On this expedition, Logan brought along nearly ten powerful Fire Wyverns from the Ancient Tree Fire Wyvern clan, including the Flame Fire Wyvern couple.
As time went on, those elderly Tempered Fire Wyverns were no longer suited to march over long distances and then still fight at high intensity, so they stayed behind at the Ancient Tree together with Aki. As a result, all the Fire Wyverns Logan brought with him were in their prime, and among them was even a Rathalos that had only just challenged its way from the lower level of the Ancient Tree canopy into the middle layer, entered the Symbiosis energy pyramid, yet had not completely undergone its metamorphosis.
The reason he brought it along was not only that this guy's talent was truly exceptional—in its ordinary Fire Wyvern state, it had defeated Fire Wyverns from the Ancient Tree Fire Wyvern clan that could already be called a powerful subspecies—but even more because he wanted it to personally experience what counted as top-tier combat power within the Ancient Tree Fire Wyvern clan, so that it could better keep those ordinary Fire Wyverns on the lower level under control in the future.
Although those ordinary Fire Wyverns had submitted to the new rules of the Ancient Tree, compared to the veteran members of the Fire Wyvern clan, they were more willing to follow this "new member"—the Rathalos who had climbed from the bottom layer to the middle layer by relying on its own strength.
This was not beneficial to the Ancient Tree's development, especially now that Logan had broken through to become an Elder Dragon and the Ancient Tree Fire Wyvern clan had undergone yet another metamorphosis, causing its reproductive capacity to be limited. Therefore, by flexing their muscles in front of the "new member" and letting these power-worshiping Fire Wyverns understand the true gap, they could make them even more fanatical in their desire to become members of the Ancient Tree Fire Wyvern clan.
For Logan, of course, this was actually only a small matter; it was just something he could conveniently take care of while making use of this opportunity, so why not?
At this moment, Logan was at the front of the group, tearing through the air and generating a favorable tailwind current. What he did not know was that the Rathalos at the very back of the group was currently staring at him at the very front with a face full of fervor.
It was a fact that the ordinary Fire Wyverns on the lower level of the Ancient Tree did not accept the Ancient Tree Fire Wyvern clan in the middle and upper levels, but the one thing they had in common was their recognition of Logan as the king of Fire Wyverns and their fervent worship of him.
To ordinary Fire Wyverns, Logan was the "god" who had brought new life to the entire Ancient Tree region.
Or, it could be put this way: whether in terms of ecological changes or in terms of sheer strength, Logan was an existence jointly revered and ardently supported by all living things in the entire Ancient Tree region.
More abundant food resources and an environment more suitable for monsters to live in—these were all things Logan had brought.
It was precisely under this kind of fervor that these ordinary Fire Wyverns newly joined to the Ancient Tree would, even without cats there to buffer and mediate, and while still harboring hostility toward the Ancient Tree Fire Wyvern clan, obey the Ancient Tree's new rules.
...
At the edge of the marshlands in the Wildspire Waste, a thick iron chain and anchor were firmly pinned into a crack in the rock. At the end of the chain was a mobile research base flying in the air, like an oversized kite.
Hunters who had come to investigate, as well as scholars who went down below for field surveys, could call the Wingdrakes kept inside the research base to bring them back up onto the ship.
At this altitude, the research base only needed to watch out for Rathian and a very small number of other flying monsters, so its safety was far greater than that of a temporary camp.
[Bang, bang!]
A Qurio with its ferocious maw wide open was constantly ramming against a glass bottle that looked fragile but was in fact extremely sturdy, while the Third Fleet Master, holding a roll of parchment in her hand, carefully compared it with another sheet of parchment on the table.
"How strange. These Qurio seem to have evolved again. Not only has the toxicity of the special venom in their salivary glands increased even further, that special factor which can stir up a monster's violent temper has also become more active. This doesn't match this kind of creature's survival habits."
The Third Fleet Master had a constant sense of foreboding.
The increase in the toxicity inside the Qurio and in that special factor meant that the monsters they parasitized would die more quickly, which would in turn cause them to die faster as well. From an ecological standpoint, this kind of evolution in the Qurio was undoubtedly courting their own destruction.
Yet all organisms have a survival instinct, and the Qurio were no exception. Such an apparently irrational evolution definitely hid some kind of secret—and that secret might allow the Research Commission to uncover the reason behind the Qurio's proliferation, as well as the connection between the Qurio and Nergigante!
Down in the marsh, the hunter squad currently being led jointly by the Admiral and the Huntsman was also running into some trouble.
This season was Jyuratodus's breeding period. Not only were the large numbers of juvenile Jyuratodus causing no small amount of trouble for their hunt, but the number of these aberrant monsters was simply far beyond their initial expectations.
The feeling they got was that the entire swamp seemed to have turned into a breeding ground for venomous creatures. It was as if each and every monster had been confined within this swamp, and it was not, as the Research Commission had first imagined, that it was only their constant suppression that had forced the monsters to remain in this area.
Because they had gone in too deep and had been fighting continuously, everyone except the monstrously durable Admiral felt exhausted—including the Huntsman.
At this moment, as he looked at the Admiral standing on a reef, casually lifting a long spear in one hand while holding a spyglass in the other as he vigilantly scanned the surroundings, the Huntsman tightened his grip on Blazing Wings and once again made the decision he had been contemplating for several years.
He was strong, yes—but in terms of physical constitution, he truly could not compare to someone like the Admiral, a humanoid Rajang. Perhaps he should accept his age as well. This greatsword that had accompanied him for many years, and had even been reinforced multiple times with Sunblaze Dragon scales, had likely reached the point where it should be allowed to rest.
The problem was that the Commander's grandson—his disciple, Noah—did not yet have the strength to inherit this greatsword.
Although he was also a talented young man, he was, after all, the Commander's descendant. His talent was still far from monstrous, and it was unknown whether he would ever have the opportunity to inherit this powerful weapon in the future.
Perhaps they could pin their hopes on the future Fifth Fleet members, who would serve as reinforcements for combat personnel and be composed entirely of elite hunters?
Just as the Huntsman was thinking, the Admiral's voice came through.
"I found it—an aberrant Lagiacrus! Damn it, even monsters at this level can't escape being parasitized by Qurio?"
At the distant sea inlet, an aberrant Lagiacrus with crimson jointed scales, surrounded by Qurio, its eyes blood-red, was swimming toward the Admiral and the others.
The four-man squad immediately assumed a defensive formation. On this outing, they had already used up all their consumables. They had originally been resting here, waiting for the other squad's supply delivery—yet a monster had shown up anyway.
And as the Lagiacrus approached, they realized there was not just one.
There were three in total!
This meant that the Admiral and the Huntsman would each need to take one, while the remaining one would have to be handled by the other two members.
This was Lagiacrus—an existence whose ecological niche was not inferior to Rathalos!
Not to mention that it had been strengthened by aberration. Even as elites, fighting two-against-one in their current state—exhausted and with all traps and medicines used up—was extremely dangerous!!
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