Early in the morning, Neil is eating some fresh cereals as his breakfast. The cereal, bowl and all, came from the SCP.
After a hearty meal, he goes on the bath to clean himself.
It's been some days since he can do this. He have a change of clothes now so he took to cleaning himself. As for the clothes, he washes them by hand. It is a bit unfortunate but he haven't seen any washing machine parts on the scrap of junks on this building.
He didn't want to waste his upgrades on just cleaning the clothes. Using his hands and some water is much better.
After he is done on the bath, he picks a new set of clothes and underwear. The clothes he is wearing is a simple blue long sleeve polo, with a white t-shirt beneath it. A comfortable brown slacks. Then he wears the only pair of leather shoes that he have.
Then he takes a sit on his bed before looking above. The two systems that he have are opened, their floating panels in front of his eyes.
"Okay. I hope you'd like the names I come up with."
He have thought of this since yesterday. The names of his two systems.
He have been used referring to them as ODO and DF. So changing it to SCP and UDA feels strange to him.
The two are thinking entities. A name to refer themselves is required, just so he don't feel so bad calling them in a dehumanizing manner.
There are many names that came to his mind, most of it are a bit beautiful. He didn't know their genders, but he can make a guess just by the voice of SCP. The other is a bit hard because of it's robotic tone, but he decided to make do with the name.
So with a long time to contemplate, he finally decided on two names. It is a bit closer to the pronunciation of their former acronyms. So he thinks it will be good. He is not really good at naming things.
"Then. You are now Odette. Nice to meet you!"
["Yes. This System will refer itself as Odette starting on this day!"]
It... no, she sounds so happy after he gave her a name.
He nodded before turning to his other system.
"As for you, I think I will refer to you as Dinah. Is it fine?"
["Affirmative"]
The sound is concise, and her tone neutral. But he thinks Dinah is happy for it.
"Thank you. Well then, I'm pleased to work with the two of you. Odette, Dinah!"
["Of course! Leave everything food related to me!"]
Odette said in enthusiasm. Dinah only hummed in agreement.
"Okay."
After that, he looks at above.
"Maybe I should go to the fourth floor."
With that decision in mind, he leaves his room and go to the rooftop.
~~o~~
In the end, he upgraded the stairs so he can get to the fourth floor. In this case, it's not really a floor and more like the roof of the building.
He can see bits and pieces of destroyed walls on the whole area. Only a few rubbles remains. The wind is a bit strong and it is high enough to get a good look on the wasteland below, and the forest beyond.
He takes a look at the floors, and thought of upgrading it.
[Would you like to upgrade (Old Broken Floor)?]
He clicks yes, and is surprised when it suddenly shows a new prompt.
[Choose your preference]
(Old Floor)
(Old Rooftop)
He is surprised. Seeing that it can even do it like that. It seems like he can decide whether to expand this building or make it the last floor.
He didn't really think that he will be using that much area, so he decided to take care of it. He chose the Old Rooftop option.
[(Old Broken Floor) upgraded to (Old Rooftop)]
The dust and rubble vanishes and turned into a worn concrete. This whole floor has been turned into the rooftop.
In addition, a small room has been created for the stairs to this place. It even added an old looking door just for the aesthetic.
All of it free, just by upgrading this floor into the rooftop.
"Wow! It can do this too!?"
Of course he will be surprised. It just turned the whole floor into the rooftop, and added some bonus along with it. His powers is too convenient. He can't help but be worried that he might become too spoiled for it.
'Well, this is helpful though. Without it, I might be monster food on the first week.' He felt glad at that thought.
Then he goes to the edge of the rooftop and look below. He can see the installed defenses all over the area, with some of them being too large that it have the same height as the three story building he is standing on.
"Okay. Time to create more defenses!"
That's what he really planned when he decided to come to the rooftops. To create more defenses here.
It would suck when some sort of creature managed to sneak around this building using the rooftops. He didn't want that so he wanted to put a lot of weapons in here.
He busied himself in this place all day, while having fun with the new weapons that he can put here.
~~o~~
Within this forest, there is a small group who are moving towards the place where Neil is located. The group is composed of five people. There are three males and two females on their group.
This is one of the small groups living on the Deep Green Forest. They have been hiding by Brigg's Gang since he came to prominence a year ago.
They are going here in hopes of getting some resources and using it for their own base.
A month ago, they have heard the destruction happening in here. They were scared and thought something terrifying like a Dragon appears and decided to rampage on a whim. They prayed for the heavens that it didn't set it's eyes on them.
After that time, they waited for at least a month before being sure that nothing is coming on their way. Then they make preparations and go to this place to investigate.
Occasionally, there will be some big conflicts that will happen on this world. It might be because of a strong monster rampaging, two large communities fighting, or some other reasons. The conflict only incurs casualties on both involved and uninvolved parties.
That doesn't mean it's all on negative. There are also benefits from these conflicts.
These conflicts will leave a wake of destruction and within this destruction, are a lot of things lying around on the ground. It might be the dead monsters or the possessions of the dead people.
Regardless, those are a boon. Monsters have Magical Cores and depending on the type, their body is useful for many things. As for dead people, they obviously have a lot of things.
