The scene of the captured Nightbird was set on the plains.
*Whoosh! Boom!*
Signal flares shot into the sky.
Minutes later, from the Dragonship hovering above the Ancient Forest, a small balloon airship was deployed.
With no Guild outpost nearby, Li Fan had been worried about certifying the contract.
Thinking that the Dragonship that came to retrieve the shells also had a Guild branch, he felt they had arrived at the perfect time.
As the small balloon airship slowly landed, a brown-haired male investigator with a Hunter's Guild badge disembarked.
"Hello, I am Baro, an investigator stationed on the Pioneer. You are here to certify the contract for hunting the Nightbird, correct?" Baro asked tentatively.
"Yes," Eudora replied, handing over the contract illusion.
It was somewhat unbelievable that a Nightbird would fly out of the Ancient Forest and be captured on the plains. However, combined with the falling shells of the Valstrax, it all seemed to make sense.
"Investigator Baro, the impact of the falling shells must be significant?" Li Fan inquired.
"Ah... because it frequently causes monster migrations, it has already been classified as a disaster-level event," Baro sighed.
Li Fan wasn't surprised. Other Elder Dragons' migrations, except for those like Lao-Shan Lung whose mere movement could cause disaster-level destruction, would at most occupy a single region. And these regions were usually dangerous wildernesses that humans avoided, making them difficult to even witness. Valstrax, however, was completely different; its shells, shed during high-speed flight, could land anywhere on the continent. While the range and intensity of panic caused to surrounding monsters might not be as great as an Elder Dragon's direct appearance, the frequency was simply too high. Furthermore, Valstrax's recent activity had been much higher than in the past. Neither the Hunter's Guild nor the Dragon Calendar Institute could ignore this.
"Do you wish to submit a whole set of Nightbird membrane wings and complete the sub-quest as well?" Baro asked.
"No need."
"Alright then." Baro finished and stamped the contract.
"Oh, by the way, according to the ancient texts, the name for the disaster-level Crimson Meteor was officially recognized by the Dragon Calendar Institute yesterday. How about it, are you very curious to know?" Baro said with a smile.
The two and a cat looked at each other, seemingly unfazed.
"It's alright," Li Fan replied indifferently.
"Could it be called Valstrax, meow?" Dero tentatively asked.
"Ah? This... the official journal hasn't even been released yet. You guessed it right, you're a super lucky Felyne." Baro said helplessly, then dejectedly boarded the small airship and left.
After the little glutton returned from its hunt, the team immediately took to the skies for pursuit. Monsters with strong flight capabilities brought about a qualitative improvement in mobility, while also greatly ensuring the safety of the pursuit. This was especially true when facing monsters like Lao-Shan Lung, which could not fly. As for tracking Lao-Shan Lung, it was relatively easy among five-star monsters. The main reason was its lack of flight ability, and according to ecological reports, Lao-Shan Lung performed poorly in terms of stamina. When it became exhausted during long journeys, it would drag its iconic giant tail blade along the ground. Combined with the black gullies Dero had discovered and the anomalies in the Ancient Forest, these were the main reasons Li Fan identified Lao-Shan Lung. The little glutton had a certain ability to mark places it had stayed. The trajectory of Lao-Shan Lung's tail dragging also generally pointed towards Cala Village.
Seeing that he didn't need to provide much guidance, Li Fan took out his binoculars and, along with Eudora and Dero, began observing the ground from the dragon's back. After flying for about an hour, the ground dragging marks disappeared. The team speculated that Lao-Shan Lung was likely resting and feeding nearby, and after recovering some stamina, it had raised its tail blade again.
"It's already flown this far; according to Lao-Shan Lung's ecological niche, it should be safe by now, right?" Eudora asked, a little confused.
"Perhaps it's looking for a large deposit of Bird Wyvern Stone. Besides feeding, Lao-Shan Lung's greatest need is to forge its tail, and Bird Wyvern Stone is said to be the preferred material." Li Fan, while observing the footprints with his binoculars, offered an explanation.
"I heard it also sharpens its tail blade like hunters sharpening their weapons, meow," Dero added.
"I hope it finds it soon and doesn't come near Cala Village again," Eudora said with some worry.
