The Thunder Wolf Dragon and the Thunder Bug share a symbiotic relationship.
When the Thunder Wolf Dragon discharges electricity, it can transform the Thunder Bug into a Super Thunder Bug through a process akin to induced mutation.
The Super Thunder Bug, in turn, feeds the Thunder Wolf Dragon with ample electrical energy, allowing it to enter an overdrive state for a period.
The Thunder Wolf Dragon is the dominant partner, even capable of guiding the Super Thunder Bugs residing on its back to form electrified orbs for aerial assaults.
It made no sense for the Thunder Wolf Dragon to chase after the Thunder Bugs if they remained unaffected.
Li Fan's only logical explanation was that this particular Thunder Wolf Dragon had lost the ability to trigger the mutation of Thunder Bugs.
This perfectly aligned with the investigator's records of its impaired electricity storage capabilities.
The absence of this ability was fatal for the Thunder Wolf Dragon.
It could forget about being the leader of its pack, and expulsion was inevitable.
Previously, Puff had migrated from the Misty Jungle to the vicinity of Cara village to distance itself from the Zinogre.
This had triggered a high level of alertness in this Thunder Wolf Dragon, leading to indiscriminate attacks that threatened the safety of Cara village.
After suffering heavy losses in a joint hunt, it had then moved to the volcano...
Truly, fate is unpredictable.
Li Fan mused inwardly, feeling that the Thunder Wolf Dragon's plight mirrored human destiny.
However, he still couldn't understand why the Thunder Wolf Dragon had come to the volcanic region.
The pressure for survival in the wild here was significantly higher than in most other areas, and the number of Thunder Bugs was also limited.
If it encountered any powerful monsters, it might perish here.
After pondering for a long time without a conclusion, Li Fan decided not to dwell on it further.
Dust spewing from the giant volcanic crater mingled with the hazy sky, obscuring the sun.
As the airship ventured slightly into the volcanic core, not a single ray of sunlight could be seen.
However, the mountains beneath the smoke and dust were not bleak; the slowly flowing, fiery lava cast a red glow on everything.
As Li Fan passed through the kitchen, he took a carrot from the cutting board, ate it as he walked to the bow of the ship.
Leaf, returning with a basin of vegetables, scratched her head in confusion upon seeing the freshly cut carrot missing.
"Dielu, it's your shift."
"Uh... I wasn't sleeping, meow!"
Dielu, who had been dozing on the bench, suddenly jumped up.
"Good, you can go to sleep now. I'll take over."
Li Fan informed her.
Under the shroud of hazy dust, it was impossible to distinguish day from night by looking at the sky.
But Li Fan knew it was early morning. Dielu had been diligently monitoring the airship's hull reactions at the bow all night.
"Okay, meow! Don't call me for breakfast or lunch, I'm going to sleep until night to recharge my energy!"
With that said, Dielu rubbed her eyes and went to the kitchen, opening a small hatch that had been converted from a pot lid.
Grumble~ Grumble~
Hearing the rumbling of her empty stomach, Dielu looked around and then picked up the basin of vegetables.
"Flower Leaf, Three Leaf, Leaf meow! I'm taking this vegetable salad back to eat, meow!"
After calling out, Dielu, holding the basin of vegetables, disappeared into the cat slide pipe.
Leaf returned, carrying a bundle of carrots, and scratched her head again, looking at the empty cutting board.
Since it was a mineral exploration ship, many modifications had been made to facilitate exploration.
Although the airship's hull resonated with the Hexcrystal, a vertical guiding needle had been installed at the bow by Huai Lai.
The observer didn't need to constantly monitor the hull; they only needed to check the guiding needle periodically.
For safety, the airship's speed could not be too high during exploration, rendering the dispersal-capable Golden Tailwind unusable.
However, the combined vigilance of Little Idiot, Naughty, and Xi Xi was enough to deter most monsters.
Therefore, Li Fan's primary task at the bow was to mark the explored areas on the map.
After about five hours of exploration.
Crack!
A red electric spark appeared at the tip of the guiding needle.
"Stop the ship!"
Li Fan shouted towards the control room at the stern. Ferei immediately halted the Flamefire.
He ran to the railing and looked down. A strange red aura was seeping from the ground and continuously flowing into the airship's hull.
"Is there a new discovery?"
Yudora hurried over.
"Yes, there's likely a Hexcrystal vein below. The surrounding terrain appears to be quite hard, so we should be able to attempt an excavation."
Li Fan analyzed.
"Wait, aren't Hexcrystal veins exposed on the surface?"
Yudora said in surprise.
"The data I saw indicated that a small portion would be exposed."
