Monster Hunter: Wild Pointer

The professor didn't care and led the way directly to the meeting place. His short legs moved very fast, and even Muti, who was tall and had long legs, had to take big steps to keep up.

Unlike a rookie scribe, an experienced old scholar has clear goals.

He decided to first contact the local guild to learn about the investigation plan and route of those little bastards, and then decide whether it was necessary to hire an airship depending on the situation.

When the group entered the meeting hall and saw the figures of Muti and Muxiang, the girl behind the task counter immediately opened her arms and ran out.

"Muti~Muxiang~You guys are finally back, hug~!"

Muti reached out his palm and skillfully pressed her shoulder. He turned to the professor and said, "This is the president of the Metabetat Guild. She also serves as the poster girl. If you have any questions, you can ask her."

Noah then noticed that in front of Muti stood a little old man, not even as tall as her thigh. Her expression suddenly changed, and she smiled dryly and greeted him, "Professor, why are you here in person?"

The professor glanced at the poster girl uniform she was wearing and said nothing, but it made Noah feel uncomfortable.

One of them is a senior executive at the guild headquarters, and the other is the head of the city guild, so there are always contacts such as official meetings.

Being seen by the professor wearing a poster girl uniform and asking a little girl for a hug, I felt embarrassed as if my personal hobby was caught by my boss in front of me.

However, the professor was not one to meddle in other people's affairs. He remained calm and asked, "A few days ago, a small investigation team entered the dense forest. The members were..."

"It's the team led by Orlan!" Muti asked eagerly.

"Oh, I know. A team consisting of the Nine-Star Hunting Cat Xianglan, Aolan, and a young scholar, right?" Noah nodded. "They also borrowed a small airship. What's going on?"

"I'm Eric's teacher. Those guys are a bit unreliable, so I came here to check on them because I was worried." The professor extended his hand to the guild leader, "They should have registered here before leaving, right?

Show me their itinerary plan and route planning materials."

According to the regulations, the professor's request is not completely compliant, but considering the professor's status and the status of the team members as elders, Noah, who has a flexible bottom line, will not force them to conceal the information.

She ran to the task counter and rummaged around for a while, quickly finding the documents the professor had requested and handed them to him.

"That was almost a week ago." Noah said with an expression as if he remembered it clearly. "They prepared a lot of supplies, filling up a cart. Miss Xianglan also gave it to me."

Noah glanced at Muti carefully and said, "I even borrowed a small airship in your father's name."

Muti: “.”

It feels like this is exactly what Aunt Xianglan would do.

It took less than half a minute to quickly browse through the information reported by the investigation team before departure.

The professor sighed and put the papers back on the counter.

"Is there any problem?" Noticing the professor's expression, Muti asked nervously.

"Pick it up and take a look at it yourself. Do you think there are any problems?" The old scholar habitually encourages young people to use their brains more and think independently to come up with the answer.

Muti picked up the documents and looked at them for a while, his face blank.

There would be no problem in letting her command a hunting team.

But if she was asked to plan an investigation or draw up an itinerary for a trip, she had no idea where to start and naturally couldn't see any problem.

Muti looked to Muxiang for help.

Muxiang, who had always been either traveling alone or joining a team, took the documents, and then the confused people became two people.

"Let me see?" Noah took the document back with a suspicious look on his face.

Unlike Muti Muxiang and the others, Noah, as the poster girl and the guild leader, is very familiar with this type of itinerary reporting documents.

It's a special period now, and the jungle is not peaceful. She has carefully checked the reporting documents of every investigation team, including Ao Lang's team. There shouldn't be any problems, right?

Seeing that these guys couldn't figure it out, the professor no longer expected their ability to think deeply.

"The plan itself is sound. The itinerary and supply consumption are detailed down to the daily level. They've also added an extra 50% of supplies. It's a very sound plan, even to the point of being unnecessary.

I know without any doubt that these were all formulated by Aolan.

But the dense forest is not a desert, and water and food are not difficult to find here, especially when there are hunters and the team is particularly small.

If you have the extra weight to carry food and water, it is better to bring more ignited coal as airship fuel.

The way they prepare supplies is wrong. They have some experience, but it's not comprehensive enough, so they'll be at a disadvantage if something unexpected happens."

"I see." Muxiang nodded suddenly, and Muti nodded too.

"But honestly, this isn't a big problem. As long as we strictly follow the itinerary plan, the most we'll do is carry a lot of useless supplies, and won't be able to maximize the load capacity.

