Chapter 176

Chapter 176, huh?

Although the hunter had wanted to lure it out by itself, it wasn’t wise to make it too easy.

After shaking off the Grand Team Leader who had been closely following for several days, a Spiny Dragon carrying the scent of a Smoky Snow Weasel arrived at the base nestled under the mountain and looked around.

A large block of dark green was quite conspicuous on the plain below the mountain. The investigators clearly saw it but did not rush into action.

The hunters stationed at the ballistae were ready, but without sufficient preparation, they didn’t dare to fire.

Because the counterattack from the master of the tree sea beneath them was more than they could currently handle.

“Damn, didn’t expect the Spiny Dragon would be lured over here.”

The Commander slapped his forehead and suddenly felt the plan from a few days ago had an explosive risk.

In the original plan, the Team Leader should have followed the Smoky Snow Weasel to find the Spiny Dragon, not directly lure the Spiny Dragon near the base.

It seemed like they could take advantage of various military supplies on the ship, with the home-field advantage, but in reality, there was a higher possibility that their home-field would also be destroyed.

“Where’s the Team Leader?”

“He went out again last night and hasn’t returned yet.”

The hunter replied.

The Team Leader hadn’t caught up with the Smoky Snow Weasel after several rounds, so he went out to look for the missing one.

“He shouldn’t be too far away; let’s launch a signal flare to call him back.”

There’s no denying that the Blond Man was indeed the most important pillar in times of crisis.

A signal flare was shot into the sky to recall all nearby investigators.

“Should we try to lure the Spiny Dragon away again?”

“No rush, let’s wait until the Team Leader returns before making any decisions.”

Solving the problem was simple enough; the risks hadn’t reached a completely uncontrollable level yet.

The mission personally undertaken by the Team Leader, best to wait for him to return and make the final decision.

Time passed slowly, Jié Jié glanced at the hunters on the mountain, coiled his body, and entered sleep.

“The Spiny Dragon has fallen asleep! I see the Team Leader!”

The Compiler holding the telescope shouted and handed it over to the Commander as soon as he came forward.

“Great!”

Seeing the Team Leader waving his hand upward, the Commander relaxed.

As the golden-haired man waved and beckoned in the lens, the Commander raised an eyebrow and said:

“Hunters, go down and check the situation. Use some tranquilizer balls first to deepen its sleep.”

“Alright.”

The hunters felt no sense of danger about this, instead, they were somewhat excited, quickly walking down the mountain and aiming the tranquilizer balls at the Spiny Dragon’s mouth and nose.

Jié Jié, pretending to sleep, only felt something strange entering his nostrils. With the drowsiness already lingering, it surged again, turning fake sleep into real sleep.

Too careless.

This was his last thought before his consciousness completely sank.

“Ho ho, is it dead asleep?”

The Team Leader examined the Spiny Dragon, waiting for a moment before trying to pry open its tightly shut eyelids with a skinning knife.

The Spiny Dragon still showed no response.

“Confirmed safe. Let the scholars come down, but don’t slack off. This isn’t a monster captured after exhausting its strength and left to be slaughtered.”

The Master Swordsman escorted the scholar down to the foot of the mountain to begin close-range data collection on the Spiny Dragon.

“This is a male Spiny Dragon, and even after the breeding season ended, its patterns haven’t disappeared. We haven’t witnessed any female Spiny Dragons either, so our previous assumptions can be discarded.”

After completing the external data records, the scholar carefully climbed onto the Spiny Dragon’s back and began observing up close with a magnifying glass.

“The cause of these patterns now appears very simple: frequent battles. The prolonged and excessive use of its shell caused its blood vessels to dilate and then never recede.”

“It must have been a battle to the death.”

This answer was much more thrilling than the romantic notion of beautiful adornments during the breeding season. What kind of danger could force even a laid-back Spiny Dragon into a battle to the death?

Battles to the death often occur between same-species monsters, like Slaying Dragons, or some particularly ferocious monsters.

Under normal circumstances, if the ecological niches differ greatly, it’s either one side preying on the other or the other fleeing.

If the ecological niches are similar and both sides find preying on each other too difficult, they wouldn’t engage in a battle to the death. Often, after testing each other’s strength, they’d disengage.

Whether it was forcing the Spiny Dragon into a battle to the death or making the Spiny Dragon feel threatened enough to fight, imagining such a monster was hard.

Other than Ancient Dragons, what else could it be?

What happened during the time the master of the tree sea disappeared?

“To survive a battle to the death to this extent, it’s incredibly strong. Its temperament might have become aggressive due to frequent battles.”

The scholar paused:

“We’re not ready yet.”

“I understand, I’ll take responsibility for luring it away.”

The Team Leader nodded, indicating that he would resolve the issue he caused.

“This isn’t just your problem. I mean, we’re a team.”

The elderly scholar from the Dragon People Tribe lifted his head, looking around before continuing:

“There aren’t just you who want to rush ahead. Let’s get some blood samples and materials.”

“Ah? Hahaha, alright!”

The Team Leader’s gaze swept around, nodding as he pulled out the skinning knife behind him and began gesturing on the Spiny Dragon.

The Spiny Dragon’s shell was thick and hard, and the sharp skinning knife could only leave white marks on it.

Using point-to-surface stabs, veins bulged on the Team Leader’s arms as he finally managed to stab through, but only the tip of the blade could draw a bit of surface blood, which had no reference value.

He began cutting while others watched the Spiny Dragon’s movements, preparing to add more tranquilizers if needed.

“Hah! It’s really hard.”

The blade slid diagonally out, but the blood seeped back into the closed shell.

The Team Leader shook his shoulders, gripping the skinning knife with both hands, carefully observed the shell patterns, and widened the wound again.

The blood filled the wound on the shell but kept being absorbed back.

“Let me try.”

The female hunter drew the serrated katana from her back, aimed at the wound, and delivered a spinning slash.

The wound heated slightly from the friction, widening into a grotesque line.

The Spiny Dragon didn’t wake up, so they started collecting the bodily fluids flowing from the wound.

“The tissue fluid is too abundant; we need to go deeper.”

Examining the liquid in the bottle, the scholar shook his head.

“Shall we continue?”

The female hunter looked at the wound and the sleeping Spiny Dragon, unsure.

“The rest should be done more delicately.”

The Team Leader took her place, pushing the knife into the wound inch by inch with his palm, while the other hunters appropriately added more tranquilizers to the Spiny Dragon’s sleep.

A slight pain made him withdraw his hand, and blood flowed along the blade he pulled out.

The ominous blood dripped onto the ground, solidifying on the green grass.

When the red blood crystallized into purple, everyone held their breath.

“Ah?”