Meow Squad's Great Adventure!

You could see many furry creatures about a meter tall walking around. Some were holding stone or bone weapons, some wore simple armor made of wood blocks, and others had a string of cubs following behind them, tumbling on the ground as they played.

Their fur was black all over, with only white stripes on their chests, bellies, shoulders, or limbs. Between the white fur on their bellies was a red pattern shaped like a cat's paw—to be precise, each of these furry creatures looked like a cat that could walk upright.

Detel, if Xingyan saw these little things, he would recognize them immediately.

They were native Beastmen Race living on the New World, and the Detel tribe of the Great Sand Sea called themselves the Wasteland Guardian Tribe.

"This is terrible, meow!!"

The Detel warrior returning from outside didn't even have time to pet his own little furballs before he ran on all fours towards the tribal chief sitting by the bonfire.

(Given that Felyne in the wilderness started speaking human language so many years later, it's set that the Beastmen Race also have their own culture and language, so I won't have them meow back and forth with bracketed translations.)

"Don't panic like that, Shanshan," said the long-bearded Detel chief, turning his head. "If you act like this, how can I rest assured in handing the tribe over to you, meow?"

"Yes! Shanshan knows he was wrong, meow!" The young Detel warrior immediately straightened his cat-like back, trying to look more serious. "What now, meow?"

"Very good, that's more like it, meow," the Detel chief stroked his cat whiskers with satisfaction. "As the best warrior in the tribe, you are the next chief, meow. So no matter what happens, you must remain calm, otherwise everyone will panic, meow."

"I understand, meow!"

"Mhm, so what were you saying just now, meow?"

"It's like this, Chief," Shanshan said with a serious cat face. "That Great Monster Dragon is almost at the tribe's location. At the latest, it should be visible from here in two days, meow! You can probably see it if you peek out from here!"

"What?!" The Detel chief, who had a peaceful smile just moments ago, suddenly sprang up from the bonfire. "This, this—this is a major disaster, meow!!!"

"Huh? Aren't you supposed to stay calm, meow?" Shanshan asked, looking at the old chief who had jumped three feet in the air.

"You idiot, meow! Is this the time to worry about such trivial matters, meow!" A cane knocked Shanshan's cat head. The Detel chief hurriedly paced back and forth on the ground, turning left and right. "You should have said something so urgent as soon as you saw me, meow! We can't waste time, meow!!"

Shanshan: "..."

Fine, fine, you have a lot of whiskers, I dare not speak.

Dare not speak, dare not be angry, meow!

"...Let me think about what to do, let me think, meow... Should we move? We finally found such a good place..."

The Detel chief began to circle the bonfire, such a life-or-death matter leaving him no room for calm.

In fact, many Wasteland Guardian Tribe Detel tribes lived in the underground world of the Great Sand Sea. Through years of living and exploration, they each occupied a territory, surviving by hunting small creatures and fish from underground rivers, and by collecting plants and mushrooms.

Such food sources meant that the number of tribe members each area could support was limited. If they were to relocate rashly now, let alone whether another area could support so many people after the move, the number of tribesmen who would be sacrificed during the relocation process alone was an unknown.

The surface of the Great Sand Sea was fraught with danger, and the underground world was no peaceful and friendly place either.

Even though the Detel acted collectively during hunts or battles, setting traps, fighting in groups, and even defeating some small dragon-like creatures, they themselves did not possess very high combat power. The weapons they used were also very ordinary, mostly spears made of branches, stones, and bones.

Different tribal branches of the Detel had different hunting styles. For example, the Detel of the Wasteland Guardian Tribe used shields, but as the saying goes—their combat power was not strong.

Let's put it this way, even the Kulu-Ya-Ku brothers could make the Detel scatter like chickens. Don't look at the Kulu-Ya-Ku brothers acting like younger siblings next to Xingyan, as if anyone could kick them, but Kulu-Ya-Ku can generally grow to be over three meters tall and nine meters long. Compared to the average one-meter-tall Detel... you get the picture.

