Rhodes pondered for a moment and then spent tens of thousands of system gold coins to enhance the ancient dragon, Melba.
He granted Melba the ability to fly and survive in space before sending it to assist Bemstar and the others. Though its combat strength wasn't particularly high, it was more than capable of clearing the Tyrant insects on the surface, making it a useful support unit.
Keeping Melba around served no purpose anymore, as it had already contributed enough blood to produce monster potions, and its further involvement was unnecessary.
As for the Dark Eldar?
They all preferred the genetic serum made from the frozen monster Guigass. This serum was extremely beneficial to Dark Eldar.
During his half-month stay in Commorragh City, Rhodes had sold over ten thousand doses of the frozen monster Guigass serum, and not a single Dark Eldar had experienced any adverse effects.
Now, Rhodes was contemplating another matter—monster enhancement. He wondered if he could enhance himself with the abilities of the Chaos Daemon Slayer.
Although this creature was classified as an artificial monster among mechanical monsters, its enhancement options leaned more toward biological monsters.
The Chaos Daemon Slayer had immense growth potential, capable of absorbing at least six different energy beams in the future, whether from the Warhammer universe or other monster beams he might acquire.
If he could integrate this enhancement into himself, it would be an incredible boost—granting him control over at least seven different energy beams. This enhancement was highly cost-effective.
Rhodes checked the monster enhancement options and, as expected, found the selection for the Chaos Daemon Slayer.
"Not bad, not bad!"
It seemed that the Chaos Daemon Slayer would be a primary focus of his future development. However, fully upgrading it to its peak state would require millions of system gold coins!
For now, he set aside the matter of the Chaos Daemon Slayer Ace. Instead, Rhodes decided to find two assistants for Balt.
Spending 200,000 system gold coins, he used the mid-tier shop's purchasing function to unlock all monster lotteries in the beginner system store.
A dazzling variety of monsters appeared before him.
The first purchase was a Zettonian, specifically selected as a top-tier biological researcher and mechanical modification expert to assist Balt in research.
For the second alien, Rhodes hesitated. Should he choose a Pedan or a Salome?
Both Pedans and Salomes had a significant advantage—they possessed human appearances.
Pedans, in Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle and later works, generally appeared in human form (except for one that showed up in Ultraman Geed).
Salomes, in many storylines, did not use any disguise and naturally looked like Earthlings, making them extremely convenient for blending in. They could easily pass as Golden Age scientists.
In terms of scientific achievements, both races had their merits—Pedans created King Joe, while the Salomes developed the Ultraman Brothers.
However, overall, the Ultraman Brothers produced by the Salomes were more powerful, essentially matching the strength of their original counterparts.
Forcing Ultraman Ace into a desperate situation? Not everyone could achieve that.
King Joe, on the other hand, could be directly purchased from the shop. Moreover, once the Pedan mothership was upgraded to its highest tier, it could manufacture King Joes.
In the future, Rhodes would own multiple Pedan motherships, making King Joe a mass-produced model. Since he already had the core technology, its importance was limited.
After careful consideration, Rhodes decided to spend 100,000 system gold coins to purchase a mechanical science expert from the Salome race.
He then summoned both aliens.
The Zettonian appeared first—dressed in a black suit, with a single large eye, standing about two meters tall and weighing 90kg.
Its combat strength was roughly equivalent to that of a Space Marine, maybe even weaker. However, its innate racial ability allowed it to disguise itself as a human effortlessly.
Upon arrival, the Zettonian politely greeted Rod.
"Master, Zettonian at your service."
Rhodes nodded and turned to the newly summoned Salome. This one came as a pleasant surprise.
First, her appearance was stunning—she looked completely human.
She stood at 1.64 meters, weighed 42kg, and wore a blue uniform with long boots and white gloves. She had the aura of a strong career woman.
Rhodes hadn't expected to summon a well-known character from the storyline.
"Alien Salome, greets you, Master! Thank you for pulling me from the abyss of death."
The blue-uniformed beauty half-knelt before Rhodes as she spoke.
Rhodes nodded as information about Salome surfaced in his mind.
