Mystical Journey

Garen walked out of the Flying Ship. He reached his hand out to grasp the edge of the door frame at the exit of the Flying Ship. He could feel a strong burning sensation from the radiation that was coming towards his face and body. This sensation was trying to enter his body through his breathing.

The radiation levels were truly high and the Flying Ship's anti-radiation panels would not be able to withstand it for much longer.

Judgments stirred in his mind.

He walked along the mountaintop towards the edge of the lake where the water was sky-blue like a large pure blue gemstone. Small ripples stirred across the surface of the lake when the wind blew past.

When they saw Garen walking over, a few tiny fishes swam over in his direction curiously. They poked their little mouths above the surface of the water in a peculiar manner that he could not understand.

Garen felt the air carefully and noticed that the temperature here was about twenty degrees warmer. It was slightly hot and more humid. The water vapor was probably being evaporated from the lake.

"If the issue of high radiation levels was not a problem, this would be a very good place to live."

Garen crouched down and picked up a small, broken stone and then gently threw it into the water.

A 'plop' could be heard before one of the tiny fishes in the water was struck by the stone. It floated up before strands of blue blood dissipated. The other fishes dispersed quickly.

Garen reached into the water and picked up the dead body of the tiny fish. He sniffed it before putting it into his mouth and gently biting a piece of the fish's flesh. He chewed it carefully and slowly.

It tasted slightly salty and somewhat fishy but the radiation levels was not too strong.

"It's edible. Moreover, the salt content has lessened, so it shouldn't be poisonous," Garen nodded before standing up.

He started to wander around the entire mountaintop which was a wide and flat area that had a diameter of over two hundred meters. Although it was not extremely smooth, it was still a very suitable place for these few people to live.

This was the safest spot because the only path to the mountaintop was located in a narrow entrance near the edge. That place resembled a tunnel that led all the way down to the foot of the mountain. As long as they defended it properly, they would be able to completely block off the passage up the mountain.

The other passengers on the Flying Ship had alighted the vehicle one by one. They sized up their surrounding environments. When they discovered that the tiny fishes in the lake were edible, everyone else relaxed as well.

"There's water and a small amount of food here. We could definitely breed these edible tiny fishes manually," said Malone immediately when he saw the scenery in front of him.

"How many more days will our food supply last us?" Garen turned around and asked.

"About a week. Although half of it was taken away, we don't have that many people left now since many of us died. Therefore, if we ration it out equally, we still have a lot of food left," answered East Perrin in low spirits.

"Get ready to tear down the Flying Ship. Block off this passage completely and use it to make a door that can be opened and closed. Next, use parts of the metal and some rocks to put up a little house. No problem, right?" commanded Garen.

"No problem."

Every one of these people were outdoor survival powerhouses. In the radiation belt, these were vital survival skills. Moreover, they had brought electric saws and drills and other similar tools to increase their work speed and make it more convenient this time. They were more efficient than usual.

The four adults including Fanny began to come down. They held the handles together and prepared to set up the simple house.

The electric saw, cutting apparatus, and motor-driven excavator were taken down from the Flying Ship. East Perrin quickly and efficiently removed the motor equipment from the back of the Flying Ship. Although it was not very powerful and could not compare to a Mech's power furnace because the Flying Ship had its own power furnace, as long as they added some energy batteries, they would be able to modify it into a device for the automatic doors to open and close.

As for building the house, they tore down the things in the Flying Ship that could be used. Next, they used means such as welding screws together and connecting them together. Less than half an hour later, with the help of the four adults and two children, a large triangle tent near the lake was pitched. It had an extremely simple structure that only composed of three large metal boards that were welded together to form a pyramid. Inside, a few pieces of the Flying Ship's skeleton was fixed in the middle while a little door was cut open on the side. After adding a simple lock and chain clasp, everything was done.

Everyone piled the cotton-padded quilts and other similar items that they had brought with them into the tent. Next, they fixed the corners and remaining bits of the tent into the ground.

"The stones here are so hard!"

While holding the electric drill and painstakingly drilling for a long time, the middle-aged woman furrowed her eyebrows and said, "I've changed the drill tip of the electric drill three times but I've only managed to make a few holes."

"Isn't it better if it's hard?" Garen nodded and said, "That way, the Predators can't charge up here easily."

He grabbed a piece of metal single-handedly and smashed it by the side of the entrance to the passage violently. Next, the male youth who had defied him previously took a tool and welded this metal piece in a fixed position at the edge of the passage.

The entire Flying Ship that was over ten meters long was quickly dismantled to near completion. Only three parts of the Ship's skeleton remained inside.

Meanwhile, a pointed large metal tent that was seven to eight meters wide was built on the flat ground of the mountaintop. It would be sufficient for the people here to go in and shield themselves from the sun and rain.

The corners of the tent were fixed by melting the metal there. Coupled with the thick palm-sized nails that were nailed to the ground deeply, it was clear that the tent was extremely stable.

"What do we do with this anti-gravity engine?" East Perrin held a dark motor-like little object and walked over.

Garen glanced at this thing.

"We can use it to bear loads. We might be able to use it when we're transporting items. Put it aside first and make sure to maintain it properly."

"Speaking of that, we're almost out of maintenance oil," said East Perrin helplessly.

Garen nodded to indicate that he understood.

"We'll talk about this another time. I'll go look for a somewhere to place my Biochemical Pool."

East Perrin nodded and turned around before looking for something else to do.

