Laini shrugged, beckoned his companions to go into the water, and they quickly retrieved a large pile of investigator's standard equipment, which they then donned.
"Where are your other companions?" Han Xiao asked, clearing his throat.
"Many people died. This monster stole our equipment. If we leave the area around the hot spring, we'll easily freeze to death. Some people were dragged underwater by the monster for too long and drowned. Besides us, there's another group of survivors at the other end of the cave passage, where there's another hot spring."
Han Xiao nodded. There was a fork in the road when they came. The other side led to the hot springs of the other surviving investigators. If they went to the other side first, they could learn about the Star Roaming Beast in advance and wouldn't be completely ignorant of the BOSS. He wouldn't have to take a detour.
Melos asked curiously, "Why did this Star Roaming Beast capture you here? It seems to have deliberately trapped you here."
Upon hearing this, Laini's face darkened with anger. "This monster appeared after we fell. It captured us and brought us here, letting us roam freely in the hot springs. Sometimes it would drag us into the water and toss us around like it was playing with us. It treated us like pets!"
From a purely biological perspective, extraterrestrial beings are a more advanced form of life, and treating humans as pets is like humans taming wild animals—it could be considered "perfectly natural."
But the people who had become accustomed to treating other species as pets were now the pets to be played with at will, as if their superior status had been trampled upon. The Goddora people felt angry and ashamed.
Han Xiao raised an eyebrow, offering no comment. Whoever has power can do whatever they want to the weak. Outside of civilized areas, the law of the jungle is the only truth. He said directly, "Alright, you're saved. Once the high-altitude radiation storm weakens a bit, we can leave. Old Mei, go to the other hot spring and bring the other investigators and the Tu Shu over."
Bringing these investigators back will greatly improve the mission evaluation. After making the arrangements, Han Xiao turned to look at the Star Roaming Beast on the ground.
The only remaining problem is how to deal with this beast.
"This is the first Star Roaming Beast discovered by this Goddora. It will be very important research material. If you can bring it back to the space station, we will pay you a high reward." Laini put on his investigator combat suit, tied up his long, loose hair again, and looked dashing.
Han Xiao narrowed his eyes and began to think.
Give it to Goddora? No, that would be too much of a loss. Star Roaming Beast are so rare, they're a treasure trove. You can use their vital parts to make Star Roaming Beast potions, gain attribute points, and even have a chance to acquire special skills. Plus, it increases your choices when you ascend to a higher race. And killing one of them can also trigger a legendary milestone.
Most importantly, crushing the Star Roaming Beast's crystals into powder can create a special potion that has no effect on players but is extremely valuable and can even be used as hard currency to exchange for any resource from NPCs.
This potion has only one effect: it restores a portion of the Star Roaming Beast's ability to regulate metabolism. Simply put...
This stuff can increase lifespan!!
Han Xiao had always had this concern. The earlier versions of Galaxy were fine, but the later versions had increasingly longer time spans, often hundreds or thousands of years. The lifespan of superhumans was many times that of ordinary people, but in the thousands of years of civilization's history, they were still like fleeting flowers, with new talents emerging in each generation, each leading the way for hundreds of years.
There aren't many ways to extend lifespan, such as replacing one's body with a mechanical implant, but the side effects are obvious, while the Star Roaming Beast Potion has almost no side effects.
'This is very important; we can't waste it.'
Han Xiao's gaze hardened, and he suddenly grasped the Star Roaming Beast's crystal. A mental wave surged into his mind, carrying a pleading emotion.
The Star Roaming Beast was begging him for mercy.
Han Xiao ignored it completely; the surging gray light from the Void Strike extended along his arm and exploded in his palm.
Boom!!
The battered crystal shattered completely with a crack, turning into fragments that fell into Han Xiao's hands. The blue-purple color beneath the Star Roaming Beast's skin quickly faded, and life vanished from the cosmic creature's body.
This crystal is the life core of the Star Roaming Beast and its most important material.
[You have killed a cosmic creature]
[[Legendary Hunter] Milestone Begins]
[Current progress: 1/5 (5 special creatures killed)]
This is a legendary milestone. Upon completion, you will receive corresponding Legend Points. The special creatures mentioned here refer to various special and rare creatures, including cosmic creatures. They must be at the level of the corresponding BOSS template and be unique creatures. BOSSes that reappear in the dungeon do not count. In other words, you must achieve the first kill.
Fortunately, the monsters in the Galaxy are diverse. Even in the version where Han Xiao was in his previous life, after countless players explored for many years, first kills still occasionally occurred. Of course, each time it was a fierce competition, since new species are always being born in the universe.
Certain Legend Points can unlock corresponding storylines; [Legendary Hunter] is one such Legend Points, similar to a title.
Han Xiao put away the crystal, drew his scythe, and cut open the Star Roaming Beast's corpse, quickly collecting the key parts. The Star Roaming Beast's corpse was not easily decomposed and could be preserved for a long time.
Soon, all that remained of the Star Roaming Beast was its mangled corpse, its belly ripped open.
"Sigh..." Laini looked regretful, but had no objection. This beast was originally Han Xiao's spoils of war, and it was his freedom to do whatever he wanted with it.
At this point, Melos finally arrived with the other investigators to join him.
The people of Goddora were all overjoyed, soaking in the hot springs and singing songs, when they were suddenly rescued by mercenaries, as if they were in a dream.
Looking at the corpse of the Star Roaming Beast, the new investigators were astonished, sizing Han Xiao up and down. They had suffered greatly at the hands of this monster and knew how powerful the Star Roaming Beast was.
"Everyone's here, let's go," Han Xiao said.
Back on the surface, Han Xiao used instruments to test the radiation concentration. After waiting for several days, the radiation storm finally weakened briefly. He hurriedly called everyone to board the aircraft and soar into the sky.
The aircraft itself has a capacity of about ten people, but there were more than a dozen investigators, so the cabin was crammed together.
After successfully navigating the storm zone, a new spaceship arrived to pick them up. The two ships docked, and everyone returned to the spaceship.
All the investigators, having narrowly escaped death, embraced each other warmly, overjoyed.
With the mission on his mind, Han Xiao didn't delay. He set the return route and set off immediately.
A few days later, the spacecraft returned to the space station, this time requesting to dock, indicating that it had rescued the missing investigator, which shocked everyone on the space station.
The space station was about to open its port, and unlike the cold reception they received last time, the space station's attitude changed drastically this time, and everyone was warmly welcomed.
The spaceship docked at the port. As soon as the hatch opened, Han Xiao saw a crowd gathered at the dock. Almost all the members of the space station had arrived. The station commander was at the front. This meticulous officer had a look of lingering surprise and joy on his face.
Beside the stationmaster, the deputy stationmaster still wore a smiling face, but the smile was somewhat stiff, and a hint of exasperation flashed in his eyes.