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ShangriLa Frontier Chapter 398 Part 2

ShangriLa Frontier Chapter 398: Expanding Your Circle of Friends Part 2

I equip the Regalex Cestus on my hands and assume the battle position. Crappy enemies like that should not be that much of a challenge to me, but overall they are the spice that brings some variety into this world.

「Round One! I’m going to beat you senseless before the gong even has the chance to ring!」

The monster charges towards me and its head is almost immediately met with my fist. You are not the only one in here whose weapons are hard as rocks, you know!?

Qestion: How can you win if you do not enough firepower to beat someone in one hit?

Answer: If you hit it until it dies, it will eventually die.

「Fumu, fumu……」

I rushed towards the monster, but since I have used up almost all of my stamina, I was unable to make a counterattack in here. …… Such a golden opportunity, all but wasted.

「BUORORO, RORORORORO……」

The Metal Head falls to the ground, blood splurting out of its head. I used that moment to jump towards it and crush its skull with a one fell swoop, but upon making a strike my fists bounced back with a powerful recoil. …… So I guess that no matter how hard I try here, denting this thing will be impossible. So I just gave up on the idea entirely.

「And now to recover the materials…… Goodness gracious, as I would let you go away right now.」

The fight proved to be a whole lot harder than I initially anticipated. No to mention that the enemy turned out to be quite versatile and adaptive…… Umm? What’s this ‘Rigid Skull of Dracarus Pachycephalodon…… That’s long and a mouthful, a Metal Skull would have been more than enough in here.

I have spent more time here than I would have liked, but there is no time to be wasted here. I had to go now. And surely before long I have managed to reach the place that Akitsu Akane was talking about. The one place that he wanted to traverse, but was ultimately stopped by the giant roadblock that was the Black Dragon Noirlind.

「………… Hmm.」

I needed to think for a moment here, all the while watching my stamina management. Due to my carved wounds, the only opponents I am going to encounter on my way will be those whose level is equal to or higher than mine own. Which would be pretty bad if I were to encounter something that is OVERLY powerful out there. That is why I will need to stay vigilant the whole time…… And now for the actual intercontinental marathon.

As a matter of fact, I have already decided where I would be aiming with my journey.

When it comes to Akitsu Akane, the guy was lucky that he encountered a flying monster, and Noirlind of all of them. This meant that Noirlind could have been reasoned with, which would not lead into a hopeless fight.

And since Noirlind can fly, this means that it has no movement restrictions. Which in turn means more or less that it can be the source of precious information when it comes to the shape and landmarks around the new continent.

And in a sudden stroke of brilliance, Akitsu Akane managed to converse with Noirlind and actually take some information out of it, although they were rather vague due to the personal bias of the dragon.

First of all, all of the demi-human races are scattered over the right part of the new continent, which is the side that the players arrive at from the old continent.

Why is that? It’s simple, really, because the further left you go on this continent, the bigger and stronger the monsters become.

And this allows us to have a vague understanding of the game’s overall setting, as well as the “game” that is being played here. At least when it comes to monsters and enemies, that is.

In a nutshell, the difficulty and the size of the monsters tends to get progressively bigger the further left you tend to go from Firstia, all the way to this here new continent.

That is why…… That is exactly why…… Yeah, that’s probably what this is all about here.

「So ultimately, the players will be able to compete with monsters the size of the actual buildings or skyscrapers?」

Honestly, it’s not something that you can say that was unexpected. With enough leveling up and powerful enough of a gear, even the strongest enemy mobs can be brought down to the role of a mere cannon-fodders. However, with increased scale and power of the monsters, you would need appropriate weapons to fend them off. So, does that mean some weapons of mass destruction? Maybe even atomic bombs or something like that. …… I highly doubt that. Atomic bombs would cause environmental pollution and they would even reshape the landscape, so it’s not all that effective to have them here.

That is why I’m not surprised that the giant monsters can be normally defeated. However, is it something that can be done here, in ShanFro system? It certainly is confusing.

「No…… I see.」

The Tactical War Beasts.

If the standard means of fighting fail, you have to result to the non-standard ones. And since those things are pretty much like Power Armor, even the players might actually have a chance against giant enemies out there. So such scenario is not something that is downright impossible.

Whoa there, my thoughts have begun to run astray in my head. Back to the topic at hand. Amongst the information provided by Noirlind to Akitsu Akane, there was one that I have found to be particularly interesting.

Near the center of this continent, there is a crystal crown landmass that changes its colors depending on what shines down on it: the sun or the moon. And since the ground is ridden with insect monsters such as spiders and centipedes, the only way to actually know about this and enjoy it is through the means such a flight.

In other words, there is a crystal massif somewhere out there protected by the giant monsters. Normally it would have been really shady and uninteresting, but the part that caught my eye was that “crystal” one.

「My best buddy, my Brother! The one who I have not seen yet…… He is right there!」

My best friends, the horde of Crystal Scorpions. My absolute best friend, the Golden Crystal Scorpion! And the ones who were always there when I needed them the most, the Elder Crystal Scorpions!

Even with my current level, the Golden Crystal Scorpion is a formidable opponent. I mean, I may have grown strong, but my HP and armor did not improve all that much over time. So I guess that in my eyes this guys was still a Luukan-class enemy, even though its encounter rate is relatively on the lower and of the scale. Even with all my strength, I would still die from one direct hit from a monster like that.

But those guys are…… Those guys are great money-makers. I have recently come to understand their ecology thanks to the collecting so many materials from them, and that is exactly why I get it now.

Those guys, they are most probably aquatic creatures. Due to various evolution processes and lack of sufficient food in the ocean they must have adapted to be able to live on the dry land, and the Crystal Cliffs were created as the means for them to create their own habitat where they could be safe and self-sufficient. Otherwise they might have gone extinct long ago.

I see, so in a sense, this here is just like the Bakumatsu Period. They can only live in that one place, they can’t eat meat, they can’t eat grass, and the resources available to them are all but finite. So it is only understandable that their new natural habitat would have to be the one that does not allow intruders to come.

But that is exactly why they have a vast amount of potential to them. Did all of the Crsytal Scorpions came to the Old Continent? Or could it be that all of their ancestors chose the path of survival and evolved into Crystal Scorpions? Personally, I do not think that this is the case here.

Me massive elevated land that shines like a blue crown during the day and glows deep crimson during the night…… I’m sure that there are species closely related to Crystal Scorpions somewhere out there in the world beside the Crystal Cliffs. And once I manage to find them, there will be even more money for me to make from that!

That’s why I need to make haste. This is something that is not Unique. But no one has arrived there yet. That is exactly why for the time being there is a possibility that I will be able to monopolize it.

In a sense, I was able to see that bright brilliance. That same day when the twin-headed Pterosaur took me to the skies when we were on the way towards the Tier Planten.

That is why I am able to move forward without hesitation.

「Advantage here is mine! And I’m not going to give it to anyone else!」

Oho? Well, if it isn’t my good friend and brother, Scarlet Tyranno? How have you been, little fella? Everything’s good? We shall face one another as enemies next time, alright? But our friendship is going to be eternal, right? Then please excuse me, but I have something important left for me to do now…… Whoa there! Are you kidding me! Watch what you are doing here! You could have killed me there!