As Andrew walked toward the completely dead Paolumu below and began to carve the materials.
Hoshimi Miyabi subconsciously turned her head to look at Tsukishiro Yanagi beside her.
Being stared at, Tsukishiro Yanagi immediately realized what was going through Hoshimi Miyabi's currently stalled brain.
Rather than saying she understood, it was more that upon seeing this scene, Tsukishiro Yanagi was just as blank as Hoshimi Miyabi—perhaps even more so.
It was just that she had pulled her thoughts back together much faster.
Looking at Hoshimi Miyabi, whose brain had entered a state of complete crash, Tsukishiro Yanagi secretly berated herself for her failure as an Intelligence Officer to have preconceived notions. She then took a deep breath.
Regarding her dereliction of duty in intelligence work, she would voluntarily submit a corresponding reflection report after returning. But no matter what, the most urgent thing now was to pull Hoshimi Miyabi's thoughts back from their crashed state.
And a mission objective was the best method to restore Hoshimi Miyabi's condition right now.
Thus, without offering any explanation regarding the intelligence failure, Tsukishiro Yanagi spoke decisively:
"The initial combat phase will still focus on subduing the target. However, if it is confirmed that the opponent truly possesses a personality capable of indiscriminate attacks, do not hold back any longer."
"I'll leave that existence, which is on the verge of becoming a Complete Form, to you, Chief. As for the other one, which looks like it's possessing a Cat Thiren child, leave it to Soukaku and me."
As she spoke, Tsukishiro Yanagi, who had already released her hand that was subconsciously covering Soukaku's eyes earlier, earnestly guaranteed:
"We won't let it disturb your battle, Chief."
The previous failure in intelligence was already a serious negligence. If she didn't perform well in combat support either, then it would be better to resign from her job at Hollow Special Operations Section 6 sooner rather than later.
Although Soukaku, who had regained her vision, was a bit confused, she nodded in agreement with Tsukishiro Yanagi's arrangement without the slightest hesitation.
Looking at the scene downstairs, although Soukaku couldn't help but turn a little pale, as a member of Section 6, even if she couldn't say she was fully adapted to it, she was definitely not an existence whose combat effectiveness would be affected by this.
Similarly, upon hearing Tsukishiro Yanagi's arrangement, Hoshimi Miyabi's pupils, which had lost focus due to her brain crash, instantly regained their sharpness.
However, Tsukishiro Yanagi's words still made her pause involuntarily for a moment.
There's another one?
It wasn't until Hoshimi Miyabi looked down again that she discovered, aside from that tall humanoid existence, there was actually a Cat Thiren that was many sizes smaller.
A height of just over a meter... even Hoshimi Miyabi could confidently call it short and small.
On a physique just like a child's, body tissues resembling those of a monster covered it like armor. However, compared to the tall humanoid, the exposed claws and lower body—along with the carapace that still retained a yellow-black gradient—indicated that its condition was absolutely much better than the other one appeared to be.
At least, according to the description in that article, it was much better.
Although it carried a battle axe on its back that was almost as tall as itself, it had never been seen taking it out. Previously, it had been hopping around Andrew very cheerfully, appearing very happy with the result of this battle.
It was just that the oppression and presence radiating from the other person earlier were truly too strong, so much so that Hoshimi Miyabi only noticed its existence under Tsukishiro Yanagi's reminder.
After taking a deep breath, Hoshimi Miyabi's eyes became focused once again, and she nodded seriously to express her agreement.
The operational plan for what followed had been set.
Meanwhile, the two below had already carved up the Paolumu's massive corpse in such a short amount of time.
To be able to complete all the carving in just over a minute... this speed had completely exceeded both of their expectations.
Although they didn't know what the purpose was of carving that monster into such a state, Hoshimi Miyabi knew she couldn't wait any longer.
As her finger pressed against the fingerprint lock on her scabbard, in the next moment, Hoshimi Miyabi's figure had already vanished from the rooftop.
The blade unsheathed.
Ice flames, resembling fire yet radiating infinite cold, wrapped around it. Accompanied by her footsteps, she left an ice-blue arc in the air.
In mid-air, a cold light flashed past.
*
Downstairs.
Before Hoshimi Miyabi snapped back from her crashed state.
Andrew looked at the Paolumu, which had been directly finished off by his perfectly distanced Super Discharge without damaging the white fur parts in the slightest, and nodded with immediate satisfaction.
To be able to maintain the integrity of the fur to the greatest extent after the hunt—this was a hunting method Andrew had researched specifically for this purpose. And this actually referenced the techniques ordinary hunters used when hunting large animals.
After all, the Paolumu was different from super monsters like Elder Dragons, whose vitality was extremely strong and could not be explained by common sense at all. In the final analysis, it was just a Flying Wyvern. While its bodily functions mainly relied on blood maintenance, no matter how much blood it had, there would be a day when it ran out.
