Pearl Island has been historically known to have a guardian protecting and taking tribute from the natives to supplement their growth with less risk. Many sea monsters battle for the throne to gain control of the steady supply, but the most recent guardian has stayed dominant and ruled triumphantly for over fifty years. It is an intelligent monster that uses the opponents it defeated as subordinates which helps maintain its position at the top of the food chain. Despite this, it remains a popular tourist area, and its exports of high-quality seafood make them a popular spot for food enjoyers.

~ Resource Unit for Pearl Island by Donovan Giddey

Chester wondered how his past self from a year ago would react to what he was doing now.

'Maybe he'd wonder why I'm toiling away deep underground. Or maybe why the FUCK am I fighting off massive fucking ants with a sex robot? Probably the second one.'

The illusionist was distracted by his musings when a vicious ankheg the size of a small car caught him from behind in its razor-sharp mandibles. It pinched his torso but instead of being cleaved in half, Chester simply felt a mild pressure around his sides that made it uncomfortable to breathe. He shifted his iridescent flail into a hammer and began swinging it over his head for greater accuracy.

Hammer Mastery is now level 2.

He could feel the weight of his blows making an impact on the ankheg's broad head and it threw him onto the side of the cavern wall. Chester groaned in pain, hating how the metal dug into his ribs at a certain point. He managed to curl up and prevent any untoward damage from going to his head.

"01, do you mind being a sweetheart and healing my armor? It got a bit smashed up." The illusionist called out as he got up. Everywhere around him, Scrap Bots and lesser automatons fought the Stonejaw Ankhegs at bay. As Elric said, they were the meanest, toughest-looking variants they'd seen so far. Even with double the numbers, they were struggling to deal with five Stonejaws at once. The only silver lining was the fact that they didn't have any ranged attacks and their acid spells were extremely weak. Android 01, in all her metallic glory, came over and pointed her hand at him.

"Mending. Get back to work."

Similar to Priest Engel's spell, the Mending spell was only good for repairing equipment. This seemed to extend towards the plated exteriors of the robot machines, as Android 01 was responsible for healing. By the looks of it, even the Scrap Bots would have a hard time dealing with the Stonejaw's mighty strength that could even pierce through mithril and orichalcum. In his personal opinion, they were less troublesome to deal with strictly due to the lack of anomalous effects in their acid. Although it was still corrosive, his armor protected him from a majority of the damage.

Chester groaned and mumbled as he cast Hypnotic Pattern on the insectoid he was fighting. Spinning the transformed flail in his hand while being empowered by his Greater Mana Infusion spell, he deftly avoided its charge and wrapped the chain around its legs. The greyish ankheg fell after having two of its legs yanked on. He knew that attacking the exoskeleton was as futile as squeezing blood out of a stoat so Chester raised his hand and began collecting power into his palm.

"Mana Blast."

It exploded in the beast's face and it screeched in pain, unable to get up. The chains melded together and formed a long, needle-like sword. In the instant the ankheg realized it was free, it was pierced through the roof of its mouth and died almost immediately.

You have slain Stonejaw Ankheg (Level 26)

You have leveled up! You are now level 25.

"Oh, sweet!"

He placed everything into AGI, bringing his base stat to 77 and combined with all his bonuses at a whopping 110. Chester thought about the idea of bringing all of his major stats to 100 as he wanted to see what sort of bonuses came with every Perk he received. The illusionist set it as a long-term project, as he wanted to focus on his strengths first and foremost. INT and AGI would receive the majority of his attention until he was in a position to screw around with his stat points.

"The task is not finished. Keep working." Android 01 said, pointing Chester at the other Stonejaws still alive. The Scrap Bots had killed the others and only had to worry about the remaining two. They were having a difficult time as the pair of ankhegs had the sense to cooperate and protect each other's backs.

"Okay, okay. Slave-driver. Can't even celebrate my accomplishments, no wonder you lot are dealing with employee revolts."

"What was that?" She said dangerously, transforming her hand into an extremely sharp and pointy appendage. The outer mithril segments parted and revealed that her interior was made of adamantium.

"I said that those boobs of yours are looking mighty heavy. Want me to hold them for you?"

"No need. I can support the weight of my frame without any trouble."

He shook his head and continued working. The Scrap Bots fighting alongside him were ones that he hadn't encountered before. Three of them surrounded the Stonejaws, raising their arms in preparation for a simultaneous strike.

