Chapter 368 - Star Wolf

The group approached the food processor, from the outside it looked like a giant warehouse, though it was giving off a certain warmth, and somewhere within it was some sort of creature that had occupied it without harming its functions, this creature had abruptly appeared on the island a few months ago, Mercury could only think of one such creature that fitted that description

"It's probably a young living god…"

[And that's why you have to be careful Mercury]

"I know…"

Mercury turned around and quickly instructed the others

"Don't follow me, no matter what happens"

The girls wanted to protest but quickly stopped when Mercury spoke his next sentence

"Believe in me"

Mercury showed a smug smile when he saw that they kept silent before he turned serious and walked towards the food processor, along with him was only Qutil, Party, and a golem which would open the food processor for them, the golem walked up to the wall of the food processor and interfaced with it, then the wall opened up and revealed the inside, Mercury walked in, Qutil and Party came floating after him then the wall closed again behind them, the inside was dim and the smell of freshly cooked food was missing, instead, the inside was filled with giant vats along with drones that were operating them, these were protein vats that grew meat from a protein mass which was supplied from the outside, the protein mostly came from soybeans which came from the outpost farms and were shipped in with the automated fighter ships, the Rhincodon's that still sailed the high seas even after the dragon capital were deserted

"This seems ominous… Qutil, Party, we don't want to kill whatever is in here, if it's a new living god we'll just piss them off by killing them"

Party nodded before she shot a glance at Qutil

[I'll follow your lead Mercury, what about you lady Qutil?"

[Don't call me that, archangel… But fine, I'll follow your lead Mercury]

Mercury showed a smile and walked ahead, from there his ears picked up a faint sound of something being sliced apart, not once but twice, he turned around and saw a wisp of black smoke as well as an avatar that had been parted right down the middle, sliced in half

"Oh shi---"

Then his vision went black as his head was parted from his shoulders…

Mercury woke up again and muttered

"Mothertrucker…"

He got up and checked behind him, the avatar was destroyed and there was no sign of Qutil, Mercury sighed before he spoke

"I mean you no harm"

Then his head was parted from his shoulders again…

Mercury opened his eyes again and sat up, he felt a sticky feeling on his clothes, looked down, and saw his own blood covering it, then he spoke

"I am starting to get angry"

Then he abruptly dodged to the side as space tore right where he had been standing, Mercury narrowed his eyes slightly before he kicked off the ground and disappeared from view, his figure seemed to blink into existence a few times a second around the food processor until a few seconds later he found his attacker, it was a wolf which seemed to have its pelt cut out form the stary night, its eyes were unfathomably deep and seemed to be two entire galaxies, Mercury was mesmerized by the wolf's noble appearance and muttered

"Pretty…"

The wolf seemed to understand him and opened its eyes wide for a moment as its ears stood straight up before its eyes narrowed again and spacial disturbances slashed Mercury to pieces again, the wolf narrowed its eyes again and watched as bloody parts that used to be Mercury gathered together again before about a minute later he reanimated, the wolf widened its eyes again before they returned to normal as Mercury sat himself up and asked while sounding slightly annoyed

"Could you not? I just want to talk..."

"That's a lie"

Mercury paused and looked over at the wolf before he asked

"Wait you can speak?"

The wolf narrowed its eyes feeling slightly annoyed with Mercury, Mercury sighed before he spoke

"Sorry, that was rude"

The wolf said nothing in return and simply gazed at him for a bit before Mercury spoke

"So… My name is Mercury"

The wolf nodded slightly but didn't state its own name, Mercury sighed again before he spoke

"You know, you're right, I was lying when I said I just wanted to talk"

The wolf narrowed its eyes dangerously and right before it could summon a spacial disturbance to sever Mercury's head from his shoulders again Mercury spoke

"I want to get along"

The wolf narrowed its eyes slightly before it spoke again

"That is also a lie"

"No"

The wolf narrowed its eyes again before it gave a huff and turned its gaze away and a faint voice sounded out inside the food processor

"Nobody wants to get along with a cripple…"

Mercury shook his head before he spoke

"That's a lie"

The wolf looked straight at him again and began growling

"Silence!"

"I said it's a lie"

"I SAID SILENCE!"

Mercury's head parted from his shoulders again as the wolf kept growling, then it felt a pain in its hind legs again and grimaced as it did Mercury's voice sounded out again

"Does it hurt?"

The wolf sighed before it spoke again

"I lost the fight for Alpha… The winner took my legs from me, I don't feel them, I only feel pain"

"That's called phantom pain, it is quite common for amputees"

"Amputees?"

"People that have lost limps"

"...You humans are interesting to have a name for such people…"

"Yep, though I am not human, not anymore"

"I figured that with how many times I've killed you by now"

Mercury thought for a bit before he asked

"Were you hit along the spine?"

The wolf looked at him suspiciously before it narrowed its eyes and began growling at Mercury again

"How did you know that!?"

"Easy… It was just an educated guess"

"Educated… So you specialize in making people like me!"

Mercury shook his head as he quickly explained

"No, I specialize in healing them"

The wolf breathed out deeply through its nose as it narrowed its eyes dangerously, insanity and desperation flashed through its eyes as it spoke

"Convince me"

Then a spacial disturbance appeared and cut Mercury's right arm off, Mercury looked at his shoulder before he sighed, then he muttered

"[Essence consuming]"

A Metal block appeared before Mercury then muttered

"[Lesser metal weaving]"

The block of metal quickly turned into a metal arm, then Mercury spoke again

"[Golem core creation]"

He then inserted the core into the arm and held it up to his still bleeding right shoulder before he spoke again as he closed his eyes

"[Lesser metal weaving]"

Metal wires shot out form the metal arm and dug into Mercury's shoulder before a few minutes later he opened his eyes again and under the amazed eyes of the wolf he flexed his newly constructed right arm a few times and adjusted it before he spoke, or rather asked

"Convinced now?"

The wolf nodded, then Mercury tore off the metal arm, picked up his severed right arm that still lay on the now not so strike floor, and held it up to his shoulder before he spoke

"Begin reconnecting process"

[Fatal damage detected, starting auto repair…]

A few moments passed before steam appeared in between his arm and shoulder, then a few more moments passed as he used [Lesser metal weaving] to make himself an arm sling which he laid his still limb arm into before he looked up at the wolf and spoke

"I'll help you regain the feeling in your legs… Though the process will be painful"

The wolf nodded before it laid its head down on the floor and spoke

"Nothing will ever be more painful than being thrown out of my pack, becoming an outcast… Doomed to roam the stars alone"

Mercury showed a smile before he spoke

"You're not alone, am I not right here?"

The wolf looked up at Mercury again and gazed at him for a few moments before it looked away and muttered

"I suppose you are…"

Mercury showed a smile and walked over before he spoke

"I need to touch your back"

"Why?"

"To gain a feeling for how your spine is built up… Only then can I start to repair it, though due to the integrity of spines and nerves in general it will likely take a few days before you regain feeling in your legs… And another before you are able to walk again"

"That's fine… I'll allow you to touch me"

"Thanks"

Mercury touched the wolf's back, it should be said at this point that this was no ordinary wolf, it was the same height as him while laying down and while standing it would probably be around 2 and a half meters tall, Mercury felt around the spine of the wolf for a bit before he nodded and spoke

"Purchase a piece of living metal"

Mercury felt his essence points drain before a piece of living metal appeared in his hand