A single-player post-apocalyptic game, but with an all-female teammate mod.

And this opportunity to practice came very soon.

Nothing helps you master your skills faster than real combat.

With Shizuka Marikawa's antidote, all combat personnel can now venture out to explore.

Before venturing out to explore, Aono divided all combat personnel into three squads.

First squad: Aono, Kage, and Ika, the strongest combat force is concentrated, responsible for in-depth exploration and handling of high-difficulty targets.

Second squad: Tifa, Mai Shiranui, Miyuki, and Rei, melee fighters paired with ice-type mages.

The third squad: Esdeath and Saeko Busujima, two bloodthirsty and ruthless swordsmen, when they encounter monsters, they just hack and slash.

Each of the three teams carried a large number of red and blue vials and antidotes, and explored in three different directions.

Instantly, the exploration efficiency tripled.

104. Crocodile & Hina

Since the northern area has already been roughly explored, the three teams will be heading east, west, and south respectively.

The first enemies encountered were Saeko Busujima and Esdeath, who had the fewest numbers but the most bloody and violent fighting style.

The two headed south.

Here, the sand dunes are more undulating, and the rock pillars formed by wind erosion stand like skeletons in the yellow sand.

About forty minutes after setting off, Esdeath and Saeko Busujima encountered a ruin.

Without hesitation, the two women exchanged a glance and decisively entered.

After passing through a stone corridor, the two entered a stone chamber.

There were nine wild beasts inside: seven wolves and two sand scorpions.

However, they had already learned the information from Qingye and were not deceived by their appearance, knowing that these were actually manifestations of sand elements.

Saeko Busujima, who hasn't yet mastered chakra and relies solely on strength and skill, is at a disadvantage against these elemental monsters.

Conversely, Esdeath, who possesses ice elemental power, finds dealing with these sand elemental monsters much easier than with other monsters.

"Ha ha……"

Esdeath's lips curled into a cruel smile that she had kept hidden for many days.

A rapier had appeared in her hand without her noticing, and an icy blue aura slowly spread from her body.

Saeko Busujima didn't speak, but simply placed her hand on the hilt of the sword at her waist.

Even knowing the characteristics of these elemental monsters, she didn't intend to give up without even trying.

Her dark purple hair fluttered slightly in the dry, hot wind, and something seemed to be awakening in her purple eyes.

Seven sand wolves pounced first, their sand-formed bodies constantly changing shape as they ran, their claws and fangs gleaming with a cold, sandy-gold light.

Two sand scorpions flanked from the flanks, their stingers raised high, dripping venom onto the sand with a soft, corrosive sound.

"Hahaha!!!"

Esdeath smiled excitedly and swung her rapier horizontally, unleashing an arc of ice that sliced ​​the three sand wolves charging at the front in half.

The sand grains scattered.

But as Aono said, once the sand element is broken up, the sand grains will quickly flow back and recombine.

The fragments of the three sand wolves began to wriggle and gather as soon as they hit the ground.

"Whoosh."

A purple blade of light flashed past Esdeath's ice blade.

Saeko Busujima drew her sword.

Her figure flashed past the first sand wolf that was reassembling like a ghost, and the fine sand was completely pulverized in the path of her blade.

Her talent, Bloodthirsty Asura, began to take effect.

A very faint red halo began to appear around her, flickering like breath.

However, no enemies have been killed yet, so the effect is not obvious.

The three sand wolves had by then completed their reorganization, but some parts were clearly missing from their chests.

That was the damage caused by Esdeath's ice blade and Saeko's slash, which completely shattered a portion of the sand element.

Seeing that Saeko's attack was effective, Esdeath seemed worried that her prey would be stolen. Her expression hardened, and she immediately mobilized her power to launch an area attack.

A forest of ice spikes suddenly sprang up from the ground. Just as the two sand scorpions were about to charge forward, several sharp ice pillars pierced their sandy bodies.

The sand scorpions writhed wildly, their self-healing abilities allowing them to try and break free from the ice spikes.

However, in the areas pierced by ice spikes, the fluidity of the sand grains was significantly reduced, and the reorganization speed visibly slowed down.

Saeko Busujima's purple eyes flashed, and the next moment, she appeared above the first sand scorpion that was pinned down.

The katana, transformed from the exclusive weapon, danced in a phantom-like motion.

The blade flashed like a waterfall, almost instantly chopping the sand scorpion and ice spikes into a minced meat.

This time, the sand grains completely lost their activity, scattered on the ground and no longer coalesced.

As gold coins and materials fell, the red light around Saeko Busujima intensified slightly.

She could clearly feel the power surging within her, but at the same time, a restless emotion began to surge in her mind.

He wanted more killing, he wanted to shatter everything in front of him.

Her pupils contracted slightly, and her fingers unconsciously tightened.

At this moment, the [Sword Heart] also began to take effect, keeping her rational and preventing her from completely succumbing to the killing.

Esdeath was somewhat disappointed that Saeko Busujima did not show any hostility towards her.

Her teammates had already shared information, and she thought that if Saeko Busujima made the first move, she would have a good reason to retaliate.

She preferred fighting against people who possessed both intelligence and superior combat skills rather than dealing with these weak monsters.

Recently, she has been using the simulation function the most.

