1 day since the last chapter…

Beastmen plains, a river wetland

 

A large wetland filled with tall grasses and murky green waters stretched south of the canyon and made its way to a sea that fed into the ocean. In this wetland, a loud buzzing racket could be heard that was created by large fans that were the size of a person. They were attached to flat metal hulls cast out of steel that was painted to keep them from rusting. Benches had been welded onto the hull and a metal cage was placed over the large metal fan, as well as metal fins to control the direction of the airboat.

 

Piloting it was not a succubus or an elf, they had crashed multiple times in their attempt to race and were responsible for many of the dents on the vessels. Both of them were sitting dejectedly on a bench, as they watched the beavermen piloting the vessels and manning the machine guns mounted at the front of each vessel. Various weapons were being borrowed from the mousemen and foxmen for this mission. Two people were getting along quite well as they made their way over the waves.

 

“You handle that pole quite well, it is a shame you were not born a man,” Simbad told the old beaver woman who was steering the airboat.

 

Feltspar was using a pole to control the fins that steered the wind coming from the large fan pointing towards the back. She decided not to reply to the lion sitting further down and instead focused her attention on the sulking succubus and elf that were sitting further in front.

 

“An old friend of mine lives with the sea ottermen who are in the waters there and have some territory. With how fast these boats are we will be able to get there in a few hours.” Feltspar was trying to cheer them up by letting them know they wouldn’t be on the boats for long.

 

“Monsters!” A succubus called from the air near the airboat.

 

Kira looked up and began to observe the succubus, she was focused on her tail as she began to interpret the movements it was making. “They are drinking from the water, we will pass them.”

 

The monsters on land were smaller than the ones in the water were. The monsters on the water were bovine, they were in the mid-tier and had come down to get a drink. Just as the monsters turned their attention to the large buzzing contraptions, a splash was seen in the waters before a large angular head filled with teeth burst out of the water. It looked like a crocodile head that was attached to a large serpentine body with many sets of small arms like a centipede.

 

The jaws of the large reptile were large enough that a car could drive into them, but its body was relatively flat allowing it to hide in the shallow waters. The large bovine creature was fighting against the large reptile when a spike appeared out of the water before it shot forward revealing a triangular blade that stabbed into the chest of the bovine monster. The tail of the crocodile creature was long and sinuous with a sail-like spine that ran along with it. After killing the bovine it turned t’s six yellow eyes towards the group of airboats that were heading towards it.

 

“It’s a Crocopede, a juvenile by the looks of him.” Felt spar commented from the back of the boat.

 

“What a horny fellow, look at all those spines,” Simbad commented.

 

The beaverman in the front turned the large machine gun towards the Crocopede that was larger than the airboat and began firing rounds at it, but something unusual happened. They began making scraping noises like the sound of metal as they were deflected off of the scales leaving scratches in the bone plates. This treatment also pissed off the large monster causing it to turn and roar at the oncoming boats. On the bone plates, various small runes could be seen lighting up as the bullets were sent ricocheting into the air and water.

 

“Huh, that is interesting…” Kira muttered, her dejected mood getting cast aside.

 

She reached under the seat she was sitting on and began to maneuver a large rifle out from under the bench she was sitting on. It had two large barrels stacked on top of each other with a break action and a plastic stock that had recoil springs installed in it. Kira set the large rifle in her lap and opened it up and slid two long plastic cartridges into the rifle that were larger than the 50 caliber rounds in the machine guns. The plastic casings had enchanted silver set into the plastic to activate the enchanted bullets.

 

“What is that?” Welch asked.

 

“Shaya made it for me, it is a succubus express,” Kira said proudly. 

 

“Why is it called that?” Welch asked.

 

Kira decided not to answer her as she raised the large rifle to her shoulder and began to use the iron sights to line up a shot at the skull of the large creature. The sound of the gun going off was closer to a cannon, and it roared like an angry dragon as a line of fire erupted out of the barrel followed by the bullet as it flew across the water and smashed into the monster. Sparks and electricity erupted from the monster as an ear-shattering cracking noise was heard from its head.

