As the middle and hind legs of the insectoid creature crawled over the city wall, its claw-like tail became visible.
Unlike ordinary insectoids, the claw-like tail, thicker than its torso, had sharp hooks and spines along its outer edge that all grew upwards. They slowly opened and closed with the creature's movements, like breathing.
Viewed alone, the claw-like tail resembled a golden talon held upwards.
*Screech! Swoosh! Screech! Swoosh! ...*
Beneath the sand, dozens of golden threads sprang taut. Tracing the threads to their source, they converged at the center of the tip of the insectoid creature's claw-like tail.
The monster was now fully exposed to the investigation team's view.
At the center of the defense array, a male and female investigator exchanged a confirming glance and immediately began data collection.
The male investigator took a deep breath and described, "Body length is approximately 17 meters. Presumed to be a beetle-type creature. Its surface is a brilliant gold, highly inconsistent with the camouflage of common insect carapaces. Sensory organs are unknown, but the tail tip has an organ capable of spraying a large amount of silk. Based on the current situation, it's inferred that it uses silk to bind objects, forming trap areas similar to spiderwebs to sense intruders or hunt. However, its web-spinning ability is vastly inferior to that of a Shadow Spider, and the webs it lays cannot effectively seal off an area..."
The female investigator, diligently recording, looked up when the male investigator suddenly stopped speaking.
Noticing him inhaling sharply, she too smelled a potent fragrance.
"It's emitting pheromones that humans can easily detect..."
The male investigator's eyes were filled with confusion.
This was because the beetle-type monster's ecological behavior was exceptionally abnormal.
Its brilliant golden shell seemed to actively invite attention.
The pheromones it broadcasted, easily detectable by humans, were essentially announcing its location at all times.
Generally, monsters with such flamboyant ecological traits were Elder Dragons.
Otherwise, they would have been eliminated long ago in the ecological cycle.
The treasure-hunting squad, still searching for an infiltration route, naturally could not ignore the striking golden figure in the moonlit desert.
"It's exactly like the monsters in Li Fan's paintings, meow!"
Treasure said, immediately halting their infiltration, as the treasure-hunting team's purpose was to observe this creature.
"Due to the monster's extremely unusual ecological display, it's provisionally classified as a five-star monster... It's starting to feed!"
The male investigator was assessing the threat level when he saw the insectoid creature pierce and hook a gray insect wing with its forelimbs, then bring it to its mouthparts to tear and chew.
He became excited, and many within the investigation team couldn't help but sigh.
The first reason was the gain of information regarding the feeding habits of an unknown monster.
For investigators, even an unknown species with extremely low threat could be a noteworthy achievement if enough ecological data was collected.
For an unknown, and preliminarily classified five-star monster, collecting any information was a significant accomplishment in an investigator's career.
The second reason was even more exciting: the investigation team was reasonably confident they could withdraw safely.
This was because, with a few exceptions like the Brachydios, monsters that could feed normally in the presence of humans were generally not hostile.
...Of course, this was provided humans did not provoke them.
"The transparent parts resemble insect wing membranes. They don't look like those of a Shagaru Magala... Does anyone know what monster material this is?" the male investigator asked anxiously, observing through his scope.
The middle-aged team leader gazed for a moment, then exclaimed, "Many years ago, when I was deep in an uncharted area, my investigation team seemingly killed a similar insectoid... Right! Its appearance was somewhat similar to the beetle-type monster before us, but much smaller. Unfortunately, by the time we returned to the branch to submit the report, we found this species had already been cataloged, though it was very rare. I was quite disappointed then. If I recall correctly, its name was the Gray Mantis."
Upon hearing this, the male investigator speculated, "Could it be an elder or a special individual, consuming its own kind?"
The recording female investigator had a flash of insight, "If it's a beetle-type, could it be sexual cannibalism?"
"You mean the monster before us is a female Gray Mantis?" the male investigator inquired.
"It's just a guess... Judging by its appearance, this monster is too different from the Gray Mantis to be named as such," the female investigator couldn't guarantee.
"Since the initial observation is complete, we will withdraw immediately. The analyzed information can be submitted to the Guild," the team leader instructed.
"Leader, since the creature shows no hostility, why not try to collect some residual traces before leaving? This suspected Gray Mantis lacks wings, and its size doesn't pose much of a threat. Its silk-spinning ability is also terrible," the male investigator pleaded, clearly not satisfied with simply leaving.
