100. Breaking the Iron Armor
The battle continued and Rangga’s Ankylosaurus slammed into its opponent from the side again.
CRASH!
The wild Ankylosaurus’s already-cracked armor shattered again. Several pieces of its plating broke off, exposing a large gap underneath.
Deri immediately shouted,
“Attack the gap!”
The Garuda Pioneers unleashed another barrage.
Arrows and spears rained down on the exposed section of its body. The wild Ankylosaurus tried to retaliate with its tail, but its movements were becoming slower as the damage accumulated.
Rangga drew his bow and waited.
His Ankylosaurus slammed into its opponent again, throwing the wild mechanical creature off balance.
“Now!”
Rangga released an explosive arrow.
Twang!
The arrow flew straight toward the exposed gap in its armor.
BOOM!
The explosion erupted inside the wild Ankylosaurus’s body. The creature jerked violently, but Rangga didn’t stop.
He drew another arrow.
“Not yet!”
The second arrow flew and once again entered through the same gap.
BOOM!
The wild Ankylosaurus’s body shook violently, and Rangga’s Ankylosaurus immediately charged and slammed into its opponent once more.
BRAAAK!
The remaining armor shattered, and the final explosion rocked the mechanical creature’s body. The wild Ankylosaurus finally ran out of strength and collapsed to the ground.
Its massive body lay still.
A few seconds later, light began to emerge from its entire body.
Rangga lowered his bow.
“Got it.”
The wild Ankylosaurus turned into light and disappeared, leaving several items on the ground.
Deri walked over.
“Take the drops.”
Rangga nodded and approached the loot.
Behind him, his Ankylosaurus stood with several sections of its armor also damaged from the battle.
Fajar looked at it.
“Ours got pretty beat up too.”
Rangga glanced at the Ankylosaurus, then smiled faintly.
“Winning is what matters.”
He then crouched down to collect the drops before crouching beside his Ankylosaurus.
Several sections of the creature’s side armor were cracked and dented from the battle. The protective plating that had previously been intact now had several exposed sections.
Rangga rubbed his chin.
“Pretty damaged.”
Fajar looked as well.
“Can it still walk?”
The Ankylosaurus moved a few steps then Rangga nodded.
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“Still can.”
He stood up and went back to examining the loot from the wild Ankylosaurus.
However, far away, the incident had already become a spectacle for the entire world.
Earth
The Pioneer livestream was once again flooded with comments. The recording of the battle had just ended.
For the first time, millions of people had witnessed two mechanical creatures fighting each other in real time.
The comments moved so quickly that they were almost impossible to read.
“TWO MECHANICAL MONSTERS JUST FOUGHT?!”
“One of them belongs to a Garuda Pioneer!”
“So those monsters can fight each other?!”
“Not just fight each other—they deliberately made the two monsters fight!”
“And the Garuda Pioneers attacked from behind!”
“The armor can break?!”
“The crazier part is that they have an Ankylosaurus of their own!”
The debate grew even more heated.
Some people still couldn’t believe that a creature previously considered one of the greatest threats on a three-star island was now being used by a Pioneer as both a vehicle and a weapon.
The name Garuda Nation once again flooded various broadcasts.
Bald Eagle Nation
In a presidential conference room, footage of the battle was replayed on a large screen.
President Ethan stood with both hands resting on the table.
“Play it from the beginning.”
The video started again.
Rangga was seen dismounting from the Ankylosaurus. Then, several seconds before the battle, an object shaped like a disc could be seen in Rangga’s hand.
President Ethan pointed at the screen.
“That.”
The video was paused, and the analysts enlarged the image. The metal disc was clearly visible.
“Zoom in.”
The image was enlarged again. One of the analysts opened several earlier recordings.
They found the scene where Rangga had first used the object.
The disc vibrated, lit up, and then flew on its own toward the Ankylosaurus’s neck.
After a while, the light on the device changed, until eventually the Ankylosaurus stopped moving and became passive.