 

The bone plates on the creature's head split open, squirting blood into the air like a fountain. The Crocopede started thrashing in the waters with its bladed tail churning up the murk, it wasn’t long until they could see more eyes starting to rise out of the water and take aim at the group of airboats. It was hard to tell how many different monsters there were due to them having so many eyes. The one thrashing in the water was still alive outside of a serious wound to its head. 

 

“It is supposed to send the succubi’s enemies to hell, but all it has done is give me a sore shoulder,” Kira complained as she lined up the second shot on the creature who was thrashing and emitting sparks. 

 

She fired again at the less protected underside of the skull, right through the bottom of the jaw into the Crocopede’s head causing brain and blood to shoot out the other side. Its body twitched around and curled into a ball before it died in the water. This caused growls to begin erupting from the various other Crocopede’s that began to assess the threat of the airboats that were entering their territory. 

 

“This tributary has long been infested with these creatures, they don’t go anywhere else. We have often wondered the reason.” Feltspar told them from the rudder in the back.

 

“We get these in some of the wetlands in the elven forest too, they usually don’t group up like this though,” Welch said matter of factly.

 

“We are getting closer, what are your orders?” One of the succubi on the airboat was asking Kira.

 

With their flat bodies, they were very good at hiding in shallow water, just like crocodiles or alligators, only a small portion of their bodies floated outside of the water. But this gave Kira an easy way to deal with the heavily armored creatures. 

 

“Fire the machine gun’s to force them out of the water, it is too shallow for them to dive. Once they come out use the monsterfaust.” Kira ordered loudly enough that everyone could hear. “Spread out and begin the hunt!”

 

“Be careful of their ability to lunge, you need to stay at least 30 feet(~10M) away from them at all times!” Welch called this out in case they didn’t know.

 

The various rows of legs allowed them to spring forward and lunge much further and faster than most monsters could, they were also fairly mobile on land as a result of them. This made the Crocopede a versatile predator, but what allowed it to punch above its weight class was its sharp and jagged teeth. The pits allowed bacteria to grow to make the bite incredibly poisonous and deadly to the victims, it also had its hard bony armor. But for the beastmen hunting was something that had been coded into their blood. 

 

While many beastmen had preferences for what they eat, all of them were omnivorous and would consume whatever they could get. Hunters were often respected warriors in a pack and the backbone of a beast king’s forces. All of the beastmen from a young age would wrestle and fight in preparation for their days of hunting as an adult. There wasn’t a single one of them who did not know how to fight a battle.

 

“Crocopede meat can increase virility! Men, we must get our hands on it!” Simbad ordered the various people on the small ships from the pride of men.  Some of his crew had made the journey to the canyon that could move swiftly on all fours. 

 

The 6 airboats spread out over the large expanse of water and the machine gunners began peppering the waters in front of them trying to create splashes to reveal the creatures underneath. The serpentine monsters could reach 65 feet(20M) at adulthood and weighed close to 6000 pounds(2721KG) on average. Their bone plates being able to deflect bullets was surprising to them, but they had many different weapons. It didn’t take long though for the machine guns to annoy one of them bad enough that it rose out of the water revealing its body.

 

A succubus stood up on the boat and took a firm stance with her tail pressing against the hull of the ship. On her shoulders was a large rocket launcher with a shield to protect against the exhaust of the rocket. She aimed using a reticle attached to the side and pulled the trigger causing flames to erupt out of the back of the tube. The dome-shaped rocket was propelled out the front of the weapon and the recoil instantly caused the succubus’s knees and tail to buckle. 

 

The propellant on the rocket was stronger than what was traditionally used, this made it fly faster and plastic fins folded out under spring pressure causing it to fly straighter and farther. It took a full second for the rocket to cross the distance of 1300 feet(~400M) and hit the large creature in its bony chest. The cone on the head was instantly crushed which triggered the explosives inside of the rocket head. This triggered a loud ear-splitting blast as an explosive cone of plasma burned its way right through the bone armor and into the body of the Crocopede.

 

A large hole was blasted into the body of the creature that spilled blood and viscera into the murky waters. Its roars started a mix of rage and pain before they turned tragic and the creature thrashing in the waters grew weaker. Flames and smoke were rising from the hole in its body that caused the water to boil when it was submerged. Steam and smoke rose from the corpse of the large Crocopede as it fell back into the water causing several to angrily roar at the carcass as they were forced to move from where it fell.

