All was normal on the way back to Tuilë’s workshop, but the moment I stepped foot nearby, I noticed a large pile of stuff at the back of the workshop.
“Holy moly…! Is someone trying to move out?” Some of them were something that I recently saw as they were the airship’s parts, but the others…
When I was still in a trance, there was suddenly a jolt on my back.
“Hi there, Maxxy?”
Shocked, I leaped to the side like a frightened cat, shouting at the perpetrator, “Are you trying to get me a heart attack?!” While I was already used to her electric shock, it still stung.
“Haha! Sorry, sorry! Can’t help it when I see you staring dumbfoundedly at the airship’s parts.” She rubbed the back of her head while showing me a toothy grin, her eyes closed.
“Sheesh! One of these days, I'll get back at you for all these grievances.”
In reality, both Tuilë and Lunaria liked to spook people. So, I had two targets in mind… Just wait, you two…
“Please let me off the hook.” She sheepishly smiled. “But I kinda looking forward to what you can do.”
“Enough with that. Oh yeah, what about all this? I know that you put the engines and the ship’s reactor outside, but what with the other stuff?”
There were all sorts of things placed neatly inside boxes and also a large bag that seemed to carry a tent inside along with all kinds of tools and items. Was she trying to pop off somewhere for one reason or another?
“To start with remodeling the airship, I’ve to make a base at the site. We can’t move it here, for an obvious reason, so I’m thinking of assembling all the things there.”
What she said made a lot of sense — even with Alfredo the mechanical golem, to carry something that could easily reach a hundred tons all the way here was an impossible task. Consequently, there was a need to make a base there and repair it at the location it was at.
“Y’know, the next few weeks or so are gonna be busy for me. Dunno how much back and forth it would take me to move all the stuff even with Alfredo’s help. You, as my patron, did overwork me to the bone with the one-month deadline, to be completely honest.” She gave me a frustrated shake, but the fire in her eyes was burning wilder.
I knew that she had worked hard this past week. If it wasn’t for the deadline that the mission imposed, I wouldn’t have asked her to finish it so soon. No one was more aware of the danger of overworking than me, but I just had to enforce it on her. How ironic.
“How about this: I’ll be treating you to the most expensive dinner in town, without limit.”
“Really? Yippee! That’s a promise!” Although partially hidden, her tail swished to and fro behind her in joy; she was never that excited before.
***
Early in the morning, Tuilë woke me up from my slumber by barging the door to my room, screaming, “Get up, now!” and pulled my blanket. Totally too energetic and exuberant for a girl her age, or was it something normal for her people?
Forced, I stood up and rubbed my drowsy eyes, saying, “Don’t you think it’s inappropriate for you to barge inside without knocking?”
“Knocking? Who cares? And this is my house by the way. Anywho, just come here! Oh, and bring Lunaria with you,” she dashed out of the room as instantly as she entered.
The spherical drone, Luna-1, turned on amidst all of that along with Lunaria’s sarcastic comment, “She’s too lively, isn’t she? Why don’t you marry her so that she settles down a bit?”
“Shut it, you.” Hearing her comment just caused me even more headaches.
I changed my clothes to my usual with my jacket on and quickly followed her outside. There, I saw Tuilë leaning against the pile of stuff at the side and immediately straightened her posture when she saw me coming out.
“You’re going this early in the morning?” I initiated the conversation.
“Uh-huh. It’s not going to be for long, obviously, but don’t expect me to be available.” She reminded, “So be careful of damaging Lunaria since I won’t be able to repair her availably.”
“You heard that, Maxim. Don’t overexert me too much.” Luna-1 floated next to me.
“Yes, yes, Miss Lunaria, you need not worry.”
Tuilë added, “One more thing, please watch the workshop as well as my house in the meantime.”
“Of course. I’ve got it covered; I’ll be sure to hold the fort when you’re gone. Once I gathered the required source crystals, I’ll come to find you to help with the airship.” I motioned at her not to worry and just focus on rebuilding the airship.
“Mhm! However, don’t push yourself too hard either — it would be a shame if you get yourself killed while hunting source crystals. Nevertheless, I must remind you this: A thousand source crystals is only a superficial estimate. I’ve been asking the connections I know to help as I get a hold of them, but unfortunately, the cost may exceed two thousand…”
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It was normal to expect the project cost to swell. Two thousand source crystals… only twice that of the original. A piece of ca… Ugh… Who am I kidding?
“What’s wrong, cat got your tongue? Well, if it’s too much…” She looked at Alfredo in dejection, seeming to plan on taking the source crystal within to be used in resolving this problem.
“No!” I shook my head. “I said that I’ll fulfill the amount, so of course I’ll fulfill it. There’s no need to worry about that.”
At hearing that, her mouth broke into a smile, and she chuckled, “Pfft, what’s with the cheesy line? Okie! I’ll be expecting you, then.”
