After nearly half a year of preparation, the second wave of ships has arrived in the New World. Along with a batch of supplementary hunters from the Fifth Fleet, a large amount of investigation supplies were also delivered. After successfully driving off the Anjanath, the hunters at the base have begun preparations for the capture and restraint of Zorah Magdaros. However, due to the extensive civil engineering work required, the actual operation is scheduled to take place a month later.
Unlike in the game, the Hunter's Guild has a significant amount of preparatory work to complete. Tasks such as felling trees, reinforcing walls, installing ballistae and cannons, digging holes in the walls, and setting traps are all part of the massive workload. These tasks have been distributed among the newly arrived hunters. As for Bai Feng, the leader of the Fifth Fleet, she naturally doesn't need to involve herself in such low-skill tasks. Instead, she has to address issues with the Anjanath and Tobi-Kadachi, as well as gather materials for the construction of the base camp.
Meanwhile, six months have been enough for Tian Hui's fields to yield mature crops. It has cleared several plots of farmland on the isolated island, using dragon dung as fertilizer and soil base, successfully preventing creatures like the Shamos, Archaeopteryx, and small Wingdrakes from stealing the hard-earned Rockfruit and Dragonfruit. On the other hand, the "seasonings" like Blastshrooms and Nitroshrooms have been left untouched, except for the occasional nibble by a Rathalos. None of the other wyverns seem interested in them.
None of the other wyverns would even touch these things.
However, recently, some bizarre incidents have occurred. The number of fruits it had gathered for making beverages didn't match its memory, as if something had been sneaking in to eat them. Yet, there were no traces left behind—no footprints, nothing. This was quite strange. To address this, it had patrolled with its iron spear for several days but failed to catch the "thief." Well, this might also be because the sound of its flight was too loud, making it unsuitable for hovering and scouting tasks.
So today, Tian Hui decided to try a new method to guard its food storage. Especially after discovering that one of the eggs it had collected from the herbivorous wyverns was missing, it realized that if it didn't figure out who the culprit was, it might return one day to find all its stored food and ingredients gone. Such a blow would be hard for a young dragon to endure twice in a short period...
As night fell, the lack of light wasn't an issue for Tian Hui, who had low-light vision. The scent of an Elder Dragon was like a giant beacon to the non-stealthy, ambush-style hunter that Tian Hui was. Thus, it deliberately chose to immerse itself in water—a pool originally intended for raising fish. However, because it couldn't resist eating the fish, the fish-raising project always failed during the preparation stage. The pool had since been left unused and now served as a place for it to bathe and deal with parasites.
It discovered that adding certain herbs and materials was effective in killing the parasites beneath its scales—unfortunately, as a solitary creature, the Tian Hui dragon is not a social species that lives in groups or forms communities. Therefore, it has no way to exchange anything within a group. In fact, it has never even seen another Tian Hui dragon. Of course, it's also possible that due to the immense appetite of their kind, they frequently engage in long-distance migrations and change hunting grounds.
Perhaps because it never occurred to anyone that a loud and imposing wyvern like the Tian Hui dragon could ambush, a white, fluffy creature appeared in the "field." Then, the plant bearing fruits shook a few times, and a red fruit mysteriously disappeared. "Found you!" The young dragon suddenly leapt out of the pool, and the white creature, with astonishing agility, turned and fled. It seemed capable of flight, albeit not very high, which explained the lack of footprints or traces.
However, trying to outfly a Tian Hui dragon, one of the most skilled and capable fliers among wyverns, was not a sign of high intelligence, the young dragon thought. With a trail of blue flames trailing behind it, the dragon quickly caught up to the little thief, swooping low over its head. Despite its frantic flapping of its tiny wings, the creature couldn't escape the claws that came down upon it. As a gourmet, the young dragon didn't share the narrow diet of other wyverns, so this plump, unidentified creature wasn't going to get away.
