#653Chapter 653: Elu Cat is so cuteAI Model: gemini-2.5-flash
Chapter 653: Ailuros Are So Cute
Being the most conspicuous target in a large group wasn't entirely without its benefits; at the very least, Cheng didn't need to ask for information, as the hunters who came to ply him with drinks would volunteer it.
The airship currently held the combat personnel of the Fifth Investigation Team, composed of half NPCs and half players. Their departure time was later than the first transport fleet, and to ensure maximum speed, the conventional living supplies on board were compressed to the limit, aiming to catch up to the ships ahead as quickly as possible.
And on that transport ship ahead, there was the Azure Star, a name equally renowned in hunter circles.
Cheng Tian was actually quite curious about who the Azure Star of this world would be. Would they share a save file with the template he had loaded back then?
He downed another glass of beer, which had almost no alcohol content, but Cheng Tian's gaze kept sweeping towards the lower areas.
Not just Cheng Tian, almost all the players made similar gestures, the reason being the adorable little creatures scurrying back and forth in the corridors, meowing—
Ailuros.
There are many different races in Heaven's Chosen Space, especially in places that specialize in related businesses; the sheer variety is enough for an explorer to write a "Heaven's Chosen Space Customs Handbook."
Players have also acquired many different race servants by taming them in various dungeons.
However, in terms of cuteness, few could truly compare to the unique beast-kin race, the "Ailuros," from the Monster Hunter world.
They are generally larger than regular house cats in appearance, but their physical form shows almost no prominent mutations. At most, they've transitioned from quadrupedal to bipedal, and their brain capacity has significantly increased, allowing them to understand human language and even acquire intelligence and status similar to humans. They have chosen to define themselves as a symbiotic race with humans.
Ailuros are capable of handling a wide range of tasks, including but not limited to cooking, combat, gathering, healing, and carting. Some novice guidance missions are even undertaken by Ailuros. It can be said that the diligent Ailuros bear a significant portion of human societal responsibilities.
Apart from those who simply dislike felines, not many people can resist Ailuros.
Cheng Tian, naturally, had never kept any pets, and even less so after inheriting his master's craft.
It wasn't that he completely didn't want to; it was just a matter of high professional standards. He wouldn't allow any hair or dust to appear in the sugar paintings he made for customers.
And ever since the internet further developed, Cheng Tian had also come to a conclusion—
Pets are always better when they belong to someone else!
Just as Cheng Tian was accepting drinks from an NPC hunter, he stopped his hand to scratch the chin of a passing Ailuros.
He scratched it with extremely skillful technique!
The Ailuros, clearly of calico lineage, which had been in the middle of fetching food, froze in place, squinted its eyes, and let out a soft, engine-like purr from deep within its throat.
Even as they became a highly intelligent beast-kin race, even more capable than many hunters, Ailuros's hands largely remained in the state of cat paws, while human's incredibly flexible fingers, to animals, were like magical tentacles, always making them unable to resist.
Cheng Tian's actions seemed to reassure many people, and Irene and the others, who had only been itching to act, also decisively started petting.
Soon, the Ailuros delivery system inside the airship fell into a temporary state of paralysis.
However, at this moment, Cheng Tian's hand suddenly stopped, and he looked towards the corner of the room's ceiling a step ahead of those around him.
And after Cheng Tian's gaze shifted, the tin loudspeaker there appropriately sounded.
"Attention all personnel! Elder Dragon detected! Extremely close to our transport fleet, with a very high risk of capsizing!"
Before the tin loudspeaker could finish speaking, Cheng Tian had already leaped lightly, jumping over the heads of the crowd, and directly darted onto the airship's deck, looking down against the strong wind.
On the turbulent sea, there were four transport ships from the Fifth Fleet of the Hunter's Guild, and beneath the normally dark sea, a colossal entity, red-colored like a self-moving active volcano, had already burst forth from the depths—
The Elder Dragon, Zorah Magdaros!
The transport ships, which were originally quite large, suddenly became miniature, like model toys, in comparison to the Zorah Magdaros that had erupted from the sea.
And one ship was particularly unlucky, getting directly snagged by the high-temperature, craggy rock protrusions on Zorah Magdaros's back, eventually being lifted tens of meters out of the water. Cheng Tian's scan had already captured this ship, now at a 90-degree vertical angle, with large amounts of supplies and humans uncontrollably free-falling both inside and outside the cabins.
Some splattered onto the sea surface, others slammed onto Zorah Magdaros's back.
However, Cheng Tian didn't even twitch an eyebrow at this sight.
For other worlds, this would definitely result in heavy casualties for humanity, but here, it was merely a trifle.
Whether hunters or Ailuros, everyone had iron knees + was a fall-resistance king.
People might be killed in any number of ways—claw attacks, dragon charges, tail sweeps, fire, lightning strikes, Kamehameha—all could be fatal, but they would never be killed by falling!
No matter how high!
It could be considered the underlying logical code of the Monster Hunter world.
As a relatively popular world for equipment and pet production, information about Monster Hunter was also widely disseminated in the Space; anyone who bought the data should have some understanding of this.
Regarding the tragic state of the transport ship, Cheng Tian could only say it was an unforeseen disaster.
This active volcano-like Elder Dragon wasn't enraged; it merely emerged from the sea because it was nearing the New World landing waters, nothing more. To it, the transport ship was just a leaf that accidentally stuck to its back.
But Cheng Tian's eyes glinted, and he suddenly got excited.
"I'm going to confirm something; I'll be right back!"
After throwing this statement to his companions, Cheng, with a leap of faith, actually flipped over the airship deck railing!
However, under the astonished or curious gazes of the group who followed, a silver surfboard had appeared beneath his feet, and he surfed directly down towards the sea not far from Zorah Magdaros.
He entered the water smoothly, without even causing a ripple, clearly indicating that the silver surfboard's phase-shifting state had activated.
Plunging into the sea, Cheng Tian didn't feel the cold, because the surrounding seawater had already been heated by Zorah Magdaros's body temperature to about thirty-four or thirty-five degrees Celsius.
And after entering the sea, Cheng Tian immediately directed his gaze towards Zorah Magdaros's feet—
Then he saw that its lower body was frequently emitting intense white bubbles, like an underwater volcanic eruption, assisting Zorah Magdaros in surfacing.
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