Lance Charge on the Arkship, but No Mount

Especially since they had only recently emerged from the freezing Ursus snowfields and then encountered such scorching weather, it was even harder to adapt. Even Claude felt uncomfortable. He took off his armor and coat, remaining in only a thin white shirt, unbuttoning several buttons to reveal his collarbones and firm chest.

Fortunately, they were already nearing the coordinates Rhodes Island had sent them. As Rhodes Island's largest partner, the entire landship had even stopped to wait for them.

He reached out and pressed a button on the dashboard. He recalibrated their coordinates, then slightly adjusted the vehicle's direction. His companion had lost all interest in talking because of the heat and had remained silent from earlier until now, her fair face flushed red from the heat.

The vehicle rolled over dried grass, kicking up clouds of dry dust.

"We're here."

Hearing Claude's voice, Centaurea perked up. She raised her head and saw the silhouette of the landship in the distance. She immediately sat upright, stretched lazily in her seat, then let out a long breath as her entire body relaxed.

"We finally made it. I thought we were going to be steamed alive in that car..."

Claude stepped on the clutch and worked the gearshift.

"This place really is absurdly hot. I have no idea what caused it. There isn't even a trace of vegetation."

"But we won't need to worry on the way back. Rhodes Island seems to be heading to Ursus too, and they can give us a ride then, so it won't be this hot."

Centaurea looked delighted.

"So that means we can stay on the landship and won't have to keep running around?"

"Of course. We'll even have air conditioning and desserts every day." Claude raised an eyebrow at her, wearing a teasing smile.

Centaurea's face reddened. She reached out, intending to pinch him, but remembered that he was driving and had no choice but to give up, rolling her eyes at him.

"Hehehe!" Claude could not help laughing. He adjusted the vehicle's speed and charged straight through the open gate.

The temperature immediately dropped once they entered the landship. Separated by thick armor, the interior was pleasantly cool. High-powered fans were running along the bulkheads to prevent the temperature from getting too high.

Before they had even gotten out of the car, another vehicle came racing over. It was an ordinary off-road vehicle.

The vehicle had barely stopped when a Sankta girl with wine-red hair rushed out. She braced both hands on her knees and panted heavily. When she finally raised her head, Claude saw that her face was nearly as red as her hair.

After the vehicle's engine shut off, a Lupo girl stepped down from the other side. She had long, straight black hair and a pair of golden eyes, making her somewhat resemble Claude.

They both wore black-and-white uniforms bearing a capsule-like emblem. After seeing Claude and Centaurea, they nodded to them, then picked up their boxes and walked deeper into the ship. The lively Sankta girl even waved at them.

"Penguin Logistics?"

Claude looked thoughtfully at the words printed on the cardboard boxes in their arms. Were they actually couriers from a logistics company? He could not judge the Sankta girl, but the Lupo girl carried the sharpness and bloodlust of blades about her. She was no ordinary person.

But he soon understood. Delivering packages across this land was already an extremely dangerous and arduous job. There were no established roads, so they could only race through the wilderness while constantly keeping watch for drifters, scavengers, and raiders. It really was work that demanded considerable strength.

"Maybe we can hire them to deliver medicine for us in the future."

Claude considered it inwardly. Rhodes Island's location changed frequently, and precious, compact goods like medicine would probably be more convenient to transport through a courier service like this. He did not always have the time to handle such matters himself.

Before he could think any further, a yellow blur suddenly leaped at him. Caught off guard, he was slammed against the car, and that figure hung directly around his neck.

Seeing the child burying her head in his chest, Claude smiled gently and rubbed her head and ears, messing up her neatly groomed hair.

"It's been a long time, Little Ceobe. I came to pick you up."

Ceobe did not speak. She continued burying her head in his chest. Only after quite some time did she finally loosen her grip under Claude's soothing comfort.

"I want to go with you and fight bad people." Ceobe stared straight at him with eyes like red crystals and spoke seriously.

"Alright. Come help me."

Claude could not help reaching out to pinch her cheeks. She had clearly been living well at Rhodes Island. Her face had filled out again, and she was wearing new clothes too.

He turned to look at Doctor Kal'tsit and Yelena, as well as the little leader Amiya, who was standing among them.

"Doctor Kal'tsit, Miss Vulcan, thank you for taking care of this child."

Claude gave them a solemn bow, expressing his gratitude.

"You're too polite, Mr. Claude. It was only a small effort."

"That's right, it's nothing. I like Little Ceobe too. I'm very happy when I'm around her."

Even Miss Vulcan's usually stern face showed a faint smile.

Rhodes Island arranged rooms for Claude and the others. Claude had just put down his luggage when he heard someone knocking on his door.

Claude tidied his clothes slightly, then got up to open the door. As expected, Yelena was standing outside.

"Aren't you going to invite me in for a chat, General?" A smile bloomed across her cold, unadorned face like melting ice and snow.

