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The terrifying monster had not left; instead, it happily dug up a large pile of something and was enjoying the afternoon sun and snacks, rolling around on the ground and hitting its tail against the ground, creating a thudding sound, much like a cheerful husky when its owner is away. The hunters hiding in the bushes didn't dare to make a sound.

Wearing wolf dragon armor and alloy gear to challenge the blue dragon, they weren't that reckless. Even ordinary iron katanas, let alone the upgraded and enhanced katana wielded by a swordmaster, the Sonic Blade: Starfall, could barely cut through Huihui's body. Striking the wing membranes yielded nothing but a bounce back, though cutting through other monsters posed no significant problems; after all, the Rank 9 weapons made from blue dragon materials were among the top-tier equipment currently offered by the hunter guild. 

(Sonic Blade: Starfall: Attack 940, Element: None, Critical: 50, Sharpness: Red—Yellow-Green-Blue, Gem: 1)

Even the leader of the fifth team was using only an enhanced Dragon Hunting Bow II, which meant that the materials the guild had gathered were only enough to equip a swordmaster. After all, he was the most seasoned legendary hunter among them. It's important to note that not everyone who dared to delve into the black dragon's ecology or dance with the ancestral dragon came back alive. Regardless of the reasons, the hunter guild prioritized arming this old hunter as much as possible.

This had nothing to do with the gatherers from the fourth team. Their hunting lives amounted to: one person, one cat, and one signal flare—what do ancient dragon monsters mean to me? However, there are situations in this world where no rescue signal can save you.

For instance, during a hunt, encountering a blue dragon like this is a special situation. It's important to know that a 16-member hunting team, composed of elite hunters equipped with full Rank 7 and Rank 6 gear, paid a significant price to successfully complete a hunt that turned out to be unsuccessful, temporarily incapacitating the blue dragon with sleeping darts.

In contrast, relying solely on a novice katana user, a seasoned shield axe hunter, and a skilled crossbow user in such a place, they faced the blue dragon—a monster with a minimum threshold of 50 HR—and their only fate was death; there was no chance for even the cat to escape, as they were instantly killed.

The equipment they wore couldn't withstand even a single strike from the wing blades, let alone the novice katana user who had no gear at all and came out hunting in casual clothes—miners of guild advice: "At least dress like a hunter before going out!"

"We quietly leave, move slowly, and make gentle movements." 

"Got it!" The hunters exchanged glances and slowly crept forward through the grass. However, with a childish "Ying~ Aow~," the blue dragon approached slowly, dragging its heavy wings behind, casting a terrifying shadow over the three hunters, who were frozen in fear.

"Run!" 

The seasoned hunter drew his hunting knife, swiftly slashing through the fog grass, which erupted in a cloud of gray smoke. Without a word, he turned and fled. His companion reacted almost as quickly, standing up to grab a strong stamina potion originally meant to be submitted to the guild, downing it and sprinting away in under five seconds—indeed, a proficient response.

Only the catgirl, whose reaction was noticeably a beat too slow, looked on in despair as her two companions dashed to the left and right, leaving her alone to face the slowly descending terrifying dragon head.

Unlike the standard blue dragon, this one had a triangular, sharp mouth with long, slender teeth. The outer layer was thick and sharp, while the inner layer consisted of fine, dense teeth, which could easily trap her with just one bite. The outer teeth locked onto the prey, while the inner teeth were responsible for chewing and shredding it. This mouth structure was almost entirely different from that of the blue dragon, and the dragon's teeth were even covered with bluish ether crystalline erosion patterns.

"Gulp~" The catgirl quickly remembered many monsters didn't eat dead meat, a dubious tip she had picked up. Rolling her eyes, she flopped backward, trying to play dead in an attempt to avoid detection. However, this trick wouldn't fool Huihui.

"Sniff sniff~" The catgirl felt something soft and warm sniffing around her. Then... she was licked—a long, rough dragon tongue licked her once, and then again.

Huihui crouched on her hind legs, her wings wrapped around her, and her long neck bent down curiously to look at the catgirl, occasionally nudging or licking her. Her tail excitedly thumped against the ground. If it were that clueless cat poet, she would have already pulled out some delicious oversized dried fish by now. Otherwise, Huihui would continue to lick or nudge her. Simply put, she was hungry and needed food.

