I, Yuhaka, am hungry!

Effects: Improves heat resistance and duration of effectiveness.

Description: A special cold drink that abandons the unpleasant taste of bitter insects and incorporates blue mushrooms and mint.

Yuhaka heard the system's voice and turned to look at the system panel floating in the air. After realizing there was nothing wrong, he looked back.

"Ok?"

Exusiai stared blankly at the small tin shack not far away for a moment, then pointed at it and said to Texas:

"Texas, there's a small tin shack in the direction Yuhaka is pointing. Shall we go check it out?"

Texas nodded as she looked at the small tin shack that Exusiai pointed to and said:

"Okay, let's go check it out. It would be troublesome if the recipient missed it there. Youyou, let's get the weapon out first."

Upon hearing Texas's words, Yhaka pricked up his cat ears, shook them, and nodded to indicate that he understood. Yhaka then took out two straight-bladed swords and placed them at his waist. He then took out a folding crossbow and quiver that seemed rather large to him and slung them over his back.

This enormous folding crossbow was bought for Yhaka by the Emperor. Naturally, the Emperor would give Yhaka some benefits for such a powerful employee. At the same time, the Emperor knew that Texas's forces lacked an operator who could deal with heavily armored troops and large units, so he specially bought a heavy folding mechanical crossbow with a very strong armor-piercing capability for Yhaka.

This heavy-duty folding mechanical crossbow uses a hydraulic system to tighten the bowstring, so it requires strong mechanical and human strength to pull it. However, Yuhaka, with her exceptional strength, can easily pull open such a crossbow and equip this ferocious weapon with piercing bolts that can easily penetrate the large shields of heavily armored operators.

In a sense, this weapon should be a defensive weapon mounted on large mobile facilities, but the Emperor thought that such a weapon was very suitable for Yhaka to use, so he bought it for her, which can also be considered as strengthening Texas and her team.

After Yuhaka checked his heavy mechanical folding crossbow to make sure it was working properly, just like Exusiai did, he followed Texas and the others toward the small tin hut.

"Hey~ Is anyone home?"

Exusiai stood not far from the small tin shack and called out in its direction. Since she wasn't sure if walking up to it rashly would scare it, calling out was the best option.

A short while later, Texas and her friends saw a small head with curved horns slowly peek out from the doorway of the small tin shack, revealing one eye and looking at Texas and her friends with a somewhat timid and surprised expression.

"Hey? Who are you? Are you messengers from a nearby town, sent to deal with a natural disaster?"

Hearing Eyjafjalla's words, Texas and Exusiai exchanged a glance, and then Texas said to Eyjafjalla:

"We're not messengers of natural disasters, but messengers of Penguin Logistics."

Hearing Texas's words, Eyjafjalla was also taken aback, because she didn't know why a messenger from a logistics company would be here. However, Texas quickly took out a folder with the Rhodes Island logo from her backpack and said to Eyjafjalla:

"I delivered Rhodes Island's job application to you, Miss Eyjafjalla and Miss Geomancer. Could we have a further discussion, Miss Eyjafjalla?"

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

The Earth Spirit looked at the Rhodes Island job application in her hand, breathed a sigh of relief, and said to Texas and the others:

"Thank you for delivering Rhodes Island's job application to us."

Texas leaned against the side, looking at the earth spirit, and said:

"You're welcome, Miss Earth Spirit. It's our duty. But then again..."

Texas looked at the blood-stained bandages wrapped around the earth spirit's leg and said to her:

"Miss Diling's leg is injured, isn't it? How did this happen?"

Upon hearing Texas's words, the Earth Spirit showed a look of lingering fear and said:

"I got this by accident while dealing with the creature that caused this unusual volcanic activity."

Eyjafjalla, standing nearby, looked ashamed upon hearing the Earth Spirit's words, while Texas looked at the Earth Spirit with a puzzled expression and said...

"The creature that caused the abnormal volcanic activity? Is it an Originium Bug?"

Earth Spirit shook his head and said:

"No, that creature was one I had never seen before. Not only could it move freely through hard rocks like a fish, but it was also nearly 30 meters long. Most importantly, neither Eyjafjalla nor I's attacks had much effect on it."

