"I'm sorry to disappoint you, child," the Admiral, who had been silent until now, suddenly erupted into a hearty laugh.
He reached out and vigorously ruffled Erin's hair, not stopping until the Scribe's hair was a complete mess. "The New World indeed lacks a kingdom in the conventional sense, like those established by humans in the Old World. However, within the Ancient Forest, there truly exists an invisible kingdom—a Kingdom of Dragons."
"You're just like your grandfather; you both have a fantasy world living in your hearts." Ignoring Erin's grumbling, the Admiral carefully studied his old friend's granddaughter before continuing, "There's no need to feel disappointed. If you think about it, isn't the current situation actually quite interesting?"
"Eh?" Erin stared at the Admiral with wide eyes.
"Think about it. We've stepped out of the human world and into the vastness of nature. The Elder Dragons are the kings who rule this world. Those at the top of the food chain are the king's subjects, while the monsters and ordinary creatures at the bottom are the livestock being raised." The Admiral stroked his chin. "Isn't it fascinating to explore a world with rules entirely different from human society?"
"When you put it that way..." Sophia's beautiful brows furrowed. She exchanged a glance with the Lead Hunter and said, "It doesn't seem like there's a problem?"
"A world of monsters..." Erin's eyes drifted as she spaced out, murmuring, "That does sound very interesting. I want to see it for myself!"
"That's the spirit! With the Glavenus Boss's current strength and his position at the top of the ecosystem, he can rightfully be called a King. As we are living on the King's land, there will naturally be many things we need to be mindful of." The Admiral even found the humor to crack a joke and lighten the mood. "Alright, everyone, chin up. No need for such long faces; the situation hasn't turned so dire that we need to despair just yet."
"As the leader of the Elder Dragon Observation Efforts, I acknowledge everyone's assessment of the current crisis. Therefore, I hereby announce that our actions regarding the Glavenus Boss must avoid conflict as much as possible. We will use non-violent means to achieve our goals, seeking to have the Glavenus Boss change his habitat or restrain his power."
"We'll do our best."
The Admiral's tone was remarkably calm, carrying an air of "if it works, it works; if it doesn't, it doesn't." This only made the members of the Fifth Fleet feel even more uneasy.
"Yes, sir!"
He was, after all, the leader of the entire Elder Dragon Observation Efforts. Even if he usually handed over administrative duties to the Commander due to his dislike for management, when the Admiral gave a serious order, even the Commander had to follow his lead and base plans around it.
"Speaking of which, I am extremely curious about those stories the Aerosoarer Dragon told Mirrorblade." Suddenly turning toward Mirrorblade, the Wyverian Scholar's eyes shimmered with a fanatical thirst for knowledge. "Those terms you mentioned—rhyniophytes, ferns, gymnosperms... Did these things actually happen on this land? Or are they sights that exist somewhere else in this world?"
"As an Elder Dragon living in the modern era, how could the Aerosoarer Dragon know so clearly what happened in the past? Could it be that the bloodline of an Elder Dragon doesn't just inherit power far beyond ordinary monsters, but also knowledge unrelated to hunting and survival skills?!"
The Wyverian Scholar grew more excited as he spoke, gesturing wildly. He looked as if he wanted to sprout wings and fly directly to Asterion to grab the Elder Dragon and interrogate him—knowledge passed down through generations of Elder Dragons!!
That was what their group of scholars spent their entire lives searching for: the appearance of the world they lived in countless millions of years ago!
Millions! Billions!
Listen to that! What a grand, expansive unit of time!
An era counted in the hundreds of millions of years!!
What kind of incredible life did that ancient era nurture? What did the various monsters people commonly see today look like back then? Why did they slowly change into their current forms over the vast passage of time?
What kind of vastly different ecological environment existed in that era? What was the climate like? The air, the soil, the water—these questions were like feathers constantly tickling the Wyverian Scholar's heart. His frantic behavior was merely representative; no scholar could ignore these questions, let alone these possibilities.
