Initial Investigation Report of the First Team

"Yo! Everyone! Long time no see!"

Standing at the entrance to the base, the burly man with a head of spiky black hair leading the group waved casually to the people inside.

"Leader?!"

"It's the Leader!"

"Hey! Go quickly inform the Sword Master and Captain Uncle, the Leader and the others are back!!"

The hunters inside the base became instantly excited when they noticed the returning group. These hunters could indeed be called simple and honest; in no time, they enthusiastically gathered around, inquiring about the well-being of the advance team members while curiously asking what they had discovered.

"Hahaha, you're all so enthusiastic," the man called Leader chuckled as he answered his guild members' questions. Meanwhile, the one called Commander was inquiring about the base's situation during their absence.

This could be considered a unique sight within the guild. Despite being called Leader, this burly man didn't manage the guild's specific affairs.

All plans, including resource allocation, personnel management, and hunting arrangements, were decided by the man called Commander.

As for the Leader... he only needed to fight powerful monsters.

"Did you not encounter any danger?" At this moment, the Commander was questioning the Sword Master and the Technical Class Captain who had stayed behind at the base. "Everyone's mental state seems quite good."

"There were dangers, naturally. After all, it's a completely unknown continent," the Sword Master's serious voice came from his helmet. "But there were no dangers that could threaten the camp's safety."

"And compared to the dangers, what troubled the young lads more was mining, hahahaha!" The Technical Class Captain burst into laughter as he spoke.

"Oh? What are you talking about?" After briefly reconnecting with his guild members, the Leader also came over, asking from a distance.

"We're talking about mining. See? The base's great transformation—these are the stones the lads worked hard to mine," the Technical Class Captain said proudly, patting the stone wall beside him. "It took a lot of effort to get them to endure such tedious work."

"Yeah, I can tell," Yano said teasingly to her companion. "Looking at the mining lamp on your head, you weren't slacking off either, were you?"

"Ha, I'm not old yet. How could I be left behind by the young lads?" the Technical Class Captain, sporting a mustache and wearing a mining lamp on his head, said nonchalantly.

His race wasn't actually human, but Dragonewt—so even though he looked somewhat aged, he could still live for a very long time, perhaps even outliving some younger humans.

(This guy was younger and taller forty years ago. You guys can imagine.)

Compared to when the hunters first landed on this continent more than half a year ago, this cliffside, which was then an empty expanse of desolate rocks and the sound of waves, had been developed into a proper base.

The large ship that brought them had been completely dismantled. The largest main section was placed at the foot of the cliff, another part was set up at the east end, and the ship's cabins were modified to store various supplies or serve as activity areas and residences for the hunters.

Centering around this ship, the hunters used the large stones they mined to build the base's walls, finally preventing those thieving individuals from sneaking in through blind spots to steal things.

In addition to houses built with stones, the base was generally filled with a sense of new vitality. Even as these few people were talking, many hunters could be seen busy with the base's construction.

"It's great," the Leader couldn't help but sigh. "Thank you for your hard work."

"Hehe, not bad, right?" The Technical Class Captain rubbed his nose proudly. "So, hurry up and give the base a name, Leader."

"What?" The Leader's eyes widened in surprise. "You still haven't named it?"

"Who do you think the Leader is?!" the Technical Class Captain retorted impatiently. "Important matters like this are naturally up to you."

"Oh, right," the Leader said, looking as if he suddenly understood. "Sorry, I came back too late. Hmm, for the name... let's call it Starry Base."

Looking around, the Leader gazed at the developing base with satisfaction and said in a deep voice, "We've confirmed that this isn't just a large island, but an entirely new continent."

"The Star Ship brought us to a new continent, and the base it transformed into is our star—in short, let's call it Starry Base!"

"Starry Base? That's a good name," the Commander nodded. He looked at the flag that had been hung high at the base—it was their expedition's guild flag.

With red and yellow as the base colors, besides the guild emblem at the very top, there was also a star pattern below—that was the Azure Star, signifying that the Azure Star guided their way forward.

"Alright! Then it's Starry Base!" The Technical Class Captain had no objections. He said cheerfully, "I'll tell the young men and women later. For now, let's talk about you guys. I'm very curious."

"Speaking of which, we've decided to name that volcano-like dragon Lava Dragon. We'll report it to the guild when we have a chance to return," said a representative sent by the guild's scholars. "So, did you find the secret of the Elder Dragon crossing the sea? The Steel Dragon's, and the Lava Dragon's?"

The members of the advance team fell silent for a moment.

"No?" The Technical Class Captain tilted his head.

"Lava Dragon? We only saw a giant shadow like a mountain," the Leader finally spoke, sighing deeply. "But it disappeared into the ocean in an instant, heading away from the land. We couldn't even get close."

"Besides that, the traces left by the Steel Dragon we were tracking when we departed from the guild pointed towards a gorge filled with miasma. But without equipment to deal with the miasma, we didn't dare to enter rashly, so we had to return the way we came," Yano added.

"The Lava Dragon returned to the sea?" the Sword Master asked, puzzled. "Did it and the Steel Dragon go to different places? I recall that on the sea midway, the Steel Dragon would occasionally land on the Lava Dragon's back to rest when it surfaced."

"Perhaps it was just a coincidence," the Leader mused. "Regardless, that's the fact: the Steel Dragon entered that miasma gorge, and the Lava Dragon returned to the water—how strange."

Only the Leader seemed relaxed. In reality, the atmosphere was somewhat somber.

Well, and those scholars too.

