"Yo! Everyone! Long time no see!"
Standing at the entrance of the base, the burly man with the gravity-defying spiky black hair waved dashingly to the people inside.
"The Admiral?!"
"It's the Admiral!"
"Hey! Go tell the Huntsman and the Tech Chief! The Admiral and his team are back!!"
The Hunters in the base immediately grew excited upon noticing the returnees. These Hunters could certainly be described as simple and honest folk; it didn't take long for them to swarm around enthusiastically, asking after the health of the advance team members while curiously inquiring about what exactly they had discovered.
"Hahaha, you're all so passionate!" The man known as the Admiral cheerfully answered the members' questions. Meanwhile, the man known as the Commander was busy inquiring about the situation at the base during their absence.
This was something of a spectacle unique to the First Fleet. Although this burly man was called the Admiral, he never managed the specific affairs of the fleet.
Supply planning, personnel management, hunting schedules—all such plans were decided by the man known as the Commander.
As for the Admiral... he just needed to fight those powerful monsters.
"Did you encounter any danger?" At that moment, the Commander was questioning the Huntsman and the Tech Chief, who had stayed behind to guard the base. " everyone's mental state seems quite good."
"Naturally, there was danger. This is a completely unknown continent, after all." The Huntsman's serious voice emerged from within his helmet. "However, there were no dangers sufficient to threaten the safety of the camp."
"And compared to danger, what really troubled the lads was the mining! Hahahaha!" As he spoke, the Tech Chief burst into laughter.
"Oho? What are we talking about?" After briefly catching up with his fleet members, the Admiral came over and asked from a distance.
"Talking about mining. You saw it, right? The big changes in the base—this is all thanks to the stone those lads dug up with their blood, sweat, and tears." The Tech Chief patted the stone wall beside him with a look of pride. "Getting them to have the patience for such boring work cost me a lot of effort, let me tell you."
"Yeah, I can tell," Hara said to his companion with a teasing look on his face. "Looking at that mining lamp on your head, you haven't been idle yourself, have you?"
"Hah, I'm not old yet. How could I let the young lads leave me behind?" said the Tech Chief nonchalantly, stroking his mustache, the mining lamp still perched on his head.
His race was not human, but Wyverian. Therefore, even though he looked somewhat aged, he would still live for a very long time—he might even outlive some of the younger humans.
(Note: This character would have looked younger and taller forty years ago; old brothers, use your imagination.)
Compared to over half a year ago when the Hunters first landed on this continent, this once empty cliffside, which had held nothing but desolate rocks and the sound of crashing waves, had now been built into a proper base.
The great ship that had carried them here had been thoroughly dismantled. The largest main section was situated at the bottom of the cliff, while another piece was placed at the eastern end. The cabins had also been modified to store various supplies or established as activity areas and living quarters for the Hunters.
With this ship as the center, the Hunters had used the massive amount of stone they dug up to build the base's walls. Finally, they wouldn't have to worry about sticky-fingered creatures sneaking in from blind spots to steal food.
Aside from that, there were houses built of stone. All in all, this base was full of a vibrant, new energy. Even as they spoke, many Hunters could be seen busily working on the construction of the base.
"It's really nice," the Admiral couldn't help but sigh with emotion. "You've all worked hard."
"Hehe, not bad, right?" The Tech Chief rubbed his nose triumphantly. "So, hurry up and give the base a name, Admiral."
"What?" The Admiral's eyes went wide with surprise. "You haven't named it yet?"
"Who do you think the Admiral is?!" the Tech Chief retorted grumpily. "Such an important matter obviously has to be done by you."
"Right, of course." Looking as if he had just realized, the Admiral apologized, "Sorry, I came back too late. Hmm, as for the name... let's call it Astera."
Looking around, the Admiral gazed with gratification at the base, which was already showing great promise, and said in a deep voice, "We have confirmed it. This is not merely a large island, but a brand-new continent."
