Chapter 78
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 78
Chapter Title: Work Android Production Accelerates
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Production of the work android robots picked up even more speed. That was because M01 through M04, who had been helping with the residents' shelter expansion work, began assisting me.
It only took a mere ten hours to produce from M05 up to M10. By simple math, that meant I could churn out fourteen units a day.
Of course, I couldn't make any more even if I wanted to because I was short on mithril, but if I could secure a steady supply from the mine, it would be possible to establish a "machine factory" that ran entirely on automation.
Shelter Apocalypse now had a total of ten work android robots. I left their deployment in Professor Alex's hands.
They would need to be sent to the mine once the power plant facilities inside Bahara Mine were complete, but those weren't finished yet, and until then, there wasn't anything particular for them to do.
Even if there had been tasks, I could still handle them faster on my own for the time being.
Around that time, Shaun showed up at Shelter Apocalypse. I hadn't been able to reach him through trade requests and figured he was dead, but he'd fought his way through zombies to get here.
His clothes were in tatters, but he vowed to repay my kindness.
To be honest, I had my doubts about how much help he could actually be in his current state, but I took him in anyway. There was discord brewing in Shelter A, and I couldn't very well send him back there.
Shaun's eyes went wide as he took in the facilities inside Shelter Apocalypse.
No wonder—factories humming to life one by one, fields of ripening crops, android robots standing guard. It was all beyond anything imaginable back in Shelter A.
"Am I dreaming or something? A city in a world like this..."
A city... Truth be told, it was still embarrassing to call it that. Especially compared to the Paradise that would emerge later on, which was dozens of times the size of this entire island.
I thought that to myself as I handed him the Hybrid Z. Hybrid Z—a rare item for Bladers. I'd collected the final parts it dropped from the Tyrant and synthesized it.
I'd been planning to give it to Zixuan, but now that Shaun had joined the shelter, he took priority. His excitement hit its peak at the sight of the gleaming lightsaber that was the Hybrid Z.
He swung it around for ages with the face of a child before bursting into tears and swearing his loyalty to me.
"For the Jedi... no, for Park Si-hyun...!"
"You're embarrassing yourself—get up, man."
A black guy who looked one-and-a-half times my size was bawling his eyes out... It was a lot. In any case, I assigned him under Jason's command, where he took on duties with the residents' vigilante squad.
I watched Shaun's back as he walked off arm-in-arm with Jason—they were already buddying up thanks to his natural affability—and fell deep in thought.
'With the Salvation Cult's forces broken, there's no real threat to our shelter anymore.'
Within the scenario area, the only shelter that could match ours in scale was Shelter C at best. But they had no reason to attack us, so there really weren't any.
The only concern was the possibility of some monster showing up that I hadn't anticipated. There hadn't been anything like that in the game, but this world was a little different from what I knew.
There was no guarantee another Tyrant-level monster wouldn't appear. Hercules and Security Drone 2 could handle one just fine, but two or three...
No, numbers aside, the anxiety that something even stronger might show up lingered. How could I shake that off...
After mulling it over, I reached a simple conclusion.
'Just blow the bridge.'
We could handle food, drinking water... even minerals, all from resources on this island. There was no reason to keep the Hope Bridge, the pathway that let zombies cross over.
The zombies that came across were mostly basic ones anyway, with only a tiny handful of Chasers. The experience points from them weren't worth much.
I'd already hit level 40, enough to unlock my first ultimate skill, so I could handle my own leveling after Scenario 3 kicked off. For Zixuan or Shaun, I could just have them go out and grind whenever.
With my mind made up, I moved straight to action. Collapsing the bridge wasn't difficult. It was all just reinforced concrete at the end of the day.
I could dismantle it with Metal Decomposition.
To guard against any mishaps, I first built a breakwater inside the island's perimeter, then used Metal Decomposition on the reinforced concrete pillars.
It cost some AP, but... it wasn't a tough job for me anymore.
One pillar, two, three.
The more pillars vanished, the more the bridge began to tilt—until it finally started crumbling. In the end, the entire Hope Bridge sank into the sea.
The cars on top and the zombie corpses went down with it. I watched the scene calmly from atop the breakwater as rough waves crashed against it.
'Now... all paths to the outside are cut off. The only connection to the mainland will come after the machine factory is complete.'
Even though they'd been defeated in the holy war, the Salvation Cult hadn't been wiped out entirely. A few remnants were still operating out of their chapels as bases.
"We'll avenge the Archbishop. Damn Shelter C bastards."
The believers held back their bishop, Vladimir, as he ranted and raved.
Even the Archbishop hadn't been able to breach Shelter C before getting wiped out. Attacking it themselves would be like throwing eggs at a rock—that was their thinking.
He scowled fiercely at their pleas.
"Don't you want to avenge the Archbishop? You worthless heretics. I'll kill them myself!"
"Please restrain yourself, Bishop!"
