Alligator's Ark of Tomorrow

"I'll forgive you this time, but if you dare to do it again, I'll let you taste the flavor of Laiwanting!"

“Raywantin can’t hurt me.”

Gard's words struck a nerve with Surtr. Although he was reluctant to admit it, the crocodile-man in front of him was indeed stronger.

Perhaps because he had many fragments of memory in his mind, Surtr learned Colombian very quickly. In just one afternoon, Surtr had learned most of the everyday Colombian phrases.

In comparison, Kanelian, being a native Salgonian, progressed much more slowly in his studies.

Seeing Gard and Surtr flirting (from Kanerian's perspective), Kanerian couldn't help but feel a sense of crisis.

She quietly moved closer to Gard, pressing herself against his hand, and asked earnestly, "Garde, how do you pronounce this word?"

"Oh, this word is pronounced 'oh'."

Gard's foreign language class has officially started. Although there are only two students at present, Kanerian and Surtr, the number will definitely increase in the future!

click!

Serea crushed the door handle of the sand vehicle to pieces, making the Caster agent next to her tremble with fear.

"Director Seraya?"

"Yes, the door handle is of very poor quality, after all, it's a used car."

Serea said expressionlessly.

Serea fell silent when she saw the car door handle she had crushed to pieces.

She once published a paper in college arguing that emotional venting is meaningless and cannot solve problems, and that it is foolish to lose judgment because of emotions.

But why...?

Without exchanging a word, the camel and the caravan finally arrived at their destination—a lizardman settlement built on hot land—after a week-long journey.

......

Chapter Seventy-Six: The Market

Often, one can discern the level of development of a civilization from its clothing, culture, and architecture.

Dirty, messy, and chaotic!

This was the first impression the Rhine Lab's agents had of the lizardman city.

Fortunately, as warned beforehand, the officers managed to suppress their physical discomfort. In fact, most officers who had served as mercenaries and traveled to many places were quite used to the scene before them.

Not all cities are mobile cities, and not all towns are civilized and hygienic.

Moreover, what was called a city was actually just an earthen fort built on the Gobi Desert. Huge camels were kept outside, with a few people left to guard them, while the others carried goods into the market.

Gard asked Laya's brother to find out the route to the depths of the hot land, while he stayed outside.

Because the people of Rhine Life cannot understand the language of the lizard people, if any trouble arises, there will be no chance to explain.

Life isn't about fighting and killing, but about human relationships and harmony. Wouldn't it be better to live peacefully and harmoniously?

Soon, Gard obtained a new route map from Mukaka and learned about some things happening deep within the hot land.

"You said that a while ago, a huge roar came from deep within the land, and the daytime temperature once dropped to freezing?"

Gard glanced at Surtr; he probably knew why the rainy season in the hot land had arrived early.

Some have speculated that Surtr's many fragmented memories are actually a form of self-protection mechanism of the body.

After unleashing the full power of the greatsword in his hand, Surtr's body might collapse from the force, and the amnesia is to avoid the soul impact of a god or a giant beast.

Changing the climate of a region by human power seems impossible, but Gard knew of several gods, or beasts, who could do it.

Being able to do this doesn't necessarily mean you're that strong. It's like a physicist who knows E=mc²; given enough time and conditions, he might be able to create a terrifying weapon of mass destruction.

Even scientists who can create such lethal weapons can be taken down by thugs on the street.

However, the god or beast in Surtr Sword should be the type that is good at fighting.

Everything needed was bought by Mukaka. There was no real currency in the local area; the trade was based more on barter.

The group planned to rest outside the market for a day before venturing deeper into the market.

Even though they had left the outer perimeter of the hot land and entered its central part, the surrounding temperature dropped instead of rising. Compared to the air temperature of 60 or 70 degrees Celsius outside, the temperature outside the Lizardman Market could only be described as cool.

Surtr, carrying Levantine on his back, stood outside the market, lost in thought.

"What's up?"

Gard's voice came from the side; since he had nothing better to do, he was helping the lizardman caravan unpack their cargo.

"I feel like I've been here before."

Surtr frowned as he looked at the earthen fortress on the Gobi Desert, but he couldn't remember when he had been here before. It might have been before he lost his memory, or it might have been much longer ago.

"Judging from its scale, this market is probably no more than ten years old. Hot Land is not a place you can come to whenever you want. Even before you lost your memory, you wouldn't come to Hot Land twice in a short period of time."

Gard glanced at Surtr and suspected she was much older than she appeared, but he had no proof.

"I'd like to go inside and have a look around."

"Just don't cause any trouble."

"Come with me."

"I also have to take care of the people outside."

"I am your slave."

"Tch, judging from your tone, it sounds like I'm your slave."

Gard clicked his tongue, considered it for a moment, and did not refuse.

With the Mukaka caravan looking after them, and given Seraya's calm and collected nature, there shouldn't be any trouble.

He also wanted to know the level of development of the lizard people's civilization, and how long it would take before they could explore the world outside the hot land.

Can they adapt to the environment outside that is filled with Originium pollution?

Will they clash with the Salgun people outside?

Will the Safra people recognize their compatriots who live on this land?

Gard was not a sociologist, but he was quite interested in this kind of thing.

Because the Lizardmen are backed by hot land, they have a geographical advantage and enough room to maneuver with the Terrans from the outside world.

Perhaps many years later, it was with the help of these reptilians that the Terrans gradually began to explore the land.

Before leaving, they discussed it with Serea. Upon hearing Gard's words, Serea instinctively wanted to refuse, because Gard was the team's translator and guide, and it was neither reasonable nor logical for him to abandon the team and go to the market with a woman who had joined the team halfway through.