"Of course. Please come in, milady." Claude smiled and gave the girl a knightly salute, opening the door as wide as possible for her to enter.

There was only a table and two chairs in the room. Claude pulled out a chair for her, then wanted to find something to drink. Having only just arrived, he had nothing in his room with which to entertain a guest.

Yelena was in no hurry. She sat quietly by the table and waited. She was still wearing a patient's gown, but her complexion looked much better, with a healthy flush returning to her face.

Claude went to the cafeteria. Mealtime had long passed, and the place was quite empty. He explained the situation to one of the staff members, who gave him a pot of tea and a plate of pastries that looked homemade. After bidding farewell to the kind cafeteria worker, he quickly returned to his room.

He placed what he was carrying on the table and sat across from Yelena.

"Are you feeling better? I heard your condition has been brought under control."

Claude leaned back in his chair, looking relaxed and at ease. This was how he usually behaved around friends.

"It has been brought under control, but I can't stay here any longer. You're all out there risking your lives. How could I possibly wait here doing nothing?"

Yelena lowered her eyes and took small bites from a pastry.

Claude suddenly felt sentimental. Whether it was Alina or Yelena, Ursus girls always possessed a resilient quality. They had endured countless hardships, yet still thought of overcoming them. They were as tough and crystalline as ice and snow, drawing others toward them while earning their heartfelt respect.

"Didn't I come here personally to pick you up? We still have many battles ahead of us, and we can't do without your strength."

Claude propped the side of his face with his Left Hand. The setting sun dyed his face gold, and the corners of his lips curved upward.

A faint blush appeared on Yelena's snow-white cheeks, and she could not help turning her head away.

"I heard you captured a landship. How were the casualties? I don't know anything about what happened over there." She hurriedly changed the subject.

"The casualties were considerable, but still within an acceptable range."

Claude shook his head slightly and said nothing more.

"If I had been there, I might have been able to help. Maybe there would have been fewer casualties." Yelena could not help biting her lip and lowering her head slightly.

"Don't dwell on it. If you hadn't come here for treatment in time, given your condition back then, you might have suffered a relapse and died within a few months."

Claude cut off her negative thoughts. She was a very determined girl, but also one who could easily get stuck in her own head.

"Don't be sad, and don't blame yourself. Every one of their sacrifices had value. Countless wars still await us in the future. I might die someday too. We're all the same. So don't put too much pressure on yourself."

Claude poured himself a cup of tea. He liked its flavor very much. Its rich fragrance lingered at the tip of his nose, and he gradually calmed from the inside out.

In that quiet atmosphere, they spent the entire afternoon together. Only when Doctor Kal'tsit came to take Yelena away for an examination did they part.

In a good mood, Claude washed up briefly and prepared to sleep when his door was suddenly knocked on again.

This time, however, he frowned slightly. He hesitated for a moment before opening the door.

"Doctor Warfarin, may I ask what brings you here?"

Outside stood the white-haired Vampire lady once more, greeting Claude with an awkward smile.

"I wanted to ask, Mr. Claude, today is our health examination day. Would you be interested in having a checkup? It's very beneficial for maintaining good health."

"A checkup?"

Only then did Claude realize that he had never undergone a medical examination in all these years. Although he was confident that his body was healthy, Originium really was dangerous. It was indeed necessary to get examined here.

"I'm interested, Miss Warfarin. How much does this examination cost?"

"It's free, of course it's free. It's a benefit for you, Mr. Claude. Your companions all have this benefit as well." The white-haired Vampire lady answered eagerly.

"Then do I need to prepare anything, or can I go like this?"

"This is fine. Please follow me."

The moment she turned away, Warfarin could not help revealing an excited smile. The checkup was certainly real, and Kal'tsit had even asked her to invite Claude. But a checkup required drawing blood. If she "accidentally" drew a little extra then, that should not be a problem, right~~~

They soon arrived at the examination area, where many operators were lined up. At a glance, Claude spotted operators from five or six different races, making him sigh at Rhodes Island's diversity. He did not need to queue here, however. He had his own dedicated passage.

As soon as he entered the doors, mechanical arms sprayed him with disinfectant. Following the medical operators' instructions, he changed into examination clothes: a plain white long-sleeved shirt and trousers.

Following the procedure, Claude began his examination.

"Are your muscle fibers made of alloy? How can you have such strength?" A medical operator stared at the data in his hand with an astonished expression.

"Is your brain a computer, Mr. Claude? So far, no one has been able to handle calculations on such a scale."

Claude's physical data quickly drew the medical team's attention. Only then did they discover that this Kuranta's body was even stronger and tougher than a Vouivre's. It was not merely his physical strength and power, either. His thinking ability and reaction speed were also exceptional, almost second only to those two Abyssal Hunters.

But they could not reach any conclusions for the moment, so they could only attribute it to Kazimierz knight training methods.