"Move out the way!"

Chester leaped above them all, taking care to duck to avoid smashing his head into the ceiling. Rearing his arm back, he swung and nailed the Stonejaw right in the face. Due to its hardy exoskeleton, it didn't die on impact. However, it did recoil and attracted the second one's attention.

"Deal with the other one!"

Spikes of pure earth walloped the second ankheg, preventing it from giving chase to the man who attacked its partner. Another Scrap Bot came along and brought its sawblade limb down on the exoskeleton, making a loud noise as it tried to rip through the tough exterior. Comforted by the fact that the other one was busy, he returned his attention to the dazed ankheg that tried to charge at him. He narrowly avoided it and watched as the insect headbutted the third Scrap Bot in their group. It craned its neck one-hundred and eighty degrees like an owl and held on tight to slow down the charge. Its legs trotted along the ground and made an imprint, still being pushed back by the momentum of its charge.

They knocked over a myriad of lesser robots in the process and Chester couldn't help but liken them to bowling pins.

'Well, that's how useful they are in this fight. They can barely even distract them for a second!'

Despite this, one of the lesser robots managed to cling onto its leg and slow it down even further. The illusionist stepped forward but saw that Android 01 had made her move. With a speed that rivaled his own, she dove in and kicked it on its underbelly. A squelching noise could be heard as she drove her foot even deeper into its torso.

You have slain Stonejaw Ankheg (Level 24)

When Android 01 took out her leg from the beast, it had become a sharp spike. Chester could see that the female robot had some sort of shifting ability that revealed hidden weapons, although he wasn't sure if it was a class skill or her just simply being a robot. It seemed that the other Scrap Bots were able to finish off the other Stonejaw during the skirmish and Chester raised his fist.

"Great! Are we done here? I'm tired as hell." He fanned himself and pulled on his shirt. The armor was stifling and in the underground environment where it was significantly more humid than on the surface, it only served to make the illusionist sweat like a pig. Although he was tempted to unclasp his armor the man didn't want to get caught by an attack while they were deep in the mines.

"Yes. Our task is done here." It turned its head away from Chester and focused on the lesser robot which had stuck to the Stonejaw's leg. It had risen and its lone eyes began glowing green instead of the usual blue. "This one is eligible for a promotion. Congratulations, foot soldier."

It saluted their superior. "Does this entail. A pension plan? "

"No."

Their casualties were minimal. Only five of the foot soldiers had been destroyed in the fight, and the Scrap Bots suffered little damage in the process. Chester strongly believed that his contributions were significant and the primary reason why they won the fight with so little collateral. He watched as the robots began picking up the pieces, and he inspected the corpses of the ankhegs they fought.

"Do you guys harvest any of these?"

"No need. The metals we use are far more durable than ankheg exoskeletons."

With Android 01 and Chester at the forefront of the group, they silently walked back to the junkyard. The man was deep in thought, occasionally taking the chance to sneak a peek at the automaton's curvaceous figure beside him. He wondered if it had any...interior features apart from combat.

'I should ask Elric. I'm sure this is a morally ambiguous thing to do if it's actually a sex robot. Clearly, it has sentience. All of these guys do. This feels like some sort of dystopian novel.' The illusionist wondered if this qualified for statutory rape as the android was likely made within the past decade or so. Although it had the form of an adult woman, it was technically around five to ten years old by his estimate.

After ten minutes of walking, they finally arrived at a railroad. Several minecarts, custom-designed to support the weight of the machines, were boarded and Chester took this chance to stretch his legs. He remembered how underrated flexibility and coordination were and began to reach for his toes. Android 01 took a wire running along the bottom and powered the minecarts using her mana, and Chester grunted as the vehicle began to move. It wasn't as fast as his top speed while running, but it was enough to save time while conserving stamina.

He wondered how Damien and Christopher were doing. They had been split up to do numerous duties. The priest was assigned to help fix and repair automatons with his Mending skill, and Damien joined Elric to dispatch another infestation elsewhere. It was hard to communicate with the metallic minions, as they were unable to understand jokes and didn't feel emotions in the same way humans could which made things awkward. The only thing that seemed to get a conversation out of any of them was when he brought up worker's rights. He turned to his companion in the car and decided to make some small talk with Android 01.

