Monster Hunter: I can hear the monsters' thoughts

Chapter 534 The Battle of the Old Mountain Dragon
Historical records are limited and vague. Apart from mentioning that its weakness is dragon-type energy, they are not detailed enough about the texture of its flesh and the absorption of attributes in different parts. In order to inflict as much damage as possible on Lao-Shan Lung, Lin Yun kept walking around Lao-Shan Lung's body, probing its flesh and the absorption of attributes.

As for the result...

The flesh of Lao-Shan Lung is extremely poor. Areas like the tail and carapace are so tough that even a flurry of attacks will bounce off. Just as Rhodes said, the softest parts of Lao-Shan Lung's flesh are probably the belly, chest, and throat—areas without carapace.

As for the effect of dragon-attribute energy attacks, there is not much difference throughout the entire body. However, the attack effect is slightly weaker in areas covered by the carapace. This may be because Lao-Shan Lung's carapace is covered with a large amount of dust, mineral particles, and other substances, which act as a barrier.

After testing the waters, Lin Yun finally chose to go to Lao-Shan Lung's chest area, preparing to attack the wounds that Hela, Graham, and Rhodes had created, which had become much deeper.

However, having learned from Rhodes's experience, he didn't dare use the Demon Dance, which had too many openings. Instead, he opted for quick attacks to chip away at the enemy's health, so that he could react in time should Lao-Shan Lung try to retaliate.

As for the other melee hunter, Baiye, he used the Insect Glaive's unique advantage in aerial combat to leap onto Lao-Shan Lung's back several times.

The previous battle plan was discussed and agreed upon by all the high-ranking hunters. Dropping anti-dragon bombs on Lao-Shan Lung's back was an extremely important part. In order to maximize the destructive power of the anti-dragon bombs, Bai Ye decided to find a place to place the bombs on Lao-Shan Lung's back in advance. If possible, it would be best to create a wound and embed the bombs into the wound.

However, after swinging his Insect Glaive and slashing around Lao-Shan Lung's back, he had no choice but to reluctantly put the Insect Glaive back behind him.

This thing's carapace on its back is so hard that even after his insectoid club went dull, he still couldn't leave any marks on it.

Even when trying to command a Kinsect to extract essence from Lao-Shan Lung, you can sense the Kinsect's "Are you kidding me?" attitude—Me, go and sting a mountain? Really?
Left with no other choice, Bai Ye put away his Insect Glaive and instead took out his Iron Pickaxe G, aimed it at the spot where he had chosen to place the bomb, and hammered it down with all his might.

However, his excavation work did not go very smoothly.

It wasn't just because Lao-Shan Lung's back wasn't as flat as Mine-Shan Lung's; its massive carapace was uneven and not easy to land on. It was also because Lin Yun's attacks with the dual swords successfully attracted Lao-Shan Lung's attention, causing it to stop from time to time to observe the situation below. The frequent switching between quadrupedal and bipedal forms forced him to concentrate more on stabilizing his body to avoid being crushed into a pancake after falling down.

In addition, Lao-Shan Lung's carapace is incredibly strong. Even a G-rank iron pickaxe would be damaged after only a few strikes, making the excavation progress even slower. Perhaps the only good news is that Lao-Shan Lung is still quite a distance from the first land bridge, giving it time to widen the wound.

While the melee hunters were doing their best to attack Lao-Shan Lung, the two septuplet hunters were not idle either.

Garba stood on the battle platform, his gaze following Lao-Shan Lung's body as it slowly moved. He didn't raise his old buddy and fire at Lao-Shan Lung, because he knew that with the firepower of the light crossbow, it would be difficult to have any effect on Lao-Shan Lung.

This lean, gray-haired old hunter is fifty-nine years old this year. For a hunter, he is too old. His strength, reaction speed, and body control have all declined to varying degrees. In fact, as he gets older, this Seven-Star Light Bowgun user is finding it increasingly difficult to hunt and has had to gradually shift his focus to training young people in the training camp. If it weren't for the sudden attack of Lao-Shan Lung, he might already be enjoying his retirement.