Upon hearing this news, Texas stroked his chin thoughtfully for a moment, then asked the Earth Spirit:

"How long until the volcanic eruption?"

The spirit pondered for a moment and then shared its guess:

"If I'm not mistaken, we have about an hour left."

Upon hearing this answer, Texas's expression turned grim. It had already taken them about half an hour to get from where they got off the car, and it would take another 20 minutes to drive along the winding roads to the outer area before they could leave the volcanic region. The remaining time would make it difficult to get out of the volcanic area.

Just as Texas was pondering these questions, a sudden tremor caused the ground to shake violently, nearly causing Texas and the others in the small tin shack to fall to the ground. Exusiai, leaning on the table with a panicked expression, shouted:

"Whoa?! What happened?!"

The earth spirit, sitting on the bed, took out his staff, planted it in the ground, and used his Originium Arts to check the situation. Then, with a very grim expression, the earth spirit said to those present:

"Oh no! Volcanic activity is rising in the area. If this continues, the volcano will erupt in less than 40 minutes!"

Upon hearing Di Ling's words, everyone present showed expressions of shock, except for Yuhaka, who had a blank look on his face.

Chapter 112 [The Battle Against the Flame Dragon! Begins!]

On their way to the underground cavern at the center of the volcano, Texas and her group were leading Eyjafjalla and the Earth Spirit, who had recovered from his injuries after drinking the healing potion brought by Yhwach, to the location of the creature the Earth Spirit had mentioned.

On the way, the Earth Spirit, with a look of shame on her face, said to Texas and the others who were standing beside her:

"I'm sorry... for dragging you into this dangerous situation..."

Texas, standing to the side, said nonchalantly with an expression of utter indifference:

"It's okay, we're used to it."

When Texas said she was used to encountering such unexpected events, Eyjafjalla and the Earth Spirit, riding their little black sheep, both had strange expressions on their faces. Is logistics work always this exciting?

Well... it wouldn't be a problem if it were a regular large logistics company, but Penguin Logistics is the kind of company that handles both legitimate and illegitimate goods, so encountering unexpected situations is commonplace.

Soon, led by the Earth Spirit, Texas and her companions arrived at a spacious underground cavern. Exusiai, looking at the expansive cavern with a surprised expression, said:

"Wow, that's amazing... This is the first time I've ever seen such a spacious underground cave beneath a volcano."

Regarding Exusiai's words, the earth spirit beside them explained:

"The reason this place is so spacious is mainly because of the miners' mining operations. Although it doesn't have any major impact, we still need to pay attention to our surroundings at all times. If we notice any ground shaking, we need to be careful, because that creature can burrow underground."

Hearing Di Ling's words, everyone became more vigilant, as it would be bad if they were ambushed.

As they ventured deeper into the underground cavern, the temperature rose. The Earth Spirit wiped the sweat from her brow and said to Texas and the others:

Be careful now, because this is where those creatures are active. You'd better be aware of your surroundings at all times. Don't accidentally step on the lava; even if you're wearing heat-resistant boots, you'll still melt.

Texas and Exusiai nodded and said:

"Understood. When we encounter that monster later, please ask Miss Earth Spirit to restrict its movement."

The earth spirit nodded and said:

"No problem, I'll leave that creature to you then."

Soon, around a corner, Texas and her friends cautiously peeked out and looked at a creature that looked like a combination of a fish and a large lizard not far away.

"Wow... what kind of monster is this... (whispering)"

In Texas's field of vision, a giant creature over 30 meters long was using its anchor-like beak to peck at the corpse of a huge Originium worm.

Texas looked at the enormous creature and asked the earth spirits:

"Is that the creature? It doesn't look like it'll be easy to deal with (whispering)."

Earth Spirit nodded and said to Texas:

"Indeed, that creature's carapace is highly heat-resistant, and even Eyjafjalla's Originium Arts are not very effective against it. Moreover, the black substance on that monster's body is likely volcanic rock. If that volcanic rock solidifies, it will be extremely hard. Please be careful then."

