The Experiment

“Hollis! Stop pretending to be the nice guy!”

Seeing that his secret was out, Gexi dropped the act entirely. He tossed aside the empty Lava Potion bottle, his rat-like eyes glaring at Captain Sotu.

“You don't honestly think the three of us are guaranteed to successfully slay a dragon, do you?”

“Stop dreaming!”

“There are so many adventurer parties ahead of us, and every single one of them is stronger than we are. I don't see any of them coming back carrying a dragon's head.”

“You'd better be polite to me.” Gexi shoved Hollis aside as the mage tried to defuse the situation. “If things go south, you'll still have to rely on a rogue like me to steal those two dragons' gold coins.”

“If you piss me off...”

“You, and you!” Gexi pointed a finger at each of his teammates. “Neither of you will get a single gold coin!”

Sotu's expression grew grim, the flesh on his face twitching.

He wasn't stupid. He had anticipated this possibility long ago, which was why he had specifically brought this rogue along.

As a contingency plan.

That way, even if the two dragons weren't as heavily wounded and vulnerable as the rumors suggested, letting the rogue slip in to steal some gold would ensure they didn't leave empty-handed.

But plans were one thing; being blackmailed with it now made him incredibly irritated.

Spitting out the beef jerky in his mouth, Sotu clenched his fists.

He was ready to teach this arrogant fool a lesson right then and there.

But just as he took a step forward, Sotu suddenly froze. His expression shifted, and his hand instantly flew to the hilt of the sword on his back.

Seeing this, Gexi took a half-step back in fright.

His personality matched his appearance—cautious as a rat.

But that single half-step triggered his exceptionally sharp instincts, sending alarm bells ringing in his mind. He spun around in a hurry, two small daggers appearing in his hands out of nowhere as he warily scanned their surroundings.

In the darkness, rustling footsteps had begun to echo from some unknown quarter.

They were surrounded.

As the footsteps drew closer, relying on their class-holder vision that far surpassed that of ordinary humans, the trio peered into the distance. Only then did they clearly see that the figures were half-beastkin.

They held various weapons, and most wore crude leather armor, keeping their distance as they warily watched the three adventurers.

“Half-beastkin!”

Hollis, the slowest to react in the party, let out a startled cry. Clutching his fine iron staff with both hands, he swept his gaze around and whispered, “I heard those two dragons' vassals are half-beastkin and beastkin. I wonder if these are them.”

“Who cares if they are? Since we've run into them, we'll just slaughter them all.”

Sotu drew the single-edged broadsword from his back and took a few steps forward with a scowl. “Rat, we'll settle our score later.”

Gexi's face darkened instantly. He hated that nickname more than anything. However, with external enemies before them, he could only glare at Sotu sideways before spinning his twin daggers and charging forward first.

He was going to vent his anger on these half-beastkin.

To their surprise, however, the moment the half-beastkin saw them make a move, they immediately fled at top speed.

Furthermore, because the distance was too great, it was difficult even for spells to hit them accurately.

“Stop.” After giving chase for a couple of steps, Sotu reached out to stop Hollis, who was preparing to cast another spell. “There's something strange about these guys.”

Hearing this, Gexi stopped as well. “What are you trying to say?”

This was an exceptional situation, so he naturally wouldn't act on impulse. If one acted recklessly out of sheer stubbornness during an adventure, they would always end up dying a miserable death.

“Let's go,” Sotu said, looking at Gexi. “Head in the opposite direction and shake them off.”

“These guys might have set a trap and are trying to lure us in.”

“Alright.”

“Understood.”

Gexi and Hollis responded together. The three of them then began to retreat, attempting to shake off the half-beastkin.

However, they hadn't run far before a figure blocked their path.

It was a massive, pitch-black machine. Lines of mithril flickered across its body, and the exhaust pipes on its shoulders billowed plumes of hot steam. The dull thud of each step felt like a heavy blow striking the hearts of the three adventurers.

Behind its dark helmet, its crimson eyes bobbed up and down continuously as it walked.

Almost simultaneously, the three of them froze in place.

“Boss, what is that?” Hollis swallowed hard, looking at Sotu, who wore an equally grave expression.

“An Iron Knight,” Gexi spoke up instead. “That's what the refugees call them.”

“Supposedly, they are the most powerful vassals of those two black dragons.”

“It seems we've entered the territory of those two black dragons,” Sotu said warily, gripping his broadsword with both hands. “Those two black dragons must be having a rough time right now.”

“Otherwise, with the temper of evil dragons, what would be greeting us right now wouldn't be this tin can, but the two black dragons themselves.”

He seemed to grow more confident the more he spoke. Finally, a fierce, ugly grin spread across his face. He was convinced that the adventurers who had arrived before them had repeatedly worn down the two black dragons.

By now, the evil dragons were likely at the end of their rope.

And he was the chosen dragon slayer!

The burly Grand Warrior could already visualize mountains of gold coins.

Driven by the greed in his heart, he let out a loud roar and was the first to charge:

“Let's take down this big guy first, then go seize the dragons' treasure!”

Gexi followed closely behind.

The rat-like rogue used his agility to his advantage, running even faster than Sotu, his daggers flashing with cold light.

Hollis hesitated for a moment, then raised his fine iron staff high and began to cast his spell...

The battle was on the verge of breaking out!

...

“Achoo!”

Inside the Equipment Department, a soft sneeze rang out abruptly.

Irene rubbed her nose, her brow furrowing.

“Are you alright, Your Grace?” Fido asked with concern.

“I'm fine.” Irene waved her hand dismissively and looked at Gar, who was standing not far away. “Continue the demonstration.”

“As you command, Your Grace.”

Gar, the Head of the Equipment Department, lifted a weapon resembling a chainsaw from an oversized tray carried by two beastkin.

After the war, to prevent any potential subsequent conflicts or other dangers,

the cautious Irene had immediately ordered the continued research of the technological items found within the ancient beastkin spaceship.

In the short term, these advanced technology items were their only means of establishing a foothold in this land.

Otherwise, relying solely on the natural growth of their low-level forces and slow reproduction over time, heaven only knew when they would possess a strong enough military.

Thus, the Equipment Department had been working under a heavy overtime load.

And the weapon in Gar's hand was their latest research achievement.

By dismantling a weapon called a chainsword from the ancient beastkin spaceship, through much tinkering and heavy modification, they had finally replicated this new type of equipment.

“Please look, Your Grace.”

Holding the hilt of the chainsword with one hand, Gar channeled mana into it. With a roar, the blade began to spin rapidly like a chainsaw.

As it spun, the mithril circuits engraved upon it glowed with the radiance of magic.

This imbued the blade with a strong elemental effect, as if it had been enchanted with elemental magic.

The other members of the Equipment Department brought out test targets of various materials at the right moment.

Among them was a Black Iron Rank magical beast—a bristle boar—locked inside an iron cage, letting out continuous low growls.

Holding the chainsword, Gar signaled to open the iron cage.