Chương 4: The First Theft

The maple tree leaves covered the ground, and the zombies mostly remained within its shade. They also appeared much more lively than the ones he'd seen walking directly under the sun. Shooting them directly was bound to be a bad idea. Thus Nyx kept a safe distance away from them. He really wished now that back home he'd gone to the shooting range to practice. The membership was cheap and some of his friends went there to hang out too.

He'd also thought of practicing his shooting skills with the gun as is, but that wasn't at all a good idea because of how precious the bullets were. Either way, six days aren't nearly enough time to refine one's shooting skills. Then again, it was said that in desperate situations, humans tended to adapt very quickly. Perhaps he'd adapt too. There are always two paths to survival: you adapt or you die.

Nyx watched over them for a while, as an idea slowly formed inside his mind using the pieces of information he'd collected on these zombies. He was several meters away from the tree. But for this plan to work, he'd have to get there and put himself in direct danger. Looking over at the sky, he saw the daylight slipping away by the second. So he didn't dawdle in anxiety—he took a deep breath and parked his E-bike just beside him. Then he scoured the ground for hard pieces of soil or stones themselves.

After a minute, he'd gathered several of them. He moved a bit closer to the tree and hid behind a patch of tall grass. Aiming the rocks, he threw them toward the opposite side of the maple tree. The rocks fell over the dried-out patches of grass at the far end with a loud rustle. The zombies immediately perked up, and like moths to a flame, they scrambled toward the source of the sound, all five of them.

As they left for the source, Nyx quickly crawled toward the maple tree, making sure to make as little sound as possible. On the way, he cast Usurper over the bodies of the dead. [Usurpation Successful] [Acquired Gold 0. 1.] [Acquired Gold 0. 1.] [Acquired Gold 0. 1.] Before reaching the treasure chest, he'd already passed by ten zombies and collected approximately one gold.

It was a huge bonus—while these bodies were previously within range of Usurper when he was far away, they weren't within his viewing range, and for Usurper to work, they needed to be within his field of view. Although the plains were open and flat, the tall, dried-out grasses did an excellent job of hiding the dead bodies. The shriveled-up ones were even harder to spot. As he reached the wooden chest, he saw from the other side the zombies returning toward the maple tree.

He swiftly threw multiple stones to his left, making sure to stay hidden behind the tree trunk while doing so. As the sound of rustling came, so did the zombies break into another mad scramble toward the source. Meanwhile, he opened the wooden chest's lid, and several streaks of light hit him immediately. [Acquired Gold x3, Iron Plates x4, Universal Bullets x100] Having claimed the loot, Nyx swiftly left the spot and climbed onto his vehicle.

The place he was standing in was too dangerous for making purchases and vehicle upgrades, so he started the bike and rode off for a better spot. After reaching another tree, several meters away from the direct foothills of the Stardew Mountains, he opened the Exchange and bought all the necessary supplies for tire upgrades from a single seller. It cost him 2. 6 gold in total, leaving him with only 5 gold. He brought up the tire panel.

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. [Tires] Upgrade Path: [Hybrid Tires] Significantly increases the rolling efficiency of the vehicle, and comes with a set of super suspensions and an extra shock disperser. [Upgrade Requires: Gold x3, Rubber x10, Mechanical Part x10] [Advancement Available] He nodded at the price and clicked on the upgrade.

The vehicle's tires were immediately enveloped in that same light, growing slightly larger, as the overall vehicle body grew taller by several inches and thicker overall. As the light disappeared, it left behind a set of wheels covered with richer, matte-finished tires that looked far more high-quality than the previously grayed-out ones. Nyx smiled and climbed onto its back. Twisting the throttle, he immediately felt the bike pull ahead as his body registered the stronger air resistance.

Like a silent cheetah running through the savanna, the vehicle sliced through the dried-out grasses, rubble, and twigs without him feeling even the slightest vibration.

"This is amazing," the smile on Nyx's face widened into a grin, and on the way back, he reopened the Exchange and searched for binoculars.

"Oh, they come in quite the variety." He stopped the bike and scrolled through the catalogue. There were the general, cone-shaped binoculars with 6x zoom. Meanwhile, military-grade goggles came with overlaid 1-3x zoom and night vision, priced at a staggering two gold.

"Those could be useful at night." But for him, he needed the thermal, long-range kind with night vision—it didn't matter whether it was goggles or a handheld device. He scrolled through the various listings some more and sighed.

"Anything with night vision attached is expensive…" Still, he bought himself a pair with 2-6x zoom. It was a set of goggles with a high-resolution sensor and a bright IR illuminator. It could even stabilize vibrations caused by head movements. Though it cost a full two gold, Nyx bought it. Right then, he suddenly heard the sound of a car engine coming from behind him. He quickly mounted his bike and rode away.

While putting distance between himself and the sound, he turned around to see a large, gray-colored Humvee with a mounted Gatling gun on the roof, a guy gripping the handle and scanning the area vigilantly. Nyx kept moving, his target being the mound a hundred meters or so away. After reaching it, he parked the bike and took off the goggles to check on what they were up to. The goggles zoomed in, and he saw them directly confronting the five zombies he'd encountered at the foot of the maple tree.

The zombies immediately charged at the Humvee, while the guy on the roof grabbed the handle of the machine gun and opened fire. It was like firecrackers going off, as the barrage of bullets tore through the five zombies until they were riddled with holes.

"Talk about going overboard," Nyx murmured, and even though it wasn't necessary to use a gesture, he faced his palm toward the direction of the slaughter and chanted.

"Activate [Usurper]!" [Usurpation Successful] [Acquired Gold 0. 5, Leather x1] [Acquired Gold 0. 3, Iron Plate x1] [Acquired Gold 0. 6, Rubber x4] The notifications repeated, and Nyx clenched his fists in excitement. The guy with the gun, meanwhile, seemed to have frozen in place, his face baffled. He looked like he wanted to say something to the Humvee's owner, but as more zombies came crawling out from the bushes and trees, drawn by the gunfire, he was forced to resume firing.

After about ten minutes of relentless shooting, the Humvee finally left, leaving behind a field of sprawled carnage. Nyx stood up from his hiding spot, frowning deeply at the receding figure of the vehicle.

"How do they have so much ammo? They used at least ten bullets to kill one zombie, and plenty were just flying off into nowhere." Nyx calculated a rough estimate of the amount they'd expended.

"At least ten thousand!" This was beyond him. Sure, killing a zombie yielded some universal bullets in return, but not nearly enough to recoup the cost of expending this many rounds. He sighed and opened his inventory instead. Inventory: [Gold x30, Fuel x3, Leather x20, Iron Plates x30, Mechanical Parts x10, Universal Bullets x898] A smile immediately tugged at his lips, as the heaviness in his heart finally melted away.

"A bountiful harvest, alright." With this amount of money, he wouldn't have to worry about upgrade costs anymore and could instead advance the vehicle straight to Tier 2! But first, he really wanted to uncover the truth behind how these guys were able to expend so many bullets. For that, he went to the Exchange—specifically to a seller named Spectral Archivist. The guy held a skill specifically for digging up information and storing it. His services, though, came at a price. But Nyx had an idea to get it for free.

He pinged the guy immediately. Private Chat [Greetings, Archivist, I'm here to place a big order. But in exchange, I want your services.] [Well, Hello, about the order. If it's over five gold coins. Then I'd be willing to provide the service for free, though, the quality would depend on the total scale of your order.] [It is.] [Ok then, sign this contract, and then tell me what you wanna know.]