96. The Weakness of the Iron Beast

The plan was finally put into action. Deri and Fajar moved forward again to lure the Ankylosaurus.

The creature immediately responded by swinging its club-like tail with all its might.

“Ready!”

Deri raised his shield and Fajar did the same from the other side.

BRAAAK!

The two of them braced against the impact, but this time, they did not try to stop the attack directly. They tilted their shields at just the right moment, causing the club at the end of the Ankylosaurus’s tail to slide along the surface of their shields.

The direction of the attack changed.

The club no longer swept toward their bodies. Instead, it veered upward and The Ankylosaurus’s body was pulled along by the momentum of the attack.

Its underside was exposed once again.

“NOW!” Rangga shouted.

He immediately released an explosive arrow.

Twang!

One arrow shot beneath the Ankylosaurus then a second.

Twang!

Then a third.

Twang!

Siska, who saw Rangga fire three arrows in succession, immediately frowned.

“Bang! Its belly is right there, not the ground!”

As Rangga had expected, he did not answer her question.

“Shoot the ground!”

Siska froze.

“Huh?”

“The ground! Explosive arrows! Hurry!”

Siska was still confused, but she finally followed his instructions.

She drew her bow and aimed at the ground directly beneath the Ankylosaurus’s body.

Twang!

The arrow flew and The Ankylosaurus began losing its momentum, and its body slowly started to descend. Then—

DUAR!

The first explosion erupted beneath its body, followed by a second.

DUAR!

A third explosion.

DUAR!

And finally—

DUAR!

Four explosions went off almost in succession.

The blasts from underneath prevented the Ankylosaurus from immediately returning to its original position. Its massive body was pushed sideways, throwing it off balance and causing it to tilt even further.

“It’s falling!”

The Ankylosaurus continued tipping over then Rangga immediately shouted.

“ATTACK ITS BELLY!”

Several Pioneers were momentarily confused. But when they saw the Ankylosaurus nearly upside down, they immediately understood what he meant.

“Attack!”

Deri moved first.

He directed his sword toward the exposed underside, which lacked the thick protection covering its back and head.

CLANG!

The sword struck the lower layer of its body. Fajar followed from the other side, bringing his hammer down on the mechanical belly.

BRAK!

The other Pioneers charged in as well. Spears thrust into gaps between its protective layers. One attack after another pierced the much more vulnerable underside.

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The Ankylosaurus tried to get back up, but it had already lost its balance.

“Don’t let it get up!”

Deri stabbed his sword into it again. Fajar struck the same spot, while several spears pierced through its belly armor.

KRAK!

The sound of internal mechanisms breaking echoed from inside its body, and its movements grew slower and slower then the entire Ankylosaurus came to a stop.

Light began to emerge from within its body. A moment later, the massive mechanical creature transformed into light and disappeared.

Several objects dropped to the ground.

Drop.

Sebastian’s group, who had been standing behind them the entire time, could only stare at the battle.

Sebastian slowly shook his head. They had previously tried every possible way to penetrate that Ankylosaurus.

Nothing had worked. But the Garuda group had done more than simply attack.

They observed it, searched for its weakness, then used the creature’s environment and momentum to create an opening.

Sebastian finally smiled in admiration.

“Their teamwork...”

He looked at his companions.

“...is insane.”

On the other side, Rangga walked toward the drops that had fallen from the Ankylosaurus. He looked at the items and smiled.

“See? You died after all...”

Deri approached.

“We did it.”

Rangga nodded.

“...Yeah.”

Sebastian then walked toward Rangga and Major Deri with several of his companions.

Deri picked up the items dropped by the Ankylosaurus and handed them to Sebastian.

“These are yours.”

Sebastian looked at the items but did not immediately accept them.

“You’re sure?”

Deri nodded.

“That was our agreement.”

Sebastian looked toward Rangga and the other Garuda Pioneers. After seeing how they had worked together to defeat the Ankylosaurus, he seemed even more interested.

“In that case... how about we join you?”

Deri did not answer immediately. He glanced at Rangga, who simply shook his head slightly then Deri turned back toward Sebastian.

“Sorry.”

“The agreement was clear. You get the spoils from the creature, and we get access to the mine.”

“So, please, let’s each keep our side of the agreement.”