“Yup. Oh, right.” That instant, I was reminded of the twenty-two source crystals I got from the remnant of the crimson draugrs and gave them to her, thus bringing down the required total to 1.957 (after adding a thousand).
“Thanks! See you soon!”
The moment before she left, I gave the capricious girl a high five. This marked where each of us would fulfill our part of the project.
***
“And here we go.”
I dumped five quintals of ant insecticide into the pond, wiping the sweat off my forehead.
I was sure beyond doubt that If an environmentalist were to see me doing this, they would condemn me for polluting the environment. In any case, I only had to be careful not to drink from this pond, or… I’d be dead within two days if not treated.
“Anyway, it should be nearing the twenty-four-hour mark soon. I should get my preparations ready.”
It was important to prepare all the things needed for this catch: my gun, ammo, as well as my grenades that were safely hidden in the pocket of my backpack — I had to make sure that all of them were within arm’s reach.
Now, it was time to reap what I’d sown.
“Be careful, Maxim. We don’t know yet for sure whether the ant poison would be effective against mutant ants. Although, preliminary examination proved that their intestines were similar.”
Luna-1 was unleashing its flashlight to the front; I had specifically asked her to keep the light at the minimum so as not to alert any potential danger inside. Ants might have bad vision, but the same couldn’t be said for giant mutant ants.
“Mm, I know.”
I carried on toward the path leading down that I found two days ago with a will that was as firm as steel. The already extremely thin mist gradually disappeared the more I descended.
Eerily enough, the mycelium of the mushroom reached even this place, and because there was no mist to veil my vision, I had to see the creepy crimson bump that would appear and move occasionally. Gee…
Not long after, the first prey was within sight — a scarlet ant with small mandibles. Shockingly, the ant didn’t die outright like what I had initially hoped for, but it was lying weakly on the ground, looking like it was in a stupor.
“Is the ant insecticide not working?” I grimaced at the thought of walking into the lion’s den.
“No, it’s just that it consumes very little of the poison.”
“Really?”
While still a bit skeptical, I checked its status through [Identification]. Only through this would I be certain 100 percent.
Species: Great scarlet worker ants (mutant)
Condition: Food poisoning (severe) | Weakened (extreme)
Sex: Female
Age: 4 years old
Height: 47 cm
Source Level: None
Source Element(s): None
Stats:
* STR: F (12 → 6)
* AGI: F (17 → 7)
* VIT: F (13 → 6)
* SRC: F- (11 → 5)
* SPR: F- (6 → 5)
Accumulation Points: 9 → 6 [F]
Food poisoning (severe)
This creature has been poisoned by food, and it has spread widely to every vital body part. Although the amount it consumed was little, the effect is potent.
Weakened (extreme)
This creature has been weakened to the extreme; all it can do is lie on the ground and wait for death.
Regrettably, it was but a measly worker ant and wasn’t my target of the day. At least, my biggest concern had been addressed, so there was nothing to fear moving forward.
Time to move on and seek for First Order and higher.
Only a few steps ahead, the second target showed, and it was a First-Order soldier ant. Despite being stronger, it was lying lifelessly on the ground, looking as dead as it could possibly be.
“Whoa. This one must have consumed a sizeable amount of ant insecticide. What a greedy ant. Tsk, tsk, tsk.”
“Well, the bigger ants require more resources than their smaller counterparts. It’s part of nature.”
“I’m just joking.”
Illuminating the path ahead revealed even more dead ants, a fourth of them being soldier ants. Some of them were still faintly twitching, though, but what could they do except for staying still and being killed like a chicken? I even felt sorry for them.
Closing one eye on the matter, I harvested the ants for their source crystals while humming a certain happy song. A pungent smell similar to that of olive oil filled my nostrils when I neared them, but all I had to do was to cast an Anemo spell to disperse the wind here.
This body’s original owner — Raymond — was very good at dismantling creatures. Thanks to the experience in his memories, I was able to exert a similar level of expertise as if it was natural.
Regardless. Nothing beat the feeling of collecting free source crystals without the need of exerting any energy fighting them. I didn’t even have to ask Lunaria to distract the enemy. This was a kind of new exhilarating feeling that I’d never felt before. Truly intoxicating.
“That’s one, two, three, four, five, six…” I counted the source crystals that I harvested and was shocked by my first harvest. “Twenty-six! I barely have to do anything — cutting their heads open — and it yielded me this much!”
“Hold your horses there… Think about it, you have to repeat this a hundred times over to meet the needed quota. So far, it takes you a minute to cut open one ant, so it’s almost half an hour,” Lunaria stated.
“I know. But look.” I pointed at a long trail of half-dead ants leading toward another group of similarly deceased ants at the other part of the cave.
However, though not as complicated as a real ant nest, it was still a vast underground network, as seen from the increasingly winding paths with many chambers connected to them. Who knew what kind of danger lay within.
With all that said, victory was all but certain, and the goal of two thousand source crystals was within reach. Even if it took like thirty hours on end to finish this process, it was all worth it.
What a huge harvest this was.