Samantha eventually agreed to stay.At least for now.“Good decision…”Max quietly let out the breath he had been holding.Relief washed over him, but it was accompanied by a strange feeling he couldn’t quite put into words.The desperation he had seen in Samantha was unlike anything he had encountered before.It was unsettling.At the same time, there was something admirable about it.‘A little too desperate for sure…’He couldn’t help thinking that.She had been prepared to throw away everything for the person she loved.Her dignity.Her future.Even her own life.What struck him most was that none of it had been necessary.If all she wanted were food and supplies, she could have earned them like everyone else.Instead, fear and hopelessness had driven her into believing she had nothing of value left to offer.It reminded Max how fragile people became in this world.Hope disappeared far more easily than he had imagined.And once someone lost hope, there was almost no limit to what t

“Get ready to fight! Don’t hesitate… They’re not going to listen to you.”Max’s voice remained calm, but there was no room for doubt.He led everyone toward the nearest windows overlooking the courtyard, where they watched the enemy steadily closing in.Thankfully, no one argued.They all understood the situation.Trying to save those strangers would only put everyone inside Ark-45’s strike team at risk.Then Max noticed something.Several of the controlled survivors carrying rifles slowly raised their weapons.His expression immediately hardened.“Open fire!”The order rang out without hesitation.Bang! Bang! Bang!Dozens of revolvers erupted almost simultaneously.Muzzle flashes briefly illuminated the darkness as bullets ripped through the advancing ranks of mind-controlled survivors.Thud! Thud! Thud!The first line collapsed almost immediately.Their rusted blades, iron pipes, and crude clubs were hopelessly outmatched against disciplined gunfire.The difference in equipment was

“Hide!”The moment Max gave the order, everyone reacted.The survivors scattered in different directions, slipping into nearby buildings or diving behind piles of rubble. Some flattened themselves against cracked walls while others crouched beneath broken machinery. Every flashlight was switched off, and even those carrying lanterns covered them immediately.Within seconds, the compound fell into complete darkness.Only the faint mechanical buzzing above broke the silence.The Swarmers had arrived.The insect-like drones glided across the night sky, moving in slow circles as their sensors swept across the abandoned base in search of movement.No one dared make a sound.Several survivors instinctively held their breath.Max remained perfectly still beneath the shadow of a collapsed warehouse. His eyes followed the drones overhead while his Keen Sense stayed alert for any sign that they had been discovered.Fortunately, the machines never descended.Instead of conducting a thorough insp

The mechanical soldier stood inside a transparent capsule connected to dozens of thick cables.Some of the wires descended from the ceiling while others stretched across the floor before disappearing into nearby machines. It looked less like a storage chamber and more like a life-support system built specifically for the machine.At the center of the room, the dormant A-Grade Reaper stood perfectly still.It looked nothing like the battered Reapers they had dismantled throughout the compound.This one wasn’t bulky or clumsy.Its frame was sleek and streamlined, with smooth armor that flowed naturally from one section to another. Very few sharp edges broke its silhouette.At first glance, it almost resembled a human wearing an advanced combat suit beneath a seamless helmet.Compared to the crude construction of the lower-grade Reapers, this design belonged to an entirely different generation.Max slowly stepped closer.He brushed away the thick layer of dust covering the capsule.The t

Mila had never imagined herself leading anyone.Back in Ark-45, she was simply the head of the sanitation crew. Her job had always been to keep the underground shelter clean enough for people to live in. Every day, she and her small team scrubbed walls, cleared waste, and made sure sickness didn’t spread through the cramped tunnels.It wasn’t glamorous work, but everyone depended on it.Then Max left with nearly all of the shelter’s fighters to secure a new base, and before she knew it, the responsibility of keeping Ark-45 together had landed on her shoulders.The people left behind were hardly a fighting force.There were two nurses, two cooks, three sanitation workers including Mila herself, one scout, and a single boiler room operator.None of them were trained soldiers.None of them believed they could survive another Mech Siege if it happened again.Even so, every one of them carried a revolver.Ark-45 was barely standing after the bombardment it had suffered during the siege. Cr