42. Panic Together
The next morning, Rangga was up and ready as soon as the sun rose over the eastern horizon.
All of his equipment had already been loaded onto the boat. This time, he had only one destination in mind.
Two-Star Swamp Island.
When he arrived at the dock, Rangga took a deep breath and clasped his hands together in front of his chest.
"Please... let it be there... Please let it be there."
He opened the blue screen. Choose Exploration Destination
Stone Island ⭐
Time Remaining: 20 hours
Tropical Island ⭐⭐
Time Remaining: 18 hours
Swamp Island ⭐⭐
Time Remaining: 18 hours
Rangga's eyes immediately lit up.
"YES! Finally... It's here."
Without a second thought, he selected Two-Star Swamp Island.
The boat slowly departed from the dock. As usual, during the voyage Rangga opened the regional chat. He greeted everyone first.
Rangga: Morning, everyone.
Replies quickly appeared.
Andre: Morning, Bro!
Fajar: Morning!
Siska: Good luck today!
Deri: Good morning, Rangga.
Rangga looked through the chat. It felt much calmer today. Even Broto was nowhere to be seen. However, he noticed several people discussing something.
Rangga: What are you guys talking about?
Fajar answered immediately.
Fajar: Broto made a huge fuss last night.
Fajar: He and his group said they were going to the Desert Island.
Rangga frowned.
Rangga: Huh?
Rangga: What do you mean?
Fajar: Major Deri already told them not to.
Fajar: Especially after hearing your story about the dinosaur that attacks with flying kicks.
Fajar: But they're still determined to go.
Rangga silently read the messages before casually typing,
Rangga: Then let them.
Deri immediately replied.
Deri: I'm worried.
Deri: Our number of Pioneers keeps decreasing.
Deri: As of today, only sixty-seven remain.
Deri: If they insist on going...
Deri: I'm afraid we'll lose even more.
Rangga stayed silent for a moment before typing.
Rangga: Then what do you want to do, Major?
Rangga: Stop people who don't want to listen?
The chat suddenly fell silent and Deri didn't answer right away. Rangga continued.
Rangga: Just leave them.
Rangga: I've already told everyone what's over there.
Rangga: You've already warned them too.
Rangga: Broto's a grown man.
Rangga: He can take responsibility for his own choices.
A few seconds later...
Fajar: LOL.
Andre: That's actually true.
The atmosphere relaxed again then Andre asked,
Andre: So where are you going today, Bro?
Rangga: Two-Star Swamp Island.
Several people immediately replied.
Siska: Wow.
Fajar: Then we'll just wait for your report.
Andre: Yeah.
Andre: I'm not brave enough to enter an island nobody knows anything about yet. Several other Pioneers agreed.
Rangga read all their replies and chuckled.
Rangga: Damn...
Rangga: So I'm basically the guinea pig?
The chat instantly filled with laughing emojis.
Finally, Deri replied.
Deri: Not a guinea pig.
Deri: It's just...
Deri: At the moment, you are the most capable person for exploration.
Fajar: LOL.
Andre: Agreed.
Siska: Bro Rangga is basically our map opener.
Rangga could only shake his head and laugh.
"'Map opener'... Seriously?"
He leaned against the side of the boat.
The light conversation continued throughout the journey, making the atmosphere among the Pioneers feel far warmer than it had just a few days ago.
Even though the world they lived in remained full of danger. At least now, they no longer felt like they were facing it alone.
Rangga closed the chat window just as land came into view ahead.
"There it is... I'm here."
Two-Star Swamp Island was much larger than the swamp island he had visited before.
The marsh stretched as far as the eye could see.
Murky water mixed with thick mud covered almost the entire island, leaving only small patches of solid ground around clusters of trees.
Rangga slowly shook his head.
"Damn... This place is muddy as hell."
As the boat drew closer, he noticed that some parts of the swamp were much deeper. The water there looked almost pitch black.
"I just hope... There aren't any robot crocodiles here."
A few minutes later, the boat docked.
Rangga stepped ashore carrying all of his equipment, his Composite Alloy Spear already in hand.
His experience on Desert Island had taught him not to let his guard down.
His eyes constantly swept left and right as he carefully stepped through the sticky mud.
Every now and then, his boots sank several centimeters into the muck.
"Oh, come on..."
Step by step, he made his way through rows of mangrove trees lining the swamp.
When he looked at one of them, a golden screen appeared.
Mangrove
Description: A tree native to swamp environments with strong supporting roots, capable of growing in muddy soil. Its wood is highly resistant to water, making it useful for construction and various simple building projects.
Weakness: Can be chopped down using an axe.
"Not this..."
Rangga continued walking. He was still searching for something completely new.
A few minutes later, his eyes caught sight of a cluster of small white flowers growing among the swamp grass.
"Hm? A flower?"
Having discovered valuable resources from seemingly ordinary things several times already, he cautiously approached.
As soon as he got close enough, a golden screen appeared.
Swamp Yarrow
Description: A relative of yarrow that has adapted to swamp environments. Its flowers contain natural compounds capable of stopping bleeding and serve as a key ingredient in advanced healing ointments and medicinal remedies.
Weakness: Can be harvested using a knife.
"See? I knew it..."
Rangga smiled as he read the description again.
"Stops bleeding... Advanced healing medicine... So it's even better than Centella."
His eyes sparkled.
"I've definitely got to collect this."
He stepped toward the flowers. But after only a few steps—
Blup...
The mud to his left suddenly rippled and Rangga instantly turned.
"Huh?"
A scaly mechanical creature slowly emerged from the swamp. Its body resembled a crocodile, but its snout was much shorter.
A golden screen immediately appeared.
Mechanical Simosuchus
Description: A herbivorous mechanical reptile that lives in swamp environments. It spends most of its time feeding on aquatic plants and swamp flowers. Despite its frightening crocodile-like appearance, it is extremely timid and will immediately flee whenever it detects danger.
Weakness: The optical sensor on its head is highly vulnerable to ranged attacks.
Drops:
Preservation Module
Reinforced Synthetic Hide
Armor Blueprint
But Rangga didn't even have time to read the whole thing.
All he saw were scales, four short legs, and something that looked exactly like a crocodile.
It was only a few meters away.
His eyes instantly widened.
"AAAAAAAAAH!! A ROBOT CROCODILE!!"
Without thinking, he spun around and ran as fast as he could. His feet slipped repeatedly in the mud.
"HEY!! GET AWAY FROM ME!!"
But behind him, the Mechanical Simosuchus reacted with exactly the same panic.
"MIIIEEEKKK!!"
The mechanical reptile let out a high-pitched electronic squeal before spinning around and sprinting away from Rangga as fast as it could.
One human. One robot crocodile. Both panicking. Both running for their lives.
Rangga kept running until—
Splash!
He slipped and fell face-first into the swamp mud.
"Blech!"
He spat out the mud that had gotten into his mouth.
Panting heavily, he quickly looked behind him.
"...Huh?"
The robot crocodile was already dozens of meters away.
It was now hiding behind the tangled roots of a mangrove tree, with only a tiny portion of its head peeking out as it nervously watched Rangga.
Rangga blinked twice.
"...Wait... Why... is it running away too?"