Kuku mutated by chance, successfully collecting a large amount of relevant information.
The harvest from this expedition was much better than Li Fan had anticipated, and the long-distance research concluded ahead of schedule.
However, Li Fan was now somewhat lost.
The joint effort by the Dragon Academy and the Guild to hunt the Valstrax was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to capture it.
To participate, the monsters would have to adapt to fearing Elder Dragons.
Li Fan desperately needed a Brachydios to turn the tide, but unfortunately, it was still too early for the team.
Coming to the cabin's porthole, Li Fan stretched and muttered to the clouds, "Anyway, for now, it seems there's still some time before the joint hunt. Let's focus on strengthening the team first."
Two days later, the Crimson Glow returned to the Dragon Academy headquarters from its location.
The female attendant in the headquarters lobby, after listening to Li Fan's consultation, asked, "Are you looking for a chef team? Human or Felyne?"
"There are human chef teams too?"
"Yes, and even three-star hunters!"
"Let's go with a Felyne team."
Li Fan wasn't worried about human cooking, but concerning the monsters, Felyne were much more at ease.
Humans, by comparison, would be much more troublesome.
"Oh, go straight down the left to the end, there's the Felyne Employment Reception. You'll find more detailed information there."
"Thank you."
Li Fan followed the directions and arrived at the Felyne Employment Reception.
Before he could speak, the heads of over a dozen Felynes emerged from behind the counter.
A cacophony of meows filled the air.
"Heh heh, young man, what kind of Felyne are you looking to hire? I can help you find one," the burly man behind the counter said with a smile.
"I want to hire a chef team."
"Ah... a chef team, then I can't recommend them one by one. You'll have to look at the registry."
The burly man moved a large book with a paw print on the cover from the counter.
Seeing that the entire book was covered in scratch marks, Li Fan carefully flipped through it, afraid of tearing the pages.
Lazy Felyne Chef Team, 4 members, Head Chef: Early Sleeper.
Description: Only cooks lunch, taste is alright.
Ideal Employer: Can provide a soft, large bed.
Price: 4000z per month.
So honest?
Enthusiastic Felyne Chef Team, 4 members, Head Chef: Oni-Eye.
Description: Cannot guarantee cooking times, but all are 3-star Hunter Cats with an impressive record of having once thrashed a Great Jaggi.
Ideal Employer: Can convert obtained monster materials into component parts for upgrading the Felyne chefs' equipment. If the hunters fail to return on time due to hunts, they hope the hunters will prepare meals for the cats.
Price: 6000z per month.
Who is cooking for whom here?
Li Fan turned the page again.
Picky Felyne Chef Team, 3 members, Head Chef: Old Eight.
Description: Specializes in cooking unconventional dishes, cooks at any time of day, often with unexpected dish combinations.
Ideal Employer: Hunter teams willing to try various novel dishes and dare to experiment.
Price: 2500z per month.
Could these novel dish combinations be some kind of secret recipe...
Li Fan sighed helplessly and turned the page again.
Bountiful Felyne Chef Team, 3 members, Head Chef: Flower Leaf.
Description: Striving to become a legendary Felyne chef team.
Skilled in stewing, frying, and cooking, prepares three meals a day, proficient in various Felyne meals.
Ideal Employer: Teams that frequently travel and hunt across various regions, capable of collecting a wide variety of rare ingredients, must have a fixed and spacious kitchen, each Felyne can have one day off per week, and the team can make reservations before eating Felyne meals to allow the team more preparation time.
Price: 7500z per month.
It's strange, the Bountiful Felyne Chef Team doesn't have many outstanding points, why does it seem so appealing...
Li Fan pondered for a moment, concluding it must be because the other chef teams were too eccentric.
"Brother, I'll take this one, the Bountiful Felyne!"
Li Fan pointed to the registry.
"Alright, pay a deposit of 500z first, leave a time and address, and I'll have the chef team come for an interview."
The burly man said as he began writing the contract.
"Uh... Brother, I'm a High-Ranked Hunter."
Li Fan leaned forward, displaying his High-Ranked Hunter badge.
"Is that so... then it will be 495z."
The burly man said with some difficulty.
"Don't High-Ranked Hunters get a thirty percent discount on their consumption at headquarters?"
"Young man, to be honest, this is outsourced work, and it has nothing to do with the headquarters."
The burly man said with difficulty.
"Alright, 5z is still money..."
Li Fan said helplessly.
Since there were no hunting plans and plenty of time, Li Fan arranged for the Bountiful Felyne Chef Team to interview on the Crimson Glow that afternoon.
