Monster Hunter: I can hear the monsters' thoughts

Chapter 540 The Grand Elder's Worries
Bricks and tiles cascaded down the old dragon's body like a waterfall. The dragon's body, stained with blood, slowly but resolutely rose again, its cold and lifeless dragon eyes slowly sweeping across the fortress.

The setting sun cast its last rays upon the massive body of the Old Mountain Dragon, casting shadows on the city walls and enveloping the crowd, freezing their joyful expressions on their faces.

Even after exhausting all their efforts and using every means at their disposal, are these insignificant and ordinary humans still unable to shake the might of the ancient dragon?
The old dragon's wrinkled face was all squeezed together, and a bitter look appeared on his face.

If I had my brother's bravery back then, perhaps I wouldn't be so powerless now...

He sighed and waved his hand:

"We can't hold out any longer. Issue an evacuation order for Minagard."

With the current situation, the fall of the fortress is almost a foregone conclusion, and with Minagard's low walls and old dragon-slaying spears, there is absolutely no chance of stopping the enemy. This blocking battle has ultimately been declared a failure.

Lin Lin suddenly gripped the handle of his shield axe, Yoko drew her Insect Glaive again, Bref and Manjusaki helped each other to their feet, Shion loaded the crossbow cartridges they had just counted into the magazine, Hela silently put away her whetstone and picked up her greatsword again, Graham drew his katana, Rhodes switched his Switch Axe back to axe mode, Lin Yun tilted his head back and gulped down another stamina potion, Byakuya grabbed his Insect Glaive, flipped over and jumped off the Palico cart again, Elania drew her longbow again, Galba set up his light crossbow, and flames once more gathered in the Sky's mouth...

Despite being utterly exhausted, the hunters forced themselves to stand up again. Knowing what would happen after Lao-Shan Lung broke through, they knew there was no turning back.

Even if it means dying on the battlefield, we will absolutely stop Lao-Shan Lung here!

However, just as the resolute and murderous atmosphere filled the arena, the high-ranking hunters sensed something was amiss.

After getting up, the old mountain dragon simply stared at the massive city wall and the four dragon-slaying spears that had retracted into the wall with its dull eyes. It didn't move for a long time, and only the two streams of scorching white steam coming out of its nostrils proved that it was a living creature.

Its scorched carapace appeared bright red in the setting sun, and the wound pierced by the dragon spear was still oozing thick dragon blood, which flowed down the dragon skin and armor, dripping onto the messy ground and staining it a dark red.

After a long, suffocating silence, the ancient dragon suddenly let out a deep roar, took a few steps back, slowly turned its body, and began to move step by step back the way it came, gradually moving away from the heavy city wall.

The heavy footsteps made the gravel on the ground tremble. With each step, a dark red footprint of blood was left on the ground. Its steps were heavy and slow, but it never looked at the fortress again.

As Lao Shanlong turned around, the deathly silence was broken by the heavy footsteps, and a series of panting sounds rose from the city wall and below.

Lin Lin plopped back down on the ground, his gaze fixed on the Old Mountain Dragon, following it as it slowly moved back the way it came.

Feeling the faint thoughts emanating from the other person, Lin Lin breathed a long sigh of relief.

It wasn't an illusion; after being stunned by the Dragon Piercer, the Lao-Shan Lung's inner thoughts, once it got back up, were finally a little more complete. Although it was still dull and lifeless, at least it was no longer a completely instinct-driven silence.

It seems that after being ambushed and suffering repeated injuries along the way, the sense of crisis finally reached that brain, allowing the old mountain dragon's brain, which hadn't been used much for thousands of years, to start working a little bit.

The aura of the black dragon emanating from the direction of the ancient Shureid instilled in it an instinctive fear, but the resistance along the way finally made the Old Mountain Dragon realize that this canyon was not so easy to traverse. Its sluggish and rigid brain activated slightly, and it deduced a conclusion.

If we force our way forward and fight this fortress to the death, there is a real risk that the enemy could kill it. Taking such a huge risk just for the convenience of a smoother path is simply not worth it.

