Que soon led them to a large gate, which still fit within the confines of the structure, further proving the immense size of the building they were currently in.

  It left Richard curious how large the building in the Australian federation were.

  Were they all this size? Was it unique in its nature, or did they have many such buildings?

  Though it seemed unreasonable to him, it wasn't impossible either. After all, from what they were told, this structure was powered by a middle of the road kaiju. With this understanding, as well as the fact that they were able to control and manage what was considered a 10th level kaiju, it was safe to assume this flying fortress wasn't the only of its kind.

  The idea of a fleet of such flying buildings was... terrifying.

  Que spoke with a guard who was standing in front of the gate.

  It was a quick conversation, and soon the gate opened up.

  A rush of a foul, musky odor unique to wild creatures rushed past them, as the sound of large grunting beasts could be heard.

  What came into sight was bears. Huge bears

  That was the first thought that came into Richard's mind as he best compared it to any other creature he had ever seen.

  The "bears" were rather large, with the smallest being a clear four meters tall.

  Large, lumbering grey beasts, the way they sat, hunched over was quite similar to the bears he'd seen out in the wild.

  But while most of their body shape was similar to bears, their heads were different.

  Giant fluffy round ears, like two giant pads attached to the top of its head.

  And a rather funny looking snout he had ever seen.

  They were rather cute lumbering beasts... were it not for the bloody leaves they were eating.

  They were consuming weird looking plants, not weird in their structure, but the blood like liquid that poured out of the plants, exuding a thick scent of metal.

  Lysandre let out a "cute" inadvertently. causing those who knew her to sigh helplessly.

  Yeah, that was Lysandre alright.

  The things she found cute were cute things, but they all had a hint of ferocity. Bears, killer rabbits, hounds, and many other monsters that were often more violent than their normal counterparts.

  It often left RIchard a little confused about himself, whom Lysandre had also called cute a few times.

  If he asked his friend Olivia and Frodo, they would've laughed.

  Richard was a perfect definition. Normally a very reserved and handsome person contrary to his own view of himself, he was extremely vicious when people threatened people he cared about. The very first interaction he had after reuniting with Lysandre was example enough.

  He was like a golden retriever who had just come back with a man's throat hanging from his mouth, confused that he was being called vicious.

  Cute, but terrifying at times.

  Que chuckled, as he voiced his agreement. "Indeed, they are are rather cute even with the bloodstains around their mouths. They are messy eaters." he said, walking by them.

  Despite their ferocious temperament, they were completely uninterested in the people walking by them.

  Que began to introduce the interesting creature before them. "These are dropbears. We call them that in part due to their physiques, which due to the hollow earth energy has mutated into a body shape akin to a bear. They aren't actually bears by the way. They're a mutated form of koala we found near the hollow earth in our early years of pioneering."

  He walked up to one, waving his hand in front of it. The enlarged koala merely looked over, seeing nothing in hand, showed a look of distaste and looked away.

  "The original dropbears we encountered were extremely vicious beasts. THat's another reason we called them dropbears. They used to drop from above and tear apart unsuspecting people.

  Koalas specifically eat eucalyptus leaves to the point of death. Koalas will eat eucalyptus leaves only, and they have to be on the branch. If they're not, they won't even recognize them as food.

  Of course, as kaiju, they have a higher need for consumption, especially in terms of protein. Luckily, there was a species of eucalyptus we found that was similarly mutated to a larger proportion.

  Bloody eucalyptus.

  In fact, dropbears don't kill people to eat. They kill them to feed them to the bloody eucalyptus, nourishing the plants and thus nourishing them.

  And like koalas, they recognize nothing but the bloody eucalyptus as food.

  Once we realized that, they became much easier to domesticate. Once you control the eucalyptus, you control them. Were they a higher rank of kaiju, the situation would be different, but drop bears rarely go above the rank of 3, making them manageable by human hands. "

  Hearing this, Olivia looked curious and she asked. "Where did you find them? I thought kaiju came from the hollow earth? You didn't find them in the tunnels did you?"

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  Que looked excited as he continued to explain. "While nowadays they are a lot harder to find, back in the day when our people first arrived, there were kaiju all over the land of Australia. It was a dangerous time for sure. Even though kaiju above the 5th level always choose to return underground after a while, many below the 5th level chose to stay above ground once they arrive. We believe it is due to the lack of competition or threats from higher level kaiju being nonexistent there.

  As for the high level kaiju, we believe that the energy is far more abundant underground, and more suitable for the living condition of kaiju. And for high level kaiju, the concentration of energy is necessary for long term survival.

  Frankly speaking, without the immense luck we had when we first arrived at Australia, there's no doubt that the expedition would've failed, and the federation you know today would never be."

  He paused in front of a larger gate before cheerfully responding.

  "We're here! This is my partner., Filo."

  The drop bear in front of them was different from the others. For one thing, it dwarfed the other drop bears, nearing twenty meters all.

  Still smaller than sister Alexandria, but larger than him. (note, I'll be using meters and I think I'm setting RIchard's height to 10 meters. Realized that meters sound easier.)

  And while the others were grey, the one before them had a shade of gold on it, causing it to have a metallic texture.

  It's temperament was a bit different too, as thought it clearly disregarded all else but its master, it didn't have the same ferocity in its eyes, having a more calm and distant demeanor.

  The eucalyptus it was eating was quite different too, and unlike the bleeding plants from before, this one was almost like a metal statue of a eucalyptus.

  The most fascinating thing were the large black patches around its eyes. They were a greatly distinguishing feature, that made it clear to all that this best was different from the other dropbears.

