Regarding the Commander turning his attention to the Grimalkynes of Blazefire Village, Logan was unaware of it—and even if he had known, he would not have cared much.
At present, not only had the Radiant Fire Wyverns on the Ancient Tree reached saturation, but even the cats had already reached a saturated state.
Expanding outward and becoming hunting cats was the correct path forward.
During this period, the Radiant Fire Wyverns' outward expansion had already begun to show initial results. Some elderly Radiant Fire Wyverns, whose combat strength had already declined, became the first group of dragons to migrate out of the Ancient Tree. Following them, aside from small groups that banded together, were also some Grimalkyne families that had likewise reached the limit of their potential and had served this pair of Radiant Fire Wyverns for an entire lifetime.
After migrating out, they would be like ordinary Fire Wyverns of the past—reproducing in new habitats. Once their offspring possessed sufficient strength, those offspring would then be sent to the Ancient Tree to undergo the "trial," in order to obtain the qualification to settle on the Ancient Tree.
The cats that migrated out were the same!
The second group to migrate out consisted of those Radiant Fire Wyverns that had already passed through their youth. However, unlike the elderly Radiant Fire Wyverns, they had no cats accompanying them. Everything depended solely on themselves—whether they could survive in the outside world, or even return once more to the Ancient Tree, depended entirely on their own efforts.
...
On the third day after returning to the Ancient Tree, Aki led the outward expeditionary hunting party back to the Ancient Tree.
Fortunately, even those Radiant Fire Wyvern guard units suffered no losses. For the most part, they were only somewhat weary and weak due to being assaulted by the effluvium.
As for Aki and the others, aside from looking a bit tired, there were no major problems either—especially that one Flame Rathalos. After returning, it was like a victorious rooster; for several days in a row, it walked around with its head held high and its chest puffed out.
Anyone who didn't know better would have thought that in this operation against Blackveil Vaal Hazak, it had been the main attacker.
Just as Logan had thought, in their current state, Aki and the others posed a threat to Blackveil Vaal Hazak that was in no way inferior to Teostra—let alone in a group battle!
Blackveil Vaal Hazak had never before seen its effluvium spread out. Without sufficient effluvium replenishment, and without a powerful move capable of deciding the outcome in a single strike, when facing Aki and the Flame Rathalos that countered it, in the end it could only, after paying a certain price, leave the Ancient Forest in humiliation and flee back to the Rotten Vale.
With Logan holding the fort, after Aki and the others' grand, momentum-filled interception battle against Blackveil Vaal Hazak, the Ancient Forest's side finally became completely calm at the elder dragon level.
Even if there were elder dragons that came here to settle, they all silently reined in their own influence on nature. After occupying a stretch of territory, they would quiet down—forming a stark contrast with the other regions of the New World.
Time thus sped by.
Large quantities of supplies were transferred from the Ancient Tree to Astera, and then transported onward to the Seliana outpost in the ice region.
In just a single month, a small outpost capable of accommodating hundreds of people was successfully established in the snowy zone. It was said that the Wyverian scholar who had once overseen logistical construction during the earliest days of the Research Commission once again exerted his abilities—despite severe material shortages, he forcibly built, through the most primitive manufacturing methods, a massive boiler capable of heating the entirety of the Seliana base.
It had to be said that although the logistical personnel of the First Fleet gradually faded into obscurity after the arrival of the Second Fleet and Fourth Fleet, every one of them had real skills. They truly deserved their status as elite pioneers of the initial expansion.
Within the Ancient Tree, Logan—immersed in the pleasure of internal energy aggregation—felt his body tremble slightly.
He slowly opened his eyes, pupils suffused with a deep crimson hue, as the continuously converging energy around him rapidly calmed.
With some irritation, he glanced toward the outside of the nest. Beside him, Aki, who was asleep, subconsciously drew closer to his body in her sleep, seeking warmth.
The temperature of the air was dropping at an abnormal and rapid rate!
One had to know that it was only early autumn—there was absolutely no way the temperature should have fallen to this extent.
What was more, Logan had sensed the aura of a new elder dragon!
It was passing through the Ancient Forest, rapidly flying toward the Elder's Recess.
...
At Astera, the Commander had originally set up a simple tent by the conference platform—first, to handle documents late at night, and second, to enjoy the sea breeze in this hot weather. Two birds with one stone!
As a result, he was forcibly awakened by the cold.
Poking his head out of the tent, he saw flakes of snow falling one after another, covering the conference platform. The Commander was completely stunned!
Without even needing to think much, his first reaction was that yet another elder dragon was causing trouble!
"Troublesome times…" After saying that, he shrank back into the tent, quietly draped another layer of clothing over himself, and once again fell into a deep sleep.
In the past, when faced with such abnormal weather, the Commander would probably have spent the entire night worrying, unable to sleep.
After all, this was extreme cold weather!
The impact was sufficient to affect the cultivation and acquisition of supplies, and the consequences were enormous. If it were to persist for a longer period, and if the culprit could not be identified, it could even escalate to the point where the entire Research Commission would be forced to withdraw and return to the Old World.
But for now… with the Sunblaze Dragon standing tall and bearing the pressure, such a major matter was not yet his concern.
...
The Commander's judgment was correct.
Early the next morning, after Logan went outside, he discovered that the cats had all changed into fluffy winter clothing. The Radiant Fire Wyverns, which were usually active from early morning, showed no movement at all—every one of them was curled up inside their nests, the whole family huddled together for warmth, relying on stockpiled food to endure the cold.
Compared with other monsters, Fire Wyverns—having only scales and no fur, and possessing physiques poorly suited to cold—detested this kind of weather even more.
The entire forest seemed to have fallen into a state of stillness due to this sudden and drastic temperature drop. If not for the fact that bioenergy remained abundant, and that the plants had previously absorbed sufficient nutrients and possessed vigorous vitality, then with this exaggerated temperature differential alone, a large number of comparatively "delicate" plants would likely have died outright.
As for this, aside from a few complaints, Logan seemed unable to do anything else.
After all, as a dragon who knew the cause, he was well aware that the Velkhana that had come from afar was not acting intentionally.
Due to changes in the ice region's geological veins, parts of the ice region's volcanoes had gone dormant—among them, Velkhana's own nest.
Unable to obtain enough "shell material" from magma, Velkhana—who relied on ultra-low temperatures to solidify magma into "volcanic glass" as its clothing in order to control its own power—had no choice but to force its way onward with unstable energy to the New World, heading for the Elder's Recess to forge new clothing.
It was even very possible that this was in preparation for a future battle with Shara Ishvalda.
Although there was an absolute gap between their ecological niches, it was also a fact that Shara Ishvalda had low resistance to ice-element energy.
If a few more suitably matched elder dragons were to be gathered for a targeted group assault against Shara Ishvalda, then even if it could not be slain, forcing it to pay a price and be driven back into dormancy should still be achievable.
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