Monster Hunter: I can hear the monsters' thoughts

Chapter 44 Crossing the Sand Plains
Hunting shield crabs and making crab sauce were just small episodes during the journey, but just such a small episode made Lin Lin feel much closer to people. The attitude of everyone in the caravan towards him also seemed to change from respect at the beginning to cordiality.

For example, at this moment, a middle-aged man with a beard enthusiastically pulled his arm and pointed to the front to introduce him.

"After passing this mountain pass, you'll enter the desert area. You'll see it later. It's lush and green here, full of trees, but over there, the whole thing turns dry and yellow."

"Not only is the ground bare and it's hard to see any vegetation, but even the sky seems much darker... The sandstorms there are going to be really strong, so if you don't want your mouth to be filled with sand, it's best to cover your mouth and nose."

The bearded uncle is an old employee of the caravan. He travels back and forth between Jieyun Village and Locklak all year round and is quite familiar with the environment along the way.

Lin Lin had curiously asked him before whether he was worried about safety issues and whether he was considering retiring or not traveling so far, but the answer he got surprised him.

The uncle said, "Hahaha, actually, someone asked me that before, and I just asked him back, 'Don't you think it's cool to see monsters? Those wimps who live in big cities and hide behind city walls will never see the sights I've seen in their entire lives!'"

Lin Lin: ...

Well, this is really a very hunter-like idea. It would be a shame not to become a hunter.

Then he learned that this uncle had participated in hunter training when he was young, but failed the assessment and could not become a hunter, so he could only find this job that allowed him to run in the wild.

Lin Lin: That’s not surprising.

About half an hour later, the convoy successfully passed the mountain pass. As the view suddenly opened up, a dry, hot wind blew, instantly taking away the moisture from the stream area.

The Goulongtao's helmet has a built-in visor. Lin Lin pulled down the visor. After being covered by this layer, the slight discomfort disappeared in an instant, and was replaced by a full sense of freshness.

After watching the gurgling water and the singing birds in the mountains for a long time, you will see flying sand all over the sky and an environment similar to a tropical savanna dominated by low herbs. It is like a sudden transformation from a small bridge and flowing water to a lonely smoke in the desert, which gives you a unique sense of romance.

"The sand plateau is located between the Rockakla Desert and the stream belt. It can actually be considered a buffer zone. You can still see lakes of various sizes here, but as you go further and truly enter the desert area, this last bit of green will disappear."

The uncle hugged his shoulders and looked at the yellow in the distance, with a hint of emotion in his tone. Even though he had seen such scenery many times, he could still feel the power of nature when he saw it again.

"The sand plains are relatively flat, with a wide field of view. It's the safest area on the road. It'll take about a day or two. Once we cross the sand plains and reach the edge of the desert, we can take the sand boat directly to Rocklark."

The completely different ecological environment in the desert area naturally breeds monsters that cannot be seen in the stream area. During the journey across the desert, the creature that attacks the caravans most often is not the dog dragons that are widely distributed in the desert, nor the flying beetles that can be seen everywhere, but a hard-shelled herbivorous dragon with hard bone plates growing all over its body.

That's right, this kind of monster is extremely aggressive. As long as there is a moving figure in the field of vision, it will immediately rush over with its head down. The monster that was driving towards them was actually a herbivore!
Lin Lin once wondered how this fearless monster, which was not afraid of any large monsters, could survive and not become extinct. But then he thought about it and realized that Marubird, which was stupid, clumsy, slow and had no defense, could live well in the wild, so he felt relieved.

Well, this is the ecology of our Monster Hunter world, so vibrant and dynamic. Do you have such an ecology? In addition to the frequent harassment of the Dratini, the Armored Herbivore, and the Flying Beetle, Lin Lin was also lucky enough to see a Sand Dragon that tried to overturn a caravan.

Of course, before this guy could get close, he was blown to the ground by two armor-piercing grenades fired by Senior Rachel, which hit his head. He was then hit by a series of penetrating bullets and was in excruciating pain. He limped away in a panic and didn't dare to turn his head to look back.

Lin Lin had heard of armor-piercing grenades before, but this was the first time he saw one with his own eyes. He could only say that it was indeed extremely powerful.

This crossbow bullet is made from explosive materials such as nitrated mushrooms and ruptured dragonfish. It has a steel spike at the tip. After being fired, it will be nailed into the monster's body, and after a short delay, it will violently explode. If the crossbow bullet nails the monster's head, the shockwave will easily stun the monster's brain, making it unable to move.

According to Senior Rachel, this type of crossbow bullet was originally designed to detonate instantly, but during team hunting, there were several incidents where shooters accidentally injured their swordsman teammates when using armor-piercing grenades. In order to leave enough reaction time for teammates, it was changed to a delayed detonation.

In general, although there were often minor setbacks along the way, we finally successfully crossed the sandy plains and arrived at the edge of the desert, the edge of the agreed-upon small oasis.

The sand boats sent by Lockrak will dock with the caravan here and carry them back to the city.

"Here, drink this."

Senior Rachel handed over a bottle of pale white liquid medicine, which felt cold to the touch, as if the liquid medicine here was constantly emitting a hint of coldness.

"Is this... a cold drink?"

Lin Lin lifted his visor, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and then drank the bottle of pale white medicine in one gulp.

Putting it down again to isolate himself from the hot air, Lin Lin shivered and felt the stuffiness outside suddenly go away. A cool feeling was traveling through his body with his breathing, maintaining his body temperature constant.

"That's right. As the desert becomes increasingly dense ahead, the daytime temperature here will become quite high. Without medication, it will be difficult to maintain normal vital signs. Once you suffer from heatstroke or even lose consciousness due to overheating, it will be extremely dangerous."

"By the same token, at night, the temperature in the desert drops dramatically, and then you'll need to rely on hot drinks to fight the chill... Well, the extreme temperature difference between day and night will really test a hunter's willpower. How's it going? Is it okay?"

"Yeah, it's getting exciting!"

The heat faded away, and Lin Lin felt his pulse returning, and his spirits lifted.

Rachel looked up at the sky and nodded. "The peregrine falcon released by Lockrak has delivered the letter. The fleet will arrive this afternoon. Let's rest here for a while. With the sand boats on the way, we won't need to fight at all."

(End of this chapter)