The dancing scoutflies abruptly turned blue, circling a crystal plunged upside down into the mud. "What is this?" The Seeker lowered herself, scraping a few powder fragments from the crystal. Surrounding the crystal were strange scales, looking like something left behind by an insect. However, the blue glow of the scoutflies undoubtedly indicated that it belonged to an unidentified, exceptionally powerful monster. (Blue doesn't represent an Elder Dragon, but rather a monster that the scoutflies can't identify and possesses immense power, like Behemoth.)
"A monster we haven't seen before?" Aibo touched the crystal, which still felt warm, almost fleshy. "It seems to be some kind of naturally shed crystalline substance, and we've never seen anything like it." They didn't suspect the Azure Era Dragon that had been sighted several times in the Wildspire Waste, as this was significantly different from the Azure Era Dragon materials they had obtained. Of course, the possibility of a similar subspecies couldn't be ruled out.
The two of them were there to hunt Diablos because the Ancient Wyverian from the forest asked them to do so in order to tell them the truth about Zorah Magdaros. The Rathalos hunt had been completed a few days ago, or rather, it had been knocked down with Tranq Bombs. Now they were preparing to investigate the ecology of the Diablos in the "Underground Desert," but instead discovered some unusual traces near the swamps close to the Great Jagras Habitat.
Shortly after the two hunters left, the "crystal" quickly grew six thin legs and scurried away. It looked like some kind of scaled insect. The crystal insect dashed into a cave at the end of the swamp area. A bizarre dragon resembling a lion, covered in pale red, luminous scales, was lying comfortably on the ground, fast asleep. The crystal insect scurried up the dragon's neck, its own color quickly changing to a blackish-red, blending in with the other scales. Its blood-sucking tentacles deeply pierced into the other's neck.
This was a larval Orebody from Eorzea. To say it has any inherent danger, it doesn't. In Eorzea, it's even used as a mining exploration tool in mines. Here, it doesn't have much power either. You could say it's a fragile creature that hunters could crush underfoot with a little force. Its final destination might even be inside a bug cage in a hunter's room. However, it does have one special ability...
The Bazelgeuse felt a slight itch on its neck, scratched it uncomfortably with its hind claws, and then lay down to sleep. It usually ate a lot of gunpowder rocks and blastshrooms, and these flammable and explosive mineral components accumulated in its scales. When it reached a certain level, the old scales would detach and have the characteristic of exploding upon severe impact.
Orebody, on the other hand, had a survival skill of disguising themselves by absorbing surrounding mineral components, condensing a large amount of corresponding mineral shell on their bodies to resist impacts and protect themselves from harm. Their larvae feed on animal blood, and after adulthood, they settle in mineral veins, enrich ore to form a back shell, and use this disguise to prey on other smaller insects as food - and adult Orebodies have a very bad characteristic: they are extremely aggressive and territorial, and will even attack creatures larger than themselves.
Lonely Island, a golden portal slowly unfolded, revealing a hazy scene like a mirage behind it. "I don't think this is a good idea," a white-haired, bestial-eyed man jumped out of the portal. He wore a thick cotton armor, leather gauntlets and leggings, and carried two swords, one long and one short, on his back. "Damn it, what the hell is this?!" The man complained, lifting his foot. A large blob of sticky stuff pulled out long, stringy filaments, looking utterly disgusting.
"Can you complain less?" A man with a long, narrow scar on his face appeared close behind. He wore a chainmail shirt and simple breastplate, still carrying two long swords. "Also, haven't you noticed that there is a very strong... inhuman scent here?" An inhuman perception beyond that of ordinary people allowed him to detect a faint sense of intimidation in the air, as if invisible blades were cutting across his cheeks again and again.
"Seems like traces of some monster's predation, but I've never seen anything like this," the first man squatted down and looked at what he had just stepped on. It was a completely rotten corpse of an unknown creature, and it looked like it had been rotting for a long time, but no animal had come to eat it, which was very telling. "Claw marks, more than 6 feet in length," the man estimated simply, identifying the barely discernible wound. "The internal organs are still there, doesn't look like normal predation. The bones have fracture marks, suspected of being hit hard. Geralt, have you ever seen a monster like this?"