During this period, one only needed to maintain a defensive state or constantly harass it from afar to consume its stamina. The Paolumu would accelerate the loss of blood during its constant activity.
In this way, by the end, even if the Paolumu sensed something was wrong, it would have already lost the strength to resist.
And the Paolumu fur carved in this manner could be kept intact to the greatest extent.
Ultimately, Andrew's method directly reduced the total number of Paolumu that needed to be hunted to meet the Guild's demands by twenty-five percent.
This not only greatly reduced the number of times Hunters had to face danger but also ensured that the total population of Paolumu in the Coral Highlands would not face issues.
Don't look down on this twenty-five percent.
As Paolumu hide was the main material for making airships, commissions to hunt it had never ceased. The deficit had even begun to grow larger and larger due to the constantly increasing demand from the Old World. It had even reached a point where, if hunted like this, the Paolumu might gradually become endangered, or even truly extinct.
And this reduction of twenty-five percent undoubtedly greatly relieved the ecological pressure. Although it couldn't solve the problem fundamentally, the buffer time gained was definitely extended by a lot. During this period, humanity would inevitably be able to find more suitable replacement materials.
Because of this matter, Andrew had even received quite a bit of praise from the Rajang-in-human-form Admiral and the Sapphire Star.
At the side, watching Andrew's hunt conclude, Meow-Da immediately scurried to Andrew's side, hopping and cheering happily.
"Meow!!! Hunt successful! Boss, you really are the best, meow!!"
Hearing Meow-Da's cheers and seeing the dancing celebration that he hadn't heard or seen in a long time appear before his eyes again, the familiar scene made Andrew smile knowingly. He rubbed Meow-Da's head vigorously.
Smiling, he said, "It's just a Paolumu, no need to get this excited."
But regarding Andrew's words, Meow-Da did not agree.
He shook his head violently and said seriously, "That's not it, meow. No matter the size or strength, Master said that the essence of every Hunter's hunt is a struggle with life on the line. So every successful hunt is something worth celebrating properly, meow!"
The Sapphire Star's Palico, Rani? In his memory, she was indeed a very reliable Felyne senior.
Actually, Andrew, who had long been accustomed to Meow-Da scurrying out to dance and celebrate warmly after every successful hunt, didn't say anything more. He simply let him do as he wished.
And as a Hunter, the first thing after a hunt ended was undoubtedly carving materials. Nothing was more important than carving materials.
Previously, when completing the Guild's commission to hunt Paolumu, Andrew knew the Paolumu's body structure like the back of his hand. He could even finish carving the entire dragon within the one-minute carving time given by the Guild.
So when carving, Andrew's movements were simply masterful.
And naturally, Meow-Da didn't stay idle either. After being interrupted by Andrew, he didn't have the thought to do the dance again. Instead, he ran over directly to help Andrew.
The two worked together, and very quickly, they carved a very complete Paolumu into pieces of independent materials. The speed was so fast that Andrew couldn't help but sigh that his dismantling speed seemed to have gotten a little faster again.
At the same time, watching Andrew handle various large chunks of material as if they were light as a feather, Meow-Da couldn't help but scratch his head with a bit of confusion. He asked the question in his heart:
"Boss, why do I feel like your strength has increased a lot again, meow? Back in the Forbidden Lands, didn't you say you had already touched a bottleneck and it would be hard to break through again in a short time?"
Andrew was slightly stunned upon hearing this. He subconsciously clenched his fist to feel the power contained within. However, without specific measurements and reference objects, he really couldn't accurately feel the change in strength.
But recalling his own state while wearing this equipment...
Andrew pondered for a moment and said with some doubt, "It seems... indeed?"
After coming to New Eridu, although the intensity of his training was much less than before, that feeling of touching a bottleneck had never appeared again. He had always thought it was because he had reduced the training intensity that he couldn't feel it.
But now it seemed to be the complete opposite? What was going on here?
Just as Andrew wanted to verify it further, suddenly, a sound of breaking air came speeding over, instantly interrupting Andrew's movements.
And following closely behind the sound of breaking air was a fierce figure.
The next moment, a long blade was swung towards Andrew with extreme speed. The bone-chilling ice flames attached to the blade body made even Andrew, who had extremely high environmental resistance, feel a wave of chill.
This slash was aimed at Andrew's wrist holding the material dagger.
As long as it hit, regardless of whether it broke his defense, such intense cold would instantly freeze the palm holding the dagger along with the dagger itself, and Andrew wouldn't be surprised in the slightest.
Moreover, even if Andrew was very confident in the defense of his new armor, it was impossible to just let someone slash him for free like this.
