The next day…
“Hey, did you hear? The slum dwellers has got their hands on the weapons from the barracks!”
“What?! Oh shit, my cousin’s in the garrison! I fucking told him… wait what about us?”
“Don’t worry, they won’t ever come here. As daring as they may be, there’s no chance in hell that they are going to attack us. The military is pinning them down in the slums for now.”
Two guards chatted as they patrolled a series of grain bins an...
2023-05-26 00:10:19 +0000 UTC
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The tensions in the town simmered, clamped down by the heavy-handed follow-up raids by the military. Desperate to retain control of the city and asset dominance despite having their main barracks blown up, the soldiers initiated yet another sweep through the slums, attempting to capture all those who participated in the riot.
The streets were filled with the continuous sounds of arctech weapon fire and screams as the slum dwellers tried to evade arrest, hiding in every nook and cranny. ...
2023-05-25 22:48:47 +0000 UTC
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The machine arctech guns fired rapidly, the engraving along the barrels glowing intensely as the storm of pellets showered the rioting crowd. Each pellet drove a straight hole through the sickly flesh of the malnourished slum dwellers, ripping through muscles, tendons and skin in a churn of blood and meat.
Chants from the crowd turned to screams of horror as the rioting crowd immediately dispersed, but it was far too late for many of them. Many slum dwellers could only watch in shock as...
2023-05-25 00:41:07 +0000 UTC
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The next day…
Diya grumbled as she tapped her feet impatiently, waiting in the same makeshift shelter where the old man was sleeping on the metal bed. In the shelter were another two of her workers, along with entire crates of crushed scrap metal as well as wooden beams ripped from houses. They were stacked up high, with nearly two dozen of them.
“Old man, you don’t need to pretend. The entrance is right under your bed. Just move out of the way.” Diya tried to per...
2023-05-24 23:26:03 +0000 UTC
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Kyle did not bring Makoa along for the hunt, relegating him to manual labour in the tunnels under the watchful gaze of Hayden. Instead, Kyle flew out with a venom-spitting hornet, leaving the eight mineral ants to assist in the hunt for crude iron or minerals in the vicinity.
He had already gotten a rough description of the various nests and dwellings of animals. With the venom-spitting hornet, he could fly as far as he wanted, but the further he went, the more time it would take to bri...
2023-05-23 23:48:22 +0000 UTC
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While Makoa grumbled and complained about how Kyle seemingly was doing all of this on a whim, Kyle kept his mind set on the goal even as they were hunted down through the slums in the night, encircled by soldiers who were supported by large blinding arctech spotlights from the walls.
Their light swept across the corrugated metal roofs and reflected upon the myriad of skirmishes breaking out all over the slums as the soldiers were beset on all sides as well, harassed by the locals in any...
2023-05-23 22:32:05 +0000 UTC
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“Kyle?! No no no!” Makoa tried to run, but the slave engraving on his chest began to burn, causing him to wince and double over as he rolled on the floor.
“Made a nice haul, I see. Thanks for the help.”
“It-it’s fucking mine!”
“Sure.” Kyle flipped Makoa over, his hand reaching into the armour and pulling out the heavy sack of Versian coins. Well, that’s the operational budget of the new base covered. I can use this now to buy resources on the black ma...
2023-05-23 03:38:49 +0000 UTC
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The town of Desham was not particularly famous nor prosperous. Named for a particular herb that grew in the region, there was nothing else of note to the town, save for the large rolling fields that cultivated the same herb as a cash crop as promoted by the local council.
Due to that, despite having more than enough land to be self-sustaining or even export-focused in food, they had to import nearly a third of their required food from elsewhere as part of a specialisation program foster...
2023-05-22 22:24:31 +0000 UTC
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The mineral ants were done in a day, having eaten to their hearts’ content while creating a larger cavern that sat at a lower layer, connecting them to the tunnel system.
The new cavern started to look more and more like an underground hangar bay, with the mineral ants leaving to and fro while Hayden and the other members carried crates of supplies and piled them along the side.
If I consider the mineral ants as the starfighters, then this would be a great launch bay. K...
2023-05-21 23:49:18 +0000 UTC
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Two days later…
The rubble of crushed wooden walls and shattered glass fragments were crushed under Nox’s boots as he stepped through the devastated village. It was a complete scene of carnage, yet common for those who had to deal with attacks from the creatures that lived in the Keru Forest. The bright daylight made the devastation visible to the naked eye, the entire place levelled.