Compared to the risk of death, it's better to take a detour and go in a different direction. Although it will take a considerable amount of time, judging from the intensity of that aura that it instinctively fears, it's not that urgent. As long as it gets far away before that happens, it can still find a good place to sleep.

Clearly sensing Lao Shanlong's thoughts, Lin Lin finally let out a long breath, then relaxed his whole body, letting himself collapse onto the cold ground. Less than three seconds later, even and loud snoring echoed across the chaotic battle street.

Galba peered over the city wall and glanced at the high-ranking hunters below. He wasn't the only one who had fallen asleep on the spot like Lin Lin.

"Young people are great, they can fall asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow..."

After muttering a low complaint, Galba turned to look at the old dragonman:
"President, how about we send a cat cart to pick them up? The younger generation has put in a lot of effort this time and they're exhausted."

The old dragon nodded, "Of course it's acceptable."

Galba subconsciously added:
"By the way, now that the battle is over, the cat cart shouldn't have a third of its reward deducted for transporting people, right?"

"Hey, that's not right. The laws of our ancestors must not be abandoned!"

"what?!"

Galba was horrified.

Old Dragon couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle. The Old Mountain Dragon had been successfully repelled, and he felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders. He was in high spirits and even felt like joking:
"Don't worry, you are all heroes who were able to defeat Lao-Shan Lung this time. The guild will cover the cost of the cat cart!"

Galba finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Thankfully, the chairman isn't senile yet.

……

The city gates opened, and the cat carts filed out, arriving beside a group of high-ranking hunters.

"Huh? Are the hunters asleep, meow?"

"It must be meow! The hunters must be exhausted from protecting Minagard!"

"Everyone, move quietly and keep your voices down, meow! Don't wake the hunters, meow! This time we're not snatching people from monsters, so there's no need to rush, meow!" After a whole day of battling Lao-Shan Lung, relentlessly unleashing their strongest attacks, the hunters were completely exhausted. Before, they were just holding their breath because the battle wasn't over, and they were holding their breath. Now that Lao-Shan Lung had retreated, the tension eased, the breath dissipated, and they immediately went black and fell into a deep sleep, oblivious to the world around them.

The heavy-arms assault team members were all lying on the ground, without exception. The remaining hunters who were still in good condition were mostly supporting from the sidelines, those who didn't expend as much energy, such as Violet, Elania, and Manjushri.

Among them, Manjushri was undoubtedly in the best condition. Since her hammer was not very effective against Lao-Shan Lung, in the battle, apart from clearing out the surrounding monsters, what she really did was to place anti-dragon bombs on Lao-Shan Lung. Although it was more dangerous than the hunters' melee combat, it did not really consume much of her stamina.

So hunters like Manjushri, who still had the strength, helped the rescue team's cats lift the hunters onto the cart.

The rescue team's cats were naturally very grateful, but some observant feline noticed a small detail during the transport: this Manjushri seemed to be moving a certain hunter with unusually careful movements.

It leaned closer for a peek and found that the hunter was wearing white armor and carrying a katana. He looked to be sleeping soundly, with a faint smile on his lips, as if he were having a sweet dream.

Ailu glanced at the two suspiciously, but ultimately said nothing more and obediently pushed the cat cart back into the fortress.

The direct confrontation with Lao-Shan Lung has come to an end, but the turmoil caused by Lao-Shan Lung has quietly spread.

……

Dongdoruma, the Great Temple.

Even with the Grand Elder's years of honed self-control, he was still somewhat restless at this moment.

According to calculations by the Minagard Ancient Dragon Observatory, Lao-Shan Lung should have arrived at the fortress the day before yesterday and clashed with the guarding hunters. Whether the battle succeeded or not, the outcome should be determined by evening at the latest.

At the maximum speed of the Peregrine Falcon, which delivers urgent messages for the guild, two days is barely enough to get from the fortress to East Doruma. In other words, at this time, the battle report from Minagard could arrive at any moment.

The elder sat upright in the marble chair, his fingers unconsciously tapping the armrests, his mind churning with thoughts.

These are truly turbulent times...

The earthquake in Moga Village was actually caused by a colossal ancient dragon. Fortunately, the White Wind Squad was there and successfully repelled it. If it was just because of its unusually large right horn, then since the problem has been solved, it shouldn't pose any further threat in the short term.

