They already used up all their Survivor dals. They also didn’t have spare Energy Cores that they could use. Furthermore, none of them wanted to spend any more Experience Points to obtain so mundane items.
Everyone had the sa intention as Claire! They all wanted to farm more experience points and level up, even if the Gene Trader vanished!
Ralph then reloaded his revolver before helping the others burn the mutants...
"Fine by . More kills, more points. Just don’t fall behind, Claire. I’ll get more Experience Points later!"
Aurora sighed as she looked at her companions. They were all filled with energy... It was actually quite impressive. Although their health and spirit points reset after leveling up, they should still feel tired since their stamina does not reset at all.
In any case, she also helped with the cleaning...
Although nasty, she helped remove the mutants impaled on the traps they had set up.
Soon, she watched these mutants burn to ashes...
’They really crumble so fast... I wonder what’s making that happen.’ Aurora muttered after seeing these corpses burn like dried leaves. Even though she already knew the reason, the sight still amazed her every ti.
After this, she assisted everyone in setting up the traps for the next batch of mutants.
Still, she couldn’t help but wonder why Kai’s leveling speed was too fast. After all, Kai’s mutant farming should be quite similar to theirs. The difference shouldn’t be this big.
However, he was now Level 27 for so reason.
’Is he getting more experience points than us? Wait... Is it because of Atom?’
Aurora’s eyes lit up as she realized this. ’Right... Atom isn’t human but a weapon. Since Kai is the owner, I guess the Experience Points go to him... That’s amazing.’
She also recalled Kai’s plan to revive the Sentinels in their base and put them under his control.
If that really happened, Kai would surely maintain his current Rank in the Leaderboard.
’It’s a good thing I sided with him... That foolish Terrence. He can’t read the situation properly.’ She mused.
Although she was only eighteen, she was confident in her interpersonal skills. Over the past few days, she had carefully observed everyone’s behavior and learned their personalities.
A couple of weeks ago, she was already aware that Terrence wasn’t showing his true self. Because of that, she knew that she had to avoid him.
So, when Kai accepted her group along with Terrence and Jonas, she imdiately distanced herself from Terrence. She cut off any unnecessary connection and only spoke to him when absolutely necessary.
After so ti, they continued on their mission...
They triggered the traps twice more!
Each round brought another wave of shrieking mutants, and of course, the survivors fought with their traps, guns, blades, and their desire to level up!
The pitfalls were filled with corpses again, the trip wires stopped the advancing mutants, and the planted wooden and tal pikes impaled them like before.
By the end of the third attempt, however, fatigue had set in.
Their arms felt heavy, their blades had already dulled, and every revolver clicked empty... not a single bullet remained in their stocks.
Thankfully, they already had a bunch of experience on this matter, so aside from six people getting heavily injured, none of them had actually perished!
"We’re done here..." Kai muttered, seeing how everyone looked happy but also tired.
Furthermore, they couldn’t continue because, as expected, the Gene Trader had already vanished, and without its presence, the mutant lure no longer worked.
Still, the effort had paid off. Many of them had leveled up two or even three tis, their nas climbing higher on the Leaderboard.
Kai, however, only advanced once more, reaching Level 28. Even so, his steady progress kept him far ahead of the others.
"Let’s clean up the place!" Kai said...
"Yes! Let’s finish this quickly and go ho."
"Where’s my lighter?"
"As for the ones in the pitfalls, just throw so burning leaves. That’s more than enough. They’ll burn fast..."
Just like that, Kai oversaw the cleanup.
He watched as the corpses burned to ash, then removed the tal pikes himself, knowing their value for future traps.
Of course, he’d let Atom carry these traps for him...
The wooden structures, however, were left in place since they were just disposable tools.
With the battlefield cleared, the weary survivors finally turned back toward their shelter, eager for rest after a long day of battle...
***
anwhile, not too far from New Haven Shelter-45, Renji crouched near the broken window of a sixth-floor apartnt as he scanned the streets below.
The last ti he checked the Leaderboard, he was still the Rank 2 Survivor after reaching Level 16.