"So...mind telling me how you guys got involved with this war against ants?"

"It's our prerogative. Simple as that."

"Yeah, but why?"

"Elric commanded us to, and we've spent our lives working towards the goal of exterminating them."

Chester shook his head. It felt like a futile mission to find out what the enigmatic man had been doing all this time in a junkyard of all places. He knew it wasn't as simple as the ankhegs being too troublesome to escape from. With all the resources at his disposal, Chester knew for a fact that escaping to the surface would've been a breeze. There must've been something keeping the man down here, and he wanted to find out.

After an uneventful ride through the tunnels, they returned to the junkyard. The open expanse of garbage was not the sight he wanted to see after a long day's worth of work. There wasn't any light from above anymore, signaling that it was nighttime. This didn't mean the junkyard wasn't illuminated. Haphazard light fixtures stuttered to life, made from the remnants of what people likely dropped down here.

"Your task is complete. You are free to do what you will."

"Where can I find Elric?"

"Elric is likely in his office. Go straight and take a hard left. Please take this foot soldier with you. He will know what to do."

Chester carried his equipment by the straps, having taken them off as soon as he saw the tunnel's exit. The automaton followed closely behind him. It didn't say a word, and Chester wasn't as interested in making conversation. He was tired and wanted a nice, long, rest. Taking the left turn, he went the opposite way from where Android 02 and the conveyor belts were. He supposed that was where most of the robots converged for repairs and such. The pathway to Elric's office was clear and contained little to no garbage. Everything was swept to the side and the man could quickly see a small building with an open window. It was made of junk and debris like most of the surroundings, but it looked a tad bit more accomodating than everywhere else.

The voice of Damien could be heard as he approached, and he tilted his head to hear what the boy was saying.

"-in all honesty, he has a good heart. I couldn't imagine anybody else to have my back in any situation."

Chester held his chest, touched by the vampire's sincere words. Damien continued, and the illusionist told the robot to quiet down while he listened to the vampire sing his praises.

"He sounds like a good man." Elric rumbled quietly. There was a slur to his words, and Chester couldn't pinpoint why it sounded so different from when they first met. It lacked the slight echo he presumed that came with talking through that massive helmet of his.

"People had this misunderstanding of who he was. But I know better." He preened at those words. They were the kindest thing anyone's ever said to him, aside from the time when Ms. Polkins complimented his ability in bed. "My brother Braham is a kind person like me."

They turned their attention to the door, which was rudely opened by Chester. Elric spotted the man and raised a bottle in his hand.

"You look like someone took a shit on your bed." The man said. His facial features were fully revealed. Elric had set his helmet down on the table and took a swig of what the illusionist presumed was alcohol. With long, matted hair that went below his shoulders and a scraggly beard that looked both long and thin, it certainly wasn't what Chester expected. His most defining trait was a large scar around his right eye, which looked to be replaced with a bionic one that glowed a subtle blue. The illusionist could tell just by looking at the shape of his face and eyes that the man was likely Asian.

"Ow! What was that for?" Damien rubbed his head after the illusionist flicked him on the head. The boy didn't feel much from the petty attack, but he commented on it to express his displeasure. Chester 'tsked' at him and sat on the edge of the table, refusing to elaborate why he was irritated. He took Elric's bottle and drank without looking at the label.

He almost spat it out. But Chester wanted to unwind, so he swallowed it and felt the liquid burn the back of his throat. The man wasn't a connoisseur by any means, but even he could tell that was hard liquor. More powerful than anything he'd drank since he arrived. "Ugh, where the hell did you even get this? Also, the robot over there was for you."

"Your priest friend's pack. He lent it to me. Haven't had a drink like this in a decade." Elric looked at the robot and recognition was visible in his eyes. "Ah, this one's good for promotion. Sweet!"

He reached out to it and it began to glow brightly. Although the light powered down and nothing happened to the robot externally, both Damien and Chester could feel something different. It had a mana core now. Almost like the Scrap Bots that they encountered. Elric ordered it to go to Android 02, and it nodded its head before leaving.

"What do you mean it's eligible for promotion?"

"When I first made these guys, the ones who survived the longest in expeditions would get some sort of...notification? Yeah, that sounds about right. It's the thing that takes them from a construct and into an actual creature that can level up. That's how my Scrap Bots are created."

