The two choices offered by the side quest both seemed less than ideal to Han Dong.
If they killed the beast directly,
they could only obtain the "Damaged Behemoth Heart." Without special preservation methods, they would never be able to bring it back to the city walls; it might even completely decay before they left the cavern.
They could only soak everyone's badges in the heart's blood and claim the high rewards for killing the beast after returning to the city.
As for some of the materials from the behemoth's body, they might be useful, but that was about it.
If they chose the treatment route,
they might receive decent gifts—perhaps the behemoth would cut off part of its ram horn as a present—and gain the behemoth's assistance in their later exploration.
Those rewards seemed pretty good as well.
But upon careful consideration, the team's ultimate objective was not to explore Infinite City, but to find and seize the treasure hidden in The Depths... This behemoth dwelling at the boundary between the inner and outer cities should only serve as a transitional step.
In the long run,
neither of those options could compare to the "third choice" Han Dong had devised.
That was, to treat the behemoth's heart while preserving the integrity of its body, then perfectly excavate the entire heart once it had fully recovered.
Green's traits made her particularly suited for this excavation work.
Besides,
once this behemoth recovered, the materials it dropped would be in much better condition as well.
Four hours later.
As the final tremor spread through the cavern,
the behemoth—Bell Horn—collapsed heavily to the ground.
At the spot between its lower abdomen and spine was an extremely bizarre circular wound that led directly into its body.
The walls of the wound displayed a