Braxton and Vixen went south again. They entered the red mist of the south a couple days into their travel. The landscape was rough and rocky again. The contours of the mountainous regions pushed them further west and forced them to travel southwest.
They killed several creatures each day. Mostly small creatures that looked like a cross between ants and spiders. The first three days Braxton received no benefits from the blood at all and was beginning to get worried.
One the morning of the fourth day Alpha's voice broke its long silence "Void Ant blood consumed intellect increased +1."
"Finally, it seems like it's been forever since I've seen any improvement." Braxton said gleefully.
"Alpha review stats please." Braxton requested.
Braxton Ace age fifteen. Level 8
Strength 22
Agility 22
Vitality 22
Constitution 25
Intelligence 12
Skills: Combat Camouflage (Mirage 80%), Knifehand thrust, Skullcrusher heel stomp, Shadowstep 10 feet, Burrow 5 feet, Antitoxin level 1, Scout Vision (Moonshine Halo 70%), Thick Skin level 2, Glide level 1
Storage capacity 140
The trip became sluggish. They were walking more than anything and the creatures were thick. It was great for collecting blood and food. Braxton was getting increase notifications four times a day on average. His growth was the fastest it had ever been. They had trouble getting to safe places to camp and were often attacked while they tried to rest. Exhaustion was becoming a real issue.
"Let's get that cave. At least we will have protection on two sides for sure." Braxton pointed to a cave entrance a few hundred yards in front of them.
"Sure, maybe we can get some sleep. If not we can drop a portal and get out of this area." Vixen replied.
They fought through the small Void Ants and easily reached the cave. The Void Ants had taken offense to having their hive members killed and eaten. They had been swarming and increased their numbers over the past three days. It seemed like they came from all directions. They were fearless too. It wouldn't have been that bad, but they could actually damage their armor. At a foot long they were easy to kill but they numbered in the thousands and didn't stop coming.
Braxton had used up all his cells for the auto laser rifle. Then switched to his .50 cal Desert Eagles. The auto reload from the harness and storage functions was working nonstop. His ammo reserves were being depleted rapidly. The .50 cal pistols were extreme overkill for these creatures but, he had nothing else that put out rounds fast enough to keep from being overwhelmed.
Vixen was in the same boat. Her pulse pistol worked great but, she had to get low to the ground to use it. She had used it effectively in the beginning and quickly expended her cells. Now she was firing the .50 cal pistols she carried and burning through ammo too.
It was totally unclear what had the creatures swarming specifically. It was clear they wouldn't stop until the intruders were dead or they were all wiped out. To make matters worse they could see some bigger ants emerging among the hoards and moving forward.
"Get the gate up please. I'll hold them as long as I can." Braxton requested.
"Okay." Vixen said as she rushed into the cave. She put her pistols in the holsters. Then she summoned the gate and set it up. She quickly activated it.
"It's up, I'm going. Don't waste time following me." Vixen shouted then vanished.
Braxton raced to the gate and was back in the apartment building seconds later. "Fucking ants. Now I know why I got intelligence points off them." Braxton cursed.
Braxton sat up on the portal and the option to enter the world popped up. He saw the new gate they just put up blinking. Then it vanished altogether. "That's a new trick. I think those damn ants ate the gate. That's a week of wasted travel." Braxton said disgustedly.
"A ton of wasted ammo too. I burned through a thousand rounds myself. You weren't shooting any slower than I was." Vixen responded.
"Yeah, all that blood and meat we missed out on is enough to make me cry. The gates are like a million a piece just in raw materials." Braxton added.
"Well, there isn't anything we can do about it now. We got out alive. That is all that matters. It's time for a shower and sleep." Vixen said reaching out to help him up.
They took a couple days to handle business and restock the ammo. They had received a few more requests for work from other survivors looking to return to the Blood Furnace. They hired them all and placed them at different gates. Then helped them setup sales booths and got them stocked up. Taking care of the survivors of his father's blunder was something Braxton took seriously. He made good money off it too. It was a win all around. Life hadn't been the best for many of the returnees. Their friends and families had moved on in most cases. The ones that had not been gone as long fared better. The original members and those that went in for the battle had nothing to come back for.
With sales of blood made illegal on Earth, many people were going to the resorts established on the Blood Furnace. Blood booths were setup to sell them there. The survivors all had free lifetime passes to return and hunt as much as they wanted. They made perfect hires for Braxton. Money was coming in at an alarming rate.
