Global Awakening: Apocalypse Ender's Chronicle

”Giving life to a mech?”

Shane helplessly smiled after hearing that. He couldn’t help but recall the A.I. Rebellion... This might even get worse if he does that.

”I can’t put these things in my Inventory, so the answer is no...” He replied.

Axis’s palm-sized form glowed faintly as she circled the towering mech.

”What a pity... This looks beautiful... Maybe if you grow the World Tree a bit more, it can help these machines!” she added.

Apparently, the World Tree that was in the Eclipse Domain was already good enough in terms of its size... Thanks to that and the Mana Crystal that Axis could carry, she was able to actually move around even without the World Tree around as long as she returned within the six hours or so.

Shane just nodded with his gaze now focused on the engineers and Elves working in tandem.

”How do these things fly? They don’t have wings.” Axis said while flapping her wings near him.

”It’s not about wings... The Skybreaker uses vertical lift systems and thrusters to stay airborne.” Shane said, but he immediately realized that it was Axis who was asking.

”Ahem... Just think of it as some kind of boosters or something that helps them fly.”

As he said this, he noticed that some elves were really fast at their job.

Elves were actually infusing mana into the alloys, strengthening the plating beyond ordinary steel.

It must be remembered that the steel had already been upgraded with Item Upgrade Crystals. With the additional infusion of Mana from the elves, the steel didn’t just become stronger, but it also obtained other properties, including high resistance against magic.

Human engineers, on the other hand, could be seen calibrating the thrusters, ensuring the mech could maintain stability even in violent storms.

Together, they were building something that no rival shelter could easily match.

After watching for some time, the mech’s core hummed to life as a low vibration shook the floor. Axis pressed her hands to her cheeks, with her eyes wide open...

”It’s beautiful... If you have dozens of them, they’d look amazing in the sky.”

Unfortunately, the required technology for their flight system was a bit too expensive, even with Shane’s Anima Store.

The reputation points he had to spend were simply too much and not worth it at all.

Because of that, Shane had decided that the most Skybreaker or Valiant Series he would produce would not exceed ten.

After all, he didn’t want to spend most of his Reputation Points buying items within the store.

***

Just as the Skybreaker’s core stabilized, Shane’s system interface notified him about a message.

This notification pulsed at the corner of his vision.

He opened it, and he swiftly scanned Fiona’s message.

She had reported the incident in Blue Haven... the panicked escort, the physician nearly killed, the swift suppression by the Super Soldier, and Brock’s desperate pleas of innocence.

Fiona wasn’t sure, but he was worried that they were influenced by the Overlord Clan...

It was understandable, so Shane had to decide carefully.

Everyone was alive. The physician had been saved. The attacker was contained... and that was enough for now.

He then gave his reply.

[ Shane: I will leave the decision to you. However, it’s better to at least have them stay in the shelter for 20 days. ]

Shane’s gaze lingered on the message as he thought it through.

Well, even if they were spies, their loyalty to the Overlord Clan could easily crumble.

He could influence every person who lived under his shelter, after all.

Each day spent inside his shelter added two Loyalty Points to their bond.

Twenty days meant forty points gained. If the caravan members already had ten points of loyalty, they would leave with fifty.

That was enough to anchor them firmly to Blue Haven, enough to ensure they would not easily betray him.

But Shane also had other plans. He planned to treat them well during their stay with good housing, warm meals, medicine, and fair trade.

Being treated with dignity would raise their loyalty even higher. By the time they left, the Owl Tale Caravan would not just be visitors... They would be allies, and perhaps if their loyalty points reached more than 80 points, they could get something even better.

Of course, Fiona had no idea about Shane’s hidden talent or the mechanics behind his authority. She only saw his message, weighed his decision, and nodded to herself.

[ Fiona: Understood. I’ll comply. ]

She closed the chat and turned back to Brock, the leader of the Caravan.

”You will be allowed entry. But to ensure that you’re not planning to provide information to others, you will remain in Blue Haven for twenty days. You are allowed to operate here and live as normal citizens or merchants. Yes, you will be treated fairly and will not be watched. However, any further incident, and there will be no second chances.”

Brock’s shoulders sagged with relief. That was a lot better than he thought.

He bowed his head, grateful for the decision she made...

”Thank you. We will abide by your rules. I swear it. Furthermore, once we return to our homes, we will be prioritizing this route and providing you all with new products all the time.”

”That’s even better. If you do well, we can even reserve a special lot for you all, where you could always operate your business. We will not be able to give the land for free though.”

Just like that, the Blue Haven Shelter secured a regular Merchant Caravan.

After all, in some other cases, the Merchant Caravan may not come again if the shelter’s reputation declines or if the Zombie activity in the area rises.

However, if a Caravan prioritizes a shelter, that promise would not be easily broken even if there were tons of Zombies blocking their path.

***

In the meantime, as the matter of the Owl Tale Caravan was settled, Shane received another message telling him that the improvement he requested in the Coastal Runner Ship had finally been completed!

Now, they were ready to travel through the sea, even with the threat of Sea Creature Zombies!