"I'm going to be eaten, I'm going to be eaten, I'm going to be eaten..." The catgirl anxiously awaited her final judgment. However, the dragon did nothing but occasionally lick and nudge her. "Ying ying~" Huihui made a sound like a needy puppy, expressing her extreme dissatisfaction at the lack of food after such a long wait.

Meanwhile, the two hunters who had run a distance turned back to look at the blue dragon, which appeared to be eating, occasionally lowering its head as if licking something. They silently offered a prayer for the catgirl—yet another hunter who had ventured into a high-level area and lost her life and dreams, becoming just a pale name in the Hall of the Five Dragons—Amen, Namu San~

It seemed that over here, the cat had no survival skills, even worse than Ishgard's canned goods. Huihui stepped back two paces, deciding to take away all the gifts she initially intended to leave for the catgirl, not leaving behind a single scrap! Hmph~!

Ishgard Airship Landing

"Boom~" With the arrival of the extraordinary dragon, the knights of Ishgard were almost accustomed to this creature, which was distinctly different in appearance and behavior. However, after the dawn explained that she was merely a blue mage capable of transformation, the knights had mostly come to terms with it. Since heretics can become dragons, having a profession that allows one to transform into a dragon seemed quite normal, didn't it?

"Lick~" Huihui took a lick at the dragon girl nearby who was discussing matters regarding climbing the Spirit Peak. "Ha chi ha chi~" The warm air made the dragon girl feel as if she were at a hot spring, with moist, warm breezes continuously blowing towards her. "Alright, alright, Huihui, here you go!"

"Aow~" Huihui clamped her mouth around the giant roasted fish given by the dragon girl, sporting an OVO expression. She felt that her experience was still valid.

As a token of gratitude, Huihui left behind a crab shell that could serve as a shield, a last legacy from a mantis shrimp that had lost its body and dignity.

It had been born on the old continent, braving many hardships to crawl onto the sandy shores of the new world. The long years honed its combat skills and endowed it with an exceptionally thick carapace. This adventurous mantis shrimp had yet to leave a mark in the new world before it met a humiliating end inside a clay pot—cause of death: steamed, accompanied by what was ostensibly tender ginger but was actually a magic realm flower's tentacle silk in a ginger-colored sheen. Ultimately, it died without any dignity, lacking vinegar, soy sauce, and even yellow rice wine...

For a crab, let alone a top-tier crab with rich fat and crab roe (male crab) weighing dozens of pounds of pure meat, the death was painfully humble and bland; 

there were no shiny crab eight-piece accompaniments, no yellow rice wine for a meal, and before being steamed, it had not even undergone the customary fasting and bathing (steaming crabs requires them to be starved for two days in clean water to purge mud and impurities). When served, there was no garlic, no chopped green onions, no tender ginger, and most pitifully, no vinegar or soy sauce on the side! 

—It was truly this crab's greatest grievance!

For the diners and the ingredients alike, this reflected a lack of the most basic mutual respect and etiquette. Compared to those ingredients that Huihui treated with care and had prepared recipes and accompaniments for, this crab was utterly discriminated against. However, to Huihui, the mantis shrimp's grievances held no sway. She continued to dance along the beach, smashing any hard-shelled creatures she saw with a stone, capturing and eating them.

"What is this again, Huihui~?"

"A gift!" Huihui, having regained her cute, energetic form, nudged the dragon girl and exclaimed, "Fish, is there more?"

"Here you go, here you go!" The dragon girl had stocked up on plenty of fish, primarily to roast them... The Ishgardian knights had all been dispatched to find fuel and go fishing, because Emerick had said, "If that little guy isn't full, she might sneak into the kitchen to steal food. You all... wouldn't want to survive a week on dragon bird meat stew with Sakir vegetables, right?"

Dragon bird meat is something Huihui would not eat; it tastes terrible, and what Ishgard caught was the even worse dragonfly dragon. Combined with Sakir vegetables, which have a strange and horrible smell...

