There was also a processing step for the monster materials.
That was to place the Diablos skeleton into the same spot where the Odogaron skeleton had been decomposed earlier, waiting for it to transform into usable materials.
Although the two might seem unrelated, Diablos materials could be used to craft Hunting Horns. Therefore, its bones and horns possessed extremely impressive energy conversion efficiency.
With this, the material strength of his own Ether Engine should be able to go a step further.
If the experiment with his own Ether Engine proved successful, then Astra Yao's 'Hemiola' could also receive a significant enhancement.
Leading Meow-Da, who had finally recovered from his reluctant state, Andrew prepared to use the previously harvested materials for blending. Afterward, he also needed to prepare a Felyne Meal that could improve physical constitution.
After all, this large group of people at home all needed to nourish their bodies.
However, before leaving, just to be safe, Andrew went to check on the condition of the Blazing Light Tachi, Icebrink, one more time since arriving here.
Upon seeing its state, Andrew immediately felt relieved.
With the planting area having expanded significantly, even with the Ancient Tree seed maintaining a siphoning state, the energy Icebrink could absorb daily was far greater than what he had injected into it previously.
He even felt that it was getting a little 'high' on the absorption.
For some reason, Andrew actually sensed a human-like mental state from a Tachi, one of being 'too happy here to think of Andrew'.
However, Andrew was actually happy about this. After all, as long as this state was maintained, the originally indefinite recovery time had turned into a calculable date thanks to the abundance of energy.
Presumably, it wouldn't take too long for Icebrink to recover to a state sufficient to support combat.
Even if it could only support short-term combat by then, it would still be absolutely good news.
After all, although he had new Dragon materials, the strength of materials between different dragons in reality was actually worlds apart, which led to tangible gaps between weapons.
Not to mention that neither of the current two materials could be used to craft a Tachi.
This made Andrew, whose main profession was a Tachi wielder, extremely distressed.
Andrew could also use this saved energy to blend the various materials he had just harvested. After finishing the tasks at hand, nearly an hour had passed by the time he pushed open the door and returned to the stronghold.
In the open space not far outside Silver City, the duel between Caesar and Lucy had not yet ended.
Although Lucy had been firmly suppressed by Caesar the entire time, even so, with her competitive spirit thoroughly ignited, Lucy, who was already in over her head, refused to admit defeat no matter what.
Moreover, it seemed they were already on their third duel.
The only pitiful one was A-Cao, who had been acting as the referee on the side.
He had been thoroughly sandwiched between the two who were in a fit of anger, and then scolded three times by the two who felt his judgment was problematic.
The first time was because he subconsciously favored Lucy, his new captain, and got scolded by Lucy who found out.
The second time was because, after being scolded by Lucy, he didn't dare to favor her at all, but then got scolded by Caesar who started to feel he was favoring her instead.
Now, with the start of the third round, having been scolded twice in a row and being wrong no matter what he did, A-Cao had even begun to prepare to 'let it rot' with a look of despair.
But the result was getting scolded again by the two keen-eyed individuals.
This time, they scolded him together.
Now, A-Cao, who had completely run out of options, could only be forced to stand between the two, his face full of regret.
Seeing such a miserable state, A-Mu and A-Zhuan in the distance didn't even dare to breathe loudly, desperately lowering their presence.
Meanwhile, inside Silver City, the situation was a little tense.
Astra Yao, under Belle's lead, was observing everything in the stronghold with a face full of curiosity, as if she noticed nothing wrong.
Actually, at the beginning, Evelyn had been a bit resistant to taking Astra Yao to the Outer Ring. After all, the kidnapping by the Vanishing Wolves a few days ago was still fresh in her memory.
However, remembering that Belle had said she was watching the store earlier, Evelyn couldn't help but remind her:
"Miss Belle, doesn't your store need someone to watch it?"
"It does, so I hoodwinked my older brother into coming back!"
Regarding this question, Belle waved her hand casually, puffing out her very ample chest and saying proudly:
"Although the intelligence on the Teacher is indeed very important, actually there's nothing we can do right now. So, in fact, making my brother come back specifically was completely unnecessary."
