Ancient Dragon in Arknights

"Oh my? Rita!"

Just as the three were hesitating, a melodious voice came from behind Rita.

Turning her head, she saw it was her roommate—Losili!

"Losiri? What are you doing here?"

"Going shopping, don't you guys do that too?"

Lucille greeted Chen and Fiona briefly, then started chatting with Rita.

After learning the whole story, Losley admired Rita's choice to go to the Military History Museum—that's just like her.

"If you don't mind, would you like to come with me? I think I have some experience in clothing matching."

"..."

Chapter Thirty-Five: The Special Palico

'Where did it go? Wasn't that light very obvious in the sunlight? Why can't we see it anymore?'

Neltharion realized that this experience was an important opportunity that he absolutely could not miss. The world in his dream was like a huge treasure. Neltharion had only obtained the most ordinary part of it, yet he had gained power that far exceeded that of an ordinary Vayvan.

Such a treasure is as alluring as the stars, but Neltharion is unable to access it. The moment the green guidefly appears beside him, he sees the key—the key to unlocking the treasure!

Unfortunately, the Palicoes are all highly experienced and capable members of the research team; training the Scoutflies to learn "Stealth Mode" is a very simple matter.

In their world, guide bugs are common tools and helpers; but on Terra, the appearance of a green fluorescent line can still cause a great stir.

Thanks to the research of Scholar Meow, the Guide Bug (Urban Stealth Version) was successfully born!

"It's gone... What bad luck."

No! Nesario, you need to calm down and analyze each clue carefully.

In the dream, the green worm will follow the monster's footprints and traces. Of course, the mechanism of this enemy selection still needs to be studied.

Why is this green worm in the city? Is it tracking someone? Or is there a monster in the city? Wait... a monster?

Nesario found the key point. He raised his head and looked calmly at the glass of the roadside shop—his reflection was visible in it.

Although it appears as a human with horns and a tail, Nesario sees something different in it.

A crimson, agile figure, powerful muscle lines covering its entire body, sharp, knife-like claws, and a gaping maw like a meat grinder—it was shrieking behind Neltharion!

The passersby who were originally near Neltharion suddenly felt a jolt in their hearts and quickly left, their biological instincts sensing the presence of danger.

"Isn't one of the monsters the most dangerous?"

Nesario smiled and then casually strolled off into a secluded area.

As he passed a soft flowerbed, he rudely stepped on it, leaving a footprint; in an empty alley, he suddenly stretched out his claws and slashed at the wall, leaving a deep claw mark in one of Lentinium's alleys; Nesario even spit on the ground, something he wouldn't normally do, but this time it was an exception.

......

"Ah! The guideworm is back, meow!"

The scholar cat, pure white with heterochromatic eyes, was thrilled as he watched the small green dot of light flying in from afar. This meant his research was a success! The guide worm had been successfully improved!

"Wow, amazing! Scholar Meow!"

"I never expected to encounter a guide bug in this world. My hunting spirit is burning brightly, meow!"

The three Palicoes hit it off immediately and began to walk forward, guided by the guidefly.

Over a considerable distance, they found several footprints, two claw marks, and a residue of secretions... but what unsettled the Palico was that these traces were too small! They were clearly human traces!

"Why are there traces of humans... Could the other party be related to our world?"

"Scholar, what do you know?"

"There is too little information, and this place is completely different from Belluna Village. I need to conduct more investigations before I can draw conclusions."

In short, it's better to find something that can make the guideworm react than to wander around aimlessly like a headless fly; it might just be the clue to getting home.

As the trail continued forward, they eventually stopped in a dead end, even though the trail had clearly led them there.

"No! It's a trap!"

The older and more experienced Palico immediately sensed something was wrong. The modern city of Terra with its skyscrapers was still a bit too much for Palicoes to handle. If they were in the wilderness or forest, Neltharion would definitely be the one lying in ambush.

Just as the Palicoes turned around, a figure appeared at the alley entrance. At this moment, Nesario was facing away from the sun, so the Palicoes couldn't see his face, but they could see his huge shadow cast on the ground.

Two large and four small black horns arranged in an orderly fashion, a thick and long keratinized tail, and an aura as ferocious as a wild beast.

The green guideflies that were originally scattered around suddenly turned red and emitted an alarming buzz before quickly returning to the lantern. This is a reaction that only occurs when encountering a dangerous monster and being targeted by its hostility.

"Oh no! We're going to be eaten!"

"No, I'm not afraid... The other party is very small, is it a juvenile dragon?"

"No...it's a monster that looks like a human!"

The follower cat pulled a small knife from its waist and then charged towards the opponent along the wall at an extremely fast speed.

'Hmph, charging head-on isn't a wise move.'

Nesario was still unsure who the other party was, but upon meeting them, the other party chose to launch an attack—a strategy of diplomacy before force is a good one, but force before diplomacy is also a viable option.

