Alligator's Ark of Tomorrow

"Ascaron, did Tracy give you any other instructions when she sent you here?"

"..."

After regaining her composure, although her injuries had not yet healed, Kal'tsit seemed to have returned to her previous decisive and efficient self, taking over from Scout and issuing commands one by one.

In the driver's seat, ACE and Misery didn't even dare to look at each other.

When your boss loses their temper, what can you, as a subordinate, do but endure it?

"Gald!"

"Ok?"

"Never mind, you should get some rest."

Kal'tsit only said Gard's name subconsciously, but as soon as the words left her mouth, she realized what she meant.

Gard is not an employee of the Tower of Babel, so she is not under her jurisdiction!

Even in the battles that followed, Gard remained an undisputed main force.

Without Gard, even if Misery could get Scout, Ace, Ascarin, and herself into the factory, they would still face a tough fight against the two Nightmare Knights.

If another Nightmare Knight were to join the control center, they would have no chance of victory unless they were willing to pay the price of reduced numbers.

In the next two battles, Misery not only brought Gard and Ascarin along, but also his older brother ACE, a handsome middle-aged man.

ACE is the ace of the Babel Tower's heavy armor. He alone can withstand the Nightmare Knight's attacks for several minutes. With Ascarin, a warrior who can kill the Nightmare Knight in one-on-one combat, the offensive efficiency is greatly improved.

At least without using his Ascension power or trading blows, Gard couldn't possibly kill the Nightmare Knight more efficiently than the two of them.

In other words, if Ascaron had had ACE's help in the previous battle between Gard and Ascaron, not only would he have defeated Gard at that time, but Gard would also have been unable to deal with the two of them for a short period of time.

However, a small mishap occurred during the attack on the second processing plant.

A third Nightmare Knight appeared in the factory's control center, and it was the same humanoid Nightmare that had spoken with Kal'tsit and injured Gard.

Seeing the formidable array of Gard and his men, the nightmare chose to flee rather than confront them head-on.

That's right, the nightmare ran away.

Abandoning the factory's terminal intelligence, he had the remaining two centaur nightmare riders hold off Gard and his group, while he ran alone into the depths of the hot land.

The speed was so fast that it left the group speechless.

Gard and Ace each held off one Nightmare Knight, leaving Misery and Ascarin to chase after it, but they both lost track of it.

The humanoid Nightmare Knight possesses near-human intelligence, or rather, he is a living Nightmare, only in a mechanical body.

The only one who could defeat the humanoid nightmare, Gard, couldn't outrun it—not even with his Ascension Power.

Nightmares are originally a type of Kuranta, and Kuranta happen to be the race in Terra that is best at running. Even after being transformed into mechanical bodies, this characteristic has not changed.

The Nightmare Knight that Gard encountered at the beginning was simply too confident. If that Nightmare Knight had run away from the start, their situation today would probably be much worse.

"Feel sorry."

When Ascaron returned, she still had a long wound on her body. She did catch up with the Nightmare Knight, but she really didn't have a good way to deal with the Nightmare Knight, a mechanical creature with a tough skin that was comparable to Gard's.

Even when she and Misery left the control center, they sent a signal to Kal'tsit and the others on the periphery.

The group drove after them, but they couldn't catch up.

"There's no point in saying more. No one could have predicted this turn of events. We may need to prepare for a tough battle."

The group's original plan was to attack the factory as quickly as possible, and then assemble a large army of lizardmen to attack the capital of the revived ancient imperial civilization.

But now the surprise attack plan has definitely failed; the enemy is prepared.

Nevertheless, the seven of them went to the last two factories. The good news was that one of the factories was originally a ruin and had not been activated by the ancient civilization. The bad news was that the other factory had released all its mechanical guards and modified soldiers, making the factory completely surrounded.

The control center is likely guarded by more than two Nightmare Knights. Even if they manage to enter, the group will pay a heavy price to destroy the terminal intelligence of the control center.

So this time, Gard went up alone.

First, have Misery send Gard into the control center, then Gard uses his Ascension to rush to the terminal and detonate the bomb.

This time, Galdby suffered an even worse fate when he was fighting the dragon unconsciously in his dream. Not only was a large part of his tail cut off by the Nightmare Knight, but his scales on his back were also ripped open.

Four Nightmare Knights were chasing and attacking Gard. If he hadn't activated his skill and charged in from the beginning, he would never have been able to reach the terminal.

With so many Nightmare Knights guarding the area, Gard didn't even have a chance to throw the bomb.

Only a day has passed, and Gard's ascension power has not fully recovered, otherwise he would not be so badly injured.

At least, they have now accomplished their mission.

Next, we just have to wait for the lizardmen and see if their army can gather and give them a surprise.

However, a day later, instead of a pleasant surprise, a shock awaited them.

The real rainy season has arrived in this fertile land.

Amidst the torrential rain, a Nightmare Knight, clutching his helmet which served only as decoration, stumbled and bowed as he approached a metallic palace.

Perhaps using the word "palace" is not quite appropriate.

Because compared to a palace, the metal building in front of the knight looked more like a huge refuge.

Extending outwards from this enormous shelter are numerous processing plants, each guarded by machinery and equipment.

As a hope for the revival of ancient civilization, how could factories not be set up around the shelter?

Upon entering the shelter, the first thing you see is a row of huge stone coffins, densely packed together, occupying almost two-thirds of the shelter's area.

The humanoid Nightmare Knight kept his eyes straight ahead as he made his way to the deepest part of the shelter.

We arrived at a three-dimensional liquid culture chamber.

Countless metal cables pass through the culture chamber and connect to a metal sphere at the center of the culture chamber.

The humanoid Nightmare Knight did not speak; the Nightmare Knights' consciousnesses were connected, and voices came from all directions.