"And another thing! The most crucial point! You said the Aerosoarer Dragon explicitly used the word 'evolution,' right?!" Completely immersed in his own world, oblivious to his surroundings, the Wyverian Scholar spoke at a rapid-fire pace. "This is truly astounding. Could the essence of the Azure Transformation actually be a phenomenon of evolution?"
"If that's true, then many mysteries that have plagued me can finally be answered... No wonder when we compared numerous cases, we found that all life forms exhibiting the Azure Transformation showed new traits to some degree. Most were positive, adaptive changes. From the perspective of traditional biological mutation, such a high probability of beneficial mutations is simply impossible!"
"...Interesting. Haha, interesting... The Aerosoarer Dragon actually views this evolution as a natural phenomenon that occurs as naturally as gravity simply because he exists in the world?"
"...Could it be that this is the true ability hidden beneath the Aerosoarer Dragon's exaggerated combat power? An ability to forcibly accelerate the evolution of himself and all life forms in the surrounding environment? This actually fits the various strange characteristics he's shown in past reports. Were those all things that were gradually evolved?"
"An Elder Dragon representing evolution... This is too fascinating..."
Curiosity! An unprecedented curiosity that nearly burned away his last shreds of sanity!!
The Wyverian Scholar constantly muttered mysterious technical terms and jargon, looking like a man possessed. It was hardly surprising; the driving force that pushed many scholars like him to travel thousands of miles and risk death to step onto the wilds of the New World was that pure, burning curiosity in their hearts.
To satisfy that curiosity and catch a glimpse of the truth, they could even calmly accept the fate of death.
"Hmph."
Perhaps truly unable to endure the Wyverian Scholar's constant buzzing in his ear like a mosquito, especially as he approached with a crazed expression, Mirrorblade simply lifted his head and snorted through his nostrils—er, a simple puff of air that sent the Wyverian Scholar tumbling across the deck of the ship.
"Little Boss says if you're so curious, go ask the Big Boss yourself, meow. But he doesn't guarantee you'll survive, meow." Lazily scratching his belly, Kankan extended a claw and unceremoniously pushed the scholar's face away as he tried to lean back in. With a look of total disgust, the Palico added, "Stay back, meow. You're so annoying, meow."
"Fine, sorry, sorry. My mistake." Knowing his behavior had been a bit perverse, the Wyverian Scholar apologized and let out a regretful sigh. He then reined in his fanatical expression and spoke seriously to the others. "I don't understand combat matters, but in any case, you must be careful. Do not provoke the Aerosoarer Dragon—and prepare for the worst."
"The worst?" The Lead Hunter blinked.
"Exactly." The Wyverian Scholar nodded solemnly. "The so-called 'worst-case scenario' doesn't refer to going to war with the Glavenus tribe or you dying in battle. It refers to the message the Aerosoarer Dragon specifically sent to us through Mirrorblade: Prepare to adapt to a new environment."
"Uh, Mr. Scholar, do you mean we should give up the investigation?" Sophia asked, her eyes wide. "But the Kingdom and the Guild have invested so much, and our seniors have put in so much effort. Could it be..."
"Of course I don't mean giving up directly." The Wyverian Scholar waved his hand with a smile. "You should have all read the reports regarding the Azure Transformation on the ship over here, right? But you haven't seen it with your own eyes, so you don't have a concrete image of it in your minds."
"If you put it that way... indeed." The Lead Hunter nodded. "The situations described in the reports are a bit terrifying. Mutations where life grows stones and such—it sounds like something out of a horror story."
"Ah, it does sound terrifying in writing. After all, compared to their original forms, they turn into something completely different—but in reality, you don't need to be hostile toward the Azure Transformation. Don't view it as something evil or bad, and it becomes much easier to understand."
"Huh?" The exclamation of surprise even came from the Second Fleet Master. He stared wide-eyed and said, "What are you talking about? I don't want to wake up one day and find all my hair gone and my skin turned some inexplicable shade of blue!"