"The Starship carried us to the New World, and the base formed from it is our star—anyway, it's called Astera!"
"Astera? It's a good name," the Commander said with a nod. He looked toward the flag that had already been hung at a high point in the base—the banner of their Research Commission.
With a red and yellow base, aside from the Guild emblem at the very top, there was a star pattern below it—that was the Sapphire Star, symbolizing the Sapphire Star that lit their path forward.
"Good! Then Astera it is!" The Tech Chief had no objections. He spoke briskly, "I'll tell the lads and lasses later. Now, let's talk about your side of things. I'm very curious."
"Speaking of that, we have decided to name that volcano-like dragon Zorah Magdaros. We will include this in the report when we have the chance to return to the Guild," said a representative sent by the First Fleet scholars. "So, did you find the secret of the Elder Crossing? Regarding that Kushala Daora, and Zorah Magdaros?"
The members of the advance team fell silent for a moment.
"No?" The Tech Chief tilted his head.
"Zorah Magdaros? We only saw a giant shadow like a mountain," the Admiral finally spoke, sighing deeply. "But in the blink of an eye, it disappeared into the ocean, heading away from land. We couldn't even get close."
"Aside from that, the traces left by the Kushala Daora we tracked from the Guild pointed toward a valley filled with effluvium. However, lacking equipment to cope with the effluvium, we didn't dare enter rashly and could only double back," Hara added.
"Zorah Magdaros went back into the sea?" The Huntsman spoke with some confusion. "Is its destination different from Kushala Daora's? I remember during the journey at sea, that Kushala Daora would occasionally land on Zorah Magdaros's back to rest when it surfaced."
"Maybe it was just hitching a ride," the Admiral rubbed his chin. "Regardless, the facts are what they are. Kushala Daora entered that rotten valley, and Zorah Magdaros went back into the water—truly strange."
The Admiral was the only one who looked relaxed; in reality, the atmosphere was somewhat heavy.
Well, the scholars looked heavy too.
"I understand," said the scholar sent as a representative, putting away his notebook and pen. "In short, the mysteries remain unsolved, and the Research Commission still needs to continue its investigation, correct?"
"Yeah, that's about the size of it," the Commander nodded. "The whereabouts of Kushala Daora, the destination of Zorah Magdaros, and that water dragon that attacked our ship near the coast of the New World—we haven't even seen what it looks like."
The Hunters of the First Fleet certainly hadn't voluntarily dismantled the ship that brought them to the New World into this state. The scarcity of materials in the Wildspire Waste was only a small part of the reason; the main reason was that even if they hadn't dismantled it, the ship was no longer seaworthy.
Over half a year ago, while tracking the Kushala Daora across the sea, they first discovered Zorah Magdaros surfacing halfway through. Following that, as they approached the New World, an unknown dragon inexplicably burst from the water and flung the Starship directly onto the shore.
The massive hole in the ship's hull that Asterion had seen from a distance back then was just surface damage; in reality, the ship's keel had already snapped near the bow amidships. It only looked like it was still connected by some decking.
"Oh, speaking of that," the Admiral suddenly got excited. "On the way back from that rotten valley, right here in this wasteland, we saw a wondrous, shining dragon! It was golden, its whole body seemed to be glowing—Hey, Hara, that was definitely real gold, right?!"
"I think so, but it's also possible it was just brass. Who knows?" Hara shrugged. "If the royals saw it, they'd definitely go crazy, right? They might even worship it as a guardian deity, hmm... or a god of wealth."
"A dragon covered in gold?" The scholar immediately became excited. He quickly pulled out his notebook and pen again, urging, "Tell me more, tell me more, be more specific!"
"That's all we have," the Admiral scratched his head with a troubled look. "It was extremely huge. With that body size, it should be an Elder Dragon, right?"