The believers, all too aware of his brutal temperament, panicked and held him back.
Just then, a droning rumble reached his ears. Probably a car engine. It couldn't be one of theirs, so likely some survivors—heretics.
He felt like crying, but this was a chance. Vladimir grabbed his machine gun and stormed out of the chapel.
His face hardened at the sight of the truck barreling toward them. Mounted on it was a ferocious autocannon that made his own machine gun look pathetic by comparison.
And it wasn't just one truck. At least ten of them came to a halt, facing their position. His head cleared in an instant, even though he'd been ready to open fire on heretics moments ago.
'Doesn't look like our cult... Who, then? Shelter C? No, they have no reason to come out like this—'
He racked his brain for any faction that could muster this kind of force, but nothing came to mind. That's when a man stepped out from the driver's seat. He was dressed in a sharp suit.
"You guys the Salvation Cult?"
"Yeah..."
"Came here to trade."
"State your affiliation."
Vladimir put on his most dignified tone, mindful of the believers watching him. The man smirked and muttered like it was no big deal.
"Paradise."
"??"
The bishop's puzzled expression turned to shock. Paradise... He'd heard it was the one city of survivors in this apocalypse world. But he'd dismissed it as just an urban legend.
What business did they have all the way out here?
"Oh, came to trade. Might not know this, but your leader was one of our trade partners."
"Don't insult our leader..."
He would've pulled the trigger on his machine gun in a heartbeat under normal circumstances, but he couldn't help shrinking back in front of them.
They stared down at him—the man upheld by countless Salvation Cult believers—like he was nothing more than a bug.
"So, we trading or what?"
In the end, he nodded. At least he didn't bow a full ninety degrees—his one small comfort.
Even with one side's firepower so overwhelmingly superior, the trade went down fair and square. Fair enough that even Vladimir, who'd been watching their every move, found it odd.
A blonde woman atop one of the trucks watched the exchange, then asked the young man once it wrapped up.
"Why are we trading with cannibals like that?"
"Even cannibals can be useful to us. It's the apocalypse, right? Cannibal, survivor—doesn't make much difference to Paradise."
"By the way, Sophia, you know any shelters? Recommend one if you do."
The blonde woman—Sophia—thought of one at his words: Park Si-hyun's Shelter Apocalypse. But she shook her head right away.
She didn't know enough about them yet—their intentions or anything. No point in saying anything.
It wasn't for Park Si-hyun's sake, but for the Shelter D residents.
"Don't know any in particular. The ones from my shelter were all just alphabet Shelters."
"Ah, guess it's back to Shelter C? Bunch of stuck-up pricks with egos through the roof. World's gone to hell, and they're still playing heiress."
The man sneered with a curt mutter before climbing back into his truck. Soon, the convoy pulled away from the Salvation Cult chapel.
"Why do I have to go in there?"
Loki was glaring at me, his face full of dissatisfaction. Persuading him was easier than flipping my palm over, of course. That's how simple his AI was.
"Queen can't get in here, you know?"
True to form, he hated Queen with a passion, and he bit immediately.
"……!?"
Loki stared at me with the look of someone who'd just attained enlightenment. I drove the point home.
"Finish up the mine work properly, and I'll guarantee your freedom in there. Play house or whatever you want."
A flicker of hesitation crossed Loki's face. Soon enough, he pouted and replied.
"Hmph, still no. You think I'd fall for it again?"
"If that's how you feel, can't be helped. Fine."
"...You're not gonna try to stop me?"
"No need if you're dead set against it."
Loki hadn't expected me to react like that and started fidgeting instead. Before long, he was straight-up clinging to me.
"I wanna go in! I wanna go in, let me in!"
Stubborn as a mule... But since it was more or less what I'd planned for, I smirked and said,
"Alright, I'll let you in."
"Thanks~"
Simple—too simple. I chuckled as he vanished from sight, then turned to Queen. She was gazing wistfully at Loki's retreating form.
"Master, couldn't we just bring in a new AI instead? Loki's an indispensable, essential strong AI for Shelter Apocalypse."
"Him?"
Indispensable? More like mandatory. In the end, Queen came clean.
"...It's fun teasing him."
"Don't pick on the poor kid like that. A new AI... Female voice okay?"
Queen answered without batting an eye, ruthlessly straightforward.
"Just let Loki in already."
I'd gotten Loki's buy-in and Queen's permission. All that was left was building the power plant in Bahara Mine and relocating Loki's supercomputer.
That's what I was thinking when Maria suddenly burst into the workshop.
"Leader!"
"What is it?"
"Big trouble—huge trouble!"
What could possibly be big enough to cause trouble now?
"Queen?"
Queen would know anything happening in the shelter since she monitored the whole place. But for some reason, she was avoiding my eyes. What was going on? I cocked my head and followed after Maria.
Apocalypse All-Purpose Mechanic