Bai Chen temporarily entrusted the Velkhana egg to Little Cosmog and Nergigante for safekeeping.
He himself used teleportation and arrived aboard the Starship on the fourth level.
The receptionists had long since grown used to Bai Chen's ghostlike appearances and no longer showed much surprise.
│ "Lord Bai, you're back?"
Ira noticed Bai Chen and stepped forward.
│ "Mm, just got back, where are Zinogre and Indeedee?"
│ "They're currently carrying out a mission in the Wildspire Waste. Judging by the time, they should be back very soon."
During the few days Bai Chen was away, Basarios had been adapting to his new abilities, and as his partner, Tinkatuff naturally had not gone out on solo missions.
Among the entire team, aside from Bai Chen, only Zinogre and Indeedee had been pairing up to take missions.
The results were fairly good, earning more than five thousand skill proficiency points in just a few days.
As Ira finished speaking, a deep bell-like sound echoed from the western gate.
That was the signal indicating the transport team had returned.
│ "Perfect timing."
Ira picked up her quest board.
Bai Chen placed his right hand on Ira's shoulder and directly teleported the two of them to the western gate.
Looking ahead, Bai Chen saw the Felynes transporting a low-rank Diablos back.
Behind the transport cart, Zinogre walked forward slowly with Indeedee.
A smile appeared on Bai Chen's face.
│ "Fu?"
After jumping down from Zinogre's back, Indeedee ran over to check on Bai Chen.
│ "Mm, the challenge is complete, and I also gained a new partner."
Bai Chen then looked at Zinogre and praised him.
│ "You've worked hard, too. I brought back some good things for you. Let's head to the arena first."
Bai Chen recalled Zinogre into a monster ball, bid farewell to Ira, and directly teleported to the arena with Indeedee.
Seeing the newly appeared Elder Dragon egg, Indeedee walked over and gently stroked it.
│ "This Elder Dragon egg will be entrusted to you to take care of."
Indeedee gently hugged the egg and said she would definitely take good care of it.
│ "Then I'll leave it to you."
Indeedee was best at caring for young life, and with her, the egg would certainly hatch successfully.
Bai Chen took out a monster ball and released Zinogre, then took out Kirin's monster ball as well.
He released Kirin together with Zinogre.
At first sight, Zinogre stared at Kirin with clear hostility.
After being released, Kirin was unexpectedly quiet.
He slowly scanned his surroundings.
He looked at Nergigante on Bai Chen's shoulder, then at the clearly abnormal Zinogre in front of him, and then at Basarios undergoing life transition in the distance.
He clearly understood that he was no match for any of them.
Kirin lowered his body and quietly began to recover his injuries.
Bai Chen was surprised.
│ "I was already prepared to let Zinogre and Nergigante beat him into submission if he resisted, but he's actually this sensible."
Bai Chen stepped forward and reached out to try to touch Kirin's head.
There was no resistance at all.
A faint tingling current even traveled through Bai Chen's palm.
│ "He's actually this obedient…"
Bai Chen touched Kirin's lightning horn that he had broken earlier.
He then glanced up at the sky.
Faint thunderclouds were gathering, but not very noticeably.
│ "Looks like after losing the Pale Horn, Kirin's ability to control lightning has clearly weakened."
With his lightning horn gone, Kirin's strength was reduced by at least half.
Of course, as Kirin's most important organ, the lightning horn would not be permanently destroyed.
Bai Chen estimated that it would take two to three months for it to fully regenerate.
Bai Chen looked at Kirin and muttered.
│ "You're being so cooperative that it's making me uncomfortable."
Basarios and Zinogre joining the team had both caused significant trouble.
Zinogre had been the most troublesome, yet now he was one of Bai Chen's most satisfying partners, second only to Nergigante.
Bai Chen scratched his head, feeling troubled again.
The issue had returned to the beginning.
What should be done with Kirin?
Bai Chen first pulled up Kirin's status panel.
[Name]: Kirin
[Race]: Elder Dragon
[Attributes]: Electric/Lightning, Fairy
[Rarity]: 7
[Level]: 50 (1123/58695)
[Trait]: Phantom Beast — All moves used carry a small amount of Fairy-type energy.
[Skills]:
1. Lord of Lightning (Rarity 8) — Master (3452/100000): Summons thunderclouds, brings calamity, and changes the battlefield into a Lightning Lord Domain. Lightning damage taken reduced to 20%, and lightning can be freely controlled. Lightning Lord Domain: Electric-type moves receive a massive boost.
