What kind of ingredients for cat food, the choice is definitely up to the hunter.
Under Li Fan's insistence, Zuda could only reluctantly part with it.
Afterward, Eudora and Dilu selected the recommended ingredient, a tail from a Zinogre.
As the four menus were sent to the kitchen, Todd produced five sheets of white paper.
“Although writing this now isn't very auspicious, should any accidents occur and you still have unfulfilled wishes, the Dragonatory and the Guild will do their utmost to fulfill them on your behalf.”
Todd said, distributing the white paper to each person.
“I’ve already filled one out at the Guild headquarters, so I don’t need to write another.”
Gu Xing pushed away the white paper on the table.
Pazhizhi chewed on the tip of her pen, pondered for a moment, and wrote that she hoped her funeral eulogy would be written by a famous poet or literary figure.
Li Fan wrote furiously, a flurry of strokes.
His request was for a mysterious figure in black, holding an umbrella, to quietly observe from a distance during his burial.
The name on the tombstone would be Li Fan, Who Braved the Monster Hunter World.
Eudora thought for a long time before starting to write.
She wished to be buried in her hometown, Dongdoruma, and hoped that the contract to hunt the Kushala Daora would remain permanently effective.
If there were any new developments in the search for the missing team or the tracking of the Kushala Daora, she wished to be informed during her memorial service.
Dilu wrote a great deal.
First, she hoped the Cat Academy in Cara Village could be renovated.
Half of her accumulated wealth and materials would be left to Ferri and the chef team, with the rest donated to Cara Village for its development.
She hoped the novel she wrote, Dou Lie Continent, could be published by the Dragonatory’s publishing house.
If she were to perish alongside Li Fan, she wished to be buried next to him.
Shortly after the wills were collected, a meal cart was wheeled into the dean’s office.
Li Fan had hoped to take the opportunity of the meal to see what Gu Xing looked like without his mask, but as soon as the cat food was served, an Felyne clad in full Zinogre armor jumped up.
The Felyne unfurled a purple curtain and draped it over Gu Xing.
So Gu Xing also had a hunter cat…
Unable to satisfy his curiosity, Li Fan turned his attention to his own cat food.
Several chunks of brown meat, coated in sauce, were unevenly arranged on the plate.
He picked up a piece with his fork and put it in his mouth…
Ugh… Vomit!
Li Fan gagged, but remembering that these were, after all, Elder Dragon ingredients that he had insisted on choosing himself, he forced himself to swallow.
If he had to describe the taste, it was like a piece of frozen meat that had been forgotten in the back of the refrigerator for years, suddenly unearthed one day, quickly stir-fried, and served.
Adhering to the principle of better a short pain than a long one, Li Fan stopped chewing and savoring. He cut the meat into small pieces and swallowed them directly.
“Eudora, why aren’t you… Oh, you’ve finished.”
Judging by her expression, Li Fan had thought she was still mourning over her will, but when he saw her plate, it was already empty.
Outside the window, a giant airship slowly maneuvered within the harbor, adjusting its heading.
Seeing that the time was almost up, Vegasa led the four members to the airfield.
Below the skybridge, the airfield platform was crowded with well-wishers.
“Go for it, Hunters!”
“Defeat the Valstrax!”
“We’ll be waiting for your return!”
…
Amidst the rising cheers, the Tower Top Operation Team boarded the Scarlet Horn of Kokoto Village.
“Dean, shouldn’t the Dragonatory members be traveling on the Pioneer?” Li Fan asked curiously.
“Because we need to tow the Valstrax, the Pioneer and the Natural Selection have a lot of ballast in their cabins, making them unsuitable for passengers,” Vegasa explained.
Li Fan, who had intended to discuss the specific combat deployment with Devyn, saw that it was now impossible.
The fleet of airships for the expedition to the Ruined Peaks set sail under the anticipation of countless people.
Five days later, six giant combat airships—Hunter, Eternity, Scarlet Horn, Clear Sky, White God, and Fate’s Cycle—arrived successfully.
A day later, the Dragonatory’s Pioneer and Natural Selection also arrived at the Ruined Peaks as scheduled.
Information was transmitted between the airships using bells and gongs.
For more complex communication, small attached airships were used for manual delivery.
As for the supreme command, it was held by Devyn aboard the Pioneer.
Flying at low altitude beneath the storm clouds, after unloading the ground deployment teams at the Sky Tower, the airship fleet slowly ascended in a very loose formation.
To ensure that the Valstrax’s dragon energy would be as depleted as possible upon its return to the Sky Tower, Devyn chose an aerial area relatively far away to set up the trap.