 

“These are quite hardy creatures,” Kira muttered as she saw that the monsterfaust did less damage than she expected.  

 

“Can I borrow your rifle?” Welch called from the side of the airboat.

 

Kira looked down at the large bruise that was forming on her shoulder that made it hard to move her arm. She then turned her attention to the bone plates that covered the crocopede’s body and knew that Rex would want a specimen. Then she looked at the large and wide waters in front of her and tried to count how many monsters were hidden within the waters. She realized that she would need to make a tough call.

 

“Retreat! Grab a specimen and let’s go!” She called.

 

The monsterfaust was the only thing that could reliably kill them, that was the worst-case scenario that they could run into. According to Rex, if the monsterfaust was the only reliable means of damaging something, they needed to run. While Kira normally was fine being reckless, they were on an important mission, this would just be a setback. After all, many rivers led to the same place. The airboats swiftly began to try to turn and a succubus group went into the air carrying knives and tools, they were going to fly over and grab a few of the bone plates off of the corpse. 

 

“That is a wise call.” Welch comforted her.

 

“It feels like I am running, I don’t like it.” Kira paused as she blew out the breath she was holding. “This was the most direct path, and we need to assume these are just guards. If Rex found out I forced my way through here and possibly risked getting everyone killed, he would be very angry at me.”

 

And if Rex was angry, then that meant that the back massages and tail oilings would all end. She had been gone for over a week, the only thing on her mind was finishing up here then going home to be spoiled into a ball of succubutter. She looked back at the murky waters and began thinking of the day she would be able to come back and take her revenge! A succubus never gave up just because her prey was bigger than her!

 

***

Meanwhile…

Succubus Homeland, Research Facility

 

“So the metal will be fed into here on sheets using large rolls?” A dwarf asked. 

 

“Industrial machinery is like a ladder, with each rung being a different step on the way to the top, being the final product. The goal is to reach the top with as few steps as possible.” Rex explained. “The metal will get fed in here and cut into 4 rectangular strips. These 5 blades are what cut the metal into rectangles for the sides of the can.”

 

Rex was showcasing a large machine that was composed of several sections, each with a different purpose. It was a side project He had been working on while Bob was working on the building for the canning equipment. They were standing in front of a machine with 5 disc-shaped blades that spun to cut the sheet into four ribbons, then a fifth blade came down to cut the metal into rectangles. It was then fed into a round rolling machine with metal ribs placed on it.

 

“Then it goes through here which begins rounding the can and putting the ribs on it, then it is fed into these rolling machines to be soldered. After that we have a separate machine that is also fed metal sheets, it is fed through a stamping machine to produce the top and bottom of the can at the same time.” Rex explained.

 

“What is the difference between soldering and welding?” One of the dwarves asked.

 

“That’s a good question. The difference is heat. When you are welding you are melting both the welded material and the weld to fuse the materials. Soldering does not melt the material you are joining, only the solder is melted.” Rex told them. “Any other questions?” 

 

Rex noticed that no one was asking anything so he moved onto the final piece of equipment that resembled a large pot big enough that 8 people could fit inside of it. It had screws to keep it firmly closed and a mechanical pressure gauge to control the pressure inside. 

 

“This is called a pressure cooker, or in the industry, we called it a retort when it was on this scale. This can cook a full ton(~907KG) of canned food at a time. Every day one of these pots running non-stop can just about cook one of those large monsters in a single day.” Rex explained as he stood in front of the massive pressure cooker. “I eventually plan on having 8 of them going at all times, but the great thing about machinery is that you can just make it bigger to suit your needs.”

 

“How long will this cooked food last?” This was being asked by a dwarf wearing a robe that meant they worked in the dwarven council. 

 

“Around 2 to 5 years and it doesn’t need to be refrigerated,” Rex told them. “Since it is also precooked you can eat it directly from the can.”

 

Rex held up several can lids that had enchantments pressed into the top from the stamping process; they had been filled with silver for enchanting. 

 

“The top part of the can is what allows the meat to be processed, monster meat needs to have some of the mana removed from it or the bonds make it too hard to chew and digest.” What Rex didn’t tell them was that this only applied to him and a few other races who had issues eating large amounts of the meat.

 

“What about the enchantment on the bottom?” A dwarf pointed out.