"Kal'tsit?"

"That name sounds so familiar."

"Is she here to fulfill her promise to me?"

Laughter echoed in the underground space of the shelter, the sounds carrying two completely different emotions: joy and indifference.

"Or is she here to kill me?"

......

Chapter 110 The Final Preparations

I had already experienced the rainy season in this hot land when I first entered it.

However, Gard later learned that the rainy season in the Hot Lands had arrived early simply because Surtr, before losing his memory, had fought a monster guarding the tomb deep within the Hot Lands.

I entered the hot land at the beginning of July, and now we are almost at the end of the month. There was a period of no rain in between, and after the hot wind, dark clouds once again covered the sky of the hot land.

Scout and his group arrived in mid-July, unlike Gard and his group who were unlucky enough to avoid the rainy weather in the hot land.

At first, they were curious when they saw the dark clouds in the sky, but when it actually started to rain, they realized what suffering was.

Especially their Shooting K, which they stole from the factory, unlike other dune buggies which are fully covered, allows for a more rugged and controlled driving experience.

When it rains, all the rainwater falls into the carriage.

If Serea hadn't been injured, they could have refined a layer of calcium to coat the roof.

However, the roof of the car must be fully covered with calcium, otherwise water will definitely leak in.

In line with the principle of giving priority to the wounded, Kelsey and Ceria both sat in the front driver's seat, which was the only one that could protect them from the rain. Gard was actually curious as to why a fully autonomous vehicle was in the driver's seat.

Is it really necessary?

Apart from Kal'tsit and Seria, the other five people were getting soaked in the rain inside the carriage. Gard noticed Ascaren leaning against the corner and asked, "There should still be space in the driver's cab, aren't you going in?"

"unnecessary!"

Ascarin's tone was cold. Although they were now companions, she had no good feelings towards Gard. Being good-looking was not a reason for Gard to do whatever he wanted.

Ascarin shrugged. He'd already said that himself, so Gard was too lazy to try and persuade him.

Anyway, he was just being polite. Ascarin wanted to go into the driver's seat to take shelter from the rain, and he was worried that it would be too crowded inside and affect Serea's rest.

In the cockpit, Kelsey looked out the window, somewhat absentmindedly.

She thought of the previous processing plant and the knight who had escaped.

They couldn't stop the knight, but he clearly recognized her.

A thousand years is enough time to change many things.

She had deceived the Khan of Nightmare, saying that the secret to her immortality lay in the land. The king of the steppe was in high spirits at the time, having traversed half of Terra, and naturally he would not have taken the forbidden land mentioned by his predecessors seriously.

Sacrificing a brutal Nightmare King in exchange for a thousand years of peace in the world—such a deal cannot be said to be unprofitable.

She was the one who taught that tyrant who brought chaos to the world, and in the end, she was the one who personally destroyed his great empire.

Separation in life and death.

This is the karmic burden that those who live long are destined to bear.

From the carriage behind, I could hear Gard and Scout chatting and laughing; sometimes, friendships between men can develop just as quickly.

The image of the crocodile man appeared in Kal'tsit's mind.

Throughout her long life, she has seen many outstanding individuals.

Even the long-lived royal court of Kazdel may have brushed past her when they were young.

Therefore, in Kal'tsit's eyes, Gard is very special, possessing strength comparable to the rulers of the major royal courts before even reaching adulthood.

But he is not special enough, because this land is home not only to ordinary people, but also to giant beasts, gods, and demons—beings that are beyond the reach of ordinary people.

"Berbayar, are you still alive?"

Time can make people forget many things. Kal'tsit had a good memory, so even after a thousand years, she could still remember the child who always liked to run out and chase the wild animals when she was teaching the children on the grasslands.

The carefree children grew up, and the many tribes that unified the grasslands defeated more than half of the nations of Terra, ultimately even changing the entire landscape of Terra.

The Lord of Nightmares of the Steppes, through violence, has ravaged the land of Terra. His knights trample on the dignity of this land, bully the weak, and commit unforgivable crimes.

Regardless of how later generations judge his merits and demerits, Kelsey only knew one thing.

He was his student!

"Berbayar, if you're not still alive..."

Kelsey's usually placid face finally showed a slight ripple.

"This time, I will kill you with my own hands!"

......

Because of the rain, a lot of time was wasted on the journey. The road there was flooded, so we had to take a long detour on the way back.

If you think about it carefully, the time I was away wasn't too long, only three or four days.

Gard noticed that the arrival of the rainy season brought some life to the land; on some corners of the Gobi Desert where the lizardman market was located, moss had even begun to grow.

Even though they would have dried up and died immediately after the rainy season ended and the sun came out, they are still growing tenaciously.

Several lizardmen huddled in a tower outside the market to avoid the rain, while two tall camels nestled in a corner, letting the rain pelt them.

Upon seeing a whistling vehicle approaching, the lizardman, who had been dozing, immediately scrambled to his feet, grabbed his weapon, and adopted a wary expression.

"it's me."

Gard climbed onto the roof of the vehicle, and the lizardmen were immediately surprised to see Gard's scales, which remained smooth and beautiful even in the rain.

"It's Lord Gard!"

"Lord Gard is back!"

"Quickly inform everyone!"

Upon hearing what the lizardmen said, Gard did not stop them.

Time is of the essence, and Gard doesn't know when the resurrected ancient civilization will attack. He needs to know the specifics of the current situation.

Because of the rainy season in this hot land, it remains to be seen how many warriors the lizardmen can muster.

Seeing the lizardmen's attitude towards Gard, several Babel Tower agents asked curiously, "Mr. Gard, aren't you an Adaklis from the rainforest? Why are these inhabitants of this land so obedient to you?"