Global Awakening: Apocalypse Ender's Chronicle

”Welcome, Mr. Tundra and Jillian, to our humble abode,” Mr. Wadsworth began. His voice was also warm and welcoming, so it made the two feel comfortable.

”Just like what you’ve requested, we are pleased to offer you sanctuary within our walls…” As he said this, the two were obviously happy.

”That’s great! Mr. Wadsworth. You must be a special butler if you can make such a decision by yourself.” Tundra probed.

After all, he felt that such a significant matter of letting strangers enter their territory must be consulted with the Shelter’s owner. It was quite weird for a butler to make all the decisions.

He had to probe what was going on…

’Are they simply trying to protect that girl?’ Tundra mused.

Jillian also thought the same, as the woman was probably heavily reliant on her Dragon and was very weak without her pet. This only ignited their desire to meet the Shelter Owner even more.

In the meantime, Mr Wadsworth smiled after hearing his probing question. He didn’t mind it at all.

”You can rest assured that I have the position to make such an important decision for the Shelter. As a matter of fact, we also wanted you to bring your friends if you have some people in mind. We promise that we will also give them food and Shelter as long as they work for us. Well, we’re trying to expand our territory, and we really need some hands right now.” Mr. Wadsworth said kindly.

Tundra and Jillian were actually startled after hearing that they could bring their friends. After all, they indeed brought their subordinates to attack this Shelter. It was such a perfect opportunity.

Nonetheless, after thinking about it, the two of them thought that the butler already knew about the ambush lying in wait and started getting nervous.

However, after hearing that the butler simply wanted to gain more laborers, the two gently nodded. They noticed that the estate was building so much infrastructure at the same time that they needed several people.

”You want us to be your laborers? We don’t mind it! As long as you can give us food and Shelter!” He said as if he was genuinely concerned about his food. While, in fact, Tundra was already celebrating in his mind as this mission seemed to have become a lot easier!

Then, the butler continued to explain the conditions for letting them in aside from their work hours.

Mr. Wadsworth’s offer came with a condition that involved monitoring their activities for a period of 20 days, a condition meant to ensure the safety and security of the Shelter’s residents against the new recruits.

It sounded reasonable to the two as they might implement this method as well when recruiting people from the outside.

Anyway, aside from that, they knew that while this level of scrutiny might seem stringent to some, Tundra saw it as an opportunity rather than a hindrance.

With his eyes filled with expectation, he welcomed the arrangement, knowing full well that once his men joined them, their path to dominance within the Shelter would be paved with ease.

”Thank you for your generosity, Mr. Wadsworth,” Tundra replied, a smile playing on his lips as he envisioned the unfolding of his carefully laid plans.

”We accept your terms gladly. Rest assured, our presence here shall only bring prosperity and protection to this community. I have a few friends of mine that I can message now. They shouldn’t be that far.” He added.

”Very well, we’ll also welcome these people as long as they do not mind doing physical labor to help reconstruct our estate…” Mr. Wadsworth said.

As the deal was sealed with a handshake and a nod of agreement, Tundra’s mind raced with better strategies.

His excitement grew with each passing moment.

’Should we just wait until the 20-day monitoring is done? That way, we could also investigate the strengths of other survivors… We might also discover some escape routes that we can use.’ Tundra thought for a moment. It seemed that they would just benefit more if they waited for the monitoring to be done in 20 days.

They could familiarize themselves more with the estate, and they would also discover the other defenses of the estate.

In the meantime, Mr. Wadsworth simply smiled as he looked at Tundra, messaging his friends.

’Mhmm… An additional 40 points in loyalty should be great… However, I should show them a few more things during these days to increase it further…’ The butler thought as he knew the scheme of this person all this time.

They weren’t aware of it but the Elves had been observing them ever since they entered the forest. Sparky, the Evolved Thunderbird, would always roam the skies and report to the elves who could understand his language.

Because of that, the others immediately suggested eliminating them if they ever thought of harming them. However, Mr. Wadsworth knew about Shane’s ability to increase loyalty. It was something mentioned to him and Shinja.

According to Shane, as long as they stayed inside the Territory’s perimeter, their loyalty would slowly increase. To be exact, it was 2 points of Loyalty per day.

He couldn’t really understand it at first but after Shane explained that it was similar to hypnotism, Mr. Wadsworth immediately understood that this information could not be spread around.

Anyway, this was the main reason he wanted Tundra’s group to stay within 20 days… Although 40 Loyalty Points didn’t sound big, he knew that as long as they stayed here peacefully for that duration, they would realize that fighting against them would be futile.

***

Meanwhile, as Mr. Wadsworth was plotting against Tundra and his group, Shane had already completed his preparation to conquer the Shelter.

Shane stood on the outskirts of the Wild Shelter… He was doing his final calculations as he steadied his breath.

’As long as I capitalize all my strengths and high-grade items, I should be fine.’ Shane thought to himself.

Clad in his formidable Crypt Crawler Set, he felt the surge of power coursing through him and felt more confident.

Well, the Crawler set not only enhanced his Agility, Movement Speed, and Physical Damage but also bestowed upon him an important stealth skill called Perfect Shadowmeld… It was a perfect skill for tonight’s raid that was granted by his Shroud of Shadow Cape.

With a deft hand, Shane deftly deployed his four Zombie Lures. ”Please take effect…”

Shane thought as he knew that the zombies and the ones summoned by the necromancer could be different.

Thankfully, everything was going according to his plan.

These lures were just similar to tennis balls, but as they were thrown, they emitted smoke, and for some reason, it was enough to draw the attention of the undead sentinels that patrolled the rampart, diverting their gaze away from his approaching assault.

Seizing the opportunity, he launched himself forward while his Perfect Shadowmeld was active. He was hoping that these Undead Beings controlled by the Necromancer could not sense him.

As he got closer, his sights set on the threat of the Automated Turret… He had to quickly do something about it before it could target him. Although he felt confident blocking or dodging a few bullets, it may not be the same if hundreds of them came at him.

As he neared the area where the Turret was, Shane’s next movement was almost instinctual, it was honed by numerous battles he had experienced from various Apocalypses.

”There’s no guard… Perfect!”

He directed his focus toward the vulnerable underbelly of the Turret, where its platform connected to the structure. Instead of obliterating the Turret outright, an idea sparked in Shane’s mind—he planned to take it for himself later on! He was also hoping that repairing it later would trigger Anima Store!

After all, he really wanted to make use of his Otherworldly Talent. He was simply unfortunate to get deployed in an abandoned Manor in the middle of nowhere, so his Mechanic Skill was pretty useless…

This time, however, he knew that everything would change.

With a swift and calculated strike, Shane targeted the support structure of the Turret’s platform!

He mainly used his Hatchet to ensure that this would be quick!

Clank! Clank! Clank!

Shane delivered a series of blows that weakened its foundation. As the structure groaned under the force of his assault, the platform gave way with a resounding crash, sending the Turret toppling to the ground, creating a crashing sound of metal and debris.

While rendered unusable in its current state, Shane saw the potential for repurposing this formidable weapon to serve him after eliminating the Wild Necromancer.

As the dust settled around him, Shane stood at the rampart, observing the reaction of the Necromancer hidden somewhere inside the Shelter.

Soon, the Zombie Lure’s effect disappeared, and the undead finally started looking at Shane… Although the effect didn’t even last for a minute, Shane was already satisfied with this result, considering that the Undead Beings that were lured weren’t normal Zombies.