Nesario had no weapons, nor did he intend to use his claws, though they bore claw marks; those were dangerous tools meant to be used only in life-or-death situations.

Nesario prepared to use a grappling technique to pin down the small cat, which was about a meter tall, as it rushed towards him.

'When he gets close, first dodge his knife... then grab his hands.'

Neltharion's plan was perfect, but the way of the hunter is not just about wielding weapons!

"It's now!"

As they drew closer, the minion suddenly pulled out a small ball from behind its back and threw it toward Neltharion—Neltharion, of course, saw through the trick and intended to dodge it.

But before the ball even reached him, it began to react violently—a burst of intense light, like a military flashbang, erupted.

Nesario didn't dodge at all; his eyes were so irritated that he couldn't open them—a huge opening!

The follower cat pounced on Neltharion's back—as long as he could ride steadily, his operation would be a success!

The sound of cat paws hitting the wall, the unique, sun-like scent of the kitten—Nesario's powerful hearing and sense of smell did not render him unable to see.

He easily reached out and stopped it, and sure enough—the furry feel instantly filled his palm.

"What?!"

"A mere flashbang is of little use against me!"

Chapter Thirty-Six: The Cat Is Still a Bit Incompetent

"What!?"

The captured Palico was shocked. As a seasoned hunter's Palico, it was well aware of the power of these flashbangs specially made by the Lightbugs.

Even a powerful ancient dragon would be thrown into a state of confusion the moment it is suddenly flashed, let alone a human. In theory, this flashbang should have been enough to blind Neltharion for a period of time.

The follower cat looked into Neltharion's eyes—they were indeed tightly closed, and tears were even welling up.

In other words, this guy has other keen senses besides his eyes.

Since that's the case... the follower cat didn't rush to get rid of the other party's clutches, but instead reached into the backpack.

Nesario gripped the furry creature firmly in his hand; clearly, the creature's strength was only average, and it was unable to escape his clutches.

But what should be done next? When dealing with enemies, Nesario only needs to use his palm to crush their bones, but this time he obviously can't do that.

These peculiar little creatures are the keys to the treasure; even Nesario himself wouldn't want to hurt them.

Let's weaken it first before moving on to the next step.

Just as Nesario was about to press the furry thing in his hand to the ground, his keen hearing caught the sound of fabric rubbing together—it was... the sound of a backpack being opened?

What magical gadget will this kitten pull out this time?!

Neltharion's intuition was right. As his minion threw out two new projectiles, Neltharion covered his ears tightly and began to hold his breath.

Buzzing—!!!

A powerful sonic boom came from behind Nesario. The sharp sound was not like a loud decibel noise, but a high-frequency sound wave with an extremely high frequency.

Normal people can hear it, but at most they will only feel panic and discomfort.

But Nesario was different; his hearing was extremely sensitive. To be exposed to such a sound without any protection was tantamount to having a bayonet plunged into his brain and stirred around inside.

At the same time—he also felt something being applied to his clothes, which spread out into a sticky mess the moment it hit the fabric.

The loss of sight and hearing made Nesario's sense of smell more acute than ever before—the smell of shampoo on his own hair, the scent of laundry detergent on his clothes, the sunshine-like aroma emanating from the kitten in front of him... It stinks!

A stench that almost made Nesario vomit emanated from his clothes; it was definitely not his own, but rather something that had just been thrown onto him.

*Colombian profanity!*

Anyone would find it unbearable. The eyes, ears, and nose were all tortured in turn. Although there were no actual wounds, the three-pronged attack was just disgusting.

Follower Cat: Challenger triggered.

Nesario slammed the fluffy creature in his hand to the ground with tremendous force, leaving the cat unable to resist. But as a hunter, this was not the time to give up.

The follower cat threw out its backpack, intending to use up all its items at once, but Nesario, having already suffered three losses, naturally wouldn't let it succeed.

He reached out, grabbed the backpack, violently ripped it off, and threw it into the distance. But even with the backpack pulled off, why was that ridiculous hood stuck to his neck, completely motionless?

He also increased the strength in his hands, and even though the follower cat tried its best to defend, its strength was still far from that of a real monster.

"Let me go!"

"Your opponent is over here, meow!"

The Scholar Cat and the Craftsman Cat pounced on him together. They weren't specializing in combat, so they posed far less of a threat than regular Palicoes. Nesario only felt four chubby pink paws slapping him randomly. To be honest, it didn't hurt at all; these two little guys seemed to be whining as they hit him.

"Stop it, all of you, if you don't want me to kill him outright."

Nesario had no intention of being indecisive or using words of persuasion; he raised his hand, his fist revealing sharp claws.

It pierced the ground in an instant, and the three kittens were stunned when they saw this terrifying weapon.

"Clawed cat with claws like a monstrous dragon."