The corner of March 7th's mouth twitched. In the few seconds she had been stunned, she had already managed to follow Caelus's train of thought. Wasn't this just his way of asking her to stay in the back and spam buffs on him so he could go full-on beast mode?!
"What are you talking about! Aren't you worried I won't be able to apply the buff in time?"
Caelus, on the other hand, looked completely unconcerned, giving her a confident thumbs-up.
"It's fine, I trust you!"
She's basically a free, walking Enchanted Golden Apple, what's not to trust!
Even if March 7th failed to apply the buff, Caelus would just blame himself for running too fast and moving out of her casting range!
Hearing Caelus's words, March 7th felt both exasperated and amused, but also a little touched. They were strangers who had only just met, yet Caelus placed such complete trust in her.
This couldn't help but make March 7th's mind wander. She had seen in movies before that some animals will imprint on the first creature they see after birth, treating it as their 'mother'. Caelus had amnesia, so couldn't that be considered a kind of 'first awakening'?
Sure, the first people Caelus saw were those two Stellaron Hunters, but they had 'cruelly' abandoned him on the space station all alone. Only after that did he meet her and Dan Heng. So, it was perfectly normal for him not to feel close to those two hunters, right?
With this thought in mind, March 7th's gaze toward Caelus softened considerably, and even her tone took on a hint of subconscious affection.
"Hmph, hmph. Since you've put it that way, this young lady will have your back from now on!"
Caelus grinned and gave her an "OK" sign before turning to Himeko and pointing a thumb at the Doomsday Beast's corpse.
"Ms. Himeko, as we agreed, this Doomsday Beast is mine, right?"
Himeko nodded. Since they had already made a deal, she naturally wouldn't go back on her word. Still, she offered a piece of advice.
"Caelus, dismantling the body of a Doomsday Beast is very time-consuming. Why don't I have Asta send some people to help you? You can come back to the Master Control Zone with me for now."
Himeko was still concerned about what ill effects the Stellaron might be having on Caelus's body. After all, the concept of a Stellaron being housed within a person was unheard of to her before today.
Caelus glanced at the Doomsday Beast's corpse, a body more massive than two heavy-duty trucks combined. He hesitated for a moment but decided to try it himself first.
"Let me give it a shot by myself first. I'd also like to study this creature. It's my first time seeing one."
Caelus wasn't sure if there was a difference between him dismantling the materials and someone else doing it for him. What if, like with the experience orbs, only he could make the Doomsday Beast drop materials recognizable by the MC system?
Seeing his insistence, Himeko didn't press the issue.
"If that's the case, I'll head back first and explain the situation to Asta. Dan Heng, you stay here and help watch over Caelus. March, you can rest here for a while."
Dan Heng nodded. Himeko then helped the exhausted March 7th to a bench on the platform that had survived the battle, before heading back toward the Master Control Zone alone.
---o---
After Himeko left, Caelus walked up to the Doomsday Beast's corpse and sized it up for a moment, wondering where he should begin.
Seeing Caelus's clueless expression, Dan Heng walked over.
"I have some knowledge of the Doomsday Beast. Do you need help?"
Hearing this, Caelus immediately lit up and nodded. Having an expert's help was definitely better than fumbling around blindly!
"Thank you for your trouble."
"Mm." Dan Heng gave a slight nod, then pointed to the beast's right arm. "The Doomsday Beast is an anti-celestial bioweapon of the Antimatter Legion. Its body is covered in a layer of biomorphic armor."
Caelus followed Dan Heng's finger and reached out to knock on the beast's armguard.
It was definitely hard! Breaking it with his bare hands felt just like punching stone in MC!
But, as slow as it was, it wasn't unbreakable.
Dan Heng continued his explanation. "Generally speaking, you would need high-energy cutting tools or similar equipment to get through this layer of biomorphic armor. So, I would recommend you start with..."
Before Dan Heng could finish his sentence, he heard a thunk. Caelus had, with his bare hands, punched a one-cubic-meter hole clean through the Doomsday Beast's armguard.
Dan Heng froze on the spot. Even March 7th, who was resting on the bench, couldn't help but sit bolt upright at the sight.
They could understand him damaging the Doomsday Beast with the baseball bat earlier—after all, the bat was a curio from Lady Herta's collection. But now Caelus had just punched a hole through the beast's armor with his bare hands!
And it was a perfectly square, cubic hole at that?! Forget for a moment how he did it, why would he punch a hole with such perfect, neat edges?
Caelus, for his part, was a little disappointed. He had expended a bit of effort to break the armguard, but it hadn't dropped any materials, just like how breaking stone with your bare hands in MC doesn't drop any cobblestone.
It seemed he really did need to prioritize acquiring some basic resources first.
Still, the effort hadn't been a complete waste. At the very least, his proficiency had increased.
[Special MOD Proficiency +1]
The increase in this particular proficiency was very intriguing. Caelus guessed that this type of MOD was difficult to classify under any single category. It was likely a large-scale MOD that encompassed the functions of Combat, Equipment, Support, and other MODs, which would explain why it was categorized this way.
With that, Caelus's motivation surged. Compared to the limitless potential of a new MOD, getting a few fewer materials from the Doomsday Beast was an acceptable trade-off. He could always find more Doomsday Beasts to hunt later!
However, he could still keep the Doomsday Beast's antimatter core. That thing looked like the rarest part of the entire corpse.
Just as Caelus was about to continue his work, he suddenly remembered that Dan Heng hadn't finished speaking earlier. He turned his head to look at the still-dumbfounded Dan Heng.
"What were you trying to say just now? I didn't catch it."
Dan Heng snapped out of his trance and remained silent for a moment.
"I was going to say... be careful. Some of the Doomsday Beast's tissues are corrosive."
He had originally intended to advise Caelus to start with a section that wasn't protected by the biomorphic armor. But when the person in question could tear apart a Doomsday Beast like it was a rotisserie chicken, what was there left to say?
Just try not to get your hands dirty, I guess!
"Right. Thanks for the reminder."
Caelus thought Dan Heng had a good point. He had worked hard to kill the Doomsday Beast, and he couldn't afford to get killed by some careless mistake in the aftermath. If he died from touching some corrosive part, he'd have to run all the way back from the Curio room, and that would be a huge pain.
Caelus started his work again, landing punch after punch on the Doomsday Beast's corpse with his bare hands. Every few punches, another perfectly square hole would appear on the body.
[Special MOD Proficiency +1]
[Special MOD Proficiency +1]
[Special MOD Proficiency +1]
...