They returned back cautiously so it took them 6 hours to return to their vehicle. Shalt woke as they approached the vehicle due to Mandy screaming at the pain in her head. She had been given her ability close to the dessert. This was the first time being inundated by all the plants and trees in the denser portion of the planet. It took her a few moments to get control of the voices. It helped that Lana asked the plants to speak quieter, explaining Mandy was new at this.
Shalt didn't say anything. While he was not in control of himself in that form, the memories came to him afterward. The idea he almost killed the person he was sworn to broke him inside. They returned in silence with Biff driving. They all went to the travelers' center and entered all their crystals. Everyone ranked up. The crystals were to go to Dilly to make Shalt a king-tier outfit.
Lana went to the command post and entered one more quest: Clear the underground tunnels of beasts. Rank B and higher. As a result of the trip, Shalt was now Rank A. Dobin, Duff, Biff, and Alto were now Rank B. Bonnie, Rene and Mandy asked the king-tiers not all apply to them as they didn't feel strong enough to rank that high up yet. Lana respected that and allowed it.
"Lana?" Mandy asked timidly.
Lana looked her direction.
"I know you are teaching martial arts and Qi. Could we have some afternoon time to teach me?"
Lana smiled, "that sounds good to me."
Duff next asked a question. "Do you think it would be possible to bring my family here?"
Alto hearing this, "and my father?"
Lana raised an eyebrow, "do they want to come?"
Duff nodded.
Alto replied, "I don't know… My father works very hard and I don't get to speak to him much."
"Find out."
"Duff, where are your family? Should I have them teleport to the Crows and pick them up there or are they close?"
They went to the command post and Duff called his family. His mother answered and he could see her worn face on the hologram. They caught up for a few minutes as they had not talked in a while. Celia believed her son to be dead. The family had to move into a one-room house and things were getting worse with the things going on. Duff told his mother to ask for a transfer to the Plantwell Faction and let him know how much it would cost to teleport to the Crow Faction, He told her he'd pick them up there.
Celia went to the market area to find her husband and explained what Duff had said. He was unable to make a decent living on their orange-portal planet. The beast attacks had increased against their settlement and Earthborn had pulled some forces back for their own reasons.
"Is our son doing so well he can bring us to him?"
"I saw a girl his age over his shoulder. She's the one who told him to arrange the transfer."
"Does he have a girlfriend?"
"I don't know. It's not like we have a lot of belongings. Can you afford to buy a few bags to carry what little we own?"
Her husband, Lank, responded, "shouldn't we put in the request first?"
They did that a few minutes later. The clerk had told them not to hold their breath. Requests were not often granted these days. Within minutes of pressing the "send" button, the request was granted. The clerk was shocked. He then told the couple how much it would cost to use the teleporter for their whole family and their hearts sank.
Celia called her son back with tears in her eyes. She relayed the cost.
"Mom, how long will it take you to be ready to travel?"
"An hour or less? Duff, it's too expensive!"
Crystal, who was at her position, brought up the travel request system and purchased tickets for the whole family to travel to the Crow base. She gave Celia the confirmation number.
Celia burst into tears. Lank took over the conversation. "We'll see you soon, son."
"Dad, before you go, we are not at the Crow base. We will pick you up from there. Tell Blip, Lana will be there for you soon. He'll host you in the mean time."
Lank nodded and hung up.
Lana called Quinn, not having Blip's contact information, and let him know there would be company coming.
Shalt was standing behind her, "you should rest."
"I need to take care of my people."
Shalt sighed, "are you part of your people? How about your babies?"
Lana flinched. He pulled the baby card. She imagined it would get pulled more as she got further along. At this time, I have cut off the super dangerous missions. The others can handle what is assigned in the system. She sighed. "Okay, I'll rest while we wait for them there. We'll use our teleporter to make it faster and I'll sleep once we get them settled. Duff can come as well since it's his family. Crystal, can you do the receiving portion and get them in a 4-bedroom?
Shalt nodded, happy for the victory.
"When we get back, I want you to go below with the B-ranks and practice your other skills. You can rest before if you or the team need it. Be creative and explore what you can do. Remember where you came from."
Lana's king-tier robe was ready so Dilly met her in the command post. Seeing she was getting ready to leave again, Dilly refrained from trying to do a grand reveal as she would normally. The robe had a high defense ability despite it being fabric. Quinn's system would say it was 50. It did have the ability to repair itself thanks to the effects of the mud monster. The appearance made Lana quite happy as well. It was a martial arts robe colored forest green with an emerald willow tree on the back. It had an emerald green belt that sparkled. Dilly had used her equipment to liquify some emeralds then spin them into thread.
Lana tried to pay her but she refused payment saying the Matron doesn't pay. Lana smiled then told Crystal to remind her to buy a couple Power Fighter pods and a Block Block machine when she got back. Lana, Duff, Caser and Shalt headed below to use their teleporter for the first time.
They got to the cursed ship fine then went to the Crow's planet. Quinn was waiting for them.
"Duff, will you wait here for your family? I need to speak to Lana and Shalt." Quinn walked off without even waiting for a response so the others followed. Shalt insisted they stop by and get caramelized carrots and a few other munchables for Lana who rolled her eyes but didn't complain.
In Quinn's room, they gave him an update on everything good and bad, including Shalt becoming a bloodsucker. Quinn's eye flashed red as he looked at Shalt then at Lana for putting him in that situation.
"Don't you think you went too far?"
Lana nodded, "we were unaware of the danger out that far. Exploring there is on hold until after the babied are born."
Quinn simply stated, "Good."
He looked at her ever-swelling tummy, "how are the babies coming along?"
Lana chuckled, "they are wresting in there, I swear. But they are growing nicely. Everything is on schedule. Any news of the Sunshields?"
"None. And that worries me."