"So all the Scrap Bots are just evolutions of the foot soldiers?"

"Pretty much, yeah. Although we control how they evolve by retooling them and changing their exteriors. If we gear them up with mithril, their evolution would be a mithril-based Scrap Bot. Android 02 is usually responsible for mapping out the requirements, but since I'm the originator for them I have to manually promote them. It's a tedious process."

"What about the Androids? Are they the next evolution afterward?" Damien asked. He was curious and wanted to know more about the powerful constructs that had sentience on the level of their own.

"No, they're created through an entirely different process. A class-exclusive skill. That's why there are only two of them and why they're on a different level in terms of material and ability. They've kept me company, kind of stopped me from going insane down here."

"That's what I wanted to ask you about. Why do you stay here?"

Elric sobered up when the man mentioned that. "When I first came here, my first goal was to escape. I lost a lot during those first few years." He showed his hand, which shifted at will due to the segmented plates it was composed of. The interior was full of wires, metal, and other miscellaneous parts. Nothing within indicated any sign of biological material.

"Wait...you're not wearing armor? You're built the same way Android 01 is? What about your head?"

"That's the only thing that remained human after I evolved. By the time I reach level fifty, I had replaced about two-thirds of my body with metal parts. The ankhegs were too much to handle."

The human and vampire duo looked at each other knowingly. Chester had been aware of the next level milestone at level fifty and how it affected their class and race. It appeared as though his fellow Earthling underwent a traumatic experience that led to him taking a different path from the others.

"But you still didn't answer the question. Why are you still here? God knows how many tunnels your robots have dug. It would've been a piece of cake to get out of here."

Elric slammed his hands on the table. "Do you really think that I'd let these ankhegs go after leaving me like this? It's hard to even call myself human anymore. I don't feel pain, I don't feel tired the same way I used to. Even drinking this alcohol doesn't affect me the same way anymore. I'm not leaving until I exterminate every single one of those insect fuckers."

The man's animosity was a shock. The way he talked about the ankhegs as though they were his mortal enemy encapsulated why it translated to the robots. It seemed as though every move he had taken up until this point was solely for revenge against a bunch of ants.

"Dude, I don't know how to tell you this, but the ankhegs aren't just here. I'm pretty sure they're worldwide. Right, Damien?"

The vampire nodded his head slowly. "If I recall, there is a problem with them closer to the farmlands. Mostly because the frequency of them appearing on the surface was unnaturally high."

Elric shook his head. "You lot wouldn't get it. Spending your nights, living in fear and hiding from a bunch of mindless monsters that wouldn't hesitate to rip you apart. How cou-"

"That happened to me. I got dropped in a forest and spent the first week just running. A pack of these fire-breathing wolves got to me and..."

Their conversation lasted for hours. It quickly became a bragging contest to see who had it worse during their first stint on Aetheria, and Damien found it hard to contribute to the discussion. A few bottles of the hard liquor had been finished by the two adults while Damien sat there perfectly sober listening to their rambles. He dug into his pack and withdrew the pack of blood and poured himself a canteen to sip from.

"Can you believe it?" Chester said, putting his chin on the metal table gesturing wildly. "A fucking polar bear. Or a Dire Bear, if I remember correctly. It was huge! I honestly don't know how it ended up there."

The vampire stilled upon hearing that. He did recall an incident where one of their beast tamer's pets was lost in the Arcadian Forest. But he shook his head, dismissing it as a coincidence.

"Okay, I'll admit. That does sound pretty fuckin' wild. But come on, at least you had food! You know what I had to eat? Ant guts! Sometimes the acid sac would get punctured and I'd be eating sludge to survive!"

Chester whooped and hollered, wrapping his arm around the vampire boy's shoulders. His breath reeked due to the alcohol and lack of toothbrushes underground. Damien's sensitive nose scrunched up in disgust after catching a whiff. "I know you don't speak English, he said he ate ankheg innards. HAHAHA!"

The boy pushed him off and declined the alcohol Elric offered. He didn't want to stoop to their level and asked about Priest Engel's whereabouts.

"Should be with Android 02. I had him helping out with repairs."

With that, the vampire prince left the drunken humans to reminisce and talk about tales from their past life and current. He hoped that the elderly man was better company. Finishing the rest of his blood-filled canteen, he traveled across the junkyard shrouded in darkness.