Braxton was able to acquire mass quantities of blood and maxed out his stats at thirty in a month. He also got a couple skill upgrades all while working from home. He wanted an upgrade for Vixen's Alpha system. The data storage had maxed out on it, trying to download the Merlude language. The systems weren't designed for long term usage like hers had been put through.
With her system messed up the IT gal had to download her data. Then save it on another system. Then Vixen had to go back and have a new batch of nanites infused to upgrade her old ones. The processes of her upgrades were taking a long time. Braxton got frustrated and decided to return to the hanger with the military hardware.
His great-grandfather's research was incomplete. Braxton started looking closely at every portion to the hanger with better light sources than flares. He found lighting panels behind some racks of hardware and turned them on. The place lit up brightly. With the lights working he found the entrance to a false wall in the back of the hanger. It was near the gate and led down a set of stairs. There he found a thumb print scanner and an eye scanner. He tried to activate it not expecting much but, to his surprise it worked.
"Welcome to the laboratory Ghoul." The German sounding voice of X system played in he room.
"Hello X. Can you assist me with finding my ancestor's research notes?" Braxton inquired.
"The research notes are in his office." All the lights shut off, except the row leading to a room in the back of the underground space.
Braxton walked all the way into the office. He found schematics all hand drawn. There was an ancient computer system that had no connection to any outside information. This computer was linked to machines that built his suits.
"Alpha, can you understand this computer and the data I'm seeing?" Braxton inquired.
"Scanning..." Alpha replied. Braxton flipped through page after page as Alpha scanned and complied all the data. He spent hours loading everything. The hours turned into days. There were an untold amount of files in his desk drawers. It held all his research and adjustments from years of work. At the end of a week, Alpha had filed and categorized all the data.
"There is room for improvement. The UI is primitive but has functions far superior to my own. I have made corrections to my own systems defense network. Combat Dodge ability acquired. If you take me to the terminal and release nanites on the keypad I can access the computer network. I can create new suits that I can interface my UI with." Alpha stated finally.
"Sweet let's make that happen." Braxton walked over to the computer.
"How do I release nanites?" Braxton inquired.
"Cut your finger and dip blood on it." Alpha responded.
Braxton did as was requested. A second later the screen jumped to life. Nanites crawled across the surface of the computer and rebuilt the whole computer. Within ten minutes it looked completely different. The nanites had multiplied by eating the old computer and absorbed all the data in the process. They continued the process with each of the outdated machines. The machines in the workshop jumped into action. They broke down all the old suits of armor and converted them into component materials. Everything was happening all at once in a flurry of activity.
After the room was cleared and the machines were all upgraded, things slowed down. New suits of armor were beginning to come together. "The old suits were made for taking physical damage. Energy weapons were not taken into account. I've modified the construction to reflect energy weapons. Further testing will be required. I've also added shoulder fired laser cannons for defense. I've designed alternating energy sources, using blue and red energy crystals do provide constant power indefinitely." Alpha stated.
"Nice, sounds like a sweet upgrade." Braxton replied as he watched the new suits being created.
"Will my old skills be compatible with the new suit?" Braxton asked.
"Yes." Alpha responded.
"Should we change your designation to Alpha-X?" Braxton asked.
"Designation has already been upgraded. Alpha-999X." Alpha replied.
"How long will it take for this armor to finish?" Braxton inquired.
"Seventy two hours after assembly. Assembly with be completed in fifteen hours, thirty one minutes and fifty seven seconds." Alpha replied.
"You are only crafting two set right?" Braxton questioned.
"Adjusting quantity." Alpha responded.
"How many were you going to make?" Braxton queried.
"Eleven. That was how much material was available." Alpha stated.
"So how long will it take for two? Just round up to days." Braxton pressed.
"Five days." Alpha replied.
"Do we need to wait here or will they complete on their own?" Braxton asked getting frustrated talking with the machine.
"They will be finished on their own." Alpha confirmed.
Braxton walked out of the lab and returned home. Vixen had left him a lot of messages. She was not happy with his long absence. He called her up as soon as he looked at his phone. It took an hour on the phone to calm her down. Then she arrived from her upgrades for the day. It had been months since she had any blood and was suffering from withdrawals or so she thought.
Vixen was crying and emotional. She hadn't had any attention for months either. After hitting him extensively, she stripped him down and attacked him for several hours. Then she said one final time, "Don't ever do that to me again. Next time you leave me without warning, I'll really hurt you."