The night was deep, and gusts of cold wind whistled through the triangular openings in the columnar crystalline rock walls.
Flashes of blue light, like electric welding, cast the silhouettes of several massive figures onto the rock face.
Even with Huihui perched vertically, perfectly blocking the cave entrance, the team's portable supplies would not be enough.
Fortunately, the intersecting columnar crystals above provided ample cover, preventing the blue light from spilling out.
"Yudoladilu, you two go to sleep first," Li Fan suggested from beside the campfire.
"Ah~ Okay, meow," Dilu yawned, got up, and curled up on the soft wind-bag clouds.
"Alright, wake me if there's any trouble." Yudora, after speaking, floated upside down above the campfire and closed her eyes.
Li Fan looked up for a moment, then asked uncertainly, "You... won't suddenly fall down, will you?"
"No, just remember to add firewood on time. I chopped a lot back during the day." Yudora, without opening her eyes, crossed her arms and lowered herself a little closer to the campfire.
"It's a bit cold. If only I had brought the dragon-slaying weapons." Li Fan added a few more logs to the fire as he mumbled.
The tent was used for blocking light, so the two humans and one cat had to camp outdoors. However, with their formidable physiques and adaptability, they could endure for a while.
*Hah~ Hooo~ Hah~ Hooo~...*
Giant, crystalline snot bubbles emerged from Zhan Zhan's nostrils along with his snores.
Yuan Jiao, Xi Xi, and Che Che, who were also on guard duty, were somewhat speechless. Zhan Zhan had just replaced Lei Ge on rotation, and he had fallen asleep as soon as he arrived. However, he stood with his tail blade planted on the ground, which was a sign of respect.
As time passed, Xi Xi and Che Che's eyelids grew heavier. In their dazed state, Che Che's drool dripped onto the ground. Feeling the wetness beneath his paws, Xi Xi immediately woke up and scanned his surroundings.
There were no enemies in sight, but he noticed Che Che, whose mouth was watering, staring at his pincer tail. It was the look of someone eyeing food.
*Swish!* Che Che's pincer tail shot up, and he missed his grasp, snapping back to consciousness.
"Roar~" Che Che shook his head vigorously, indicating that he had mistaken Xi Xi's pincer tail for a chicken leg.
Yuan Jiao, however, was the most dedicated, diligently observing every movement in the area. Due to the limitations of his monocular vision, he had to compensate by constantly turning his head.
Time trickled by. An hour later, a series of highly unstable, distorted cries echoed in Li Fan's mind.
*Roar~ Zzzzz! Roar~...*
He got up and scanned his surroundings, finding no abnormalities, then turned his gaze towards Huihui's location in the distance. Except for Yuan Jiao, the other three dragons had fallen asleep, clearly not sensing anything unusual. However, Huihui, surrounded by them, was alert, tilting its head back to observe the surroundings.
Huihui can sense things too? Li Fan was curious.
*Roar~ Roar~...* The cries reappeared in his mind, much clearer this time, but Li Fan still couldn't decipher their meaning.
"Roar!" Huihui let out a roar, conveying the meaning of the cries it heard. The three dragons, who had been sound asleep, immediately woke up and looked around vigilantly, but still detected no threat.
"Who... is draining this king's energy?" With Huihui's translation, Li Fan understood the meaning of the cries. Yudora and Dilu, who had also woken up, came over, both stating they had heard a noise.
"Strange, Huihui can hear it, and we can faintly hear it, but other monsters can't..." Looking at Yudora's Wind Dragon armor, Li Fan suddenly thought of a possibility.
"The other party can transmit information telepathically, similar to the communication stimulated by the Wind Dragon and Thunder Dragon armors, which is why we're connected." Li Fan speculated.
"So, besides the Wind Dragon and Thunder Dragon, there are other monsters that can communicate telepathically, and they live nearby?" Yudora surmised.
"Yes, but its information is not directed at us, but at other Elder Dragons, and it's a mass broadcast. We must be relatively close, and the signal is strong enough that we accidentally received it."
"Broadcasting to Elder Dragons, and such a monster exists, who is it?" Yudora asked curiously.
Li Fan glanced at the ground and replied, "Nergal."
"Nergal? ...Nergal, stop making noise, we're trying to sleep." Yudora immediately shouted in their minds.
*Zzzzz~ Zzzzz~ Roar!* A sound like static from a radio tuning in, followed by a clear, powerful roar.