Yet the village had survived for seven years up to this point. And on the very n...
2023-05-21 22:21:50 +0000 UTC
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Kyle followed Hayden back to the smithy, where the place had obviously been cleared out of any belongings, with only the empty anvil and furnace left behind, along with a few obviously ruined rags of cloth and charred tongs that Hayden could not fit into the backpack.
The two kept a clear distance from each other as Hayden tossed the machine gun onto the workbench, disengaging the clutch that held the damaged barrel in before she pulled another one out of her backpack and attached a new...
2023-05-21 02:09:38 +0000 UTC
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Kyle grabbed the arctech handgun dropped by the sergeant and shot the lady, the projectile tearing through her windpipes before she could scream even more to attract attention.
However, her initial scream had already attracted the attention of a dozen soldiers who were still herding the villagers at the open clearing in the middle of the village. The gunshot startled them as well...
2023-05-20 23:57:27 +0000 UTC
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Hayden wiped the sweat of her brows with a well-used cloth slung around her neck, before putting on thick gloves and grabbing a pair of metal tongs, pulling out a searing hot long bar of steel.
She quickly hefted it over to an empty anvil, placing it down and picking up a nearby hammer, whacking away at the bar as she attempted to shape the steel into what looked like a sword, tapering both sides evenly.
The consistent hammer sounds were suddenly interspersed with a loud yell and ...
2023-05-19 18:19:49 +0000 UTC
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Kyle picked up his dropped pulverizer and makeshift obsidian blade, leaping off the top of the crystal outcrop into the dozens of rock spiders that were now fully aimed at him.
Protect! Divert! Lift!
The order was split up immediately amongst the controlled mineral ants, forming a vanguard formation around Kyle as one mineral and latched onto the back of Kyle, carrying him down while the mineral ants at the front deflected the incoming rock spikes.
A series of energ...
2023-05-19 16:46:22 +0000 UTC
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The tendrils dragged Kyle up as he struggled against the restraints, all four of his limbs wrapped tightly. They lifted him above the gap, revealing a weird large overgrown tunnel whose walls were like the interior of a tree trunk. Kyle was surprised by the scale of the ‘tree’, noticing that he could not see the end of the ‘trunk’ on either way.
Now’s not the time to be amazed. Kyle glanced at the source of the tendrils, noticing that it was a grotesque mass of flesh ...
2023-05-18 18:55:36 +0000 UTC
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As much as Kyle wanted to rush into the fray immediately, he needed to take a slight breather first, chugging down a water bottle before resting for a minute, his eyes darting around the area whilst coming up with an attack plan.
However, he could see a group of mineral ants in the distance numbering more than a dozen charging at him. Weird. Why are they aiming at me when they should be focusing their efforts on the large rock spiders?
Kyle decided to evade to the left, i...
2023-05-18 17:16:27 +0000 UTC
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Break? The entrance passageway was suddenly shut with a large rock door, locking them into the cavern.
Before Kyle could even react, a rock spider shot a small spike from its mouth at his head, forcing him to dodge as it whizzed past, smashing into the crystal outcrop before clattering on the ground.
Again, just like before, they targeted Kyle instead of Feldon. This time, however, the rock spiders did not charge mindlessly towards Kyle, but instead split up into groups a...
2023-05-17 22:15:25 +0000 UTC
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2023-05-17 20:17:05 +0000 UTC
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Kyle noticed that there weren’t any skills for this race. As expected. However, the stats increment he would gain would be nothing to scoff at. As of now, with each level up, he was gaining a total of 3 for each main stat, with MP being 2. With the boost from the Type-5 Galactic Human race, the total stat points for the strength he would get per level up would be seven, over...
2023-05-16 20:32:50 +0000 UTC
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Feldon’s peaceful snoring pierced the stillness of the air in the large cavern filled with the remnants of rock spiders and burnt marks of Soren’s lightning arc scorching the ground. Kyle felt slightly exposed in the area, as exhausted as he was. I should find a safer area first instead of doing the race evolution here first. Who knows if another System user rushes in?
...
2023-05-16 20:32:01 +0000 UTC
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“The Wardens…?” Kyle muttered weakly.
“You’ll see them soon enough. But to make things easier, let’s remove your limbs first. Don’t worry, I consider myself to be pretty good at chopping things off.” The man nocked back his arm with the lightning sword.
