Chapter 54
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Armory Raid
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I managed to reach the armory on the first floor alongside the survivors, cutting down cultists along the way. The armory was secured with triple and quadruple locks, but locks meant nothing in front of me.
Using Metal Transformation, the locks twisted with a grotesque screech, allowing us to enter the armory with ease. A few regular zombies lunged out from inside.
Well, to the Salvation Church bastards, even zombies counted as "weapons," so it wasn't wrong for them to be in the armory. I shattered their heads with the heavy shotgun.
The armory interior was packed to the brim with weapons.
There were supply-model power suits and all sorts of firearms. While the survivors donned the power suits and armed themselves with guns, I thoroughly scoured the place.
And I found my target. It looked like a plain old "controller" on the surface, but it was the item needed to power up the power plant—the very one from Shelter C.
"Acquired Fluid Manipulator C."
I had suspected it would be here, but I hadn't been entirely sure... I stowed the Fluid Manipulator in my backpack and turned to the survivors.
They had already finished arming themselves. Better to part ways outside than right here. Just then, the door swung open.
The cultists who rushed in opened fire immediately. One unlucky survivor took a bullet and pitched forward.
But the remaining survivors used their power suits to deflect or dodge the bullets. In the ensuing firefight, we naturally had the upper hand. But...
"Serves you right, you sons of bitches! How about we wipe 'em all out right here?"
Hesitation clouded the survivors' faces. I shook my head and stopped them.
"No."
We couldn't afford any more delays. No matter how armed they were with power suits, the enemy had a Psycho among them. A Psycho's power in PvP was overwhelming.
"Why not? This is our chance. If we leave the chapel intact, another shelter like ours could pop up..."
Boom!
Speak of the devil—the floor suddenly shattered beneath us. Goyle stared up at us from below with a demonic grimace.
"It's a psyker!"
The survivors seemed to already know Goyle's face. But Goyle's eyes were fixed not on them, but on me.
"Almost didn't recognize you, you monkey-faced bastard."
I realized he'd figured out who I was. I pulled up my hood and flipped him off. My in-game trash talk slipped out naturally.
"Go suck on your mom's tit some more."
The survivors unleashed a volley at him. A storm of bullets rained down. But they bounced off his barrier.
He glared at us sharply. I held the survivors back. My body glowed green for a moment before returning to normal.
"Pathetic little shit."
Rage flickered in Goyle's eyes. A massive psychokinetic shell floated above him. If that hit full-on, the survivors wouldn't even have bones left.
Of course, not me. I extended my hand and casually blocked the psychokinetic shell. Unless every cultist in the chapel swarmed us, we had the edge with our NPC support.
We couldn't pierce his barrier, but his AP wasn't infinite. If we dragged this into a prolonged fight, it'd eventually run dry.
From his twisted expression, he knew it too, but with that filthy personality of his, running away wasn't an option.
"Stay put if you don't wanna die."
A group of cultists emerged from the opposite side. I pulled the trigger on my heavy shotgun. Bang, bang, bang. The shots I fired hit two cultists square in the chest and leg—eat lead and drop dead.
This time, their guns spat fire. I summoned a metal mass with Metal Generation to block the bullets, then used Metal Transformation to seal off the broken floor.
Killing Goyle would be ideal, but the terrain wasn't favorable, and if things got dicey, he'd bolt—so I judged it wouldn't be easy.
Of course, I didn't forget to leave him a gift.
Among the items the survivors brought were bombs.
「C780 Bomb」
Durability: 5/5
Attack Power: 120~360
Description: Military-grade item manufactured by Cassiopeia Corp.
Coincidentally, it was the same type as the bomb trap I'd used before. I reinforced it with Metal Reinforcement. The bomb's structure warped.
「C780 Bomb」
Durability: 6/6
Attack Power: 170~510
Description: A C780 Bomb reinforced by Mechanic Park Si-hyun.
I reinforced the eight bombs the survivors had and handed them over.
If I used them myself, they wouldn't hurt him, but if the survivors did, it'd be different. I used Metal Transformation to drill a small hole in the floor, aiming down at the bastard still lurking below.
The bombs poured into the hole.
"What the—? #%^&%!!"
