Li Fan turned in the same direction and picked up the binoculars to observe.
It was a flying dragon with V-shaped horns on its head, connected by two triangular membranes between its horns and neck.
Its bright yellow eyes were locked onto the Flamefire.
Its wings, patterned with black cross-stars on a blue background, were composed of eight toe bones extending from its talons, each with a petal-shaped membrane.
In the wind, the membranes were fully unfurled, appearing from afar like a blue butterfly in flight.
"It's a Kushala Daora! And it seems to be heading straight for us, we need to think of something quickly!"
Aibo, who had personally observed the Kushala Daora, was actually excited, but the creature was the culprit behind the third expedition airship's attack years ago, so she quickly issued a warning.
"Yes, we need to think of something quickly."
Li Fan said, unhurriedly opening his backpack and looking at the various Poké Balls inside, lost in thought.
The Kushala Daora was the monster that would first sense the anomaly in the Tundra in the future.
Once captured, the arrival of the Iceborne would be basically confirmed.
The current state of the New World was not much different from the game's plot, but he couldn't grasp the exact timeline.
After all, real-world progression and game progression were entirely different; many events could happen concurrently, be brought forward, or occur simultaneously.
Furthermore, the Coral Highlands was also the habitat of the Namielle, and if the monster team was to move freely in the vicinity, having a companion familiar with the area would greatly reduce the risk of danger.
"Yudora, Aibo, go to safety. Take the supplies with you and find a suitable area to establish a camp."
The third expedition's research base was not a stronghold and could not accommodate a large number of hunters, so establishing a camp was necessary.
However, subsequent hunter teams could only explore by land, making it very difficult to find a suitable area here.
Li Fan decided to assign this task to Yudora and Aibo.
"Yudora can engage in aerial combat. Do we really need to seek refuge now?"
Aibo asked, unable to fully understand.
"Aibo, trust Li Fan. I'll go get the supplies needed to build the camp."
Yudora said, then quickly ran into the ship's cabin.
"Dilo! Firi! Pachi!"
Li Fan continued to monitor the Kushala Daora's movements while calling out.
"We're here, meow!"
The three cats responded in unison.
"Prepare for battle!"
Firi maneuvered the Flamefire to turn sideways.
Dilo ran to the bow and rang the bronze bell.
Pachi took over from Li Fan, continuing to observe the Kushala Daora's movements.
"We should get going too, Aibo!"
Yudora said, throwing a large cargo box with a balloon attached to the top into the air.
"Alright. But be careful, Kushala Daora is a very fierce monster."
Aibo cautioned, blew her whistle, and her Pterodactyl, standing on the railing, took flight against the wind.
"The Kushala Daora is still approaching, meow, and it's constantly gaining altitude."
A moment later, Pachi reported the current situation.
"It likes to attack from high up, which is likely a habit developed from hunting Pterodactyls for years."
Li Fan speculated.
"What's the next step, meow?"
Firi asked.
Although he knew there was no danger, Firi was still worried that the Flamefire might be damaged.
Based on previous flight experience, airships usually ended up in trouble when encountering monsters skilled at flying.
"Since it likes to attack from higher up, we'll just wait."
Li Fan informed them.
Locking onto the Flamefire's position, the Kushala Daora flapped its wings forcefully and flew into the clouds, preparing to launch an aerial assault.
Suddenly, it sensed a flashing light from above.
Slowing down slightly and tilting its head to look, it saw two dragons, one gold and one silver.
Gliding at low speed for a moment, the Kushala Daora turned its body and rapidly escaped in a steep dive.
Whoosh~
Observing the Kushala Daora falling diagonally from the clouds, Pachi immediately shouted, "The Kushala Daora is escaping, meow!"
"It's quite cautious. It must have had contact with the Gold and Silver Raths before, otherwise, it would have at least probed us."
Li Fan was surprised by its decisive escape and said so.
At this moment, Wanni and Xiao Bendan also flew out of the clouds, pursuing it closely.
As the three dragons charged into the coral forest, their roars and collisions caused large coral pillars and tree-like branching giant corals to collapse and fall.
"By retracting its wing membranes, it reduced its volume in flight and utilized its home-field advantage in the familiar terrain. This dragon is quite good."
Seeing the Kushala Daora skillfully navigating the complex coral forest at high speed while Wanni and Xiao Bendan could only crash through, Li Fan speculated.
"Let's give it a bit more difficulty."
Li Fan said, releasing Kuku from its ball.
Waaaooh?
Seeing the coral-covered landscape below, Kuku appeared somewhat surprised.
