"I suppose I was overthinking it. Just floating in mid-air when paralyzed, there's really nothing funny about it," Eudora muttered as she walked towards the bar.
"Oh no, I left my belt by the hot spring," she exclaimed, immediately turning back as she remembered she was treating them.
As soon as she reached the hot spring, she heard the unrestrained laughter of a person and a cat.
"Hahaha!"
"Hahaha meow!"
Eudora's eyebrows shot up. She slowed her pace and leaned against a stone pillar by the hot spring.
"Floating away while paralyzed! Hahaha! What a bizarre experience."
"Floating away while trembling violently meow... Mmm~ Hahaha."
Eudora clenched her fists and leaped out from behind the pillar.
"You guys actually..."
*Swish~ Swish~ Swish~...*
"Is the strength okay, meow?" Dilu asked as she scrubbed Li Fan's back.
"It's good, very comfortable. I'll use the brush on you later," Li Fan replied, enjoying himself with his eyes closed in the pool.
"Oh? It's Eudora meow. Aren't you treating us?" Dilu asked, a little surprised.
"Uh... you guys didn't... I forgot my belt. My money is in it," Eudora stammered, picking up the belt by the hot spring.
Strange, she clearly heard laughter just now. Could she have been hallucinating?
With a sense of doubt, Eudora headed to the lobby bar.
The capture of the top-tier ice monster, the Iceborne Wyvern, had been planned. Li Fan's actions began to shift towards in-game investigations.
Following the classic tradition of Monster Hunter, the cover monsters were usually scapegoats.
Li Fan didn't want to correct anything. After all, much of the relevant evidence was accumulated through repeated investigations.
If he skipped this process, he would only have one conclusion, which wouldn't be enough to convince everyone.
Following the successful hunt of the Paralysis Dragon, the exploration of the mountain ice cave was subsequently expanded.
Two days later, the team received a joint investigation invitation from Master Yuanye.
However, earlier that day, the summons issued by Fray at the Astera base had also arrived.
Based on the principle of proximity, the team decided to head to the ice cave first to assess the situation.
After continuously exploring deeper into the cave, the team finally rendezvoused with Master Yuanye beside an ancient shipwreck.
"This ship belonged to an expeditionary group from a long time ago. Their records mentioned a large number of agitated monsters, singing, an unknown creature that could bring frost disasters, and a rare crystal... This is a sample I found in the cabin," Master Yuanye explained the intelligence he had gathered.
"This crystal... it's the same as the one my grandfather brought back to the Old Continent," Ai Bo said, taking out a deep blue crystal of the same texture.
"So your grandfather was also investigating the secrets of that Elder Dragon before?"
"Yes, I have a feeling that by investigating this, we'll get closer to the truth very soon," Ai Bo said excitedly.
"I have that premonition too, Ai Bo. Would you like to investigate with me? We can continue to follow the clues until we find the truth." Facing Master Yuanye's invitation, Ai Bo hesitated.
"Go, Ai Bo. Believe in yourself," Eudora encouraged.
"Okay! I'll contact you as soon as we find that creature," Ai Bo promised.
Meanwhile, Li Fan, remembering that an Icefang Wyvern in the story would cause trouble for their investigation, assigned Yaya to provide some backup. He then rushed to the Astera base. A few days later, after everyone had gathered, Fray explained the purpose of the summons.
The sudden appearance of two subspecies, the Flooded Mernos and the Coral Pukei-Pukei, had greatly unsettled the scholars at the Ecological Research Institute. Combined with the massive gas leaks from the Rotten Vale and the migration of the Windproof Dragon herd, a theory of a quiet ecological mutation was proposed.
Astera was naturally unwilling to remain passive. They decided to proactively launch an investigation, aiming to clearly identify their enemy before the crisis arrived.
After the meeting, Dilu tucked two contracts into a booklet.
"The Coral Pukei-Pukei appeared in the Coral Highlands a long time ago. I don't think hunting it will yield any useful information, even if we succeed," Li Fan commented.
"Then let's hunt the Flooded Mernos," Eudora suggested.
"Flooded Mernos... If we have enough time, we can hunt one."
"Why don't you seem very interested?" Eudora asked curiously.
"Compared to the anomalies that will occur in the future, their impact is quite limited," Li Fan sighed.
"Are you saying that more unusual situations will occur successively?"
"Yes, but investigations must proceed step by step. Let's set off for now."
The team immediately boarded the Crimson Glow and headed towards the Great Desert, marked on the contract.