He had never even considered the concept of an interview when hiring a Felyne chef team for the first time.
In the cargo hold of the Crimson Glow, Li Fan and Eudora moved dozens of cargo boxes before taking wooden planks to construct partition walls.
"By the way, do we need to buy new kitchenware?"
Eudora stopped hammering and asked.
"No need, the chef team will bring their own. The description said they even have a grill that can roast ten pieces of meat at once."
Li Fan replied.
"With a grill like that, if we keep roasting meat, we'll never run out of food."
Eudora fantasized.
"Eating continuously like that will make us sick..."
"The chef team is here, meow!"
Delu ran down the stairs from the cabin and announced.
"Tell the team to wait a moment, Eudora, let's carry the dining table up."
A moment later, a rectangular dining table was carried onto the deck.
Three Felynes with black and white fur, carrying luggage, cast their gazes.
"Hello, meow! I'm Head Chef Flower Leaf!"
The slightly larger Felyne put its paws on its hips and threw an apple upwards, catching it with a quick swing of its paw holding a carving knife.
The apple core fell to the ground, and a peeled apple was caught by the Felyne's paw.
What a knife skill!
Li Fan marveled.
A Felyne of average build unloaded its luggage, holding a thick stack of round plates in its paws, and walked forward.
"I am..."
As the Felyne spoke, it turned its body sideways, tossed the plates into the air, performed a backflip, and landed. Its two paws moved rapidly.
In a moment, all the plates were stacked on its paw pads.
"I am Three Leaf, meow, skilled in cutting and plating."
Seeing this display, I thought your name was Little Bright.
"I... I... I'm Leaf, meow, I'm... the chef team's apprentice!"
Trembling with nervousness, Leaf didn't perform any grand feats and quickly ran off after introducing itself.
"Leaf is still a bit shy, meow, please excuse us."
Head Chef Flower Leaf apologized.
"It's alright, if the hiring is successful, I believe Leaf will quickly integrate into the team."
Li Fan didn't mind.
"I sprained my ankle recently, meow, otherwise, I could have jumped even higher with that backflip."
Three Leaf said somewhat regretfully.
"Safety first. Besides Felyne meals, the team can adapt to a more normal cooking process."
Li Fan expressed his opinion.
After the chef team set up their cooking equipment, Li Fan hoisted a cargo box of ingredients onto the deck.
The interview officially began.
The two humans and two Felynes of the team sat behind the dining table as judges, awaiting the dishes.
As several dishes were placed on the table, Li Fan picked up a piece of meat coated in red sauce and put it in his mouth.
"Hmm... not bad. As expected, professional matters require a professional team. I give it 9.5 points."
Li Fan gave his evaluation.
"Mmmph... 10 points."
Eudora, too busy eating, hastily gave her score.
Delu, with its whiskers covered in sauce, said seriously, "So delicious, meow! 10 points!"
Fely, with elegant movements, was still adjusting its napkin, but after nodding in approval of the artistic plating, it announced loudly, "10 points, meow!"
Wow! Meow! Meow! ...
Hearing such high praise, the Bountiful Felyne Chef Team began to celebrate excitedly.
Flower Leaf juggled its carving knife.
Three Leaf juggled its plates.
Leaf, unable to perform any tricks, picked up a piece of white radish, placed it on the cutting board, and chopped it vigorously.
The chef team was successfully hired. Next, Li Fan led the three newly joined Felynes to introduce their living quarters in the ship's cabin.
In the afternoon, Li Fan went to the headquarters' ingredient procurement center to buy some Felyne meal ingredients for reserves.
He almost lost his footing when he glanced at the price list handed to him by the attendant.
He ended up spending 55,039z to purchase a cargo box of common Felyne meal ingredients.
Common ingredients referred to those that primarily boosted attack and defense and were widely applicable.
These Felyne meal ingredients are a black hole for money.
Li Fan looked at the bill and sighed inwardly.
At night, with ample time since there were no dishes to wash, Delu brought a telescope to the bow of the ship.
After setting up a stool, it began to observe the night sky.
"Still observing Huìhuì? Any new discoveries lately?"
Li Fan, passing by, asked.
He didn't hold out much hope, as this was the Dragon Academy headquarters, and there were surely more professional personnel and equipment for observing the Valstrax here.
"Huìhuì is flying lower and lower, meow. Although I can't observe it every day, I feel the descent is getting steeper."
Delu said with some melancholy, looking at its records.
Li Fan took the record book and examined the information recorded within.
