I walked past the broken down northern gate when I was stopped by Cynthia

"Where are you going?" She asked

"I'm off to kill what's left of the bees" I replied

"I'm coming" She looked deep into my eyes

"Alright" Even if I say no, she won't take it for an answer

Cynthia and I left together, I saw her put on a helm, the Nexus helm. I didn't notice earlier because she was wearing a robe that covers most of her body but it looks like she wore the nexus armor underneath, she just didn't wear the helm

It took us an entire day but we arrived at dawn

"Look below" I pointed at the ship below

"Is that another one of your ships?" Cynthia asked

"Yes"

"Any survivors?" Cynthia asked

"No"

"Oh... I see" She had a disappointed look on her face

"Let's go" I patted her back and entered the hive

I already mapped this place except for the queen's chambers, I found the bloodycomb. The bloodycomb is a mass of prismatic blood and wax cells mixed together to form a cell where the blood bees store their larva, they also store blood honey there.

Each cell had a pupe nearing their maturity, too bad we're here.

Cynthia and I destroyed the entire bloodcomb, and I tell you, it was literally a bloodbath. Cynthia and I then continued to the harvesting chamber where we sought to find survivors, too bad everyone here has already been sucked dry. We continued forward and reached the Queen's quarters. I pushed the sticky wax and blood door and saw a lake of blood with a flower in the middle, inside the flower was a red larva, the next queen I presume.

"Cynthia, you do it"

"[Lightning]!" Cynthia pointed her palm towards the flower and a lightning snake came bursting out of her palm

The lightning hit the larva that was now burning along with the flower, the flower sank into the blood river as we left. We can turn this cave into our temporary base as long as we don't go further down

'Alissa, I found Mirigai, no survivors but we can scavenge the entire ship'

'Mirigai? I heard they developed a weapon... wait a minute was that the sword you had with you?'

'Yeah'

'Good, we might find an equipment there we can use to develop weapons'

'Yeah, it's what I need the most right now... and if possible, to upgrade DK'

'Yeah, you're facing multiple colonies alone...'

'Not alone, I have you guys with me right?'

'I'll do my best to be of help!'

'I know you will'

I disconnected but... I started hearing static, this is weird, I continued listening to the static but it only lasted for 5 seconds

Weird, this is the first time this has happened.

Cynthia and I destroyed the pathway heading towards the bloodcomb, harvesting room, and the queen's quarters. Those are places that no one should thread

Cynthia and I went entered Mirigai in the meantime, I directed her towards the captain's luxurious sleeping quarters where she took a nap, as for me, I'll try to make this place a bit more presentable. I turned on the tap and discovered that the ship still has water in it.

I headed for the hangar and pulled out a nearby fire hose, I turned the large valve and just blasted the bloody room with water. I turned the valve again when I was satisfied, though the hangar still stinks. I went to the dining hall and into the kitchen. I opened the cold room since the vegetables have already rotten

The ice inside still kept the meat fresh, I took out a few frozen chicken and boiled them in a pot in order to de-freeze them, let me tell you, cooking with a night vision is too weird. I had to turn on my night vision since it was so dark

I checked for rice and thankfully, there were still 6 six sacks of rice that I can cook. I took some rice and cooked them in a rice cooker before turning my attention to the boiling pot

After de-freezing the chicken, I cut it into small pieces before dipping it in egg and my spice mix. The spice mix was composed of:

1 tablespoon paprika

2 teaspoons onion salt

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon celery salt

1/2 teaspoon dried sage

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram

I deep-fried the chicken to perfection, I put them on a clean plate checking the rice. The rice will be ready in a few minutes so for now, I took a few plates, some spoon and for, a bottle of gravy, and the plate full of fried chicken to the room where Cynthia was sleeping

I entered the room and she was still peacefully sleeping, I can understand since she's sleeping in a nice comfy waterbed, she also seems to love the comforter. I placed the food on the table before retrieving the rice cooker.