Claude soon reached the final item: a blood test.

Just as he expected, Doctor Warfarin was the one drawing his blood. But he did not feel any displeasure. After all, she had a legitimate reason, and he had already agreed.

He sat down in the chair, rolled up his sleeve, and extended his arm.

Just as before, Warfarin was an excellent doctor when she was acting normally. She drew Claude's blood with practiced movements. The entire process was smooth and effortless, without a single unnecessary motion. In less than a minute, she had filled an entire tube.

Seeing that the blood samples beside his were only half full, Claude hesitated, but ultimately said nothing. This lady was not truly evil, and there was no need to fuss over such a harmless detail.

After changing back into his own clothes, Claude returned to his room. The examination results would be sent to his terminal.

The Rising Reunion Movement: Chapter Sixty-Seven: Days at Rhodes Island

Claude's brow furrowed tightly as he focused on the object before him. When the right moment came, he suddenly reached out and pulled one of the blocks free. The small tower of blocks swayed precariously, but it did not collapse. Moreover, most of its blocks had already been removed.

All the remaining blocks were now held in a delicate balance. Removing any one of them could cause the tower to collapse. Claude wore a smug smile and extended a hand toward the companion seated across the table.

The yellow-haired girl wore a troubled and hesitant expression. She reached out with her little hand, wanting to remove a block, but hesitated. She tried to pull another one instead, but only got it halfway out before she did not dare continue. Yet under Claude's urging, she reluctantly pulled out a block, and the tower came crashing down exactly as Claude expected.

"Aha!"

Claude grinned victoriously and took the last honey cake under Little Ceobe's gaze, finishing it in two bites.

"Ugh...!"

Hearing Little Ceobe's mournful cry made the honey cake seem especially sweet. It was clearly such a trivial matter, yet Claude felt an immense sense of accomplishment.

"As a general, you're actually stealing food from a child."

Centaurea rolled her eyes at him. The three of them sat around the table playing this block-pulling game. Naturally, Claude had won overwhelmingly. At his level, his control over his body had reached an extraordinary degree. He could easily calculate the force-bearing structure of the remaining blocks, so there was naturally no way he could fail.

This was their second day on Rhodes Island. Claude had finally had some free time after so long that he almost felt bored. Little Ceobe had found him that morning and said she had discovered a fun game, leading to what followed.

After they had played enough, Claude deliberately lost to Little Ceobe a few times so she would not become too discouraged. They passed the entire morning with that game.

That afternoon, Claude could not help feeling the urge to train again. He picked up his weapons and equipment and headed for the training grounds. The facilities there were very comprehensive, making it the better place to exercise.

His armor plates clinked as Claude entered the training grounds. It was the time when the operators were training, and the place was bustling with activity.

Rhodes Island's members were carrying out all kinds of training. Some trained endurance, some trained strength, some practiced their Originium Arts, and others practiced marksmanship. A firearm held by a Feline girl caught Claude's attention. Holding a gun that resembled a modern pistol in both hands, she aimed at a target across from her and struck it continuously with steady, rhythmic shots.

As mentioned before, firearms on this land were completely different from what Claude remembered. They did not use gunpowder to fire. Instead, every bullet contained a casting unit. Ultimately, Arts were still used to launch them from the firearm. The stronger a person's Originium Arts, the more powerful the bullets they fired.

Compared to crossbows, which anyone could use, guns had an extremely high threshold for use. One needed powerful Originium Arts and precise control over them for fired bullets to possess sufficient lethality. That was why they were not widespread in this world.

There was, of course, an even more important reason: etched bullets used by firearms were extremely expensive, offering no value for money compared to crossbow bolts. Yet this blackish-purple-haired Feline girl was using those precious etched rounds as if pouring water, which could not help surprising him. In his impression, Rhodes Island operators should not have been paid well enough to casually buy such ammunition.

That meant the girl had probably bought them herself. She seemed to be the child of a wealthy family.

Claude noticed that every time she fired, the girl would concentrate with all her strength before activating the bullet within the gun. The process clearly consumed a great deal of mental energy. Before long, sweat appeared on her forehead, and her accuracy visibly declined.

A white-haired female Vouivre mercenary was guiding her nearby. Though the pair of horns atop her head were mostly black, their tips shone electric blue. She was not particularly tall, but she was still somewhat taller than the Feline girl.

They seemed to have a good relationship, but the Feline girl appeared rather introverted. Upon noticing that her accuracy was getting worse and worse, tears actually appeared in her emerald-green eyes. She became flustered, but the more flustered she became, the lower her accuracy fell, because her control over her Originium Arts became unstable.

Having rarely seen firearms, Claude could not help standing there and watching a while longer, which drew Instructor Dobermann's attention.

"Mr. Claude, are you interested in firearms?"

Claude looked toward Instructor Dobermann, shook her hand, and replied.