A dozen minutes later, a long, slender figure appeared on the plains. Upon spotting the target, the team immediately began observing. It was a large monster whose tail accounted for nearly half of its total length. Two rows of deep blue flame-like plates extended along its back all the way to the tip of its tail. Its blade-shaped tail blade was encased in a hard, bright blue substance, giving it a lustrous metallic appearance.
Soon, the moving Lao-Shan Lung's body sagged, and its giant tail blade plunged into the ground, continuing its advance in a dragging posture. Although visual confirmation had been made, to obtain more individual information for Guild analysis, after Lao-Shan Lung moved further away, the team descended to the area it had just passed through to collect the residual traces.
Three hours later, the little glutton landed in the forest. Seeing Li Fan approaching the counter, Shireen calculated the time and deduced that he was definitely not here to submit a quest. However, the contract spread out on the counter, and the Guild branch stamp of the Dragonship Pioneer on it, indicated that the Illusion Magician quest had been completed.
"Contract reward 47,000z, plus an additional Guild reward of 10,000z, for a total of 57,000z. Please take it... Speaking of which, your team's hunting speed is just too fast." Shireen exclaimed while settling the reward. It was common for a team to take one or two months to complete a four-star quest, or even disappear entirely. Shireen had never encountered anyone like Li Fan and Eudora who completed it in less than a week.
"Do you know about the shells that cause monster panic?" Li Fan changed the subject.
"Yes, the branch has received the information and is deploying countermeasures," Shireen replied.
"A piece also fell in the Ancient Forest, causing a large-scale monster migration."
"Could there have been a sighting!" Shireen had a bad premonition.
"Yes, Lao-Shan Lung migrated out of the Ancient Forest. The general direction is towards Cala Village. If it continues to move, it should reach the vicinity within five days," Li Fan said, taking out a hard, blue scale fragment and placing it on the counter. "This is a remnant left by Lao-Shan Lung during its movement."
"Alright! The Cala Village Hunter's Guild officially accepts your report." Shireen said, then quickly went upstairs with the blue scale fragment.
After returning to the investigation agency and dividing the money with Eudora, Li Fan tallied his funds, with a total deposit of 94,091z. Feeling it was time to upgrade his equipment, he went to the blacksmith's shop. His current mixed armor set of Izuchi and Great Izuchi, when combined with awakened skills, provided 3 Attack Boost and 2 Critical Eye. The Shell-Splitter Great Sword had an additional defense bonus, but it only manifested during non-standard application actions and didn't offer any significant defensive advantage.
Flipping through the equipment illustrations provided by the blacksmith, Blade Scar, Li Fan found that although not as clearly marked as in a game, and the artistic representation was quite poor, the general tendency of awakened skills was mentioned in the descriptions.
[Rathalos Vambraces: Makes body movements more agile and swift.]
Li Fan looked at the description and recalled that the Rathalos Vambraces in Rise increased Stamina. Specifically, it reduced stamina consumption. If it manifested as increased agility and swiftness here, it would undoubtedly be an improvement. Most importantly, the Rathalos Vambraces in Rise provided a full 3 levels of Stamina. The reason for evaluating equipment by Rise standards was that the current village of Kamura was in an absolute leading position in the creation of new equipment on the old continent. Most of the processing techniques and crafting diagrams from various places originated from Kamura.
"This is good. The current Great Izuchi Vambraces only provide 1 point of Attack Boost. Replacing them with Rathalos Vambraces would provide 3 points of Stamina. Moreover, Rathalos is a four-star monster, so the defense of armor crafted from it would definitely be much higher than that of the two-star Great Izuchi." Li Fan made his judgment in his mind and then looked down at the cost. Seeing the price of 80,000z, he almost dropped the equipment illustration in shock. However, he had personally experienced hunting four-star monsters. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the materials used to craft this equipment were obtained by Hunter teams at the risk of their lives. After a moment of hesitation, Li Fan finally paid. The blacksmith, Blade Scar, said that the firm dragon bone and electro-bag were out of stock and would take some time to start crafting, with a construction period of about 15 days.
