Modified components

Li Le suddenly realized that Commander Joda relied on connections, calling everyone he met a good friend.

But knowing the same friend really did help bring people closer quickly.

Li Le soon laid out his entire idea to Rair.

Ever since the lava stopped flowing, the village's income had plummeted.

As for manpower, craftsmen were the one thing they had no shortage of.

Earning income by giving the cats smithing lessons was indeed a good option.

There was just one thing Rair did not quite understand.

"What does the director of a Kinsect Research Institute need a Dragonator for?"

"To keep myself safe during field research, of course. Also, Chief Rair, we'd like to modify the Sandworm for sea travel."

"Without lava for smelting, the modifications will progress very slowly. The village also has an outstanding order to build the Isana. It'll be difficult to finish in the short term."

Rair spoke helplessly.

"The Isana... the Hunter Caravan's ship?"

"That's right. Joda commissioned it, and my daughter Gemma designed it. What do you think? Pretty cutting-edge shape, isn't it?"

Pride spread across Rair's previously downcast face.

He looked toward the distant shipyard, where a large, unfinished seagoing ship shaped much like a whale stood.

"Yes, it's nice."

Li Le felt that Gemma's design style was somewhat similar to the Sandworm's.

"Unfortunately, with the village's current situation, construction on the Isana has slowed down too..."

Rair sighed.

"By the way, Chief, I saw a golden sandship docked at the foot of the mountain. Is the Ace Squad visiting too?"

"Yes. Their ace lancer, Fabius, has rejoined them too. With everyone assembled, they probably have a difficult mission to carry out. But their captain, Julius, seems prejudiced against the Caravan's hunter, Disi. In any case, things weren't very pleasant when the two sides met."

"What did everyone else think?"

"The Caravan members all support Disi. They consider him a trustworthy hunter and don't want anyone replacing him. The other Ace Squad members also think Julius is being too arbitrary and stubborn. Still, I suppose he's probably thinking of the Caravan's safety."

"As long as Disi wasn't hurt..."

Li Le spoke with relief.

"You know Disi too?"

"He's a good brother of mine."

"No wonder you care so much about him... I think Disi is very reliable too. As soon as he heard a Tetsucabra was appearing in the mining area and seriously obstructing the village's mining, he accepted the request, picked up his charge blade, and headed out."

After praising him, Rair offered a reminder. "The modifications will take quite a while. Your team could accept some nearby hunting requests to gather key materials. Gypceros's rubbery hide, for instance, is an excellent material for modifying a seagoing ship."

Li Le had not seen a Guild branch in the village. Just as he was about to ask how to accept requests, he remembered the Hunter Caravan's receptionist, Sophia.

Although the Sunken Hollow was unstable, with large numbers of monsters active there,

Sophia did not try to dissuade him this time, instead readily handing over the contract.

★★★[Hunt a Gypceros!]

Location: Sunken Hollow (unstable area)

Contract target: Gypceros (any individual)

Client: Processing supervisor

Quest summary: Gypceros's rubbery hide...

Is highly waterproof...

And suitable for shipbuilding.

Be careful... of the poison it spits.

Please hunt it...

Subquest: Break the Gypceros's crest

Reward: 5800z

Time limit: 7 days

After saying goodbye to Sophia, Li Le began preparing.

First, he upgraded the Bone Rod into the Bone Rod+.

The blade's sharpness, destructive power, and weight all increased significantly.

Seeing that his customer was an insect glaive hunter, the Brute Wyvern workshop owner took the opportunity to pitch his Kinsects and Kinsect feed.

He also told Li Le quite honestly that these were all premium goods from Val Habar.

"Sir, you haven't adapted your Kinsect-rearing environment to the bottom of the cavern at all. Even the best Kinsects will lose their vitality over time."

"Uh... do you raise Kinsects professionally?"

The workshop owner scratched his head as he asked.

Swish~

Li Le unfurled a scroll, its red Hunter's Guild dragon seal particularly striking.

"Kinsect Research Institute... Where did these Kinsects come from? How did they end up hanging in my workshop?!"

"Don't worry, sir. I'm not here to hold you accountable for unauthorized reselling. Besides, the village doesn't even have a Guild branch. Even when a Tetsucabra threatened the mining area, you had to wait for the Caravan to visit before it could be dealt with. Who would come all this way to go after something like this?"

"Ah~ That's true."

The workshop owner stroked his curled mustache, finding that reasonable.

"My name is Li Le. From now on, I'll provide you with legitimate, firsthand supplies and technical support."

"But Cathar is currently..."

"It's fine. Once the lava starts flowing again, customers will soon come flocking back."

"All right. I look forward to that day."

