Monster Hunter: I can hear the monsters' thoughts

Chapter 518 Strange Existence in the Deep Sea
At this depth, the natural sunlight has been almost completely swallowed by the sea, but the ruins have not fallen into complete darkness. In the boundless darkness, there are still some faint lights shining.

Some of them maintained a faint light, while others flickered. Some quietly illuminated their surroundings, while others swayed like stars in the sea.

These are creatures that inhabit the deep sea, and they all possess the ability to glow to varying degrees; this is their survival strategy.

Because this is a place where natural light is hard to reach, light is scarce and precious. Having the ability to create light gives one a huge advantage in the fierce competition for survival. Light can be used as bait to hunt, to attract mates, or to disguise oneself...

Lin Lin glanced back at his companions. Although they were keeping a close enough distance from each other, in such a dim environment, their figures were still like ink, impossible to see clearly. If they were even a little further apart, communicating with gestures would be nearly impossible.

Lin Lin's gaze swept over a clump of fluorescent seaweed growing on a rock wall not far away, and an idea came to him.

He made a gesture, then drew his peeling knife, remaining vigilant, and slowly swam towards the clump of seaweed.

"Wow—"

The sound of living creatures stirring the water travels through the heavy water pressure and reaches the eardrums, sounding somewhat distorted.

Immediately afterwards, a cloud of shimmering blue smoke spread out in front of him, obscuring Lin Lin's vision.

It was a cephalopod, probably an octopus or squid, which had been quietly hiding next to the clump of luminous algae, waiting for prey attracted by the light. Even though Lin Lin was on high alert, he still couldn't see it before it made a move.

However, the prey it attracted this time was too big. Fearing that it would become the prey's lunch, it decisively sprayed fluorescent ink in hopes of attracting Lin Lin's attention, while it took the opportunity to make a hasty retreat.

Lin Lin gave a helpless twitch of his lips, waved his hand to dispel the fluorescent smoke, and approached the clump of seaweed again. He used the peeling knife in his hand to separate a few strands from it and wrapped them around his wrist to form a glowing bracelet.

Although this little thing isn't very bright, it can still illuminate a range of three to five meters without any problem. Most importantly, it can be used as a marker, allowing Lin Lin and his companions to determine each other's location even when they are far apart.

Ye Zi and the others immediately understood Lin Lin's meaning, and they all came over, took a few strands, and followed suit, wrapping them around their bodies.

Sana gave Lin Lin a thumbs up. He had come here to explore before, mostly alone. As a guide, he hadn't considered communication between partners, which was a dereliction of duty.

Lin Lin didn't care about this matter. At this moment, the only thing on his mind was where the Great Sea Dragon was and how to find him.

So he gestured to Sana asking if their current location was the same area where Date Palm had witnessed the sea dragon the previous night.

Sana closed his eyes, did some calculations in his mind, then shook his head and gestured for me to follow him.

Although they chose the starting point closest to that area, and quite some time has passed since they officially entered the water, they have spent most of that time diving. At this point, they have only just reached the edge of the underwater ruins. According to his calculations, the area where the sea dragon marked by the date palm appeared is located in the central area of ​​the underwater ruins.

Their current location is separated from the central area of ​​the underwater ruins by a formidable barrier, a barrier protecting this sunken city. Even though the once magnificent city walls have long since collapsed, they are still beyond human traversal.

So, Sanad led Lin Lin and the others around a small path that he had discovered by chance.

The group silently followed Sana into a regular hexagonal passage. In the darkness, only the glowing algae wrapped around their wrists emitted a faint light.

Lin Lin used the light on his wrist to survey his surroundings. The passage was about three meters in diameter, making it difficult for monsters to pass through, but it was quite spacious for humans.

The surrounding stone walls have become somewhat rough to the touch due to years of seawater erosion, but they still look smooth overall and there is no seaweed or aquatic plants growing there.

Clearly, this is a man-made passage. Considering that modern people simply do not have the capability to build such a passage in the deep sea, it could only have been built by this ancient city that sank to the bottom of the sea. Surprisingly, it has retained its integrity after collapsing and sinking.

I just don't know what this passage was originally built for...

The passage wasn't very long, and when Lin Lin and his group emerged from it, they found themselves in what seemed to be a huge city. Although most of the buildings were collapsed and decayed, a few still maintained their structural integrity.

Through these towering rooftops connected in parallel, it is not difficult to see how magnificent this capital city was before its fall. To put it bluntly, even the largest city on the continent today, East Doruma, may not be able to surpass this ancient city in terms of urban construction.

Unfortunately, times have changed, and the once mighty ancient city is now just ruins. The desolate remains of the buildings lie beneath the cold sea, silently telling the story of its past glory.

Lin Lin subconsciously thought of Dongdoruma.

If one day in the future the hunters fail to repel the invading ancient dragons, will that place become like this? Later generations will only be able to glimpse a corner of its past glory and honor from the ruins.

Sana had been to this place many times before, so he wasn't as sentimental. He gestured to Lin Lin, indicating that they had officially entered the central area of ​​the underwater ruins, and it was now up to the hunters to decide what to do next.

Of course, he still has his uses. For example, he can take out the "oxygen jade" he carries and distribute it to Lin Lin and the others, allowing them to replenish oxygen without having to surface, thus greatly saving time spent on exploration.

The so-called "oxygen" is actually oxygen in the local dialect of Moga Village. In Lin Lin's opinion, this thing should simply be called an oxygen ball.