But... what is this thing? The young dragon curiously looked at the creature pinned under its claw. It had a head larger than its body, nearly invisible eyes, a long, thin antenna on its head with a red ball at the tip, and a pair of bat-like wings. It looked soft and plump... perhaps... it would taste good roasted.
Under the hungry gaze of the dragon's eyes, the creature trembled. "Kubo! I'm going to be eaten, help! Kubo!" "Huh?" The young dragon tilted its head. Could this thing actually speak? Though its mouth didn't seem to move. It must be some kind of language transmitted directly into the mind. Well, that's not important—the real question is, is it tasty?
The dragon's claw poked at the soft creature, analyzing its texture with the expertise of a professional chef, and began to devise a specialized recipe—one where this creature would be the main ingredient. "The meat is soft, similar to those squishy creatures. It probably won't taste great," the young dragon pondered. Maybe it should be kept as emergency rations for now, waiting until the right cooking method is figured out by experimenting with those sponge-like creatures by the water. Such a rare ingredient shouldn't be wasted carelessly—it must be prepared and treated with proper care.
Thus, an overturned broken jar became the new home for this creature—or rather, the new storage spot for this lump of reserve food. Though it seemed to think of itself as being captured or imprisoned, it appeared to hold a somewhat blind optimism about its future fate, even attempting to steal some of the young dragon's other reserve food nearby.
However, the existence of this reserve food also made the young dragon ponder briefly about what to feed it. This problem was quickly resolved, as it decided to use the leftover scraps from its meals—parts it didn't like to eat—to feed the creature. It even gave itself a mental pat on the back for this idea of turning waste into treasure. Perhaps in the future, it could use the unwanted leftovers from its meals to feed other creatures and then use them as reserve food, saving itself the trouble of flying long distances to find suitable ingredients.
With a splash, fish eggs the size of a human thumb were poured onto a stone slab coated with herbivore pig fat. Then, the young dragon pulled out a herbivore dragon egg from the wooden frame behind it, cracked it open, and poured it into a clay pot. Its long, slender tail acted as a whisk, swiftly beating and mixing the contents into a thick egg mixture. The partially cooked fish eggs and berries from the stone slab were tossed into the egg mixture, and the stirring continued.
After gradually adding some seasoning like crystal salt, the young dragon buried the entire ceramic pot in a grill made of wooden logs. Six pairs of jet wings quickly ignited it. Under high heat, the egg mixture slowly solidified. Finally, after the young dragon finished another dish of grilled fish skin, the solidified substance, now orange-red in color, was poured out. From its appearance, it could almost be called the dark cuisine of a novice foodie, and it could be declared that its "snack" trial was half a failure.
However, the taste was surprisingly good. It had a smooth, tender texture, mixed with the delightful flavor of fish roe. The taste of sour berries nicely balanced the earthy and greasy flavor of the herbivorous dragon egg. The only dissatisfaction was its overly dark appearance, which made the young dragon feel somewhat disappointed. Moreover, this dish didn't seem easy to carry, so it appeared that experimenting with other forms of snacks was necessary.
Thus, the water beasts, who had been happily coexisting with this gluttonous ancient dragon on the island for some time, faced a catastrophic fate. The young dragon discovered that their sponge-like flesh could be extracted to yield a substance similar to starch, but was actually meat. It was intended for creating new snack products. The sad part was that for the intelligent dragon, which primarily fed on aquatic creatures, the water beasts themselves were part of its diet. Although it was a last resort to eat that part, it also meant they were almost impossible to escape the latter's predation.
On the bright side, the young dragon had no need for most of their flesh, only the connective tissue-like growth near their necks. In other words, they could still keep their lives. As for whether this meant the young dragon would periodically harvest this lion-like mane structure as it regrew, causing them pain... it's hard to say which side was luckier.