"Let me handle this." Sighing, Hara pulled out a notebook from his person and opened it. On it was a sketch of a dragon, drawn in a realistic style. "It looked roughly like this. Head, horns, and the body was covered in..."
"Ooh!!"
The scholar immediately leaned in.
"I'm planning to call it the Golden Earth Goddess!" The Admiral placed his hands on his hips, speaking with considerable pride. "Let's call it Kulve Taroth!"
No one paid him any attention.
The few people remaining in the base gathered around, wanting to see what this brand-new Elder Dragon actually looked like, while the Commander smiled.
"I understand the situation completely."
After a round of intense speculation and discussion, the First Fleet scholar straightened up and spoke.
"Whether it is an unknown continent or a variety of unknown monsters, and the secret of the Elder Crossing remaining unsolved, these are all things of great research value. Relying on just a few of us is likely far from enough."
"This also means that Astera has value in continuing to exist," the Commander followed up. "And we must build it to be even safer. We can use this place as a center to explore this brand-new continent. I wonder if there are natives living here."
"Perhaps," the scholar nodded. "Anyway, it seems the investigation mission will turn into a long-term one. When the new ship is built and we can contact the Guild, we will submit a formal report and request support. We need a large amount of manpower here."
"Yeah," the Admiral said with a look of agreement. "Many people thought this would be a quick mission when they came out... I'm afraid many will choose to go back when the time comes, right?"
Unlike the others, the Admiral had keenly noticed this when interacting with the fleet members earlier. Many members were already showing signs of homesickness.
"That is also a normal choice," Hara said. "However, we need more technical personnel to break through these dangerous natural environments, and we need more scholars to research the ecology here, to prevent our activities from destroying the ecological balance of the New World."
"Of course, we also need combat personnel to ensure the safety of the base." Stretching his arms, the Admiral grinned. "The dragons of the New World are really energetic."
Their exploration deep inland had not been peaceful; on the contrary, they had been attacked by many native monsters. If the advance team members hadn't been highly skilled, someone might have died on the road.
"I understand as well," the Tech Chief thought for a moment and suddenly laughed loudly. "Does this mean we have to keep mining?"
"Yes, the lads will probably have to pull long faces for a while longer," the Commander said with a smile, envisioning the same scene. "The focus of the upcoming work is to make the construction of the base more complete."
"Oh! I'll leave that kind of thing to you, Commander!" The Admiral straightened his back.
"What do you mean?" The Commander stared wide-eyed. "Where are you going?"
"You know me. With my personality, I can't sit still and do this kind of thing," the Admiral... er, chuckled and said, "So I'm preparing to continue exploring deeper into the New World. I leave the base matters to you!"
"Don't even think about it!" Rejecting his friend's request instantly, the Commander was acting more like a leader than the Admiral himself at this moment. "At least ensure the safety around the base first! Where do you think you're running off to when we're so short on combat power?!"
"Hmm, explore the surroundings?" The Admiral thought for a bit. "That doesn't sound too bad. Speaking of which, old man, what's behind this cliff next to the base? Have you sent anyone to explore it?"
"No," the Tech Chief shook his head. "See those smooth stone walls? You can't even hang a Wedge Beetle on them—oh, you guys don't know what a Wedge Beetle is yet, right? That's a wonderful bug we discovered while active in the Wildspire Waste recently."
"You just need to throw a rope and hook onto them, and you can swing to many places that were originally impassable. Thanks to them, everyone has found quite a few good things."
"Wildspire Waste?" the Commander asked curiously. "Is that your name for this wasteland?"
"Correct," the Tech Chief adjusted the mining lamp on his head and said, "You've seen those ant mounds everywhere, right?"
"Indeed, a very fitting name," the Commander nodded. "Then let's exchange intelligence first. Did you discover any dangerous creatures active in the Wildspire Waste during your exploration this time?"
"For example, monsters that might pose a threat to the base and need to be hunted immediately, or any dangerous fellows we need to watch out for."
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