Sebastian was silent for a moment, then nodded.

“I understand.”

He finally accepted the items. Before leaving, Sebastian asked one more question.

“In that case, would you be willing to exchange the coordinates of your private islands?”

Deri shook his head.

“Sorry. We don’t know each other well enough yet.”

Sebastian let out a small sigh but did not argue.

“Alright.”

He then signaled to his group.

“In that case, we’ll be going first.”

Deri nodded.

“Take care.”

Sebastian’s group then walked away from the area and Rangga and the Garuda Pioneers waited until the group was far enough away.

Only then did Rangga turn toward the others.

“Alright.”

He pointed toward the mineral vein in front of them.

“Now for the real work... Mining.”

Several Pioneers immediately took out their metal pickaxes.

They approached the Vanadium Vein and began striking the rock surface one after another.

Tak.

Tak.

Tak.

The sound of pickaxes striking rock began filling the area. Fajar, who was still clutching his chest, complained.

“My body still hurts.”

Deri glanced at him.

“Yeah, that’s the job of those in front.”

“If we hadn’t blocked it earlier, you guys in the back would’ve gotten hit.”

Fajar nodded as he swung his pickaxe again.

“Yeah, yeah.”

Rangga, who was mining, suddenly said,

“After this, we’re finding more vanadium.”

Fajar turned toward him.

“Huh? What for?”

Rangga continued swinging his pickaxe.

“I’ve got an idea.”

Fajar frowned.

“What idea?”

Rangga did not answer. He simply pointed toward the vein.

“Just finish this first... Fill up all your inventory slots... If that’s not enough, we’ll find more.”

The Pioneers looked at one another, then nodded and returned to work.

Fajar was still curious.

“What’s the idea, Bang?”

Rangga simply grinned.

“You’ll see.”

He swung his pickaxe again.

“Come on, back to work.”

The mining proceeded fairly quickly. With eight people working simultaneously, the Vanadium Vein was soon depleted. However, after checking their individual supplies, they still had not gathered enough to fill all their available inventory slots.

Major Deri put his pickaxe away.

“Done?”

Rangga looked at the gathered ore.

“Done.”

Deri nodded.

“Then let’s continue. Find the next vein.”

The others prepared themselves again and followed Deri deeper into the savannah.

They traversed the open area, passing several trees and rocky mounds. After a while, Rangga, who was walking in the middle, finally spotted something that made him stop.

There was another Vanadium Vein ahead of them but this time, they did not immediately approach it.

A Mechanical Ankylosaurus was standing not far from the vein and Rangga watched the creature for a moment, then said,

“There.”

Deri turned toward him.

“But this time, we’re changing tactics.”

Rangga pointed toward the Ankylosaurus.

“Same as before. Major and Fajar keep it occupied... I’ll go in alone.”

He then turned toward the other Pioneers.

“You guys stay back... Don’t attack until I tell you to.”

Several people looked at one another but did not object. Deri, however, continued watching Rangga.

“You really intend to do this alone?”

Rangga nodded.

“Yeah.”

He then opened his equipment and took out the object he had been keeping hidden since that morning.

A metal disc.

He raised it so Deri could see it clearly. Fajar immediately frowned.

“What’s that, Bang?”

Rangga turned the disc around for a moment.

“No idea.”

Fajar became even more confused.

“Then why bring it?”

Rangga grinned.

“That’s why I want to try it.”

He looked at the object again.

“According to the blueprint, it’s called...”

Rangga paused for a moment, making sure he remembered the name correctly.

“...Hijack Device.”

Deri examined the disc more seriously.

“Hijack?”

Rangga nodded.

“Yeah.”

He then put his weapon away and looked toward the Ankylosaurus in front of them.

“Apparently, it can take control of robots.”

Fajar swallowed.

“Which robot?”

Rangga pointed toward the massive creature standing near the Vanadium Vein.

“That one.”

Fajar immediately fell silent, while Deri continued staring at the disc in Rangga’s hand.

“And you’ve never tried it before, Mas Rangga?”

Rangga shook his head.

“Not yet... That’s why today we’ll find out whether it works or not.”

He tightened his grip on the disc.

“If it works, we don’t have to kill it. If it fails...”

Rangga glanced at the Ankylosaurus.

“...then we use the old-fashioned way.”