Thus, the moment before Hoshimi Miyabi's blade hit Andrew's left wrist, the fingers of his left hand holding the Hunter's Dagger moved slightly. Accompanied by Andrew's powerful control, the blade tip flipped instantly in his hand.
In just a split second, the dagger that was originally held in a forward grip turned into an arm blade protecting his wrist and forearm as it switched to a reverse grip.
Clang!
The moment the metals clashed, Andrew instantly saw clearly that the opponent was using the back of the blade for the slash.
But with the collision, a wave of cold immediately flowed into the dagger along the point of impact, and subsequently, this cold passed through his palm into Andrew's body. The icy aura made Andrew raise his brow involuntarily.
At the same time, the force coming from the blade tip was not to be underestimated. At least, it was much stronger than anyone Andrew had seen in New Eridu so far.
This instantly piqued a trace of Andrew's interest.
But it was only interest. Andrew would still respectfully decline this kind of sudden battle. This kind of surprise attack simply reminded him of the days in the New World when he was ambushed by various monsters.
It was practically triggering his PTSD.
So the moment the sound of breaking air appeared, aside from the defense of his left hand, his powerful combat experience made his empty right hand instantly reach for the shield carried on his back.
The moment after his left hand struggled against the long blade, Andrew's right hand holding the shield swung out violently with the momentum of sweeping away a thousand armies, directly forcing back the person who had suddenly attacked him.
In just a few short seconds, a layer of frost had already appeared on the material dagger.
Seeing this, Andrew simply sheathed the material dagger back into the scabbard behind his waist with a backhand motion, shaking his wrist in an attempt to shake the cold received during the battle out of his body.
But he failed.
This cold accumulated in his body constantly like maggots in tarsal bones, causing Andrew to frown. It felt like pure coldness, yet it was a unique sensation very similar to a Status Effect—this was the first time Andrew had encountered it.
But aside from this, he felt more baffled. Why was he suddenly attacked out of nowhere? What was the objective?
Was this plotting for the Paolumu materials? Or...
His thoughts spinning rapidly, Andrew turned to look at the newcomer. But after clearly seeing who the newcomer was, Andrew became even more confused.
Although he wasn't too clear about specific departments or sections, this clothing style was obviously the uniform style of New Eridu's Hollow Special Operations Section.
In his memory, this was one of New Eridu's official organizations that Belle had educated him about before. But didn't Belle say this was an operations department specifically targeting Hollows?
And he hadn't done anything illegal or criminal, so why would he be targeted by people from the Hollow Special Operations Section?
Turning his head to look in Meow-Da's direction, there were also two figures, one tall and one short, blocking Meow-Da's path. Unsurprisingly, those two were also wearing the same uniforms of the Hollow Special Operations Section.
Could it be that his identity as a Proxy had been exposed?
After all, the official view of Proxies was actually no different from Hollow Raiders; both belonged to the category of criminals who needed to be arrested. It was just that they usually wouldn't go out of their way to arrest them.
But leaving aside the fact that the old fox of a Mayor likely wouldn't stop it, even if the Proxy matter was exposed, it wouldn't be the turn of the Hollow Special Operations Section to arrest him, right? Normally, shouldn't it be people from Public Security?
But now, thinking about these things was meaningless.
Looking at the other party's incomparably vigilant expression, he knew that if he asked "Can we reconcile?" now, the answer he would get would definitely be "Are you kidding me?"
So Andrew's first reaction was—of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, fleeing is the best!
After all, through that move just now, Andrew knew the opponent's strength was definitely not something he could casually crush bare-handed while guaranteeing the opponent wouldn't really get hurt.
Plus, since the opponent used the back of the blade at the start, taking out a Hunter Weapon was even more out of the question.
Andrew wasn't some "dragon-pride" protagonist who would kill someone's whole family just because they dared to glare at him; he wouldn't and couldn't violate his code as a Hunter just because of this.
So for a situation like this, directly running away was inevitably the best method.
But just as he took the first step, Andrew realized something and immediately stopped his feet decisively.
Not because of anything else. It was precisely because of the carved Paolumu materials at their feet.
A Hunter couldn't aim at humans, but leaving these materials to the Hollow Special Operations Section, whose situation was unclear, was even more unacceptable.
After all, who knew what kind of monsters and freaks were in this department he didn't understand at all? Handing it over to them, who knew if it would cause even bigger trouble?
With the two matters stacking together, for a moment, Andrew felt like running wasn't right, but not running wasn't right either.
But in just a moment, Andrew had made a decision. It seemed that now he could only use some unconventional, borderline methods to deal with the problem.
After all, Dragon-hunting weapons aren't allowed to hurt people, but there shouldn't be any problem if I use the back of the blade, right?
____
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