The God-Level Scavenger

Dead End Counting Down

The red numbers on the screen dropped to 02:59, and the silver tablet began to sizzle against the control desk.

"The magnetic lock is melting the ports," Amina said, her hands already moving across the backup wires beneath the console. She did not panic, but the tight lines around her mouth showed exactly how bad our situation was. "Tariq's father did not just start a timer. He sent a high-frequency pulse to destroy the core memory so nobody else can read the structural codes of the inner city."

I threw my weight against the heavy steel security grille that had just blocked our only escape door. The thick metal bars did not even bend. My strength stat was high, but this bunker was built to withstand artillery strikes from the outer wars.

"Can you trace the pulse back to the central tower?" I asked, looking over my shoulder at her.

"I already did," Amina said, pulling a wire loose with a sharp snap. A spark bit her palm, but she did not blink. "But that does not help us if we are turned to ash in less than three minutes. Kofi, the wall behind you leads to the old ventilation shafts, but the concrete is reinforced with steel mesh. Use your blade."

The red numbers blinked down to 02:24.

I gripped my dragon scale blade with both hands. I could feel the cold solid grip of the weapon, a physical reminder that I was no longer the weak scrap collector who could be pushed around by low-ranking guild enforcers. I activated my core skill, letting my skin turn to that hard gray color, and slammed the point of the sword directly into the gray wall.

The blade cut deep, but the thick concrete was incredibly dense. Pieces of stone flew into my face, cutting my cheek, but I kept swinging.

"Tariq wants us to die in this hole so his secrets stay buried," I said between heavy breaths, my muscles burning as I dragged the edge of the sword down to create a seam. "He thinks he can clean up his mess by erasing the evidence.

"He thinks like a child," Amina said. Her voice was thin as she focused her remaining light magic into the main computer board, trying to slow down the power build-up. "He does not care about the city defenses. He only cares that I saw him look weak in front of his men. His pride is going to blow up half of Sector 4's outer boundary.

She was right. The high-guild leaders did not view the lower sectors as real places filled with real people. To them, we were just numbers on a production sheet. If an entire ravine exploded and took a dozen scrap collectors with it, they would just write it off as an industrial accident.

My sword hit a thick steel bar inside the concrete wall. A loud ring echoed through the small room, and my hands went numb from the shock of the hit.

01:45 remaining.

"Kofi, the core is overheating," Amina said, stepping away from the desk as smoke began to pour from the ventilation slits of the tablet. "The light magic barrier I am holding can only block the initial fire blast. It will not save us from the ceiling collapsing."

"Step back," I told her.

I stopped trying to cut the steel bars one by one. Instead, I focused my eyes on the structural lines of the wall, using the system's basic tracking sight to find the weakest point where the concrete met the floor frame. I raised my foot and kicked the center of my cut with all the strength my stats could provide.

The concrete cracked with a loud pop, the metal mesh bending outward into the dark space behind the room. It was an opening, but it was barely wide enough for a person to crawl through.

"Go," I said, grabbing Amina's arm and pulling her away from the smoking desk.

She did not argue or tell me to go first. She understood that survival required speed, not manners. She dove into the dark gap, her torn white dress catching on the sharp metal edges of the broken grid. I heard her slide down into the pipe on the other side, her boots hitting a hollow metal floor.

00:32 remaining.

I threw my sword through the hole first, then shoved my shoulders into the narrow gap. The sharp stone edges tore through my shirt, scraping the skin along my ribs, but the hard defense of my skill kept the cuts shallow. I squeezed my hips through just as a high-pitched whine rose from the room behind me.

The tablet exploded.

A wave of intense heat roared through the hole, hitting my boots and throwing me forward into the dark pipe. The force of the blast slammed me into Amina, and we both rolled down a steep metal incline as the entire control room collapsed in a shower of heavy stone and twisted iron.

We slid for twenty meters before hitting a flat iron grating.

The air was full of gray dust, making me cough as I scrambled to my feet. I picked up my blade, my eyes adjusting to the dim blue light coming from a massive open chamber below the grating.

We were standing inside an ancient water treatment vault that ran directly beneath the outer mountain range. Far below us, a dark underground river rushed through massive iron pipes toward the deeper parts of the outer lands.

Amina stood next to me, wiping a streak of black soot from her forehead. Her eyes were fixed on the far side of the vault.

A single figure stood on the concrete walkway near the main exit door.

He wore the silver uniform of the Elder Council's elite guard, but his coat was stained with fresh blood. In his right hand, he held a long spear that glowed with a faint yellow light. At his feet lay the bodies of two outer territory scouts, their gear picked clean.

The man turned slowly, his face completely pale and devoid of emotion.

"You should have stayed in the room, Lady Amina," the speaker said, his voice flat. "The council does not like it when their property runs away with the city keys. Young Master Tariq is no longer in charge of this retrieval."