His curses echoed from the darkness as I sealed the floor again with Metal Transformation. Boom, boom, boom! Massive explosions roared from underground.
He might've survived by luck, but odds are he took heavy damage. I wanted to finish him off, but a rocket launcher shot came flying in right then.
Whoosh.
The rocket streaked through the air with a whistle and slammed into the wall behind us.
The wall collapsed toward us, raining debris. I summoned metal with Metal Generation to block it, then blasted ahead with the heavy shotgun.
"Damn heretic scum!"
The cultists' numbers were growing. Our firepower still held superiority, but we were dropping one by one, and my AP was dwindling.
Probably burned a lot tussling with Goyle. That useless Yankee piece of shit. Cursing him inwardly, I spotted an opening.
The imposing cult leader statue. It was a golden opportunity, literally. I dashed over and grabbed the statue by hand. The moment I used Metal Transformation, the golden statue crumbled thoroughly.
I shifted some of the metal from its lower half up to the torso, throwing off its balance. It wobbled and toppled forward.
"Th-the statue!?"
"Do you have any idea what you've done? The Leader will be furious..."
The effect was better than expected. Even the cultists buried under the debris were shocked by the statue's fall.
They feared the Leader's wrath more than death. Lunatics.
We broke out of the chapel amid another shootout, but luckily their numbers weren't overwhelming, so we hijacked a truck they'd parked nearby and escaped unscathed.
Pursuit teams would form once they regrouped, but I scattered metal traps across the road. Breaking through those to chase our fleeing truck? Impossible.
"Where to now?"
In response to my question, the survivors nodded.
"To Shelter Apocalypse, like you mentioned."
They had no other options. Few shelters would take in a heavily armed group like Jason's.
In short, if I didn't accept them, they'd be sitting ducks. And as I said earlier, I planned to.
But heading straight to Shelter Apocalypse risked pursuers exposing us. I didn't want an enraged Goyle or Salvation Church goons crashing the party.
We had to shake the trackers.
I switched to my truck loaded with power plant parts and hacked a few nearby cars.
After all the twists and turns, we made it to Shelter Apocalypse. I immediately handed them over to Zixuan for treatment. She helped without a word.
Like all the other residents so far, they witnessed a "miracle."
"This is a miracle..."
I introduced them to Jason's group—the earlier Shelter C survivors. They embraced joyfully, thrilled to reunite.
After a long while catching up, Jason approached me, bowed his head, and expressed his gratitude.
"Thank you for saving us."
His demeanor was exceedingly polite. I told him to drop the formalities, but this guy never changed.
"It was just on my way. No need to thank me so much."
He leaned in close and whispered so no one else could hear.
"...If you're worried about controlling them, I'll help with that."
Control? I hadn't really thought about it... I nodded.
"That would be appreciated."
Goyle had used his barrier, but the simultaneous bomb blasts were powerful enough to pierce it. In the end, he suffered burns over his entire body.
Lying in a sickbed, he pictured Park Si-hyun's face. The bastard he'd desperately wanted to kill—he'd finally met him. But his powers hadn't worked on the guy, and once again, he'd been bested.
—Technically by the "bombs" thrown by Shelter C survivors, but that didn't matter to him.
But it was fine. If they used survivors, he'd use the Salvation Church. If he went straight to the Leader and explained, he'd surely lend his power.
'Still in Shelter A, probably?'
He ground his teeth in fury. Revenge on Shelter A for expelling him, and on Park Si-hyun. A chance to catch two birds with one stone.
'And I need to find that healer bitch to fix this mug.'
Half his face was grotesquely scarred from burns.
* * *
Only one part remained. And it was in Shelter D.
That's why I'd saved it for last. Relations between Shelter D and us weren't great. Or more precisely, it was Sophia we had issues with.
But I had no choice but to go.
I could fabricate it with time and AP, but grabbing the finished product was more efficient. I showed up at the steel barricade with a few armed residents.
Shelter D residents atop the walls aimed rifles at me with fierce glares. I recognized one from last time with Sophia.
"What do you want?"
He waved his gun back and forth as he spoke. Tension etched his face, making him less than intimidating. The moment that barrel fired, Shelter D would fall to me.
I spoke to them calmly.
"I'm here to trade."
Apocalypse All-Purpose Machine