Saiyan stowaways on the Ark

The undertaker wouldn't lower his guard just because Tomat said he "couldn't sense any other monsters," nor would he accept Hongyun sleeping alone beside him just because she said "a mountain of corpses is a warning to monsters."

His insistence on keeping watch by Red Cloud resulted in the Phyllin tribe unleashing a frenzied attack that could only be used when enraged—even though Red Cloud was a Volper.

The sandstorm stopped in the early hours of the morning, and after the group had rested, they were greeted by the rising sun of the next day.

Not far from the foot of the mountain where the platform is located is a forest. The fake merchants who used to stay here would hunt prey from here and trade them as so-called commodities to pretend that they were real business people.

So before setting off on the hunt, the group made a special trip to the warehouse and kitchen areas to look for meat that others had already obtained.

But they either spoiled slightly due to the failure of refrigeration after the power outage, or they were completely devoured by those monsters.

Fortunately, with Hongyun's experience and Tomat's aura perception, they quickly found the prey's trail and reaped a great harvest.

"In Syracuse, you would certainly be a fine hunter."

Perhaps due to his experiences, Hongyun had a certain understanding of "aura," which is why he gave a very good evaluation of Tomat, who was keenly aware of the aura of his prey and could freely control his own aura during the hunt.

Without exception, birds and beasts, whether timid herbivores or fierce carnivores, will be easily captured once they are targeted.

Hongyun and Jie dissected their prey on the spot, bleeding it, skinning it, removing its organs, and cutting it up.

When it was time to start a fire and cook a picnic at noon, Tomat also used a special technique he didn't want to reveal to catch quite a few fish from the pond in the forest.

Afterwards, Hongyun demonstrated a wild and untamed cooking technique to them, stewing the captured prey with gathered herbs in a pot without any artificial seasoning.

The taste was really no less than the monster meat that had just been simply roasted by Thomas's Ki Blast.

The afternoon continued as planned – Hongyun knew exactly how to choose prey: she wouldn't kill young animals or hunt pregnant ones, and she would infer the population size of the entire area by observing the frequency of the same species' appearances. Then, she would judiciously direct the people present to capture just enough prey.

If a Saiyan who grabs any prey he sees isn't stopped, it wouldn't be surprising if the species in this area were to become extinct.

"Occupational hazard, I almost resorted to violence..."

Tomat offered the above explanation.

However, the amount of things they can take with them is always limited.

Hongyun and Croissant were more interested in the fur, so they kept most of it. Jie, on the other hand, watched with great heartache as most of the inconvenient-to-carry internal organs were buried on the spot—after all, these things could be made into delicious offal after being cleaned, but they mainly needed meat and had to give up some.

Tomat ate in moderation to prevent most of the goods from being lost before they could be transported back.

After spending another full day there, the group began preparations for their return journey in the early hours of the third day.

Hongyun insisted that the monster that Tomat killed be transported separately from the prey caught yesterday. Croissant made good use of the cargo truck left behind by the original people here, using it to transport the larger amount of monster meat, while the Undertaker's off-road vehicle transported Hongyun's prey and herself.

"Afterwards, let's report the discovery on that mobile platform to Rhodes Island. The Rembitox people are secretly digging for something here and have encountered an unknown but delicious monster. Most importantly, if this really involves Rembitox's official matters, it means that even bigger trouble may come knocking."

Croissant, taking care of Red Cloud's sense of smell, drove a distance behind the Funeral Caravan, while speaking to Tomart and Ja in the back seat.

"I feel like you don't seem to have any sense of crisis at all when you say these things, Croissant Sister."

Jie noticed that Croissant's tone wasn't as engaging as when she was usually promoting products, and remarked.

“I’m used to it. Every time I help my boss with a job, I encounter similar things, like secret weapon blueprints, orphans of noble families, or newly developed reagents.” Croissant held the steering wheel with one hand and gestured with the other. “But when they commission me, one thing is so well concealed that I think the box is just filled with puffed snacks.”

