Chapter 17
Chapter 17
I had to recover [Picker].
But the enemy had a sniper.
“If I just walk out there, my head might get blown off in one shot.”
If the enemy could see me while I couldn’t see them?
The result of that fight was obvious.
“…Can’t be helped.”
I used the last remaining [F-Grade Core] to recharge the workshop’s power.
Vrrrr—
[Power Status: 26% (Operational)]
It was a waste, but this was the time to use it.
First of all, I needed a reconnaissance drone to assess the raiders’ condition.
What I knew about the world outside the shelter was far too little.
“Let’s make a smaller drone.”
It had to be far smaller than Picker, which had been based on the [K-1 Wasp], so it could approach without being detected.
I found myself admiring the sniper’s skill.
How had they managed to hit Picker, something only the size of a fist, from that distance?
If the shooter wasn’t an Awakened, they were definitely an incredible marksman.
“I need something smaller… and quieter.”
I stood in front of the workbench.
I couldn’t use existing military drone parts.
The smallest available model was the [K-1 Wasp].
I would have to create the [Blueprint] from scratch.
The key was the battery.
If the battery became smaller, the entire body size could shrink as well.
I registered [Contaminated Wild Dog Tendon] and [Contaminated Wild Dog Tooth], then began designing.
The [Microporous Bio-Separator] simply needed to be reduced in size.
One tendon could produce ten thin separator membranes, so I still had enough material.
The interior would be filled with [Contaminated Wild Dog Venom].
Adjusting the parameters displayed the success probability.
The higher the acidity of the venom, the higher the ion activity.
That was why even a small amount could generate explosive output.
Pushing the values to their limits, I managed to create a micro battery cell no bigger than a fingernail.
My experience had increased greatly after producing the [Mutated Acid Battery] once before.
The shape was still grotesque, but at least it was small.
Just in case, I melted black plastic and fully coated the exterior.
Next was the frame.
Durability would be sacrificed in pursuit of extreme lightweight design.
I twisted carbon fiber into strands thinner than hair to construct the frame, and used semi-transparent film wings to minimize noise.
The motor would be an ultra-high-speed micro motor.
Based on the principle of a [DC Motor], but reduced to less than a quarter of a fingernail.
When I executed [Manufacture], something like a tiny living creature appeared on the workbench.
At a glance, it looked no larger than a bee.
Ding—
[Honeybee]
[Grade: E]
A bee-sized micro reconnaissance drone.
Its durability is extremely low and it will be destroyed by even minor contact, but its noise and visibility are minimized to maximize stealth.
“Ah. The remote control.”
I forgot again—
Just as that thought occurred, [Honeybee] rose into the air with a buzz.
Ah.
Like the [Large Hydraulic Robotic Arm], this could also be controlled purely by will.
Because my mind was connected to the Workshop.
After conducting a test flight around the workshop area, the results were perfect.
No matter how skilled the sniper was, they would never hit this.
And thanks to the extreme lightweight design, the operating time was 24 hours.
Even with my Awakened hearing, the propeller noise was barely audible.
While checking the description during testing, I discovered that as long as it remained within the range of the Workshop’s influence, I could control [Honeybee] remotely.
Me — Workshop — Honeybee.
With this connection structure, I could control it even while outside the workshop.
“Head to the police station.”
Bzzz—
I opened the door and gave the command.
With a vibration quieter than a mosquito’s wings, Honeybee took flight.
The screen activated.
Because of the miniaturization, the camera module’s performance had decreased slightly, so the resolution was lower than before.
Still, it had an infrared camera and the microphone quality remained unchanged, which was sufficient for monitoring enemy movements.
“Oh. It even supports scheduled actions.”
Even without registering it in the Entity Management Bay, detailed command inputs could produce similar effects.
Since commands could also be issued externally, someone like a professional RTS gamer from before the Collapse might even control dozens of units simultaneously.
…Not me.
Still, if I practiced later, maybe I could control several at once.
While I was thinking that—
Honeybee moved quickly yet stealthily through the shadows of the ruins.
Before long, the target came into view.
The place Picker had shown just before being shot down.
Mapo Police Station.
The aerial route really was fast.
It was even farther than Hyochang Park.
Trying to reach it through the ruins on foot would take at least three hours.
Using Mapo Boulevard, which was filled only with abandoned cars, would shorten the time somewhat…
But it looked far too open and vulnerable to attack.
To eavesdrop, I landed Honeybee on top of the rooftop antenna at the police station.
Then I activated the [Micro-Vibration Detector].
Unlike a normal microphone, this high-precision listening device captured surrounding vibrations and micro-waves, transmitting the data to the Central Control System for signal conversion.
Thanks to that, even small sounds inside the police station could be detected.
“…Viper, go up to the rooftop and cover Hammer.”
Right on cue, a young man’s voice was heard.
Viper? Hammer?
Moments later, a massive man walked out of the police station building with a huge sledgehammer resting on his shoulder.
So that was Hammer.
His name suited him perfectly.
Hammer was almost certainly an Awakened with Physical Enhancement.
If an ordinary person swung a chunk of metal like that, their spine would shatter.
On his other shoulder, he carried a machine gun.
Shelters had firearms, but only rifles and pistols obtained from the military or police.
Seeing machine guns and sniper rifles meant there was definitely a weapon supply route.
The outside world really was lawless.
If I had tried to retrieve Picker without reconnaissance, it would have been disastrous.
Behind Hammer, three subordinates carrying K2 rifles—weapons commonly seen in shelters—followed.
The retrieval team consisted of four people.
But those four weren’t what concerned me most.
A woman quietly climbed onto the rooftop, settled behind the railing, and assumed a prone firing position with practiced ease.
A sniper rifle with a long barrel.
I couldn’t identify the model because I lacked firearm blueprints.
Her gaze through the scope was aimed directly toward Gongdeok Station.
A chill ran down my spine.
“Just as I thought.”
The prediction was correct.
Picker hadn’t been brought down by a stray bullet.
That meant that woman’s rifle could target my head as well.
Suddenly, tension surged through me.
I forced my pounding heart to calm down and began analyzing the situation.
Honeybee had gathered plenty of information.
There were hundreds of people swarming inside Mapo Police Station.
There were too many voices mixed together to distinguish individuals.
The number was far larger than expected.
Should I use my remaining power to create grenades and bombard the police station?
I considered it briefly, then shook my head.
The raiders weren’t a single unified group—they were a collection of groups.
After listening in, there was no need to provoke them all.
The enemies I needed to deal with were clear.
Hammer — Physical Enhancement Awakened.
Viper — Sniper. Possibly not an Awakened.
Karambit — Leader inside the police station.
Around ten non-Awakened subordinates under them.
All armed with guns.
If a large explosion occurred, not only the raiders at Mapo Police Station but nearby shelter forces would converge.
If they pursued me with full force, even I would eventually be tracked.
If they discovered where I was or what my ability was, things would become troublesome.
What I needed wasn’t a flashy war.
It was a quiet and covert hunt.
The sniper was the biggest problem.
Zooming in with Honeybee’s camera, her breathing control and weapon handling were clearly not ordinary.
“…She doesn’t seem to be an Awakened.”
If she were, she would appear mechanical in her movements.
Instead she occasionally stretched and shifted posture.
Could I win if I fought them directly?
The thought was frightening.
Still, they had no idea that I was watching them from above.
That information gap was their only weakness.
“I need to eliminate the sniper first.”
But my body was only one.
If I personally went to deal with the sniper, Hammer would inevitably reach the crash coordinates—near the entrance to my workshop.
If Hammer recovered Picker before I arrived, it would all be over.
“Should I reverse the order?”
I could eliminate the sniper first and then deal with Hammer when he returned.
But I had already experienced raiders at Hyochang Park.
They likely had radios and smartphones.
Once Hammer retrieved Picker, he would report to his leader.
“…Damn.”
I had to arrive near Gongdeok Station before Hammer and set up a trap.
Facing him unprepared would be too dangerous.
At the same time, I had to deal with the sniper, Viper, who was aiming for my head from the police station rooftop.
My body wasn’t two.
But I had something that could replace me.
Drones.
I stared at the screen.
Honeybee was still recording Viper’s every movement.
It was a perfect scout—but only that.
It could approach stealthily, but beyond that was the problem.
It had no attack capability.
Ultimately, the best solution was to equip this fingernail-sized Honeybee with an attack function.
Not an explosion.
Something that worked through simple contact.
“…Poison.”
I still had plenty of [Contaminated Wild Dog Teeth] stored.
Viper was probably not an Awakened.
But certainty was dangerous.
Every possibility had to be considered.
One mistake could put a hole in my head.
Even if it didn’t kill her, that was fine.
The key was disabling the sniper as a sniper.
When suffering from the nerve-twisting agony of potent poison, no human could precisely aim at a target hundreds of meters away.
Even if she survived, pulling the trigger would be agony for hours—perhaps days.
That would be enough.
Recovering Picker was the primary objective.
After several days of farming, I had accumulated quite a bit of knowledge.
Concentrating a neurotoxin was not difficult.
Using the collected teeth was wasteful…
But wild dogs were everywhere.
I could gather more.
I used [Manufacture] to create the toxin.
At Work Protocol Level 1, I couldn’t produce antidotes.
But at Level 2, things were different.
Since I could make antidotes now, producing a concentrated toxin was simple.
[Concentrated Poison of Contaminated Wild Dog]
[Grade: C]
Even an Awakened will suffer severe pain and loss of bodily control due to nervous system paralysis.
A D-Grade wild dog byproduct had become C-Grade after only two refinement stages.
This would be enough.
Awakened or not, if it touched bare skin, they wouldn’t be able to pull a trigger for several minutes at least.
Now the next step.
I quickly produced Honeybee Unit 2.
With the blueprint already created, a fingernail-sized drone appeared in just one second.
Now the question was how to transfer the poison to such a tiny unit.
At first I considered attaching a microscopic syringe needle.
But installing an injection system on something this small would be terribly inefficient.
At most, it could fire three or four needles.
Too few.
The needles were so light that hitting from a distance couldn’t be guaranteed.
And I didn’t have time to improve the firing mechanism’s accuracy.
I would probably need several units in case of failure.
But each unit required one Mutated Acid Battery, which was inefficient.
It would be best if a single drone could do the job.
In that case, there was only one method.
[Enchantment].
Like when I created the [Elastic Control Iron Cage].
Instead of simply attaching something…
What if I merged them into one?
There was no time.
I activated [Processing Process] – [Enchantment] and registered Honeybee and the Concentrated Poison of Contaminated Wild Dog.
The system remained silent for a moment, as if analyzing the data.
Then a new window appeared.
[Select modification method]
“Material Fusion.”
The moment I gave the command, the venom rose into the air as particles of light.
Those particles were drawn into Honeybee’s surface like hungry predators.
Zzzzt—!
This wasn’t simple coating.
Honeybee’s plastic shell and internal circuits reacted with the venom particles, reconstructing themselves at the molecular level.
The once-smooth surface turned black with an ominous obsidian-like sheen.
Thin red vein-like lines spread across the body.
It no longer looked like a bee.
It resembled a mutated wasp.
[New Blueprint Created]
[Please assign a name]
I had no time to think about names.
[Processing Process Active]
Poison Bee
Remaining Time – 09:59
Ten minutes?
This wasn’t even production.
Still, perhaps because Work Protocol had reached Level 2.
Back at Level 1, producing a D-Grade antidote took thirty minutes.
Looking at the completed model of Poison Bee, it already felt like a powerful weapon.
“Ah. Now’s not the time.”
I stuffed the [Mechanical Reinforced Exoskeleton Set] into my tactical backpack and hurried out of the workshop.
I had to reach the destination before Hammer.