I gently nudge Cynthia as I called her name to wake her up, she sat up with squinted eyes and messy hair

"Come on, let's eat" I pointed at the food on the table

"Oh... it's that fried thing that Alissa cooked right?" Cynthia asked

"Yes, it's fried chicken"

She stood up and took a seat, I followed her. We started eating together and the look on her face when she chews on the scrumptious chicken is just amusing

"Here, try dipping it in this sauce" I pushed the saucer filled with gravy towards her

She dipped the drumstick and ate it with delight

After a few minutes, we finished eating. There was still a lot of fried chicken that we can eat later, also some of them are for Alissa.

'Zeno, you there?' I just landed near Mirigai

'Yeah, I'm coming out now'

'Gotcha'

Cynthia and I left after I covered the food with a large bowl.

"Hello Cynthia"

Alissa greeted Cynthia with a smile

"Hello" they both smiled at each other like they already knew each other for years

"Shame to see Mirigai in this state" Alissa sighed

"Well, can we save Mirigai or turn her into something else?" Like Alissa, it hurts to see a comrade fall into this sorry state

The ships were always there to provide us a home, to provide protection during missions where we were pinned down. They're basically a companion to us

"I'll see what I can do... reviving Mirigai is obviously impossible for now since we lack so much resource and workforce..." Alissa sadly informed

"I understand"

"Oh yeah, here are the weapons you need" Alissa called Guardian 5 who was holding a large briefcase

I opened it and found 2 sharp rapiers, one longsword, and one shortsword

"I already knew who those are for, they're for your friends right? I also made extra swords for the guardians" Alissa smiled

"Thanks, see the reason why I praise you" I chuckled

"Though there are some things I'm not capable yet like for example... a magic rod for Cynthia"

"Yet" I smiled

"Yes, I believe in you succeeding" Cynthia cheered Alissa on

"Thanks" Alissa smiled

"Well, time to get to work, Guardian one, you're on patrol duty, Guardian two, concentrate on fixing Guardian Five, as for Guardian three and four, follow us inside" I gave the orders

Alissa led the way, she checked on equipment that was still usable, as for me Guardian three, and four, we got to do the grunt job and carry the said equipment out.

Here's the list of equipment we got

1 - IC unit for medical purposes

1 - Multi-purpose Analyser (Liquid/Solid/Gas)

1 - Electronic stove and rice cooker

1 - Oven

1 - Refrigerator

1 - High-end computer set

It was all the equipment we can get as for parts, we took off a few Jet thrusters, grabbed some raw materials in the weapons development

After moving the stuff, I looked around but found no Alissa, only the Cynthia who was taking a break. As for Guardian Three and Four, they were expanding the ship, they've already broken the walls and are re-attaching the Jet thrusters from Mirigai. They're using their energy blades to melt the mineral-coated shielded arc electrode welding rods.

I went inside Mirigai again, maybe Alissa wanted to take a few more things but I found her rummaging in the weapons development lab.

"Come on... there's gotta be a few of them here" She muttered as searched through broken shelves

"Finally, got you!" She took down a wall clock and pressed the button hidden beneath it

A trap door opened and a chunk of Vibranium showed itself

"Yes, this is perfect... I have all the materials, I can now upgrade D... Zeno?"

She turned around and looked at me with a surprised face

"Thank you" I hugged her

She goes through so much effort for me

"It's fine really, I got the materials, now we can upgrade DK"

"Yes"

I carried the heavy chunk of Vibranium ore for her

We stayed for three days until the ship was upgraded, it now had so much room, there was also a room for Cynthia now.

I gave the entire DK armor set to Alissa, she wanted to upgrade DK as soon as possible so I was stuck with a nexus armor which doesn't support AI's so Lilith was supporting Alissa in any way she can.

I can't do anything anymore to help so I started patrolling the area, it was getting dark so I was about to return and leave the rest to the Guardians but I saw a flicker of light over by the forest, the forest was thick and dark so the flicker was visible.

Are beasts and monsters around here starting to return because the blood bees have gone extinct? no, it's a bit too early. Then are those made by intelligent life forms? a goblin, a human? but it was only a flicker it seemed like a torch was lit up but was quickly extinguished... the wind isn't that strong either... I'll go and investigate.

'Guardian 1, take over my spot and continue patrolling the area, Guardian 3, protect the entrance, Guardian 4 protect the inside' I connected my radio to the three Guardians

'Roger'

'Roger'

'Affirmative'

I used the night vision as soon as I entered the forest, I silently walked onwards to the spot to where the flicker was