The timing was set for when the Valstrax would be returning from its long journey.
Late the next night, the news that operations would commence the following afternoon was transmitted across the airships.
Li Fan and Dilu made a quick calculation and confirmed that, based on the Valstrax’s recent travel patterns, its next return would indeed be tomorrow afternoon.
“It’s finally coming, meow!” Dilu said, looking at the serene night sky with great anticipation.
The next day, the sky was a brilliant blue with excellent visibility.
At 11 AM, the Tower Top Operation members departed as planned from the Scarlet Horn via a small airship to rendezvous with Devyn and Sickle on the Pioneer.
The detonation devices and the ultra-light small airships capable of reaching the tower’s height were crucial to this operation.
Only the Dragonatory possessed the maintenance capabilities for these items, so they were not handed over too early.
On the deck of the Pioneer, Li Fan saw Devyn, his chin covered in stubble.
Although his face looked a bit haggard, he was still energetically directing the deployment.
The Pioneer and the Natural Selection were now hovering parallel to each other, connected by a web of cables.
A suspended load-bearing net had been created between the two airships.
A crane on the deck lifted a sealed, strip-like vein of Hoshigami Stone ore and placed it on the cable net.
The hatch leading to the cabin below opened, and Sickle, with red-rimmed eyes, emerged onto the deck carrying a box containing the detonation device.
“Goodbye, Devyn, meow!” Sickle hugged Devyn’s leg with all his might before finally letting go.
“Don’t be so sad, we’ll see each other again,” Devyn said, bending down to pat Sickle’s head.
“Everyone, it’s been a while,” Devyn greeted them.
“It has been a while indeed. The last time we met was at the deployment meeting,” Li Fan recalled.
“I was initially surprised that your team would be participating in the Tower Top Operation, but upon reflection… it doesn’t seem difficult to understand,” Devyn mused.
“Huh? Are we that special?” Li Fan asked, confused.
“Yes, in my eyes, you are a team that has inherited the pioneering spirit of the Dragonatory. Especially you, Li Fan, I feel you are becoming more and more like someone.”
“Like who?”
“The former chief hunter.”
“You flatter me. I don’t have the courage to face an Amatsumagatsuchi alone. However, your combat deployment in the classified archives left me deeply impressed,” Li Fan said, waving his hand.
“Haha… That’s all in the past. Now, as the overall commander of the airship fleet, I certainly can’t be as reckless as before,” Devyn chuckled self-deprecatingly.
“By the way, why is there a discrepancy between the data provided by the Dragonatory and the actual test results?” This question had bothered Li Fan for a long time, and now that they had met, he could finally inquire about it.
Upon hearing this question, Sickle quickly turned his head away.
Devyn pondered for a moment, adjusted his glasses, and said in a low voice, “Because if we had provided the real data, the Guild and the villages would never have agreed to a joint operation.”
“I see…”
“Why do you seem so unfazed?”
“Well… I’ve actually felt for a long time that the airship fleet wouldn’t be able to defeat the Valstrax, and it would be difficult to even inflict significant damage,” Li Fan stated.
“You guessed correctly.”
“Then you…?”
Just as Li Fan was about to ask, a shout interrupted their conversation.
“It’s returning!”
A crew member looked up at the sky and pointed at a red meteor trailing a long fiery tail, shouting.
“How is that possible at this time!” Devyn stared at the sky in disbelief.
“It seems we’ll have to wait for the next return, meow,” Sickle sighed.
*Boom!* A muffled sound echoed.
A shockwave erupted, and the red meteor abruptly changed direction, leaving a seven-shaped trail in the sky before beginning to descend rapidly.
“It’s locked on! Is it visual?… Retrieve the Hoshigami Stone ore back onto the deck! Quickly!” Devyn commanded, then hurried towards the cockpit.
However, before he could even enter the first cabin, the rapidly descending Valstrax decelerated with reverse thrust and hovered between the Pioneer and the Natural Selection.
*Whoosh~ Whoosh~*
Six strip-like red flames sprayed from the rear of its wings, distorting the surrounding air.
*Screech!*
On the load-bearing net, a seam suddenly split open from within the black casing of the Hoshigami Stone ore.
A dark red energy flow erupted and surged towards the Valstrax’s chest.
As the seam continued to widen, a small portion of the energy was diverted towards a large wooden crate.
The Valstrax observed the energy flow, its eyes narrowing slightly.
One wing continued to spray flames to maintain its hover, while the other wing extinguished its flames and unfolded in reverse.
*Swoosh! Crash! Clatter!*
As the Valstrax shifted its body, its unfolded wing easily sliced through and shattered the suspended large wooden crate.