"I specifically bought over a dozen G-class mining picks, and I thought... this seems to be beyond our capabilities, doesn't it?"
Yudora asked tentatively.
"It's alright. For this excavation, I've assembled a team of experts. Once we locate the vein, we'll just follow their lead on how to proceed."
"An expert team..."
Yudora looked back at the deck, not remembering anyone else accompanying them.
Upon reaching the ground, the team arrived at the location where the red aura was continuously emanating.
Taking out three Poké Balls, Zhan Zhan, Ya Ya, and Sha Sha quickly appeared.
"This is your expert team?"
Yudora asked in amazement.
"Precisely. Zhan Zhan, the mineral expert; Ya Ya, the rock stratum structure expert; and Sha Sha, the construction worker."
After Li Fan's introduction, he began to explain the exploration requirements to the monsters.
Zhan Zhan was quite relaxed, while the mud on Sha Sha's body quickly dried and cracked.
Ya Ya, who was the most uncomfortable, was constantly sweating.
"Ya Ya, you go first. Just confirm if the soil layer here can be safely excavated."
Li Fan gave the order.
Ya Ya ran briefly on the rock stratum, and after confirming it was relatively stable, it crawled onto the ground on its side.
Roar...
"Zhan Zhan, jump, then stomp down with all your might."
Li Fan conveyed Ya Ya's thoughts.
Roar! Zhan Zhan roared, its two paws gathering power for a moment before leaping up.
Bang! The ground shook, and the rock stratum dented.
Ya Ya, which had been crawling and feeling the vibrations, got up.
Roar...
"The rock stratum below is very stable, and it can be excavated, right... Okay, get back in your ball."
Li Fan then returned Ya Ya to its Poké Ball.
Zhan Zhan used its sensitive mineral detection ability to mark an 'X' on the ground with its tail blade, pinpointing the excavation spot.
Sha Sha used its head crest to dig at the marked spot.
However, due to the hardness of the geological material here, the efficiency was not very high.
"If we find a Hexcrystal vein, will the Ceadeus's crisis be resolved, meow?"
Dielu, who was watching the excavation, asked.
"Not necessarily. Even if Ceadeus comes to the volcano, it's inevitable that it will clash with the terrifying entities in the volcanic forbidden zone. The only upside is that any crisis it causes is usually confined to the volcanic region."
Li Fan speculated.
It was better for one region to suffer than for all regions to be threatened, especially since humans rarely ventured into the volcanic areas.
Roar!
Sha Sha, from within the pit in the rock stratum, let out a roar.
The team saw red rock exposed at the bottom of the pit and quickly descended beside it.
Clang!
Yudora struck the red rock with her pickaxe, causing it to crack. Li Fan and Dielu then picked up the fragments and examined them.
"The color is so good, meow."
Dielu opened her backpack, took out a fragment of a Blazing Shell, and brought it closer. Red light and electric sparks reappeared.
"It's indeed Hexcrystal! We found it, meow!"
Li Fan, Yudora, and Dielu hugged each other, cheering in celebration.
The next step was to determine the reserves.
As Sha Sha continued to excavate, the vein-like Hexcrystal deposit gradually became visible.
When the exposed length reached about 8 meters, black rock appeared.
Huh? Is that all? This should only be a small part of the entire vein.
Li Fan, with a sinking heart, directed Sha Sha to dig deeper. To his dismay, after digging less than five meters, black rock appeared again.
The team dug and scraped, and when the irregularly shaped Hexcrystal vein was fully revealed, Yudora and Dielu hadn't noticed anything amiss, but Li Fan's face had turned ashen.
"A Hexcrystal vein this large should be enough for Ceadeus for at least twenty years, right?"
Yudora said, standing on the vein and estimating.
"Something seems off, meow?"
Dielu looked puzzled.
"What's off? Isn't this the Hexcrystal vein we were looking for?"
Yudora asked, confused.
"Based on the fragments I collected, which only allowed a Blazing Shell to activate for a short time, maintaining Ceadeus's aerial flight would require at least... I can't calculate it, meow, but it feels like this vein might not be enough."
Dielu voiced her opinion.
"Li Fan, Dielu is saying... why are you squatting on the ground?"
"It's nothing, just a bit tired."
Li Fan looked utterly dejected.
"Could it really be true?"
Yudora asked tentatively.
"Do you know the Sky-Piercing Tower?"
"Yes, I do."
"Aside from its rock walls, the Sky-Piercing Tower is essentially a massive Hexcrystal vein."
"This... so that's how much Hexcrystal is needed to sustain Ceadeus's habitat."
Yudora had a sudden realization.
She understood why Li Fan was dejected.