The real problem was the survey plan: which day, where, and what to investigate? They had no clear idea, only a general route, which was to go northwest.

As a preliminary investigation, it's okay to be a bit casual, but if you combine the two factors of 'excess supplies' and 'unclear investigation objectives', and consider the personalities of those guys, what do you think will happen?"

"Uh……"

"Alright, let me be frank. Eric will jump up and down and demand to continue the investigation. As for Aolan, under normal circumstances, it would be easy to deal with him. He will cautiously choose to return.

But once something happens, he is a guy who easily gets carried away.

As for Xianglan, I have worked with her before. She is a very good hunting cat and there is no doubt that she can play a role in combat.

But outside of combat, it's quite... erratic, and the chances of accidents are even higher."

"Then, what should we do?" Muti asked stutteringly.

The professor lost interest in keeping the secret any longer. "Whether they return smoothly as planned or encounter an accident, returning the same way is always the safest approach.

We followed the route they planned and used Fukubiki Rabbit's flying ability to expand the search range.

Noah, I will leave you a peregrine falcon. Whether they return on time or are still late, remember to send me a message."

"I understand. Do we need to arrange an airship for you?" President Noah asked proactively.

The professor thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "No, there are many flying dragons and bird dragons in the dense forest that like to attack airships. High-altitude reconnaissance is meaningless, and low-altitude reconnaissance is extremely risky.

How about a ground operation? With Fukumoto Rabbit's reconnaissance efficiency, we can just follow their route and find them."

At this point, the professor paused and said, "I hope I'm just worrying too much. You two, just treat it as an outing with me into the dense forest."

Chapter 257 The strange-faced tribe in the forest

This was different from when Aolang and others set out, using both a cart and an airboat.

The professor and his entourage can be said to have traveled light.

Needless to say, Muti didn't even have a second gunpowder, and apart from the defense team's improved gunpowder, she had nothing else to bring.

After careful consideration, Muxiang brought the highly versatile light crossbow "Valkyrie's Fire". This light crossbow can rapidly fire lv1 and lv2 shotgun shells, without having to consider the attribute of the bullets.

All ammunition and supplies were carried by the Fang Hound Xiang.

Unlike Orlan and the others who prepared a lot of food and water, the professor only arranged three days of emergency dry food. He did bring a lot of medicines such as recovery medicine and antidote, and also brought a small amount of burning coal.

This special mineral, mined from volcanic areas, can be used as fuel for airships and is also suitable for portable stoves, and can be used as fuel for cooking or heating when dry wood is unavailable.

Everyone was lightly packed, and the only one who needed to carry luggage was Xiang. Under the strict supervision of the professor, Xiang's weight was kept within a reasonable range and would not affect his normal movements.

In this way, with the hunters' physical strength and mobility, it is not difficult to travel 50 kilometers a day, and even double that if necessary.

Without any ceremonial speeches or remarks, after checking the supplies for the last time, the professor shouted "Let's go," and the three men, a cat, a dog, and a bird went into the dense forest.

More than a week has passed since the successful resolution of the Thousand Blade Dragon.

Olang and his party were still trudging through the dense forest.

In this warm, humid environment with swarms of flies and insects, even a small abrasion could cause large-scale skin ulcers and attract flies and insects to parasitize, not to mention the huge laceration on Orlan's leg.

I can only say that thanks to Xianglan, she cleaned and treated his wound every few hours, thus avoiding infection, maggots and other worsening conditions.

The sharp claws cut the sutures. Xianglan pulled out the threads from the wound piece by piece and sprinkled some life dust.

"It's almost healed, meow. If you engage in high-intensity combat right now, there's still a risk of reopening the wound. But if you just walk, run, and jump normally, it won't be a big problem, meow." Xianglan patted Ao Lang's thigh.

"Thank you, Lord Xianglan. So, I don't need to lie down anymore, right?" Aolan asked, looking at the centipede-like scar on his thigh.

"Yes, meow." Xianglan waved her paw and said casually, "Remember to collect any herbs you see on the road, meow. I've almost used up my recovery potion and dust, meow."

"I understand." Ao Lang jumped off the cart and stretched his stiff limbs.

Seabuckthorn suddenly felt a lot more relaxed as he stepped on the pedals.

"Wow! It's the jungle subspecies of the Otsu Wind Swallowtail!" Eric, who was pulling the cart obediently a second ago, seemed to have suddenly changed his mind. He was about to run out excitedly, but was grabbed by the rope around his waist.