After two days of travel, the Crimson Glow hovered above the canyons and bushes. On the deck, Li Fan showed a drawing of a Flooded Mernos to Naughty.
*Ao?* Naughty let out a confused roar, looking increasingly bewildered.
"Naughty, this isn't its head. This is the inflated, spherical sac formed when its neck pouch inflates. Those two red, eye-like shapes are mimicry camouflage formed by its fur, specifically to intimidate monsters," Li Fan patiently explained.
*Ao~* The little idiot exclaimed, "What a big head!"
"This isn't its head... Forget it, let's just treat it as a head attack," Li Fan said, rubbing his forehead in exasperation.
After receiving their orders, the two dragons immediately flew off, diving into the canyon to begin their search.
Soon, a series of roars echoed, and a large number of monsters began to flee. Sensing a peculiar aura, Naughty landed on the ground and began to track on foot. The little idiot then circled overhead to prevent the Flooded Mernos from escaping by air.
Due to the obstruction of the canyon walls on both sides, the bottom of the jungle in this desert received almost no light, making it very dark.
*Rustle~* Soon, sensing a slight rustling sound behind him, Naughty turned to look. Behind a curtain of drooping vines and branches, there was a deep darkness, like a black hole.
*Ao~* Naughty turned its head and blinked, thinking it might be too sensitive, and continued its search.
*Rustle~* Another sound. Naughty looked back again and was surprised to see two large, round eyes with a faint blue glow around the outer edge staring intently at it.
*Ao!* Naughty shrieked and jumped on the spot. The red eyes slowly moved sideways as they watched and soon disappeared into the darkness.
After a moment of tense standoff, Naughty scanned the surrounding environment, which was eerily quiet. Twisted tree trunks, swaying vines, and tiny bioluminescent insects. Every ordinary object seemed eerie at this moment.
*Hoo~ Hoo~...* After observing for a moment, Naughty flapped its wings and took to the sky.
*Ao?* The little idiot looked quite surprised to see Naughty suddenly fly out of the forest.
*Ao~* Naughty said it was a little worried about the little idiot, so it came up to check the situation first.
*Ao!* The little idiot immediately replied, "Why are you here to see me instead of searching for the target in the forest?"
*Ao~* Naughty spat out a cluster of fine flames and reluctantly dived back into the jungle.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!* Blue flames exploded continuously in the jungle. On the airship's deck, the team picked up their binoculars and began to observe. In the narrow valley, flashes of blue light illuminated the surroundings, and thick smoke billowed. They expected to see a fierce battle, but instead, it was just Naughty attacking blindly, which made the two humans and one cat curious.
"Is Naughty trying to force the Flooded Mernos out with frequent attacks?" Eudora speculated.
"It doesn't seem like it meow. The fireballs are just exploding around, almost like... illuminating the area!" Dilu offered her opinion.
Li Fan pondered for a moment and opened his handheld device to check the situation. Seeing the status bar, he immediately understood. Naughty had been scared by the Flooded Mernos.
"Can't this Flooded Mernos just die? How dare it scare Naughty..." Li Fan looked down at the Poké Ball on his shoulder strap. "Likes to scare people, does it?" Saying this, he took down the Poké Ball containing Yeye.
*Boom!* A large tree burned and toppled. *Boom!* A rock face crumbled and fell. *Boom!* A small river evaporated and dried up.
... Naughty's chest and throat had already been burned to a pink hue by the high temperature.
Just as it was surveying its surroundings, ready to eliminate any hidden threats, a "coo" sound came from behind. Naughty, about to spit a fireball, suddenly remembered it was Yeye's call and stopped. Yeye, who had flown far away, immediately flew back.
*Coo~ Coo~* Yeye said, "Don't be afraid. I'll confirm the opponent's position first, and then you can attack."
*Ao!* Naughty replied, "I'm not scared at all." Yeye didn't argue further. It flapped its wings, leaving a trail of silver light in the air, and disappeared into the jungle.
After perching on several branches, Yeye found a few strands of pale purple fur. Following the trail to the ground, it also found a certain amount of gray dust on the grass. Pecking at it with its beak, Yeye immediately felt dizzy, and a strong sense of drowsiness washed over it.
*Coo... Coo...* After praising the unusual purity of the sleep powder, Yeye fell to the ground on its side. Not far ahead, the Flooded Mernos, with its neck pouch inflated into a ball, spread its wings and glided under the cover of the trees. Its large ears, like those of a mouse, were carefully listening to every subtle sound around it.