The two-headed skeletal dragon in the Ancient Forest region is a major problem. As long as it remains unresolved, airships cannot pass through that airspace. However, if that creature does not cause any other calamities, it can be put on hold for now. It is an important but not urgent matter, and at most, the airships will simply have to take a detour.

Two steel dragons actually appeared in Jiangbo Village, which was quite unexpected. Fortunately, Kevin and his fellow seven-star hunters were very reliable, and with the help of the Qilin, they successfully repelled them. The situation was handled quite perfectly... As for this kid named Toro, he was able to hold off a steel dragon all by himself and delay it until Kevin and the others succeeded. He's a promising talent and should be called back to participate in the advancement ceremony...

The distress letter from the Land of Fire at Mount Eld mentioned "Black God," could it be some kind of unknown Elder Dragon? Even the army couldn't stop it, so even if it's not an Elder Dragon, it's not far off. We need to mobilize high-ranking hunters to investigate before deciding what to do.

"Elder, Elder!"

A series of urgent shouts startled the Grand Elder from his reverie. He looked up and saw the Guild Master rushing towards him, a letter waving in his hand.
"Something bad is going to happen!"

The Grand Elder mentally estimated the time, sensing that the letter was most likely from Minagard. However, before he could even ask, he heard the guild leader's words, which he knew must be bad news. His expression immediately turned serious.
"The ambush has failed?"

The guild leader was already old, and he had just run too fast, so for a moment he could only gasp for breath with his mouth open, which made the Grand Elder extremely anxious.

After finally waiting for the guild leader to catch his breath, he shook his head vigorously:
"It's not a letter from Minagard! It's an urgent message from Melchita!"

"Merchita?"

The elder's snow-white eyebrows furrowed, and his ominous premonition grew stronger.

Melchita is located close to Minagard, but due to its geographical location, the number and variety of monsters appearing in the surrounding area are not as large as in Minagard. Therefore, its development speed is slightly slower and its scale is slightly inferior to that of Minagard.

However, despite this, Melchita is still a fairly large first-tier city. For them to send an urgent message here, could it be that an ancient dragon has invaded again?
Thinking of this, even with the Grand Elder's composure, he couldn't help but feel a surge of irritation.

Gu Long, Gu Long, and more Gu Long!

Since the appearance of the Lanlong at Lingfeng, the situation on the continent has become increasingly turbulent. Ancient dragons, which used to appear only once every few years, are now emerging in droves. First came the Tianhuilong, followed by the Dahailong, the Hailong, and now the Ganglong and the mysterious "Black God." And that's not all; are new ancient dragons emerging?!
Could it be that something has happened in the New World?
The Grand Elder subconsciously thought of the once-a-decade Ancient Dragon Crossing. Five or six years had passed since the Fourth Fleet went to the New World, and the investigation into the Ancient Dragon Crossing had made no progress... If only the Fifth Fleet could be sent there now. With sufficient combat power, perhaps they could find out the reason for the activity of these ancient dragons...

"Great Elder?"

The guild leader's voice pulled the elder back to reality, and he hummed in response.
"Tell me, what did Melchita say?"

The guild leader composed himself, glanced down at the letter in his hand, and read aloud:
"Recently, the Ancient Dragon Observation Bureau of the Melchita Branch observed a super-large monster briefly appearing in the Old Fortress area. The monster's true form is unknown. According to the observers, its size is no less than that of Lao-Shan Lung, and its appearance resembles a 'moving fortress'. A review of observation data from previous years has failed to identify the monster, so we request the Guild to conduct an investigation and provide assistance."

"Another colossal Elder Dragon...?"

The elder sighed deeply. Melchita was not far from Minagard, and fortifications had been built around it to block the invasion of the colossal ancient dragon. However, after the fortification in Minagard was built, the original fortifications were abandoned and became the ruins of the old fortifications. It was unknown whether the appearance of this guy was related to that old mountain dragon.

Perhaps the only good news in this letter is that this unknown, colossal ancient dragon did not cause too much damage or casualties...

"Let's leave this matter to the Dragon Academy for investigation for now..."

(End of this chapter)