58. Tomorrow, We Meet
That afternoon, Rangga had no intention of going out again.
He spent the rest of the day in front of his newly built crafting table.
He opened the Swamp Armor menu.
Without a second thought, he fed every material he had gathered over the past several days into the crafting table.
A blue light flared.
A few moments later, a complete set of Swamp Armor was finished. But Rangga didn't stop there.
He took out the blueprint he had obtained from the Mechanical Simosuchus.
The blueprint merged into the newly crafted armor, and blue light once again enveloped the crafting table.
Several seconds later, the armor transformed.
Its outer surface was now covered in dark green synthetic scales.
The shoulder guards became noticeably sturdier, shaped like the scales of a crocodile.
The chest and arm guards had also been reinforced, offering far greater protection than ordinary Swamp Armor.
A new name appeared on the blue screen.
Simosuchus Armor
Rangga nodded in satisfaction.
"There we go... This is the one."
Without wasting any time, he crafted another set. Materials disappeared from his warehouse one after another.
The second suit was completed, then the third. When he attempted to craft a fourth, the blue screen displayed a notification.
Insufficient Materials.
Rangga scratched his head.
"Only three, huh? Oh well... That's still not bad."
He then switched to the weapon menu. First, he crafted an Alloy Composite Sword.
Once it was finished, Rangga immediately placed it back onto the crafting table.
The Weapon Upgrade menu opened. He selected the upgrade path he had already decided on.
One-Handed Sword + Shield. The required materials flowed into the crafting table.
Blue light shone once more. This time, the process took a little longer. When the light faded, the sword had changed.
Its blade remained slim but now looked considerably sturdier, with cleaner metallic lines running along its surface.
Near the hilt was a locking mechanism that allowed the sword to be carried alongside a shield without disrupting the user's balance.
Beside it, a medium-sized shield had also taken shape.
It was forged from the same alloy, featuring a layered surface while remaining light enough for close-quarters combat.
Rangga picked up the sword and gave it a few practice swings.
"Whoosh... Feels pretty good."
Then he equipped the shield on his left arm. He practiced alternating between attacking and defending several times.
Rangga nodded with satisfaction.
"Yeah... I think Major Deri's gonna like this."
While Rangga remained busy at his crafting table, the regional chat had begun heating up.
It started with several Pioneers discussing plans to meet up once their ships reached Level 3. Then, before long, Broto posted a message.
Broto: I'm not joining.
The chat went quiet.
Andre: What do you mean?
Broto: I don't wanna rely on Rangga.
Broto: I'll make it on my own.
Several members of Broto's group immediately agreed.
Doni: Agreed.
Rian: We can manage by ourselves too.
Seeing that, Fajar tried to smooth things over.
Fajar: Bro, this isn't about relying on someone.
Fajar: It's about staying alive.
Andre: Yeah.
Andre: Even Rangga said three-star islands are already hard to clear alone.
But Broto refused to budge.
Broto: I've survived on my own this whole time.
Broto: Don't need to follow everyone else.
Finally, Deri spoke up.
Deri: Broto.
Deri: No one is forcing you.
Deri: But we're all Pioneers from Garuda.
Deri: If we can help each other, why shouldn't we?
Broto replied immediately.
Broto: I don't need anyone's help.
Broto: I can find everything myself.
The chat fell silent again.
Several Pioneers looked ready to argue but Deri sent another message first.
Deri: Very well.
Deri: I respect everyone's decision.
Deri: However, I still advise anyone who intends to exchange coordinates later to do so only with people they truly trust.
Broto never replied.
He and the rest of his group simply went silent.
Meanwhile, the other Pioneers returned to discussing the materials they still needed to upgrade their ships as quickly as possible.
On the other side, Rangga was so busy forging weapons that he only glanced briefly at the chat.
He casually shrugged.
"Whatever."
"If that's what he wants."
Then he returned to crafting the next weapon.
To him, forcing someone who didn't want to cooperate was simply a waste of time. There were still far more Pioneers waiting for his help.
Once all the equipment had been crafted, Rangga stretched his body.
"Huaaah..."
His back ached after spending nearly the entire day standing at the crafting table.
He glanced at the regional chat. There was still no new update from Deri.