"Kuku, Wanni and Xiao Bendan are too big. Go and help."
Li Fan pointed to the area where roars were frequently heard.
Aoo!
Kuku roared excitedly and flew towards it.
Five minutes later, the Kushala Daora, committed to its escape, was still fleeing for its life.
Although its movements had become slightly slower with the decrease in stamina, there was still no sign of it being captured.
"This is impressive. It seems the difficulty needs to be increased further."
Li Fan said, and then released Xixi.
Aoo! Aoo!
Seeing Xixi join the chase, the Kushala Daora immediately began to curse.
Finally, under the围追堵截 (encirclement and pursuit) of four monsters, the cornered Kushala Daora could only land on a high platform.
Faint blue light flickered from the gaps in the armor between its chest and abdomen, and its wing joints.
A large amount of blue liquid surged from its secretory glands, rapidly solidifying on the surface of its armor to form ice crystal barbs.
Gold Rathian, Silver Rathalos, and two ugly-looking unknown monsters.
The terrified Kushala Daora didn't know who to confront.
What was even more incomprehensible was that there was no free-for-all among the various monsters; they were all consciously targeting it.
Its plan to escape amidst the chaos, expecting the four monsters to fight each other, was foiled.
After a period of confrontation, a long, narrow shadow slowly approached.
The Kushala Daora looked up and saw an airship, immediately feeling like it had found a savior.
So it quickly roared to signal that something was approaching from above and to attack it.
However, the monsters remained unmoved, only staring warily at the Kushala Daora, as if they would attack if it dared to escape again.
Before long, a rope descended, and Li Fan rappelled down to an appropriate distance before leaping off.
"Hello, my name is Li Fan. Are you interested in joining my team?"
Stepping forward, Li Fan said directly.
Aoo?
Even though the newcomer was so small and posed no threat, the Kushala Daora remained vigilant.
"I won't kill you. We only abide by morality, and morality is order. Ecological order is also a form of order, albeit a bit more barbaric and violent."
The Kushala Daora's eyes showed confusion; it couldn't understand the meaning of Li Fan's words at all.
Swish! Swish!
Puff and Yuan Jiao appeared.
"We have other members living in different areas. Our team is very powerful."
As Li Fan introduced them, he noticed the Kushala Daora's claws trembling uncontrollably.
Uh... I didn't expect that an overly powerful monster lineup would also hinder capture.
Li Fan realized that the Kushala Daora was stunned and had lost its ability to think.
If it were human, it would be like a group of terrifying-looking aliens chasing you relentlessly, and then suddenly asking you to join their team.
"Let's try this ball."
A pale golden sphere was taken out of the backpack.
This was the Oath Ball unlocked by completing the six-star Pokédex.
The engraved mark on it was a pattern of a human hand and a dragon's three-toed foreclaw clasped tightly together.
"I, Li Fan, with the witness of many monsters, guarantee that I will not harm you, do anything detrimental to you, and will protect and cherish you, no matter what... in short, I will never leave you, and we will work together to create ecological harmony."
Li Fan said with his hand raised, holding the Oath Ball and walking towards the Kushala Daora.
"Be careful, meow! I'm using a disc!"
Dilo saw Li Fan advancing without drawing his sword and quickly took out a PSP loaded with a super-regeneration disc.
The Kushala Daora froze in place. After all, in its dragon life, such strange and bizarre events had never even appeared in its dreams.
Where are the claws?
After observing for a moment, Li Fan noticed the toe bones protruding from under the wing membrane and realized that the Kushala Daora's wing claws were likely located beneath its wings.
So he bent down slightly and reached under its wings to investigate.
A cold mist attacked. Although the Kushala Daora's wing claws were covered by wing membranes, due to the presence of secretory glands, a large number of ice crystal barbs were attached to the surface.
Does this require shaking hands?
Li Fan was unsure if this was the correct way to establish an oath; everything was inferred from the handshake mark on the Oath Ball.
"Forget it, it's just a little painful."
Taking off the Thunder Dragon Gauntlets, Li Fan reached out and grasped the Kushala Daora's wing claws, which were covered in ice crystal barbs, on the inner side of its wings.
*Puchi!* Blood dripped from the ice crystal barbs, flowing onto the coral rock layer riddled with holes on the ground.
Aoo!
Yuan Jiao let out an angry roar, and the red light in its vengeful eyes spread.
Anger indicated that harming the crooked-neck emperor was an unforgivable sin.
The other monsters also became tense.
"It's not Piaopiao's fault. I chose to hold it myself."
