Night had fallen by the time Bai Chen prepared to return to the Outpost.
He called over Zinogre and Basarios, giving each its final instructions.
│ "I'll be gone for a while. Try to clear as many quests as you can."
To keep them motivated, Bai Chen created something new for them —
their very first bank accounts.
Whenever they completed a mission, he'd deposit "skill proficiency points" into their accounts.
They could then allocate those points however they liked, upgrading their favorite abilities.
The concept lit a spark in Zinogre's eyes.
But Basarios… couldn't have cared less.
Strength, weakness — it didn't matter to that rock-headed slacker.
Bai Chen's brow twitched.
He knew exactly how to deal with this kind of "dead-pig-not-afraid-of-boiling-water" attitude.
He quietly pocketed the rare ores he'd originally planned to give Basarios —
and then added a touch of psychological warfare.
│ "You know, I'm doing this for your sake. Think about all those minerals you've been eating lately —
Those weren't easy to find.
I don't mind feeding you; you're my companion after all.
But just because I feed you doesn't mean Nergigante or Zinogre will."
│ "While they're out fighting on the frontlines, you're sitting here stuffing your face.
You think they won't have something to say about that?"
That struck a nerve.
Terrified of Nergigante's temper — and Zinogre's electric glare —
Basarios instantly straightened up, nodding fervently.
Quietly, deep inside his rocky heart, he made a vow:
Someday, he would become the strongest among Bai Chen's monsters.
That way, maybe Nergigante and Zinogre would stop beating him up.
Bai Chen felt that flicker of intent through the bond.
He could only sigh.
This guy's ambition was inversely proportional to his size.
Not a shred of grand aspiration in him.
Still… surpassing Nergigante and Zinogre wasn't exactly a simple dream.
Nergigante's full potential was still untapped—
And Zinogre had grown terrifyingly fast.
After gaining the rare-grade 5 skill High-Voltage Current and the rare-grade 6 Plasma Crash,
Zinogre's power had surged to a new tier.
His former rare-grade 4 Charged Pressure had evolved into Flowing lightning (Rare 5).
The current's intensity was three to four times stronger than before.
Now, he could even enter his Supercharged State without relying on Thunderbugs.
It only lasted three minutes—
far from the permanent state achieved by a Gold Rajang—
But it was still a remarkable leap forward.
After all, how many ordinary Zinogre could generate enough energy to supercharge themselves unaided?
And if he did use Thunderbugs now, his entry into the supercharged form was instantaneous,
allowing him to sustain it for a full twenty minutes.
Bai Chen nodded to himself.
│ "Zinogre's control has stabilized.
He can unleash his full strength right from the start now — that's enough for the moment."
The next step was figuring out how to maintain that state indefinitely…
and how to amplify his current output even further.
As for Rock dragon—
He hadn't been idle either.
After his last battle, he'd mastered the rare-grade 7 skill Energy Breath
—copied from a Sea Dragon—
and had successfully fused it with his own Flame Stream Cannon.
The result was the birth of his personal ultimate ability:
Ultra Flame Stream Cannon (Rare 8):
Fires a hyperheated, hypercharged beam of energy with extreme temperature and penetration power.
With this exclusive technique, Rock Wyvern had officially stepped into the realm of Elder Dragons.
Which was exactly why Bai Chen found him so infuriating.
Zinogre still didn't have a unique rare-grade 8 skill—
and yet Rock Wyvern, the eternal slacker, did…
only to waste it by loafing around.
The thought made Bai Chen's temple twitch.
He turned and smacked Rock Wyvern on the head.
Rock Wyvern blinked in confusion.
│ "???"
│ "You're explaining things, not disciplining me! Why the hit!?"
Ignoring him, Bai Chen turned to Zinogre.
│ "I'll be gone for a day. Keep an eye on him for me."
By "keep an eye," of course, he meant supervise.
Zinogre gave a low rumble and nodded, understanding perfectly.
Then, with a sharp glance at Rock Wyvern, his fur crackled faintly with electricity.
Rock Wyvern flinched, shuffling two steps to the side.
│ "I'll leave him in your care."
After bidding them farewell, Bai Chen met briefly with Elder Yoomlana,
then took off riding Nergigante toward the skies above the Forest Village.
With Nergigante's speed, it didn't take long to reach the skies near the Starfall Outpost.
Once there, Bai Chen returned the dragon to its ball and made his way in on foot.
The hunters guarding the western gate blinked in surprise when they saw him walking.
They'd expected him to arrive perched on Basarios's back as usual.
The gates opened.
As he stepped inside, the familiar scent of earth and metal filled the air.
Bai Chen felt a small, unexpected warmth —
a quiet, comforting sense of home.
Even if the Forest Village had made him an honorary elder
and promised to build him a grand residence,
it couldn't replace the feeling of belonging he had here.
Passing through the courtyard, hunters greeted him cheerfully.
Bai Chen nodded back to each in turn.
He went straight to the second-floor workshop —
where the blacksmith was hard at work.