The team leader hesitated for a moment but ultimately insisted on withdrawal.
The unknown creature paid no mind to the investigation team's movements, walking and eating leisurely along the path where the Gray Mantis's wings had fallen.
"Stop staring, Goldie, meow! Li Fan said that upon seeing a Garuga, we should retreat immediately!" Treasure said, wiping drool from Goldie's mouth with a paw.
"It's so beautiful, meow. More radiant than gold," Goldie murmured dazedly.
"I can't help it, meow. Pearl, Emerald! Let's carry Goldie away," Treasure called out. With a combined effort from the three cats, they lifted the star-struck Goldie and fled.
After the wilderness investigation team had retreated a considerable distance, the middle-aged team leader proposed splitting into two groups. One part would take the collected intelligence back to East Dondurma to report, while the other would remain at a distance to continue observation.
However, even without camp supply support, making wilderness survival extremely difficult, the majority of investigators still wished to stay and observe.
The middle-aged team leader spent a long time persuading them before finally convincing half of the investigators to return.
The ancient city fell silent again, with only the sounds of crunching echoing.
With a safer observation environment, the investigators discovered many more incomprehensible aspects.
If this were an ancient ruin in an uncharted area, it would be normal to find unknown monsters residing there.
But this location was only a four to five-hour journey by land from East Dondurma. Many residents of the city would visit nearby towns and villages for desert ecology experiences or vacations. Ecological and archaeological surveys were also frequent.
...How had it managed to reside here without arousing any suspicion?
The gray mantis wings were even more baffling. Even if it were truly a case of sexual cannibalism in a beetle-type, where were the other parts of the corpse?
As observations continued, the investigators remaining in the wilderness found their confusion growing rather than diminishing.
Time passed slowly. Just as the Garuga pierced the last wing and raised its sickle-like forelimbs to consume it, its head, adorned with purple compound eyes, slowly tilted upwards, gazing at the night sky.
"Croak... croak..."
Hearing two dry sounds, Sophia approached the city wall to investigate.
Seeing the Garuga looking up at the sky, she curiously followed its gaze.
"How is this possible!"
Sophia exclaimed as she saw a crimson meteor with a long tail streaking across the sky.
However, what shocked her even more was yet to come. The crimson meteor ascended and then plunged downwards.
During its dive, it shot out two sharp red star-like projectiles before rapidly ascending again, climbing at a vertical angle.
"Sparky! Dodge quickly!" Sophia shouted downwards.
The Garuga did not move. A rainbow-like light flashed across its purple compound eyes, composed of countless tiny hexagonal facets.
*Swoosh! Swoosh! ...*
On the sandy ground, a thread whipped up, instantly taut to its limit.
*Bang! Hum!*
A steel beam, equivalent in size to its body, was spun and lifted by the thread that wrapped around it.
Its claw-like tail lifted slightly, effortlessly supporting the steel beam upright.
*Screech!*
The raised, curved sickle-like forelimb used its connection joint with the front leg to brace against the thread, causing the straight insect silk to become diagonally taut.
The sickle-like limb gently touched the silk, stretching it further. As the sickle rotated, the silk was continuously wound around its tip.
After wrapping it around a dozen times or so, the Garuga raised its sickle, now wrapped with insect silk, and swung it rapidly.
*Whoosh~ Whoosh~ Whoosh~ Whoosh! Hum! ....*
The massive steel beam quickly rotated into a ring.
Strangely, while the Garuga swung it with the lightness of a tree branch, the wind force generated by its rotation became increasingly violent and terrifying.
The two scorching shell fragments, their tips flashing with red starlight, drew closer. The Garuga did not retreat.
*Whoosh~*
The sound of rotation abruptly stopped!
The steel beam was swung with immense force, dragged by the silk thread.
*Clang! Boom!*
A deafening metallic hum resounded, followed by two explosions of red flames.
One scorching shell fragment was knocked away, its trajectory altered, and it plunged directly into the wall of the ancient ruins.
The other, after being struck, bounced back into the air and then rapidly descended, tumbling.
"Withdraw!" the investigation team leader shouted, seeing the parabolic trajectory heading towards them.
*Sizzle! Crackle! Crackle! ...*
The scorching shell fragment plunged directly into the sand where they had been hiding moments before, creating a crater.
A large mass of electric energy, tinged with red and black dragon energy, radiated outwards from the scorching shell fragment.