"No, but there's smoke ahead, maybe we can go and ask the locals." "Hopefully they'll be more reasonable than those Eternal Fire fanatics." The white-haired man shrugged, then took out a small vial. "Also, it seems we're surrounded."
"Hmm, beasts." Geralt took out a vial of Enhanced Beast Oil and applied it to his steel blade. The steel blade emanated a murky color, like inferior, low-grade honey. "Quen!" "Clang!"
The shield triggered by the brief rune incantation was instantly shattered by the water beast's claws, and the steel sword followed through, cutting into its throat, neatly severing the trachea and arteries, and introducing the toxic oil into its bloodstream. Soon, the poor creature's life faded away there. However, for the numerous other water beasts and a lion-like Aquaman, this was just a minor setback.
Ten minutes later, "Zerin, I once again think that this mission you accepted is a very foolish assignment." Geralt said, pouring a potion that could greatly enhance his self-healing ability onto his wounds. The previous group of water beasts had caused considerable trouble before choosing to retreat. After all, for beasts, there was no such thing as honor; once they realized the situation was untenable, they would choose to flee and withdraw.
"Anyway, at least we can't allow these monsters to pass through the Conjunction of Spheres. Things are bad enough as they are, if the things from this side also ran over there..."
In fact, at that moment, a female Rathian was staring blankly at the Lesser Fiends in front of her and a few witch hunters who looked like they had seen a ghost, letting out a terrifying roar mixed with a torrent of flames that engulfed the unfortunate ones.
"Cave, and traps. I think it must be safe here." Zerin disarmed a trap on the ground. The enhanced perception temporarily granted by the potion allowed them to find a safe path through the dense maze of traps.
It had to be said, the guy who designed this trap system must be a master. There were several traps that they almost fell into if not for their superhuman perception. - Huihui was imitating the traps that humans set in jungle combat from her memory. Simply put, they were modernized booby traps and various jungle warfare traps, practical, effective, and simple designs tested in war.
A huge stone oven with cat-ear decorations still had a faint red glow. A large piece of unknown meat was baking on a water lily leaf, surrounded by fruits that could relieve greasiness and add seasoning. Several opened, empty shells were casually thrown on the ground. Hanging in front of the furnace were several pieces of cured meat that could at least feed two company-sized units. This was the first thing, and the most eye-catching thing, that the white-haired man saw after entering the cave.
Anyone who had been subsisting on nothing but stale black bread and cheap fruit preserves for days wouldn't ignore such a stash, especially beings with perception far exceeding that of humans. The fragrant aroma practically lingered at the tip of their noses, subtly invading their brains through their nasal passages.
"By the gods, Geralt, I can't wait to meet the owner of this place. I wonder if he accepts crowns. Maybe after we finish the job today, we can not only rest, but also eat something decent."
"I agree with your sentiment, but these utensils don't seem to be human-sized."
Neither the water tanks, troughs, nor the stone cutting boards stained with blood and animal fat seemed like they were intended for human use. However, it didn't quite resemble a monster's feeding ground either, because in the most prominent place was a dish of some kind of grain stir-fried, with plenty of shellfish, oysters, and crab meat added. Large chunks of smoked meat and what looked like sausages peeked out from between the grains, looking extremely tempting.
Beyond the oven and kitchen was a vast space, a huge cavern large enough to hold a banquet for hundreds of people. A beam of sunlight streamed down from a breach in the cave ceiling. Several ropes and wooden crates made of vines hung from above. Some of the crates were filled with soil, growing what looked like mushrooms. Other crates were clearly some kind of container, lined with hay, with huge white eggs crammed together.
"Hmm, transporting goods from above? A strange design indeed."
