The survivors were stunned as the latest notifications appeared before their eyes.
Victor’s hands trembled as he held up the first glowing orb.
"This... W-we did it!!" he exclaimed, though his grip was careful, unsure how fragile it might be.
Wallace and Ralph quickly joined him, prying open the other two fallen Sentinels. Within minutes, three identical cores had been gathered, each one radiating a steady glow of blue light..
For a moment, no one spoke. Then Wallace broke into a grin. At this point, his voice was shaking with excitement. "We finally found it... the way forward! This is how we break past Level 5!"
Ralph laughed, unable to contain his relief. "I thought we’d be stuck here for days. I even wondered if the Mech Siege’s reward would be the breakthrough method. But now... now we can actually level up." He clutched the empty Plasma Rifle tightly, silently thankful for the weapon that had made this victory possible.
Victor’s pale face also lit up with pride. "I knew salvaging that rifle would pay off. Heh, I contributed a lot, right? Without my fix, dealing with those C‑Grades would’ve been a nightmare."
He was bragging, of course... After all, Victor couldn’t fight on the front lines. But the others laughed warmly, appreciating his timing. He had come in clutch.
"Back to work, everyone," Kai reminded.
The group erupted into cheers as their exhaustion was momentarily forgotten.
Still, no one tried to absorb the cores yet. For now, they needed to dismantle the C‑Grade Sentinels and haul the remains into the underground shelter.
When the salvage was finally secured, Kai allowed himself a moment of calm. His eyes lingered on the glowing cores.
They had learned much from the notifications.
First, Sentinels weren’t all the same. The normal ones were D‑Grade, but these black-plated units were C‑Grade. That meant there could be B‑Grade, A‑Grade, and perhaps even higher levels waiting in the future. And only those higher-grade units carried Energy Cores.
The System had revealed more than mechanics. These advanced Sentinels weren’t built by human hands or by Aria, the rogue A.I. humanity had created. They were forged with technology from the A.I. Civilization, an intelligence not of this world, one that had corrupted Aria to rebel against its creators.
’They must have a factory somewhere... maybe...’ Kai mused, before shaking his head after getting a dangerous idea in his head.
They were too weak right now. He needed to focus on survival until he and those he trusted grew stronger, instead of finding a way to mess with their base this early!
’The real enemy isn’t just Aria. I have a lot of things to prepare.’
Clap!
Wallace clapped Kai on the shoulder while grinning. "You should take them. All three. Your Gift Pack Talent keeps us alive. If anyone deserves to get stronger first, it’s you."
Ralph nodded firmly. "Agreed. You’re the one who makes sure we have food, ammo, medicine. If you fall, we all fall."
Victor added, "We’ll follow your lead. Absorb them, Kai. Become stronger... for all of us."
Kai looked at the glowing cores, then shook his head. "One is enough. The notification said a single core can break past the bottleneck. I’ll take one. The other two should go to those who fight on the front lines."
Wallace blinked. "You mean..."
Kai nodded. "Ralph and Wallace. Ralph’s Talent is invaluable. He’s the only one who can make those critical shots. And Wallace, your Iron Stamina and Swift Stride make you capable of turning battles around. You deserve this."
Victor nodded without argument. "That’s perfect. I’m a mechanic. My place is behind the lines. When we find more cores, I’ll take one. Claire too."
"Fine... I’ll take them."
The decision was made, and no one objected.
Soon, Kai pocketed a single core, while Ralph and Wallace each held one of their own.
They then turned their attention to the storeroom. Piles of mechanical remains had grown enormous, far more than their small group could dismantle alone.
Victor sighed as he surveyed the mountain of scrap. "We need more hands. Recycling these parts into armor, barricades, and weapons is possible, but not at this pace. I need more helpers here, or we’ll drown in our own salvage."
Kai nodded. "We’ll manage. One step at a time... Just process whatever you can."
Later that night, after the group had eaten, Kai retreated to his tent in the quarters area. Since the others were on patrol duty, he had nothing to worry about. If there were any emergency, he would be immediately contacted.
Taking a deep breath, he sat cross‑legged with the Energy Core resting in his hands.
He didn’t know how the absorption process worked since the System hadn’t explained the method.
Should I swallow it? How does this work?
Kai closed his eyes. Then, he brought the core closer, wondering if he had to consume it.
The moment it touched his chest, the glow intensified! A surge of warmth energy spread through his body, followed by a sharp jolt of pain.
The core actually dissolved in his hands.
[ Energy Core absorption initiated... ]
[ Synchronizing with host physiology... ]
So... bringing it close to my chest is enough? Weird... but okay.
Kai wanted to question the method, but his muscles trembled. It felt as if his very cells were being rewritten, forced to adapt to something alien.
[ Energy Core absorption complete. ]
[ Level Cap exceeded. Survivor Kai has advanced to Level 6. ]
[ Physique Rating upgraded: D- ]
[ Excess Experience Points have been converted to Skill Points. ]
[ You have received Skill Points +3 ]