The volcano was already the most mineral-rich region. If even the Hexcrystal reserves here couldn't satisfy Ceadeus, then the possibilities in other regions were even slimmer.
"Alas, could the scarcity of Hexcrystal veins be the reason why Ceadeus was almost extinct before?"
Yudora speculated.
Given Ceadeus's flight altitude, it had no natural predators.
The reason for its population decline to the point of being considered extinct might have been Hexcrystal.
After all, the team had just experienced the difficulty of exploration and mining.
"If Ceadeus's metabolism requires Hexcrystal, then it's very likely."
A sense of powerlessness washed over Li Fan. He hadn't expected that even a powerful creature like Ceadeus would be so strictly constrained by its environment.
The ecosystem of the Monster Hunter world was like a market of equivalent exchange; any ability possessed came with a corresponding price, and no one could escape it.
"In that case... not being able to find Hexcrystal might not be so bad. Perhaps Ceadeus would self-destruct before causing a crisis."
Yudora speculated.
"No, that would be the most terrifying..."
Li Fan sighed.
"Why?"
"Because before its life ends, Ceadeus would undoubtedly search for Hexcrystal with all its might. Given its mobility, the areas it could reach might be far larger than those currently explored by humans. At that time, all monsters within those regions would migrate en masse out of fear of the Elder Dragon, and human settlements would be in danger."
"No wonder the Dragon Calendar Institute places such importance on it..."
Yudora exclaimed.
"You all go back first. I'll direct Little Idiot and Naughty to hoist this massive vein up."
Directly hunting and killing Ceadeus was the only solution Li Fan could currently think of.
Because even if he managed to capture it, he wouldn't have enough Hexcrystal to sustain Ceadeus's enormous consumption.
As for discovering other Hexcrystal veins, Li Fan felt it would be largely meaningless.
Because once the current Hexcrystal veins were depleted, Ceadeus would still enter its searching state.
This was its innate ecological habit, with no inherent good or evil, but it posed a significant threat to humans.
Disaster descending or the eradication of Ceadeus were the only two options at present.
Using silk threads to bind the massive vein at both ends, it began to rise as Little Idiot and Naughty ascended.
Li Fan retracted Sha Sha and Zhan Zhan into their Poké Balls and grabbed onto a descending cable.
As they ascended to a certain height, Li Fan noticed a problem of moderate significance.
That is, as the distance between the Hexcrystal vein and the airship decreased, the intensity of the red lightning generated between them also increased.
"It seems I'll need to find a water source later and have Sha Sha mix some mud to apply as an insulating layer on the vein's surface..."
Li Fan muttered.
As for the potential dangers, he felt there was no need to worry.
The Blazing Shell, separated from Ceadeus, was merely material.
Once the Hexcrystal absorption reached saturation, it would stop.
Crackle! Crackle!....
Eerie red and black lightning continuously erupted on the airship's hull.
However, as the Blazing Shell's absorption of energy approached saturation, the resonance effect began to gradually weaken.
The cable continued to ascend, and Li Fan crossed the railing onto the deck.
"Uh... so many flying insects, meow!"
Dielu exclaimed, looking forward.
Li Fan turned his head and saw a dense swarm of flying insects.
"I'll go get the bug net, meow."
Dielu said, rushing towards the kitchen.
"Oh... that's strange, what kind of flying insects are these?"
Li Fan had never seen these insects before, and their behavior was also quite baffling.
It was one thing for them to travel in swarms, but why were they heading directly for the airship instead of anywhere else?
Crack! The first flying insect collided with the ship's hull without any deceleration.
Its six legs latched onto the hull, its two membranous wings spread, and a dark light flashed from its exposed transparent abdomen.
Hiss!
The black aura, slowly dissipating from the hull due to energy saturation, was absorbed into the insect's abdomen.
The insect's body slightly expanded, and a red and black glow appeared from its abdomen.
Before long, as the swarm arrived, more and more insects attached themselves to the hull, absorbing the dissipating energy.
With the energy having an outlet, the energy attached to the Blazing Shell gradually subsided, and the absorption of Hexcrystal resumed.
"You guys came for the buffet!"
Li Fan shouted downwards, gripping the railing.
"I'm coming, meow! Let me catch one and see what kind of flying insect it is!"
Dielu, holding the bug net, hurried over.
"No need, I have a faster way to identify it!"
Li Fan said, taking a Silver Crown Ball from his shoulder strap.
"Which one should I choose... you're the most absorbent!"
He aimed at one and threw the ball.
Because he threw it with considerable force, the black flying insect was knocked over in mid-air and turned into a white light, entering the ball.
Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!
Capture successful!
Li Fan quickly took out his handheld device to check.
"Eroding Dragon Insect?"