Salome had appeared in Ultra Galaxy Legend Side Story: Ultraman Zero vs. Darklops Zero.
With extraordinary intelligence, she was a key figure among the Salomes.
Not only was she a technological genius, but she was also an ambitious leader. She was beautiful, had an alluring figure, and an ambitious nature. Her abilities were also formidable.
They recovered the DarkLops Zero, which was created by Belial, and modified it by adding a dimensional core, turning DarkLops Zero into their slave. They also created the Ultra Brothers to deal with Sai Sho on Asteroid Cheney.
However, their plan ultimately failed. DarkLops Zero awakened and killed all of their assistants, leading to a tragic defeat.
"You were killed by the Dark Cyclops, DarkLops Zero, weren't you?" Rhodes asked.
"Yes, Master. I underestimated that replicated dark Ultra Warrior. Though I don't know who created him, his technology was truly advanced.
I originally thought that my technological prowess could control him, but I didn't expect that he had been toying with us from the start. This robot possesses self-awareness.
In the end, we faced a backlash, and this guy slaughtered everyone in my lab," Salome nodded and said.
This was the most painful event in her life. She had thought she had found a powerful technological creation that could serve the Salomeans.
But in the end, it led to her demise, along with the painstakingly created Ultra Brothers.
However, she never expected that she would be summoned to another world in a different form.
"Can you create Ultra Warriors for me now?" Rhodes asked the most important question on his mind.
"Of course, Master. As long as I have the necessary laboratory and subsequent scientific engineering facilities, I can create the Ultra Brothers for you," Salome nodded and said.
This was her specialty—creating the Ultra Brothers was not difficult for her, as this was exactly what she was meant to do.
And now that she had been given a second chance, this time, she wanted to create even more powerful Ultra warriors.
Rhodes led the two of them to Balt's laboratory under the spaceship and introduced the two aliens to Balt. Their laboratory would now be located next to Balt's lab.
"I never expected to see a Zetton being cultivated here," the Zettonian said as he looked at the insect-like monster gradually taking shape inside a cultivation chamber.
The Space Dinosaur Zetton was the masterpiece of the Zettonians, but this technology had been learned by many other aliens. This particular Zetton was not an original version but one that had undergone some modifications.
"It is indeed a Zetton, but not the first-generation Zetton that you created. This is a much more powerful, second-generation Zetton II that I produced," Balt smiled and said.
The master had brought Zettonians here—finally, he had some real help.
Although these guys weren't as skilled at creating Zettons as Balt, they were more than capable assistants and could even provide some improvement suggestions.
After all, he was the original expert on Zetton.
"This Zetton of yours is a modified product. I can help optimize its data.
From now on, let's work together to create even stronger Zettons for our master!" the Zettonian said.
"From now on, the three of you will be teammates. Get to know each other," Rhodes said.
The three aliens nodded and then introduced themselves to one another. All of the equipment in Balt's lab was available for the Zettonian to use.
However, Salome didn't have the necessary scientific research equipment, so a new laboratory had to be built for her.
"In a few days, I will have Balt prepare a disguise for you, and then you can go down to the planet to purchase the materials you need to build your lab as soon as possible," Rhodes said.
During this time, selling monster warriors had earned Rhodes a significant amount of Commorragh City currency—he could buy whatever he wanted now.
"Thank you very much, Master. I will create even stronger Ultra Warriors for you," Salome nodded and said.
"Good! Balt and Zett, besides modifying Zetton, you two will also be responsible for upgrading the Space Marines through surgery. The monster capsule project also needs to be expedited," Rhodes said.
"No problem, Master. With this guy's help, I believe our progress will increase significantly. It won't be long before we can perform surgical modifications on the Space Marines," Balt said with a smile.
With all the necessary equipment in place, the artificial organs were almost fully cultivated. Soon, they could begin modifying the Space Marines.
"Salome, you are a technology expert. Before you start creating Ultra Warriors,
I want you to help me improve a type of power armor unique to this world. Here's a sample—take a look," Rhodes said as he handed Salome some human empire power armor he had purchased in Commorragh City.
Weapons could be sourced from the Pedan people, but these interstellar giants couldn't wear the standard armor—they needed a customized version.