This was the first wyvern meat he'd gotten his hands on since arriving in this world. If he didn't at least struggle a little and give it a try, his conscience just wouldn't let him live it down! That was just a bridge too far!
In the end, Andrew decided he had to embrace the courageous spirit of exploration. Maybe this time it would be different!
After all, based on its performance in the battle, this Odogaron that had evolved into a Vicious Claw Wyvern had been eating Ethereals for quite some time. Ethereals weren't corpses.
Having changed its diet, perhaps the Odogaron's meat quality had also changed its flavor. Don't even mention how it had only eaten Ethereals for a short time; after so many years of eating corpses, its meat had long since become unbearably foul.
A person must have a spirit of brave exploration (and courting death), alright? They say Ether is omnipotent, so maybe it can even manage to improve the meat quality!!! (booming voice)
Rather than being successfully persuaded by Burnice, it was more like the already wavering Andrew had successfully convinced himself.
Since the decision was made, Andrew looked resolutely at the expectant Burnice. Their eyes met, and with their goal aligned, no more words were needed. They sprang into action.
"Don't just cut one piece! People will think we can't afford it. Take the whole leg, the entire hind leg!"
Having reached an agreement, the two moved with extreme speed. Andrew's hunter's knife traced the muscle grain and, without meeting any resistance, directly removed the Vicious Claw Wyvern's hind leg.
Perhaps because of the Ether corrosion, combined with the constant high-intensity movement while bleeding out from wounds all over its body, the deceased Vicious Claw Wyvern had very little blood left in it. After its final death, what little blood remained continued to drain from the wounds caused when its attacks backfired.
With these combined factors, as Andrew carved off the hind leg, he didn't smell the intensely foul, fishy odor he remembered from carving the Odogaron back in the Coral Highlands.
This genuinely ignited a spark of hope in Andrew. Could the almighty Ether energy really save the Odogaron/Vicious Claw Wyvern, a creature ranked near the top of the 'Worst Tasting Wyverns' list, universally acknowledged by canteen connoisseurs?
Andrew carried the front half while Burnice struggled to lift the Vicious Claw Wyvern's foot from behind. The peculiar sight and the hind leg of a massive creature never seen before attracted the attention of a young woman passing through Blazewood to refuel.
Her Outer Ring-style leather jacket couldn't hide her generous assets. Her ears were mostly obscured by her auburn hair, making them difficult to see clearly, but the nimbly wagging tail behind her revealed her identity as a Mouse Thiren.
Her eyes widened in shock. Even without seeing the whole creature, the sight of that incomparably massive and stout beast's leg, with its sharply defined muscles as hard as bedrock, still made her uniquely spiky tail subconsciously wrap around her own leg.
And this was none other than the consultant for the Public Security Bureau's Criminal Investigation Special Response Team, an expert in criminal behavior, and a long-term collaborator with the Bureau—Jane Doe. Her current getup—the hair was a wig, the eyes were colored contacts, and neither her identity nor her name was real. In fact, nobody even knew if "Jane Doe" was her real name.
The intangible aura of brutality emanating from the Vicious Claw Wyvern's body sent a wave of panic through Jane, making her body go rigid. The instinctual fear humans feel when facing such a terrifying monster made her body freeze up. It wasn't until the cheerful Andrew and Burnice had run off into the distance that Jane finally snapped out of her somewhat petrified state.
'To think that a simple mission that should've just been a quick look around would lead to such an unexpected encounter... Just what was that monster?!'
Unable to help herself, she took a sharp breath. Only then did Jane notice that the residents of Blazewood around her weren't showing the slightest sign of panic. Such a terrifying, never-before-seen monster... Forget about plunging people into a state of panic, but wasn't anyone even a little worried?
For a moment, Jane was puzzled. She noticed an older woman next to her who, far from being worried, was watching them carry the beast's leg with a cheerful grin.
Although her main mission was to report back to the Public Security Bureau headquarters as soon as possible, this was an undeniably abnormal situation. Out of professional ethics, Jane decided to investigate.
She first put on an air of an outsider's curiosity, with the touch of naivety common in young people. She turned, her expression a mix of well-behaved and slightly scared, and tried to strike up a conversation with the older woman beside her.
"Big sis, who were those people who just passed by? That thing he's carrying is so scary, so terrifying!"
A pretty young girl calling her "big sis" right off the bat made the older woman, whose face already had quite a few wrinkles, bloom with delight. She immediately turned to Jane with a cheerful smile and waved her hand, the wrinkles on her face seeming to smooth out.
"My, what a sweet-talker you are, little girl! I'm old enough to be your mother. If you don't mind, just call me 'Auntie'."
After all, who doesn't like a compliment? The already good-natured woman's mood improved even more, and Jane immediately pressed her advantage:
"...Auntie, who was that just now? That corpse is so terrifying, aren't you worried?"
The older woman chuckled and said reassuringly: "Don't worry, it'll be alright."
Pointing towards Andrew, who was over by a stove contemplating how to cook it, the older woman said with pride and gratitude: "That big monster was taken down by that young man all by himself. With him here, there won't be any problems."
Jane was somewhat surprised. To think that this incredibly powerful-looking monster was defeated by a single person. This made Miss Doe curious about this unknown individual.
Smiling, Jane bid farewell to the enthusiastic older woman, who had already started recommending her own son, and discreetly made her way toward Andrew.
Her movements were subtle. She mingled with the crowd, blending in perfectly. In no time, she became "so-and-so's invited guest" in everyone's mind.
However, most people were unfamiliar with this newcomer, Andrew, who had just arrived today. So, after probing for a long time, Jane only learned that this man was very strong.
People only knew his name was Andrew, and that he was the reason the nascent Hollow had been successfully eliminated. They also knew that with the help of his friends, most of the trapped workers had been rescued, and the rescue efficiency was even higher than that of a recent Hollow disaster in New Eridu.
This situation finally improved after she met a little girl named Susanna. Although Susanna was the very definition of being wise beyond her years, she was still a child. It didn't take long for this "bad adult," Jane, to wheedle everything out of her.
Through Susanna, Jane successfully learned that the man's name was Andrew, that he was on very good terms with the Sons of Calydon who managed this area, and that he was a very strong and reliable 'big brother.' She also learned that this man had only recently arrived in the Outer Ring and had come to Blazewood simply to buy a reliable motorcycle.
As for the rest, after some thought, Jane felt she really needed to probe him face-to-face to see what kind of person he truly was. Regarding her knowledge in the field of criminology, Jane was very confident in her ability to judge people.
____
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