2. Phantom Beast Blood (Rarity 6) — Proficient (12345/15000): Ancient Elder Dragons rely on vast and endless vitality; even with thinner blood, it is still an Elder Dragon.
3. Lightning Mantle (Rarity 7) — Master (62330/87500): Summons lightning upon itself to enter the Lightning Mantle state, greatly boosting speed, defense, power, and lightning control.
4. Pale Horn (Rarity 6) — Master (9300/75000): The Pale Horn contains high-voltage lightning capable of inducing lightning disasters.
5. Phantom Horn Charge (Rarity 7) — Proficient (7331/17500): Stores lightning in the Pale Horn and launches an attack at phantom-like speed; even mountains can be cleaved under extreme speed and current.
6. Summon Lightning (Rarity 6) — Proficient (10230/15000): Summons lightning strikes, with strength dependent on the environment.
7. Kirin's Might (Rarity 4) — Proficient (1200/10000): Kirin is not skilled in brute strength, but as an Elder Dragon, it still possesses power far beyond ordinary creatures.
Compared to ordinary monsters, Kirin's skill set was undeniably flashy.
Especially the Lord of Lightning skill, truly worthy of the title Thunder God.
However, the overlap with Zinogre was simply too high.
Everything Kirin could do, Zinogre could also learn.
Bai Chen had no intention of training two Lightning-type Elder Dragons at the same time, as the resource cost would be enormous.
As for Kirin's Fairy attribute, if Velkhana really hatched with Fairy typing, then Kirin's sole advantage would vanish completely.
│ "The capture was successful, but keeping him in the team really feels redundant…"
Bai Chen never thought he would one day find Kirin troublesome.
Kirin's stats and strength were unquestionable.
Even without spending resources, he could still contribute decently to the team.
But Elder Dragons were highly intelligent and emotionally complex.
If Bai Chen trained others but neglected Kirin, resentment would inevitably grow over time, and if given the chance, Kirin would not hesitate to betray him.
│ "Should I hand him over to someone else to raise?"
After thinking for a moment, Bai Chen shook his head.
Kirin was not an Elder Dragon that just anyone could raise.
Without sufficient strength, no one could truly suppress him.
Just as Bai Chen was thinking, a black blur suddenly charged from behind him at extreme speed.
A powerful forelimb rose high and smashed toward Kirin's head.
Sensing danger, Kirin sprang aside.
Boom—
Lightning mixed with shattered stone brushed past Bai Chen.
│ "What the hell?!"
Bai Chen stared in shock at Zinogre, who had suddenly launched the attack beside him.
│ "Roar—!"
Zinogre let out a thunderous howl as lightning descended from the sky, and he instantly entered his supercharged state.
He lunged toward Kirin, who hurriedly fled and dodged.
Having lost his lightning horn and unable to enter Lightning Mantle, Kirin was no match for Zinogre.
In speed, power, defense, and lightning output, he was completely inferior.
The fight ended extremely quickly.
After only three or four exchanges, Kirin was firmly pinned to the ground by Zinogre.
He struggled desperately.
But his physical strength was far weaker than Zinogre's.
Even in lightning output, without the Pale Horn, he could not compete, managing only to shock Zinogre's Fulgurbugs.
│ "Roar!"
Zinogre stepped on Kirin's head and let out a victor's declaration.
Seeing the situation turning bad, Bai Chen quickly told Nergigante to stop Zinogre.
He might be troubled over what to do with Kirin, but that did not mean he wanted Kirin dead.
Letting Zinogre kill Kirin in a rite-of-proving manner would be far too wasteful.
│ "Ao."
On his shoulder, Nergigante calmly called out, telling Bai Chen not to rush.
│ "He's about to be beaten to death. Hurry and stop it."
Just as Bai Chen was about to intervene, Zinogre suddenly released Kirin.
Kirin slowly stood back up.
Then, under Bai Chen's stunned gaze, he knelt before Zinogre.
│ "W-What is this?"
Even Bai Chen could not understand the situation.
│ "Ao."
Nergigante seemed to understand Zinogre's intentions and explained it to him.
│ "Huh?"
The shock left Bai Chen momentarily unable to process it.
│ "You're saying Zinogre wants to take Kirin into his own pack?"
Nergigante nodded firmly.