"You don't have much hair to begin with," the Wyverian Scholar deadpanned. "In any case, the investigation must continue. Clearly, the Aerosoarer Dragon has no intention of stopping us from exploring the New World; he's simply making us learn to survive in an environment influenced by him."
"Do you understand?" the Wyverian Scholar continued. "We can view the 'Azure' New World as the New World's original form. It's as if we just landed today, and it has been this way from the start... As long as you accept the fact that you will very likely turn blue in the future, our investigation of the New World is no different than it was before."
"Is that even possible?!" the Lead Hunter said in shock. "But—isn't that just lying to ourselves? We already know the New World wasn't like this before!"
"True," the Wyverian Scholar nodded. "But unfortunately, given the power displayed by the Aerosoarer Dragon, it won't be long before this becomes the reality. All we can do is try to rescue and cultivate some plants and animals in their original forms and ship them back to the Old World for preservation and breeding."
The feeling of having to accept defeat before the battle had even begun was truly demoralizing, causing the atmosphere to fall into silence once again.
"Hmm... with how often we eat meat, there will definitely be 'Azure Humans,' right?" As if unaffected, the Admiral stroked his chin and mused, "What would they look like?"
"Deep blue skin? Or maybe deep blue hair?" Speaking of this topic, the Wyverian Scholar seemed to get even happier. He said enthusiastically, "This has been discussed among scholars for a long time. Just like those Azure Grimalkynes, there will surely be Azure Humans and Azure Wyverians. The number of humanoid sub-species is about to increase again."
"Maybe they can freely manipulate Nether energy like the mages in childhood stories. Wow, just thinking about it makes me excited." The Wyverian Scholar rubbed his hands together.
"Mages?" The Tech Chief tapped his helmet and grumbled. "Give me a break. I'm too old to handle such complicated things..."
"Eh? I think it sounds quite interesting." The Admiral stroked his chin, his eyes lighting up. "Looks like I need to eat more meat. If I turn blue, I wonder what I'll look like."
"Probably an Azure Rajang!" The Commander laughed loudly. He could already imagine the picture... Sorry, he really couldn't help it.
Looking at the old hunters laughing in front of them, the expressions on the faces of the Fifth Fleet rookies were somewhat complicated. This was especially true for the Lead Hunter; as a hunter who had participated in Elder Dragon hunts before, he found it hard to imagine the atmosphere of such a serious meeting being so relaxed.
Maybe I don't know the New World well enough yet, the Lead Hunter thought.
The mere words in a report still made it difficult for them to have a concrete sense of reality. But it didn't matter; on the way to the Frontline Research Base, they would clearly understand exactly what the so-called Azure Transformation was, as well as the predicament the Research Commission now faced.
Hara and the Lead Hunter were selected for the team following the Admiral to meet the Aerosoarer Dragon.
The members of the Fifth Fleet seemed numerous, but when they broke up into small teams and scattered into the Ancient Forest, they were like a drop of ink falling into the ocean—instantly vanished.
To this day, the southeastern part of the Ancient Forest has completely changed its appearance. Usually, when people talk about forests, an image of lush green foliage pops into their minds—but here, everything had changed. Everywhere the eye could see was blue, varying only in shade.
Whether the trees were tall or short, whether it was the shrubs or the vines wrapping around the trunks, even the clusters of moss had now taken on a blue base. Some were a deep stygian blue, some a crystalline azure, and others a sky blue...
But the strange thing was that the forest felt good. Even though it was no longer green, it was still full of vitality, growing vigorously. The sunlight hitting the leaves looked no different than it had in the past.
And when the sun set and night fell, the forest seemed to light up as if lamps had been lit. But what emitted the light were the tips of the branches and the leaves themselves, radiating a faint, ghostly blue glow—like the light of fireflies. They rustled with the passing wind, creating a scene of extraordinary beauty.
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