The Zorah Magdaros, currently the largest known Elder Dragon, spends its long larval stage living on the seabed, rarely moving until it grows to a sufficient size. Because of this, no one really knows the details of its ecology: when it mates, when it gives birth, etc. However, what's certain is this: those islands that fishermen see at sea, appearing and disappearing like mirages, are likely Zorah Magdaros on the move, actively hunting for food.
In fact, only the ocean can provide enough food for such a huge creature. However, that's not what's important now. The long lifespan and immense size have allowed the old Zorah Magdaros to accumulate terrifying amounts of Dragon energy. Originally, like other Elder Dragons, it would have reached the Rotten Vale in the center of the New World, waiting at the bottom of the valley for its death, slowly releasing the energy and materials accumulated over the years, becoming new Dragonvein Crystals and nourishing the vast Coral Highlands.
But, according to the Ancient Dragonfolk, it's now been lured by the "Life Energy" and is wandering through the Everstream. To put it simply, the Everstream is nothing too mystical: it's a complex network of tunnels beneath the New World. In geological terms, it's a porous and loose rock layer, mostly formed by volcanic eruptions cooling down. It's also the weakest part of the Earth's crust, where vast amounts of magma flow slowly.
If the Zorah Magdaros dies within the Everstream, the high-energy materials inside its body will leak out as its corpse is burned by the magma. Simply put, it's like stuffing a giant propane tank into the New World's underground furnace. The moment the tank ruptures, it will detonate the New World's ley lines. The fragile, porous rock layer will be instantly torn apart, causing the underground magma to erupt, forming a brand new, massive volcano in the New World.
The high-temperature magma and toxic fumes, mixed with scorching volcanic ash, would completely burn down the entire New World, turning this world, which has thrived and developed on the foundation of an Elder Dragon graveyard, into a terrifying scene reminiscent of ancient times: a doomsday world dominated by fire, sulfur, and poisonous gas, where only a handful of dragon species accustomed to high temperatures could barely survive.
This information sent the hunters at the base into a state of extreme panic. They couldn't kill the Zorah Magdaros, because that would be the same as lighting the fuse on a powder keg, blowing themselves and the entire continent to smithereens. But, given the Zorah Magdaros's terrifying size, there was no way to capture or restrain it. As in the battle in the canyon, despite the undeniable interference of the Nergigante, the binding ballistae weren't as effective as they'd imagined.
"Besides, Commander, our ammunition and supplies are completely exhausted." In the battle against the Azure Elder Dragon, the Hunter's Guild's remaining ballistae were all destroyed, and various medicines and supply ammo were completely depleted. Thanks to the efforts of the Fourth Fleet and the Smithy, they'd only barely managed to replenish enough to cover the consumption of daily survey missions. If they wanted to do anything about the Zorah Magdaros, it simply wouldn't be enough.
"We don't have a good way to deal with the Zorah Magdaros either. Whether we leave it alone or kill it, the result is the same."
"Then, what about driving it away? Drive it out to sea, let it die there, and release its accumulated high-energy material in the ocean," the Deviljho-blooded miss suggested. "That's certainly a good idea, but how should we drive it away? And... I'm afraid we don't have any more combat resources to support a new round of attacks."
"Leave that problem to me to think about," the Fourth Fleet Master said thoughtfully. "But that probably won't be very by-the-book."
"Now is not the time to worry about the rules," the Commander said. "Now, the hunters' task is to figure out the Zorah Magdaros's migration route and find the most suitable place to intercept it."
They needed to find an Everstream cave that connected to the ocean, then observe the Zorah Magdaros's direction and location, ultimately finding a suitable place to establish an intercept point and guide the Zorah Magdaros towards the open sea. These things aren't shown in the game, but that doesn't mean the process didn't exist.
No matter how frantically the hunters went into battle readiness, these things didn't have much to do with Huihui. The young dragon continued to fly across the land as always, circling between the Wildspire Waste and the Coral Highlands, effectively reducing the number of Legiana and Paolumu. This undoubtedly helped the Third Fleet's Zorah Magdaros tracking airship a great deal. Although the appearance of the Scoutflies meant that hunters no longer had to rely on the Ancient Dragon Observation airships and telescopes to observe prey.
