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[img]https://i.imgur.com/C7nwoGY.png[/img]
[b]Words:[/b] 1,213 (+2) (-6)
[b][color=ea590c]Edward Portsmith: Level 9 (22 cells) (2 level ups stored)[/color] [/b][color=ea590c]///////////////////////[/color]////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (23/90)
[b]Location[/b] Frozen highlands - The Midnight Walk 
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It was a relief that Sandalphon was both able to be awakened and, as she reported, noninfectious. The reason for this however raised the question as to why/when she had been exposed to the ergo substance. 

He had to sit on said question however, as there really was too much to do. First things first was to gather what they could salvage from the battlefield, be it dropped gear, fallen stagecoach equipment, genetic samples from frozen bug goop, scattered camping equipment or, of course, the spirits of the fallen bugs.

Edward put his golems to the task, while retrieving the symbol of avarice and crushing the collected spirits of the Icy Blowhog, Arctic Cannon Beetle, Glyphid Menace spirits, along with two Glyphid Praytorians and a few of the lesser grunts and hunters for good measure.  

[hider=Items Obtained] 
[b][url=https://pikmin.wiki.gallery/images/4/41/Secured_Satchel_P4_icon.png]Secured Satchel[/url][/b] It looks like a giant padlock. It is no doubt valuable, either when sold or for melting down as material, but it is very heavy and takes up a lot of space 
[b]Crab Buster[/b] A heavy bowgun crafted from the materials of Daimyo Hermitaur. It boasts straightforward power and high durability 
[b][url=https://i.imgur.com/0lzctyE.png]Pheromone Canister[/url][/b] When thrown, the canister bursts and showers all enemies within its radius, inflicting them with unique version of the Pheromone status effect. Enemies who are painted with the spray become targets for each other to attack, which will cause mass infighting. Each effected creature will attract up to 4 other creatures to attack them. 
[b][url=https://i.imgur.com/8y1hvos.png]Chitin Chestpiece[/url][/b] x2 Durable armor crafted from the carapace of an oversized arthropod. It provides pretty good defense (more so against slash damage, less so against impact damage), but has low durability and can get a bit warm 
[b]Scrip[/b] A kind of colorful hexagonal currency issued by Deep Rock Galactic mining corporation in lieu of actual compensation. Can be spent only at the company store and is worthless elsewhere. Coveted by dwarves for the cosmetic options they can purchase
[b][url=https://i.imgur.com/bV9RcM6.png]Tremendous Wave[/url][/b] It appears to be a beard. If it's touched to someone's face, they'll grow an enormous triangular beard to match it, in their own hair color and texture of course. It cannot be unequipped as easily and must be shaved, although it will not leave regrowable hair follicles behind that weren't there before if it was removed 
[b][url=https://stardewvalleywiki.com/mediawiki/images/b/b7/Bug_Steak.png]Bug Steak[/url][/b] A cooked slab of juicy bug flesh. It's...not great, but it is satisfying and will restore the stamina of the consumer 
[b][url=https://deeprockgalactic.wiki.gg/images/Malt_star.jpg]Malt Star[/url][/b] x3 Alien flower-like plants that contain extremely high concentrations of malt, excellent for the creation of high-quality beer with a variety of different effects 
[b]Zenny[/b] x 3200[/hider]

An eclectic mix for sure, but then wasn’t it always? The Bowgun however stood out as something immediately useful as it matched a description their resident monsterhunter had once given him of such weapons, and so he’d call out [color=ea590c]”Ace, you might be interested in this one”[/color] with regards to it.

Other than that, there was some more useful items like the bug meat and malt for the stew pot (leftovers were all well and good, but hot food did wonders in this climate), some sort of gas grenade that Edward loaded into his launcher for future use, and a pile of coins that Edward set aside for group sending. 

Less immediately useful were the giant novelty lock (which like the giant spoon was actually made of metal for some reason rather than being a painted prop) and chitin armor (the seekers who cared about such things had better) which would be selling fodder.

That left the scrip and beard, the former of which was presumably currency somewhere, the latter of which was just... strange.

One thing led to another, and by the end of it Edward needed his morning shave more than ever. 

There was, however, no time for such things, and so the only part of his daily routine he could do was getting dressed for the day, namely by strapping on his gear and doffing his armor. Without the Balahara Alpha not only had he been more vulnerable, but without its evasion extender boon he had to actively remember that his portal dodges did not go anywhere near as far rather than act on built up instinct, so it was good to be suited up once more.

With that out of the way, he assembled a rearguard for the carriage, consisting of two squads of iron golems flanked by coppers golems and with a squad of bronze golem pairs in between them, creating a variable wall of animated metal. This wall was positioned behind the stagecoach and neatly filled the tunnel that the drilldozer dug for them, ensuring none of the bugs that came up behind them could slip past. 

Well. On the floor anyway. The coppers had some reach to keep the walls clear, and the towering bronze golems could poke at ceiling climbers, but they’d need some more shooters if they wanted to keep the wall from being circumvented. Taffy, hunkered atop the stagecoach’s roof, could only flame blast so many bugs.

During the slow climb out of the earth, Edward occasionally glanced back through the window into the stagecoach to check on Sandalphon. As much as wanted to ask questions while they drove, the thunderstorm worth of noise the drilldozer outputted as it dug their way to freedom made him decide against it. The strain of needing to shout over it was not something he wanted to put her through.

Instead he focused his mental energy on coordinating the hunting pack he’d sent into the fungal caverns, which was engaged in a very snooze filled battle with the local morphean mushrooms. Between Loona the lunerpup’s hypnowaves and the SomnaDrix’s sleep gas the pack was as likely to put the fungal stalkers to sleep as said stalkers were. More likely, even, given that a swarm of inferno pups was a construct rather than flesh and blood, and thus unable to sleep. This meant its job was to nip at any sleepers to wake them up.

There had, admittedly, been a small flaw in this plan, namely that it triggered Loona’s galeeming aggression, but a quick baiting of her back to the stagecoach followed by a friend-hearting resolved that issue.

Once it was, the predators got back to hunting down blowfish and flying slimes to fill their bellies, somewhat diminishing the potion ingredient supply on offer.

When it came to oilshale gathering, Edward kept the minions out of the way of the operation itself and instead formed a perimeter to keep the two vehicles safe. He also took it upon himself to coordinate their departures, his many eyes letting him keep an eye on the seekers and ensure that everyone was ready for the next wave of bugs that the drill starting up again would summon. 

With any luck, they’d not need to take many stops, but Edward very much worried that they’d have lost the road due to this collapse, and did his best to track their direction traveled underground relative to where they had descended into it. It was something he was familiar with doing, as the worlds in the astral sea often contained extensive  underground realms full of all manner of their own skittering horrors of their own.

Of course, the surface sported those as well, but Edward could only hope that here and now they would find at least a moment respite wherever they emerged.

He was, after all, in desperate need of a shave.