Yano's Investigation Log

However, this doesn't mean that normal monsters are defenseless against Elder Dragons.

Smaller monsters might even be kicked to death by larger ones. For example, Xingyan once kicked a Claw Dragon to death, but if the two sides are of similar size, or not a whole tier apart, then the fight usually can't be ended quickly.

The massive bodies and vitality of large monsters give them the capital for this.

Claw attacks, charges, bites, wrestling and rolling—normal monsters will fight Elder Dragons like this, they'll fight first regardless of whether they can win.

Even if they're grabbed and rolled around on the ground before escaping, they still have to fight. Dragons with a strong will to fight and kill, like Dragon Slayers and Brute Dragons, will chase their enemies to the death. Dragons without such a strong killing intent won't pursue their enemies after they retreat, thus reducing their stamina loss or chance of injury.

This is territorial dispute. No dragon will easily give up its hunting grounds. Lack of food means death. If driven into another dragon's hunting grounds, they'll have to fight another dragon to determine who each hunting ground belongs to.

It's like in the game, when Kushala Daora's activity caused Raging Brachydios to descend the mountain. After Raging Brachydios descended, it would clash with the local monsters. After a series of battles, the local monsters that were outmatched would be driven away, and so on, until they occupied an area where they could eat their fill.

Xingyan wanted to determine his current position in the food chain. After all, if he was being serious, could he still be considered a Dragon Slayer now?

Was he similar to a Deviljho or a Gold Rathian? Or had he become a dragon that wasn't an Elder Dragon but possessed power comparable to an Elder Dragon?

Only battle could provide the answer to this question.

He launched an extermination operation against a group of Diablos. Xingyan, who had just finished evolving, had an unprecedented appetite; he was starving.

After eating and drinking his fill, the feeling of every cell in his body screaming with hunger finally disappeared. Xingyan narrowed his eyes, not wanting to wait even a second longer, he wanted to find the old Steel Dragon.

He returned to Miasma Valley through the path he had carved out. It was still the same gloomy place, filled with lingering yellow-green miasma everywhere.

After the historical question of "Where is Seregios?", a new question arose: Where is the old Steel Dragon?

Xingyan felt like he was going to faint. Damn it, how big is Miasma Valley?!

What puzzled Xingyan the most was that he actually found the corpses of Horned Dragons and Fire Dragons, which don't normally live in this environment, in Miasma Valley. He didn't know how they got here—or perhaps, when Miasma Valley's environment wasn't this harsh, these guys would appear here?

After a series of twists and turns, Xingyan even found a path leading to the upper layer of Miasma Valley. In reality, he saw the corpse of a Serpent King Dragon, which he had seen countless times in the game.

An incredibly huge skeletal snake head. Even though the flesh on its body had long since rotted away, leaving only yellowish-brown bones, the massive snake skeleton still filled Xingyan with longing.

Awe.

It was like a mountain. Xingyan felt that his current size might only be as big as the Serpent King Dragon's eye socket, and might not even fill it.

Truly enviable—I wish I could be as big as a mountain.

The real Miasma Valley was no different from a labyrinth. It was not only large but also winding, with caves within caves. If divided by altitude, it could be divided into three layers. The upper layer was basically composed of fossils after the Serpent King Dragon's decomposition, with various ring-shaped landforms all the way. This was the closest area to Coral Highlands.

The middle layer was submerged in miasma, being the area with the densest miasma in the entire Miasma Valley. It was composed of various large and small caves, filled with intricate passages. Xingyan got lost here.

As for the bottom layer—Xingyan didn't go down. He had no intention of meeting a Kirin in such an enclosed environment, and the previously discovered skeletons of Horned Dragons and Fire Dragons always made him uneasy.

He was a little afraid that the corpses of these foreign dragons were brought in by Skeletal Dragons. Similar to Kirin, Skeletal Dragons, an Elder Dragon, also liked to appear in cave areas and would pile up the bones of their prey.

