Pillar of Yita

As he pushed the door open, he saw Reed standing on the platform opposite—a total of four Carry Houses on the back of the Gey Ridge Burden Beast, arranged in pairs and bridged together with Saddle Bridges. They were connected by ropes and suspension bridges at the front and back. The central area was the spine of the colossal beast, where a net was spread with many pouches hanging from it, containing supplies that did not need to be sealed for storage.

Outside each Carry House door was a platform large enough for two people to move around, equipped with protective barriers—though these so-called barriers were just wooden planks nailed with a few shields.

The towering and mighty Lion Man stood across the suspension bridge, leaning against the wooden wall at the edge of the platform, holding a small file, and was engrossed in an extremely important task—sharpening his snow-white claws.

Fang Hong noticed that the file was as long as a palm, but it looked like a toothpick in the Lion Man’s hand.

The Lion Man’s brown-red mane looked extremely majestic. There was a faint scar across his left cheek that slashed over his left eye, making the silver color of that eye even lighter, nearly white.

Clearly, the Lion Man cared deeply about his mane and had it neatly groomed, tied beneath into braids secured with white gold rings engraved with his parents’ family names. Lion People had a tradition of polygamy, and each white gold ring on their mane represented the family name of their different maternal tribes, some of which had diverse histories and origins, and even different designs of the gold rings.

Just like human heraldry.

When Reed saw Fang Hong step outside, he straightened up and nodded respectfully, ”It’s fine weather, human boy. Today’s wind comes from Garcia, scented with linden trees—”

He said this and even sniffed the air. Garcia was located to the north of the Dragon Roar Mountains, dominated by an ocean of linden trees where Gnolls and Trolls dwelt.

”My ID is Ade, Mr. Reed,” Fang Hong replied, looking up at the towering Lion Man who was almost half a body taller than him.

”An ID is just a code, so what’s your real name, little boy?” asked Reed.

”You know, our names are quite a mouthful for you.”

”Then I will continue to call you Ade.” Reed looked at the Walker II in his hand and asked, ”So Ade, is this your newly made toy? Let me see, a Walker II—If I remember correctly, the latest model of a Walker is the III type.”

”That’s beyond my capacity,” Fang Hong shook his head, ”And the Walker III type is too large to use effectively on this platform. Besides, this is not just any Walker II; I have added some new gadgets to it.”

Indeed, Clockwork Fairy, the full set of schematics for Walker was publicly available as basic blueprints, but the Walker III type was the only model that required an E-grade crystal to operate, while Fang Hong’s α crystal only supported the output power of an F-grade crystal.

”Makes sense,” Reed nodded, ”As for the new gadgets, I think you’ll have the chance to try them out, Parker and the others have encountered a Merchant Group up ahead, and it seems they have found a Rock Shark.”

”A Rock Shark? How big?” Fang Hong was a bit surprised. Rock Sharks, large airborne sharks, usually inhabited near shores, and occasionally came onto land for feeding. They were favorites among the Sky Sea Hunters because the magic crystals symbiotically growing inside them were natural high-quality Core Crystals, which were highly valuable in the market of the Cloud Sea Region, worth thousands of Lycel per kilogram. Moreover, their unique horns were among the best materials for Earth Element Magic Devices—one horn over two meters could be sold for more than a hundred thousand Lycel with decent quality.

Furthermore, Rock Sharks were low-level; an adult Rock Shark would not exceed Level 20, and other age groups were even lower. A basic Adventure Group could easily handle one. However, Rock Sharks were extremely rare, Fang Hong remembered that the last time a Rock Shark’s Horn was sold in Rodell had been at least six months ago.

”Not sure yet,” Reed’s large lion head shook, ”Parker went up to negotiate with the members of the Merchant Group, but it looks like there is more than one Adventure Group around.”

Fang Hong was so tempted by the prospect of money that he could hardly walk away; however, he remembered he had other things to do and quickly asked, ”By the way, Mr. Reed, where is Miss Atira?”

”She’s probably in her room. Are you looking for her?”

Fang Hong nodded and thanked the Lion Man before crossing the Saddle Bridge—the ladies’ quarters were on the other side of the beast. The arched saddle was laid with wooden planks, looking very sturdy and reliable, with railings on both sides and a small patch of Atira’s ’reserved land’ outside, filled with leguminous and solanaceous plants. The flowering period had passed, and they were beginning to bear fruit, hinting at a heavy yield.

The Gey Ridge Burden Beast weighed just over seventeen tons, and its carrying capacity was over three tons; as long as it was not exceeded, it would not impose too much burden on the colossal creature. The platform designed by Luo Yu weighed merely about one and a half tons, and with the crew and supplies together, it would not exceed one ton. Moreover, the weight reduction mechanism of the Guy Crystal could reduce the effective load by twenty percent, so there was actually a considerable margin in the load capacity.

The Elf Girl fully utilized this margin by using her Druid abilities and the hanging planters to grow plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. Although they could not replace dry food, they could occasionally help change the taste and boost the team’s morale.

Of course, what was more important was that it was pleasing to the eye and comforting to the heart—indeed, Fang Hong was beginning to grow fond of this Burden Beast, thinking to himself that he should also have one like this in the future.