Garen picked up the flesh ball that was once his Biochemical Pool and walked up to another stretch of flat ground on the mountaintop. He crouched down and stuck his palm closely against the ground.

The cool stones were hard to the touch. He moved slightly before the Blue Strands flowed out of his palm swiftly and silently. The strands began to devour the stones on the ground madly.

In theory, the Hellfrost Peacock could devour all things. However, it devoured certain things at slower speeds.

Garen felt it carefully. The Hellfrost Peacock's rate of devouring the black stones on this mountain was not slow. Moreover, during the devouring process, bouts of strange energy surged through his body faintly. After being refined by the Hellfrost Peacock Technique, this energy was able to fuse with his Living Secret Technique slowly. He was unsure of the exact nature of this energy but knew that it was not part of the Blue Strands. However, it's purity level seemed very high because it was able to exist independently within the Hellfrost Peacock Technique.

"I don't know the functions of this thing," Garen knitted his eyebrows together and relaxed his palm. However, he was surprised when he realized that he had corroded a large deep black hole on the ground after a short amount of time. When he looked down into it from above, it seemed at least one meter deep.

"This is a good way to build a house." He thought of this point suddenly.

He decided to just press both of his hands close to the ground.

Seemingly countless Blue Strands from his Living Secret Technique flowed into the stone on the ground. It began to consume this stone greedily.

As time passed, a gigantic underground hole gradually formed on the mountain floor. Moreover, by following Garen's calculations, the strands had accurately built a hollow underground structure that resembled a gigantic underground base. It extended all the way to the edge of the lake and stopped below everyone's feet.

The hollow underground space was divided into three levels. The top level was where everyone would live and make decisions. The living space was on the right while the meeting room for decision making was on the left. Below them was a large space in the middle that Garen had not decided a use for yet. The space was ten meters high and lowest level was an area that he had left for himself to arrange the Biochemical Pool and do experiments.

After opening a door upstairs, Garen jumped inside at once. The Living Secret Technique's digging speed amazed Garen himself as well. Within less than an hour, it had dug a huge space underground that was enough to accommodate hundreds of people.

He began to quickly build a flight of stairs and make other arrangements inside. He also made a ventilation channel that led outside to ensure that there was air circulation.

Garen only stopped after being busy for more than an hour. He emerged from the underground again and walked up the flight of stone stairs that he had built. Garen saw that a few people had gathered around the entrance outside, including East Perrin and a few others that were glancing at him suspiciously.

"I used special means to dig a hole. We can probably stay here safely for a while," Garen shrugged. "Don't look at me that way. I merely used certain corrosive abilities to excavate a hole quickly. If I had used the tools and brute force, I don't think I could dig such a good underground space even after a few months."

"Mr. Garen is simply… He's simply…" Both of the children were too amazed to speak.

"The means of Energy Machinists are not something that we can imagine." Malone was the first one to explain. He used this time to inform the others that Garen was an Energy Machinist. This career was extremely mysterious and powerful in the eyes of most people. Currently, Garen had become even more omnipotent to them…

When they realized that he was a mysteriously powerful Energy Machinist, the little group nodded in a slightly relieved manner.

"If you could actually build such a good place, why did you make us dismantle steel boards outside earlier?" quietly muttered East Perrin somewhat bitterly while glaring at Garen.

"Alright, let's move the things inside now," Garen clapped his hands. "The task of preparing meals will be handed to you as well. I'm going to arrange the defenses."

He did not bother with the arrangements that the others would make. He needed to arrange his Biochemical Pool immediately and start nurturing Big Wild Wolves. Otherwise, since there were only a few people here, trouble would definitely ensue if they encountered Predators.

He ran to the bottom level quickly. After setting up a few more ventilation passages only then did Garen give up on the other tasks so that he could dig a hole to position his Biochemical Pool. He threw the ball inside and watched as it expanded into a little circular pond automatically. After that, he followed the steps to handle his materials and mixed the Biochemical Fluid properly before pouring it into a few Predator corpses that had been prepared earlier.

Garen had not expected that the Predators would replace the flesh of the mutated beasts that were used as the Biochemical Pool's nurturing material. The effects were extraordinarily excellent as well. It seemed as though it was abundant in nutrients.

The pool water quickly turned into a dark red color that resembled dead blood cells. Moreover, the water in the middle of the pool tossed about continuously.

Garen knelt beside the Biochemical Pool. Countless strands of his Energy Machinist Willpower burrowed into the Biochemical Pool before an invisible panel that could be seen by no one else except himself appeared before his eyes.

The current state of the Biochemical Pool was displayed clearly there. This was a control panel that was embedded in the Energy Machine Imprint. Once it had integrated with the Biochemical Pool, he could monitor its state any time.

The model of a black Big Wild Wolf was displayed on the panel.

'Big Wild Wolf: Speed 1, Defense 0.5, Vitality Restoration 0.5, Destructive Power 1, No Additional Abilities.'

This was the Wild Wolf Imprint template that was usually produced by Energy Machinists that used Biochemical Pools. However, as Garen's Willpower continuously manipulated and nurtured the characteristics of the Biochemical Pool, some of his Willpower had slowly seeped into the Wild Wolf embryos in the Biochemical Pool.

Slight changes appeared in the data on the panel.

'Big Wild Wolf: Speed 1+1, Defense 0.5+1, Vitality Restoration 0.5, Destructive Power 1. Additional Effects: Level Two NIS Willpower has been strengthened (Speed +1, Basic Defense +1)'