In the dead of night, Li Fan was chopping trees in the forest, occasionally hearing the calls of a Great Jaggi during his daily strength training, but he didn't encounter one again.
The blending and crafting of Sonic Bombs began the next morning.
Following the tutorial step by step with cautious operation, he successfully blended a Sonic Bomb without any mishaps.
"Amazing, success on the first try, meow!"
Dilu, standing nearby, cheered with joy.
"It's alright. Tidy up, and let's get ready to go."
There were currently four monsters registered in the [Monster Compendium].
They were the Thunderbug, Bullfango, Arzuros, and Great Horned Blos.
Catching one more would allow him to receive two Intermediate Poké Balls daily.
The capture of the Great Horned Blos was somewhat of a token effort.
However, considering its growth potential, it seemed that with normal nurturing, the Great Horned Blos might even become an unstoppable charging king, so it wasn't a loss.
In the logging area, Tai Mei walked slowly, with Li Fan on her back, looking at a book with a creature compendium.
Dilu, with her hands on Li Fan's shoulders, was also engrossed in looking at it together.
"Is this... a Shield Bug, meow! I've seen one in the wild!"
Dilu exclaimed in surprise, looking at the yellow shelled creature on the compendium that resembled a mantis shrimp.
"That's our target for capture today."
"Why, meow?"
Dilu felt that the Shield Bug couldn't be ridden and had no combat power, thus its value was quite low.
"Because the Great Jaggi's favorite food is the Shield Bug, or as the book describes, it's more fitting to say 'delicious and fun'."
According to the records and descriptions in the compendium, Shield Bugs were widely distributed in various regions of the Monster Hunter world.
Their tough shells were usually golden yellow and would change color according to the environment, allowing them to blend in and hide themselves.
As for why they were described as delicious and fun, it was mainly because when attacked, Shield Bugs would curl into a ball, connecting head to tail.
For a Great Jaggi to peck through the hard shell, it had to use its sharp beak to strike fiercely.
Thus, the Shield Bug would be pecked around like a ball.
"I get it, meow! We'll use the Shield Bug as bait!"
"Exactly."
After searching the forest for an hour, Xiong Da brought back a juvenile Shield Bug, only slightly larger than a Poké Ball.
Li Fan compared it to the standard size in the book and immediately released it.
Great Horned Bloses had growth potential, and with a little force, they could be stably captured with a regular Poké Ball.
No matter how much a Shield Bug grew, it would still be a Shield Bug; it wouldn't evolve into a praying mantis, so capturing a juvenile had little meaning.
Most importantly, with its size and shell thickness, it probably couldn't withstand even one peck from a Great Jaggi.
The bait would directly become a snack.
Another half hour passed, and Dilu dragged back an extra-large Shield Bug, about the same size as herself.
"Is this one okay, meow?"
Dilu panted heavily, as if she had exerted great effort.
"Hmm... Place it on the ground."
Dilu complied, and the unfolded Shield Bug began to crawl slowly on the grass.
Its speed reached an astonishing rate of about 5 centimeters per second.
"This one is too old. It's better to send it back to retirement."
Li Fan said, releasing it again.
Shield Bugs were common creatures in the logging area, so there was no need to worry about not finding one.
Li Fan then had an idea: perhaps it was the large population and reproduction of Shield Bugs that attracted the Great Jaggi to this area.
After all, more than one book had mentioned that most monsters would intentionally avoid human settlements.
Some, being simply unintelligent or having special needs, would deliberately linger nearby.
The Great Jaggi didn't seem very bright, so the possibility of it being unintelligent was higher.
Time quickly passed until noon. As they ventured deeper into the logging area, the number and variety of creatures encountered gradually increased.
Three Shield Bugs, curled into balls, rolled down rapidly from the hillside.
*Swish! Swish! Thwack!*
Two of them flew out and continued to roll, eventually crashing into the rocky cliff face and embedding themselves in stone pits.
Li Fan thought, "What good luck!" He approached on Tai Mei and entered observation mode.
"Hmm... The size is moderate, it should be an adult. Its shell can even shatter cliff faces, so its strength is guaranteed. Dilu, use the bug net to catch it from below."
Li Fan drew the hunter's knife from his waist, stepped on his tiptoes against the rock face, and inserted it into a crevice, prying with force.
The spherical Shield Bug fell and landed steadily in the bug net.
"Make sure it's suspended, don't let it have any leverage. Shield Bugs have strong bouncing abilities."
"Understood, meow."
Dilu said, shouldering the bug net.
As for how to make the Shield Bug yield and accept capture, it was difficult from a physical standpoint.
First, its shell was too hard. Even if he could successfully shed it, it would take time for the shell to regenerate before the hunting plan could begin.
Moreover, during this time, the Shield Bug's body couldn't touch any leverage points, otherwise, it would bounce around like a rubber ball.
On the way back to the cabin, seeing the stewing pot set up on the firewood pile, Li Fan thought of a method.
He filled the stewing pot with water, lit the firewood, and poured the Shield Bug into the water.
The curled-up Shield Bug immediately struggled violently, splashing water everywhere.
*Clack!* Li Fan placed the wooden lid on top and pressed down hard.
At this moment, Yudora walked out of the cabin carrying a large plate of chopped ingredients.
"Li Fan... What are you doing?"
Yudora was puzzled.
"I say I'm capturing a Shield Bug, would you believe me?"
"Alright, try to be quick, I need to make lunch."
Yudora didn't dwell on it. After all, Li Fan even had things like Poké Balls, so some actions that ordinary people couldn't understand were not that surprising.
*Clang! Clang! Clang!* ...
After three minutes of hitting the pot lid in vain, the Shield Bug fell silent.
"Is it okay... No! I can't be soft-hearted, the water hasn't even boiled yet."
Li Fan stood firm in his judgment and waited for another 10 minutes.
During this time, he lifted a corner of the pot lid to peek a few times. Each time, the Shield Bug would stir again and resume its bouncing and smashing.
However, being submerged in water, it had no impact force.
Another 3 minutes passed, and the water in the pot was boiling. Li Fan lifted a corner of the lid to observe, but there was no reaction.
Only when he completely lifted the lid did he realize that the Shield Bug, which had been curled into a ball, had stretched out its body. The edges of its golden shell were slightly reddish.
"This... it's almost cooked!"
Li Fan quickly took out the bug net and scooped it out of the pot.
The Shield Bug did not curl up and bounce, but merely crawled slowly on the ground.
It was trying to get as far away from Li Fan as possible...
"I've done my best. If you don't yield, you'll be added to lunch."
Li Fan warned it and threw a Poké Ball at it.
After being captured in the ball, the Poké Ball trembled three times, and the capture was successful.
[Shield Bug]
HP: 8/37
Status: One-third cooked
Level: -2
Strength: 18
Agility: 4
Intelligence: 3
Skill: [Rolling Tackle] The Shield Bug curls its body into a ball, charges briefly, and then launches itself at the target with a collision.
Description: A type of insect covered by a shield-like shell, with extremely high surface hardness. Its primary food source is carrion.
After viewing the Shield Bug's attribute description in the [Monster Compendium], another notification popped up.
The number of monsters registered in the [Monster Compendium] reached 5. The daily reward of Poké Balls was upgraded to Intermediate Poké Balls, with the quantity increased to 2.