This was not good news. Skeletal Dragons, an Elder Dragon, were completely different from the landlord Kirin of Miasma Valley. Kirin were naturally peaceful, considering themselves nature's scavengers, and would basically not leave their nests unless something happened.

But Skeletal Dragons were different. This Elder Dragon was cunning and cautious, with a habit of taking captured large monsters back to its nest to enjoy, and possessed a predatory desire close to that of Deviljho, even eating all the monsters in an area.

Extremely dangerous.

After staying in this underground world, far from the sun, for too long, even the perception of time became blurred—Xingyan didn't know how long he had been here. He only knew that Velkhana tasted good.

These flying creatures fell from the cracks of Coral Highlands to the Great Antlion Ravine below. Xingyan ate them clean, and also ate a few Claw Dragons and Tobi-Kadachi that came to forage.

He was starting to live like a local dragon of Miasma Valley, but Xingyan still couldn't find any trace of the old Steel Dragon. He suspected that the old guy might have just found a cave to hide in after entering Miasma Valley and never stepped out again.

As it stands, Xingyan had even found Hunters, but still couldn't find where the old Steel Dragon was hiding.

Not a single inch of her skin was exposed, wrapped up tightly. She wore a gas mask on her face, and only her eyes could be seen through the two pieces of glass—Xingyan had actually guessed who it was.

Master Yano.

A Hunter who would later spend decades rooted in Miasma Valley researching, tenacious and worthy of respect.

After arriving at Miasma Valley, Yano found a stone cave, small enough for a human body to crawl into, as her safe zone to rest. She never expected that there would be a dragon like Xingyan in this world who didn't follow the usual path.

Having had enough of the winding, broken roads of Miasma Valley, Xingyan directly opened his mouth and started eating, determined to carve a clear path through this broken land—and then he ate all the way to Yano's safe zone, creating a large opening in the originally safe cave on the spot.

It was no longer safe.

The encounter was very sudden. Xingyan was eating when he suddenly noticed a hole ahead. When he poked his head in, he saw a Hunter, wrapped up like a zongzi, holding a weapon and looking at him nervously. Beside her was a campfire and a small tent.

Encountering a Hunter in this place momentarily stunned Xingyan. He had lost his precise sense of time and didn't know how long it had been since he set out. Even Yano had begun to investigate deep into Miasma Valley.

Without intentionally scaring the extremely nervous Yano, Xingyan pulled his head back and continued to carve out new paths according to his original plan.

However, from this day on, when he was bored, he began to observe Yano.

[Investigation Log · 1]

After the disaster caused by the two Steel Dragons temporarily subsided, I left the base and followed the route we had previously taken to the canyon filled with miasma.

Although there was no evidence to prove my speculation, I still insisted that it was one of the two Steel Dragons that led the investigation team from the Old World to the New World. It was definitely an old Steel Dragon.

I am curious why it entered the miasma canyon back then, as all the areas where Steel Dragons have been found by the Guild do not involve miasma. Or is the secret of the Elder Dragon migration hidden in that canyon?

I hope my questions will be answered.

[Investigation Log · 7]

Revere Elder Dragons, revere the power of Elder Dragons.

It's been over two months since they departed, yet I can still see the effects of the storm kicked up by the battle between those two Steel Dragons.

A large amount of moisture was carried deep into the Great Sand Sea by that storm. For the creatures that originally lived here, such rainfall must be extremely rare, as I doubt Steel Dragons fight each other every year.

They received an excess of rain.

The excess here isn't an exaggeration. The Leader and the others could never imagine the beautiful scenery I witnessed: the flowers of life blooming in a desert that should have been devoid of life.

Unlike the short, brown-yellow shrubs we're used to seeing in the Great Sand Sea, a large number of green plants are growing rapidly under the downpour. They are seizing this rare opportunity to absorb and store as much water as possible.

I can't describe the emotion I felt at that moment. These plants can't speak, yet they seem as intelligent as if they possessed wisdom. For them, this was by no means a natural disaster.

[Investigation Log · 34]

I was wrong. Even for those plants, this rainfall was a natural disaster.