Bai Chen looked toward Zinogre, whose actions confirmed her words.
Zinogre was a pack creature, something Bai Chen had always known.
Before meeting Bai Chen, Zinogre had belonged to a pack, which was later dispersed due to Kushala Daora's arrival.
Even after leaving the pack, that instinct remained.
│ "This is probably the first Zinogre in the world to recruit a Kirin as a pack member."
If scholars ever learned of this, the academic world would explode.
Zinogre turned back and slowly walked up to Bai Chen.
He nudged Bai Chen with his massive head.
He was asking for Bai Chen's approval.
│ "Since you've already accepted him, I naturally have no objections, but considering everyone's growth speed, I won't spend extra resources to train your subordinate."
Through the Bond Stone, Zinogre conveyed his intent.
Simply put, Kirin's training resources would come from Zinogre's own accumulated points.
To motivate Zinogre and Basarios, Bai Chen had previously set up a 'bank account' system for them.
It stored skill proficiency points that they could freely allocate.
Zinogre currently had over three thousand points due to his diligence.
│ "Alright then, Kirin will be entrusted to you from now on, after all, as the future Lord of Lightning, it wouldn't do to have no followers."
Bai Chen's biggest concern had been lacking extra resources to train Kirin, and also that neglecting him might cause resentment.
Now that Zinogre could dominate Kirin, training responsibility being handled internally solved everything.
As long as Zinogre obeyed Bai Chen, Kirin would not dare object.
More importantly, Kirin also possessed Lord of Lightning and could serve as Zinogre's lieutenant in the future.
│ "Since the boss-and-subordinate relationship is set, I can later give Kirin some support skills, like power transfer."
Bai Chen stepped forward and patted Kirin's head.
│ "Even if you're joining as Zinogre's pack member, welcome."
│ "Hrr."
Kirin snorted softly in greeting.
Zinogre then stepped forward, hoping Bai Chen would grant Kirin two of his skills, the Rarity-7 Super Volt and the Rarity-7 Calamity Thunder.
Bai Chen nodded in satisfaction.
│ "Smart, not asking for too many at once, otherwise the leader position wouldn't be stable."
│ "That's fine, but before that, I'll give you the skills first."
The skill storage could only hold five skills at a time.
Zinogre needed to receive the Thunder God skills first.
Bai Chen placed his right hand on Zinogre's head.
Light flowed into Zinogre's body.
[Individual 'Zinogre' acquired Rarity-8 skill 'Lord of Lightning'; similar skill detected, skill evolved into Rarity-8 'Lightning Sovereign', proficiency refunded.]
Zinogre already possessed Electric Terrain, a related ability, and the two fused.
[Individual 'Zinogre' acquired Rarity-7 skill 'Phantom Horn Charge'; similar skill detected, skill evolved into Rarity-8 'Ultimate Volt', proficiency refunded.]
Phantom Horn Charge shared the same origin as Zinogre's Super Volt.
[Individual 'Zinogre' acquired Rarity-7 skill 'Lightning Mantle'; similar skill detected, skill evolved into Rarity-8 'True Supercharged State', proficiency refunded.]
Lightning Mantle fused perfectly with Zinogre's supercharged state.
[Individual 'Zinogre' acquired Rarity-6 skill 'Pale Horn'; similar skill detected, skill evolved into Rarity-7 'Ultimate High Voltage', proficiency refunded.]
Seeing the Rarity-7 Ultimate High Voltage, Bai Chen felt deeply satisfied.
When he first captured Zinogre, he only had a Rarity-3 high-voltage ability.
Now, after countless battles, it had finally evolved.
│ "After this, Zinogre should be able to evolve into Thunderlord Zinogre."
As the skills settled, Zinogre felt drowsy.
He was about to enter hibernation like Basarios.
He glanced at Kirin, signaling that Bai Chen should now grant Kirin his skills as well.
Bai Chen copied Zinogre's Rarity-7 Calamity Thunder and the newly evolved Rarity-8 Ultimate Volt.
Light wrapped around Kirin.
System notifications poured in.
[Individual 'Kirin' acquired Rarity-7 skill 'Heavenly Thunder'.]
[Individual 'Kirin' acquired Rarity-8 skill 'Phantom Thunder Charge'.]
Due to racial differences, although Kirin obtained the same skills, their manifestations differed significantly.
Zinogre and Kirin found a safe corner together and entered deep sleep side by side, Kirin leaning against Zinogre.
