Monster Hunter Gathering

"Oh! No wonder I felt like I ate so much! I'm still not full!" Laos's expression was filled with joy. "So, even though there are no monsters, there are many special and powerful creatures here! That's awesome!"

"That's another story, but I'd like to know, Laos, what's the current situation of your team?" Nie Chiwu was curious, but also felt helpless. "Although it's a headache, we really need to make preparations now. We can't just leave the demon alone."

"Let me think... We just ate griffin meat." Laos thought for a moment and said, "We just finished eating griffin meat and are now heading deeper into the maze. As a result, several of us have developed high fevers..."

Chapter 68: Transformed into a world where there is no discrimination against alien races!

"I remember my body was aching before I went to sleep! And when I opened my eyes, I was here." Laos sighed, "I really want Malushiel and Sensi to try the food here. They will definitely like it."

Just as Laos said this, in front of several people, Laos's appearance suddenly began to change drastically.

In the blink of an eye, Laos turned into a... dwarf in front of them.

Thick arms, a solid body, strong thighs...

Some smoke came out of Laos' body, and his size expanded directly into that of a sturdy dwarf.

"What's going on!" Kazuma shouted, "Why did he suddenly turn into a dwarf?!"

"I think I saw it just now. This should be... the transformation mushroom?" Naofumi Iwatani also said: "I didn't expect to see it transforming on the spot..."

"Then the situation at this time is very obvious, too obvious." Nie Chiwu glanced at Laos, then breathed a sigh of relief: "You didn't bring your sword, that's good. If you brought your assistant with you, you might bring the devil here with you, and that would be troublesome."

"So we accidentally stepped on a transformation mushroom." Laos touched his body in surprise: "Is this the body of a dwarf?"

"A shower will wash off the spores, but... you look like you want to experience the dwarf's body." Nie Chiwu thought for a moment. "Also, as for the demons, we're not in a rush to go and deal with them. Laos, just stay in the meeting and get used to it. We can have a combat meeting later."

"Let's eat first. The cat food in our hunters' gathering is really special!" Nie Chiwu gave a thumbs up.

"That's great!" Laos suddenly became excited: "I also want to try more ingredients from this world..."

After making this decision, the hunters happily ate cat food together...

However, the eyes of Nie Chiwu and others were always focused on Laos.

After the meal, when the Felyne cats took away the plates, Nie Chiwu couldn't help himself: "Laos, I'm really curious, can you..."

"Shall we also try to transform into mushrooms?" Nie Chiwu asked curiously.

"Of course you can, but how do you do it?" After Laos agreed, he also began to research.

"As long as someone passes through the circle, they can transform, so we just need to pass through the arm." Nie Chiwu said: "I'm really curious about what kind of race we will become."

"That's right!" Er Qiao also said, "We don't have elves or dwarves or anything like that where we are. I also want to know what it feels like to transform."

Iwatani Naofumi also came over. "Hmm... Transformation seems to affect physical fitness as well. If possible, I'd like to take some of the spores and see if I can unlock a new shield..."

"Oh!" Laos' eyes lit up. "It seems like we can get along well! Let's give it a try!"

Three minutes later, beside Laos, who had already twisted his arms into a circle, Nie Chi, Wu Erqiao, and the others had already lifted up the rope-bound Kazuma and were about to throw him into Laos's arms...

"Why me! I didn't say I wanted to participate in the transformation!" Kazuma struggled like a Magikarp, splashing and jumping like crazy.

"Such a good thing! How can I miss my best friend Kazuma!" Nie Chiwu said confidently: "Kazuma! Let's see what race you will become!"

"Oh!"

Following Nie Chiwu's call, Nie Chiwu, Qiao Iwatani, and Naofumi Iwatani threw Kazuma over Laos's circle.

As the spores spread, He Zhen changed in the blink of an eye, accompanied by severe pain in his body.

“It hurts so much!!!” Kazuma wailed, and his body began to swell rapidly.

Laos was a little surprised. "Transforming into a mushroom ring... can it change so quickly? It seems to be painful. Is it because my body is changing so quickly?"

While Laos was analyzing, Kazuma also completed his transformation.

It turned into a... pink, big orc with a pair of fangs.

They are the kind of orcs in Kazuma's world, not the green orcs in Laos' world.

"Kazuma!" Nie Chiwu said admiringly, "Is this your destiny? You actually became an orc! It seems that having an entire orc harem is indeed your destiny!"

"That kind of thing can never happen!!" Orc Hezhen shouted angrily and devastatedly, "I will never succumb to such a fate!"

"Wait, this orc isn't from Laos's world, right? Why did Kazuma become an orc from his own world?" Jotaro was quite puzzled.