"Whoo... whoo... That was too close. If it had hit directly, we might not have been able to dodge," the investigation team leader said, panting heavily, looking at the crater with lingering fear.
"Leader, looking at this, isn't the power of that unknown creature even more incredible?" the male investigator asked, his face etched with shock.
"Then let's change the preliminary threat assessment to six stars..."
Just as the team leader was about to redefine the Garuga's threat level, an extremely sharp roar echoed from within the ancient ruins.
...Hum~ Hum~...
Moments later, a continuous tremor transmitted through their feet.
Ash and dust billowed outwards from the broken walls of the ancient city with the tremors.
Just as the investigation team members thought a sandstorm was approaching, the surrounding ruins of the trembling ancient city suddenly collapsed over a large area.
However, what they couldn't understand was that the collapse wasn't a downward toppling, but rather a presentation of segmented damage.
It was as if something was removing parts of the large debris pile, like pulling out building blocks.
Consequently, the debris could no longer maintain its support and collapsed.
As the accumulating ash and dust spread, visibility was quickly obscured.
"Why is the Valstrax here? What happened inside the ancient ruins..." the team leader murmured, staring blankly at the ancient city swallowed by dust, unable to fathom anything.
Years of wilderness investigation experience seemed to have become useless at this moment.
"Leader! Let me go see!" the male investigator volunteered.
"No, going now is suicide!" the team leader flatly refused.
"This is our last chance. Otherwise, when the sandstorm hits, we might not even be able to determine our location."
The team leader's eye twitched, and he finally uttered two reluctant words.
"Alright."
"Yes, trust me."
Watching the investigator sprint towards the sandstorm, the team leader gritted his teeth and issued the withdrawal order.
As everyone was retreating, his partner, the female investigator, suddenly turned and chased after him, waving her thick recording notebook and shouting, "Someone needs to help him record!"
"Good luck..." the team leader whispered, then led the others in a swift retreat.
At the East Dondurma Guild Headquarters, there was chaos due to the sighting of the Valstrax passing overhead.
It wasn't due to a lack of emergency response capabilities, but rather because the Guild had exhausted all its energy dealing with Lao-Shan Lung, Kushala Daora, and unknown monsters. The appearance of the Valstrax was completely unexpected.
The only fortunate thing at the moment was that, based on the intelligence gathered, the Valstrax seemed to have merely passed by.
Inside a secret room within the ancient city's castle.
The howling wind and sand carried by the storm echoed incessantly within the room.
Sophia, using the oil lamp on the table, quickly flipped through her compiler's notes.
After searching for a long time without finding any clues, she closed her notebook, extinguished the oil lamp, and shook her head in the darkness, muttering.
"Impossible... The Valstrax shouldn't appear at this time, and it certainly shouldn't attack Sparky... Its target should be other Elder Dragons. Sparky is the least likely to be attacked... This doesn't make sense! Why!"
Sophia's emotions were highly unstable.
It wasn't until she touched the frog plushie keychain at her side that she calmed down slightly.
She reached into the keychain bag and pulled out a white rectangular object.
*Click!* Her slender white fingers snapped the white rectangular object in half.
The light emitted from the upper and lower square screens illuminated Sophia's face.
She skillfully took out a stylus and slid it across the lower screen.
In the center of the upper screen, a black line with countless nodes, each containing a vast amount of information, was moving horizontally.
Arriving at a node named "Silver Winged Fiend Star," Sophia tapped it with her stylus to expand it.
After carefully reading the information, she closed the white rectangular device, and the secret room plunged back into darkness.
"The timeline in the 3DS cannot be wrong. The Valstrax did indeed attack the Wind Serpent and Thunder Serpent... Where did things go wrong?"
As Sophia clenched her fist in thought, she suddenly noticed an anomaly with the 3DS.
*Click!* The 3DS was opened again.
At the end of the timeline displayed before her, only the nodes for Kushala Daora, Lao-Shan Lung, and Garuga remained.
This was no different from what Sophia had seen before.
However, the words at the top of the screen had changed subtly.
Determination, Physique, Wisdom, Courage, Luck.
Among these five words, only Wisdom and Courage had been shining.
Now, the word "Luck" was also emitting a faint glow.
Taking Poké Balls to Brave the Monster Hunter World.
Zhao Lala reminds you: Please remember to collect after reading.