, such an environment is really not easy for humans who live on land. Even if the huge water pressure does not affect the hunter's strong body, the confined environment will still make people think all sorts of things. For example, Lin Lin at this moment can't help but wonder if this operation counts as an operation of five people, and whether it will bring misfortune.

However, upon closer reflection, it shouldn't be calculated that way. There's a five-person restriction only for group hunting. Sana is only here as a guide to help them familiarize themselves with the environment. Besides, this is just an investigation and there won't be any direct combat, so there shouldn't be any problems.

Thinking this, Lin Lin continued to descend, and finally, a large, continuous cluster of buildings stood silently in the darkness before his eyes.

We've arrived at the underwater ruins.

(As shown in the picture, the dark environment combined with the bright light overhead really creates a claustrophobic atmosphere in this underwater ruins map.)
(End of this chapter)