I, Yuhaka, am hungry!

Just as Yuhaka was about to transform into its third form, a sudden burst of intense light struck the Rock Dragon from behind, instantly melting away the rock-like camouflage shell on its back. Although the attack did not have a significant impact on the Rock Dragon, it was enough to terrify it.

Before Yuhaka and Riko could react, the Rock Dragon swiftly dug a hole and escaped, leaving Yuhaka and Riko standing there bewildered and confused.

"Hey, Youyou..."

"Nani?"

"Just now, what was that beam of light...?"

"I don't know~"

...Searching for Yuhakali...

In the tree-dwelling fossil group on the first level of the Abyss, Yuhaka and Riko slowly walked towards the direction of the beam that had just attacked the rock dragon. Along the way, Riko also found a necklace that looked like a relic, picked it up, and put it around her neck. It can be seen that Riko has made it a natural habit to hoard relics.

Rico looked up at the melted fossil tree with some surprise and said:

"As for the fossilized trees around the first one, they've all been melted, and the marks have become quite prominent..."

Soon, after passing through the fossil trees and reaching a more open area, Yuhaka and Riko spotted a figure lying on the grass. Upon closer inspection, they saw it was a small child.

"Huh? What's with this little kid here?"

Moreover, Riko didn't seem to have any such child in her memory, but when Riko reached out to check for breathing, she suddenly discovered that the child wasn't breathing.

"Huh?! You're kidding! He's not breathing! We need to give him CPR right away—"

Just as Rico touched the cheek of the child lying on the ground, she immediately sensed something was wrong.

"Huh? Huh!? This child isn't human, it's a machine?!"

Chapter 43 [Nanagi is startled again]

"Huh? Huh!? This child isn't human, it's a machine?!"

Riko, her eyes sparkling as she covered her cheek, looked at the child lying on the ground with metal limbs and a special helmet on his head, and said:

Wow! This is amazing! I've never seen anything like it before!

Curious, Yuhaka reached out her little paw and patted the helmet on the head of the child lying on the ground, making a popping sound as she spoke to Riko:

"Rico, what is this?"

"Um……"

Riko pondered for a moment, then said to Yuhaka:

"It's probably something like a robot, right?"

Then, looking at the child lying on the ground with sparkling eyes, Rico said:

"And this child still carries a trace of warmth, didn't he just have it until now?"

but……

Rico looked at the cliffs of the Abyss with a hint of doubt and said:

"But...where did this child come from?"

Just as Rico was wondering where the child came from, she heard Nado and the others calling out from the far rear.

"Rico! Where are you!?"

"Riko—! Can you hear me?!"

Hearing her friend call her name startled Rico, and she said somewhat flusteredly:

"Oh no! Captain Gilluo and his men are here. If he finds this child, he'll probably have to hand him over!"

Riko looked at Eukaka and suddenly had an idea, saying to Eukaka:

"YuYu-chan! Could you please leave this child with you and Nanachi for now?!"

Hearing Riko's words, Yuhaka tilted her head slightly and nodded, saying:

"Well, I see..."

Rico gave Yuhaka a thumbs-up and said:

"Then I'll leave it to you, Yu-Yu-chan! Please pick me up tonight!"

"Ah."

Seeing that Yuhaka agreed to her suggestion, Riko quickly ran back in the original direction. Yuhaka glanced at the robot-like child lying on the ground, then grabbed one of his legs and threw him into her dimensional portal.

Yhaka then made his escape.

...Inside the dimensional rift of Yuhaka...

As the dividing line indicated, Zelus looked at the child lying inside the Yhaka dimensional cave and said:

"Well... although it wasn't my intention, just in case you try to steal my cabbage, I'll turn you into a cabbage first."

Then Zelus revealed a cunning smile and said to the child lying on the ground:

"Don't blame me later..."

...Yohaka traversed the deep trench worm tunnel...

After giving the Hammerbeak he had hunted on the first level of the Abyss to the chef, Yuhaka bought some ingredients at the market and then used his deep trench worm tunnel to return to Nanachi's home.

Nanachi looked at Yuhaka, who had just opened the door, and said:

"Yeah, you're back, Youyou. How was your day? Hmm?"

Nanachi was slightly taken aback when she noticed that Yuhaka wasn't wearing his usual animal skin cloak. She then looked at Yuhaka with a puzzled expression and said:

"Huh? Youyou, where did your weird cape go?"

Yuhaka shook his head, a little annoyed, and said to Nanachi:

"The cloak was burned by the big, hard bird."

