"Emotions beyond procreation... that's love! This is a good thing."
Li Fan analyzed.
"Why? Wan Pi ran away."
Eudora was confused.
"Love makes people strive and become stronger. I believe Fire Dragons are the same. If this fleeting glance truly moved Wan Pi, I believe it will find its way back sooner or later."
"Really?"
"Of course. Monsters' thinking has similarities to humans, but also differences. The most significant difference is in controlling impulsive emotions. Humans can secretly like or hate someone, even act subserviently while harboring malice, or smile while wielding a hidden knife. Monsters lack this self-control. Therefore, their behavioral output is generally limited to three most direct manifestations: approach, attack, and escape. Although Wan Pi escaped this time, it wasn't an escape driven by fear of an enemy, but a manifestation of self-control stemming from affection. As a monster, this is an absolute weakness."
Li Fan explained.
"So, as long as Wan Pi truly fell in love, it will eventually return because it can't suppress the impulse of longing?"
Eudora attempted to understand.
"Yes, but the timing is truly difficult to control. We can't just wait here indefinitely for Wan Pi to come back."
Li Fan said with some difficulty.
As a medium-sized airship, the Yan Huo Hao could sustain itself for a month with a full load of supplies. However, prolonged hovering at high altitudes made it vulnerable to attacks. In terms of aerial combat, only Kuku and Little Dummy could participate. Moreover, any monster capable of flying above the clouds would have a star rating of at least four stars.
"If only there was something that could stimulate Wan Pi's longing for Little Dummy."
Eudora mused.
"Stimulate... I have a plan, but it requires Little Dummy's cooperation."
Li Fan said thoughtfully.
Late at night, under a starry sky.
To maintain stealth, the Yan Huo Hao reduced its altitude and flew slowly along the sea of clouds. After clearing the airship's deck, Li Fan released Little Dummy, fed it a few chunks of beast meat, and then placed a large wooden basin in front of it.
"Add more raw venom."
Li Fan instructed, pointing to the basin, and then retreated to the side.
Little Dummy wagged its tail, allowing the tail spikes to touch the bottom of the basin.
Gurgle! Gurgle!
Deep purple venom, bubbling slightly, quickly filled the basin.
"The venom seems a bit dry. Are you feeling a bit under the weather lately, Little Dummy?"
Li Fan asked from a distance.
Roar? Roar!
Little Dummy growled in denial.
"If Wan Pi doesn't work out, I won't force it, but you at least need to have a standard, right?"
Li Fan said helplessly.
Little Dummy twisted its neck and looked at Li Fan.
"Uh... no way, don't scare me."
Li Fan instinctively took two steps back.
Little Dummy's tail swung gently up and down, and a few drops of venom were flung from the tip of its spikes.
"So you're reminding me that the venom injection is complete..."
Li Fan wiped the sweat from his forehead and walked to the large wooden basin. The venom filled about one-fifth of its volume. It felt like not a lot, but it was definitely hazardous material.
Little Dummy tilted its head towards the moon and let out a soft whimper.
"You like brave and fierce Fire Dragons, no flying dragon can match them, a true king of the sky... By that standard, Wan Pi is a bit lacking, but it's young. I feel it has great potential."
Li Fan replied, stirring the venom with a wooden stick.
Roar...
Little Dummy seemed lost in thought, its eyes filled with confusion.
"That's about it. Remember to defecate into the basin later, as precisely as possible."
Li Fan said, pushing the basin towards Little Dummy.
Roar?
The next morning, the airship descended to the summit of a mountain in the Forest Hill. Li Fan and Eudora, their mouths and noses covered with scarves, jointly lifted the large wooden basin and carried it off the airship.
Eudora returned to the airship, removed her scarf, and took a deep breath. "I've smelled many scents in the wild, but this is the first time after smelling something that I felt like I was going to be poisoned."
"Why is this basin of poop purple, meow?"
Dill was very curious.
"What! This is poop!"
Eudora couldn't believe it.
"More precisely, it's female Fire Dragon feces mixed with raw venom and enhancers."
Li Fan explained.
"With such a strong smell, it will attract many male Fire Dragons... Is this your plan?"
Eudora seemed to have guessed Li Fan's intention.
"There's no other way. To stimulate Wan Pi's emotional impulse, this is the only way. And it might even attract stronger Fire Dragons."
"Alright."
Eudora found the plan a bit astonishing, but it was indeed a good short-term method to attract male Fire Dragons.