"The Transfiguration Mushroom transforms anything that enters it into something similar to itself..." Laos quickly analyzed, "Perhaps because he's not from our world, the Transfiguration Mushroom can only transform him into a creature similar to his own?"

“I clearly traveled through time!” Kazuma shouted, “Why did I become an orc?”

"Let's try it again." Nie Chiwu said, "Who will be the next one?"

"Let me do it." Tanjiro bravely stepped forward: "I'm smaller, so it will be easier for me to pass through Mr. Laos's arm."

"Ohh! Tanjiro! That's a great help!"

With the help of several people, Tanjiro quickly passed through the mushroom circle on Laos' arm and began his transformation.

but……

Tanjiro's body did not change in shape, but suddenly began to show blue smoke and some burns.

Tanjiro was caught off guard and turned into a demon in front of everyone, and the Shield Hero immediately used his shield to help block the sun.

"I... turned into a ghost?" Tanjiro was also a little confused.

As Tanjiro was thinking this, the burns on his face were recovering rapidly. When Tanjiro stretched out his fingers to confirm again, he found that the sun could no longer hurt him.

The speed with which Tanjiro overcame his solar weakness caused everyone watching him to fall silent.

As expected, Tanjiro's talent as a ghost is surprisingly strong...

"But this is confirmed." Nie Chiwu said: "This mushroom! It will turn us into creatures in our own world!"

"It's really interesting. Let me try it?" The Shield Hero was also a little curious, so he asked Tanjiro and Laos to hold hands, and then he also crawled through the arm ring.

Along with the pain of his body changing, a pair of animal ears appeared on the Shield Hero's head.

"This time it's the orcs from our world..." The Shield Hero became more interested in the spores of this mushroom.

If this spore is stuffed into a shield, will it create a shield that can change the enemy's race?

In this way, if facing some powerful enemies, it seems to have a miraculous effect.

"I want to try it too!" Nie Chiwu's eyes lit up as he jumped over the arm mushroom circle in anticipation: "Let me see what race I will become!"

Under the curious gaze of the crowd, Nie Chiwu waited happily, standing there looking forward to what kind of race he would become.

After a few seconds, some spores of transformation mushrooms appeared on Nie Chiwu's body, and Nie Chiwu finally completed his transformation!

He turned into... the Human-Human Fruit... an ordinary person?

"Damn it! This mushroom world discriminates against humans, who are the only race!!!"

Chapter 69: Laos's Decision

The few people who can transform have a lot of fun playing with the transformation mushrooms. Even Er Qiao can transform into some strange things in his world. It was only at this time that Er Qiao discovered that there were some humanoid creatures in his world that he didn't know about at all.

Jotaro, the Shield Hero, Kazuma, and Laos were having a lot of fun playing with the transformed mushrooms, but only Nie Chiwu, the leader of the team in the original world where there were no humanoid creatures other than humans, was squatting in the corner sadly and growing mushrooms.

"Captain, it's okay." Tanjiro didn't join in the fun, but came over to comfort Nie Chiwu earnestly: "This shows that the Captain's original world was a very safe world, right? There are no creatures like ghosts..."

"Tanjiro, you don't have to comfort me, I just want to play." Nie Chiwu said this aggrievedly, then sighed and prepared to wash off the mushrooms on his body.

The other people also collected some spores of the transformation mushroom. Whether it was Jotaro, the Shield Hero, or Kazuma, they would all face opponents of some powerful races. This transformation mushroom might sometimes have miraculous effects on them.

However, after this incident, Nie Chiwu and others quickly became close to Laos.

After washing off the mushroom spores, the few people sat down in the cafeteria, arm in arm, and prepared to eat cat food... ready for the meeting.

"Actually, I wanted to say this before."

Kazuma rested his elbows on the table, covering his chin, and said with a serious expression, "Why do we have to hold a meeting in the cafeteria?"

"I don't know." Iwatani Naofumi spread his hands. "But this is also good. The atmosphere is quite relaxed. I've been thinking about bringing Raphtalia and Filo here to rest for a few days if there's a chance."

"Then let's ask Granny Cat if we can invite others to the gathering later." Nie Chiwu held up his wine glass. "Besides, if the meeting is too serious, no one would want to attend it! Those shady companies have a small meeting every day, a big meeting every three days, and they have to give a progress summary from time to time..."

"!"

Er Qiao was a little surprised: "What? Don't you have labor laws there? I remember there were labor laws when I was fifteen, and there was also a Fair Labor Standards Act last year..."

"Fuck, this is a bit of a joke." Nie Chiwu muttered, and then he started to get serious. While the Elu cats were preparing cat food, Nie Chiwu also started to say: "Let's talk about what we can use now."