The next day, Li Fan, having packed his belongings, bid farewell to Eudora and set off for Bern Village. Bern Village was the location of the Dragon Calendar Institute's headquarters. Li Fan had two purposes for this trip: first, to submit the Blazing Shell and see what good items he could exchange for; second, to attempt to join the Dragon Lore Research Institute, i.e., the Dragon Calendar Institute. The main reason was that in the plot, the repelling of Valstrax was led by the Dragon Calendar Institute, and the current situation was largely consistent with the plot's progression. Of course, Li Fan had made a misjudgment in assessing Valstrax's combat power, believing there was a fifty-fifty chance of victory. Now, it seemed that Valstrax, just by flying at high altitudes, could cause disaster-level impacts. If it were to become hostile and engage in combat, the destructive power it could unleash was unimaginable. However, Li Fan still didn't want to give up on this almost impossible capture. He hadn't seen other Elder Dragons and couldn't deeply feel their power, so it was difficult to compare who was stronger. But in terms of speed and flight capability, Li Fan didn't believe any monster could compare to Valstrax. Moreover, the opportunity to encounter it was extremely rare; without the records in ancient texts, even the Guild and the Dragon Calendar Institute wouldn't know of Valstrax's existence. Before the Crimson Meteor was confirmed to be Valstrax, everyone was convinced that this Elder Dragon had gone extinct. It could be said that if this opportunity were missed, it might become a luxury to encounter it again.
Another reason for wanting to join the Dragon Calendar Institute was that almost all special individuals, or "two-name monsters," were discovered and observed by the Dragon Calendar Institute. While possessing a large number of Dragonships would greatly enhance ecological research capabilities, new discoveries in this field were already showing a monopolistic trend, which was quite unusual. Li Fan, through his research of the ecological journals published by the Dragon Calendar Institute, felt that their research achievements in monster mutation were far more extensive than what was publicly disclosed. Of course, it was understandable. Human survival was already so difficult. Even if they conducted in-depth research on mutations, the purpose would certainly be to prevent them. If the methods were made public and seen by deranged individuals, leading to intentional mutations, then everyone would suffer.
The little glutton flew continuously for a day and a night. Seeing the increasing number of airships flying in the sky, Li Fan confirmed he had come to the right place. Since it was the headquarters of the Dragon Calendar Institute, their defenses against monsters would undoubtedly be strong. Choosing to land at an appropriate distance and putting away the little glutton, Li Fan carried the shell and switched to the can-can for land travel. Three hours later, Li Fan arrived at Bern Village. The village was built on a very open plain, with fresh and pleasant air. The bleating herds of Cloud Sheep Deer, like clumps of clouds gathering together, flocked past him. Countless tents on the grassland were laid out outwards from the village streets. Behind them, a giant fortress built against the mountain, with dozens of airships of various sizes hovering at the airport on its top. Blue flags representing the Dragon Calendar Institute and red flags representing the Guild were hung side-by-side on the gray city walls of the fortress. Li Fan, carrying the shell, walked along the streets of Bern Village. Looking at the familiar yet strange scene before him, he felt a sense of wonder. The villagers and hunters looked at Li Fan strangely. As the location of the Dragon Calendar Institute's headquarters, information about Valstrax and the Blazing Shell would certainly be more understood here than in other regions. However, due to the lack of large-scale public display of actual specimens, people had no clear concept of what the Blazing Shell looked like. This led to many bizarre incidents. For example, some people claimed to have dug up Blazing Shells while mining, and others claimed to have found them in the wild. Consequently, all sorts of strange objects were brought back to the village. A long queue formed daily outside the entrance to the ecological report center of the Dragon Calendar Institute headquarters. The collection of ecological samples, which concerned safety, had turned into a large-scale antique appraisal show. Li Fan was clearly seen as one of them.
"So many people!" Li Fan stood at the end of the nearly fifty-meter-long queue outside the ecological report center, feeling depressed.
"Kid, don't waste your time. From the looks of it, yours isn't a Blazing Shell," the middle-aged man in front turned around, glanced at Li Fan, and concluded, looking at the long shell Li Fan was propping on the ground.
"Uh... yours doesn't look like it either," Li Fan said, looking at the giant dried fish the man was holding.
"Yeah, meow... this isn't even a shell at all," Dero said, wiping the drool from its mouth.
"Well, we'll only know after the researchers authenticate it. What if this is just a dried fish left over by Valstrax?" the middle-aged man remained confident. Li Fan hadn't expected the man to recognize his item as dried fish.