"Oh well... I'll just wait."
Since he had nothing else to do, Rangga casually opened his island status menu.
The instant it appeared and his eyes widened.
"Huh? There's more?"
Four new buildings had appeared.
Upgrade House → Stone House
Materials:
- 150 Stone
- 80 Wood
- 60 Hardwood
- 20 Reinforced Anchor Bolts
Upgrade Warehouse → Level 3 Warehouse
Materials:
- 100 Wood
- 100 Hardwood
- 150 Stone
- 30 Iron Ingots
- 20 Preservation Modules
Apothecary
Materials:
- 80 Wood
- 60 Hardwood
- 100 Stone
- 40 Glass
- 10 Brass Ingots
- 20 Bio Filtration Membranes
Ballista Turret
Materials:
- 20 Wood
- 10 Hardwood
- 5 Iron Ingots
- 2 Steel Ingots
- 2 Brass Ingots
- 2 Hydraulic Actuators
- 1 Spine Launcher
Rangga slowly read through each entry. The farther down he went, the deeper his frown became.
"Brass... Steel... Bio Filtration Membrane... Anchor Bolt..."
He scratched his head.
"What the hell are all these?"
Some names he could at least guess.
"Steel... Probably just steel. Brass... Guess that's brass. But the rest..."
Rangga simply shook his head.
"No clue."
He closed the menu. There was no point thinking about materials he didn't even have yet.
He walked over to the smelting kiln.
"Maybe... I can at least upgrade this."
The moment he opened the upgrade menu, another blue screen appeared.
Upgrade Kiln → Furnace
Materials:
- 150 Stone
- 50 Iron Ingots
- 20 Copper Ingots
- 10 Heat Regulators
"Oh... So it's called a Furnace now."
Rangga nodded slowly. A few seconds later, his face went blank again.
"...And what the hell is a Heat Regulator?"
His hand instinctively reached up to scratch his head in frustration.
He looked around his island.
His house, His warehouse, His crafting table, His kiln, His dock. Everything now required materials he had never even seen before.
Rangga let out a long sigh.
"...Looks like... From now on... Everything's gonna need stuff I haven't found yet."
His thoughts returned to the Mechanical Kentrosaurus from earlier that day.
The Hydraulic Actuator he hadn't obtained. The Spine Launcher. Steel. Brass. Heat Regulators. Everything seemed connected. And most likely all of it came from three-star islands.
"Haaaah..."
Rangga let out another heavy sigh.
Normally, whenever he lacked materials, he simply sailed out and gathered them himself.
But now, he was beginning to realize things weren't that simple anymore.
Three-star islands were simply too dangerous to explore alone.
Sooner or later, he would have to wait for the other Pioneers to upgrade their ships to Level 3.
So they could search for those new materials together.
Eventually, Rangga closed every menu. With nothing left to do, he reopened the regional chat.
The conversation was still relaxed.
Every now and then, he answered questions about weapon materials and explained what was needed to craft the armor he had just made.
Then a new message appeared.
Deri: Mas Rangga.
Deri: I've finished upgrading both my ship and my island.
The moment Rangga read it, a huge grin spread across his face.
"Holy shit..."
"Finally."
His fingers immediately began typing.
Rangga: Nice!
Rangga: Tomorrow let's see if we get the same island option.
Rangga: If we do...
Rangga: Let's meet up.
A few seconds later, Deri replied.
Deri: Understood.
Deri: Hopefully we'll have the same island available.
Seeing their conversation, the chat became lively once again.
Fajar: Lucky...
Andre: I'm still short on Iron Ingots.
Rio: I still need a ton more hardwood.
Bima: Wait for us.
Yusuf: Don't leave us behind yet.
Rangga chuckled.
Rangga: Relax.
Rangga: The Major and I will be the guinea pigs first.
The chat immediately burst into laughter.
Andre: LMAO.
Fajar: Just don't die, bro.
Rangga: Yeah, right.
Rangga: The only thing dying is my warehouse after making weapons for all of you.
Everyone laughed again. Amid the jokes and banter, Rangga couldn't hide his excitement.
Tomorrow, he might finally meet another human being face to face. Not through a chat window but standing right in front of him.