Dozens of glowing silver-white, scorching shells scattered from within the crate.
It’s over, it’s over, it’s over…
Having just learned that Devyn’s deployment was not foolproof, coupled with this disastrous start, Li Fan felt his heart turn to ash.
The Valstrax lowered its head, observed for a moment, then rapidly retreated and hovered at a distance, watching.
*ROAR!!!*
A roar, a fusion of a steam whistle and a bird’s cry, exploded in the sky!
After the roar subsided, Dilu removed her paws from her cat ears and asked, “Li Fan, what did the Valstrax say, meow?”
“It said… why is my shell here,” Li Fan said helplessly, looking up at the sky.
“That’s it, meow? The roar sounded very angry,” Dilu asked, confused.
“There’s more to it.”
“What is it, meow?”
“Never mind, the reason doesn’t matter anymore.”
“Uh… Ah! It’s going to attack, meow!” Dilu exclaimed.
“Hostility triggered! Commence operation! Hostility triggered! Commence operation!…”
After a moment of stunned silence, Devyn waved his hand and shouted, and the crew members immediately sprang into action.
Devyn’s reason for forcibly initiating the operation was simple.
Although the current Valstrax was provoked, it was still quite puzzled by the humans’ actions.
It was also unaware of the threat posed by the giant airships.
If they delayed any longer and it realized this was a trap, it would never hover close again.
*Clang! Bang! Clang! Bang!*…
Giant gongs and bells struck in alternation, their sounds spreading continuously.
The giant airships that had already been deployed also observed the Valstrax approaching the Pioneer, but the order to commence operations now was truly beyond their expectations.
However, as the Pioneer was the airship with the overall commander Devyn aboard, the transmitted orders had to be strictly executed.
*Clang! Bang! Clang! Bang!*…
All six giant airships responded, indicating that the orders had been received and were being executed.
“Long-range team, shatter the ore casing with gunfire!” Devyn commanded. Dozens of hunters, carrying heavy bows, assembled on the flanks and concentrated their fire.
Large sections of the sealing coating on the Hoshigami Stone ore peeled away.
The Valstrax observed for a moment, its anger not subsiding, but as it looked at the bright red Hoshigami Stone ore, it slowly approached at a not-very-fast speed.
Seeing this, Devyn’s mood stabilized slightly.
But when his gaze fell upon the four Tower Top Operation members on the deck, his expression froze.
Clearly, they had not departed at the planned time and in the planned manner to await orders around the top of the Sky Tower.
“Devyn, we are now…” Gu Xing began, but was interrupted.
“Please rest assured, I will send you to the Sky Tower, and it will not delay the second phase of the operation,” Devyn promised.
Under the fearful gazes of everyone, the Valstrax hovered above the load-bearing net again, beginning to absorb energy from the Hoshigami Stone ore.
Threat, danger – these meanings seemed to have long since faded into nothingness throughout its long life.
*Creak, creak, creak*…
At the bow of the two giant airships, twelve large ballista bases began to rotate slowly, aiming at the Valstrax.
This isn’t right. The deployment said the single-shot restraint rounds would be fired twice, which is why the long-range units needed to concentrate fire to shoot sleep rounds.
If one shot connects both airships, what’s the point of concentrating fire with sleep rounds?
Li Fan was becoming more and more bewildered by Devyn’s deployment.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*…
Twelve piercing crossbow bolts, each with a metal cable attached to its tail, were fired simultaneously.
*Click! Clang!*…
A series of metallic impacts sounded. One bolt missed, two hit but their tips were deflected.
Nine bolts pierced the Valstrax’s wing, back carapace, and other areas.
The Valstrax was stunned for a moment as its carapace was shattered and pierced.
Feeling the tug of the single-shot restraint rounds from behind, its dragon flames intensified.
“Everyone! Hold on tight!” Devyn shouted, lifting Sickle onto his shoulder, then spreading his arms to embrace the mast.
*Whoosh~ Bang!* A whistling sound exploded through the air!
Leaning against the bulwark, Li Fan felt a constant gale, and the surrounding clouds sped backward.
*Boom!*
The Valstrax’s towing lasted only about ten seconds before the Pioneer’s air bladder cracked and shattered as it contracted and twisted.
As the cables snapped one by one, it, along with two broken masts, detached from the hull and slid into the azure sky.
Barrels, crates, splintered deck fragments.
Everything in sight was rapidly being thrown towards the stern.
The same situation occurred on the Natural Selection, flying on the opposite side.
“Devyn… is this your combat deployment.” Gu Xing said, leaning against the bulwark, filled with resentment. Purple spectral flames seeped out from the gaps in his armor.