However, having already troubled Gard many times along the way, Serea couldn't find a reason to refuse Gard's not unreasonable request in the short term.

“I will be back before sunset. Before that, you can have someone communicate with Laya. Although her Salgon is not very fluent, basic communication is not a problem.”

Serea hesitated for a moment, but in the end, she didn't voice her thoughts, such as whether she wanted to go along.

Because the squad needs her, she must take charge of the squad's security arrangements after Gard leaves.

Seeing Gard and Surtr walking together made Seria feel uneasy. She hadn't felt this way when Gard and Kanerian were standing very close together before.

Now, because of a Sarkaz who joined halfway through...

"Huh~"

My chest heaved for a moment as I tried to calm the agitation in my heart.

Seria believed that Gard wasn't the kind of guy who would mess around, and that there must be a reason why he was close to Surtr. It couldn't possibly be because Surtr was a beautiful girl—if that were the case, Seria didn't think she was any worse than him.

Her thoughts became chaotic again. Serea didn't understand what was wrong with her, why she kept letting her emotions affect her judgment.

Now that Gard has left temporarily, what she should do now is take care of her team!

Finally calming down, Serea clenched her fist.

"Seria, don't forget why you came here in the first place!"

......

(My sleep schedule is messed up, which is really uncomfortable. And I'm the type of person who can't type when I'm not in a good state. I took a nap at 10 o'clock and ended up sleeping for a few hours, but I didn't get enough sleep to keep me entertained all day.)

I'm not sleepy now, so I'll keep writing. (After 6 PM, it'll be the next day.)

Chapter Seventy-Seven: Natural Disasters on the Hot Land

In the market, Gard and Surtr walked side by side.

The contrast between the tall and short figures, especially between Surturna and Wake, frequently attracted the attention of the surrounding reptilians.

However, upon seeing Gard's tall and strong physique beside Surtr, some of the lizardmen consciously looked away.

We can't afford to mess with them!

The lizard people's understanding is very simple, somewhat similar to that of the Tiakkau people in the rainforest. They believe that big muscles are good, body size represents strength, and the thickness of the tail represents whether they eat well and are well-nourished.

Especially Gald's smooth, beautiful scales and strong upper jaw, in the eyes of the group of female lizardmen, looked like a polished Rolls-Royce, a moving mansion.

Their green eyes seemed to want to devour Gard alive.

However, as I said before, Gard is a crocodile, but his XP is crocodile, not human... Ugh, he's human, not crocodile.

He still prefers beautiful girls like Surtr, even though she doesn't have white hair and red eyes. But no one says that crocodiles can only like white hair and red eyes, right?

XP is XP. If a man really meets a beautiful girl, no man would refuse her.

Actually, I don't have any intention of taking things further. It's like a middle-aged man with a family seeing a female high school student who needs help on the street and helping her if he can.

The stark difference in size between Gard and Surtr also meant that it was unlikely Gard would harbor any ill feelings towards Surtr.

Surtr isn't Laurentina; forcing her will really break her.

"Gald, what are you thinking about?"

I'm thinking about you.

"My business?"

"Ah."

With a clear conscience, Gard spoke the truth.

"The rainy season in this hot region started about a month earlier than usual, but the rainfall was not as abundant as usual. I think this is the result of human intervention."

"What's the meaning?"

“Water vapor in a warm air mass condenses into water droplets when it encounters a cold air mass, forming rainfall. The environment here in the hot land is more complex, and there are too many factors that affect rainfall, so I can’t say for sure. But Mukaka said that there was a big commotion deep in the hot land not long ago, and I suspect that commotion is related to you.”

Gard's words made Surtr frown. She seemed to understand what he meant by warm air mass and cold air mass, but she also seemed not to understand what he said next.

“Your destination is the depths, and I will go with you.”

Surtr nodded naturally. If what happened deep in the hot land was related to her, then perhaps she could find clues there about her memories before she lost her memory.

For some reason, despite having lost her memory, Surtr wasn't particularly enthusiastic about regaining it; it was as if she was just trying to keep herself occupied.

For example, even though she came to the lizardmen's market in order to regain her memories, Surtr's gaze was not focused on her surroundings, but rather on the small, scattered items in front of the lizardmen's stalls, many of which were made from the bones of monstrous beasts.

"What would you like to buy?" Gard asked.

“Nothing I want to buy.” Surtr glanced at the stall and shook his head.

However, Surtr stopped in his tracks as he passed a stall belonging to a cloaked, somewhat short lizardman.

At the lizardman's stall, there was a bracelet woven from dead wood and vines. It looked simple and not very sturdy, but in this hot land where vegetation was hard to grow, it was a relatively rare item.

Gard crouched down, picked up the bracelet from the lizardman's stall, and asked, "How do I exchange this bracelet?"

"Enough meat for an adult for ten days, or two handy weapons," the cloaked lizardman said in a hoarse voice.

The cloaked lizardman's words made the other lizardmen around him, who had originally intended to stop, start walking again. To want to exchange a broken bracelet that couldn't be eaten for ten days' worth of meat, was he starving?

"How about this tooth? With a little polishing, it could be used as a weapon."

"No, it must be..."

The cloaked lizardman initially wanted to say that the weapon had to be already made, but when he saw Gard take a dragon tooth out of his bag, he immediately shut his mouth.

Even in the hot lands, wyverns are predators at the top of the food chain, their teeth and claws being their best weapons, fetching high prices in any lizardman market.

Gard asked, "Change it?"

The cloaked lizardman nodded quickly: "Change, change."