“I consider myself pretty good as well.” Negation Field!
The channelling of arcia energy through the lightning sword began to sputter out, as the flow went completely haywire and wreaked havoc wit...
2023-05-15 20:15:37 +0000 UTC
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“Come on, show yourself! What kind of System user hides behind a rock like that?!” The lone man taunted in a clear loud voice while walking measuredly towards the two of them.
Kyle’s eyes narrowed. This was the first time he had heard anyone other than him talk about the System, maybe save for Lady Yona who mentioned she had seen transcendents before. “Feldon, don’t fight. I need you to hide and stay alive for as long as possible. Play dead or run as far as you can if you have...
2023-05-15 18:46:47 +0000 UTC
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“So, I just sit in here and keep shooting?”
“Yes. I will continuously fight outside, you back me up.”
“I don’t have that many pellets!”
“I’m sure you can find some lying around.” The arctech handgun did not require gunpowder, merely accelerating pellets. Metal pellets performed the best, but stone pebbles could have the same effect as well, albeit at lower impact damage.
Kyle quickly stepped out of the barrier, with the swarm of rock spiders all rus...
2023-05-14 20:26:19 +0000 UTC
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The rock spiders rushed at Kyle as a legion, their numbers overwhelming as Kyle quickly swung his arctech pickaxe at the nearest one, smashing through its legs in an instant. They were many, but they were easy enough to break as long as Kyle did not get swarmed.
The tip of his pickaxe smashed through the weak rock surface, with the sound of glass shattered. Kyle did not have time to figure out why there was glass as he continued to swing non-stop.
2023-05-14 20:25:16 +0000 UTC
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Stats table now has subclass slot.
Chapter 71 updated with mention to how Kyle had always been already digging a tunnel to Raktor for four months, plus more emphasis on old tunnel networks
Skills updated in stats table to show duration and cooldown.
Crime lord class upgraded in chapter 70 (sorry I forgot about this. All skills upgraded)
More level increases added when Kyle killed gang members in Ocra and Nest hitmen in Tenar....
2023-05-14 18:06:53 +0000 UTC
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Dungeon? Kyle had never seen such a system message before – not even when he entered the Oracle lab in the goblin kingdom at Culdao Peaks.
“Boss?” Feldon stared warily at Kyle. “Are you feeling better now?”
“I’m fine.” Kyle knew that he wasn’t.
He hasn’t gotten a system message yet that the debuffs have been removed. The Debilitating Poison and Agent Black were still active in his system. He did not know the duration of the debuffs either, unsure...
2023-05-13 19:49:42 +0000 UTC
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Kyle didn’t bother replying, immediately dropping the mortar mounted on his shoulder and picking up his heavy variant rifle and firing straight into Nox.
Nox’s arm shields blocked his face, while the rest of his body was covered in armour that was all linked to the same engraving, absorbing the kinetic impact of the projectiles. The stopped projectiles all collapsed to the floor like a waterfall.
The two Nest squads took the advantage their boss gave them, attacking Feldon’s...
2023-05-13 16:51:52 +0000 UTC
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Kyle frowned as he read the message he had just gotten from Raktor. No activity from the Ardent Cretins nor the Violet Demons in attempting to attack us. Weird.
He had half expected his businesses or at least his supply chain to be affected by the Ardent Cretins in some way or another. Sebastian theoretically should have begun to poke holes into the entire network that Kyle had built up.
Similarly, the Violet Demons seemed to have given up attacking the Euria Seeds operat...
2023-05-12 19:57:12 +0000 UTC
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Two days later…
The door to the conference room swung wide open, with Mornero and his secretary Kalian entering with a brisk stride. “Sit down, sit down.” Mornero motioned with his hand, prompting the entire cabinet of ministers, army generals and business leaders to sit.
He took his seat at the head of the large round table in the middle, glancing over the people attending the meeting. “So, it has been five days since I have assumed the role of Acting President t...
2023-05-12 17:37:31 +0000 UTC
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Three days later…
[Reports of military build-up on the border of Versia have been reported by observers, though representatives of the Yual Dominion assert that this military exercise had been planned nearly a year ago and should not be cause for panic.]
[Mornero has pledged to increase spending on military spending immediately, bolstering the military. “It is exactly in times like this that we must stand united and remain vigilant. Do not forget the sins of the past....
2023-05-11 17:06:18 +0000 UTC
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