"I understand," the scholar, who was sent as a representative, said after putting away his notebook and pen. "In short, the mysteries remain unsolved, and the expedition still needs to continue its investigation, right?"

"Ah, that's about it," the Commander nodded. "The Steel Dragon's whereabouts, the Lava Dragon's whereabouts, and that Water Dragon that attacked our ship near the coast of the new continent—we didn't even get to see what it looked like."

The hunters of the first expedition didn't dismantle the ship that brought them to the new continent like this voluntarily. The scarcity of resources in the Great Sand Sea was only a minor reason. The main reason was that even if they didn't dismantle it, the ship could no longer sail.

More than half a year ago, while tracking the Steel Dragon across the sea, they first encountered the Lava Dragon emerging from the sea midway. Then, as they approached the new continent, an unknown dragon inexplicably emerged from the water and threw the Star Ship ashore.

What Xingyan saw from a distance, a huge cavity in the ship's hull, was merely superficial. In reality, the ship's keel had broken in the middle, near the bow, at that time. It just looked like some decks were still connected.

"Oh, speaking of which," the Leader suddenly became excited. "On the way back from that miasma gorge, in this wasteland, we also saw a wondrous dragon shining with brilliance! Golden, as if it were glowing all over—Hey, Yano, that was definitely real gold, right?!"

"I think so, but it could also just be brass, who knows?" Yano shrugged. "If the royalty saw it, they'd definitely go crazy, right? Maybe it would be revered as a guardian deity, hmm... or a god of wealth."

"A dragon that shines golden all over?" The Scholar's eyes lit up with excitement. He quickly pulled out his notebook and pen again, urging, "Tell me more, tell me more, in more detail!"

"That's all I have," the Leader scratched his head, looking troubled. "It was incredibly huge. Its size suggests it's an Elder Dragon, right?"

"Let me take over," Yano sighed and took out her own notebook, opening it to reveal a realistic portrait of a dragon. "It looks something like this. The head, the horns, and its body is covered in..."

"Ooh!!"

The Scholar leaned in immediately.

"I'm going to call it the Golden Mother Goddess of the Earth!" the Leader declared proudly, hands on his hips. "Let's call it the Radiant Gold Dragon!"

No one paid him any mind.

The few people left at the base gathered around, eager to see what this brand-new Elder Dragon looked like, while the Commander chuckled.

"I understand completely now."

After an intense session of brainstorming and discussion, the Scholar from the First Unit straightened up and said.

"Whether it's an unknown continent or various unknown monsters, and with the secrets of the Elder Dragon's migration still unsolved, these are all things of great research value. It's probably far beyond what a few of us can handle."

"This means the Starry Base still has a reason to exist," the Commander chimed in. "And we need to make it even safer. We can use this place as our center to explore this completely new continent. I wonder if any locals live here."

"Perhaps," the Scholar nodded. "In any case, the investigation mission seems to be shifting to a long-term one. Once the new ship is built and we can contact the Guild, we can submit a formal report and application. We'll need a lot of personnel support here."

"Yeah," the Leader agreed wholeheartedly. "Many people thought this would be a quick mission when we set out—I imagine many will choose to go back then, won't they?"

Unlike the others, the Leader had keenly noticed this point while interacting with his team members earlier. Many of them were already feeling homesick.

"That's a perfectly normal choice," Yano added. "But we need more technical personnel to overcome the dangerous natural environments, and more scholars to study the local ecosystem, to prevent our activities from disrupting the ecological balance of the New World."

"And of course, we need combat personnel to ensure the safety of the base," the Leader said with a grin, stretching his arms. "The dragons on the New World are truly full of spirit."

Their expedition deep inland hadn't been peaceful at all; they had been attacked by many local monsters. If not for the skills of the advance team members, someone might have died on the way.

"I understand too," the Technical Class Captain suddenly burst into laughter as he thought about it. "Does this mean we still have to keep mining?"

"Yes, the lads will probably have to wear long faces for a while longer," the Commander said with a smile, recalling the same scenario. "The main focus moving forward will be to complete the construction of the base."

"Oh! Leave that to you then! Commander!" the Leader stood up straight.

"What do you mean?" the Commander's eyes widened. "Where are you going?"

"You know me, with my personality, I just can't sit still and do this kind of thing," the Leader said with a sheepish grin. "So, I plan to continue exploring deeper into the New World. I'll leave the base matters to you!"

"Don't even think about it!" The Commander flatly denied his friend's request, acting more like a leader than the Leader himself at this moment. "At least ensure the safety of the base first! Where do you think you're going when we're short on combat power?!"

"Hmm, exploring the surroundings?" the Leader pondered. "That doesn't seem impossible. Speaking of which, Uncle, what's behind this cliff face next to the base? Have you sent anyone to explore it?"

"No," the Technical Class Captain shook his head. "See that smooth stone wall? Not even a Wedge Bug could latch onto it—oh, you don't know what a Wedge Bug is yet, do you? It's a peculiar insect we discovered while operating in the Great Sand Sea recently."

"All you have to do is throw a rope out and loop it around them, and you can swing to many places you couldn't reach before. Thanks to them, everyone has found quite a few good things."

"The Great Sand Sea?" the Commander asked curiously. "Is that what you named this wasteland?"

"Yes," the Technical Class Captain adjusted his headlamp. "You've seen the ant mounds everywhere, haven't you?"

"Indeed, a very fitting name," the Commander nodded. "So, let's exchange some intel first. Have you encountered any dangerous creatures active in the Great Sand Sea during your exploration?"

"For example, any monsters that might pose a threat to the base and need to be hunted down immediately, or any dangerous creatures we need to be wary of."