However, after his snack this afternoon, he realized that he was already at Rank 6!
’Tsk... I just relaxed for a bit, and I’m being left behind. I have to find more Sentinels.’ Renji thought, realizing he hadn’t been pushing himself hard enough.
Unfortunately, the abandoned city stretched out in silence. He wasn’t hearing any more patrols or movents from Sentinels.
He saw the cracked pavent already swallowed by vines and moss. Nature was reclaiming what the machines had left behind...
Soon, he heard so drones passing through and wryly smiled. He didn’t want anything to do with Swarrs, and they’re just too difficult to deal with.
Anyway, he had been the lone survivor of Haven-32, the settlent that fell during the ch Siege.
Everyone else had been slaughtered or buried alive... but Renji had escaped with nothing but his wits and the strange gift the system had granted him, an Epic-Grade Talent called chanical Expert.
That talent had saved his life more than once.
It gave him an instinctive understanding of machines, a way to dismantle, rebuild, and reprogram them as if he had been born for it.
And it was the reason his na now sat at Rank 2 on the Leaderboard, despite not having a large team that could farm for experience points like Kai.
Apparently, after leaving Haven-32, Renji had avoided the forests.
There were too many A.I. patrols sweeping the wilderness. After all, they’re probably expecting the survivors hiding from the CCTVs or drones of the ch Army.
Because of that, he had chosen the abandoned city instead... Although he still believed that survivors might be hiding in basents, sewers, or forgotten tunnels, there shouldn’t be a lot of them.
Unfortunately, his guess was wrong. There was no hidden shelter here at all!
The city was empty. He found no other humans or allies. Just ruins!
Still, he was quite lucky...
What he found instead, buried in a junkyard are two androids, both about his height, designed with slim fras that mimicked human won.
Their bodies were scratched, their joints were broken, but their cores were intact.
With his spare Energy Cores, he was confident that he could repair them.
But at first, Renji hesitated. Repairing them could be suicide. If Aria, the A.I. Rebel, ever reconnected them to the network, they would turn on him instantly.
Nonetheless, after studying the machines for a few days, his talent allowed him to understand better...
With his chanical Expert Talent, he could sever their online capabilities, cut off their wireless receivers, and make them immune to remote control.
The only way to hack them now would be through direct, physical access.
So he took the risk.
The repairs were ugly at first. One android had a blade strapped in place of an arm. The other balanced awkwardly on a wooden leg.
Their movents were irregular and they could only make so odd noise when acknowledging his orders.
But at the very least, they obeyed his commands. They help him fight and destroy enemy units!
Renji nad them Android 9 and Android 18, his favorite numbers.
Day after day, he scavenged parts from ruined factories and dismantled Sentinels...
Slowly, their bodies improved. The wooden leg was replaced with steel plating. The blade-arm was reforged into a proper limb. Their sensors sharpened and their combat efficiency grew.
Together, they beca his strike team.
While Kai fard mutants with traps and teamwork, Renji hunted machines with his newfound allies...
Android 9 and 18 tore through Sentinels, ambushed Swarrs, and dismantled Hounds as Renji was slowly making a mount for his androids...
Of course, he himself scavenged weapons from the wreckage.
From one raid, he stole three plasma rifles, each fully charged with energy cores!
***
Renji’s days were simple... At dawn, he scouted rooftops, marking the routes of the Sentinels.
Then, by noon, he sent Android 9 and 18 to attack enemy units while he sniped from above with plasma fire if necessary.
At night, he returned to his hideout, repairing their fras with whatever scraps he had found.
The androids never spoke, but Renji talked to them anyway.
"Good work, 9. Keep your guard up."
"18, you’re too reckless. Look at your shoulder. Watch your flanks, you dummy... Don’t let them circle us."
"Another patrol down. That’s three cores today. We’re getting stronger."
His voice filled the silence of the city.
Sotis, he caught himself imagining they could respond.
He wondered what it would be like if they had personalities, if they could laugh or argue like humans.
But as he imagined that life, he suddenly froze after hearing a buzzing sound.
As he looked through the window, he saw it...
A huge chanized city flying in the sky!
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