Upon boarding the airship, the excited Feirei toured it once before moving a small wooden crate and placing it in front of the helm.
"A medium-sized combat airship, it's simply perfect, meow," Feirei said, placing a paw on the helm, full of spirit.
"The base supplies recommended by the skyport have all been purchased and loaded into the cargo hold. Can we set sail now?" Li Fan asked.
"Yes, meow, but I'll need two crew members to help. One needs to untie the two ropes from the mooring posts on the deck, and the other needs to ring the bell at the bow to alert nearby airships," Feirei replied.
"Hmm... Dilu, you go ring the bell, and I'll untie the ropes."
After Li Fan gave the orders, he and the cat began to act.
Looking at the ropes on the mooring posts of the skybridge, Li Fan found the connecting links to which they were tied and untied the knots.
"Dilu, meow, the warning sound for departure and setting sail is three rings as a group, until we've left the port," Feirei informed, peering with his paws.
"Got it, Feirei, meow!"
Dilu, standing by the brass bell, shouted back, took a deep breath, gripped the thick hemp rope tightly, and began to pull with all her might.
*Ding! Ding! Ding!*
As the bell at the bow rang continuously, the Yanhuo slowly ascended.
Li Fan took out a map, pointed out the location of Kara Village to Feirei, and their journey began.
Five days later, the Yanhuo arrived at Kara Village and slowly descended above the pasture in front of the research institute.
A bear, with an arm reaching into a beehive, saw this, withdrew his paw, licked the honey on it, and then sprinted on all fours.
*Crash!* The wooden fence was immediately shattered.
He ran to the wooden pole where the warning bell was hung and was about to pull the rope to ring it when a familiar voice called out from the airship.
"Xiongda! It's us, we're back! Not an invasion! Stop the alarm!" Li Fan shouted, waving his hands.
After the Yanhuo landed, the four mooring ropes were tied to the roof of the warehouse for anchoring.
Tai Mei, leading seven brightly furred small round birds in a line, rushed over.
Noticing that the remaining monsters were in good condition, the team gave them some special food brought back from Yanhuo Village and entered the three-story building of the research institute.
Aside from the rather boring experience of riding it, the long-distance flight was perfect.
The airship didn't need to stop for rest, meals could be cooked on board, combat techniques could be practiced, and various research could be conducted with peace of mind.
Most importantly, even after five days of travel, the team felt no fatigue.
"We should add a small skyport dock to the roof on the third floor, so we can board the Wyvern from inside the building and fly to the Yanhuo," Li Fan thought while cleaning the third-floor research lab, formulating an expansion plan.
"We can also move the Yunyun wood piles up. Then, if we buy a few training weapons, we can set up a small training ground on the deck," Yudora suggested.
"Good idea. Then you'll be in charge of the expansion plan, and I'll research Wyvern cultivation."
Wyverns were indeed very adaptable, but there were no Magma Grass, which Wyverns liked, or various insects for feeding around Kara Village.
Although Li Fan had bought some feed for reserves when he left Yanhuo Village, he still wanted to research a cultivation system adapted to the local environment.
Half a month passed quickly.
The small skyport dock on the roof of the research institute was completed.
Local cultivation hadn't progressed much, so Li Fan shifted his focus to researching the cultivation of Magma Grass.
For this purpose, he also purchased two pieces of equipment, the Beetle Armor and the Swallowtail Helm, to stimulate affinity with plants.
The skill stimulated by these, Botany, existed as gathering equipment in the game, but here it might be more fittingly called research equipment.
In the early morning, Li Fan went to the farm and saw rows of Magma Grass seedlings breaking through the soil, which brought him immense satisfaction.
Perhaps it was due to the influence of the Beetle and Swallowtail equipment, but Li Fan now felt a strong sense of fulfillment when he saw plants growing.
This row is for planting Monster Seeds, this row is for planting sweet potatoes...
After some planning, Li Fan decided to go to the village to buy some seeds.
Upon reaching the main road of the village, the hunter teams were gathered at the entrance of the Guild branch as usual.
The difference was that the teams weren't rushing to accept quests but were engaged in a discussion about a notice that occupied a quarter of the notice board.
"Where is this Ruin Mountain Range? Has anyone been there?"
"It seems to be the ruins of a fallen kingdom. Many ancient documents have been unearthed there."
"Is the Zinogre a terrifying white monster that hangs from the cave ceiling and can extend its neck?"
"That has been renamed the Odd-Eyes Dragon. This Zinogre is a flying dragon that can soar high in the sky and release lightning."
...
Listening to the hunters' chatter, Li Fan squeezed to the front and looked at the notice board.