Several of the Ishgardian knights had now become intermediate members of the fishermen's guild. They were fishing in the sea of clouds and even catching flying fish from cliffs. Even the dragon knights would occasionally practice their jumping skills with harpoons—not for any particular reason, just so that when they fought next time, Huihui would remember herself and not end up whacking someone with her tail from above, creating a rather embarrassing scene... Huihui dislikes having anything fly over her back or head, so she would swat any dragon knight who jumped over her—though not too hard.

However, aside from her appetite, Huihui was generally quite popular among the Ishgardians. She didn't attack humans and occasionally went out to hunt, decreasing the number of dragon-like monsters around Ishgard by about ten percent. This also significantly reduced daily casualties during their expansion efforts.

In the end, when Huihui was well-fed and in a good mood, she was easier to talk to. Helping to deliver supplies wasn't a bad request, like sending provisions to the White Cloud Tower. But there was one thing—she didn't like those unruly kids. They couldn't even touch her, and if they got too close, she would show her sharp teeth and adopt an aggressive stance.

"So, what exactly kind of dragon is this?" The azure dragon knight crossed his arms while eyeing Huihui. "And what's interesting is that she doesn't seem afraid of me at all."

Huihui, of course, was not afraid of him anymore. Although he had the strong scent of dragon blood on him, it did not include that of ancient dragons, especially not the Tenwis dragon. So, there was no reason for her to be afraid. As for Nidhogg's dragon eye, Huihui was even less intimidated by it; she was not a being that relied on eyes for energy.

Estinien might have been able to exert some intimidation over Huihui with a steel dragon's jewel, but when it came to Nidhogg's dragon eye... "Ah woo!"

"Hey, little brat, that's not for you to eat." Estinien struggled quite a bit to pry Huihui off his hand, but a small circle of bite marks had already appeared on the dragon eye. "Goodness, she even bites the dragon eye!"

"Don't wave strange things in front of a child; it's no surprise that kids like to chew on things," the dragon girl said protectively as she pulled Huihui behind her. "..." The azure dragon knight could only silently put the dragon eye away, determined to stay far away from the little brat next time he encountered her.

"No food for Huihui~" Huihui pointed at the dragon knight with a wronged expression, almost on the verge of tears. For her, the dragon blood on the knight equated to having killed many dragons, to having hunted many dragons, to having eaten many dragons. Therefore, the treasures in his hand that looked round and smelled good must be delicious food. According to her logic, this inference had no flaws—absolutely none. Why would you keep something that isn't tasty? Not eating it? Then why keep it? Don't you hunt your prey and take a part just for eating?

"That really can't be eaten~" The dragon girl was amused and exasperated, but thankfully, she had a secret weapon. "Here you go, cat charm-flavored skewers." With the enticing aroma of new roasted meat, Huihui quickly tossed the round ball behind her.

It must be said that after spending some time together, everyone understood Huihui's line of thinking and personality. There was nothing that a meal of meat couldn't solve; if there was, then it would take two meals. Even the light-headed being, labeled as a strong magical creature, managed to clear their name this way.

Well, just clearing one's name. After climbing onto her back again, one would still get slapped if needed. There would be no softening just because you treated her to some meat; after all, it wasn't just the light-headed being who got sent flying over ten meters when trying to hug Huihui from behind—there were also those from the slums who planned to kidnap Huihui and threaten Dawn.

Fortunately for Huihui, her mood was good, and her displeasure only resulted in a mere bone fracture and soft tissue bruising. For those unlucky enough, they risked suffering a truly terrifying injury, completely exploding at the back when hit.

"Speaking of which, can we ride on her back to cross the Spirit Peak?" Estinien brought up a taboo topic, causing all those who had flown with Huihui and had been bitten to show expressions of sheer horror. "I suggest you really don't try it. If you don't want to get killed, don't attempt to jump onto her back."

"Does she really dislike it that much?"

"Well, it's probably akin to...," the dragon girl organized her thoughts, "the concept of violating a woman."

"...." The dragon knights, who often jumped onto dragons' backs to stab and assassinate, displayed awkward expressions. Even with the complexities of dragon gender considered, some felt a bit embarrassed, and he decided that he would never jump onto someone's back to assassinate again.