Li Fan explained, then opened the Oath Ball.
The Kushala Daora, still not fully understanding the situation, instantly turned into white light and flew into the ball.
Tsk~ tsk~ tsk~
The sphere trembled three times, and the capture was successful.
Li Fan immediately took out his handheld device to check the Kushala Daora's attributes.
[Kushala Daora] Male (Unassigned)
HP: 5902/6400
Status: Targeted by the whole world, extremely confused, fearful, slow thinking, depleted stamina, trembling, subtle sensation, minor burns on the outer sides of both wings.
Level: 71
Strength: 430
Agility: 598
Intelligence: 393
Skills: [Life Energy Field - Beginner] This monster, long inhabiting an area with abundant life energy, gains more attributes.
Increases the probability of inducing unknown mutations.
[Folded Wing Membranes] The Kushala Daora can fold or unfold its wing membranes to fly in various postures.
[Wind Riding] Master of gliding.
[Lean Build] Over-exercised.
[Specialized Diet] Prefers to eat a single species.
[Ice Sac] Organ that produces freeze-dried liquid.
[Freezing Glands] The Kushala Daora's secretory glands located on its chest, abdomen, and wing joints can secrete a large amount of freeze-dried liquid in a very short time, which is transported to the surface of its body and solidifies to form ice crystal barbs.
[Cold-blooded Metabolism] The Kushala Daora can maintain normal metabolism at very low body temperatures, but the effects of poisoning will be greatly increased, accompanied by [Flight Imbalance].
[Frostwind] The Kushala Daora rapidly swings its wings, blowing off the ice crystal barbs attached to its armor to perform area attacks on enemies.
[Spiral Dive] While flying, the Kushala Daora rapidly contracts its wing membranes, compressing air, and performs a rotating charge forward.
Description: A flying dragon species monster.
Possesses excellent flying ability and a beautiful appearance.
It can fly stably even in areas with extremely complex air currents.
Although it is a five-star monster, its attributes are much stronger than ordinary five-star monsters. Is this the life energy of the New World?
The [Life Energy Field - Beginner] trait had gradually appeared on the monsters after half a month of free-range monster raising.
However, without a reference point, Li Fan was unsure of its effect.
It wasn't until he saw the Kushala Daora's attributes and flipped through his notebook to check Wanni's attributes when he was first captured that Li Fan realized they were at least one star apart.
However, with the continuous training of the team, the improvement of [Life Energy Field] was not excessively exaggerated.
But compared to ordinary monsters on the original continent, this trait that allowed them to become stronger by simply hanging around was a heaven-defying improvement.
"It seems that the investigation team's miserable situation in the New World is not entirely due to a lack of hunters."
Li Fan immediately speculated.
After observing its attributes, Piaopiao was released from the ball.
Looking at its bewildered eyes, it was clear that it still hadn't figured out what had happened.
"Piaopiao, from now on, you are the dragon in charge of the Coral Highlands. Besides the Namielle, and that one that often performs water-sucking dragon moves, don't be afraid of any monster that objects. Just tell Puff. Stop spinning around, come and see our new partner."
Li Fan said, calling out to Puff.
Swish~ Swish~
Puff slid over, its wet dorsal fin faintly shimmering with iridescence.
During its training in Elgard and with the Steel-Coiled Beast, Puff had not undergone mutation, but it had gained a [Beginner Provider] trait.
The effect was to make it easier to integrate into the local ecosystem and coexist harmoniously with multiple species, a kind of social networking skill.
Before, Puff could also inhabit the Ancient Forest and go fishing by the sea.
But based on Li Fan's understanding of Puff, it would definitely prefer the vibrant and colorful Coral Highlands.
At the same time, there were no shortages of water bodies here, but the presence of the Namielle made Li Fan feel a sense of danger, which was why he hadn't released it for free-range raising immediately.
Now that there was a local dragon, Piaopiao, the safety issue didn't need to be overly concerned.
"Piaopiao, have you seen an airship, half-broken and floating high in the sky, in the vicinity?"
Li Fan asked.
Aoo. Aoo?
In Piaopiao's understanding, it had no idea what an airship was. After thinking for a long time, it looked up at the Flamefire and let out a confused roar.
"Yes, similar in appearance to the Flamefire."
Li Fan confirmed.
Aoo!
"You'll take me there, good!"
Li Fan threw out a Wirebug thread, wrapped it around Wanni's claws, and quickly flew back to the Flamefire.
Piaopiao flew in front of the Flamefire, acting as a guide.