At last, the boss stage was over.
Objectively and subjectively speaking, it was by no means an easy stage—but one way or another, I managed to pull through.
["It's... over?"]
"For now."
["Phew... then I'm taking a break. Don't call me."]
Waving her hand weakly like someone who had completely run out of energy, Esther gradually vanished from sight.
It seemed she was planning to rest and recover her strength for a while.
'We've been pushing hard lately.'
Not just during this wave—ever since the battle with the Sand Devourer, we'd been going full throttle.
And honestly, I was more than fine with Esther taking some time to recover. I had no reason to stop her.
There was no need.
[Giggit!]
With the battle over, Janus began his feast, taking advantage of the rare downtime.
Even though he'd already grown significantly by devouring the flesh and blood of the Rotting Body, Opacum, more growth was always a good thing.
Slurp, slurp, slurp...
Janus's bony tentacles stretched out in all directions, voraciously absorbing the corpses of monsters and beasts strewn across the plains.
And now, with a bit more discernment, he was only absorbing those at Grade-6 or higher.
'With this growth rate, fully absorbing Ankelenth's Fang won't be far off.'
After some time of uninterrupted feasting by Janus...
I sensed it was about time to head back.
'But first, there's something I need to take care of.'
I activated the Z-74 Jetpack and soared straight to where the Opacum's corpse lay.
Upon arrival, I made sure to move discreetly underground, out of the Ark's sight.
['Earth Dive' has been activated.]
Beneath the surface, I descended to the underground area where Opacum's body remained.
I was here to harvest materials from the corpse.
'It's tricky to handle, but... it's got plenty of value.'
Normally, the body of a monster that had ruled a region would be extremely valuable—but the Rotting Body, Opacum's corpse was a different story.
It was one of the few materials that even the Ark found difficult to deal with.
The effects were powerful—so powerful that, if turned into a biochemical weapon, it could yield devastating results. But mishandling it could lead to horrific accidents.
'Doesn't really matter to me though.'
After Janus devoured Opacum's blood, flesh, and heart, I'd developed a fair degree of resistance to the creature's toxins.
Add that to my innate toxic resistance traits and the enhancements from the serum, and I could handle this stuff without too much risk.
'First, I'll grab the most valuable parts.'
Even with a monster like the Rotting Body, Opacum, ordinary flesh and blood didn't fetch a high price.
What I needed were its core parts—like the heart.
Since the heart was already consumed by Janus, I aimed to retrieve other toxin-rich organs.
'Let's see here...'
Even though it was now a corpse, the stench of deadly toxins still clung to it.
But unlike before, I didn't even need a gas mask to withstand it.
'Search.'
Not that I needed to do the searching myself—one command to Janus was enough to begin the process.
[Giggit!]
Janus's bony tentacles began tearing through the massive corpse of the Rotting Body, Opacum without mercy.
We were searching for the source of its toxins.
Thankfully, Janus's tracking skills were top-notch.
'Found it.'
The sensations relayed to me through Janus told me we'd found the target.
It was an organ where toxins had concentrated—basically a sort of inner core.
'Then...'
Using the bony tentacles, I wrapped it tightly and completely.
I'd transfer it into a sealed container later when selling it to the Ark, but for now, I planned to carry it to my hideout like this.
'Wrap it up well. If the smell leaks, we're screwed.'
Even though I was immune to Opacum's poison now, I had no intention of turning my hideout into a toxic wasteland.
[Giggit!]
Only after Janus had thoroughly wrapped the toxin core in his bony tentacles did this tedious job finally come to an end.
'While I'm here, might as well grab some other useful parts.'
I collected a few more salvageable parts from Opacum's body and then moved on to the corpses of other beasts and monsters.
Those at Grade-3 or higher.
There weren't many in pristine condition, but what I did find should fetch a solid price back at the Ark.
'This whole ordeal's bound to earn me a decent chunk of credits... but more credits are always better.'
The job was done.
All that was left was to return.
'Might as well swing by the hideout first before heading to the Ark.'
Even if I went straight to the Ark now, the place would be in chaos for a while, and I'd only end up waiting around.
So instead, I decided to return to the hideout and do some maintenance.
'No need to call Horus.'
After all, I had not one, but two excellent modes of transport now.
Fwoosh─!
The Z-74 Jetpack.
And on top of that, I spread the Wings of Ankelenth and soared into the sky.
*
Flap! Flap!
With both the Z-74 Jetpack and Ankelenth's wings in use, the speed was truly staggering.
I returned to my hideout from the center of the battlefield in a flash.
"Whew..."
Back in the hideout, I stripped off everything I was wearing and splashed hot spring water over myself.