After each using a piece of Oxygen Jade, Lin Lin and the others exchanged gestures for a moment, deciding to split up temporarily and each explore in a different direction in search of the Great Sea Dragon. They planned to return and reunite in half an hour, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

Well, if there are any unexpected situations, then just fire a signal flare. Considering its intended use, this thing can be used in various extreme environments. It can also be ignited underwater, although the launch height and brightness will be somewhat suppressed, and the effect will not be as good.

Lin Lin's exploration direction was north, where the terrain was relatively higher and the various buildings were relatively well preserved. He planned to go there to see if he could find ancient dragon-slaying spears or heavy ballistae, which might come in handy after he found the Great Sea Dragon.
As Lin Lin slowly swam above the ruins, he suddenly noticed something strange—this underwater ruin was practically lifeless compared to the area before entering the passage. Despite being covered in mud and sand, there was no sign of aquatic plants or seaweed, let alone fish or shrimp swimming around.

Why is this? Is it because there's something special about the building materials here?
Almost no trace of life can be seen...

Lin Lin looked at the relatively flat and open area in front of him, and the several circular pillars standing around it. After hesitating for a moment, he slowly approached one of the more intact pillars and gently reached out to touch it.

It feels cold and rough to the touch, and apart from the intricate patterns on it, it doesn't seem to have anything special about it.

Lin Lin raised his hand and, using the light from the luminous algae, carefully examined the pattern, feeling a strange sense of familiarity.

Lin Lin was certain that he had never seen such a pattern before, so where did this sense of familiarity come from?

Lin Lin gently tapped his brow as he carefully reviewed his memories. After a moment, a sudden inspiration struck him.

Yes, he had never seen this pattern before, but he had heard descriptions of it!
This is a pattern used for sacrifices. When Jump Jump was worshipped as a god in the Tree Sea, he described this pattern to himself.

Is this a square used for sacrificial rites? Then who are they worshipping?

It's probably some ancient dragon again...

Unable to glean more information from the patterns, Lin Lin slowly lowered himself and reached out to carefully clear away the large amount of mud and sand accumulated on the plaza, hoping to find more clues. However, after inserting his hand into the mud and sand, Lin Lin suddenly sensed something was amiss.

In this deep, dark sea, darkness and cold are the eternal themes, but when he reached out, he found that the silt here gave him a faint feeling of warmth.

This is too strange. Unless there is a heat source such as an underwater volcano or hot spring, it is impossible to feel heat here.

But this is a city ruin that sank to the bottom of the sea. If something similar existed, this square used for sacrifices could not have been preserved so well.

With that in mind, Lin Lin began to constantly stir the sediment, trying to find the source of the heat by observing the temperature changes.

Soon, Lin Lin turned his gaze to the area in the center of the square. Compared to the thin layer around it, the mud and sand there had piled up into a small hill, bulging and full.

Is there anything down there?

Without much hesitation, Lin Lin drew his shield and axe, using the shield as a shovel to dig.

Logically speaking, with such thick mud and sand here, digging would probably take some effort, but Lin Lin had only dug twice when the edge of the shield hit something hard.

By quickly separating the surface mud and sand, Lin Lin finally saw the whole thing.

This is a spherical rock—no, calling it a rock would be too hasty. It looks more like an igneous rock formed from cooled and solidified magma. It is as black as ink, and even though Lin Lin has placed the glowing algae on his wrist next to it, it still cannot illuminate its entirety.

The surface of this thing is not smooth; it has swirling patterns and is nearly two meters in diameter, almost the same size as Lin Lin. More importantly, the continuous heat that Lin Lin felt was emanating from this spherical rock.

Lin Lin tentatively touched it with his hand and felt a burning sensation on his fingertips. If he hadn't pulled his hand back in time, he might have been burned.

Lin Lin subconsciously looked up at the dim sky above, confirming once again that he was indeed in the cold, dark seabed, before turning his gaze back to the rock.

Judging from the sediment deposited on its surface, it most likely sank into the abyss along with this ancient city. However, even submerged in the cold abyss and weathered by thousands of years, it is truly incredible that this thing can still emit such astonishing heat.

Moreover, whether it was just his imagination or not, after staring at this thing for a while, Lin Lin felt inexplicably oppressed and had an instinctive urge to get away from it.

People in ancient times worshipped this kind of thing? It doesn't look like anything good at all; the more I look at it, the more creepy it becomes...

Is it because this thing is too eerie? Or is it because of the psychological pressure of being alone in the deep sea?
Lin Lin wasn't sure, but he felt more inclined to believe the former. Perhaps the fact that there was almost no sign of life in the entire underwater ruins was also related to this thing.
Feeling his heart pounding rapidly in his chest, fear gripped his throat like an invisible hand. Even with oxygen algae in his mouth, Lin Lin still felt suffocated throughout his body, as if every cell was screaming at him to stay away from this strange thing.

Lin Lin closed his eyes, stood stiffly for a moment, then slowly extended his slightly trembling hand and gripped the Charge Blade of his Charge Blade tightly, assuming a charging stance.

No matter what this thing is, as long as it's destroyed, what does it matter how evil it is?!

Lin Lin unleashed a double slash at the dark rock, the blade striking the rock and sending sparks flying across the dim, cold seabed.

"choke!"

Seeing the white mark left on the rock surface, Lin Lin gritted his teeth, merged his sword into his shield, transformed into an axe, and unleashed a powerful attack.

"Click..."

Under immense force, several inconspicuous cracks finally appeared on the strange rock, and the recoil caused Lin Lin's palms to ache.

Lin Lin continued his movements, enduring the pain in his arm, and unleashed another Super Release.

This time, with the immense force of Lin Lin's super-powerful strike—which came at the cost of him rolling three times due to inertia—the spherical boulder finally shattered into pieces, revealing the blood-red magma inside after the outer layer of black rock broke apart.

(End of this chapter)