Dragon egg liquid and a certain amount of water beast powder were mixed and stirred, then combined with the powder from hard fruits to form a pale red paste. After coating an obsidian griddle with herbivorous pig fat, the paste was evenly spread on it. Under high heat, it quickly turned into a soft yet firm egg pancake. At this point, pickled fish roe from bite fish or dragon fish was placed on top, along with chopped dragon fruit flowers and cactus, and a white liver sauce sweetened with honey instead of dairy. Finally, it was rolled into a crescent shape—thus, the "Dragon Egg Rice Wrap: Celestial Wisdom Bento" was completed.
After tasting it, the dragon found it quite satisfying. From then on, it no longer had to endure unpalatable raw meat and wild fruits during hunts. In other words, this dragon had already refined its palate to a high degree. In terms of its diet and the variety of prey it hunted, it had developed a stark difference from other Celestial Wisdom Dragons, almost to the point of being called a peculiar or mutated species. Not only that, but even in terms of eating habits alone, it might not strictly belong to the Wyvern category anymore.
"The Dragon Egg Rice Wrap: Celestial Wisdom Bento," "Dragon-style Pan-fried Dumplings: Celestial Wisdom Snack," and "Honey Cream Water Beast Floss Cake: Celestial Wisdom Rations" collectively make up the renowned Celestial Wisdom Dragon Meal Set, suitable for picnics, late-night snacks, and portable rations. The only issue is that this meal set is almost equivalent to lethal poison for hunters. None of the seasonings used meet human food safety standards, as they contain excessive heavy metals and multiple toxic substances.
Fortunately, due to certain circumstances, the head chef later recreated a feline version of the "Hunter's Three-Meal Set," somewhat alleviating the regret of hunters who longed to taste the delicacies but dared not. As for how the toxicity was discovered, it was thanks to the poison-testing efforts of Ms. Savage Deviljho. Thanks to her, no serious casualties occurred among the hunters, though the cost was that Ms. Savage Deviljho suffered from severe stomach upset and weakness, leaving her unable to eat for several days... Well, in a way, that was quite a significant price to pay.
"Kupo, are you inviting Kupo to eat?" The fluffy white creature stared at the massive object that might be a pot in front of it. The milky broth was filled with roughly chopped marinated dragon meat, giant lobster, pearl clams, large slices of tuna, and chunks of cactus fruit, dragon fruit flowers, green mushrooms, and heartbeat mushrooms, exuding a rich aroma. "Then Kupo won't hold back." The fluffy white creature somehow produced a bowl and was about to serve itself when it was stopped by a wooden paddle.
It stared blankly as the young dragon raised one of its wing segments. The fully closed, elongated, feather-like wing, far longer than those of a typical Celestial Wisdom Dragon, resembled a giant cleaver. The bluish-black "blade" seemed to have a smooth, glazed surface—a crystalline layer that had formed at some unknown time. It must be said that the consequences of consuming Elder Dragon life essence crystals as if they were salt were quite severe. These overly long wing segments were already hindering its normal flight, and it would need to find a way to grind them down later to prevent the entire wing from growing into a fully closed state.
The other party seemed completely unaware of its own status or identity, or perhaps it hadn't anticipated that today would be the day its purpose would be fulfilled. Through research on water beasts, the young dragon had discovered how to consume this spongy flesh. The method was to extract it, wash it, roast it over fire until it shrank, and then add some extracted juices and seasonings. This transformed it into something akin to the bread humans eat—soft, sweet, and meaty, with a much more substantial texture than bread made from grain flour.
After absorbing the broth, the texture became so delicate that it seemed to melt in the mouth with the slightest pressure. This delightful sensation left the young dragon extremely satisfied—so much so that it spent several days tirelessly preparing the ingredients and cooking this pot of accompanying "Ocean-Sky Supreme Seafood Chowder." It even prepared the herbal juices and grilling rack for processing the meat afterward. Now, all that remained was to make the decisive move...
"Kupo?" The white creature stared blankly at the sharp wing segment, then glanced at the nearby soup pot, and finally noticed the bloodstained wooden stump and tools that it had previously assumed were just ordinary cooking implements. Suddenly, it realized something... "Kupo!!!!!!!!"