Speaking of this, Belle couldn't help but reveal a triumphant, mischievous grin. Shaking the car keys in her hand that she had swiped long ago, Belle continued:
"But if I waited until night, I wouldn't have been able to sneak away and dump the store on my brother!"
In the morning, when she got the news that Andrew was coming back, Belle had already been thinking about how to trick her brother back to watch the store.
Originally, the excuse she thought of was lying to Wise that she was sick.
But compared to a lie that had been used several times and was likely to be seen through, the news about the teacher, Carlos, that Andrew brought was different. As long as he heard it, it was impossible for Wise not to take the bait.
This was much more reliable than other methods.
Realizing the situation couldn't be changed, Evelyn sighed.
In the end, she couldn't withstand Astra Yao's pleading and the fact that the destination was Andrew's stronghold, where safety could be said to be absolutely guaranteed.
Plus, she was worried about Belle, who was prepared to go to the Outer Ring no matter what.
Finally, adding the guarantee of her fully recovered and even slightly enhanced physical state and her newly obtained weapon...
Under the multiple guarantees that Evelyn was confident she could handle it alone even if they encountered another ambush, she finally agreed.
To ensure a low profile, the three of them sneaked out from the back alley in Belle's small car.
Looking at Belle's practiced runaway movements, this method of sneaking away had presumably been rehearsed many times.
Soon, the three arrived at Silver City in the Outer Ring.
For Astra Yao, who had grown up entirely within New Eridu city and had never been to the Outer Ring, everything around her was extremely novel.
What made her most curious were the eleven girls in Silver City who looked exactly the same and had almost no expression.
It was just a pity that these girls were all very wary of her and didn't let her get close at all, like vigilant cats.
The root cause was actually that Andrew had returned in a hurry, and adding the excitement of finding Meow-Da, he forgot to tell the Silver Squad that Astra Yao and Evelyn could be trusted.
Hindered by Belle's presence, they merely kept avoiding them from a distance. In fact, if not for the fact that Astra Yao and her group were brought in by Belle, they wouldn't have been so polite to strange intruders.
Meanwhile, Evelyn was in a standoff with Anby at the door.
The moment Evelyn entered, Anby, as the strongest member of the Silver Squad, detected the sense of threat coming from Evelyn.
And Evelyn, who was equally incredibly sensitive to danger, also keenly realized that Anby's strength was absolutely not to be underestimated.
Thus, after detecting the threat from the other party, both of them immediately locked onto each other tightly to prevent any disadvantageous moves.
For Anby, any existence that could threaten the shelter for her and her sisters was her enemy.
And for Evelyn, Astra Yao's safety was also more important than anything else.
Needle against wheat awn.
With two mutually wary people facing each other, the situation would only get worse.
It was only because this was Andrew's stronghold that both of them coincidentally maintained restraint and didn't act rashly. So what appeared before Andrew was this strange scene.
Immediately realizing where the problem lay, Andrew first cut in between Anby and Evelyn to separate them, then spoke soothingly:
"Relax, Anby. They are both people we can trust, no need to be on guard."
The sudden appearance of a figure in front of her made Anby's body tense up instinctively in an instant.
Just as she subconsciously wanted to attack, she discovered the figure before her was very familiar.
She immediately halted her subconscious action. after seeing clearly who it was, Anby immediately relaxed.
Evelyn also stopped being wary because of Andrew's appearance.
The same handling method was repeated on the other side. After repeating this operation with Astra Yao, all members of the Silver Squad gradually returned to their original relaxation from a state that seemed like it could explode at any moment.
Only then did the relaxed Silver Squad members stop resisting Astra Yao's approach, allowing her to get close and observe as she wished.
Returning to the sofa, they continued watching the TV that had been installed recently to let them understand New Eridu through channels other than movies.
However, during what was usually prime time for various programs, the TV was playing nothing but a... Missing Person Notice?
"No matter who it is, if anyone knows her whereabouts, please contact us immediately. There will be a heavy! Heavy! Heavy reward!"
The broadcasting voice was incredibly urgent.
That long string of zeros following the reward amount... Andrew had only seen such numbers in Chengdu during his first life.
