The Wyverian hunter looked at the emotionally agitated Admiral, opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end merely lowered his head slightly to express his apology.
Unlike the Field Master and the Admiral, although all of them acted independently, those two would at least return from time to time to the mobile research base to replenish supplies and, incidentally, update relevant information.
The Wyverian hunter was different. Ever since he had noticed abnormal fluctuations in the New World's leyline energy several years ago, he had packed his supplies and left, disappearing for years on end. During that entire period, he had not once transmitted any information back to Astera.
This abnormal behavior, together with his disappearance, had gradually led the Research Commission to classify him as deceased.
Only the Commander had always firmly believed that the Wyverian hunter was still alive somewhere in the New World, deliberately refraining from sending information back in order to conduct deeper investigations.
This was also why his name had never appeared on the Research Commission's list of the dead.
"As long as you're fine!" The Admiral's eyes were slightly red as he gave the Wyverian hunter's shoulder a heavy punch as a form of payback.
Seeing the Wyverian hunter frown and rub his shoulder, the Admiral burst into hearty laughter, casually took the fish basket from the other's hands, and passed it to the Felyne to prepare for cooking.
After that, under the curious gazes of Darren and the others, they each chatted about what they had discovered over the past few years.
...
The next day, with an additional Wyverian hunter joining them, the fully equipped research team once again set out on the road to search for the Sunblaze Dragon.
However, compared to their previous plan of relying entirely on luck and attempting to find traces of Logan within these crystal clusters, they now had a better option.
Watching the Wyverian hunter's Radiant Crystal Butterflies fluttering about within the Terastal clusters, and seeing them happily fly over to other Radiant Crystal Butterflies perched on the crystals, their wings buzzing as they communicated with one another, they completely replaced the role of Scoutflies, guiding the research team continuously through the various narrow paths.
As the terrain continued to rise, the research team gradually climbed to a very high elevation, from which the Elder's Recess below was clearly visible within their field of view.
As they climbed higher and higher, the expressions of the hunters grew increasingly heavy.
Up in the sky, the ever-changing extreme weather caused serious obstruction to their path forward.
At times, a rain of meteor fire carrying blue-violet calamity flames poured down along with the rotation of the flaming vortex overhead, landing on the Terastal crystals with a sizzling sound.
At times, thunder flashed and roared, and streak after streak of lightning fell from within the vortex, plowing one black scar after another into the ground.
The Admiral had seen Logan fight and knew the flaming vortex was one of his abilities, but why was there lightning as well? Could it be that, besides Logan, there was a second Elder Dragon present?
And had the two of them come into conflict?
But seeing how the flames and lightning seemed to mingle in harmony, it did not quite look like that.
With these doubts in mind, the research team watched out for the fire rain while quickening their pace.
Within the flaming vortex, Logan was covered in a thin Terastal shell. The Terastal shell that should have been ice-blue, under Logan's control, would from time to time be streaked with crimson and green flowing light.
As the flowing light flickered, the attribute energy around him also kept changing—at times flames, at times lightning—like a scene of the world's end.
However, as the one responsible, Logan seemed unable to precisely control the energy's transformations, making the attribute energy around him look somewhat chaotic.
These past few days, through careful control of Terastal energy, Logan discovered that when he actively intervened to adjust the ratio of life energy and Terastal energy within the new Terastal energy he released, he could convert it from a laser back into flames, and it would still possess the flames' burning trait.
Moreover, it was probably because the "fuel" was different. In the past, Logan's calamity flames were formed by pure fire attribute energy supplemented by life energy. Their power was great, but they still did not exceed the temperature calamity flames were supposed to have.
Although calamity flames were also among the highest-tier flames in the world, flames always had limits.
For the Elder Dragons that played at the very peak of high temperatures, what they wielded was not flames—flames were merely the outward manifestation.
For example, Kulve Taroth's ultra-high-temperature shockwave, and Fatalis's calamity fire that could melt all things!
And now, the flames converted through the new Terastal energy, although they still outwardly looked like calamity flames, in reality had long since broken through the limits of calamity flames. That was why the falling fire rain could leave scorch marks even on Terastal crystals with extremely high resistance to heat.
Perhaps because flames were Logan's old specialty, after the conversion he almost instinctively grasped the key points, able to bring them out with ease and control them with precision.
He had originally thought that, after the transformation, traits such as his flame body would once again have room to shine.
Just as he was feeling rather pleased with himself and planned to press on in one go to produce the next type of attribute energy, reality directly slapped him hard across the face.
He was completely unable to find any direction at all.
Exactly what proportions of Terastal energy and life energy were needed to blend the corresponding attribute energy was something Logan simply did not know. After a round of haphazard mixing, aside from wasting a large amount of energy, he gained almost nothing.
Fortunately, as large numbers of Radiant Crystal Butterflies reproduced through Bioenergy Crystals and went on to parasitize nearly three-quarters of the large monsters in the Elder's Recess, Logan was finally able—through the information fed back by the Radiant Crystal Butterflies—to roughly figure out the relevant ratios for electric attribute energy after grinding away for several days and nights.
Even now, he was still continuously trying to find the method of manipulation and the most suitable mixing ratios.
With a thunderous boom, after relying on his Terastal shell to forcibly withstand a bolt of lightning that he had created but failed to control, Logan slowly drew back the dispersed Terastal energy, calming the anomalies in the sky that had arisen due to his energy release.
Just as he was about to take a short rest and then carefully study the Radiant Crystal Butterflies that he had deliberately manipulated—secretly siphoning back some attribute energy from large monsters—a sharp tearing sound suddenly plunged down from the thick black dust clouds overhead.
Bang!
A massive sonic boom cloud exploded outward. Logan's figure turned into an afterimage and instantly left his original position, causing the attacker's strike to miss entirely.
Ruiner Nergigante's forelimb, clad in diamond-hard spines, swung through empty air. The entire dragon instantly lost its balance, nearly falling straight out of the sky.
Hastily adjusting its posture, Ruiner Nergigante beat its wings, a pair of small eyes looking with confusion toward the ice-blue crystal dragon quietly hovering in the distance, wrapped in flowing air currents. It could not understand how that body, which looked so heavy, could possess such an exaggerated speed.
After all, it had set its sights on Logan for many days. Only today, after hiding its aura and stealthily closing in from within the black clouds above to such a short distance, had it finally launched its attack.
To be able to react even at this distance, and then instantly accelerate to such a degree, was that not a bit too outrageous?
Even compared to that disgusting red Elder Dragon that often wandered over to the Guiding Lands just to kick it once, this was hardly inferior at all!
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