After exchanging greetings and assuring the man of his safe return,
Bai Chen checked on the progress of his equipment.
The smith was currently forging the Seadrake Armor Set.
At Bai Chen's current level, only "map boss" tier armor could provide sufficient defense.
As for weapons—
His Cursefire, Venom Edge, and even the Nergigante Blade
were starting to fall behind.
The Venom Edge, a rare 3 weapon,
could no longer even pierce the shell of a danger-level 5 monster.
Most of the time now, Bai Chen fought barehanded,
occasionally using the Nergigante Blade for precision strikes.
The smith was forging three new katanas simultaneously.
Each one forged through newly acquired Fire Souls.
The Ajanath's Fire Soul replaced the old Salandit Flame.
│ Ajanath Fire Soul (Rare 5): Weapons forged with this flame gain "Fury Fire."
temporarily boosting power and granting a fire attribute during rage.
The Rathian Fire Soul replaced the former Queen Flame Salamander.
│ Rathian Fire Soul (Rare 5): Imbues weapons with potent poison properties.
And finally, the Rock Wyvern's Fire Sack replaced the turtonator's Flame.
│ Rock wyvern'sFlame Sack (Rare 5): When used to forge armor, it
greatly amplifies the mineral potential, massively boosting defense.
Rock wyvern's defense had always been among the strongest in the world—
Using his essence for armor crafting was a perfect fit.
While the Rathian's flame lacked the corrosive effect of its predecessor,
its poison properties were vastly intensified—
making the overall energy much more focused.
Seeing the smith's steady progress, Bai Chen nodded.
It wouldn't be long before the new equipment was complete.
He didn't linger.
Instead, he headed straight for the fourth-floor gathering hall—
where he found Ira behind the counter.
│ "Master Bai Chen! You're back?"
Ira hurriedly finished logging the last quest for another hunter, then approached with a smile.
│ "Good evening," Bai Chen greeted.
│ "Good evening, sir." She held out a small pouch of coins. "This is the reward and deposit from the Sea Wyvern hunt."
Bai Chen accepted the pouch.
He hadn't sold any of the Sea Wyverns materials this time,
so the payout was modest — barely 5,400 zenny.
│ "Thanks."
He pocketed the gold and asked,
│ "Got any available quests right now? Mind if I take a look?"
│ "Of course. Please, this way."
She guided him to the counter, instinctively pulling up the large monster hunt listings.
│ "These are all the available five-star and lower commissions."
Ira handed over thirteen quest slips.
Bai Chen skimmed through them carefully.
As expected, there were no four-star or lower missions left —
and only a single four-star task among the rest.
The other twelve were all five-star hunts.
Ira sighed softly.
│ "Everyone's been really enthusiastic lately. The lower-ranked hunts are all taken."
Bai Chen slid the stack back toward her.
│ "That's fine."
He wasn't too concerned with Outpost quests anymore.
He had much faster ways to grind experience now.
Ira blinked, puzzled.
Bai Chen had never turned down quests before.
│ "Do you have any investigation assignments?" he asked. "Preferably the long-term kind."
│ "Ah—yes, give me a moment."
She flipped open the thick, leather-bound quest registry.
Within minutes, she found over forty investigation missions.
Unlike hunts, these took weeks to complete—
which made sense, since research was the Investigation Corps' primary purpose.
Bai Chen glanced through the listings, then pulled one at random.
It was a study mission for an upper-rank Rathalos deep within the forest.
Not the one that patrolled near the treetop arena,
but a more powerful specimen lurking far beyond, in the wild highlands.
By estimation, its strength ranged from level 50 to 55—
a tier above the usual Rathalos found near the hunting grounds.
Some upper-rank variants even reached level 65.
Those, however, were another story entirely.
This particular mission had a forty-day duration—
perfectly long enough for him to make his trip back to the Pokémon world.
As for the research itself,
he could delegate that to the stealthier Dragonfolk under his command.
Being their honorary elder had its advantages.
│ "Register this one for me," Bai Chen said, passing over the slip.
Ira accepted it politely.
Something in her intuition told her Bai Chen was planning to be gone for quite a while.
But a month-long investigation wasn't unusual for a hunter.
Perhaps she was just imagining things.
Within moments, she had the paperwork ready.
│ "Registration complete. Please be careful during your investigation, Master Bai Chen."
│ "Don't worry."
He took the receipt and left the hall.
Back home, Bai Chen immediately noticed two massive crates sitting by the door.
He frowned, walking closer.
│ "What's this…?"
Inside were materials and gems —
monster parts, refined minerals, and embedded decoration jewels.
Each crate bore a note.
One from Raymond.
One from Rob.
Leftovers from their latest expeditions, all sent to him in thanks.
Bai Chen smiled faintly.
Quiet gestures like this… made the place feel even more like home.
If you want to read more, join my Patreon/kazama677
60+ advanced chapters available.
I will drop 1 bonus chapter for every 30 Power Stones.
Bonus chapter for every 20 reviews/comments