Thud!Thud!The enemies had finally arrived.Max raised his head and stared at the silhouette of the supposed Hunter Unit from the A.I. Army.‘Wait… It’s alone?’He couldn’t hide his surprise. He had expected several Hunter Units to arrive together, especially after seeing how aggressively the machines had been probing their shelter.But that wasn’t the only thing that caught him off guard.The Hunter’s appearance was nothing like what Max had imagined.From the name alone, he had pictured some kind of assassin. In his mind, a Hunter Unit would probably be a dark humanoid machine equipped with daggers, rifles, or perhaps some kind of plasma weapon capable of killing its target before the victim even realized what was happening.What actually stepped into view completely ruined that image.The figure was humanoid, but its body was covered in high-tech fabric that seemed to absorb the light around it. The cloak rippled strangely as the Hunter moved, almost like liquid shadow flowing ove

The night before, Corin joined the others outside the shelter to bury the three bodies. They no longer had the Special Furnace in Ark-45, so there was no reason to use the corpses as fuel. Instead, the survivors dug three shallow graves beyond the damaged section of the wall and placed a simple stone over each one.Corin had known all three men well. They had once worked as scouts, but injuries sustained while escaping from Reapers had made it impossible for them to continue. After that, they had taken whatever small jobs were available inside the shelter and contributed in whatever way they could.Seeing them lying there without a breath left in their bodies affected Corin more than he wanted to admit.“Haa~” Russel sighed as he looked at them.He had seen plenty of people die since the beginning of the A.I. apocalypse. He had even grown accustomed to the sight of bodies being buried, but knowing death was common did not make losing people any easier. These men had survived alongside

Ark-62 looked peaceful from the outside, but the shelter was barely holding together.It had not been long since the Mech Siege had nearly destroyed the entire place. The previous leaders had died during the fighting, and with them disappeared the last of Ark-62’s high-level Augmented Humans. What remained was a struggling community of thirty-two survivors, damaged walls, dwindling supplies, and the faint hope that the A.I. Army would simply overlook them.Farrah woke early every morning during the ten-day period leading up to the Global Event.Her responsibilities were simple. She spent several hours each day patrolling a specific section of the shelter, mainly the garden, the animal pens, and the well.Ark-62 still had some food, but their supplies were far from comfortable. A small garden occupied part of the courtyard, and although the soil had turned dark from the effects of the Apocalypse, it remained fertile enough to grow a few vegetables.That garden had to be protected.Farr

Max blinked when he saw the notification. He had expected the system to identify the machine as another Field Tyrant, so the different name caught him off guard.It wasn’t a Field Tyrant at all.The system had classified it as a War Tyrant, and although Max didn’t have enough information to be certain, he had a feeling that this version was considerably stronger.’I guess I’m lucky its joints were already damaged.’ He mused.That wasn’t the only thing that made this enemy special.The War Tyrant had dropped something Max had never received from the previous Field Tyrants.A Survivor Medal.’A Survivor Medal just like that… This is just so perfect.’Max clenched his fist in excitement. He had just received confirmation that the Gene Trader had been found, and now he had another Survivor Medal to use when he met him.If the medal could be exchanged for something valuable, having an extra one could make a huge difference.But the system still had more to offer.Another familiar notificat

A few more mutants broke away from the larger group and charged toward them.Their swollen muscles bounced beneath their pale skin as they rushed forward with frightening excitement, almost as if the sight of living humans had triggered some deep instinct inside them. Max still had no idea why they were so aggressive or what they actually wanted. Were they trying to kill them? Did they want to eat them? He couldn’t say for certain.For now, it didn’t matter.Whatever these creatures were, they were attacking his people, and that made them enemies.Atom’s two devastating shots had already reduced their numbers considerably. If Max and the others kept their formation, they should be able to finish the remaining mutants.Max raised both revolvers, one in each hand, and moved forward.His aim wasn’t nearly as accurate as Xander’s, so he had to compensate by getting closer. At short range, missing was much harder.He squeezed both triggers in quick succession.Bang! Bang! Bang!One mutant