The room fell silent as President Ethan looked at the analysts.
“So that device is what controls the creature?”
One of the analysts nodded.
“Most likely.”
“Most likely?”
“We don’t know its mechanism yet. We can only confirm a direct correlation between the use of that device and the change in the Ankylosaurus’s behavior.”
Another analyst brought up an image of the disc.
“However, there is one fairly strong conclusion.”
President Ethan turned toward him.
“What?”
The analyst pointed at the screen.
“That is not technology discovered by humans before the arrival of the Pioneers.”
President Ethan frowned.
“What do you mean?”
The analyst answered carefully.
“Pioneer technology.”
The room fell silent again.
“The Garuda Nation has already discovered technology capable of taking control of mechanical creatures.”
President Ethan stared at the screen, which still showed Rangga standing on top of the Ankylosaurus.
“And they’re keeping it secret.”
No one answered immediately. President Ethan then said,
“Then we need to find out what that technology is before they discover something even bigger.”
The mining continued.
The eight Garuda Pioneers moved from one Vanadium Vein to another, exhausting every resource they found along the way. After moving locations several times, their supplies were finally almost full.
Deri checked his inventory.
“It’s full.”
The others began checking their inventories as well.
Rangga nodded.
“Then let’s head home.”
They climbed back onto the Mechanical Ankylosaurus and headed toward the coast.
The journey went smoothly until they approached the boundary of the coastal area.
Suddenly, the metal disc attached to the Ankylosaurus’s neck began flashing red. The creature stopped, and Rangga frowned.
“Why’d you stop?”
He patted the side of the Ankylosaurus.
“Come on.”
The creature didn’t move an inch. Deri and the others eventually dismounted, and Rangga pressed the metal disc.
A display appeared before him.
[WARNING]
[YOU HAVE REACHED THE TERRITORIAL BOUNDARY.]
[THE TARGET CANNOT ENTER AN AREA OUTSIDE ITS ORIGINAL TERRITORY.]
Rangga read the message for a moment.
“Oh...”
He looked at the sea in front of them.
“So it can’t enter the coastal area, huh, Major?”
Deri approached.
“Why?”
Rangga showed him the display.
“Looks like this creature can’t leave the island.”
Fajar immediately sighed.
“Aw... It would’ve been nice if we could bring it home.”
The others also looked disappointed, but Rangga simply shrugged.
“It’s fine.”
He looked at the Ankylosaurus.
“We can just capture another one later.”
Rangga then looked at the disc attached to the Ankylosaurus’s neck again. An option had appeared.
RELEASE
Rangga pressed the option, and the disc immediately began to hum.
BZZZZT—
Blue light appeared across its surface. A few seconds later, the device detached from the Ankylosaurus’s neck and floated downward.
Rangga quickly caught it and stored it in his inventory. However, he was still standing on top of the Ankylosaurus.
Suddenly, the entire body of the mechanical creature began emitting white light.
Rangga looked down.
“Eh?”
WHOOOM!
The Ankylosaurus turned into light and disappeared, leaving Rangga with nothing to stand on.
“WHOA—!”
THUD!
He hit the ground. Not long afterward, Rangga got back up while holding his lower back.
“Huh? Why’d it die?”
The others looked confused as well. Deri stared at the spot where the Ankylosaurus had been standing before saying,
“Maybe that’s just how the mechanism works, Mas.”
Rangga was silent for a moment.
“Oh.”
He nodded slowly.
“Makes sense.”
Rangga then brushed the dust off his armor and turned toward the others.
“Then let’s split up here.”
Deri nodded.
“Don’t forget.”
He pointed toward the other groups.
“Today’s vanadium goes to Rangga.”
The others nodded.
“Understood.”
Rangga raised a hand.
“Okay. See you guys later.”
They then split up and headed toward their respective ships.
Not long afterward, one by one, the Pioneer ships left the coast of Savannah Island and returned to their respective private islands.