It was good that the night passed well and no other attacks happened. It seemed that the pattern about the Harvesters not attacking at night still held for a bit more, not that Dan would be surprised if it got broken soon. Plus, as soon as the sun rose, a wave of Harvesters was at their front door.

  Just like Robert had said, the wave was bigger than the previous ones, but not by that much and not yet of danger to them. However, it was enough to start ringing alarm bells in his mind, he was worried about what the growing number of Harvesters and their attack frequency meant for their future on the island.

  As soon as they dealt with that wave, he decided to push their plans to be carried faster, especially the one they had decided on the night before, getting as many mana crystals to Voyager as possible. They would aim to store as much as they could on her while the rest would be left for her to eat. They would try their best to leave nothing on the island.

  The Voyager being able to consume the mana crystals and turn them to fuel was a welcomed surprise, and Dan was going to make sure that they would make as much use as possible out of it.

  With the possible threat of Harvesters weighing heavily on his mind, Dan turned to Robert and William who were with him on the bridge.

  "I think we are going to face another attack soon."

  "I think so too," Robert said with a frown.

  "I hoped that we would at least have a few days to focus on our projects for a while." William sighed in tiredness.

  "It's alright," Dan comforted him, "Even the worst case scenario would just have us continue with our journey, you can work on your projects then, we have enough time."

  Seeing that the Magical Engineer didn't actually seem to be as down as he made himself to be, Dan turned to Robert and said:

  "I will head to the shore, see if I can find a way to get the mana crystals on the Voyager fast."

  "Unfortunately, Captain," Robert said with a light smile, as if teasing, "I can't let you go down there. With the Harvesters acting so weird, it's too much of a risk for you to leave Voyager."

  Dan looked at William, wishing for a bit of help, but the old engineer just shook his head with a light smile at his glance. Dan knew that they wouldn't risk letting him go to shore with the current situation, so he didn't even argue, he just sighed and said:

  "I guess I'll just have to talk to Graham and the few rescued natives we have here, if I find no answers, I'll leave things for the people on the island."

  "See," Robert clapped, "I knew that you would find a way to do it easily."

  Dan just rolled his hand at his chief officer before standing up to leave.

  "Be careful in case anything happens, and tell Sam to stay on the bridge today, it's where he's needed most."

  Dan's worry about the Harvesters' recent actions was mostly due to how dangerous it would be for the people on the island if a big enough wave came, one that Voyager, he and Sam wouldn't be able to take care of. With that in mind, he added one last thing:

  "How are the preparations for taking in the natives? We might be bringing them to Voyager earlier than expected."

  "Almost done," Robert said seriously, "I will finish the final touches alongside Jackie and Nancy soon, don't worry about it."

  With that reassurance, Dan left the bridge as he headed to the med-bay. Honestly, he was entertaining the idea of bringing in the natives that day or the one after, if the island was empty, or almost empty, they would have no reason to fear the gigantic bugs anymore. He decided to bring that up with the others and see if it could be done, and if so, then he wouldn't waste any more time. Putting people at risk for no reason would just make him as much of a villain as those nobles.

  "Hey, Graham," Dan greeted the man as he entered his room, "How are you doing?"

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  "I'm doing good," Graham said, looking healthier and more comfortable than the first time Dan had seen him, "It's still weird getting used to living with just one arm, but you know how it is, I would rather have one arm and be free than how I was on that island. Plus, if I had a say in the matter, even with the price of meeting you being losing my arm, I would still hope for it, I would have given so much more for that chance."

  Dan would be lying if he said that he understood what the man was feeling, but he at least could get where he was coming from. Probably, for the man, the situation on the island wasn't much of a life, just suffering without end or release.

  "All that is in the past," Dan said, "The most important thing for you now is to take care of yourself and get as healthy as possible."

  Done with the pleasantries, Dan went to what had brought him to the med-bay in the first place.