Upon hearing Yuhaka's words, Nanachi paused for a moment, then said with a speechless expression:

"A big, hard bird? What kind of strange beast is that?"

When Nanachi thought of Yuhaka, she thought of a bird-like creature that looked very tough. But the fact that Yuhaka's cloak could be burned meant that the guy was a tough opponent.

"Um... Youyou, are you alright?"

Hearing Nanachi's words, Yuhaka shook her head and said:

"The big, strong bird of a man, Des, was scared away."

Soon, Yuhaka opened his dimensional portal and took something out. Nanachi, seeing Yuhaka taking something out of his portal, curiously went closer to take a look and said to Yuhaka:

"Hmm? What are you planning to make for dinner tonight? —"

Nanachi didn't finish her sentence because when she saw Yuhaka pull a "person" out of the dimensional hole, her expression immediately turned into one of wanting to scream. However, because of the last time Yuhaka kidnapped Lily to her house, Nanachi had already developed some resistance.

Nanachi, suppressing the urge to criticize Yuhaka, looked at the child in Yuhaka's hand who looked about her age and said somewhat speechlessly:

"Um... Youyou... Why did you kidnap someone else's child this time..."

Hearing Nanachi's words, Yuhaka tilted her head and said to Nanachi:

“Kidnapping? This is... Yuu and Riko, they picked them up.”

"Hmm?"

Upon hearing Yuhaka say that she and Riko had picked up the child, Nanachi immediately felt that the child was a nuisance. Yuhaka, however, looked puzzled when she smelled the child she had thrown onto the haystack.

Yuhaka clearly remembered that the child smelled like a boy, but now the smell had turned into a girl's, which puzzled Yuhaka greatly. Could this guy, whom Riko called a robot, be able to change his personality?

Yuhaka was very curious about this, while Nanachi, who was standing next to her, had a question mark on her head when she saw the mechanical arms on the child's body.

"What is this? It looks like a machine, huh?"

When Nanaqi approached the child, she suddenly sensed something was wrong. Then, when Nanaqi placed her hand under the child's nose, she suddenly realized that the child... was no longer breathing.

"Mmm-ah——————!"

Nanachi's screams echoed again from her home on the fourth level of the Abyss.

....................................

That evening, at Nanachi's house, Riko looked at Nanachi with a very apologetic expression and said:

"I'm so sorry, Nanachi! I'm so sorry that letting Youyou bring this child to your house so suddenly and causing you such a big shock!"

"Feel sorry……"

Yuu, standing nearby, also apologized to Nanachi, mimicking Riko's apologetic manner. Nanachi, looking exasperated, waved her hand and said to Riko:

"Hmm... never mind, although I know you didn't mean it, but next time, could you please let me know first? But speaking of which..."

Nanachi looked at the huge pile of tools Riko had brought and said, somewhat speechlessly:

"So, Rico, do you want to tear that child apart?"

Rico gave an awkward smile, scratched her cheek, and looked away slightly, saying:

"Well... I guess it's just the curiosity of a cave explorer?"

Upon hearing Riko's words, Nanachi immediately felt that she probably wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.

Chapter 44 [Youyou Brand Power Bank]

Nanachi's eyes twitched as she looked at the items in Riko's backpack: a dagger, a torch, a ruler, a screwdriver, a magnifying glass, a drill, pliers, and a series of other seemingly dangerous items.

If Nanachi hadn't known that the child lying on the haystack was a robot, she would have suspected that Riko and Yuhaka were planning to kill and dismember someone in their own home.

However... after seeing Riko's expression that looked like she wanted to tear something down, Nanachi suddenly wondered if she should call the police or something.

Of course, all of the above were things that Nanachi was thinking about, and Riko, who was tidying up the tools on the side, had no idea what Nanachi was thinking.

"Hmm... I have a feeling this child seems a little different from last time?"

Riko, standing next to the robot, looked at the robot lying on the haystack with a puzzled expression and said this. Zelus, who was secretly watching from inside the system space, clicked her tongue when she heard Riko's words.

"Tch, I should say, as expected of the protagonist, he even noticed such a small detail..."

Zelus sat on the spherical sofa, watching the robot lying on the haystack... well, now she should be called a robot loli. Zelus was already used to Regu's cremation cannons missing their mark, after all, when Zelus was reading the "Made in Abyss" manga, Regu almost never hit the mark when firing the cremation cannon.

If the last time the Cremation Cannon had hit that Rock Dragon, Ehaka wouldn't have had so many problems.

Now that the Rock Dragon has escaped, it will be troublesome if it turns into a Migratory Species or a Variant, since monsters in Monster Hunter World mutate too easily in other environments.