In the huge temporary shelter, the dragons who had awoken from their mental slumber dragged their tired and battered bodies and gathered together. The giant sun gradually rose to the highest point in the sky. Even in the cold of the North Pole, the warmth brought by the sun slightly dispelled the cold that lingered in the ruins of war. Even though the cold wind continued to blow across the land, Melita, who was in the shelter, still felt a sense of security and warmth.
She was not sure if this feeling came from the broken but still standing high walls around her, or from her brethren who were still alive in sight.
Some of the dragons gathered in the shelter maintained their dragon form and received limited healing or 'maintenance' in that form, while others maintained their human form to save energy and material consumption, as well as to make precious space for others. The scale of the dilapidated buildings was not large, and the shelter it could provide was very limited. If every dragon were to reveal their true form here, it would certainly not be enough for everyone to settle down.
Melita saw the Red Dragon Kalador standing under a half-molten metal tower in the middle of the shelter. He was in his human form, and his fiery red hair and beard were particularly eye-catching in the crowd. A few of his clansmen were busy nearby. Some were taking care of the wounded, and some seemed to be thinking of ways to repair some of the machines dug out from the ruins.
"Melita!" Carador saw the blue dragon lady coming from afar and exclaimed in surprise. "You're still alive!"
"You're still alive too." Melita smiled and looked at the senior in the council. He was a trustworthy old red dragon, and since thousands of years ago, Melita had often partnered with him in missions. "Where's Takdahm?"
"He's dead. We've found his body," Kalador said with a hint of sadness, but there was more numbness in his sadness. "It's the same for the others. Only the two of us survived from Group Six."
As he spoke, the red dragon had noticed Melita's weakness. "You need treatment and rest. What about the implant? Is there a problem with the implant? "
"I feel that the muscle booster under my left wing has been burned, and the nerve booster from the spine to the tail was also destroyed." Melita sensed the condition of her body. "The injury is not bad. I can feel that I'm healing … The key is the implant. Can it be repaired?"
"… Probably we can only do some emergency treatment, remove the damaged and harmful things, and wait for the body to heal the wounds. Of course, healing magic will speed up the process." Carador frowned. "You should already know that we have lost Omega and all automatic systems. There are only some temporary tools dug out from the ruins and a small number of undamaged boosters."
"Then remove my broken parts. Fortunately, the problem is not the fatal system." Melita breathed a sigh of relief. "As for the boosters … keep them first. I'm fine...
…
One of the caverns in the temporary shelter had been transformed into a medical center to treat those who were severely injured and required major surgery. Melita, who had returned to her dragon form, quietly laid on a platform that had been cleared out. She waited for the mechanics of the medical center to remove the last damaged part of the enhancement device near her spine. She tried to block out the stinging pain from her nerve endings as her eyes slowly swept across the cavern.
The materials and equipment dug out from the ruins were piled up around the cavern. The automatic devices that had lost their power were dismantled and thrown into a corner. The cavern was filled with a strange smell of blood and engine oil. The original ventilation system had obviously lost its function. Even the lighting was maintained by a few magical light balls floating in the air.
Melita could not remember how many years it had been since she last saw such a primitive illumination spell in Tarlonde. Before that, Omega had been taking care of the Dragons like a nanny.
"It's the last part. It may hurt a little." A hoarse voice came from behind. "I'll try my best to suppress your neural activity with magic, but the effect is limited. Bear with it."
"Go ahead, Mechanic." Melita moved her neck slightly. "My willpower is still quite … Ouch, f * ck, f * ck, f * ck, f * ck, f * ck, f * ck, f * ck, f * ck, f * ck, f * ck, f * ck, f * ck, f * ck, f * ck me!!"
"It's been dismantled."
"This is not just a little bit of pain!" Melita woke up from the severe pain and was surprised that she still had the strength to argue with him. "Are you sure you used magic to help me relieve the pain?"
"I've tried my best, but there's a problem with the interface of the old booster. Fortunately, it didn't cause irreversible damage to your nerves. Now, relax. I'm casting a healing spell. Your wound will heal quickly. "
As the mechanic's voice trailed off, Melita finally felt the pain in her back subsiding rapidly. She even began to feel her flesh and blood gradually reconnecting. She breathed a sigh of relief and suddenly said, "It doesn't matter what the model is. It's the same for everyone now. Should we say goodbye to the implants?"
"… Looks like it." The mechanic came down from the platform and came to Melita to tidy and clean the blood-stained tools. The young red dragon looked tired, but her hands did not slow down. "The Omega system is gone. Many of the implants directly connected to the Omega system are now hidden problems. Although there won't be any problems in the short term, it's best to dismantle or shut them down for safety reasons. Besides, there's a shortage of various parts now. The factory has shut down. Many damaged implants can't be repaired and will eventually have to be dismantled. The only good news is that at least mechanics like me still know how to dismantle them. We haven't completely forgotten the knowledge. "
Melita only noticed the young mechanic's skillful handling of the tools when she heard this. She looked at her with some surprise. "You … seem to be very good at using these old tools to deal with implants?"
"My grandfather taught me. He always said that these skills are useful before he died. It's said that he was the last mechanic to participate in the design of the Komodo implants. After him, no one directly participated in the design and manufacturing of machinery. All the work was left to the Omega and the automatic system of the factory." After the young mechanic was done with all the tools, she looked up at Melita. "Actually, there are not many mechanics like me who have mastered a little bit of 'craft'. Although not everyone has a mechanic grandfather, everyone has their own way."
