“We have considered the cycle, meow. Based on our current estimates, the Fire Wyvern lords will not face any real food shortage for at least half a year. Why do you ask, meow?” the Fire Wyvern Grimalkyne chief replied.
“The issue lies in the breeding cycle itself.” The Supplies leader took a moment to choose his words carefully. He believed the Grimalkynes, having never dealt with breeding before, lacked the necessary understanding, so he intended to explain thoroughly.
“Here’s the situation: raising Aptonoths is a long-term process. Starting from the first batch of captive Aptonoths, even if not a single juvenile is lost along the way, it will take at least three years before their numbers can meet the food requirements of the entire Fire Wyvern group."
"And that’s only under ideal conditions—assuming not a single Aptonoth is lost.”
At this point, the Supplies leader noticed that, after Tonkotsu’s translation, the Fire Wyvern Grimalkyne chief’s expression hadn’t changed. Thinking the chief still hadn’t grasped the severity of the problem, he continued speaking.
“As far as I know, your symbiotic adult Fire Wyvern group numbers close to a hundred individuals. Add in the hatchlings, and the total is even higher. To feed that many Fire Wyverns, the number of Aptonoths required would be enormous. With so many Aptonoths, just the space needed for their pens and the daily consumption of fodder would far exceed what your tribe could possibly sustain—let alone the constant attacks such a large herd would attract from other monsters during captivity."
"Therefore, in my view, trying to rely on Aptonoth breeding to free the Fire Wyvern group from food shortages is practically impossible.”
The Supplies Team leader spoke bluntly. He had just done the calculations—feeding that many Aptonoths each day would require a staggering amount of fodder. Even the current Investigation Team might struggle to afford it.
And unlike the Investigation Team, the Grimalkynes had no fortified defensive structures and no means to guard a breeding facility. Expecting Aptonoth breeding to carry the Fire Wyverns through the next few years was simply unrealistic.
After Tonkotsu translated, the Fire Wyvern Grimalkyne chief lowered his head in thought. Tonkotsu, for his part, also offered his own opinion, agreeing that the plan was unfeasible.
The chief did not respond immediately. Instead, his expression shifted into one of realization, as if a doubt had been resolved. He glanced at Logan with admiration.
For something like animal breeding—a concept utterly foreign and incomprehensible to the native inhabitants of the New World—Logan had somehow arrived at the exact same understanding as the Investigation Team.
It was like living in a remote and primitive countryside all one’s life, yet having a leader who, despite never setting foot in the city, could think with the same reasoning as a city-dweller. The revelation left the cat deeply impressed.
“That’s not quite the case, meow. You’ve misunderstood, meow.”
The Fire Wyvern Grimalkyne chief began to explain: “We are not trying to supply the entire Fire Wyvern group. The breeding only needs to be enough to sustain our Ancient Tree Fire Wyvern tribe along with most of the Fire Wyvern hatchlings, and that will be sufficient. It doesn’t need to last indefinitely—being able to maintain it for three years will be enough.”
On the way here, Logan had already shared some of his thoughts with the Fire Wyvern Grimalkyne chief.
The heavy food pressure on the Fire Wyvern group existed because they had to feed themselves, their hatchlings, and the cats.
This kind of burden, once prey began to grow scarce, would become the final straw that broke the camel’s back, pushing the group toward collapse.
But if the cats and most hatchlings were no longer part of the mated pairs’ responsibility, then even if food shortages occurred, the Ancient Tree Fire Wyverns—with their strength—could find ways to survive, whether through group hunts to reduce risk or by spending more time expanding their hunting grounds farther afield.
If even under those conditions a mated pair still could not survive—dying in the hunt or choosing to leave the group—Logan would feel no regret.
If removing every burden still couldn’t keep them alive, what did that mean?
It meant that those mated pairs lacked the ability to withstand hardship; it meant their strength was insufficient.
And if their strength was insufficient, then they had no right to be part of the Ancient Tree Fire Wyvern group—no right to enjoy the cat-serviced privileges that came with that identity.
Logan believed that the overwhelming majority of Fire Wyverns in the Ancient Tree group possessed the strength needed. With such strength, once freed from concerns over the survival of cats and hatchlings, there would be no reason for the group to collapse as a whole.
After all, the Ancient Tree Fire Wyverns’ pride spoke for itself—if you can survive and continue enjoying the cats’ conveniences, then so can I. At worst, it would simply mean flying farther and fighting more often.
From the very beginning, the Grimalkyne leader of the Fire Wyverns had indeed intended to include the food supply for the adult members of the wyvern group in his plans.
However, in Logan’s eyes, the Ancient Tree Fire Wyvern group was already among the most elite Fire Wyverns in the New World.
Since the Fire Wyvern hatchlings and the cats had, in this extraordinary time, become a burden for the mated pairs—pushing the survival pressure on those pairs beyond their maximum threshold—he decided to find a way to bring that pressure back down to normal.
At present, he was the de facto leader of the Ancient Tree Fire Wyvern group, but he wasn’t a babysitter. He had no intention of being like the Flame Rathalos, taking everything upon himself and, in doing so, weakening the competitive edge of the wyverns under his lead.
The competitive system at the upper levels of the Ancient Tree was the foundation that kept the Fire Wyvern group strong—not something to be abandoned the moment they rose to the top.
Therefore, when the idea of breeding came to mind, Logan never once considered those adult wyverns, nor even the juvenile ones that could already fly.
A greenhouse could never produce hardy flowers. From beginning to end, Logan’s focus had been on the cats and on the hatchlings with the highest potential—offspring born from the union of strong bloodlines.
Beyond that, there was another point: the cats were currently too weak, and the wyverns’ ecological niche was far too high. At the moment, they were little more than launderers, cooks, and errand-runners. The symbiotic relationship between the cats and the wyverns was still far too fragile.
Just like now—if there were even a hint of food shortage, that relationship could take a severe hit.
By taking up breeding, the cats could feed themselves and even help ease the survival pressure on mated wyvern pairs during shortages. In this way, the cats would gain yet another layer of importance to the wyvern group, deepening the mutual bond between them.
And because the wyverns knew the cats could feed both themselves and their hatchlings through breeding, the wyvern families’ resilience against hardship would grow, and they would, in turn, hold the cats in even higher regard.
This, in turn, would reinforce the wyverns’ sense of tribal identity—creating a virtuous cycle.
“Only the Grimalkynes and the hatchlings need to be considered? Forgive me for asking, but could you give me a rough number?”
Realizing his misunderstanding, the head of the Supply Team didn’t look the least bit embarrassed. Instead, he pulled out a pen and began recalculating in his notebook.
In the end, his conclusion was that, with the cats’ current capabilities, breeding was indeed feasible.
The Supply Team leader was just about to speak when he suddenly remembered—since the Ancient Tree Fire Wyvern tribe had always been an ally of the Research Commission, perhaps he could do one more small favor for this ally.
His pen, which had paused, began moving once again.
The Grimalkyne leader of the Fire Wyverns wasn’t in any hurry, and the rest of the Research Commission members said nothing, quietly waiting as the Supply Team leader scribbled away.
By the time Logan had finally eaten his fill, he politely declined Sita’s offer to demonstrate yet another newly developed “Fire Wyvern Special Cat Meal,” then glanced over toward the table at the Weapons and Felynes’ Pavilion. He didn’t know why it had suddenly gone quiet over there, but he assumed nothing serious had happened—otherwise, the Grimalkyne leader would have already come to consult him.
Over ten minutes later, the Supply Team leader finally stopped, a faint smile curling at the corners of his mouth as he set down his thick notebook.
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