Yudora and Dilu looked at Li Fan together.
"It says... Insolent! Don't speak words this king doesn't understand." Li Fan translated.
"How annoying, it's the one who initiated the telepathic connection," Yudora said helplessly.
"You think that's bad? Huihui has been bothered by it for who knows how long, and it can't even respond, let alone block it," Li Fan informed her.
"We can block it?" Yudora asked curiously.
"Of course." Li Fan made a gesture of taking off his helmet.
"I see..." Yudora immediately understood that her and Dilu's telepathic communication with Nergal was due to the abilities of the Wind Dragon gear. By reducing the amount worn, weakening the stimulated ability, the telepathic communication would naturally cease.
Yudora took off her Wind Dragon helmet, and Dilu removed her Wind Dragon armor. The telepathic link immediately disappeared. The two humans and one cat returned to the campfire.
"Will Nergal become our enemy?" Yudora asked.
"No."
"Why?"
"The odds of winning are too low, and we don't have enough reason to fight." Li Fan replied.
The Ancestral Dragon had indeed instructed them to maintain balance, and the plot involved a battle with Nergal. However, Li Fan didn't believe that was a reason to fight it. Apart from Huihui absorbing some high-purity energy and being noticed, there was no other conflict between them. He couldn't accept a scenario where Dragonborn hunters explored the convergence zone, signed a contract to investigate, and then fought to the death.
Most importantly, the Ancestral Dragon had explicitly stated that Nergal's appearance represented imbalance. This proved that the New World previously possessed the ability to maintain balance. Whether this ability referred to the entire ecosystem or specific monsters was unknown. However, one thing was certain: if Nergal were in danger, these balancing forces would not stand idly by, as Lavasioth had clearly demonstrated.
Compared to the Wind Dragon and Thunder Dragon, Nergal was at the opposite extreme. It was a chosen dragon, protected and sustained by the entire ecosystem.
"Indeed, compared to Nergal, I'd rather hunt Kushala Daora," Yudora agreed.
"Sigh, but speaking of which, now is actually the best time to deal with Nergal," Li Fan sighed.
"Because Huihui stole its energy, and it's angry, making it more prone to losing control?" Yudora asked curiously.
"No, because the current Nergal... to be precise, hasn't been born yet. If allowed to grow freely, in an environment like the Elder's Recess, it will inevitably become an unimaginably powerful monster, and hunting it will likely be impossible then." Li Fan informed her.
"It can communicate telepathically before it's even born, this monster is so sinister." Yudora also noticed something unusual.
"More than that, I think it's even more outrageous that it broadcasts messages every day before it's born, and refers to itself as 'this king'... You two should get some rest quickly. I don't think tomorrow will be peaceful." Li Fan suggested.
"Why won't it be peaceful, meow?" Dilu asked, confused.
"Nergal's messages are broadcasted. That question about who is draining this king's energy could also be received by monsters like Kushala Daora. Although they can't respond or communicate, if they can interpret enough key points from the message, they might come looking tomorrow." After explaining, Li Fan fastened his helmet and focused his mind on listening.
*Roar~*
Who is draining this king's energy?
*Roar!*
Who is draining this king's energy!
....
Although it was repeating the same sentence, Nergal's roars became sharper, and its emotions seemed to be growing increasingly agitated. Huihui, confined in the distance, let out a confused chirp.
"Don't worry about it, Huihui, keep absorbing." Li Fan responded.
Nergal's emergence was, for the current situation, completely irreversible. In that case, Li Fan had fewer scruples. If the other party really ended its metamorphosis early and came to attack him, he would just run. After all, if the sky fell, Kushala Daora and the others would be there to bear it.
*Roar~ Roar~ Roar...*
Nergal's broadcasted messages gradually became chaotic and disordered.
"We can't let it keep shouting like this, what if Huihui's location is exposed..." Li Fan's worst fear had come true. He calmed himself and transmitted a very friendly message telepathically.
"Good boy, stop making trouble."
*Roar! Roar! Roar!* ... Fierce responses echoed in his mind. Li Fan, his ears ringing incessantly, reluctantly took off his Thunder Dragon helmet.
"There's no communication at all." Returning to quiet, Li Fan found it troublesome and instinctively looked at the strap holding the Poké Balls. But he quickly realized that even Elder Dragons could only passively receive information, and other monsters couldn't even interject, let alone stop Nergal from spewing nonsense.