As I continued to advance, I gradually discovered many desert locusts among the plants that were rushing to grow. They were devouring the stems and leaves of the plants, and many plants were already reduced to just their main trunks. These locusts are breeding in large numbers.

It was only then that I realized that the scarce rainfall in the past meant scarce plants, and scarce plants could only sustain a small number of desert locusts, forcing them to live scattered.

But with the storm brought by the Steel Dragons, plants began to grow in abundance, and consequently, the desert locusts that feed on them also multiplied.

I'm a little worried. I hope these locusts won't cause any damage to the ecosystem of the Great Sand Sea. After all, the plants here are already scarce. If the base ecosystem collapses, it will eventually affect the larger monsters in the upper levels.

[Investigation Log · 77]

I have entered the Miasma Valley and am currently feeling well.

The Technical Class Captain's skills are as reliable as ever. After being filtered, this miasma can no longer harm my body. As long as I don't expose my skin, I can safely begin exploring the valley.

I'm so curious. I wonder what kind of monsters will be born in this peculiar environment. I hope I can handle them.

I found traces left by the Steel Dragons, but the traces were of two types. The first was decaying dragon scales with relatively intact scale shapes. The other, however, was rust residue. If I hadn't carefully studied the Guild's research on Steel Dragons before setting out, I would never have recognized that this rust residue also came from a Steel Dragon.

The decaying dragon scales were older than the rust residue. But strangely, some traces were pointing outwards, while others were pointing inwards, and they were at roughly the same height on the rock walls.

Does this mean my guess is correct? That the Steel Dragon the investigation team was tracking was one of the culprits behind that disaster? It entered the Miasma Valley, then emerged, fought another Steel Dragon, and then returned here.

I can imagine a Rusty Steel Dragon hitting protruding rocks as it entered the valley, scraping off some rust residue from its body.

There are only traces of one Steel Dragon entering and exiting. I'm certain that when the investigation team last saw the Steel Dragon, it still had silvery-gray skin. So, did it transform into a Rusty Steel Dragon within the Miasma Valley?

In such a short time? Does this conform to the normal growth patterns of a Steel Dragon?

I can't answer. Did it rust naturally? Or was it corroded by the miasma?

Rusty Steel Dragons have a more irritable temper and higher aggression than normal Steel Dragons. If its body was indeed corroded by the Miasma Valley, why would that Steel Dragon come to a place that would cause it such pain?

I need to find it.

I have a premonition that the secret of the Elder Dragon Crossing might lie within.

[Investigation Log · 159]

The investigation is progressing exceptionally slowly. This place is more dangerous than the Great Sand Sea. However, I have discovered many new plants and insects here. It's fascinating how a unique ecosystem has developed even in this miasma-filled environment.

But what's more abundant here are the corpses of various monsters. It is these rotting carcasses that keep this place perpetually filled with poisonous miasma. The creatures that live here are all scavengers.

A graveyard for monsters—that was my first impression upon seeing the piles of rotting corpses.

Did that Steel Dragon choose this place as its graveyard?

Some good news at last. As I tracked and investigated the skinless monsters of the Miasma Valley day after day, after such a long time, I found the rust residue of the Rusty Steel Dragon once again.

I found it.

[Investigation Log · 193]

I've been found! By a monster!!

But strangely, this monster didn't attack me. It seems to feed on rocks, and it happened to eat its way to my hiding spot. Upon noticing my presence, it showed no reaction and retreated to continue eating stones—why? It seems familiar with me?

After living in the Miasma Valley for so long, this is the first time I've encountered this kind of monster. It has a head like a Dragon Slayer, a tail similar to a Dragon Slayer's, but it lacks the iconic flame-like shell on its back.

Its body surface is very smooth. Apart from the evenly distributed, grid-like protrusions of its carapace, every other scale is like a mirror. Even in the dimly lit Miasma Valley, I can see myself clearly reflected on its body.

This is probably not a Dragon Slayer. It's a bit too friendly.