Bai Chen noticed that lightning energy from Zinogre occasionally flowed into Kirin.
Under that nourishment, Kirin's Pale Horn regenerated at an accelerated pace.
│ "Their compatibility is even higher than I expected."
As Bai Chen observed, he suddenly noticed faint glowing specks rising from Zinogre.
│ "Those are Fulgurbugs?"
He saw the Fulgurbugs fleeing Zinogre at high speed.
The reason was obvious.
The voltage here was simply too high.
With Kirin and Zinogre together, the lightning pressure was enough to kill them.
│ "Normal Zinogre only have Rarity-3 charging ability and rely heavily on Fulgurbugs, but now Zinogre no longer needs them at all."
Watching the bugs scatter, Bai Chen felt no regret.
│ "They've fallen far behind Zinogre's growth."
Leaving Zinogre and Kirin to adapt to their evolution, Bai Chen went off to handle other matters.
He sent Cosmog to the research base to bring the Third Fleet scholars to the Great Ravine.
He also had Cosmog bring the Canteen Chief's mentor to Astera.
After introducing Indeedee and gaining consent, Indeedee began learning how to cook Felyne meals.
Bai Chen then found Tinkatuff and asked her to forge more Bombs.
These bombs were light, powerful, and had been crucial in defeating Kirin.
The previous eight had all been used up.
│ "Besides the bombs, my armor is completely ruined. How's the Zorah Magdaros set coming along?"
│ "Ya-ma…"
Tinkatuff shook her head regretfully.
Zorah Magdaros' materials were extremely difficult to process.
│ "Armor can wait, but I need at least fifty Spirit Bombs within thirteen days."
│ "Ya-ma?"
Tinkatuff looked puzzled, unable to understand why so many were needed.
│ "For egg stealing, this number is necessary."
Bai Chen knew very well that defeating Kirin had much to do with Kirin's level and stats.
Against other Elder Dragons, things would not be so simple.
Fire Spirit Bombs were excellent equalizers.
│ "Ya-ma."
Tinkatuff nodded in understanding.
After giving his instructions, Bai Chen did not rest.
He once again teleported with Nergigante and Cosmog to Coral Village in the Coral Highlands.
His next objective was to explore Valstrax's nest in preparation for egg theft.
Elsewhere.
The Third Fleet scholars had arrived at the Great Ravine.
Upon seeing the captured Zorah Magdaros, they rushed forward like fanatics to begin research.
Inside the temporary command post, the Field Master was reporting the investigation results to the Commander.
│ "That youngster is really something, turning into a giant nearly scared me to death."
│ "A giant?"
The Commander looked confused.
│ "Yes, during the fight with Kirin, Bai Chen became a giant dozens of meters tall."
The Commander recalled Bai Chen enlarging Basarios before.
│ "Is that also some form of potential activation?"
He nodded.
│ "He really is a knight who likes creating miracles."
The Field Master then reported everything about Kirin, Deviljho, and Vaal Hazak beneath the Rotten Vale.
│ "So much happened…"
Though Bai Chen defeating Kirin surprised him, something still felt off.
│ "He didn't actually capture it, did he?"
The Commander decided to return to Astera to confirm.
Later, while flying back on Wingdrakes, both noticed massive thunderclouds above Astera.
Lightning flickered within.
The Wingdrakes grew restless with fear.
│ "So he really did capture it…"
Upon arrival, Astera was in chaos.
Several spontaneous combustion incidents had occurred due to static electricity in the dry air.
The Commander rushed to the arena.
From the stands, he immediately saw the sleeping Kirin.
Even prepared, the sight still shocked him.
At that moment, Cosmog teleported back with Bai Chen.
│ "Damn, I almost died!"
Bai Chen's right arm was broken, his body covered in wounds.
He had encountered Valstrax almost immediately upon reaching the highest peak.
A dive attack nearly killed him.
│ "A level 76 Valstrax is terrifying."
│ "Do you need medical assistance?"
The Commander asked.
│ "No, I'll recover in a couple of days."
The Commander sighed and looked at Kirin.
│ "So you really went and caught Kirin."
│ "Pure luck."
│ "Even so, I'm afraid you'll need to take your companions away from Astera for now."
│ "?"
│ "Nergigante is fine, but Kirin is already affecting the entire base."
│ "If they stay, Astera may suffer catastrophic damage."
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