Monster Hunt: Notes From a Hunter

 Chapter 1031 Another possibility

A little blood splashed on the rocky ground, and some guide insects stopped on it, making it very conspicuous, while more continued to guide them forward.

Gordon half-crouched down, dipped his finger into some blood and twisted it.

"Judging from the traces, the blood also fell from a very high place. The guy flew all the way and never touched the ground."

“With such a big body, badly damaged wings, and in a state of fatigue, it can still fly so far?” Gale frowned and muttered.

They followed the guidance of the guide insect for half a day and ran for about twenty or thirty kilometers, but still failed to catch up with the injured Explosive Scale Dragon.

 The most troublesome thing is that the guy flew almost all the way and never landed on the ground.

Hayata and the others had severely injured the Explosive Scale Dragon in the previous battle, and there would be blood and tissues such as carapace fragments falling from its wounds from time to time, becoming a road sign.

Even guide insects with a keen sense of smell may be lost.

"The sun is about to set, and it sets earlier in the north." Hayata adjusted the sling of his weapon and asked, "Are we tracking overnight, or what should we say?"

Pork Chop’s head drooped again, and he was still struggling with the failure of the flash bomb before.

If the Explosive Scale Dragon had been successfully dodged at that time, the hunting would have been over long ago, and everyone would have been enjoying the celebration banquet with the Strange Face Tribe.

 “Pah!” Gordon slapped Pork Chop on the back of the head, “How long are you going to struggle with this? It’s such a big deal.”

“Meow—” Zhupa held his head, and the slap knocked his cat-armored helmet off its side.

"If you don't chase all night long, it would be too physically demanding. Let's find a place to camp before the sun goes down." After Gordon answered Hayata's question, he knocked Pork Chop's head again, "If you want to feel bad about it, you will be the one tonight. Stay for the rest of the night."

 “Good meow!” Gordon’s arrangement made Pig Chop feel better.

 The group of people followed for a long time until the sun set in the west.

During this period, they caught up with their prey twice, but the Explosive Scale Dragon was very vigilant and chose unobstructed open areas to rest, and flew away again before they could get close.

 The flight route also had no relatively obvious direction. Sometimes it was heading west, sometimes it was heading east, it was very confusing.

 This caused some doubts in Gordon's mind.

 After being injured, large monsters often have the habit of returning home to recuperate. No matter how bad the situation is, they will move within their own territory. This way, when encountering other large monsters, the probability of being picked off is smaller.

 Is its territory so large?

Gordon doesn't think so. If it were a hunting ground of the same level as East Shuretson Hill, the Explosive Scale Dragon might indeed occupy a territory of thousands of square kilometers.

  But this is in the north where the ancient dragons are most concentrated in the entire New World.

There are more than one or two monsters that are far more powerful than the Exploding Scale Dragon. You fly around so arrogantly and habitually throw a few Exploding Scales from time to time. Are you really not afraid of learning a lesson?

With such doubts in mind, Gordon ordered to temporarily suspend the pursuit and instead look for a suitable campsite nearby.

The terrain in the northern part of the New World is particularly complex, with single-peaked rift valleys and large-scale caves everywhere. This is not conducive to searching, but if you just want to find a suitable place to hide temporarily, it will be too easy.

Gordon and the others randomly found a small closed cave and got into it. Although it was a little crowded with four people, three cats and one dog, this kind of campsite was the safest.

In order to recover their physical strength as much as possible, the hunters did not bother to find food, and they did not even light a campfire. After all, the area was so desolate that they could not find any plants that could be used as fuel.

 Fortunately, it is summer now, even in the north of the mainland, it is not too cold, and the cave is well sealed and airtight, so this night will not be too difficult. After simply filling his stomach with food, Gordon expressed his doubts, "With the Explosive Scale Dragon flying around like this, is it really not afraid of angering some ancient dragons?"

  “I don’t know, I’m also thinking about similar issues.”

　　Anhil had been relatively silent along the way today, and now it was almost the first time he spoke, "I heard from Master Yuan that various high-risk large monsters are not uncommon in the northern part of the continent.

 But we didn’t seem to find any traces of large monster activities along the way, it’s like..."

 “It’s like they are all hiding.” Gale continued what Ancil said.

There was silence in the small cave for a moment, and Hayata suddenly spoke, breaking the calm, "Actually, I'm wondering, will our thinking lead the Strange Face Tribe astray?"

 “What do you say?” Gordon looked at her, and the others also cast their gazes over.

Hayata organized some words and continued: "You see, the Strange Face Tribe believes that the Explosive Scale Dragon hunted the Rock Thief Dragon, so the Rock Thief Dragon hid in the cave deep underground.

Now that they have lured the Rock Thief Dragon back, the Explosive Scale Dragon appears again and attacks the Rock Thief Dragon. Is this logic correct? "

"Um."

Anhil nodded and added: "Master Wilderness also put forward a hypothesis about this. Explosive Scale Dragon, Rock Thief Dragon, and even Explosive Hammer Dragon, these monsters have the ability to secrete explosive substances.

At the same time, the latter two have the habit of eating ores, so is it possible that the Explosive Scale Dragon also eats that kind of crystal to generate Explosive Scales?

If this is the case, the behavior of the Explosive Scale Dragon in attacking the Rock Thief Dragon is easily explained - to eliminate competitors. "

“Well, logically there is no problem with this series of speculations, but what if the Strangeface Tribe was wrong from the beginning? What if the target of the Explosive Scale Dragon was not the Rock Thief Dragon?”

 “Isn’t the target the Rock Thief Dragon?” Anhil was startled.

Gordon reacted first, "If the target is not the Rock Thief Dragon, it cannot be the Strange Face Clan. Do you mean the lair? What the Explosive Scale Dragon really wants is the lair?"

With a new clue, Gordon began to analyze along this line, "Originally, the Rock Thief Dragon and the Strange Face Tribe shared the cave until the Exploding Scale Dragon attacked.

 The Explosive Scale Dragon killed a Rock Thief Dragon, but with the efforts of the Strange Face Tribe and the Rock Thief Dragon, they struggled to repel the Explosive Scale Dragon.

 After recovering from his injuries, the Explosive Scale Dragon attacked again and tried to steal the cave again, but this time we were repulsed

In this case, it can explain why the Explosive Scale Dragon wanders around but never returns to its lair, because this Explosive Scale Dragon does not have a lair at all. "

"Although the cave of the Strange Face Clan is indeed suitable for flying dragons to build a nest, but a monster as powerful as the Explosive Scale Dragon doesn't even have a nest of its own?" Gale asked in disbelief.

Anhil pondered for a moment and then said: "If it were somewhere else, it would be unbelievable, but in the northern part of the New World, it seems really possible.

 And have you discovered it? The Exploding Scale Dragon flew east, west, and south, but it never dared to go deep into the north. Maybe its lair was originally in the north, but was driven out by something recently? "

“Going north will be closer to the core area. There is more than one ancient dragon living there. It is normal that it does not want to go north, but it is indeed possible that some monster will steal its nest in the near future.

 Otherwise, an adult Explosive Scale Dragon would not be unable to find a nesting site. "

Gordon crossed his arms and thought for a while, then continued: "If the possibility raised by Hayata is true, then our next actions must be more cautious.

 An injured Explosive Scale Dragon cannot pose a threat to us, but it is hard to say what kind of unknown monster can steal the Explosive Scale Dragon's lair and drive it away from its original territory. "

 (End of this chapter)