Delu obviously didn't have the ability to detect the Valstrax's flight altitude, but based on the visual observations, the situation was not optimistic.
"If this trend continues, in another month... or less than a month, the Valstrax might affect the monsters on the ground when it flies."
"What will we do then, meow?"
Delu asked curiously.
"The Hunter's Guild and the Dragon Academy won't let such a thing happen. They will organize a joint hunt to drive Huìhuì back."
Li Fan informed.
"If we find the reason for its continuously decreasing flight altitude, can the crisis be resolved?"
Delu asked.
"Yes, that's precisely the importance of ecological research."
"I see, meow... I have a theory."
Delu tentatively said in a low voice.
"Let's hear it."
Li Fan said, sitting down beside it.
"Last time, when capturing Xi Xi, I collected a small amount of Hèxīng Stone, meow. But as you said, the Dragon Academy had already studied Hèxīng Stone."
"That's right, so only by researching the relationship between Hèxīng Stone and Valstrax can we find a new breakthrough."
"I've been working along those lines, meow, but strangely... there's no Hèxīng Stone below the Sky-Piercing Tower. I've searched for a long time and haven't found any. So I suspect, is Huìhuì looking for Hèxīng Stone veins?"
After Delu presented its theory, the ship's bow fell silent for a long time.
In the game, the Sky-Piercing Tower has many cracks and fissures. If I remember correctly, there's red light flowing within.
Last time with Xi Xi, although we didn't reach the top, there was definitely no red light in the surface fissures of the Sky-Piercing Tower.
This means the Hèxīng Stone veins in the Abandoned Ruins have been depleted...
"There's something that needs to be confirmed!"
"Ah! Huìhuì appeared, meow! Can't we finish observing first?"
Delu, being carried, said with great reluctance, watching the red meteor with a long tail in the night sky.
Clang! Clang! Clang! ...
Hearing the urgent knocking, Dean Vegaša, buried under stacks of documents, called out, "Come in."
"Dean! Has the Scorching Carapace been tested for reaction with Hèxīng Stone?"
Li Fan asked directly.
"Hmm... no, is there a new discovery?"
Vegaša inquired.
"Yes."
Li Fan said, pushing Delu forward. Delu, suspended in mid-air, explained its theory.
"Valstrax needs Hèxīng Stone for energy. Now that the Hèxīng Stone veins in the Abandoned Ruins are depleted, that's why Valstrax is flying back and forth in the sky so frequently... this theory sounds plausible, but what does it have to do with the Scorching Carapace?"
Vegaša took this hypothesis very seriously, as Li Fan's team was the only one to have witnessed Valstrax up close so far.
But she couldn't understand the connection between Hèxīng Stone and the Scorching Carapace.
"I believe the Scorching Carapace doesn't fall off due to overheating and melting, but rather Valstrax deliberately scatters it on the ground."
Li Fan expressed his view.
"You mean... Valstrax's Scorching Carapace resonates with Hèxīng Stone."
Vegaša stood up excitedly, knocking over the documents on her desk that were almost as tall as her.
After searching for a while, a map was pulled out.
"It marks the landing points of every piece of Scorching Carapace. If there were a pattern... how could there be a pattern! Each piece was collected as soon as it fell!"
Vegaša leaned weakly against the long table, slumping onto the floor, the map slipping from her hand.
"Wasn't the collection of Scorching Carapace for research, meow? Why is the Dean so discouraged?"
Delu asked, confused.
"The Hèxīng Stone veins in the Abandoned Ruins won't last much longer, which is why Valstrax is flying such long distances. Its purpose is to scatter the Scorching Carapace to detect Hèxīng Stone veins, but..."
Li Fan paused here, leaned closer to Delu's ear, and lowered his voice again.
"Valstrax drops a piece from high up, and the Dragon Academy picks it up on the ground. Valstrax is confused every day with its round trips, 'Where is my carapace? Where is such a large carapace?' Over time, the rate of Scorching Carapace regeneration cannot keep up with the demand for high-altitude drops. Thus, Valstrax has to lower its flight altitude."
After Li Fan finished explaining, Delu's eyes lit up.
It instantly understood why Dean Vegaša was so disheartened.
Because if the Dragon Academy hadn't collected the Scorching Carapace, and Valstrax had continued to scatter them according to its planned flight path, it might have been able to explore new Hèxīng Stone veins.
Of course, Li Fan didn't think the Dragon Academy was entirely to blame, as the damage caused by the Scorching Carapace in the past was evident.
If it were not controlled, it would still cause immeasurable losses.