Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 306: Midnight Crystal (Part 31)

The Dead Lands were a dangerous place, for aside from the Citadel and the Bastions, there were no safe places where people could be sure that monsters wouldnʼt come and kill them.

However, this world wasnʼt some game where monsters were programmed to appear no matter what. If the Phantoms killed all the monsters in a region, a certain area would become safe for a while.

Yeah, it was pretty simple.

Unless there were sudden artifact anomalies or other incidents, the number of monsters would only recover after a while.

There were still some monsters near the exploded volcano, most of them had come here to join the battle. But, Oskar and the others quickly eliminated all of them.

By now, several long hours had passed and the Harvesters and a few fighters had even managed to arrive at the volcano. Among the fighters, there was one that was different from the rest.

This fighter was much larger, multiple times, had a less sharp shape, and was much wider and taller. It was the - BH-01.

The Phantoms rarely used these fighters, for they were not as fast, had almost no weapons, and were a lot bigger.

Well, the BH-01 fighters had their own tasks, they were inferior in all respects to the main SH-01 fighters that all Phantoms used, especially in speed.

But, in one thing the BH-01 fighters were far outclassed by their counterparts - volume. Inside an SH-01 fighter could fit several Phantoms and a pilot, nothing more, at most food, water Nexuses, and a ton of various weapons.

BH-01 fighters could hold ten or hundreds of monsters depending on their size, many Phantoms, and most importantly Harvesters. The Harvesters were the ones who used the BH-01 fighters the most.

There were several reasons for this. First, the BH-01 could bring Harvesters to gather resources from hundreds or even thousands of monsters and put them into the airplane.

Sure, no BH-01 fighter could fit a thousand monsters, a few hundred at most, but that was what Harvesters were for.

Igno Ant was the size of a human, but after the Harvester collected all the valuable materials, the original size of the monster would be 10% or 20%.

True, each monster was different, but the fact remained that the BH-01 fighter did not get the corpses of monsters, but only parts of their bodies.

Secondly, Harvesters had to somehow get to distant territories.

If it was Rusty Ruins, Alienated Rocks, or Scorching Desert, the Harvesters were initially in squads or moved with trucks. The range wasnʼt too long, the dangerous monsters were few and far between and their numbers werenʼt high either.

However, Black Cinder Forest was too far away. To get to this area, the Harvesters would have to pass through several areas in each of which there would be increasingly stronger monsters.

Thus, the Harvester team would have to go through the White Threat Level area, and then through the Green and Blue Threat ones to get to the Black Cinder Forest.

This was too difficult and dangerous. Moreover, another squad of Phantoms would be needed to protect these Harvesters.

All in all, without the BH-01, the functioning of the Harvesters, and thus a significant part of the Citadel, would be ineffective and almost impossible.

The BH-01s could fly the Phantoms as well, but they usually stayed with the SH-01 fighters.

After the Harvesters did their job, loaded the monster parts into the BH-01, boarded the plane, and took off, the other fighters would accompany them.

Sure, the SH-01 fighters were much faster than the BH-01, at least several times over, but if the BH-01 was returning to the Citadel, then the mission was already completed and there was no need to rush.

The phantoms sitting in the SH-01 fighters that accompanied one huge BH-01 were a guarantee of safety. Even if some monster decided to attack the BH-01, the Phantoms would quickly deal with it and protect their Harvesters.

For Harvesters, becoming a member of the crew of the BH-01 was a real privilege and even a reward, as flying over the Dead Lands was much safer than traveling on the ground with trucks.

Usually, a Harvester could get into the BH-01 after several years of working in areas close to the Citadel. During that time, the Harvester had enough experience, skills, and a taste of what it was like to work in Dead Lands and with Phantoms.

...

Adam watched bored as the Harvesters cut the Igno Ants, Red Horned Lizards, Dark Loohoes, and Giant Rogoes apart. Some they took claws from, some fangs from, and some just feathers or protective scales.

The harvesters knew well what was valuable from each monster. Moreover, the missions department was in constant communication with them so that they knew what the Citadel needed.

This was important because although the BH-01 fighterʼs storage was huge, it was not infinite. If there were too many materials, the Harvesters needed to know which monsters were prioritized.

”Well, well, Oskar wasnʼt lying, they did kill all the monsters around, even the few that were left after the volcano exploded.” Adam muttered throwing a glance at the veritable wasteland around him.

He had a strange sensation inside him, from the scene that was unfolding before his eyes.

Hundreds or even thousands of monster corpses were lying on the ashy ground. He, Katrin, Oskar, and the others were resting and now and then some of them were talking to Harvesters or pilots.

The Harvesters were cutting valuable materials out of the monsters without fear for their safety. It was logical since they had nothing to be afraid of, all the monsters in this area around the volcano had been killed.

Sure, soon other monsters would come here instead of these ones, but it would take time.

The Harvesters worked together and kept serious faces, but occasionally they smiled, laughed, and talked to each other about something.

Well, when one team of five Harvesters had to cut up the twentieth Igno Ants, it became a routine and boring job, and only friendly chats could save them from boredom.

Adam stood off to the side leaning against a massive black tree with his arms crossed over his chest and a deep gaze.

”How unusual...” Adam muttered, looking at one group of Harvesters that were busy cutting up a Red Horned Lizard. Find adventures on mvl

They cut off the lizardʼs horn, sighed, and headed for BH-01, placing the horns in the storage room, which already had several dozen of them.

Adam felt as if he was not in Dead Lands, but in some factory or something, in some active industrial zone where everyone was busy with work.

Step. Step. Step.

Soon several steps were heading toward Adam. By the number of steps and their pace, he realized it was two people, so he thought it was someone from Golden Light Squad or Katrin and someone else.

However... Turning around he saw two Harvesters, a guy and a girl. The young man had black hair and the girl had shoulder-length blonde hair.

They were smiling broadly, the young man was waving his hand actively running up to Adam.

Adam tilted his head in confusion. He didnʼt recognize these people and didnʼt understand why they were so eager to meet him.

”Hey! Donʼt you remember us?” The young man asked with an excited expression.

Adam raised an eyebrow.

The girl stepped forward and said respectfully with a slight nod.

”Iʼm Verna and this is Felix.”

At the same moment, Adamʼs eyes went wide for these were his first Harvesters.

They were the ones with whom Adam headed on his first mission that led to a battle against the Prime Stone Goliath.