 

“It heats the can, it means you can just push some mana into it to heat your food,” Rex explained. “It also aids the cooking process in the pressure cooker. It will ensure that the cooking is uniform and avoid botulism and... other… terrible things.” 

 

 Rex had issues finishing his thoughts when he looked over and saw the weapon on Shaya’s back. She still had the same heavy machine gun as a base, but it had even more things attached to it using a complex mounting system. It now had 4 different underbarrel attachments that were mounted around the main gun barrel, as well as what looked like a lamp. It had a metal tank and a small engine as well as two large barrels he thought might have been grenade launchers.

 

“Is that an exhaust pipe?” Rex muttered to himself. 

 

The tank schematic he had made had been copied and he wasn’t sure what she was planning to do with it. They had no way to use tanks on the island and no way to ship them to the mainland without building bigger ships. As a learning project, he was more than happy to give her what she needed to grow as an engineer since tracked vehicles had some amazing mechanics behind them. Until they could figure out a method to build a bigger dry dock, they wouldn’t be able to build bigger ships.

 

“What is botulism?” A dwarf asked.

 

This question snapped Rex out of his haze and he was able to quickly answer. “It is caused by bacteria. They are like the green stuff that grows on food if it sits out for too long. If the can isn’t cooked properly then the bacteria won’t die and will be able to grow inside of the can.”

 

It didn’t matter if it was done in mason jars or steel cans, if it wasn’t cooked properly then canned food could be incredibly dangerous. Botulism was something that could very easily kill someone, it could leave them paralyzed for weeks or months and if they lived they could sometimes need years to recover from it. He also had no idea what other bacterias that the world they were in could have created.

 

“It is best to do it as safely as possible, you only get one life after all,” Rex said this then smiled sadly at the irony of it. As someone who had already died once, he never wanted to go through it again.

 

“What did you call us for, I thought that you were going to work with Simbad to make the canning plant?” This was an older dwarf who was wearing the robes of the council asking him. 

 

“I made a mistake,” Rex said simply.

 

“A mistake?” The dwarf asked.

 

“Indeed. Do you know what a hairnet is?” Rex asked.

 

“A net to catch hair?” The dwarf said with hesitation.

 

“Right, that is where the problems come in. Beastmen shed seasonally, they would need a fursuit to catch it all. This makes the job incredibly undesirable to them because having to wear something like that would be ridiculous and uncomfortable.” Rex told them.

 

“And you want us to do it instead?” The only thing Rex could see of him was his eyes, everything else was gray hair and beard.

 

“No, the succubi will be doing it since they can just remove their hair using their transformation ability.” Rex sighed deeply here as he thought of the succubus bread that used to clog his bowels. “I made the machinery for beastmen originally, it is all too tall for you to use comfortably…”

 

He noticed that the dwarf must have had the same idea he did, both of them were looking at each other with flat expressions. The succubi had been quite excited about this job though, they even gave it a brand name. The meat they would be producing would be called “Succubeef”, even though it was all marine products currently. In this world, they did not differentiate meats based on the type and considered it all the same thing, so the succubi chose one of the meat types they heard Rex talking about.

 

“We need your assistance in carrying the machinery down the mountain, we will pay you handsomely of course.” Bren stepped forward with her best business smile. 

 

“Sorry, I didn’t think about it when I was making it. This is the first industrial machinery I have made since I came here. It just kept getting bigger.” Rex said this with some shame as he fidgeted around.

 

The dwarves and the succubi had much different thoughts when they saw the machine that could stamp and bend metal sheeting easily. Then they saw the large rectangular machine consisting of many stations that spit out the top and bottom of the can and soldered it to the finished siding, they thought of all the other parts that this could be applied to. 

 

“Can this stamping machine stamp any kind of flat part?” A dwarf asked.

 

“As long as you have the dies then you can stamp any flat piece of metal out. The advantage to stamping is that you are not using any heat so you don’t have to heat treat the metal again afterward.” Rex explained. “But this process will cause it to become thinner as you are forcing the metal into a new shape.”

 

“So this can be used to make parts for guns?” A succubus asked.

 

“Of course, I plan to make several of them for the weapons plant,” Rex told the succubus.