This was a five-star hunting recruitment notice jointly issued by the Hunter's Guild and the Dragon Lore Institute.
The objective was to drive away a specific Elder Dragon that had been lingering over the Ruin Mountain Range for a long time.
The reason given was that this Elder Dragon frequently attacked the Dragon Lore Institute's giant airships.
Li Fan immediately began to ponder.
The Dragon Lore Institute had already tracked down the Ruin Mountain Range, so it shouldn't take too long to discover the Sky-Piercing Tower, where Huihui's lair was.
Of course, the actual situation was still uncertain.
Li Fan knew the general plot direction in advance, but after witnessing too many differences between games and reality, his belief in the plot was gradually diminishing.
The main reason was that he felt even if the Dragon Lore Institute and the Hunter's Guild joined forces and assembled a fleet of giant airships, they would still not be a match for the Valstrax in the sky.
"A reward of 170,000z! All materials belong to the team! Direct promotion to Senior Hunter of the Dragon Lore Institute!" Yudora exclaimed in shock while eating breakfast, after hearing the reward Li Fan mentioned.
"The conditions are very generous, but according to the description, this Elder Dragon only makes surprise attacks and doesn't fight to the death. Not many teams can handle it," Li Fan said, bringing his mixed vegetable salad to the table and sitting down.
"By the way, why can't the Dragon Lore Institute handle it themselves?" Yudora asked curiously.
"Perhaps the surge in monster migrations has led to a shortage of personnel?" Li Fan speculated.
The Dalamadur that was hunted and killed had migrated because of the scorching shells falling into the Ancient Forest, making them mistake it for the approach of an Elder Dragon.
Although Kara Village was safe, the crises caused by the scorching shells in other areas had never ceased.
This situation had even led to a small outflow of resident hunters from Kara Village, making Chief Bazel sigh all day long.
"I really want to participate... Should we give it a try?" Yudora tentatively asked.
"Aerial hunting is very advanced. Our Yanhuo, forming a formation, might have a chance," Li Fan explained.
"Can Little Dummy and Kuku do it?"
"Little Dummy might be able to hold its own in a prolonged fight, but Kuku, even if it could fly to that altitude, would be useless." Li Fan analyzed.
"Oh? So you've been planning this for a while?" Yudora sensed that Li Fan had already thought about it.
"Yes, but the execution is a bit difficult," Li Fan sighed.
"How do we do it?" Yudora asked with eager eyes.
"First, we need to capture a Rathalos."
"This..."
"Rathalos are widely distributed, so it's possible to capture a high-quality individual. Its aerial combat ability would at least be on par with the Elder Dragon's. Most importantly, it can stay on the ground for a considerable time. The problem is that capturing it is extremely difficult. Little Dummy is unwilling to participate in combat, and Zhanzhan is willing to fight a Rathalos, but the problem is that even if we win in ground combat, if the Rathalos takes to the sky, all our efforts will be in vain." Li Fan explained the difficulties.
Even if Little Dummy didn't care about its own kind, it would still be difficult to compete with a Rathalos in the sky.
"Then there's no solution..." Yudora sighed.
Rathalos were known as the kings of the sky, with exceptionally powerful flight capabilities.
Even the strongest hunter teams would at most dare to guarantee repelling them.
Quests were usually aimed at repelling them.
Killing or capturing them was considered a rare occurrence.
"I actually have a rather unconventional method, but since I've never tried it before, I feel it's a bit unreliable."
"Oh! Tell me about it!" Yudora's spirits immediately lifted.
"Uh... Dilu, why are you so close?"
"I want to hear the unconventional method too, meow." Dilu replied.
"How old are you?" Li Fan asked cautiously.
"Four and a half years old, meow!"
"You're too young to listen at this age. Go bring Feirei his food."
"Alright, meow..." Dilu reluctantly picked up the food box and walked up the stairs.
Feirei didn't like living on the ground, so even after arriving at the research center, he chose to stay on the Yanhuo to look after the airship.
"So mysterious? What exactly is this unconventional method?" Yudora became even more curious.
"A honey trap."
"What? Are you serious?" Yudora was incredulous.
"It sounds absurd, right? I also feel it's absurd, but according to the ecological data on Rathalos, Little Dummy is currently in the prime age for forming a family. And because it's a high-quality individual, what appears as a majestic creature to you is definitely a beautiful female to a Rathalos," Li Fan explained.
"Uh... why only in my eyes? Shouldn't Little Dummy look the same in your eyes?"
"Don't focus on the details. I want to hear your suggestions."