Inside the hall were artificially carved openings where a trickle of clear water flowed into a stone channel, eventually converging into a pool in a corner of the cave. Some fish were swimming in the pool. Although everything was rather large and there were no beds to be found, only a large pile of hay and stones, it was clear that the owner of this place had carefully decorated and maintained this dwelling, even designing and installing a freight elevator and stockpiling a large amount of food.
Yes, a large amount of food. According to the two witchers, the pile of meat and various cactus chunks, oversized nuts, and miscellaneous possibly-vegetable items in the side cave, stacked among unknown blocks of ice, could at least feed the entire town for several months, or sustain the king's entire army, and possibly have some left over for an entire campaign.
However, looking at it from another angle, this place is easily defended and difficult to attack, has hidden cargo transport in and out, and massive food reserves. It could very well be a base for bandits or some other illegal organization, and...
"Geralt, look at this." The translucent crystals reflected brilliant light in the sunlight. These were byproducts of Huihui's salt mining, "Shimmering Crystals." The rest were the color of the ocean, a blue mixed with green. Although they weren't polished, the top-quality aquamarine ore was still breathtakingly beautiful.
"At least 200 crowns." With the eye and experience of a seasoned witcher, Geralt quickly completed the appraisal. Gems of this quality were piled in the haystack like random pebbles, along with a large amount of iron ore and what appeared to be silver ore. By their standards of value, this place looked homely and rustic, but the wealth could rival that of a king - well, considering some poor countries, a king might not even have so many jewels in his treasury.
"I'm not very good at dealing with bandits." "Neither am I. In any case, we at least need to find some locals and ask them what the hell this place is, then find a safe place with a fireplace to sleep, eat something, and then install that damn device and wait for Yennefer to get us both back!" "I heard you're planning to rebuild Kaer Morhen?" Zerin reached into the hay and picked up a piece of aquamarine. "And you must be short on coin right now."
"There's so much here, I don't think they'll notice if a piece or two goes missing." Zerin explained, facing Geralt's murderous gaze. His words were convincing; after all, the gemstones were mixed in with the hay like trash, and there were also some...
"Hmm, I don't happen to have a banker friend, Geralt. Do you know what this is?" An oval object with a pattern like layers of ocean waves, almost like crystal. "A gemstone? Or some special ore?" Zerin scraped it with his dagger, and the blade struck a spark. "The hardness is pretty high. Maybe it could be used to forge a good sword."
Just as the nest was being burgled, Huihui finished her hunt, flying clumsily back towards the nest carrying a Daimyo Hermitaur that had completely lost the will to live. The Daimyo Hermitaur, weighing in at tons, could yield hundreds of kilograms of delicious crab meat, which would be very useful for Huihui's planned experiment of making grilled crab meat rolls.
Although it was quite difficult to catch; she practically flew around the New World once to find one. There wasn't much to say about the battle that followed. She just picked up rocks and threw them, one after another, until she smashed its castle-like shell. After that, there wasn't much left to it.
The main reason Huihui installed the simple Dragon-powered elevator in the nest was to transport those fragile eggs. She packed them into boxes, lined them with hay, and then carefully lowered them with vines. If she flew directly into the cave entrance and landed vertically with them, the huge impact would directly shatter these ingredients.
She also transported mushrooms and certain prey that were difficult to land with in this way. – A jump landing, especially with a large amount of cargo, is a delicate skill, and Huihui couldn't quite master the force. After crashing several times, she gave up on this approach.
She dropped the Daimyo Hermitaur low over the mountaintop, then tied it up with ropes in a classic pose, as if it could be placed in a gift box and displayed in a supermarket. Although the vines were easy for the Daimyo Hermitaur to break free from, the dragon claws standing on its back were not so easy to escape. It was tied up layer by layer, then tethered to the vines and lowered into the cave.
The two witchers, looking as if they'd seen a ghost, stared dumbfounded as the room-sized crab, all tied up, slowly descended from the sky. The two crab eyes on its eyestalks glared fiercely at them, and the short, furry feeding limbs near its mouth waved dismissively, even blowing a soap bubble-like bubble, an act like an old convict in prison despising a new recruit, completely unaware that its fate was the steamer or the cutting board.