Once their levels were equal and their battles were nearly identical, aside from Ika, who held absolute air superiority, and Kage, who had turned fighting into instinct, the others mostly lost to Esdeath.

Among them, Ice Beauty and Miyuki, who are also ice-type but are mages, were completely overwhelmed by Esdeath.

While observing Saeko Busujima, Esdeath was not idle either.

Just as Saeko Busujima finished off one, her ice had completely frozen the remaining few, and then shattered them.

The frozen sand elements could no longer recombine. After maintaining their vitality for a few seconds, they completely perished, turning into scattered sand, gold coins, and materials.

After the battle, the two took out the medicine that Aono had given them before they set off from their waists.

Saeko Busujima takes out the red bottle, and Esdeath takes out the blue bottle.

It's actually fine if you don't use it, but today we also have a task to confirm the effects of the medicine.

The two uncorked the bottles and drank them down.

The moment the red liquid entered my throat, a cool sensation spread from my stomach throughout my body.

Saeko Busujima felt as if her body had been rinsed with warm water; the little energy she had just used and the fatigue from fighting the heat quickly dissipated.

On the other side, Esdeath nodded in satisfaction.

The unique Imperial Arm power within her, unlike that of anyone else, has also been fully restored.

"The effect is good. Next time, let's see how much it can restore at most in one go when the consumption is higher."

Esdeath clenched her fist, feeling the renewed power within her, and spoke.

Saeko Busujima nodded in agreement. The number of medicine bottles was actually not many, since time was of the essence. Even though there was enough material, each person was given nine bottles, three of each kind.

Once you've confirmed its effectiveness, you should use it sparingly from now on.

Meanwhile, the second team exploring to the east, namely the four women named Bingli, also successfully dealt with a group of sand scorpions.

Because of the close-quarters, unarmed combat, Tifa and Mai Shiranui inevitably got grazed a few times.

Seeing the wounds starting to turn black, the two decisively took out the green antidote and drank it.

The moment the pale green liquid of the antidote slid down their throats, Tifa and Mai Shiranui simultaneously felt a cool breeze spreading from their chests.

The burning sensation at the wound felt like it had been extinguished by a bucket of ice water. The blackening that had spread along the edges of the skin faded at a visible speed, eventually shrinking back into a normal scab.

"The effect is very good."

Tifa looked down at her arm; the previously dark wound had stopped worsening, leaving only a faint bloodstain.

She pulled out another red bottle from her fanny pack and drank it down; the bloodstains healed quickly.

Mai Shiranui shook her hand, and the lingering numbness in her fingertips disappeared.

She flexed her wrists, a slight smile playing on her lips. "Well, I didn't bring too many today, so I'll try to avoid getting hurt."

"Ah."

Tifa nodded. Including Ice Beauty and Snow White, there were only 12 bottles of antidote. Today's exploration had only just begun.

While it's difficult for fighters to avoid injury, it's not impossible to try.

Consider it a different kind of spiritual practice.

As for the western area under Aono's jurisdiction, the exploration progress is far ahead of the competition, and there is absolutely no need for potions.

……

At 6 p.m., everyone gathered in the captain's cabin to take stock of the spoils.

With just a quick glance, Aono knew that today's harvest was at least three times that of the previous ones.

The only regret is that no one has found the second boss yet.

Unfortunately, this was quickly brought to an end the following day.

The next day, at 11:30 a.m.

In an underground ruin to the south.

"BOSS room discovered, bronze door with gold relief on the door frame."

Saeko Busujima scrutinized the doorway in front of her while broadcasting over the walkie-talkie in a calm and concise manner.

This walkie-talkie is a recent product developed by Asagi and his two colleagues.

Thanks to the use of advanced system technology, the current communication range is 50 kilometers, and further improvements can further increase the communication range.

Currently, each team is only equipped with one, but after optimization and mass production, everyone will have one.

Of course, it's not useful in Ark City.

With the improvement of networks and equipment, mobile phones are now basically usable.

It currently lacks entertainment features, offering only functions like friend chat and group chat.

At this moment, Aono had not yet exceeded fifty kilometers in distance. He had just finished dealing with the three sand snakes that had come to their doorstep with Kage and Ika.

Upon receiving the message, they immediately changed direction and used Ika's full map view to head towards Saeko Busujima and Esdeath's location.

After the report, Saeko Busujima and Esdeath stood facing each other in front of the bronze gate.

The two have already drunk the red and blue bottles and have fully recovered.

Facing the BOSS behind the door, both women were burning with fighting spirit, wishing they could push the door open and enter right now.

But every time this thought arises, Aono's words subconsciously come to mind.

"Once you find the BOSS, you are not allowed to act on your own. If you do not see me, report back when you return tonight."

Aono spoke calmly at the time and did not mention the consequences of acting without authorization.

But everyone could sense the coldness in his tone, and even the two most battle-hungry and crazy female Asuras dared not test him.

The waiting time was extremely difficult, but every time they were about to lose their patience, they would subconsciously look at each other.

Seeing the burning fighting spirit in their eyes actually calmed them down.

At this moment, they finally understood why Aono had always made them team up, even though going it alone could have increased the efficiency of their exploration.

Not only is it safer to operate in teams, but it also allows them to supervise each other.