"We should still seek Little Dummy's consent. In the past, when the team traveled far, Rathalos did follow us, but Little Dummy didn't seem very interested," Yudora stated her concerns.
"It's similar to what I thought. I'm planning to communicate with it, but I feel that two people cooperating would make this easier," Li Fan said.
"Alright, but don't expect me to be of much help with something like this."
"You can follow my lead. Anyway, time isn't pressing, we can rehearse," Li Fan replied.
At noon, deep in the woods, under the shadow cast by a hill, Little Dummy was lying on the ground, enjoying its leisure time.
*Roar?*
Seeing Li Fan and Yudora approaching with chunks of beast meat, Little Dummy looked up.
"Don't mind us, just keep lying down," Li Fan said, placing the chunk of beast meat from his shoulder on the ground.
Li Fan and Yudora sat side-by-side on a large stone and began flipping through a picture book. Suddenly, a gasp escaped Yudora's lips.
"Wow! The little Rathalos you drew is so cute."
Yudora wasn't entirely acting.
The two little Rathalos in the drawing, one male and one female, had cracked eggshells on their heads.
Due to the cartoonish style, it gave a warm and cute impression.
"It's alright. This is how I imagined Little Dummy looked when it was just born," Li Fan recalled.
Little Dummy, hearing its name, got up.
*Thump... thump...*
With slow steps, Little Dummy approached them from behind.
Seeing this, Li Fan and Yudora quickly moved to the sides, making space.
Little Dummy's head smoothly entered between them.
"Cute...?" Yudora picked up the picture book and waved it in front of Little Dummy.
*Roar...*
Little Dummy stared at the cartoon for a moment, then nodded as if understanding.
"Wow! This Rathalos looks so majestic!"
Just as Little Dummy was about to shift its attention, Yudora exclaimed again.
This drawing was more realistic, depicting a Rathalos spreading its wings and soaring among the clouds. Li Fan had drawn its size according to the excellent individuals in the game, giving it a smooth, natural, and extremely powerful aesthetic.
"You're not a Rathalos, so your evaluation isn't authoritative."
"Hmph, then it's fine if I show it to Little Dummy."
"Then turn around and hold up the picture book again," Yudora said, turning and raising the picture book.
*Roar... Roar!*
Little Dummy looked for a moment and let out a surprised sound.
Yudora and Li Fan exchanged glances, then slowly moved the picture book. Little Dummy's head involuntarily followed the picture book.
*Snap!* The picture book was closed.
Little Dummy shook its head, unsure of what had just happened.
"The beast meat has been delivered. Remember to eat it soon. We should be going back."
*Roar...*
After Li Fan finished speaking, Little Dummy let out a somewhat disappointed cry.
Back in the third-floor research lab, Li Fan analyzed Little Dummy's reaction today in detail.
It was confirmed that Little Dummy liked Rathalos and was willing to form a family, but it was only interested in high-quality individuals.
"Uh... monsters' mating standards are really straightforward and simple," Li Fan mused.
"What do we do next?" Yudora asked, still flipping through the picture book.
"We'll go to the Guild and find a true king of the sky," Li Fan said, standing up.
"Kara Village Guild welcomes you... Li Fan! You saw me yesterday when I greeted you, why didn't you respond!" Shirin said, hands on her hips.
"Did I?"
"Yes! You were wearing the Swallowtail Helm, a blue scarf, and the Beetle Armor..."
"You can recognize me even with that?"
"Of course," Shirin said proudly.
"Alright, that research equipment's appearance is a bit too ostentatious. I completely didn't want to interact with acquaintances," Li Fan explained.
In the game, Li Fan felt no discomfort wearing various bizarre equipment with a female character.
But in reality, it was somewhat uncomfortable, especially when facing acquaintances.
"Hmm, I understand. I also have a piece of armor that's so ugly I don't want to wear it. What quest do you want to take today?" Shirin said, moving a large booklet of four-star general quests onto the counter.
"We're not here to take quests today. We want to inquire about sightings of Rathalos in various locations." Li Fan informed her.
"Rathalos... Why are you suddenly interested in this... I know! It must be because your team bought an airship and you're worried about encountering one in the sky during your travels, right!" Shirin guessed.
"Uh... yes!"
'What a perfect reason, why didn't I think of that?' Li Fan thought to himself.
Shirin crouched down and rummaged through the counter archives, finally pulling out a small booklet.
"Found it! The Guild's Airspace Guide!" Shirin said, wiping the dust off it.
"Does this still have an expiration date?" Li Fan asked tentatively.
"This Airspace Guide was actually published three months ago, but since Kara Village doesn't have an airport at all, I've been using it as a counter pad," Shirin explained.