"No-no, Clam Ram shouldn' t have gathered in one place like this."

"Really? How do you know that?"

It had been about 10 minutes since Ezigio and Liana had flown around the base. They were currently in the frozen desert, a place where there was little life. It was also the perfect place for him to build a base.

As a merchant, Polvkrat had always wanted a place that was quiet, secluded, and away from society to store his wares. Although the two of them eventually built a base in this place, it only ended up as a warehouse. Polvkrat at the time had a serious hatred for the sound of giant oysters, they were always popping up not far from that place.

The base was built in a simple style, a rectangular concrete warehouse with many mines around it. Although mines sounded useless for dealing with creatures like the Clam Ram. It was effective for dealing with some small thieving bastards. If they thought the air was a safe place, then they were also very wrong. Ezigio put up tons of anti-air defenses that could take down several dragons.

Although rarely seen in this place, Polvkrat always complained about the presence of ice dragons that always passed by above him. It wasn't that they were causing trouble, it was just that the sound of those flapping wings was very noisy. He always complained about how the sound always made the spring in his head ring.

"Where is he? The hunter I called for should have arrived. I ordered it long ago, it doesn't take that long does it?"

Relaxing his sore neck after the trip. Ezigio gave directions to his escort, to get off at the special area. Fortunately for him, he still set up air defenses so as not to attack him. But even more fortunately, the transmitter he had was still intact.

"You see that square image? Position yourself on it, then drop me there!"

"Are you sure? It's quite high, how are you going to land anyway?"

"Just do it!"

"Alright!"

Taking an awkward stance, they carefully flew toward the location. Reducing the sound as much as possible, allowing them to sneak above the crowd of Clam Ram. The giant oysters did have excellent hearing, but the sound of flapping bird wings would not interest them.

Ezigio doesn't even know how he got the idea to build his base, shaped like an old-school warehouse. It was quite brilliant and stupid at the same time. Because it looks shabby, many pilgrims are reluctant to inspect the place. But unfortunately, too, some people have itchy hands to scratch it.

Arriving on top of the warehouse, Liana threw it as gently as possible at the target. Despite having no limbs, Ezigio could still control the position of his body in the air. The only part of the roof that was marked was the hole covered by the tarp. He had accidentally punctured it while playing with explosives.

Tearing through the tarp, Ezigio landed on a pile of cloth. It wasn't a pretty landing, but at least he was okay. Greeted by darkness, Ezigio looked around.

"Activate the base!" He ordered, his voice echoing throughout the room. "Termatured!"

The blue light flashed in front of him as he said the keyword, it flickered for a moment. Ezigio wasn't in too much of a hurry, but it was uncomfortable if he remained paralyzed like this. The sound of clicking and rumbling gears began to fill the room. A sense of relief swept through his heart, he could finally escape this state.

[{Activate base}]

Answered by a robotic voice, the room lights began to turn on one by one. Although it looked shabby on the outside, the interior of the headquarters had an elegant chromatic touch that was also futuristic. Although it was dominated by gray, it also had some touches of gold color on the edges of the walls. Overall, this place is not suitable to be a warehouse. There were many monitors plastered everywhere, there were also some strange mechanisms scattered everywhere.

There were also neatly arranged shelves used to store components. Most were alloy plates and gears of various sizes. It is not uncommon for some armor or helmets to have a medieval design. Since their main material is gold, they sparkle brilliantly.

"M10, bring me the JK 2300 AH Armor. Perform the installation procedure now! I don't want any more problems."

[{Understood, Mr. Ezigio}]

Soon a giant claw lifted him into the air. Next, a bunch of mechanical arms and tools greeted him in a friendly manner. Each of them began to perform maintenance and repairs on his body. Meanwhile, small robots shaped like spheres passed by underneath him. They carried components with special magnetic devices, which were attached to their bodies. The process passed quickly without any problems. During the procedure, Ezigio was usually put to sleep by the operating system. But not this time, he had no time to rest.

Ezigio first installed all the sensors and implants that were missing from his body. His body was already almost completely dominated by machines, and he had done it on purpose. Losing a few implants was no big deal, but it was better if he kept them intact. After the tools neatly disassembled his chest cavity, they immediately moved to his hands.

It was the most complicated and eccentric part of his body. Polvkrat, the creator of Ezigio's mechanical arm, was a Clockwork creature. He had always poured those mechanisms into his various creations, one of which was Ezigio's mechanical arm. He also endeavored to develop the arm in his spare time, considering how complicated it was. It had to be assembled part by part, and it started from his energy core.

Being the most explicit part, it was the source of his survival. Several barrier seals were also installed around it to keep it from leaking. Fortunately, it was not damaged too badly when Hazel punched it right in the chest.

"My one year's worth of luck used up just for that..."

Apart from his luck, Ezigio had also thought about installing another one. Although some people had also asked him, why only put up one when you could put up two? Each time the question was asked, he had to resist the urge to smash their heads on the spot.

'If it were that easy...'

While the mechanical arm was busy installing component after component, Ezigio remembered his companion.

"M10, open the upper hatch!"

[{Opening the door.}]

"Well, now just need to-"

"Watch out!!!"

A rumbling sound came from the ceiling as it shook the room. Explosions could be heard everywhere, as well as the sound of giant footsteps. Immediately afterward, the hatch door, which had not been fully opened, was smashed by something.

"Oh, my..."

That something was none other than Liana herself. She was still in her fighting mode so her body size was too large for the hatch. Some parts of her natural armor were cracked and the worst was broken. With the red-colored leather skin tissue underneath visible, Ezigio had a new assumption about them.