"What's there to be afraid of guys who sneak out overseas to dig for things? I have no interest in what they're up to."

Pressuring him for details would only cause him trouble—and the same goes for Rembitox; anyone taking action there would only be asking for trouble.

“There are actually quite a lot of things like this. The mobile city-states are running around everywhere, blurring the concept of ‘borders’ that used to exist. Natural disasters, Oripathy, wars, resource disputes—all sorts of things become more complicated under these circumstances. If you ask me, I’ve been to so many countries in Terra, and every single one of them is doing some kind of incomprehensible nonsense, openly or secretly.” Croissant also gave a mocking look. “Aja, don’t take it too seriously. It sounds scary, but it happens everywhere. The difference is whether you’ve noticed it or not.”

Thomas certainly didn't need Croissant to say "Don't worry about it."

Rather than saying that he "took it to heart," the other party is the one who is having a hard time.

"Although I'm just a part-time student, I know a lot about similar things. Don't worry, Sister Song, I can handle the so-called 'dark side'. After all, I've faced it quite a few times when a friend dragged me into doing chivalrous things."

With his eyes half-open, it was impossible to tell whether he was making a confident assertion or simply offering a wry smile as he spoke.

"Oh~~~" Croissant suddenly raised the corners of her mouth, looking like she knew everything, and drew out the tone, "You mean your fiery and energetic childhood friend from the Felin tribe?"

"So, does that mean your adoptive father asked the Guard Bureau to arrange for you to go to Rhodes Island, which separated you from your childhood friend?"

Thomas asked as well.

"We wouldn't call ourselves childhood sweethearts, although we did grow up together..." Jie explained hastily with little change in expression, then continued, "She's a proper college student, she still has to study, and she always tells me not to work so much and to focus on getting good grades... Ah, this is bad, she told me not to leak anything... How did you know, Sister Croissant?"

"That's right. Every time we pay a fine, there's always an extra penalty. We checked, and it turns out it's all because of you and your childhood friend getting involved in your acts of bravery."

Croissant said with a proud look on her face.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

*Hongyun's trusted voice message.

[Main Text] Rhodes Island Walking Guide: Chapter Thirty-Four: Goodness, I'm just speechless.

"Good heavens, what is this? It stinks!"

"Wow, what a treasure! It smells so good!"

Even taking into account their unexpected discovery on that mobile platform, the whole process was still smooth sailing.

But when they returned to Rhodes Island and thought things had come to a perfect end, unexpected events began to occur one after another.

For example, when they were unloading cargo at the bottom platform of Rhode Island, their evaluations were directly divided into two camps.

One group of people were so tempted by the aroma that they were practically drooling, while another group, like Hongyun, had a strong aversion to the smell.

Those who were interested surrounded it, while those who wanted to avoid it were prevented from venturing deeper into the area because they wanted to find out the source of the smell.

It wouldn't be strange for Tomatt and the others to find it fragrant, but if some people say it smells bad, then it proves that it has little to do with Hongyun's enhanced sense of smell due to Oripathy...

They realized in an instant that what determined the different feelings of different people was not the sense of smell, but the Oripathy itself.

"...Good heavens."

"Dr. Kelsey, could you say something else?"

Someone accidentally triggered the chemical defense alarm, causing even more chaos. As a result of the chaos, a group of chemical defense personnel, led by Kal'tsit, the head of the medical department, rushed to the scene in protective suits.

But when Kal'tsit looked at the container crammed full of monster corpses, she remained silent for several seconds before squeezing out three words from under her protective mask, which drew criticism from the people around her.

"Dead?"

"Dead."

"Pity."

"pity?"

Without thinking, Kal'tsit had a brief conversation with Tomat that was so incomprehensible to outsiders—or even to Tomat himself.

However, her expression revealed a subtle hint of regret in response to Tomat's answer.

"Come to my office, let's talk in detail."

Kal'tsit glanced at the monsters that were completely lifeless.