Choosing a location for the cats' smithing classes, confirming the commission for connecting components with Gemma.

Making all the preparations for the hunt...

Busy until evening, Li Le returned to the Sandworm but did not find Sisi.

Based on his understanding of Sisi, he headed to the shipyard outside Cathar.

Sisi and Kaluo were perched on the rock face, quietly watching the Isana's construction.

Early the next morning, at the dim bottom of the cavern.

Heave~ ho~...

Low work chants rang out.

Li Le woke on a bed in a stone grotto.

Dazzling firelight flashed from the village's largest furnace.

Brute Wyverns stood in a line, taking turns carrying ore and throwing it in for smelting and casting.

"What are they making to cause such a commotion?"

After speaking, Li Le noticed Kaluo had not answered and guessed the cat had gone to watch.

He put on his armor and headed to the furnace.

Wearing goggles as she watched the furnace fire, Gemma shouted, "Father! Raise the temperature!"

"Gemma! Are you sure this superheavy component is really worth making?"

Rair watched the Firestone being fed in continuously, his face pained.

When lava was flowing in, this hardly counted as a precious material. Now, every bit used meant one bit less remained.

"Father! Have faith in Sisi and Li Le!"

"All right!"

Seeing the flames inside the furnace weakening, Rair tipped up the handcart, dumping a whole cartload of Firestone into the feed opening.

Whoosh~

As the flames roared, orange-gold molten metal flowed along the channel into a thick mold laid horizontally.

The cats of the Ahtal-Neset engineering crew watching nearby finally understood why Li Le had said that designing and modifying Ahtal-Neset had already pushed everyone to their limits.

At noon, Gemma officially delivered the two polished cylindrical components to Li Le.

Clang, clang~

Gemma tapped the dark pillar with her knuckles and explained, "Although we didn't need to consider weight, we still had to control costs, so we used iron ore rather than machalite ore."

Li Le ran his palm over the pillar-arm's surface and said with great satisfaction, "Perfect. This is exactly the solid feel I wanted."

"Honestly~ You're being far too reckless."

Blackened all over by smoke, Rair sighed helplessly.

Aside from a Giant Wyverian, he truly could not imagine who could use components like these.

"Have the crane hooks lift them out of the way first."

Rair offered a suggestion.

"No need, Chief. We'll install them right here."

"Install them here?"

"Yes."

Li Le waved, and the Seltas Queen Ahtal-Neset crawled slowly and carefully up beside the furnace.

The Brute Wyverns who had just finished working gathered around too.

They wanted to see just what these superheavy components would do.

Clack~

The top hatch flipped up, and Sisi jumped out of the cockpit.

Thump! Thump!

Silk hoisted the metal cylinders up and drove them upright into the ground.

Sisi went beneath the lower shell and lifted the Seltas Queen Ahtal-Neset with scythe claws like a jack.

The cats swarmed forward, dismantling the outer casings of the suspended cylindrical legs.

The log supports inside were soon pulled out.

Wearing a hard hat, Kaluo began waving flags to direct the operation.

After Sisi carried Ahtal-Neset several meters forward, Kaluo swung the flag sharply downward.

The Seltas Queen Ahtal-Neset slowly lowered, its two forelegs, with only half their casings remaining, pressing against the metal pillars.

Once Kaluo confirmed the site was safe, the flag rose, and the cats surged in again.

They began joining the connecting components, inserting the Kecha Wacha claws, and fitting the leg shells.

At the edge of the cliff above, Julius watched with his arms folded and a complicated expression.

"So the rumors weren't exaggerated. If anything, they understated it. Is a Neopteron with such terrifying strength really just a Kinsect...?"

As an ace hunter who had fought Kushala Daora and Lunastra, he found Ahtal-Ka's ecological capabilities completely beyond his expectations.

"It's fine, Master. Look, the catalog of newly discovered species says Ahtal-Ka isn't very aggressive."

Behind him, Aiden opened a booklet to show him.

Julius took it, glanced at it, and sighed. "Let's hope this researcher Holo's deduction is correct."

Thump~ thump~...

Each step of the Seltas Queen Ahtal-Neset's forelegs crushed a round pit into the ground.

Seeing that Sisi also wanted to try climbing vertically, Li Le immediately stopped it.

After all, if it accidentally fell and smashed the furnace, their friendship with Cathar would end right there.

Once the Seltas Queen Ahtal-Neset had crawled away, the Brute Wyverns immediately began discussing it animatedly.

"Is it because we've spent too long down here, out of touch with the outside world...?"

Sitting on the ground, Rair muttered to himself.

"Father, I told you long ago. There's a much wider world outside, countless unknown creatures, and more advanced smithing techniques... Of course, the bottom of the cavern isn't bad either."