Orlan skillfully pulled the rope and dragged the troublesome guy back.

"Let's not talk about anything else. This Ojin Wind Swallowtail Butterfly isn't the first time you've seen it these past few days. Why are you so excited?"

"Specimen! Let me get one for a specimen! The coloration of the jungle subspecies is different from the ones found in the desert. I want to take it back for comparison!"

"Not this time." Orlan rejected him mercilessly.

It's not that he is unkind. If you give Eric the slightest leeway, he will immediately start to take advantage of the situation and run away in the blink of an eye.

They had already encountered enough dangers on this trip, and they had to avoid any possibility of complications.

Xianglan, who was lazily lying on the cart, tossed the small stone in her claws and threw it out. The stone hit the tree trunk where the Otsuki butterfly was landed, scaring it away.

"Ahhh!" Eric screamed in frustration, but was ignored by his companions.

Orlan even covered his mouth with his hand to prevent the noise from attracting any monsters nearby.

"Lord Xianglan, could you please help me confirm the surrounding situation?" After easily suppressing the delicate, weak and nosy scholar, Aolan turned around and asked Xianglan, who was lying there doing nothing, in a very polite tone.

Xianglan was very pleased with Olang's humble attitude.

"I really can't do anything with you, meow." Xianglan slowly assembled the large kite and carried it on her back. "Kids, stay where you are and don't move. I'll be back soon, meow."

As she was speaking, a gust of wind blew, and Xianglan flew up with the wind and disappeared among the treetops of the dense forest that blocked out the sun.

After waiting there for two minutes, Xianglan didn't come back to warn anyone, which meant that there should be no large monsters nearby.

Ao Lang felt relieved and helped Sea Buckthorn to stop the cart. "While Lord Xianglan is scouting the road ahead, take a good rest.

I'm going to collect some food nearby, the distance will not be more than 500 meters. If anything happens, just call me loudly.

Seabuckthorn, keep an eye on Eric and don't let him run around. Tie him up if necessary."

"Hey!"

"Got it, meow!"

After giving the order, Aolang put on his two swords and searched around. He soon found a beast path where small animals passed by. He secretly said that he was lucky, lowered his head and followed the beast path into the dense forest.

Such animal paths are usually left by animals such as elf deer or mushroom pigs.

By following the animal trail, you can more easily find water sources, or areas where mushrooms grow in large numbers, and other places to get water and food. If you are lucky enough to come across a mushroom pig, you will have food for the next few days.

Sure enough, less than two hundred meters after walking out, I saw a rotten tree lying across a stream.

The wood has become soft and porous under the combined action of stream water, moss and fungi, providing the perfect environment for the growth of mushrooms, with large areas of mushrooms growing on it.

Orlan rubbed his hands excitedly.

Avoiding those mushrooms whose species could not be confirmed, Orlan first picked up two blue mushrooms (green mushrooms). This kind of mushroom is generally not eaten as food, but when combined with herbs and other medicinal materials, it can play a very good medicinal value.

Then there are the most numerous specialty mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, which are delicious whether fried or grilled, and can even be eaten raw.

Dried goods made from sun-dried food are one of Metabetat’s flagship products.

Olang picked up a lot of big ones, and then he saw a few dark purple mushrooms on the other side of the rotten wood.

Poisonous mushrooms, of course, cannot be eaten, but they can be used to make some special crossbow bullets and props, such as highly poisonous raw meat.

Orlang, who was born and raised in the barren desert, has the habit of collecting resources. Although he couldn't use them for the time being, he subconsciously walked towards the poisonous mushrooms, ready to put them in his pocket.

At this moment, a small shadow emerged from the ground and blocked his way, screaming.

It was skinny, with gray-green skin like tree bark, holding a rusty dagger in its hand, and wearing a strangely shaped mask on its head.

"Gayakabaga!"

Looking at the aggressive little thing, Aolan paused, "The Strange-Faced Tribe?"

This is a small beastman monster about the same size as Elu. They mostly live in tribes, are good at using tools, and have an IQ similar to that of humans.

The dense forest is one of the main habitats of the strange-faced people, so it is not surprising to encounter them here.

This means that those animal paths are also passages commonly used by the Strange-Faced Tribe, and I may have invaded their territory.

“Quack!”

Seeing that the hunter didn't react, the strange-faced people, who were originally a little timid, immediately became ferocious, waving the broken sword in their hands, looking like they were about to rush up and chop people.

Orlan thought about it.