And small dragon-like creatures like Kulu-Ya-Ku were the largest dragon-like creatures the Detel could defeat after exhausting their entire tribe's strength. To the Detel, creatures the size of Xingyan were no different from ordinary people seeing Godzilla.

They were the type that could crush them with a single stomp, making it impossible to even muster the desire to fight. Digging a hole to escape was the first choice.

And now, these two were gathered together...

"We really have to move, meow!"

After circling the bonfire three times to the left and three times to the right, the Detel chief made a world-shattering declaration with world-shattering wisdom.

With just one meow, the Detel chief had successfully stirred up the tension of the Detel currently remaining in the tribal area.

"Are we really moving, meow?! Meow just finished building my new little nest, meow!"

"Where are we moving to, meow? It's so dangerous outside, meow!"

"Why did it turn out like this, meow? We harvested so much food the first time, and we could stay home and warm ourselves by the fire for a long time, meow. Two happy things combined brought me more happiness. It should have been a dream-like happy time, meow... But why did it turn out like this, meow..."

"No, meow..."

"..."

For a moment, the Detel tribal area was filled with various wails.

As long as a species has developed civilization and culture, they always have deep feelings for the land they have lived on for a long time. This Detel tribe had lived here for hundreds of years. Their ancestors were born, grew up, and died here.

They were familiar with everything here, whether it was the caves producing mushrooms nearby, the underground river ponds where big fish appeared, or the slopes where the little furballs could play safely...

The huge prey skeletons brought back by the brave hunts of their ancestors were still decorating the cave walls. Generations of Detel had recorded their history on the walls in the form of murals... There were too many good things accumulated here that they were reluctant to leave, and they couldn't take them either.

As long as they could stay, no one would like the feeling of leaving their homeland.

Beastmen are also people, who can they tell their inner pain to?

"E-everyone, please don't be sad, meow! Things might still turn around, meow!" Seeing his tribesmen crying, Shanshan quickly comforted them.

"Hmm? What do you mean, meow?" The old chief stroked his whiskers. "Is that Great Monster Dragon leaving, meow?"

"That's not it, meow," Shanshan scratched his head. "Haven't we been following that Great Monster Dragon for many days, meow? It really did build its nest in the Glowing Cave... Well, I meant that besides the Great Monster Dragon, there's another dragon! That bad guy who steals eggs, meow!"

"That guy..." The old chief understood who Shanshan was talking about. "Why are they together, meow?"

"I don't know, meow," Shanshan shook his head. "But I saw the egg thief hand the stolen eggs to the Great Monster Dragon, meow! Several times! The Great Monster Dragon didn't attack the egg thief, meow!"

Based on the experience passed down through generations of the Detel Tribe, this situation is extremely abnormal. The egg thief was just a small dragon, but the Great Monster Dragon, according to their classification, is a giant dragon. It's practically impossible for giant dragons and small dragons to act together, and many giant dragons even hunt small dragons as food.

"There's actually such a thing, meow?!" The old tribal chief's eyes widened in surprise, "You mean--?!"

"That's right, meow!" Shanshan nodded vigorously, "We can steal eggs too, meow! We can also give eggs to the Great Monster Dragon, meow! And we have more cats! We steal faster and more, meow!! The Great Monster Dragon will definitely be very happy, meow!!"

"What you said--makes sense, meow!" The old tribal chief slapped his paw and patted Shanshan's shoulder with relief, "In that case, let us old guys go, meow!"

"Eh?!" Shanshan's cat eyes widened, "How can that be, meow! Chief! We who are fast should go, meow!"

"You idiot! I told you to stay calm when something happens, meow! Don't shout, meow!" A cane knocked Shanshan on the head. Seeing Shanshan clutching his head with his eyes spinning, the old tribal chief coughed and said sternly, "From now on, Shanshan is the new chief, meow! Everyone must listen to him from now on, meow!"

"How can this be?!" Shanshan forgot to even meow, his mouth agape.

"What's not to like, meow?" The old tribal chief hugged him with relief, "You are already the strongest in the tribe, meow, and you can think of solutions when facing danger. This already makes you a qualified chief, meow! Keep working hard, meow!"