Melita blinked and whispered to herself, "I never knew …"
"The upper Tarlonde will not allow this kind of 'private work'. Even most of the streets in the lower Tarlonde that you can come in contact with will not meet a dragon like me." The mechanic smiled and said in a relaxed tone. "This is even more illegal than those corner workshops. Illegal modification of implants is prohibited, but there's still a market in the deepest streets. And the Omega doesn't care what happens in those streets every day."
"… Sorry," Melita said instinctively, although she did not understand what she was' sorry 'about. "I really don't know about these things."
"There's nothing to be sorry about. There was no difference between us before, and there is no difference now." The mechanic smiled and put away her tools. "I can deal with the problem of the implant, but you have to rely on yourself for the damage of the flesh. My healing spell is limited. If you still feel that something is wrong, you can go to Carador."
After that, the mechanic turned and left the platform where Melita was. She still had a lot of work to do, and before every Dragons with damaged implants could rest in peace, she did not have much time to chat.
After the mechanic left, Melita looked up. The cold old machines and damaged mechanical arms around her remained silent. After losing the support of the Omega system, these things would no longer automatically operate to help her inject enhancers or perform post-surgery scale maintenance.
In a floating light, Melita returned to her human form and climbed down the iron ladder on the edge of the platform. She did not jump down or cast a flying spell. After losing the nerve enhancement device, she still needed some time to get used to her weakened body.
She walked out of the cave and came to the open space outside. The slightly dim sunlight shone down on the square that was filled with ruins.
Only then did she realize that she had been lying in the cavern for half a day. The giant sun, which was originally high in the sky, had gradually sunk near the horizon. There would be half a day of dusk. The sun would slowly rise above the horizon and begin to rise again the next morning.
Melita took a breath of the cold air to cheer herself up. Then she noticed that there seemed to be some disturbance in front of her. She stepped in that direction.
The red dragon Carador was surrounded by many Dragons in human form. But when Melita arrived, the small disturbance had subsided. The gathered dragons gradually retreated. Carador breathed a sigh of relief and noticed Melita's approach.
"Are you okay?" The old red dragon looked at Melita. "I thought you would need to rest for half a day."
"After solving the problem of the implant, the injuries on my body will slowly recover. There is no need to occupy the cavern," Melita said. At the same time, she looked curiously at the dispersing figures. "What happened? Is there a troublemaker? "
"The dragons are not that weak," Kalador said in a low and slow voice. "They just have a little trouble in the distribution of materials and work. After losing the assistance of the automatic system, they often encounter problems with such trivial matters. It's a bit ironic."
A little trouble in the distribution of supplies and work?
Melita could not help but repeat Carador's words in her heart. Her eyes slowly swept across the dilapidated camp. She saw tired people and wounded people in urgent need of recuperation. And the problem this shelter faced was so obvious: insufficient food, insufficient medical supplies, insufficient labor, and insufficient tools.
Of course, the Giant Dragon's strong body was enough to support his kind to survive for a long time on this windy continent. But this kind of survival seemed hopeless. Most of Tarlonde had been scorched, and the ordinary Dragons, who had long been accustomed to the meticulous care of the Omega system and automatic factories, did not seem to know how to survive on this land that had returned to its original state.
Somehow, Melita suddenly thought of the distant Loren Continent at this moment. She thought of the humans on that continent who had also experienced the wasteland and the rise of the human race.
"We should find a way to ensure the basic survival of our people," she could not help but say. "We can survive without food for a long time, but we have to eat sooner or later. Where do we get our food now?"
"The food collected from the ruins can last for a while. Although many things have been burned, some of the factories and storage facilities buried deep underground are still intact," said a dragon who was passing by. "We didn't collect much, but … we don't have a big population now."
"Those things will run out sooner or later. We still have to find a way to restore food production," Carador said in a low voice. "We don't know where else on this continent can grow food, but the ocean can provide some food."
"Also, we have to find a way to repair some factories. Omega is gone. We can find a way to bypass the automatic circuit and manually restart the machines," another Dragon said. "We can't dig out the boosters and the parts needed to repair the implants from the ground."
"We have to build some stronger shelters. Many of the buildings here are about to collapse, and the number is not enough for everyone to live in."
Some of the passing Dragons began to discuss, but the discussion did not bring hope and encouragement. Instead, it made every dragon more sure that the situation was bad. Melita could feel the atmosphere was obviously gloomy. She never thought that the glorious and powerful Tarlonde would encounter such a difficult situation. Although the current situation seemed to be much better than the original fate of destruction, it did not seem to be very lucky to survive in this situation.
She could not help but let her imagination run wild. Then she suddenly noticed something. "Carador, is Noretta not back yet?"
"Noretta?" The red dragon Carador seemed to have just remembered the white dragon lady who had left the camp at noon. He frowned and immediately wanted to call Noretta through the Omega system. But it was not until the resonance core in his brain made a hollow noise that he realized he had made a mistake again.
He raised his head and looked at the sky in the southern part of the camp. "She should have returned at least an hour ago … The place she wanted to explore is not far from here. Whether or not she found any survivors, it would be a quick trip back …"
"Did she go alone?" Melita asked anxiously.
"Yes, alone. We have limited manpower, and the southern area is very close, so she went alone."
Melita did not wait for the other party to finish and walked away. At the same time, she had quickly switched to Giant Dragon form. "I'm going to find her."
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