"As for these corpses... place them in the Level 1 hazardous materials storage area... never mind, just send them directly to the cafeteria, make sure to seal them properly, infected people will have a hard time accepting their smell."

"Did she just mention something about a very dangerous place... a Level 1 hazardous material?"

Croissant filtered out Kal'tsit's words, and although her heart jumped into her throat, she couldn't understand why she had changed her mind and wanted to send them all to the cafeteria.

However, Kal'tsit didn't seem to have any intention of explaining things here. Instead, she assumed that Tomat was the one most involved in the matter. While having her entourage help maintain order, she left the area with Tomat, leaving Croissant and the others to deal with the "ingredients" that had been brought in.

It was still the same office as Kelshina's clinic, but when Thomas came today, he couldn't sense the presence of someone secretly observing from the room.

"Rembiton's excavators, unknown individuals disguised as businessmen, underground monsters, pure and uncontaminated meat... Okay, I completely understand, and you should know what I know."

Thomas felt that Kal'tsit had said something similar in the past.

"Doctor, I don't feel like I know what you know about me."

Faced with Kal'tsit's refusal to speak clearly, Tomat also started using nested nesting techniques without warning.

"...Then we probably don't need to keep you in suspense any longer."

"Oh, so it was only you, Dr. Kal'tsit, who didn't explain things clearly from the beginning."

"I understand."

Just as Tomatt thought Kal'tsit should finally give a proper explanation, she suddenly said:

"Thank you so much for your assistance to Rhodes Island. We will always remember it."

Kal'tsit thanked Tomat in a rather formal manner.

"Are you going to fire me?"

Goodness, this matter seems quite serious. Although I don't know what kind of country Rembit is, this accidental discovery has implicated Tommat in some country's affairs, which has actually caused Kal'tsit, who knew the truth, to choose to sever ties with him?

That's true. After all, it's just a medical organization. Even with Tomat involved, they might not be able to withstand the risk themselves.

This is based on the premise that they do not want to abuse Tomat's power; otherwise, if Tomat's power were directly regarded as Rhodes Island's power, Kal'tsit would not have made such a decision.

—And this is Tomat's interpretation.

“Expulsion? I think you’ve misunderstood.” Kal’tsit seemed a little surprised that her words had been interpreted so simply. “You said that you would take full responsibility for all the consequences of your free actions and would not involve Rhodes Island, so even though this involves a country, I believe you will keep your promise.”

“I thank you because you have provided our company with excellent research material for Oripathy—a sufficient number of specific biological samples,” Kal'tsit continued to explain. “As you know, these creatures are not the usual creatures of Terra. These strangely shaped creatures all come from an era before Originium, and their bodies are so pure that they can be compared to a certain special group of people that I mentioned before.”

Have I said that?

I don't seem to remember it.

However, Tomat chose to remain silent and listen to Kal'tsit's explanation.

“Unlike those who were not infected simply because they had never been in contact with Originium, they are able to suppress the infection, or even eliminate the effects, even if they have been in contact with it, thanks to their own unique physical characteristics.”

"Since those people exist and are involved in Oripathy research, we should just contact them directly. They shouldn't be that short of these monsters."

Thomas questioned what Kelsey had said.

“'Some Agorians'.” Kal'tsit was not surprised by Tomat’s question. “They do indeed have very little Originium in their bodies and can resist infection—but they are not born that way. In addition, for some special reasons, I feel that learning about the secrets of Oripathy, or certain 'taboos,' from them is not something I would like to do.”

"So you think these monster corpses can be used as a substitute? To research Oripathy?"

Tomath realized Kal'tsit's intentions.

Although it's unclear how Kal'tsit determined that these strange creatures could resist Originium Infection, it seems to her that some people have acquired similar abilities from similar creatures.

However, Kal'tsit showed resistance to them for some reason.

Previously, she could only cooperate or reach a mutual agreement to conduct research, but now she has found a more suitable alternative.