"Wait a minute, maybe it can!" Li Fan quickly ran to the light-blocking net, removed the Wind Dragon armor spread out to cover the blue light. Then he opened a Poké Ball and released Great Boar King Qingtian.
*Hmph~ Hmph~*
Qingtian affectionately nudged him with its side, nearly knocking Li Fan over. "Qingtian, it's not mealtime yet. I have a high-stakes match here, are you in?"
*Hmph...* Qingtian lowered its head, exhaling two wisps of helpless breath from its nostrils. It indicated that it couldn't defeat anyone here and had lost its fighting spirit.
"It's not about fighting, you just need to exchange insults with it."
*Hmph~ Hmph?* Qingtian looked around, indicating it didn't see anyone to exchange insults with. Li Fan didn't rush to explain. He picked up the Wind Dragon armor and put it on Qingtian.
Qingtian seemed to sense something. Its eyes widened, its gaze turned grim, and its left front hoof began to paw the ground. Seeing Qingtian get into character so quickly, Li Fan raised his Thunder Dragon helmet and lightly placed it on his head to listen.
*Roar! Roar! Roar!* ...
*Hmph! Hmph! Hmph!* ...
Nergal couldn't understand what Qingtian was grunting, and Qingtian couldn't understand the meaning of Nergal's roars. But they began to exchange insults telepathically. Confirming that Nergal's focus had completely shifted away from the energy absorption, Li Fan took off his helmet and leisurely prepared water and food for Qingtian.
The next day, Qingtian, its eyes bloodshot, lay on the ground, its constantly moving hooves indicating it was still fighting.
"My heavens... this..." Yudora had only worn her Wind Dragon helmet for a moment before immediately taking it off.
"It's too noisy, meow, I don't dare to fasten it." Dilu also quickly removed her Wind Dragon armor.
"What happened?" Yudora asked curiously.
"To guide Nergal to stop broadcasting valuable information, I had Qingtian engage in an in-depth exchange with it." Li Fan informed her.
"Their exchange... alright." Perhaps having seen too many absurd things, Yudora quickly accepted this explanation.
Li Fan went to check the pit. The monsters responsible for guarding were in good condition overall. However, Huihui, who was being protected, looked listless, its neck lowered, its head resting on the edge of the pit. This state had never occurred even when it had lived in caves for a long time.
"Roar~" Huihui let out a weak cry.
"Nergal's information transmission... it didn't stop all night, and the frequency is increasing." Li Fan said with some surprise. This direct mental torment must have been extremely unpleasant.
*Roar~*
"It's currently repeating a question about the location of a monster... So Nergal can only sense the abnormal flow of energy, but it can't pinpoint the location of its telepathic target." Li Fan deduced.
*Roar?* Huihui then inquired who the monster Nergal was urgently looking for was.
"It's a powerful companion, still fighting hard, but you can't hear its voice." Li Fan looked up and sighed. Huihui's eyes showed reverence, and it suddenly felt that Nergal's noisy interference was not so unbearable anymore. It then straightened its neck and increased the intensity of its energy absorption.
On Qingtian's side, after a night of extremely high-frequency telepathic exchange, it had even grasped the meaning of some simple information. The dialogue between the two gradually became meaningful. Li Fan sensed something was wrong and quickly stopped the exchange. Upon learning that the other party only knew the name Qingtian, Li Fan breathed a sigh of relief.
Perhaps Nergal was also tired. After Qingtian interrupted the exchange, the mass broadcasting also stopped. Facing a severely exhausted Qingtian, Dilu began to massage its belly. Li Fan praised, "You did very well."
*Hmph... Hmph...*
"You want to meet this opponent... perhaps not." Li Fan looked helpless.
*Hmph... Hmph?*
"Well... this guy you're talking about, who likes to bluff, can't exactly be called weak... but you're already the Great Boar King, there's no need to stoop to a child's level, right?" Faced with Qingtian's insistence, Li Fan reasoned.
*Hmph hmph...* Qingtian pondered for a long time, accepted this reasoning, and peacefully closed its eyes to sleep.
The team spent three peaceful days. Through research on the Crimson Dragon Energy Orbs, Li Fan confirmed that the crystallization wall was a symbol of successful Dragon Energy Orb condensation. The crystallization wall served two purposes: it could resist external attacks, and it could prevent the Dragon Orb's energy from overflowing uncontrollably.
.
Zhao Lala reminds you: Remember to collect after reading.