 

Some guns were mostly stamped parts like the Kalashnikov lines of weapons or early examples like the ones used in the first and second World Wars. Car parts, computer parts, and most cans were all stamped parts that were produced in the thousands. Fast, simple, and providing great detail, these were the advantages of stamping. In 1550 a german silversmith modified a screw press for printing paper to produce stamped coins for the government.

 

“Any other questions?” Rex asked. “No? Alright, I am going to start taking it apart to make it easier to move.”

 

They had the building for the canning plant and they finally had the machinery needed to run it, the only issue left was workers. He had done everything he could to automate as much of the process as possible but it would still take around 50 workers to run everything. He would be able to launch it officially when Kira got back.

 

“I wonder how she is doing?” Rex muttered.

 

***

Meanwhile…

Beastmen plains, A riverway leading to the ocean

 

“Halt! You are entering the territory of the aligatormen!” A voice that was more of a growl called out.

 

The group of airboats had been reduced to five after one of the engines had failed in one of them and the people were forced to group up in the remaining 5. They had tried several different waterways and found that all of them were too dangerous in one way or another. The only option they had left to them was the main waterway that most of the beastmen used which was a giant river called the Levia. It started at Lake Levia which was outside of the Gorilla King’s territory and was fed by countless smaller streams and rivers.

 

All along the large river were the territories of many different beastmen tribes, they used the river to travel and for the plentiful food, it could provide. Many monsters made this river channel their home but the constant predation by the beastmen had reduced that number and kept out anything dangerous. After countless setbacks in trying to find a way around using this river, they could only concede and stake a claim on this waterway. As one of the major waterways in the beastmen plains, this would draw a lot of attention to their new alliance.

 

“We built that wall that your scaly ass is hiding behind!” Feltspar as an old woman was getting cranky and her old bones were sore from sitting in a chair moving the fins. “Now either get out here and get a slapping or go the fuck away!” 

 

“You dare!” The aligatorman yelled from within the wooden mound on the river.

 

“He is there!” Welch’s long ears wiggle before she pointed towards a part of the wooden structure built into the water.

 

The only entrances into the wooden mound fort were underwater, this was to make it harder for other beastman species and monsters to get in. 

 

“Got it,” Kira replied as she pulled the trigger on the monsterfaust, this sent a rocket flying towards the large wooden mound leaving a trail of smoke behind it. 

 

A large explosion sent wooden debris and steam flying into the air as a hole was ripped into the massive mad mound. Fire and smoke began to rise from the massive hole but the people in the airboats weren’t done teaching them a lesson.

 

Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!

 

Several grenade launchers were unloaded towards the wooden structure as the airboats got closer. Explosions began to blossom across the large wooden structure causing many screams and yells to begin sounding as flames rose into the air. The waters began to ripple as some of the aligatormen warriors took to the waters, but the machine guns quickly sounded from the front of the boats. This caused blood, water, and pieces of aligatorman to fly into the air.

 

“You piss off the beavers, you get the paddle!” Feltspar cried out as she tried to get a kink out of her back.

 

She wasn’t the only one who was in a terrible mood among the beavers, only the ship Feltspar, Welch, and Kira was on was not packed like sardines in a can. The crew of this ship was entirely succubi and female beavermen. That was because of a certain graying lion who sat in the middle of the ship holding a large double-barreled rifle. The old lion stood up and removed the white shirt from his body, revealing a chest that was a mix of gold and gray.

 

“Wearing kelp around their wastes like belts, and holding hands to endure the crushing waves running over them!” In Simbad’s mind, he saw many young and virile male sea ottermen banding together to endure any hardship! He must meet them and take some of them into his Pride of Men!

 

Diving into the murky waters all they could see was a streak form under the water as a small wave began to dart forward at incredible speed. He was even faster than the aligatormen who only saw a gray and black streak move through the water. Few people knew much about the old lion called Simbad, but one thing was certain, he was the best swimmer on the island. On his back was a weapon that launched a steel mesh net that had weights placed on it to make it easier to catch “things’.

 

Behind the airships, smoke could be seen rising from along the sides of the rivers. After many attempts to find a safe place to move their supplies through the various rivers, they had chosen a more direct path. Right through one of the rivers that was shared by many different beastmen tribes and if they were stopped then it meant getting the paddle.