Upon hearing the information from the Earth Spirit, Texas nodded in understanding. Then, Texas looked at Ehaka and said to her:

"Youyou, could you please use the explosive arrow to ambush that creature?"

Upon hearing Texas's words, Yuhaka nodded with an "OwO" expression, opened the bow arm of the heavy mechanical crossbow on his back, and then easily pulled back the bowstring and hooked it onto the trigger.

When Diling saw how easily Yuhaka pulled back the heavy mechanical crossbow, which was taut by a hydraulic system, a bead of cold sweat trickled down his forehead. He knew that heavy mechanical crossbows like this were usually pulled by a machine, and Diling had never seen anyone who could pull back such a bowstring.

That was the case at least before, but now the Earth Spirit suspects that the hydraulic system on Yhwach's heavy mechanical crossbow is broken or that there's something wrong with his eyes. Speaking of which, that's more than Eyjafjalla.

After placing an arrow with an explosive tip into the slot of his heavy mechanical crossbow, Yuhaka aimed at the creature in the distance through the scope.

That creature was the Flame Dragon, known as the Fire Dragon in Monster Hunter World. Yuhaka's system knew very well why this monster was here, but that didn't affect her training of Yuhaka's combat skills in her first form.

"Operation begins! Earth Spirit, Originium Arts!"

With a command from Texas, the Earth Spirit planted his Originium Arts staff, which resembled a tuning fork, into the ground. Instantly, the hard rock beneath the feet of the distant Flame Dragon turned into fine sand, and the Earth Spirit ceased using Originium Arts after the Flame Dragon was trapped in a pile of sand.

Seeing that the Flamedra was stuck in the fine sand, Ehaka aimed his heavy mechanical crossbow at the Flamedra's chest and shoulders, after all, Ehaka had once heard Exusiai's teachings:

When encountering a target, don't aim for the head first; instead, aim for the chest. Of course, unless you are absolutely certain you can hit the target, it's best to avoid aiming for the head altogether.

Yuhaka watched as the Flame Dragon thrashed about, its head shaking desperately as it sank into quicksand, and then set his sights on the Flame Dragon's chest and shoulders.

Yuhaka pulled the trigger of the heavy mechanical crossbow.

"boom!"

With a terrifying whooshing sound, a dark shadow flashed past everyone's sight, followed by a powerful explosion that directly drowned out Yan Gelong's screams.

After the Flame Dragon emerged from the flames of the explosion, Texas and the others could see that the black volcanic rock that had been attached to its upper body had disappeared, leaving only its carapace blackened by the explosion and the wounds from the torn carapace.

Texas took out her two Originium Swords and activated them, revealing their sharp gleam, while Exusiai took out her Etching Ammunition. This ammunition was extremely expensive and Exusiai would not normally use it, but this time the enemy was a little different.

"Draw your swords! Exusiai, Yuuyu, cover me!"

After saying that, Texas rushed forward, and Exusiai followed, raising her weapon and aiming at the Flame Dragon to launch an attack, saying:

"OK! Leave the cover to me!"

Meanwhile, Ehaka provided fire support for Texas and Exusiai by using his heavy mechanical crossbow with armor-piercing arrows around the outer perimeter. At the same time, Ehaka's attacks were the most threatening to the Flame Dragon.

Chapter 113 [The Battle Against the Flame Dragon! Huh? It's over?!]

"Click click click...click..."

After letting out its final mournful cry, the Flame Dragon collapsed onto the rock and lay motionless. Texas and Exusiai looked at the Flame Dragon, which was covered in wounds, and were somewhat bewildered.

"How strange! How come such a seemingly powerful creature is so easily defeated?"

In response to Exusiai's question, Texas, who was standing nearby chewing on a Pocky stick, nodded and said:

"Hmm, it's very likely due to aging individuals, right?"

Upon hearing Texas's name, Exusiai immediately began to flatter Texas, saying:

"As expected of Texas, they're really smart~"

Texas, standing to the side, looked at Exusiai with a speechless expression and said: