Chapter 15
Chapter 15
Three days.
Just three days.
That was all the time it took to farm every lower-tier blueprint required for the drone blueprint.
And during those same three days, I had also completed sufficient field testing of the [Mechanical Reinforced Exoskeleton].
[Durability: 54]
I had used [Repair] along the way, but the maximum durability had already dropped by half.
The reason was the oil inside the [Hydraulic Cylinders].
Before the collapse, high-quality oil produced by global chemical companies could easily be purchased.
But not anymore.
The Mechanical Reinforced Exoskeleton might look impressive, but there was a reason its rank was only C.
If the oil wasn’t replaced every day, the maximum durability would decrease.
The internal components would grind down due to friction.
Even in the shelter, equipment had to be lubricated daily.
“So that’s why.”
For a while after the collapse, generators still worked.
Excavators, forklifts, trucks—they could still be used.
There was even some exchange between shelters.
But it didn’t last long.
Equipment began stopping one by one.
Shelters gradually became isolated.
Machine parts were metal, so they rarely broke and had high durability.
But oils and other consumables required for maintenance were often destroyed the moment buildings collapsed.
Back in the early days after the collapse, battles between Awakened and mutants occurred constantly.
During that chaos, everything must have been destroyed.
From what I had personally seen while scavenging, that seemed to be the case.
“After ten years, it’s no surprise almost nothing’s left.”
Still, I wasn’t worried.
I didn’t have the blueprints to make high-grade engine oil.
But I could simply replace low-grade oil frequently.
First, I placed the Mechanical Reinforced Exoskeleton on a shelf and opened the [Blueprint Library].
Many of the question marks filling the list had now been activated.
The result of three days spent searching the city ruins like a bloodhound and dismantling hundreds of electronic devices.
As a result, many of the empty slots had been filled.
Even so, the remaining empty spaces were still far more numerous.
It made me appreciate once again the greatness of pre-collapse human civilization.
[Blueprint: K-1 Wasp]
[Blueprint: K-5 Cargo]
Not only the drone blueprints themselves had been activated, but all subordinate blueprints had also been secured.
[Blueprint: BLDC Motor]
[Blueprint: Inertial Measurement Unit]
[Blueprint: Optical Lens]
[Blueprint: Wireless Transceiver Module]
[Blueprint: 3-Axis Gyro Sensor]
[Blueprint: 3-Axis Accelerometer]
[…]
A smile spread across my lips.
Just a week ago I had been carrying cargo in a basement warehouse.
Now I completely understood drones—devices packed with precision electronic control technology.
It wasn’t just knowing how to assemble them.
I understood every resistance value in the circuits.
Every torque specification for each screw.
The knowledge felt engraved in my bones.
“It feels like I went straight from rock-bottom laborer to engineering PhD overnight.”
Though admittedly only in the field of drones.
Still, Drone Production and Drone Repair were now completely within my capabilities.
One problem remained.
The battery.
[Status: Fully Discharged (Cannot Recharge)]
Every battery I found outside had this status.
Lithium-ion batteries lasted only a few years at best.
The smartphone power banks and large battery packs taken from raider corpses did still function.
But they weren’t proper equipment.
They were modified electric vehicle batteries that could retain around 70–80% capacity even after ten years.
[Status: Unstable]
Now that I understood battery technology, I realized something disturbing.
The power banks raiders carried could explode at any time.
It would be fine if they stayed sealed inside equipment.
But taking them out and using them directly was dangerous.
“And smartphone batteries don’t produce enough output anyway.”
Drone motors required bursts of high power.
I started thinking.
The engineering knowledge stored in my mind whispered a solution.
If there was no battery—
Then build one.
The principle of batteries was surprisingly simple.
Ions moved between the positive (+) and negative (−) electrodes through an electrolyte.
As ions moved, electrons separated and traveled through the electrical circuit.
That electron movement created current.
In other words, electricity.
To ensure the process worked properly, a separator prevented short circuits between the electrodes.
Copper and zinc plates were plentiful.
The problem was the electrolyte and the separator.
The electrolyte needed to allow ions to move easily.
The separator had to let electrolyte pass while preventing the electrodes from touching.
High-output lithium polymer batteries were masterpieces of modern technology—far more delicate than oil.
If low-quality oil was used, machinery would simply wear down.
But batteries were different.
They would either fail to function—
Or explode.
Fortunately, I already had an idea.
If technology couldn’t overcome the problem, then special materials could.
Precision work was best handled with help from the Awakening System, so I opened the Production Module.
“Poison… is basically strong acid.”
The venom inside [Contaminated Wild Dog Fangs].
It wasn’t just toxic to living creatures.
It was acidic enough to corrode almost anything.
Could it serve as an electrolyte?
Then what about the separator?
Ordinary plastic film might dissolve in such strong acid.
But I had a material capable of withstanding it.
[Contaminated Wild Dog Tendons].
If I processed this biological tissue finely enough…
“I could create a micro-mesh thinner than hair but tougher than steel.”
The system also confirmed it was possible.
I placed the tendon on the workbench and activated [Enchantment].
[New Blueprint Created]
[Please assign a name.]
Do I really have to name everything?
As soon as that thought crossed my mind, the process continued automatically.
Whir—
Where the laser cutter passed, the tendon spread thin like paper.
[Target: Contaminated Wild Dog Tendon]
[Result: Micro-Porous Bio Separator]
“Good. Easy enough to understand.”
Next came [Modification].
To utilize the workshop’s assistance, I opened the Enchantment Process under the Processing Menu.
Contaminated Wild Dog Fangs containing venom glands.
Micro-Porous Bio Separator.
And the metal materials that would serve as the Wasp drone’s battery housing and electrode plates.
[New Blueprint Created]
[Please assign a name.]
Nothing came to mind.
Couldn’t the system just name it automatically?
I had spent several days designing this battery.
But once the Manufacture process began, it finished almost instantly.
[Mutated Acid Battery]
Grade: D
A grotesque power source that uses mutant venom as its electrolyte.
The biological separator provides extremely high resistance to physical shock.
I picked up the completed battery.
“…Yeah, that’s… something.”
Inside the transparent casing, purple venom sloshed around.
Pale tendon membranes floated between the electrodes.
It looked less like a machine component and more like a preserved organ.
“Heh. Quite the appearance.”
Why had the originally black housing become transparent?
Touching it, I realized the enamel of the fangs had been applied to the casing.
Letting out a hollow laugh, I opened the drone’s rear slot.
Would this grotesque battery actually work?
Click.
Since the shape was identical, it fit perfectly.
Holding my breath, I pressed the power button.
Piiii—
A faint activation sound echoed.
The drone’s sensor eye glowed red.
The propellers trembled lightly before the drone rose from the workbench.
“Whoa.”
Did drones normally start flying the moment they powered on?
Then a system window appeared in front of me.
One I had never seen before.
[A New Entity Has Been Discovered.]
[Register to Entity Management Bay?]
Entity Management Bay…
I had seen that name before in the Workshop Facilities menu.
It was one of the locked functions.
Until now, everything I created had been nothing more than objects.
The exoskeleton.
The barbecue drum.
They were tools that required my direct control.
But the workshop system recognized this drone as an entity, not an object.
Almost like it possessed independent judgment.
There was no harm in registering it.
Without hesitation, I selected [Yes].
[Activating Entity Management Bay Module]
[Please assign a call sign.]
A call sign.
The base model was K-1 Wasp.
Its primary role was reconnaissance and exploration.
Something that picked useful materials from the ruins.
“Picker.”
The moment I spoke the name quietly, the system reacted.
[Call Sign Registered: Picker]
[Entity Generation Initiated]
At that moment—
Rumble.
In a corner of the workshop, the empty floor lit up with a blue grid pattern.
The ground began to move.
The cold concrete floor rolled inward.
Shining metal plates rose from below.
Like a 3D printer, they assembled instantly into a circular maintenance pad with several mechanical arms.
Whir—
The drone moved by itself and landed on the center of the newly created Entity Management Bay.
As if it were returning to a designated docking point.
Streams of complex code cascaded across the system display.
[Initiating System Synchronization for Entity Picker]
[Establishing 1:1 Connection with Central Control System]
[…Completed.]
The code stopped.
The red sensor eye in the drone’s center blinked several times.
Then it shone bright blue.
Just as I thought about testing it—
I realized something.
Ah.
I forgot to build the remote controller.
That was when it happened.
“Boss! I can see! This is huge! Huge news! Incredible!”
“….”
Silence.
My brain froze.
What was that?
Auditory hallucination?
I narrowed my eyes and stared at the drone sitting neatly on the pad.
The sound had clearly come from its speaker unit.
The voice was excitable.
Chatty.
Almost annoyingly energetic.
Apparently taking my silence as approval, the drone became even more excited.
“Look at this perfect body that survived ten years! A grotesque power source filled with monster venom! And Boss’s genius naming sense! From the start this unit has legendary potential!”
“…?”
I silently held my forehead.
This was not what I had imagined.
Nowhere in the ability description had it said items would gain personalities.
Was it a system bug?
Or a configurable setting?
I hurriedly opened Picker’s status window.
[Entity Name: Picker]
[Rank: E (Growth Possible)]
[AI Persona: Excitable Info-Maniac]
“…AI Persona? Excitable info-maniac?”
So that noisy personality was its default setting?
Unbelievable.
I definitely didn’t choose that.
“Master! No—Boss from now on! What’s the first mission? Shall I find diamonds in those ruins? Or crack open some secret pre-collapse vault? Once something enters my information network, it’s done in one shot!”
I pressed my temples.
My head already hurt.
“You’re noisy. Be quiet.”
My first command wasn’t a mission.
It was a reprimand.
Picker’s sensor eye widened and blinked rapidly.
“Yes, Boss! Entering Strategic Silence Mode for maximum efficiency! Awaiting the next glorious command! Loyalty!”
Strategic silence mode?
What was that supposed to be?
A strange kind of exhaustion washed over me.
“…Silence… silence…”
Watching it mutter “silence” to itself made me chuckle.
But maybe this wasn’t so bad.
After becoming an orphan shortly after the collapse, I had hardly spoken with anyone for long.
Except perhaps Section Chief Kim.
Until recently I had been too busy working and sleeping to notice.
But after being expelled from the shelter, I suddenly had time.
And I began feeling something new.
Loneliness.
I had even developed the habit of talking to myself.
Right.
Better a talking companion than a silent one.
And I wouldn’t even need a remote controller.
Good.
Time to test its performance.
“Picker.”
At my call, the drone straightened and hovered above the pad.
Its sensor eye sparkled with obvious excitement.
“First mission. Conduct reconnaissance around the workshop. Record terrain and anomalies on video and transmit everything. If you see any [Mutants], report immediately.”
“Yes, Boss! Perfectly understood! I will become the eyes through which Boss sees the world and expose everything in this territory! Prepare to witness the historic maiden flight!”
Before finishing its sentence, Picker shot into the air.
It disappeared through the workshop entrance instantly.
…That’s incredibly fast.
I had seen military drones flying before, but they weren’t this fast.
[Initiating Streaming Link with Entity Picker]
[Displaying Feed on Central Control Monitor]
As Picker vanished from sight, a floating screen appeared.
High-resolution video streamed in real time.
The camera quality wasn’t bad.
Though the semi-transparent display made it slightly difficult to watch.
I should probably build a proper monitor later.
While I was thinking that, Picker had already flown over the waste hill.
“Whoa…”
The waste hill was reached in just ten seconds.
The image was perfectly stable.
The altitude was high enough to avoid detection.
I sat in a chair and watched the ruined world through Picker’s eyes.
So this was what it looked like from above.
Interesting.
Picker shouted excitedly in the video feed.
—Boss! Three o’clock direction! Three D-Grade Mutants: Night Mantises detected! They look fresh! Want me to grab them?
“Not necessary. Focus on reconnaissance.”
Funny guy.
It didn’t even have attack functions.
What was it going to grab?
—Yes, Boss!
As Picker climbed higher, the ruins of a massive building came into view.
Where was that?
The skeletal frame still stood upright.
A building whose structure remained intact meant valuable loot.
—Shall I transmit coordinates?
“You can do that?”
—Yes, Boss! You can view them on the Central Control System Map!
Oh.
It really worked.
A map of the workshop surroundings appeared.
All of this territory would eventually become areas I would explore and harvest resources from.
How many blueprints and materials were hidden in those vast ruins?
At that exact moment—
SHHHK!
A sharp tearing sound echoed inside the quiet workshop.
It wasn’t from the monitor.
Picker’s microphone had captured it.
A real sound.
At the same time, the video feed shook violently.
Like an earthquake.
Red noise exploded across the screen.
—Aaaagh! B-Boss! Something—something is—!
Picker screamed desperately.
The drone suddenly dived.
The camera smashed toward a building wall.
The screen filled with gray concrete.
Zzzzt—zzzzt—
After one final burst of static—
The screen went black.
[Connection with Entity Picker Lost]
[Cause: Suspected propulsion system damage due to catastrophic external impact.]
The cold system voice cut through the workshop’s silence.