However, although he was no longer as capable in combat, his keen eyesight and rich experience honed over the years would not disappear. Many of the hunters who had gathered in this fortress because of the guild's "state of emergency declaration" were young and strong, and his eyesight and experience were exactly what they needed.

"Turn the cannon muzzle two degrees to the left!"

Beside an old-fashioned cannon, Galba suddenly spoke to the young hunter beside him.

"Yes!"

The hunter, who was also a graduate of the training camp in Minagard, instinctively shuddered upon seeing the old instructor who had once taught him, and dared not be negligent in the slightest.

The young hunter pushed the turret, and Garba, without hesitation, ignited it. With a loud "boom," a cannonball with a diameter of ten inches shot out, tracing a clear arc as it flew towards Lao-Shan Lung's head.

"Oh!"

There was no flash or explosion—the trajectory of the bullet indicated that it was a solid iron ball. Compared to artillery shells of the same size containing explosives, although its kill radius was much smaller, its destructive power upon a direct hit was even greater.

The iron bullet slammed heavily into Lao-Shan Lung's eye socket. The powerful impact caused it to deform violently, almost turning into a flat iron disc that stuck to the carapace around Lao-Shan Lung's eye socket. This caused Lao-Shan Lung to instinctively tilt its head and pause in its tracks.

But that was all. When Laoshanlong's head straightened up again, the iron disc hanging in its eye socket slipped off, leaving only a negligible mark on its reddish-brown carapace.

Galba frowned at the result but said nothing.

Actually, he originally intended to attack Lao-Shan Lung's eyes directly. Their goal wasn't just to slow Lao-Shan Lung down, but to inflict real damage and force it back. Lao-Shan Lung's entire body was protected by a hard, thick carapace, except for its throat, which lacked a carapace, and its chest and abdomen, which were completely outside the cannon's blind spot due to its quadrupedal locomotion.

That's how artillery is. Compared to light crossbows, heavy crossbows, and heavy ballistae, its shells have a much wider dispersion range. To hit accurately, you either need to rely on long-term use to become familiar with the trajectory of the shells, or you have to gamble and rely on your feel for the shot.

"Load the shells and keep aiming at Lao-Shan Lung's eyes!"

Garba gave a word of advice, his ears twitched slightly, and he immediately slid in to avoid the winged serpent swooping down from behind. He then drew his light crossbow and fired a shot at it. The normal bullet accurately hit its chest, blasting its heart into a clump of viscous blood.

"Gah! Gah!"

A flock of bird-like wyverns with red crests and blue-black bodies leaped out and charged at the young hunter, only to have half their heads shattered by a single shot from Galba. Besides the pterosaurs flying overhead, even blue Velocidrome had now entered the battlefield, demonstrating that the hunters blocking their way at the entrance to Battle Street were finding it increasingly difficult to hold out.

"Those damn bastards!"

Galba spat. If it weren't for these greedy bastards, the difficulty of their fight against Lao-Shan Lung would be reduced by at least half—not only would they be able to concentrate their firepower to launch a fierce attack on Lao-Shan Lung, but they could also lay a large number of explosive barrels in Lao-Shan Lung's path and detonate them when Lao-Shan Lung gets close.

Even if Lao-Shan Lung's carapace is incredibly tough and can withstand one or ten explosions, how could it possibly withstand a hundred, a thousand, or even ten thousand explosions?
Unfortunately, because these stray animals running around everywhere could easily trigger the deployed barrel mines, this idea ultimately remained just a plan.

Galba took a deep breath and loudly reminded the group of melee hunters below who were fighting Lao-Shan Lung.

"Young men! Watch out! A blue Velocidrome has already charged in!"

With these ferocious little creatures around, hunters can't use many of their techniques as effectively. For example, Hela's True Charged Slash requires stacking charged slashes and the power of a strong charged slash to be used. If it's interrupted by these little monsters, you have to start charging all over again.

"Leave it to me!"

On the street below, a tall and slender figure sprinted towards the high platform to the side. Using the momentum, he took a few steps into the air, then twisted his body in mid-air, drew his bow, and fired an arrow that pierced straight through the head of a red Velociraptor.