"But, but--what about you, Chief, meow?" Shanshan still wouldn't give up, "Since Shanshan is already the chief, meow, you have to listen to Shanshan too, meow!"

He could understand why the old tribal chief wanted to personally offer the egg and specifically gave him the position of chief before leaving.

Unlike in the past, where they merely hid in the shadows to observe and fled immediately when danger arose, this time, going meant they had to expose themselves and risk communicating with a large monster—a slight misstep could lead to death in the monster's jaws.

Shanshan's eyes welled up with tears.

"Idiot, meow! Not this time, meow!!" Another cane knocked Shanshan's cat head, and the old tribal chief said irritably, "You have your mission too, meow! Don't forget what I taught you before, meow... Now hurry up and help us steal some eggs, meow! We have to wait there before the Great Monster Dragon leaves its nest tomorrow, meow."

Under the old tribal chief's insistence, the new chief Shanshan couldn't persuade him and could only lead the Detel Hunting Team to steal a few eggs from the Diablos.

Well, in a sense, it couldn't really be called stealing. The Detel of the Wasteland Guardian Tribe had mastered a method of domesticating Diablos, allowing them to use Diablos as tools for transporting supplies and even ride them for a certain degree of combat… though their combat effectiveness was extremely poor.

After all, Diablos were a type of Herbivore Species dragon, and herbivorous dragons, well, everyone understood.

When the Detel Tribe was in a disaster year with scarce resources, Diablos eggs also became one of their food sources.

On one frantic night, even the most unruly little furball in the tribe could sense something was wrong. The adult cats were all tense and sad.

They didn't even have the mood to celebrate the birth of a new chief. Many Detel sat blankly on the ground, staring at the crackling bonfire, not even knowing when they fell asleep.

Before dawn the next day, the old tribal chief and a few old brothers stood at the cave entrance. Each cat had a Diablos egg on its back. Although they were old, their movements were still quite agile.

"Chief, meow!" Shanshan, who had personally secured the egg on the old tribal chief's back a little tighter, choked with tears and snot almost obscuring his fur, "How about I go instead, meow?"

"Idiot! No tears allowed!" He knocked Shanshan's cat head again, and the old tribal chief grinned, "A chief must have the dignity of a chief, meow! Wipe your eyes clean!"

"But--"

"No buts, meow! Let's go!"

With a decisive personality, the old tribal chief directly rappelled down into the underground cave using a rope. Although there was no sunlight here, the visibility was actually not bad. They didn't even need to light torches; the luminous moss growing on the ceiling and in the crevices of the rocks on both sides illuminated the surroundings.

Following the route they had scouted long ago, when this Detel squad arrived at Xingyan's nest, Xingyan was not even awake yet.

Carefully, carefully, they crept from the edge of the cave entrance towards the inside—creeping bit by bit, as if creeping too much at once would make their heads fall off. The old tribal chief hadn't been this nervous in a long time.

Information about the Great Monster Dragon was brought back by the Detel Hunting Team; it was the hunting team's responsibility. Therefore, this was the first time the old tribal chief had personally seen what the Great Monster Dragon Shanshan spoke of looked like.

Huge, ferocious, missing pieces here and there, a bare tail, a large mouth that could eat soil and ore, and it ate very quickly—honestly, when these elements came together, the old tribal chief searched the tribe's mural records for a long time but couldn't find what kind of strange dragon this was.

But now…

Turning his head immediately, the old tribal chief looked in the direction behind him, wanting to grab Shanshan as quickly as possible and give him a good spanking.

This idiot, meow, who didn't listen to the tribe's ancestral stories!!

This wasn't a Great Monster Dragon at all, it was clearly a Great Sword Dragon! The reason its tail looked bare now was simply because the blade there had broken off!

"Chief?" Still worried, Shanshan, who had followed all the way behind, saw the old tribal chief turn around and came closer, whispering, "How about we forget it, meow?"

Shanshan, you have brought death upon yourself!