Chapter 99: The Freezer Sac
It had to be said that the creatures of this world possessed incredibly tenacious vitality.
Even a relatively "glass cannon" existence like the Legiana hadn't perished after taking a massive blast from Logan's Thunder Cannon and suffering a heavy fall from the sky. Judging by its state, it seemed that given enough food and a period of rest, it might have actually recovered to its original condition.
After all, based on game logic, monsters that had their tails severed could completely regrow them after a while. Considering a tail contains sections of the vertebrae, if they can regrow a spine, regenerating limbs or wings would be child's play for these monsters.
Unfortunately, this Legiana wouldn't get that chance.
Logan leaped from a giant rock, took a few sprinting strides across the ground, and used the immense momentum of his dive to slam a heavy paw onto the Legiana's head, pinning its skull deep into the earth.
Already critically wounded, the Legiana had no strength left to resist. Under Logan's relentless assault, it was quickly dazed. With a fierce lash of his tail, the sharp edge swept across the Legiana's slender neck; the head was severed instantly, and blood erupted like a fountain.
A light blue notification flashed before his eyes: Legiana Hunted. Evolution Points +10.
With the battle ending without suspense, Logan and Zhu Peiniang each gripped a wing of the Legiana in their mouths and dragged the massive carcass back to the hollow beneath the giant rock.
While the Legiana might fall short compared to some of the more powerful Flying Wyverns, it was still a High-Rank Flying Wyvern occupying the top of the standard ecological niche in the Coral Highlands. Every part of its body held significant value.
Seeing Logan and Zhu Peiniang return, several Grimalkynes emerged from behind the rocks where they had been hiding. After a brief exchange, they began skillfully butchering the Legiana's corpse.
They all held the feather-shaped scales Logan had gifted them. The sharp blades moved carefully along the Legiana's wounds, meticulously peeling away the tough membrane in one complete layer.
Next came the massive quantities of meat, which required no processing—they went straight into the bellies of the two behemoths. Of course, the nutrient-rich internal organs weren't wasted either. The slender yet resilient wing bones were rare materials, and the most vital organ—the Freezer Sac—was carefully preserved by the Grimalkynes.
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"Seriously, how does this thing even work?"
Logan stared at the white, sac-like organ, finding it logically baffling no matter how he looked at it.
As common knowledge dictates, "cold" isn't an actual form of energy; it is merely the outward manifestation of heat loss. The laws of thermodynamics state that heat always flows from a high-temperature area to a low-temperature area. What is typically called "refrigeration" is essentially spending more energy to move heat out of a specific object.
Take the cooling methods common in his previous life: most relied on the principles of thermal expansion and contraction. In that process, heat doesn't just vanish; instead, a vast amount of electrical energy is consumed.
If the Legiana operated on the same principle—manufacturing a liquid nitrogen-like ultra-low temperature fluid within its body—it would inevitably require an immense amount of energy for compression. Doing all that just for a single means of attack seemed like a losing bargain from an energy conversion standpoint.
Using liquid nitrogen—the coldest substance a normal person could encounter in his past life—as an example: producing one liter requires about 2000 kJ of energy, roughly equivalent to the heat content of seventy to eighty grams of coal. However, that same liter of liquid nitrogen can only absorb about 340 kJ of heat (relative to 25°C room temperature), which is only about eleven grams of coal's worth of heat.
Furthermore, the closer one gets to absolute zero, the wider this energy conversion gap becomes. It was clearly inefficient.
Even if a Legiana could produce hundreds of liters of liquid nitrogen in its body, the total heat it could absorb would only equal the energy of ten kilograms of coal—hardly comparable to the energy released by a Rathalos's fire breath. Factoring in the losses during heat conduction, even drenching a large animal in that liquid nitrogen might not necessarily freeze it to death.
By these calculations, this "Freezer Sac" organ wasn't just a bad investment; it was a total "money pit." Yet, looking at the Legiana's actual performance, the extreme low temperatures it produced were far beyond what liquid nitrogen could achieve. And the way the Legiana sprayed that cold so freely didn't look like it required massive energy conversion at all.
Could the Freezer Sac be a sort of "one-way heat valve"? Where heat stored inside can only flow out but not in? But even so, how would that heat be dissipated?
Or was there a chemical reaction involved? For instance, something like saltpeter that absorbs heat and is then expelled, reaching ultra-low temperatures through a repetitive cycle?
Or perhaps the sac contained a type of bacteria that "fed" on temperature? Bacteria that could rapidly devour heat to multiply, converting pure thermal energy into physical matter, thereby creating an ultra-cold liquid?
Logan couldn't figure it out. It was undoubtedly a form of "black technology." He could only marvel that the "science" of the Monster Hunter world was truly terrifying; any supernatural ability seemed achievable just by having a corresponding "sac." It was simple and crude.
Thinking about it, could he also evolve such an illogical organ?
Logan checked and found that he indeed could, though the required Evolution Points were quite substantial. The more "unreasonable" the ability, the more points it cost.
Better not think about that for now, he thought. I'll just stick to my plan and take it one step at a time.
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To a hunter, this Freezer Sac might be a rare and precious material used for crafting excellent equipment. However, Logan and the Grimalkynes lacked such high-level craftsmanship, so they could only process it using the tribe's primitive methods.
The process looked similar to tanning rawhide, involving the use of the Legiana's brain matter and bone marrow, combined with plants carried by the Grimalkynes, for repeated kneading. It was said this process had to be repeated many times until the final product became soft and elastic while retaining a portion of the Freezer Sac's special properties.
In other words, they would end up with a bag that had a built-in "freshness preservation" function. That was actually quite handy.
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After a brief rest, Logan's group set off on their return journey. This time, the backs of the two behemoths were laden with various bundles—all materials harvested from the Legiana.
As for being treated like a pack animal, Logan didn't care at all. He had no notions of "dragon pride" or anything of the sort. Such thoughts were far too chuunibyou for him; after all, he had lived half a lifetime in his previous world and was quite open-minded about these things.
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