Just as Luo Yun had expected, after the Steel Dragon effortlessly dealt with the White Mist, the storm quickly subsided. The heavy thunderclouds flashing with lightning stopped raining, the storm gradually vanished into the sky, and only faint whirlwinds continued to coil around the Steel Dragon.
The area that had just been shrouded in the White Mist's fog was now a complete mess. Vast swathes of trees had vanished. From high above, this part of the Ancient Forest looked like thick hair shaved with a cheap clipper—unevenly stripped bare in one patch and utterly out of place amid its surroundings.
The Steel Dragon noticed the wary gazes of the Rathalos near the Ancient Tree, but felt nothing.
As a proud Elder Dragon, unless it was going through the agonizing molt that made it irritable enough to be called a Rusted Steel Dragon, it generally would not attack creatures weaker than itself.
Besides, it had something more important to do right now.
"Seven days! A whole seven days! I haven't eaten a single bite just so I could rush over here! And it turned out to be something this trivial! Damn White Mist!"
The Steel Dragon quickly got its bearings, whipped up a fierce gale, and flew away at top speed. It needed to hurry back to its nest in the Dragon Crystal Land and feast! It could not wait another moment!
Watching the Steel Dragon leave without so much as a backward glance, Luo Yun and Ya Ji exchanged looks, both at a loss.
"Are we still leaving?"
"Heh heh."
This world was balanced in exactly this way. As long as something remained within the ecological chain, there would always be something capable of keeping it in check.
And once one recklessly destroyed the ecosystem, even an Elder Dragon would face the world's merciless judgment.
The moment the White Mist chose to carry out mass biological extinction, its path had already come to an end.
Luo Yun simply had not expected it to happen so quickly, and to arrive right when he had packed up and was preparing to leave.
Well, all that work had been for nothing again.
When they returned to the Ancient Tree nest, the Detters were visibly excited and once again began energetically hauling things back into their home.
With the White Mist no longer a threat, the creatures that had already undergone two major migrations would soon return once more.
Only, so many Rathalos had left now that no one knew whether the upper reaches of the Ancient Tree would remain peaceful in the days ahead.
The days passed one by one. That evening, Star Base was holding a farewell banquet.
The members of the Investigation Team who had gone out had returned two days earlier, and tomorrow was the day the supply ship would depart. A companion from the First Expedition Team would accompany it back to the Old World as the person responsible for the investigation report.
"Everyone, I'll definitely come back!"
With tears in his eyes, Nori bid farewell to his companions from the First Expedition Team. Yet everyone knew that once he left this time, he most likely would not return.
But no one considered him a coward or a traitor. They only felt sorrow over what had happened to him.
Besides confirming the First Expedition Team's condition, the supply ship had come to assess their situation. If Star Base already met the basic requirements for an advance outpost, the Old World would begin selecting members for the Second Expedition Team.
In addition, the supply ship had brought letters from the families of the First Expedition Team members. Something had happened to Nori's family. His hometown, that peaceful little mountain village, had suffered a once-in-a-century avalanche. Of his family, only his wife had survived, but she too had been seriously injured.
Nori was no longer an editor with nothing tying him down. He needed to return to his hometown and shoulder the responsibilities that were his to bear. This difficult five-year journey had taken too much from him.
Therefore, this departure would very likely be a final farewell, and Nori knew it well.
"Captain, everyone! The New World carries my ideals, and I have never regretted coming here with all of you!"
Nori looked at everyone, his gaze resolute. "Even if I cannot return after this, one day my son and my grandson will carry my ideals and come to this land again!"
Nori raised his clenched right fist high and spoke loudly.
The crowd, who had been teasing one another moments before, gradually fell silent. As they looked at the determined Nori, their eyes slowly grew moist.
Everyone present, no matter who they were, had embarked on this journey—one from which they might never return—for their own ideals.
Nori would not be the last. In the future, others might leave the New World for all kinds of reasons, but no matter what, they would not regret it. They too had once taken that very first step toward their ideals through their own choices!
"Haha! Then I'll remain here and witness the day your descendants inherit your ideals and come to this place!"
The Great Leader raised his wine cup high and loudly gave Nori an affirmative answer!
The atmosphere grew lively once more.
The next day, an outstanding editor left this land with regret in his heart. His backpack held a moonstone and a Rathalos scale whose edge glimmered silver.
In the future, his descendants would return here clutching those two items, follow the Azure Star that illuminated the way ahead, and witness one legendary tale after another unfold upon this land.
The Ancient Tree Area had been extremely chaotic lately. It seemed an extraordinary individual had emerged among the Jinouga. It had actually gathered the Jinouga pack, which had been scattered again and again while fleeing for their lives, and taken advantage of the Ancient Tree Area's weakness to seize a vast territory in one stroke.
The Poisonous Birds and Great Jagras had all been beaten back step by step. Even the Jagras pack, which had never participated in the struggle for dominance over the Ancient Tree, had been driven close to the outer reaches of the Ancient Forest.
If that Veteran Great Rathian had not truly been powerful enough to take down two Jinouga in a one-against-two fight, the Jagras pack would likely have been completely driven into the outer layer.
The Tobi-Kadachi had it worst of all. Originally living in the middle levels of the Ancient Tree Area, they had been forcibly driven to the upper levels, where the Rathalos then gave them a brutal beating. They could only miserably imitate the Jagras and struggle to survive in the cracks of the forest.
Having occupied the water source and prime hunting grounds, the Jinouga pack naturally became the target of everyone's hostility. The Great Jagras in particular would immediately engage in a fight to the death whenever the two sides met.
Unfortunately, the Great Jagras fought alone and could not form groups like the Jinouga. Even the Veteran Great Jagras that was transforming into a Thunder Jaw Dragon could gain little advantage when facing Jinouga groups of three or five.
The lower levels of the Ancient Tree Area had remained chaotic in the past, and the Jinouga pack had never been able to fully occupy them, because aside from the Great Jagras, the Rathalos and Nargacuga had also interfered.
But now, more than half the Rathalos had left and had yet to return, while the Nargacuga had completely disappeared. Most likely, with the White Mist gone, they had chosen to return to their original territory.
As a result, the Ancient Tree Area's native residents were no longer a match for the Jinouga pack. Every day, they could only linger around the outskirts of the Ancient Tree Area and try to fight their way back in.
Otherwise, once enough time passed and the Jinouga pack gained a firm foothold, there would be no hope left at all.
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