The Reappearing Chameleos

"I heard you, I heard you. What is it?"

Carlos put away the notebook in his hand and looked at Nori tiredly.

"A ship! A ship is coming!" Nori shouted excitedly, dancing with joy.

"A ship? Where?"

Carlos's eyes widened as he asked in disbelief.

Pulled along by Nori, the two arrived at the shore. Sure enough, a dragonbone ship flying the Hunter's Guild flag was slowly sailing toward them across the horizon.

"This is it! It's finally here!"

Carlos could no longer contain his excitement, and joy was written all over his face.

Inside the Ancient Tree Fire Dragon nest, Luo Yun was listening to the Detters' report.

Ever since Chameleos had been driven back and failed to show itself again, some of the creatures that had previously migrated away from the lower levels of the Ancient Tree had begun to return.

It was worth mentioning that something seemed to have happened to the Jinouga pack. The members returning this time came back only sporadically, and most of them were wounded.

Judging by the injuries, they seemed to have been ambushed by Nargacuga.

Some Great Jagras had returned as well. Although they still fought alone as always, among those returning to the Ancient Tree Area was a massive aberration. On its own, it had brutally killed many Jinouga that tried to seize its territory and claimed a sizable domain for itself.

The Jagras packs had not returned to the Ancient Tree Area. Instead, they had migrated downstream along the river beneath the Ancient Tree.

The Detters' intelligence came from other groups living in the Ancient Forest, so some details were lacking. But to Luo Yun, none of that information mattered much. What he truly wanted to know was whether anything unusual was happening near the Ancient Tree.

Although most of the Ancient Tree's Rathalos believed that Chameleos had realized how dangerous this place was after being driven back last time and had returned to its original territory—

Luo Yun knew that Chameleos had definitely not left. It still coveted the Ancient Tree, but for the moment, it had no reliable method of driving away the Rathalos flock, which was why it had remained hidden.

As for why Luo Yun was so certain Chameleos was still around, it was entirely because he had noticed the abnormal fluctuations in the energy of the Ancient Tree's underground nodes while actively absorbing Earth Vein Energy during this period.

Under normal circumstances, Earth Vein Energy that had not been disturbed remained relatively stable and would show almost no fluctuations over a long period.

Yet even after Safi'jiiva had fallen asleep again, the Earth Vein Energy beneath the Ancient Tree remained highly active. This had been especially noticeable during the two days when the Rathalos had joined forces to drive back Chameleos.

Luo Yun guessed that Chameleos had been actively drawing upon Life Energy to heal its injuries.

Chameleos was highly intelligent. The reason it had been driven back last time was not only because Luo Yun had prepared a targeted plan beforehand, but also because Luo Yun had caught it off guard. Chameleos had been careless.

At the time, it had never considered that any creature other than an Elder Dragon would dare interfere with its migration. Thus, when Luo Yun found it in the mist, it had still been utterly relaxed.

That would not work next time. When it appeared again, it would certainly be much more cautious and would not let Luo Yun find its location so easily.

Ya Ji had just returned from marking the territory when she saw Luo Yun looking downcast. Though she could not really understand how he felt, she still chose to comfort him in her own way.

Just as she had when Luo Yun was young, Ya Ji came to his side, spread her wings with their enchanting patterns, and covered his body. She craned her head over and gently rubbed his cheek, soothing him with the tenderness of an older sister next door and easing his restless heart.

Under Ya Ji's tolerant, comforting presence, Luo Yun gradually calmed down.

Soldiers came, generals blocked them; water came, earth dammed it.

Given Chameleos's nature, its next appearance would definitely be extremely troublesome. Since he could not think of any good solution, he could only adapt when the time came.

At worst, they could abandon the Ancient Tree and migrate elsewhere.

It was not as though leaving the Ancient Tree would kill them. They would merely grow a little more slowly!

Monsters had long lifespans. It was simply that most monsters never lived to see the end of them, dying instead in all kinds of conflicts.

With that mindset, Luo Yun's life finally returned to normal. After deciding to take it easy, the whole dragon felt much better!

After Luo Yun confirmed it, the aberrant Great Jagras was indeed that "old friend" mutating toward a Thunder Jaw Dragon.

As the saying went, old friends met with especially red eyes!

After confirming that they had both settled in the Ancient Tree Area, they resumed the conflict that had lasted five years.

The Ancient Forest was simply too complex. Luo Yun could not make use of his aerial advantage at the base of the Ancient Tree, while that fellow often deliberately moved into cramped spaces during battle. This left Luo Yun constrained at every turn, and he had even found himself at a disadvantage more than once.

That was until Ya Ji happened to encounter the creature while hunting with Luo Yun one time. They gave it a righteous beating together, though it still managed to escape. After that, before fighting Luo Yun each time, it would spread its nostrils, which possessed an exceptionally keen sense of smell, and confirm that Ya Ji was absent before attacking him.

After all, its goal was to kill Luo Yun, not get killed by Luo Yun.

The days passed one by one, and the ecology of the Ancient Tree Area steadily and peacefully recovered.

These signs of stability even made Luo Yun wonder whether he had truly been overthinking things. Perhaps Chameleos had indeed returned to its original territory, and the active Earth Vein Energy was merely because Safi'jiiva's influence had not yet fully faded.

But on this day, Luo Yun finally confirmed that he had not been imagining things—and that Chameleos was actually this insane.

That day, the edge of the Ancient Tree Area was once again swallowed by mist. This time, the dense fog was no longer the pure white it had once been. The obvious green poisonous gas mixed into it made one thing clear: the one releasing the Poison Mist had begun an indiscriminate massacre!

This Poison Mist gave creatures that wandered into it no time to react. Its toxicity was extremely potent; even large monsters could not endure it for long. Many did not even have the chance to escape, while small creatures died the instant they touched it. Only plants remained unaffected.

As always, the Poison Mist appeared abruptly. Within half an hour of emerging, it had slaughtered every creature active within the fog. This efficient method of killing did not even cause enough commotion to trigger a major panic.

By the time the monsters living in the Ancient Tree realized what was happening, the Poison Mist had already drawn very close to it.

Even the Great Jagras, that violent brute, was frightened by such outrageous killing efficiency. It decisively abandoned its territory and fled. For a time, the Ancient Tree's ecology, which had recovered considerably, collapsed once more—and this time, it collapsed even more thoroughly.