The team put on their gear, packed their supplies, and arrived at the platform on the mountain peak.
"Gogomoa, set up twilight barriers around the area to keep the hunter team away... Don't sniff it, that basin of excrement is indeed poisonous."
Seeing Gogomoa's nostrils twitching, clearly interested in the contents of the basin, Li Fan decided to be direct.
Roar?
"This isn't a combination of poisonous mushrooms and poop. Don't touch it with your hands..."
Li Fan was about to stop it, but then he remembered that Gogomoa could withstand poisonous mushrooms, and it didn't seem to mind the poop. He suddenly realized that letting it take some and spread it around might have a better attracting effect.
"Take it, it's fine to take more."
Roar!
Gogomoa roared happily, grabbed the poop, and kneaded it. Several quickly formed purple mud balls were then held by the curled tip of its tail.
"Right! Don't throw it at the male Fire Dragon's head!"
Li Fan shouted towards Gogomoa's retreating back as it flew down the mountain.
A moment later, Ye Ye was released.
Coo!
Ye Ye's eyes widened, and it raised one wing, covering its beak as if it were a cape.
"The smell is a bit strong, so I wanted to ask for your help in dispersing it."
Coo?
"In terms of wing flapping speed, Ye Ye, you're the fastest."
Li Fan explained.
Coo!
Ye Ye chirped proudly and hopped to the side of the large wooden basin.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
With rapid wing beats, a light purple dust was blown away by the airflow, drifting into the distance.
"Rest if you're tired. You can take turns."
Li Fan reminded, then released Zhan Zhan.
Upon seeing the large wooden basin, Zhan Zhan raised its paw to stomp on it, but Li Fan stopped it in time.
"There might be some male Fire Dragons approaching later. If they dare to land on the platform and confront you, you can try to spar, but try to keep it to a minimum."
Roar?
"Cutting them in half isn't considered a minimum. We're looking for a husband for Little Dummy right now. You just need to show your fierce side. Besides, you wouldn't want to be attacked by a flying monster in the future and watch it fly away, would you?"
Li Fan explained.
Roar!
Zhan Zhan roared affirmatively.
"Then let's warm up quickly and get into the mood. Once Gogomoa is done setting up, we can begin."
After giving instructions, Li Fan went into a small cave at the very top of the mountain, put on camouflage netting, and lay at the entrance, looking out with binoculars.
"Any new discoveries?"
Li Fan inquired.
"A male Fire Dragon was circling nearby earlier, but it was intercepted by a female Fire Dragon and crashed to the ground. Then there was a roar of Fire Dragons."
Eudora, who was observing beside him, reported.
"There's such a thing. This male Fire Dragon is too inconsiderate."
"Exactly."
"You should do such things secretly. How can you fly over so openly and circle above?"
"You..."
Eudora was speechless.
The area around the mountain peak wasn't very large, and Gogomoa finished setting up the barriers in about two hours, filling the surroundings with a foul odor.
The blue mushrooms tossed into the air landed in Gogomoa's hippopotamus-like mouth.
Crunch! Crunch!
After chewing a couple of times, it found that the taste and texture were far from the blue mushrooms in the ancient forest. Disgusted, Gogomoa spat the mushrooms onto the grass.
Rustle! A rustling of leaves!
Several blue velociraptors darted out, craned their necks to look around, and then sped away.
Gogomoa remembered it had two poisonous mud balls left. It wagged its tail, placed a mud ball in its palm, and mimicked the action of the team throwing items.
Plop!
A poisonous mud ball hit a blue velociraptor's blade-like crest, shattering and exploding. Although these weren't intended as throwing items, and the diluted venom in the feces would only cause mild poisoning, the insult was immense.
Roar! Roar!
Gogomoa lay on its side, slapping its belly and roaring with delight.
A blue velociraptor, covered in purple juice, turned its neck and cast a sinister glance at Gogomoa before continuing its rapid sprint.
Rustle! Thump! Thump!
More sounds came from the jungle, along with the sound of heavy footsteps. Gogomoa curiously looked over. A moment later, a large, blade-like silver crest emerged from the dense foliage. Gogomoa scratched its head. This crest was similar to that of the blue velociraptor, but completely different in size and color. After a moment of thought, Gogomoa threw the last poisonous mud ball.
Plop! As it exploded!
Gogomoa clutched its stomach and burst into laughter.