In hunts of the past, in the overly vast environment with monsters that appeared and disappeared without a trace, and without Scoutflies to track them, their main way of tracking monsters was to rely on paintball and telescopes on hot air balloons. The hunters would apply for help from the observers on the Ancient Dragon Observation airships, seeking out the prey they had lost track of, and then using flag signals to tell themselves where to go - well, a certain vision-enhancing medicine actually allowed you to see the flag signals on hot air balloons more clearly. Of course, if the hot air balloon flew close enough, it could be done without the help of medicine.
Huihui had never found a use for the porous coral of the Coral Highlands, until recently, she discovered that they could be used as a tool to fill her last culinary deficiency: a steamer. And the lucky one to enjoy this treatment was that poor Shogun Ceanataur, which, after being starved for a few days and vomiting up all sorts of dirty things, was stuffed into this porous tool made of coral.
It wouldn't be fair to say it didn't resist, but faced with thirty tons of Huihui's brutal beating and electrocution, its resistance was futile. It could only watch helplessly as it was stuffed into this place that looked anything but benevolent. Then, the water tank below began to emit billowing steam. The remains of the first lucky victim had long been devoured by scavengers, and Huihui had thoroughly cleaned the area around this steaming chamber.
Due to a failed attempt at brewing an alcoholic beverage, Huihui had obtained a sour condiment. This time, as the apex species of the Ceanataur, it wouldn't feel its honor sullied by not even having a dipping sauce of vinegar. At the very least, this time there was a dish of vinegar, and a small dish of the tender strands of a crimson spicy plant as a substitute for pickled ginger. After a long search, Huihui had even found a garlic paste substitute. From an ingredient perspective, not a single morsel of this enormous crab's deliciousness would be wasted—though it probably didn't necessarily think so itself.
The Ceanataur's carapace began to turn a faint red. It was on its last legs. Only then did Huihui release the claw that was holding down its back shell, spread her wings, and take flight. A single crab of this size would be enough to feed a large group of hunters, but for Huihui, who needed 15 tons of high-protein food to be full, it was basically just a tasty snack. She needed more food. Fortunately, the Coral Highlands didn't lack anything else. There were plenty of the fragrant, tender Paolumu, and the elderly Herbivores who had journeyed a long distance to die. However, this time she had her eye on something else.
"Whoosh~" The azure dragon ascended towards the sky, tilting back and diving down towards the gap that constantly spewed out murky yellow fumes. That was the lower level of the Coral Highlands. Countless Elder Dragon bones and the reticulated plants and vines that spread and grew on the corpses formed this terrifying, hellish world. In this valley formed of corpses and carrion, Dragonvein Crystals grew and spread continuously in the acidic pools, eventually converging in the center to become giant crystal clusters that pierced through the coral forests—the Dragonvein Crystal area—a paradise for scavengers.
"Boom!" A body weighing thirty tons slammed into a pile of bones, sending the fragile skeletons scattering in all directions. The sneaky, opportunistic Girros scurried across the web of dried muscle fibers, poking their heads out from the dense miasma, observing this terrifying predator that should never appear in this graveyard. The creatures living here weren't as afraid of Elder Dragons, or at least not as afraid as those outside.
Because their lives were built on consuming the flesh and remains of Elder Dragons. Decrepit Elder Dragons simply couldn't inspire any fear in them, only arouse a greater appetite. However, Huihui didn't fall into that category. The creatures living here could smell the scent of death from dying Elder Dragons, but Huihui radiated the vibrant vitality of new life. The scent of Dragon energy on her was like a brilliant sun.
This undoubtedly caused great confusion among the creatures here. Being cautious, they hid in corners, observing this unknown visitor. Who in the world was she? Soon, the Girros would learn that this monster hadn't come here to die; she'd come to deliver a terrifying slaughter, and the target was a Radobaan rolling around in a pile of bones.
Although called "Radobaan" (Bone Hammer), it actually didn't have any "exoskeleton" of its own. Its body was soft and fragile. However, thanks to an asphalt-like oil secreted by its skin, it could glue the bones of other Elder Dragons and dead creatures to itself in this graveyard, mixed with large amounts of mud, gravel, and so on, ultimately layering itself in a terrifying bone-spiked armor.
For hunters and most of the creatures living here, the Radobaan was a very tricky enemy. It killed its targets by curling into a ball and rolling into them at high speed. The dense array of sharp broken bone shards on its body was incredibly deadly. When it rolled, it was like a mobile meat grinder, and everything in its path would be caught in it, crushed or lacerated by its weight and bone-spiked armor.
Some research suggests that Radobaan and Barroth may be related in some way. They both have fragile bodies and rely on external objects for armor, and they both like to roll around in mud or piles of bones. As for Huihui, she didn't have such complex research mindsets or lengthy arguments.
