Bear School Astartes

The ”Ancient Dragon Crossing,” an ecological phenomenon that has endured for countless ages, was the direct reason for the investigation team being dispatched to the new continent.

Although this time’s ”Ancient Dragon Crossing” involved the unprecedentedly massive Molten Mountain Dragon, most members of the investigation team felt there was nothing amiss.

This Molten Mountain Dragon was indeed terrifyingly large, like a moving volcano.

However, according to logic, every Elder Dragon is a unique and powerful being.

The Molten Mountain Dragon was just ’slightly’ more special.

An ecological phenomenon that has existed stably for such a long time shouldn’t undergo drastic changes due to the ’minor peculiarity’ of one participant, right?

This was the thought held by most of the investigation team, and based on the Commander-in-Chief’s perspective, he viewed this opportunity merely as an ecological investigation of the Molten Mountain Dragon.

However, since the subject of the investigation was an exceptionally unique elder Molten Mountain Dragon, it was given high priority.

But Lann, who had just arrived not long ago, felt something was off.

Perhaps it was intuition, or perhaps...

Lann instinctively waved his hand through the dust kicked up by the cart wheels.

To others, it seemed like he was dispersing dust. But from Lann’s own perspective, he instinctively wanted to grasp something drifting by.

They were dots emitting a faint blue glow.

Not the azure of the sky, nor the deep blue of the sea, but rather... a kind of ghostly blue, like a flickering light in the dark.

Since a few days ago, whenever he activated ”Clairvoyance,” or shortly after deactivating it, they would float past his vision unbidden.

Like floaters in the eye.

But Lann was very aware of his bodily data, and Mentos was monitoring all of Lann’s physiological metrics in real time.

Therefore, both the Demon Hunter and the biological AI could confirm that their vision, nervous system, and mental state were very healthy.

These blue glowing spots truly existed.

Lann and Mentos reached a consensus.

These were likely things from the world’s depths, accidentally glimpsed through ”Clairvoyance.”

Though it felt unsettling, Lann, after all, was merely a newcomer to this alien world.

He didn’t know whether these ghostly blue spots were a normal part of the natural cycle of this world or the new continent.

If one has no concept of normalcy or anomaly in a place, it’s naturally impossible to discern whether a phenomenon is good or bad.

Lann was in such a state now.

He subtly asked the Hunters about it, and these straightforward individuals frankly said they had never seen it.

Some even suggested that Lann might have seen some special-colored fireflies.

This made Lann realize that the Hunters and scholars from the old continent were not much different from himself.

To this new continent, they were all ignorant ’aliens.’

But regardless, it’s best to first observe the Molten Mountain Dragon’s activities.

The Commander-in-Chief’s vehicle was in the lead, and Lann climbed onto the medical carriage carrying Little Jack.

Clearly, the boy’s grandfather didn’t plan to let him recuperate in peace, after dosing him with a few bottles of grass-green healing potions, he mumbled something like ’a week should be enough’ and left.

His injuries were about what Lann expected: two fractured ribs and three cracked ones.

However, given the Hunters’ physiques, with the aid of healing potions, they should indeed be almost healed in a week.

-----------------

From the star-studded outpost in the ancient tree forest, they traveled all the way to the Great Ant Mound Wasteland, where the Molten Mountain Dragon was active.

In terms of geographical scale, it was akin to crossing provinces.

Moreover, they used primitive animal power to pull the carts, carrying all the necessary combat supplies, almost equivalent to a migration.

Under such conditions, it’s perfectly normal to take over half a year to travel.

But, after all, this is no ordinary world.

The herbivorous dragons pulling the carts had immense stamina, and there were tamed aerial wyverns scouting from above. The carts and wagons made by the second expedition’s craftsmen extensively used monster materials, making them so durable that they seemed hard to break if not attacked but merely worn out through use.

Not to mention the Hunters, each one comparable to large beasts of burden.

Thus, the journey to the Great Ant Mound Wasteland was completed in just a month.

The carefully planned route by the Hunters avoided invading any strong monster’s territory, only skirting around their edges.

In the ordinary world, the activity range of a Siberian tiger can reach a thousand square kilometers. In this lush and vibrant world of nature, the territories of powerful monsters are even more boundless.

A Fire Dragon’s hunting ground encompassing tens of thousands of square kilometers is a normal occurrence.

Over these past decades, the veteran scholars and Hunters of the investigation team have already mapped out many monsters’ territorial changes.

Aside from a few monsters that occasionally went berserk, there were hardly any major disturbances along the way.

”This is the Great Ant Mound Wasteland.” With a scarf wrapped around his head to block the intense sunlight, Lann stood on the cart, gazing into the distance.

”At first glance, it does indeed look like a wasteland.”

This area was noticeably different from the ancient tree forest.

The main color was an earth-yellow.

Earth-yellow sand, weathered rocks, cacti... and objects resembling bamboo shoots, only enlarged several ten thousand times, made from some dark brown material.

It looked like a mixed terrain of a barren desert and a rocky wasteland.

According to the scholars, this is the origin of the land’s name—the Great Ant Mound.

The soldier ants living on this land drag clumps of earth, rocks, and even materials shed by monsters back home, piling them atop their nests.

Over an unknown amount of time, these tiny creatures built these ’skyscrapers,’ the smallest of which are at least two stories tall.

But beside the investigation team’s convoy, a group of herbivorous dragons with bodies similar in size to the grass-feeding dragons, except with turtle shell-like backs and tails like spiked maces, showed that the ecosystem here wasn’t as monotonous as it first appeared.

If there weren’t sufficient water and grass, this land couldn’t support so many shelled herbivorous dragons.

The Great Ant Mound Wasteland represented another kind of ecological model.

But Lann, being new here, didn’t have time to appreciate the natural scenery.

”Hey!”

A cheerful shout echoed from above the convoy.

A wyvern, with a Hunter hanging below, flew in from the distance, swooping into the wyvern group over the convoy.

Then it dived down again.

The wyvern’s flight was very smooth, indicating the pilot’s excellent skills.

Wende released his grip as the wyvern skimmed low, landing directly onto the cart.

He now had another Shield Axe on his back, but this time the Shield Axe clearly incorporated many monster materials, making it noticeably different from the all-steel-crafted Defense Team Shield Axe.

”Finally, you all are here!”

He first warmly patted Lann on the arm before complaining.

”If the Molten Mountain Dragon hadn’t been so slow, we might have even lost sight of its shadow by now. There’s no time to waste; we need to take action immediately!”