But what was confusing was that on the TV, in the spot for the person's physical characteristics, was a photo of a blonde girl dressed up incredibly exquisitely, delicate as a doll.
This was completely the style of an artistic photoshoot, plus incredibly complex makeup and attire, and finally topped with heavy post-processing filters.
Although it was called a Missing Person Notice, no matter how one looked at it, it didn't seem like they were really looking for someone. Instead, it felt like they were showing off their daughter. After all, what Missing Person Notice uses a gravure portrait?
With multiple layers of stacking effects, unless one placed the real person right next to it for careful distinction, Andrew felt it was almost impossible to confirm the identity without removing the p-shop edits.
However, the anxious words didn't sound fake. It gave a feeling of being anxious, but not completely anxious.
And during such prime time on TV, this Missing Person advertisement looped a full four or five times before finally stopping.
In a time slot where fees were calculated by the second, this indicated that the other party truly placed immense importance on this.
Moreover, this wasn't just on a single TV station; all TV stations were broadcasting it simultaneously.
Checking the Proxy Net, the lavish spending had indeed caused the platform to explode with activity.
Countless posts were scrolling by, all preparing to go out and search for the person. After all, there must be brave men under heavy rewards.
Even if the filters were severe, with the blessing of Dennies, no one complained at all. Instead, everyone was praising how pretty the girl was, gearing up to go out and find her.
Andrew, looking at that portrait photo, scratched his head in confusion.
Why did the person in the photo feel a little... a little like Lucy?
But soon, Andrew shook his head and threw this thought to the back of his mind.
First, Lucy was an adult with her own thoughts. As an adult, she had her own independent mind. Without restrictions, where she wanted to stay was her freedom.
Secondly, based on Andrew's understanding, the Sons of Calydon wouldn't carry out a so-called kidnapping.
Turning his head to look out the window, Lucy, who was fighting happily with Caesar, didn't look the slightest bit like she was coerced or a lost child wanting to go home.
So, regardless of whether it was really the same person, Andrew chose to pretend he didn't see it.
After all, whose first reaction after getting truly lost is to join a gang and then scheme about how to become the boss?
Ignoring this brief interlude, Andrew, who had a little free time before making dinner, chose to organize a room for Astra Yao and Evelyn first.
Unlike Meow-Da's situation earlier—although Andrew had specifically reserved a room for Meow-Da—there were indeed no rooms prepared in Silver City for Astra Yao and Evelyn, with whom he had never expected to develop feelings.
Fortunately, there were enough rooms here; he just needed to tidy up to quickly clear out two more rooms.
Moreover, when Belle was purchasing furniture earlier, she had bought quite a lot of extra furniture in advance for the convenience of replacing anything that might get damaged.
So, two new rooms were quickly tidied up for them, giving them the conditions to stay overnight.
It was just that this reason... no matter how Andrew looked at it now, he felt something was a bit off.
It was as if Belle had long predicted that such a thing would happen.
Just as Astra Yao was dragging Evelyn and Belle to discuss how to decorate her own room, the sound of a jeep engine approached from afar.
A white sedan with a modified chassis, raising its off-road capability by several levels, stopped outside Silver City.
The reinforced bumper and specially modified bulletproof tires and body gave it powerful getaway capabilities.
Meanwhile, its appearance, consistent with other ordinary cars, allowed it to blend into traffic directly in special situations, causing others to lose the target.
And the person who got out of the car was none other than Nicole.
It had to be said, although Nicole was usually very stingy and loved money, highlighting a principle of not spending if she didn't have to, she never skimped on things she considered truly critical.
She had spent a fortune on this car, a guarantee in the true sense.
Following closely behind her out of the car was a male-shaped Intelligent Construct.
Two revolvers were tucked at his rear waist. The fiery red jacket didn't look ugly on him; instead, it was very fashionable and cool.
It was just that, for some reason, standing behind Nicole, he looked very cowardly.
He shrank behind her timidly, as if hiding from something.
It wasn't until Nicole couldn't resist smashing his head with the briefcase in her hand that he looked slightly more normal.
Looking at the familiar wild boar pattern on the back of his jacket, Andrew immediately felt a trace of familiarity.
_____
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