She believed that Radobaan and Barroth were simply different forms of the same creature—why? Because she thought they tasted pretty much the same. Just as hunters would categorize monsters into complex classifications based on their physical form, dragon blood type, diet, and so on, Huihui also did so, only her classification method was different.
Huihui's classification method was both simple and useful, and it was also very convenient to verify: if they tasted pretty much the same, they were in the same category. Therefore, Anjanath and Aptonoth were close relatives in Huihui's eyes because their meat was chewy. All types of Wyverns and Tobi-Kadachi were the same, because their meat was tender, but had too many small bones. Naturally, Barroth and Radobaan, both good materials for "Beggar's Dragon" (a localized equivalent dish), were the same creature.
This was a simple but dialectical classification method. However, regardless of which category it was placed in, this massive Radobaan was doomed.
The bone spikes shattered against Huihui's hardened wing plates, revealing the armor of black slime and mud underneath, which was then torn apart by the wing blades. Electrocution didn't have much of an effect on it, but the blue flames from Huihui's wings could easily ignite its flammable oil. The poor creature rolled around on the ground, trying to extinguish the flames while replenishing its new tar-and-bone armor.
"Shriek!" Huihui let out a steam whistle-like screech, forcing the Girros, who were greedy for the spoils of battle, to retreat into the thick fog once again. Huihui inhaled deeply, drawing a large amount of air mixed with flammable miasma into her air sacs. Compressed by her muscles, it was sent to the wing nozzles. Her fully transformed wings, opened to their maximum extent, whipped around, unleashing a wave of red-yellow flames, colored by the added miasma, spreading out in a symmetrical arc, quickly igniting the small patches of miasma and creating an open space free of mist or miasma.
(Flame Wave: Rotate 270 degrees, whip wings to create a symmetrical, fan-shaped arc of fire, dealing moderate damage and inflicting fireblight. Hunters, please be sure to dodge or equip a fireproof mantle—Hunter's Guild Information Board)
The Girros, struck by the flames, screamed and retreated into the deeper corners. They had given up the idea of stealing the kill. After all, that Elder Dragon not only looked tough, but was also very alert. Huihui didn't have much interest in the Girros either, because their meat was too subtle. It wasn't that it tasted bad, but eating too much would numb her tongue, making everything else taste like nothing, which was awful for Huihui.
(Girros have paralytic glands, and their bodies, in addition to their teeth, also secrete paralytic fluid. Therefore, eating them can indeed cause tongue numbness, preventing you from tasting anything. And Huihui doesn't have the skill or knife work of a fugu chef, so she can't solve this problem.)
Dragon claws pinned the Radobaan, which was rolling on the ground, while its wings stood high, the crystals at the ends of the closed wing panels like sharp blades, easily creating numerous wounds on it, further depriving it of the strength to resist. Then, Huihui's tail stinger pierced the Radobaan's abdomen, and ripped from throat to tail, sending a cascade of foul-smelling entrails onto the ground.
Mortally wounded, the Radobaan couldn't struggle anymore, letting Huihui roughly tear apart the various bits and pieces inside its abdomen, scattering them far away to become food for the Girros competing for a meal. "Empty out the guts, stuff in the seasonings, wrap it up in its own grease and bone fragments, and finally light it up!" Huihui happily completed the above steps, and ultimately ignited the Radobaan, bundled into a ball and covered in the viscous black slime.
The asphalt-like oil burned fiercely, emitting a piney aroma, turning the Radobaan's corpse into an irregularly shaped sphere of deep purple, glittering on the outside, but feeling like a Yixing teapot to the touch, and smelling of a rich, pine-like fragrance.
Many predators were repelled by the Radobaan's foul-smelling, asphalt-like body oil and wouldn't prey on such a large, foul-tasting prey that was full of bone fragments and high-viscosity, disgusting grease. They didn't know that after this oil burned away, it would have such a pine-like fragrant smell, and lock the Radobaan's rich grease and delicious juices inside—and those undiscriminating little guys weren't qualified to hunt it—which created the fact that the Radobaan had almost no natural enemies in the Rotten Vale.
However, for Huihui, who was good at discovering delicious things, she was the Radobaan's new natural enemy: after all, one Radobaan was enough to fill her up for a meal. In terms of hunting time efficiency and the time it took to prepare the delicious meal, it was undoubtedly a very worthwhile prey—and easy to catch, too!