Without pausing, after landing back on the ground, she slid forward again towards a blue Velociraptor that was trying to launch a sneak attack on Hela. The arrow in her hand flashed with a sharp, cold light and slit its throat.

Elania, a seven-star hunter archer, thirty-six years old, is currently the highest-ranking hunter active on the front lines in Minagard. She readily accepted the guild's call to participate in this battle.

However, although she uses a ranged weapon like a hunting bow, Elania cannot be considered a traditional ranged hunter like Galba. Rather than constantly firing her bow, she prefers to use a "dodge arrow" to maneuver around monsters and then use the powerful "Dragon Arrow" to severely injure them when they show an opening.

The reason is very simple: each arrow used by the hunter archers is like a short spear, and the quiver capacity is very limited. In each battle, they either carry a cart full of quivers like light crossbowmen or heavy crossbowmen prepare ammunition, or they use crossbow bolts as sparingly as possible. Elania does not like to carry a bunch of quivers and drag things out, so the current close combat style naturally formed.

However, Lao-Shan Lung's skin was simply too thick and tough, and Elania was not good at direct attacks. Her dodge sword slash did not cause any damage to Lao-Shan Lung, but instead made her own hand hurt. So she had to settle for second best and wander around the battlefield, helping other high-ranking hunters clear out the Velociraptors that had entered the battle town, and occasionally finding an opportunity to fire a Dragon Arrow at the wound that Hela and the others had worked together to open up.

"The land bridge is just ahead!"

After Lao-Shan Lung got up and lay down again, Bai Ye released his grip on Lao-Shan Lung's carapace. Looking at the pit he had dug, he glanced at the land bridge ahead. When he saw the figure in emerald armor, he breathed a long sigh of relief, tapped Lao-Shan Lung's back with his Insect Glaive, and jumped towards the high platform to the side.

Thankfully, Manjushri arrived in time with the anti-dragon bomb. His efforts over the past half day had not been in vain. Although the crater he had dug still did not touch Lao-Shan Lung's flesh, it had significantly reduced the thickness of its carapace. He was sure that when the anti-dragon bomb detonated, it would bring Lao-Shan Lung an endless surprise!
……

On the land bridge, Zack watched as the enormous figure slowly emerged from the misty white fog. First came a massive head, large enough to swallow an entire house whole, its dull, cold pupils looking down on all life with indifference. Then came the massive, reddish-brown carapaces, one after another, as awe-inspiring as moving mountains.

He instinctively held his breath, his heart pounding wildly.

what is this?
That's way too big!
Are hunters meant to fight guys like this?
"Ha, alright kid, thanks for helping with the delivery, now head back! This isn't a battlefield for a newbie like you!"

Manjushri glanced at Zack beside her and could see the instinctive trembling in his eyes. However, she did not say anything to comfort him. Instead, she looked at the old mountain dragon that was slowly approaching the land bridge and urged it to leave quickly.

"Hey? Aren't we supposed to be transporting the bombs to Lao-Shan Lung's back? There are two bombs here!"

The implication is, how did you manage to jump onto Lao-Shan Lung's back all by yourself, carrying two explosive bombs?

"I'm not fighting alone."

Manjushri waved to Bai Ye, who was rushing towards them in a great hurry:

"You don't need to worry about the placement of the bombs. If you still want to help, go back and bring the remaining two bombs over to the overpass we just crossed."

Seeing that Lao-Shan Lung's head had already passed under the land bridge, Manjushri didn't have time to say anything to Zakdo. He and Bai Ye hurriedly picked up the Dragon Bomb, rushed to the edge of the land bridge, waited silently for two seconds, and then jumped down.

The bridge is 30 to 40 meters high from the ground, and even landing on Lao-Shan Lung's back is nearly 10 meters high. Only Manjushri with Scizor and Insect Glaive users who are good at aerial combat can maintain their balance when jumping from such a height.

However, as they jumped off the land bridge, a winged serpent dragon in the distance seemed to have spotted them and charged straight at the two who were in freefall.

"not good!"

(End of this chapter)