Chapter 17: The Thief
How are territories divided among monsters?
The answer is that there’s no real division—everything depends on power and keen judgment.
Why do large monsters always patrol their territories? If they don’t, other monsters might casually wander by and expand their own territories while patrolling.
Where do these new territories come from? Often, they’re areas that another large monster has just marked.
Large monsters cross paths at the edges of each other’s territories, leaving marks behind. This territorial updating can mean an area belongs to a Black Wolf Bird in the morning but becomes a Savage Jaw Dragon’s turf by afternoon.
Typically, one monster will follow the scent and beat up the other to make it clear with brute force: “This territory is mine.” This ends the bizarre phenomenon of “Quantum Entanglement” regarding territory ownership.
This situation also leads to stronger monsters frequently marking new territories, getting into fights every day. Meanwhile, defeated monsters shift their territories toward weaker ones.
The territories of the strong always migrate toward fertile hunting grounds, encompassing them.
If someone were to truly datafy and create a map for the monsters to see, they’d likely be utterly confused.
Monsters’ territories are not fixed and are full of “border frictions,” highly validating the monster-centric theory: territories revolve around monsters.
Jié Jié stared at a pile of unfamiliar dung in his territory and fell deep into thought. Then he silently raised his claw, dug some soil, and flipped it over to cover the dung.
He then sniffed the air and rubbed a big blob of mucus onto a tree trunk.
But this clearly wasn’t enough. How could he not return a neighbor’s visit when they came knocking?
Jié Jié took long strides, wanting to see who this mysterious neighbor was. He wouldn’t initiate a fight, but if the other roared at him, he couldn’t help but retaliate.
He just lacked the confidence for aerial dogfights. But after transforming into a Savage Jaw Dragon form, he had become even more formidable in land battles.
Jié Jié followed the scent forward. Numerous giant trees’ roots intertwined above his head as he entered a corridor. There were puddles on the ground.
The massive claws of the Savage Jaw Dragon stepped into the puddle, splashing water droplets that reflected golden light.
On the tree walls, Thunder Light Bugs flapped their wings, creating a crackling sound.
A new scent entered the Savage Jaw Dragon’s nose. His nasal crest bulged again, and Jie Jie looked up along the scent, meeting a pair of orange-yellow eyes. Behind the eyes stretched two red streaks, like eyeshadow.
The owner of those eyes crouched on the dome, observing him through the cracks.
At the moment their gazes met, the creature darted away like a giant black rat.
“Was that…a Swift Dragon?”
The Savage Jaw Dragon’s nostrils huffed and puffed as his back membrane unfolded slightly to dissipate heat.
That thing had already vanished from sight. Chasing after it would be futile, so he shook his head and continued looking for his neighbor.
Jié Jié had just taken control of this territory. Though his territorial awareness had begun to develop, it wasn’t strong enough for him to realize that the Swift Dragon was heading toward his territory.
The Swift Dragon leapt gracefully between the trees and soon arrived where the Black Wolf Bird had fallen the previous day.
The emerald tree canopy had been torn open by a Fire Dragon’s fireball. It carefully avoided the sunlight falling down and hid in the shade of the forest.
The Swift Dragon sniffed the complex scents lingering here, extracting the portion belonging to the original owner of this territory.
The old Savage Jaw Dragon smelled different from the one he had seen earlier.
Swift Dragons usually observe the patterns of activity of other large predators in their area, seizing opportunities to feed when the other isn’t home.
Its territory lurks beneath the overt lords, resisting conflict with them. A strange lord meant it needed to observe its activity patterns more to avoid it.
Following the old lord’s trail, the Swift Dragon arrived at the lake, hiding in the dimly lit forest and watching the center of the lake closely.
The corpse of the original lord lay there…
The smell of burnt flesh, the Savage Jaw Dragon’s scent, the scent of the new monster, and the scent of the new Savage Jaw Dragon all mixed together, impacting the Swift Dragon’s brain.
It couldn’t figure out what had happened here before, but the Savage Jaw Dragon corpse in the middle of the lake was undeniably tempting, gradually occupying the Swift Dragon’s mind.
Swift Dragons don’t eat carrion; the bodies of large monsters don’t rot easily. This corpse would last it a long time.
The meat of large monsters is rich, firm, and nutritious, far surpassing the Fairy Deer it usually eats.
Still, it remained cautious. After confirming there were no other large predators lurking nearby, it circled around the lake and approached stealthily.
Enduring the strong daylight, the Swift Dragon stopped on the tree roots.
A burnt smell filled its nose. Looking down, it saw burn marks on the tree roots.
This was the scent of the foreign monster, which had left its mark here. So what was the new Savage Jaw Dragon?
By now, the Swift Dragon, which often poached, quietly bit into the Savage Jaw Dragon’s corpse. It was heavy.
It jumped onto the dragon carcass and examined it, using sharp teeth to tear open the skin and rip off half a side of meat. Carrying the meat, it darted back into the forest like a happy 18-meter-long rat.
Meanwhile, Jie Jie had no idea his domain had been robbed on the second day he found it. He was greeting his neighbor.
His neighbor was a Fang Dragon type—a very familiar one.
Its head bore a pair of wolf-ear-like yellow-brown dragon horns. Its skin was covered with broad yellow shells, tiny blue scales, and white fur.
Thunder Wolf Dragon, the old rival and friend in the game, a great teacher for Katana Warriors. Moreover, the armor crafted from its materials is aesthetically pleasing, so hunters respectfully call it “Lei Niang” (a pun for “Lady Thunder”).
But the Thunder Wolf Dragon in front of Jie Jie didn’t seem suitable for such a cute nickname.
This Thunder Wolf Dragon was quite large, seemingly old. Its front claws seemed injured and limped, and one of its wolf-ear-like horns was broken.
Thunder Wolf Dragons are highly social. They should normally patrol their territories in groups. But this one was alone—
It appeared to be an old creature expelled from its group.
Upon seeing Jie Jie, the Thunder Wolf Dragon didn’t growl threateningly. It just coldly stared at him. The fur on its injured front claws bristled with electricity as it scratched the ground.
Its muscles were tense, and all its fur stood on end due to the electric charge. Some Thunder Light Bugs flew out from between its fur.
Remember, in the game, Thunder Wolf Dragons always roar when entering the Dragon Light state.
But this one was silent. Even though it just stood there, it put considerable pressure on Jie Jie.
He felt that if he roared, this guy would definitely leap over and slap him.