It's common sense for small groups like them to go to the aftermath of these conflicts and scavenge what they can. It is their way of living to ensure that they survive for a long time.
"So guys. What do you think really happened? You think the Primal Bear is really dead?" One of the guys asked, his arms behind his head.
"Rook. Let's not jinx it, okay?" One of their female companions, a cold blonde beauty, said. Her tone sounds both cold and chiding.
"Hey Jasmine. Your so serious. Cheer up!"
"Even if the Primal Bear is not there, I am sure there will be a lot of resources on it!"
That's what their other female companions, a bubbly looking girl, said. She looks so carefree, evident by the hops in her steps.
"I'm not so sure about that." An intelligent looking guy with glasses retorted. "You've heard how loud those explosions are. That's not the work of a monsters. I think a large hunting party did it."
"Eric. That's too pessimistic! Let's just hope for something good!" The bubbly looking girl whined.
"Actually, I agree with Eric." The cold beauty, Jasmine, interjected.
"Eh..."
"Nikka. Stop whining. They're just being pragmatic." The last guy behind them said.
"Grunt. Your the leader here, you should be boosting our morale!" Nikka complained.
"I'm just forced at the role. I think Eric or Jasmine are more suitable for it!"
"Suck it up Grunt!" Rook smirks at him.
"Ugh... why am I the only one with a strong ability here..."
Grunt sighs in defeat. He can't really complain because, while the four are making small talks and some being responsible, he knows that they are relying to him.
Just like Rook said, he is the only one who can fight decently. Rook's ability only makes him dexterous with his hands. Eric is just smarter. Jasmine only have a dual element, but they are pretty weak and can only be used on 1v1. Nikki is strong, but it is only physical strength which is not that special on this world.
As for him, he got one of the rare types of abilities in this world. It is known as the Cultivation type.
Unlike Systems, Cultivation type forces the user to find some form of technique that will help them comprehend the laws of the universe. It would have been useless for him, but he have some half-assed knowledge about it thanks to the internet. So he managed to at least create a barely acceptable mantra to make himself stronger.
He is getting insights, maybe because he is a Cultivator so he is changing some of his mantras as time passes. This makes him more stronger than an ordinary person on this apocalyptic world.
This also makes him more stronger than Nikka, who is just limited to superstrength.
"Hey. I see something on the distance!"
All of them stops on their steps as they narrowed their eyes. Grunt looks at Rook, to which Rook nodded at him before he moves forward. Rook is their scout so he is the one in charge of looking around for threats.
"Oh god... guys, come over and look at this!"
Hearing him becoming rattled like that, the four became curious and moves forward to see it for themselves.
As they got passed on the bushes, they saw a vast expanse of wasteland. It is a bit surprising but expected because they know a great battle occurs here.
What makes them drop their jaws is the sight of the large metallic contraptions encircling the whole wasteland. These are giant futuristic artilleries standing tall on the ground, their large muzzles pointed at the sky.
There are many of it. Large futuristic cannons, missile launchers, and other things that they don't know about. Their eyes almost pops out of their eyes as they take it all in.
"Holy shit!"
He don't know who said it, but he can agree on that fact.
Their minds are running a mile wide, thinking of the possibilities why they are looking at this sight.
Then they mistook it as something else, their eyes becoming wide with fear.
"Let's run!"
They thought it is owned by a great community, which is something they can't offend. They don't know where they came from, but as long as they are not detected, they will still have the chance to escape.
"Hey!"
They can hear someone calling out to them on the distance, but they ignored it as they ran away.
It is common sense that large communities are always arrogant and proud. If someone dares trespassed on their territory, they will be killed in impunity.
This world is unforgiving. Only a few would try and group up while others will be forced to servitude by those stronger, or else they die.
They escaped the area with a scared expression, their casual air awhile ago is gone.
~~o~~
Neil is just done installing the weapons on the rooftop when he heard Dinah telling something to him. Dinah notified him about some unknown group of people getting closer to the defense perimeter.
So he hastily goes down the rooftops, cursing at the amount of steps and distance of each stairs along with it, before finally getting out of the building through the first floor.
"Dammit! I should fix the elevator soon!" He vowed to himself.
He didn't know how it will get it's power, but he trusts that with some upgrades, it will become automatic and won't need a power source, just like his Super Sink and Super Shower.
He can see the group of five just standing on the far distance with their mouths agape. He can see them clearly thanks to his sharp eyesight.
He was going to get a bit closer before engaging on talks, but they suddenly turned their back in a panic and tries to flee.
"Hey!" He waves his hands at them while using his booming voice with his strengthened lungs.
Though, they just ignored him and go on their way, leaving him alone just like that.
The first human that he managed to encounter, and they ran away just like that.
"Goddamn, I'm too slow!" He curses himself.
He tries to look at them by entering the forest for a bit, though after a hundred meters, he decided to go back. He is still not confident at being safe on this forest. There might be some monsters here that might be capable of killing him so he is still being cautious.
He came back to his base with a depressed look.
"Why did they run away?" He asked in confusion.