Seeing Rair's dejected look, Gemma promptly changed her wording.

After traveling deeper into the cavern for about a day, they were far from Cathar's ore-transport rails and lava channels.

With nothing left to hold Sisi back, its pace became swift and fierce.

The thuds of impacts against the rock walls echoed constantly around them.

The last time Li Le had heard similar sounds was from a Tigrex in the game.

Upon reaching an open area inside the cavern, Li Le raised a hand to signal.

"Sisi, try climbing. I'll get down first."

With that, he flipped out of the cockpit.

Ahtal-Neset approached the rock face, and two Kecha Wacha claws flipped out from the ends of its legs.

Crack, thump~...

Amid repeated cracks of splitting stone, Ahtal-Neset climbed vertically upward.

"It really worked..."

"Woo~ This is wonderful, meow~"

Kaluo, who had worked hard all along, covered the cat's mouth and wept.

"Why did you come down too?"

"I'm afraid of falling if it fails too, meow."

The cylindrical legs hooked into the rock overhead, and Ahtal-Neset began testing upside-down crawling.

The human and cat immediately moved well away.

Hanging upside down, Sisi found the experience wonderfully novel and crawled faster and faster.

Thump~

The bottom hatch flipped open, and a clawed tail reached upward.

Pfft~

Silk stuck to a thick, tapering rock pillar on the cavern ceiling, winding around it again and again.

"Sisi wrapped so much silk around it this time, meow."

Kaluo was a little puzzled.

Given how tough the silk was, she generally did not need to spit out much for it to bear weight and pull things effectively.

"Being this cautious... won't work! Sisi!"

Realizing something, Li Le waved and shouted.

Sisi raised her scythe claw and waved back, seemingly thinking Li Le was cheering her on for her upcoming attempt.

Clatter~

Rock fragments scattered, and the hooked claws came loose.

The Seltas Queen Ahtal-Neset attempted Nerscylla's pendulum strike.

Whoosh~ whoosh~... Crack!

It had only swung back and forth once to build momentum before the conical stone pillar snapped under the strain.

Hanging upside down, Sisi realized something was wrong, crawled downward with her whole body, and pulled the silk taut.

The four insect legs immediately bent and retracted, assuming a braced position.

Boom!!!

Lying flat, Li Le felt the ground jolt violently.

Amid the dust, a man and a cat peered out from behind a stone pillar.

By then, Ahtal-Neset was embedded deep in the rock wall.

"Sisi, there's a kind of skill called an ultimate. You can only bring it out at a crucial moment when it can decide victory or defeat."

Inside the swaying cockpit, Li Le began his lesson.

Without a drawing board to help, Sisi listened with only a vague understanding.

Kaluo got up and looked back down, asking worriedly, "Half of one rear leg broke off. Is that really all right, meow?"

"Going back for repairs would take too long. As long as the front legs aren't damaged, it's not much of a problem... the ride is just a little too bumpy."

"That's good, meow."

Kaluo relaxed.

"Besides, our hunting target is only a Gypceros. Even if Sisi's Ahtal-Neset really does have a problem, I'm still here."

"Huh? But the Three Spade Meowsters went to class this time. They didn't come along, meow."

"Hmm... why did mentioning me make you more worried instead?"

"Because other hunting parties generally gather all four members before heading out into the wild together, even for gathering contracts, meow. Hunting solo, even with Sisi along, still seems very dangerous to me."

Li Le understood. Kaluo was not questioning his abilities, but genuinely worrying about him.

"Don't worry. I brought ten bottles of antidote alone. As long as I'm careful enough, a Gypceros can't do anything to me."

Li Le gave his assurance.

"That's good, meow... oh, didn't your ecological report also mention a high-risk Nerscylla called Spider Sis, meow?"

"That's right, but the reason I was concerned was that she might hold a grudge against Sisi, and she was in the underground caves too. Still, if we run into her again this time, she won't escape so easily."

Li Le spoke with great confidence.

About a day later, a patch of purple venom appeared on the surface of an underground pool.

Looking at the contaminated water source, Li Le confirmed that a Gypceros was nearby.

The commission did not specify an individual; it only called for hunting for materials.

Taking advantage of its fondness for eating Flashbugs and Thunder Flashbugs, Li Le began drawing swarms of insects together to lure it into coming on its own.

Yet after an agonizing full day's wait, there was not the slightest sign of activity. Instead, the surroundings were extraordinarily quiet.

"How strange. The Guild already confirmed that the environment was unstable, so why haven't we seen a single Gypceros?"

Lying concealed against the ground, Li Le felt that something was not quite right.