  "Do you know any locations around the island with deep waters, deep enough for a big ship to dock there while also being close enough for it to reach the island?"

  Dan was hoping that they could get close enough to land for Voyager to simply use her Mana Appendages to consume the mana crystals directly, carrying the bit they decided to get onto her using them too. Doing it that way would save them so much time, otherwise, they would have to carry the boxes one by one to the Voyager, which would take too long to be considered a viable solution. He also had noted how the docks weren't deep enough for the Voyager, they wouldn't work for his plan.

  "I can't think of much," Graham said as he frowned, "Maybe the eastern cliff wall? The waters there always seemed deep and there doesn't seem to be as many reefs or the like."

  Dan thanked the man, and they talked some more before he let him rest. He moved to another of the injured rescued natives that Fleta deemed too injured to be left on the island, sending them to the Voyager early instead.

  In the end, they all gave the same answer, the eastern cliff wall maybe. Dan was happy that they had a possible target, but he also worried about what might happen if their only possible solution didn't work.

  Deciding that the best way to find out would be if they tried their chances with it, Dan returned to the bridge and had Voyager head to the recommended cliff wall. The Harvesters weren't going to appear again for at least a few more hours, they had just attacked after all, so he decided to risk it.

  "Just take it slow, big girl," he said to the Voyager, "Make sure that there are no reefs or protruding rocks."

  I understand! Voyager sent, her determination clear to see.

  Dan was happy to see that the waters truly seemed to be as deep as the people had said, but they weren't as safe as they looked from the island, a few reefs and rocks could be made out that close. Not that it was a problem, Voyager used her Aura Appendages to destroy them without much trouble, cleaning a deep and wide enough path to the cliff wall.

  With them sure that Voyager could get close to the island, Dan contacted Old Raily who was on the island and Nik so they would start sending the mana crystals filled boxes to the specified location. The Harvesters' frequent attacks and rising numbers gave him a bad feeling, he just hoped all would turn out well and they would manage to complete all they set out to do before anything went south

  ***

  "This is going to be annoying as hell," Nik said as he looked at the boxes upon boxes in the warehouse, and it was just one of them, there were at least 30 others out there. "Even at tier 2, my Inventory skill only has 6x6 meters of space, I can at most carry 9 of those boxes each trip. I'm not looking forward to how repetitive this is going to be."

  "Look at the bright side," Old Raily said, a rare hint of humour in his voice, "You can think of it as training for your skill, I'm sure it's going to net you a few levels at the very least."

  "Well, we'd better start moving I guess," Leonard said as he carried one of the boxes and started moving to the cliff wall. Nik knew the man was strong, but carrying one of those boxes on his own still made him do a double-take.

  Old Raily called The Squad and started helping them carry the boxes, Nik acted as if he didn't see it, but the faint smile on the old man's face as he worked with those summoned soldiers was hard to miss.

  A few trips later, and while they were returning to the warehouse after dropping their latest cargo, Nik saw a face that seemed somehow familiar, not that he managed to link a name to it though.

  "Arkus." Old Raily nodded to the man heading towards them.

  "Hello," the man greeted them, Nik realising who he was, the native that they had kidnapped from the island to make sure that what Graham said was true. "I see that you're quite busy, what are you working on?"

  "Just carrying the boxes to the eastern cliff wall," Leonard answered without much care.

  "There's quite a lot of those," Arkus said as he looked back at the many warehouses lining the area, "It's going to take you quite a while."

  "Well, it has to be done." Leonard chuckled as he waved at the man. "Well, talk to you later, we still have to finish this."

  Nik and Old Raily also paid him farewell before returning to their work, Arkus's observation was right, it was going to take them quite a while.

  Carrying those boxes and putting them in the specified location, Nik suddenly noticed something as they were returning to the warehouses. A small group of the rescued natives were standing there, with many more heading their way.

  "Hey." Arkus turned to them with a wide smile. "I thought you might need a bit of help."