As the steaming water flowed from head to toe, I could feel the fatigue washing away.
It really was water from the spring of life.
After scrubbing off the accumulated grime, I refilled my empty canteens with life water and stepped into the spring.
"Ahh..."
If Esther had been here, she would've made a comment by now, but she was still in temporary hibernation, so there was none of that.
Maybe because of that, the hideout felt especially quiet.
'Hmm.'
As I relaxed in the spring, my gaze drifted to the communicator resting off to the side.
'Come to think of it... there was that strange sound before.'
Back then, things were too hectic for me to give it any attention, but now that I had a little breathing room, I figured I might as well check it out.
Click, click—
I adjusted the communicator's channel.
It was the same public channel where the mysterious voice had come through earlier.
["..."]
As luck would have it, there was nothing this time.
Seemed like I'd need more time if I wanted to figure out who that voice belonged to.
'Still, it sounded kind of familiar... who was it?'
A swirl of different voices stirred in my memory, but the message I'd heard was brief—and distorted by sobbing—making it hard to identify.
'Well, maybe I'll get another chance later.'
After finishing my soak, I first checked on the materials I'd harvested—starting with the Rotting Body, Opacum's toxic core, as well as byproducts from other beasts and monsters.
Although everything was sealed up in bony tentacles, delivering them like this to the Ark would be the same as confessing I was the Turncoat known as "Pawn." I needed to use proper sealed containers.
'Let's see...'
I rummaged through the supplies I'd stashed earlier in the hideout and began carefully transferring the byproducts from inside the bone spheres into the containers.
Special care was needed for anything from the Rotting Body, Opacum. I placed the entire bone sphere into the container first, then slowly deactivated the tentacles.
'Slowly... easy now...'
[Giggit!]
Janus performed the task with full concentration. At last, all the byproducts were successfully moved into the sealed containers.
If I had used an ordinary container, the toxic core would've melted right through it. But this was a Level-5 container—top of the line—so there was no such risk.
"Whew... that should do it."
With everything packed, all that was left was to deliver them to the Ark and get a fair price.
'Even if I go to the Ark now... I'll probably have to wait a bit.'
Given the situation, I decided to rest a little longer in the hideout.
After all, it had been an intense battle—even I wasn't immune to exhaustion.
"Sigh..."
With everything settled, I went back into the hot spring.
Sure, I could just sleep normally, but soaking in the life water was a lot more efficient.
Lying still in the water, I looked up and saw the night sky growing dim.
That quiet sky stirred memories of what lay ahead.
Traditionally, after the tenth wave—the boss stage—a multi-wave would follow.
Not always, of course. It depended on how successfully the boss stage had been handled.
'I used explosives to keep the Rotting Body, Opacum from getting anywhere near the Ark. Given that, a multi-wave is basically guaranteed.'
Multi-waves were terrifying for the Ark, but knowing about them in advance gave me a chance to prepare.
Because one of the traits of a multi-wave was that there was a long delay before the next one hit.
'I'll use that time to strengthen the Ark's forces.'
Strengthening the Ark's military might.
Easy to say, but in truth, it required a vast amount of resources and time.
That's why I was going to focus on what I could do immediately.
'Train the soldiers.'
The soldiers of the Ark.
Especially the ones known as playable characters.
I was going to train them.
'They're all about to be transferred to the Orange Line. I need to train them as much as I can before then.'
The Red Line stage was only the beginning in The Defense. Its difficulty wasn't all that high.
But starting from the Orange Line, it was a different story.
That's when monsters with communal behavior start appearing, and tactical, coordinated groups become the norm.
And what's the current state of the Ark?
While I'd been out there fighting to protect it, the Ark had barely taken any damage at all.
That was partly thanks to my efforts, but it also meant the soldiers inside the Ark hadn't had the chance to grow.
That's why I was going to use this window to train those who hadn't grown yet.
With the most realistic training possible—almost like actual combat.
*
The next morning came.
For the first time in a long while, I'd taken a full day to rest.
'Well then... I guess it's time.'
Feeling ready to move, I stood up.
After all, I'd had my break—no reason not to act now.
["You're up early."]
Esther had finished her hibernation too, appearing bright-eyed and well-rested.
"Yeah."
["Where are we going?"]
"The Ark."
["Hmm. Same as always, huh? What're you buying this time?"]
"I've got a few things to buy, but this time... I've got a lot to sell."
I casually held up one of the sealed containers filled with monster and beast byproducts in front of Esther.
["Ugh... whatever it is, it looks disgusting."]
"It's because you can see the inside."
["How could I not see it?"]
Esther grumbled.
Ignoring her, I fired up the Z-74 Jetpack without hesitation, heading straight for the Ark.