'Directly connected to the epidermis? No, maybe it acts like an epidermis?'

This place has a fairly high concentration of Abyssal energy. Continuous exposure to that energy is certainly not a healthy thing. But that only applied to ordinary people and Kuroner, who were just humans. In Liana's case, her body absorbed a large amount of that energy. Ezigio did not know exactly how the process of energy transformation, which belonged to his kind, worked. But he was pretty sure it had something to do with the two extra hearts they had.

'Directly that sounds tantalizing...'

It did not take long for Liana's armor to recover. Seeing it recover was also a fun ASMR show. It made rattling and hissing sounds that were pleasing to the ear.

"Hehe... sorry about the roof. I'll help you fix it later."

"Ah, no need..."

Amazed by how quickly the girl recovered, Ezigio thought of a few things. At first glance, Hazel had superior abilities. Regeneration might be a unique feature of her species. But that guy took it to too high a level. If it took a while for Liana to close that wound, it probably only took a split second for her.

Now that he was getting hooked, his obsession for Hazel started kicking back in. The obsession he had for him wasn't limited to the desire to defeat him. alone. It also had to do with how Hazel and the others could store ridiculous amounts of energy in their bodies. Maybe he was exaggerating, but he had never seen any human being used as a 'living battery'.

Many things about the legendary Hunter always amazed him. Of the many concepts Ezigio could apply to perfect his technology, he was fixated on Hazel's energy capacity. If his theory and calculations were correct, then Hazel was estimated to hold energy equivalent to the sun.

'But how is that possible? How can he store something like that in his body? Did I miss something… his heart?'

Letting himself enter a deep state of meditation, Ezigio scanned all the records in his brain. Hazel's second heart only activated at a critical moment when it started drawing energy from a mysterious source. With his eyes, he could see a vortex of energy coming out from somewhere. If indeed the second heart was functioning as an energy generator, it still needed fuel, right?

'Maybe Liana knows something, but I think this information might be too sensitive.'

He remained still for a while, letting his body reorganize slowly and in detail. While he thought about other things, he no longer felt the vibrations.

"Did you overcome the Clam Ram?" The young man asked as he checked the screen beside him.

"Ah, about that... I got a little help from the other Hunter." She replied hesitantly, for some reason she seemed reluctant about it.

"Another Hunter? Maybe the one I hired-"

"Hello? Ezigio, are you inside?"

The sound of knocking from outside made him freeze. The very familiar male voice in his ears made his eyes widen. He quickly set the screen to check the main entrance.

"Madou?"

He did not recognize anyone else who would wear a gothic maid outfit to battle. Even more so if they were tall caucasoid man with glittering golden eyes. At a glance, everyone knew that he was not a human. Because after all no human had golden veins all over their body.

Without thinking, Ezigio immediately ordered the system to open the door. The person in question also happily entered inside. The fishy smell of meat wafted faintly as he entered the room.

"Hello, Ezigio. I can see that you're getting 'changed'." The man said sarcastically behind him.

The battle axe he carried scraped against the cold metal floor. The atmosphere of the room began to grow tense as he got closer to Ezigio.

"Long time no see, mister Madou."

Madou Treschar was one of the most respected as well as dangerous Hunters second only to Hazel. His name might rarely be heard in the ears of ordinary people. But in the ranks of high-class Hunters, his name spread terror.

He was a Hunter who was only sent to hunt other Hunters. Whether it was because of an offense or just a grudge. He would do it as long as there was a payoff.

"I heard... you fought with Hazel. How did it go, did he almost kill you?" He asked coldly without any expression on his face.

"It didn't go well I guess, I'll have to use other tactics to deal with it. After all, I still haven't had time to use the form of judgment."

The form of judgment, something he had cultivated long ago.

The bearer of justice, pain, hope, and deceit. He was The Judgement, a figure who had once been a savior. There were only a few eyewitnesses who had seen him in person, but overall he was real. Many say that he looks like a knight in golden armor with wings on his back, punishing criminals with his golden spear. He only appears in the vile night where many misguided people roam.

What a heroic figure children aspire to be, Ezigio being one of them. He doesn't necessarily have the same goal as him, he has his own. If The Judgement makes himself a symbol of justice for the weak, then Ezigio will be the opposite. He will be realistic with his hopes and desires, to be seen as a light. Ensuring that the weak will suffer for their ignorance and laziness of not trying. Because in the end, the weak will remain weak if they do nothing but complain.

Hence, he created the figure of the Knight of Valor. A warrior who rewards hard work and courage, punishing those who are cowardly and lazy.

[{Installation process has been completed}]

The sizzling sound of hot steam accompanied by the sound of heavy metal falling, put Ezigio's mind back in place. He checked the condition of his body and confirmed that there were no defects. At this stage, his body was almost dominated by the machine. He could faintly hear the rattling sound of the gears on his hands turning. Being the most antique part among the rest, Ezigio placed a high artistic value on it.

Although there were no design changes to the body model, there were certainly many performance improvements inside. Added energy capacity, armor thickness, suspended heat regulation system, and more. This was his most powerful renewable technology to date. Ezigio also did not forget to add some gold accents along with attributes, in the same futuristic style as before.

It might seem strange to others to have a Clockwork-style mechanical arm when modern bionic arms are more efficient and easy to install. But to him, the arm was one of Polvkrat's most cherished legacies. Moreover, it had the advantages that today's modern technology lacked.

Silence filled the room, there were only blank stares between them. None of them said a word, only silence accompanied by the sound of ticking clocks and passing robots.

Finally, Ezigio decided to end the moment.

"Well, Madou. I think you have some news for me?"