Rustle! As the figure hidden by the leaves moved forward and became visible, the rough laughter abruptly stopped. It was a flying dragon, entirely golden in color, with scales growing in reverse, and a bipedal, winged form.
At the mountain peak, Li Fan saw that the twilight barriers were almost set up below. He began to implement the plan. The male Fire Dragons attracted by the smell and gathered nearby initially numbered three, but Wan Pi was not among them. Seeing a fierce-looking Nargacuga on the platform at the mountain peak, the male Fire Dragons naturally made no move. Although they all disliked each other, there was generally no fatal combat between Nargacuga and male Fire Dragons. This was because both sides knew that unless the male Fire Dragon landed to engage the Nargacuga head-on, their battles would be inconclusive. Nargacuga did not steal eggs, nor did it prey on young Fire Dragons, so at most, they would just exchange roars.
"Little Dummy, go to the corner and crawl. Whimper pitifully."
Roar?
Little Dummy had never heard such a strange order from Li Fan, but it complied.
Roar~~
Little Dummy tilted its head and tried to roar.
"Not good enough. It's not desolate or tragic enough. You need to convey that you're being threatened by Zhan Zhan and are utterly helpless."
Cough cough~~ Roar! Roar!
"Too fierce. The feeling you're conveying is that I can handle it myself and don't need you to bother."
Li Fan corrected.
Little Dummy lowered its head in thought and continued to search for the right feeling. To help it find the right state faster, Li Fan arranged for Zhan Zhan to roar back at Little Dummy.
Soon, three male Fire Dragons flew into the area around the mountain peak. A blazing fireball descended, and Zhan Zhan turned and shattered it mid-air with a tail swipe. The second fireball followed closely. Zhan Zhan lowered its body, coiled, then lunged forward and swallowed the fireball into its mouth. A male Fire Dragon attempted to descend, but was quickly driven back by a tail blade strike.
"As expected, no male Fire Dragon is willing to fight Nargacuga on the ground."
Eudora observed with emotion.
"The quality of these male Fire Dragons is poor. The highest flying one has aged, white scales. I wonder what it's doing here."
Li Fan couldn't help but speculate that this might be the male Fire Dragon codenamed "Greedy Snake" from the aerial guide.
"Gogomoa is back, meow!"
Dill reminded.
"So soon? The plan has just begun."
Li Fan said in surprise.
"Gogomoa seems to be injured, meow!"
Dill said, jumping down from the cave. Li Fan stood up and looked. Gogomoa was indeed holding its arm joint, and blood was flowing uncontrollably.
"What happened!?"
Li Fan also jumped down and rushed over. Gogomoa sat on the ground, panting heavily. Li Fan gently pushed aside Gogomoa's hand covering the wound, intending to bandage and treat it, but then he saw a horrifying sight. On the pink fur, the cracked wound spread out in a spiderweb pattern. If he tried to suture one part, other cracks would widen due to the strain, causing more bleeding.
Roar...
The pained Gogomoa raised its paw and combed back the pink fur on its other wrist, as if trying to convey something. Seeing the reversed fur, Li Fan suppressed Gogomoa's hand.
"Gogomoa, try to move as little as possible. I know who that monster is."
The cracked wound caused by the reversed scales, bleeding profusely, could only be from a Qilin Long. Li Fan hadn't expected a Qilin Long to appear at this time.
"Gogomoa is touching its head, meow."
Dill reminded.
"The head? That's the location of the Qilin Long's broken blade-like horn... No need to remind me, Gogomoa. Conserve your energy. I'll put you into the healing sphere. This kind of laceration will heal slowly if the body remains still. Your injury is so severe because your movement while escaping caused widespread tearing of the wound."
Li Fan hadn't encountered a Qilin Long here before, but he had learned relevant first-aid knowledge during his training with the guild support team. A monster's state within an Eevee Ball was undoubtedly the most suitable for resting and healing.
Roar oh!
Gogomoa let out a frustrated roar.
"What! You're saying you threw the mud balls you made onto the broken blade-like horn?"
"Uh... is it very serious, meow?"
Dill asked, confused.
"Extremely serious. Qilin Longs not only fight for territory with their own kind, but weaker individuals are even exiled to fend for themselves. Therefore, almost every adult individual you encounter is extremely warlike and skilled in combat."
Li Fan's expression was grim. But then he thought of an even more difficult problem. The poisonous mud balls were made with Little Dummy's venom mixed with feces. If Gogomoa couldn't be found, the Qilin Long's target would likely shift to Little Dummy.