  As Que approached it, a joyful look appeared in his eyes as he raised his arms up, and the bear fondly responded, Cuddling with its human partner.

  The difference between friends and strangers could be seen here.

  "Filo and I have been acquainted since a young age. This is to ensure the bond of intimacy between rider and partner, since dropbears tend to be cold, but not violent, towards those they view as outsiders. A rather close-minded species, which took us having a very tight grip on eucalyptus to work around.

  You must've noticed that he's a lot bigger than the rest. Unlike the others, Filo is a class 4 kaiju."

  Hearing this, Lyssandre had a look of disbelief as she looked at the beast with a questioning look on her face.

  "You said that class five kaijus can reach 50 meters, but Filo seems rather small in comparison..." she said with uncertainty, but Olivia decisively refused.

  "It does seem smaller than you would expect for such a claim, and yet the level of danger it gives off is greater." she said, observing the dropbear carefully with a hint of fear in her expression and sister Alexandria nodded in agreement. "Yes. Olivia's been a hunter longer than you have so she has a better sense of this than you do. The threat of this dropbear is not low." she said in a rather high form of praise.

  Unlike Olivia, there was no fear in her expression, only surprise and genuine praise.

  It didn't surprise him that much. Sister Alexandria could be considered amongst the top powers of this world, able to compete with the Gods themselves.

  If this small, class four kaiju could threaten her, then Richard would have to reconsider te threat level of these kaiju.

  Que looked proud. "Yup. Although it's smaller than most kaiju of its rank, the dropbears are more athletic and capable of navigating the battlefield. And despite their diminutive size, dropbears condense their weight into that smaller size so that when they drop from the air, the impact is that much greater.

  "Like a cannonball!" Lyssandre said in realization and Que nodded.

  Sister Alexandria still looked rather curious as she asked another question. "I couldn't help but notice that this beast seems to have... mutated. I wonder if this has anything to do with its higher level?"

  Hearing this, Que looked pretty surprised. "So you noticed? " he paused before asking. "Do you know what a bloodline is?"

  "I know a little." she responded and Que showed a genuine look of surprise. "Really? We've been asking around the empire, and we noticed that most people here don't know much about bloodlines. We didn't know much either initially. It was only during our time exploring the qing empire's hollow earth tunnel that we learned a bit." He added the second part, as if afraid of coming off as rude.

  No one really took it to heart. After all, bloodline was a little known thing. THe only reason the group here even knew was partially due to Richard's own resources from the system, which was willing to answer much of what it considered general knowledge, and sister Alexandria, who knew much befitting someone of her power and status.

  "So this mutation has to do with its bloodline then?"

  "Indeed, we encountered an opportunity in the qing empire, where Filo here managed to absorb the gold eating beast, the ancestor of today's iron-eating beasts/pandas, which seem to be a hollow-earth influenced species. It allowed Filo here, as well as a handful of other dropbears and iron eating beasts to increase their potential.

  They're calling this new group the golden body dropbear. The rest are currently being bred back in the facilities since their potential is clearly higher than normal dropbears, though we're waiting to see what their reproduction rates are before we see how we'll distribute them.

  Hearing this, Frodo couldn't help but sigh contentedly. "To think we would get to witness the dawn of a new lifeform. A truly great blessing indeed."

  RIchard found himself drawn to the eucalyptus in the dropbears hand. "What kind of plant is that?" he asked and Que responded patiently.

  "A hybrid breed. After the emergence of this new species we found that the dropbears needed a high concentration of gold, so we began breeding the eucalyptus with the iron bamboo that iron eating beasts eat to refine their bodies, which we evolved into the golden stalks. They have a high concentration of minerals, and are unsuitable for personal consump-

  Crunch!

  A loud crunch interrupted the conversation as Achil could be seen chewing on one of the eucalyptus stalks, much to Que and Filo's visible confusion, as the pair shared the same look of confusion.

  SIster Alexandria reacted immediately. "I don't suppose we could purchase some of this plant from you? Or even the golden stalks?"

  Que smiled and spoke accommodatingly. "Of course. We've been cultivating both within the castle. After all, these oversized koalas won't eat anything but the bloody eucalyptus. I've been growing the golden stalks separately, since they're higher in gold concentration than the new hybrid, and Filo now enjoys bamboo.

  Just consider this part of the favor I owe you." he said graciously, and sister Alexandria thanked him earnestly.

  Though it took him a moment to figure it out, RIchard soon understood why she took action so quickly.

  The fact that Achil had taken action so earnestly to eat some of the eucalyptus showed that it was likely good for him in some way, whether it be the high concentration of gold, or perhaps something else in the plant.

  He suspected it had something to do with his carapace in dragon form. Perhaps by eating the golden stalks he could increase his density?

  That was merely speculation on his part, and similarly so on sister Alexandria's part, bt they were monsters.

  Their instincts were often stronger than the mind, so if Achil's instincts said it was good, why not buy some?

  Now that he knew, Richard decided to put saving points and buying some from the shop on the list of reasons to save points.

  Before anyone else could speak, a large pair of hands emerged from behind Que, pulling him into a deep embrace.

  He didn't even resist, willingly falling into the long pair of arms' embrace.

  "Que." came the cold, yet affectionate voice, causing Que to tear up a little as he nuzzled up into the embrace.

  No one said anything, since they recognized the long pair of arms, having recently rescued this person.

  Who else would Que so willingly fall into the arms of other than his wife?

  The arachne had woken up.