*Hoo~...* After a long time without detecting any abnormalities, the Flooded Mernos dared to exhale gently, slightly pushing its body forward to continue floating.
*Ao?* Naughty's questioning roar sounded, asking if Yeye was okay. After a long silence without a response, it felt a bad premonition.
*Ao!* A fierce roar erupted.
"Huh? Yeye is dead? No way." Hearing Naughty's roar, Li Fan quickly took out his handheld device to confirm. To his surprise, Yeye was almost at full health, with the only issue being that it had just woken up.
"Naughty! What you're transmitting is complete nonsense!" Hearing Li Fan's denial from above, Naughty's tense state finally relaxed.
At this moment, the Flooded Mernos, moving silently and floating, realized that the entire area ahead had been cleared by blue flames, leaving no place to hide. It began to flap its wings with minimal amplitude, turning sideways.
*Bang~* Its inflated neck pouch bumped into another bulging sphere, causing its entire body to rebound. To avoid making a sound, the Flooded Mernos could only adjust its position with slight movements. Just as it was about to continue floating, *bang~* it was bounced back again. Only then did it see a blurry outline on the branch it was trying to pass through. What was repeatedly bouncing it back was precisely the other party's bulging abdomen.
*Ao~ Ao~...* The Flooded Mernos let out a low whine, asking to move aside, brother, or it would be a fatal mistake. Yeye's red eyes appeared from the darkness.
*Coo~ Coo~* "You're not getting through," it said. The floating Flooded Mernos straightened its body, its red eyes, bulging from its neck pouch, facing Yeye directly.
*Coo~ Coo~ Coo~...* Yeye began to chirp at an extremely high frequency, with only one message: "This is not a head!" Seeing that its intimidation had failed, the Flooded Mernos took a deep breath. *Boom!* An air cannon, carrying a large amount of cyan mist, erupted from the Flooded Mernos's mouth. Leaping from the branch to avoid the air cannon, Yeye flapped its wings to disperse the mist while moving backward. Using the recoil from the air cannon, the rapidly accelerating Flooded Mernos flapped its wings vigorously to escape.
*Whoosh!* A dragon-shaped shadow cast by the Golden Rathalos's wings swept across from above. The Flooded Mernos could only lower its flight altitude within the forest. However, after only a moment of hiding, the Silver Rathalos, flying at low altitude, attacked from the side.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!* After a series of fiery explosions, the Flooded Mernos, with black smoke rising from its body, flew out of the bushes and crashed onto the sandy ground outside the canyon. Before it could even attempt to get up, two gusts of wind attacked from above – the little idiot and Naughty, who were in pursuit.
*Hoo~...* The fallen Flooded Mernos still didn't give up resisting. It gently inhaled, filling its neck pouch with air. Seeing this, Naughty stepped on it.
*Squelch~* Feeling as if its internal organs were about to burst, the Flooded Mernos quickly expelled the air and no longer dared to resist.
Soon, the Crimson Glow arrived, and the two humans and one cat leaped down from the air. Li Fan walked around the Flooded Mernos, stopped, and asked, "You're not a local monster, are you?"
*Ao~* The Flooded Mernos replied, "No."
"Then where are you from?"
*Ao~*
"A very cold place..." Li Fan guessed that the Flooded Mernos was likely referring to the Hoarfrost Reach.
"Why did you come here?"
*Ao~* After listening to its answer, Li Fan was stunned.
"What did the Flooded Mernos say?" Eudora asked.
"It said a great being is about to awaken and it must stay away," Li Fan informed her.
"It seems that the subspecies appearing in the New World did indeed migrate from the Hoarfrost Reach," Eudora deduced.
"Hmm... Are there any other monsters that have come to inhabit this place?"
*Ao~ Ao~ Ao~...* The Flooded Mernos tilted its head up proudly and stated that its brother, the Coral Pukei-Pukei, had also come. Furthermore, in a place full of coral, it had met an even more powerful elder brother.
"That's amazing," Li Fan exclaimed.
*Ao~* The Flooded Mernos proudly declared that wherever there was a rainbow, that elder brother could appear at any time.
Li Fan pondered for a moment and waved his hand, and Naughty's paw was immediately lifted. The Flooded Mernos, looking incredulous, showed a look of surprise.
"Today, out of respect for that elder brother, I won't kill you. However, I need to collect some fur, so don't move... Dilu, scrape off some materials for research," Li Fan instructed.
.
Zhao Lala reminds you: Remember to collect after reading.