Global Awakening: Apocalypse Ender's Chronicle

Shane's dream army was quite obvious. It was an army composed of expendable soldiers. Something that he had seen from the Anima Civilization during the A.I. Rebellion. As long as they have the resources to make them, Shane's army would become a lot stronger compared to any Survivor Shelters around.

However, he was only at the starting phase of this project and it would still take quite a lot of time for that to happen.

"Alright! Let's take a break!" Jace said as he looked at the time… Apparently, by midday, they had to step out for lunch at the Mess Hall, where almost all the laborers gathered.

It didn't matter whether you were a Hybrid Human, Elf, Super Soldier, or just a normal survivor, they would all sit together for a meal...

Eudora, one of the elves who knew Jace, called him over as soon as he entered the hall.

Jace also smiled as he spotted Eudora, the silver-haired elf who had taken a particular interest in "fixing" his designs.

"Took you long enough," she said as he slid into the seat across from her.

"We're already doing some test runs, so we're quite busy… Do you really want to stay working as a scout? I'm Sir Shane would want you on the team." Jace said as he stabbed a piece of roasted unknown meat with his fork.

Eudora rolled her eyes and shoved the modified Power Core toward him.

"Your 'flawed' design now has a 12% efficiency boost. You're welcome."

Jace picked it up, his Gearspeak immediately started analyzing the modifications.

"Huh. You rerouted the energy through a tertiary node. Risky, but clever."

Eudora gave a confident smile as she was only doing this for fun. "Elven engineering is superior. Admit it."

"I'll admit you're smug," Jace said while grinning. "But yeah, this is good work."

Jace could only admit this much since this was actually a project that Shane wanted him to do. Apparently, even Cloud was also limited in information about the Power Cores.

Because of that, Jace had to ask for an Elf's help and he was led to Eudora. Of course, he believed that Shane together with Cloud, would be able to do this much as well but Shane just couldn't spend that much time since he had so many shelters he had to handle.

Tinkering with the Power Cores wasn't something Shane should do with his current level of strength either.

As they ate, Jace's gaze drifted to the fortress's central command tower, where Shane often disappeared for hours. He only knew that Shane would use the portal to go to various Shelters, but for his work, he was a bit curious.

"You ever wonder what Lord Shane was really planning?" Jace asked, lowering his voice.

Eudora followed his gaze. "You mean besides surviving?"

"Hmm... I mean the long game." Jace tapped the Power Core. "These drones, the exoskeletons, the automated defenses—it's not just about holding this fortress. I have a hunch that he's building something bigger."

Eudora's expression turned serious. "You mean… An army to take over the world?"

Jace smiled. "I already guessed it after were started making those mechanical soldiers that can be rebuilt."

"Well, whatever he's planning… I'll follow him. So, do you think it's the right move?" Eudora asked quietly.

Jace shrugged at this. "I don't know. But I know we can't win this war with just flesh and blood. With this mechanical army, I think that the sacrifices will go down a lot."

***

After lunch, Jace returned to the lab, where the other mechanics were already back at work.

He then showed the modified Power Core that he got from Eudora.

As expected, everyone got interested since they needed a better power source for the humanoid robots, exoskeleton frames, and other drones. After all, their operations only lasted three or four hours which was a huge flaw.

"This looks amazing…" Ziya muttered as she looked at the new Power Core and ran some tests on it. After realizing that the Power Core had indeed improved a bit, she could only acknowledge the Elf's ability.

Then, everyone returned to work on Project Warden which aimed to create humanoid robots or drones.

Aside from the Power Core that the elf had modified for them, there were actually other items where Eudora had also provided some insight to them.

Eudora may not be that great when it comes to mechanical gears and stuff but anything related to energy was something that she could easily handle with her unique trait as an Elf.

Because of that, Jace also asked for Eudora's help in other energy matters aside from the Power Core.

One of them was the enchanted Mana Stone's modification.

Indeed, aside from Power Cores, Shane had also given them a chance to use Mana Stones as a source of energy and they were even able to get a couple of crates of them.

After some time, Ziya looked up from her welding as her goggles reflected the sparks.

"Right… Jace, did you tell the elf that her Mana Stone adapter design would overheat under sustained fire?" Ziya asked after placing the Power Core in the humanoid robot or android.

"Not yet…" Jace admitted. "I didn't want to ruin her mood… Let's just ask her again if she could fix the problem."

Of course, Cloud could hear their conversation and Shane didn't really mind if they were getting help from the Elves.

Harry, a mechanic with a Salvage Instinct Talent, chuckled at their conversation. "We should at least try fixing it first… Right?"

"Nah…" Jace said after a few moments. "Just let her handle any energy-related issue since we can't afford an accident here."

The others laughed at this as they recalled one incident where they almost overcharged the Power Core and caused a disaster. Thankfully, Cloud was always with them to assist them during such a crisis.

For now, the group continued to work on their Project as they also hoped to see an army of androids marching toward a horde of Zombies… That would surely be an epic sight for them, knowing that they played a huge part in it.

***

In the meantime, as the others were busily working on the Projects that Shane had assigned to them, Shane himself was doing some sightseeing… or perhaps, inspection in Travis' shelter.

Travis also had multiple shelters and the one Shane visited was the most important shelter due to its special resource, oil.

Travis named this shelter Black Gold Outpost.

After going out of the special hall where the portal was arranged, Shane immediately noticed the thick scent of petroleum, burning coal, and smoke…

It was completely different from the sterile, high-tech atmosphere of his own fortress.

'Well… This is only a shelter built for oil extraction.' Shane thought to himself.

"About time you saw the place for yourself…" Travis said as he greeted Shane…

"I have to…" Shane replied.

"We've expanded since the last trade deal. I'm really glad you're not getting short of Spirit Stones, Zombie Cores, and even Item Upgrade Crystals." Travis said.

Shane nodded as he also noticed some construction going on.

Black Gold Outpost was definitely not as safe as Eclipse Domain but he could tell that Travis had recruited several incredible Survivors… Some of them may even come from Legendary Recruitment Stones…

Seeing Shane's eyes glancing in specific directions, Travis couldn't help but smile.

"Haha… So you noticed them… Don't get too offended if they're observing you. They're just wary, of seeing such a high-level Survivor around. Right, I got lucky to get 10 Legendary Recruitment Stones… They're not Foreign Survivors like us, so you won't see them in the Leaderboard.

"Ten Legendary Recruitment Stones? No wonder…" Shane muttered as he shook his head. Travis was indeed lucky.

Whether he obtained that through illegal or unethical means, he doesn't really care.

Soon, Travis decided to show him where the work was being done.

After some time, he was brought to the Oil Fields.

The first thing Shane noticed was the number of pumpjacks nodding rhythmically as they extracted oil. Shane could even see some black crude bubbling up from the earth before being funneled into massive storage tanks before being refined into fuel.

"You've advanced a lot… Where did you even get them?" Shane muttered.

"Hehe… Do you remember Herman? One of the first survivors who opened the chat board?" Travis said.

"Ahhh… That guy…" Shane gently nodded as he recalled Herman, Diana's mentor as a blacksmith.

"Amazing, right? This is what keeps your war machines running…" Travis said, slapping one of the pipes. "I won't raise prices because of the pumps I got… Don't worry."

After feeling satisfied, Travis then showed the refinery district to Shane.

"To be honest, I got inspired by your work so I'm finding a way to use the crude oil as well. I probably can't operate as much as you can but producing a barrel or two of kerosene was already great."

"Mhmm… Not bad… With the amount of crude oil you're getting, that's definitely a good idea." Shane replied as he watched their simple way of getting oil.