The queue slowly moved forward. Li Fan was initially a little impatient, but after entering the hall and seeing the various monster skeletons displayed, he asked Dero to hold his place and went to admire them. This hall, resembling a museum, was not small in scale. Although the skeletons were only of up to three-star monsters, they were abundant and comprehensive. The skeletons of small monsters were almost all present. After looking around, Li Fan paused in front of the Great Maccao skeleton and murmured, "Kulu-Ya-Ku's tail actually has a tailbone. No wonder its tail whips hurt so much..."
"Li Fan... it's almost our turn... I can't drag it anymore, meow!"
"Coming." Hearing Dero's call, Li Fan hurried back. The middle-aged man placed the giant dried fish on the authentication table with an expectant look. The young researcher responsible for authentication, wearing a light blue uniform, looked utterly devoid of life. Bone fragments, unknown keratin, ore lumps, failed Great Swords, discarded plaques, small sailboats, door panels, barrel lids, frying pans... He had authenticated so many strange things during this period.
"I'm very sorry, this is not a Blazing Shell. Thank you for your support of the Dragon Calendar Institute," the young researcher replied politely.
"Ah, what a shame. Thank you for your authentication as well," the middle-aged man said, preparing to take his giant dried fish away.
"It's quite heavy to carry back, why don't you sell it to me?" Li Fan tentatively asked.
"Take it and eat it," the middle-aged man said generously.
"Oh, that's too kind," Li Fan said in surprise. He had intended to buy it for Dero to eat. "Because you are a Hunter, and you have been risking your life to protect the safety of the village and town, a piece of dried fish is nothing." The middle-aged man said, waved his hand, and left.
"Thank you..."
"Hello, Hunter. Please place the material to be authenticated on the table." The young researcher glanced at Li Fan's Hunter's Guild badge and, seeing that a three-star Hunter had come for authentication, became serious. Li Fan exerted force and lifted the Blazing Shell onto the authentication table. The young researcher froze. Li Fan, meanwhile, was contemplating how to communicate with the Dragon Calendar Institute. His problem wasn't knowing too little, but knowing too much. He even possessed information that Valstrax was currently residing at the peak of the Forgotten Peaks, absorbing the dragon qi from the ley lines. Such advanced information would undoubtedly be beneficial, but the Dragon Calendar Institute itself was an extremely radical organization. Li Fan felt that if this matter could be handled slowly, it would be better to slightly reduce the pace.
"Hunter, for authentication purposes, I may need to perform some destructive analysis on the material. Do you have any objections?" the young researcher said solemnly.
"Please, I have no objections." After obtaining consent, the young researcher took out a saw and repeatedly moved it across the Blazing Shell. Silver dust continuously fell, but it was not from the shell but from the saw blade... The young researcher pulled over the intercom by his workstation and whispered a few words. Soon, three more investigators arrived. Clang! Gibberish! They heated it, then sprayed it with frost. Finally, they confirmed that this was indeed the residual shell that had dissolved and peeled off after being scorched by Valstrax's own dragon qi.
"The Pioneer also collected a piece and is conducting research in the ship's laboratory. Although the specific progress hasn't been transmitted back to headquarters yet, based on the properties of this shell... it's definitely correct," the older researcher confirmed.
"Flying in a state where even its own shell cannot withstand it... does this indicate that Valstrax is undergoing a molting-like process? After all, given the strength of this shell, it would not be easy to make it peel off naturally," the middle-aged researcher immediately speculated.
"It's too speculative to say anything now. Let's start the research as soon as possible... Uh, apologies, Hunter, we were negligent." The older researcher saw Li Fan and suddenly remembered that this shell did not yet belong to the Dragon Calendar Institute.
"It's alright, listening to your conversation is quite informative," Li Fan was willing to hear more about Valstrax.
"My name is Todd, and I am the head of the headquarters investigation team. On behalf of the Dragon Calendar Institute, I would like to acquire this shell. Do you agree?"
"I want a commendation letter from the Guild, some money, and to join the Dragon Calendar Institute." Li Fan had done his homework before coming. Although the Guild and the Dragon Calendar Institute often disagreed, a commendation letter carried significant weight in the Guild's star rating assessment.
"No problem, but we may need your cooperation in investigating the origin of the shell. As for the money... how about 100,000z?" Todd tentatively asked. Li Fan was stunned, thinking that if only he had stayed up later that night in the Ancient Jungle.