Nie Chiwu also made a classic Ikari Gendō hand gesture, "The weapons and equipment we have available now are those that can be crafted with regular materials. As for the equipment for the ancient dragons and those special individuals, I've already asked Granny Cat."

"We need to hunt for the materials of ancient dragons and special individuals ourselves, and Granny Cat suggested that we consider this matter after we become stronger."

"After that, we completed the first mission, which was to defeat Muzan, and unlocked the Hunter Level and the Devil Series equipment... I looked at the Devil Series equipment, and it's a set centered around stamina recovery. I'll be able to use it in special situations later."

Nie Chiwu briefly explained to the people in front of him, mainly Tanjiro and Laos, "As for Hunter Level, it depends on completing commissions, going to the training ground, or exploring and hunting. In short, it's about fighting and leveling up."

"These are all we have available right now," Nie Chiwu said, spreading his hands. "You all know what kind of opponent the demon is. It looks like we can't use wide-area attack to rescue people this time. We also need to adjust our equipment."

“Before we deal with the demons, our biggest problem is that Mad Mage!” Kazuma said. “No matter how you look at it, that mage seems difficult to deal with! He seems a bit weak in combat… but he can control the maze! And he can summon so many dragons with just a wave of his hand!”

"Fighting dragons is a hunter's specialty." Nie Chiwu touched his chin and said, "A maze... a maze..."

"Hey! I have an idea!"

Nie Chiwu raised a finger. "Let's just ignore the demons and go get rid of the Mad Mage and rescue Falin. As long as no one else becomes the Labyrinth Master after defeating the Mad Mage, the demons won't threaten the world, and we should be able to achieve the [Repel] condition."

Nie Chiwu's words made everyone think about it, and they found that... it seemed to be feasible.

"Now that you mention it, since the commission states that it's about defeating/repelling/capturing the demon, then repelling it should also be within the commission's completion requirements." Naofumi Iwatani nodded. "That way, the risk is indeed much smaller."

“Wuhu! This makes the commissions seem a lot easier now!” Kazuma breathed a sigh of relief. “Although that Mad Magician still seems quite difficult to deal with…”

"What's the matter? Let's all attack together. This isn't a duel anyway." Er Qiao showed no sign of showing any martial ethics and looked eager to try. "I'll take the lead! My ripples have been quite effective lately. I can now use them to control other creatures to perform a series of actions!"

"that……"

Tanjiro suddenly raised his hand at this time: "I have a question."

"Tanjiro? Go ahead!" Nie Chiwu nodded. "No need to be so formal. We are all partners in the same gathering."

"I'm saying, shouldn't we consult Mr. Laos's opinion on matters concerning demons?" Tanjiro said, raising his hand. "After all, that's the crisis facing Mr. Laos and his world."

"!"

The four people who were just thinking about repelling them suddenly realized this after hearing Tanjiro's words. They looked at each other and then looked at Laos.

"Tanjiro is right. Regarding demons... we should indeed refer to Laos's ideas." Nie Chiwu said, "What Laos thinks about winged lions... or demons."

Nie Chiwu put forward his own idea to Laos: "Repel them, or what?"

"If we only destroy the labyrinth, that means... the demon still exists, right?"

Laos thought seriously.

"The devil always wants to devour all humans from other worlds. Even if we defeat him this time, judging by his appetite, he will still persist in luring the next maze master."

Laos said, "The devil can fail countless times, but if we fail, we will truly fail. I think... we can't leave the devil alone!"

Nie Chiwu scratched his chin when he heard this. "So... you want to follow the original plan, consuming the demon's desires and killing the demon's magical self?"

"No, I'm concerned about something else." Laos opened his interface somewhat unskillfully and looked at the commission description. "Why, on par with kills and knockbacks..."

"Is there a catch?"

Chapter 70: The Happiest Day of Laos' Life

"I'm wondering, since my future self would consider demons to be non-living beings, can the word 'capture' really be used for a demon that isn't a living being?"

Laos pointed at his own panel and said, "Since demons are not living things, they have no instincts or habits, no death or life. All I will do in the future is to make the demons lose their desire to eat."

"Demons, in order to understand humans, have added traits and instincts to themselves, hoping to experience human desires at every moment. However, such demons are still not living beings."

Laos pondered, "Could there be any mistakes in the introduction of this commission?"

Laos' words made everyone present think.

Nie Chiwu simply slammed the table and stood up: "I'll go ask Granny Cat!"

As Nie Chiwu said this, he ran into the huge kitchen to find Grandma Cat. His skilled figure made the small group of people present feel particularly familiar.

“How should I put this…” Kazuma muttered, “I always feel like Nie Chiwu looks a lot like that guy, that guy.”

"Indeed... huh? Is there something like that in your world as well?" Naofumi Iwatani raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"You too?"