After going through my notifications, I exited my system and sat there for a second and suddenly felt my senses become clearer than they had ever been prior to this level up.
Damn, Cautious provides a surprisingly large enhancement to my senses. They're improved to such an extent right at this moment that I can literally feel the vibrations my robots are producing each time they take a step all the way in the loading area... Oh, and that's not all it seems. My perception field has also become clearer than before, along with my ability to sense mana in my surroundings. That will definitely be incredibly useful later on.
Sitting there for a few seconds longer to adjust to my improved senses and take everything in, I started moving, losing Cautious effects temporarily, till the next time I stopped. From there I got up from my seat and walked over to the table I had in my level up cell, one of the few pieces of furniture within this small reinforced room. Right as I reached it, I took hold of a skill book sitting on the top of one of the stacks and opened it up.
[Do you wish to use this skill book?]
[Yes] - [No]
Having held off long enough to use my stock of skill books, I showed zero hesitation and selected yes immediately, receiving 10 skill points in the book's associated category. Once I was done absorbing the small bit of information and skill experience it implanted into my noggin, I sat the book off to the side since it had been used and tagged as such.
I don't know if it's worth keeping them after they've been used, but I'll hold on to them just in case a use for them appears in the future. It's not like I'm lacking in terms of storage space, anyway.
Leaving that book there, I picked up the next one and went through the same process again and then again and then again. I kept this up until I spent every skill book I had in my possession. What I gained from my patient hoarding was a total of 40 ballistic weapon points, 30 energy weapon points, 20 explosive points, 30 heavy weapon points, 40 leadership points, 30 lockpick points, 30 medicine points, 20 melee weapon points, 20 piloting point, 30 repair points, 30 science points, 30 speech points, 20 stealth points, 30 survival points, 20 trade points, 20 unarmed points, and 10 points for every skill.
Level up completed and skill books spent, I flexed the muscles all across my body to make sure I had a good grasp of my increased strength and capabilities.
I'm not feeling off like I did years ago in my earlier level ups, so I should be good in terms of control.
Content with the amount of control I had over my body, I opened the hefty metal door that had kept me sealed in my own little space for the protection of those around me and stepped out. Leaving the confines of my personal level up space, I left for the armory and headed there at a quick pace pumped to get out and begin my adventure in the chaotic world above.
Once I arrived at the secure and locked down location that possessed mass amounts of weapons organized and strewn about its confines, I began loading my item box with heavy weapons and ammo. So I could take proper advantage of my huge carrying capacity and all the weight reduction perks I possess.
Absorbing one weapon after the next, the weight that was being exerted across my entire frame rapidly rose at an exponential rate. The pressure kept piling on me till it was beginning to become too much, so I adjusted my felt weight to something not ridiculous.
No longer bogged down, I continued to store away more and more weapons and ammo until I was carrying a brigade's worth of equipment. Carrying a massive armament securely in my item box that none could touch, I exited the armory whilst my robots continued to shuffle back and forth through the Genesis Foundry, delivering increasingly more items and materials to the loading area in preparation for my expansion into the wasteland.
Passing by them as they busied themselves, I made my way to the loading area myself to meet up with my crew and the robotic forces that would be coming with us. Which was most of them since just about every one of my manufacturing machines was fully automated and required very little input from workers besides the feeding of components and materials.
Several minutes later, I came into the loading area and what entered my sights were three lines of Buffalos being rapidly filled with an assortment of different items and materials that I had prepared for my plans. Along with them, there were 4 Wolverines in front of them, acting as the vanguard, 100 Hauling Bots loaded to the brim with cargo located right behind the armored big rigs followed by 2 Retrievers, and 4 more Wolverines right behind them acting as the rearguard of our convoy.
Satisfied with the progress my robots were making, I directed my attention elsewhere and walked over to my non mechanical companions who would be joining me on my crazy adventure into the wasteland.
"You guys ready to go, or do you need to make some last-minute preparations?" I asked the boys mainly since I already knew my womens' situation.
"Nope." The man of few words Takeshi answered covered head to toe in a form fitting sleek night colored ballistic full body suit and wielding a TSS 338 Sniper Rifle, a semi-automatic sniper rifle chambered in the beefy .338 Lapua Magnum cartridge.
"Nah, I've already said my goodbyes to my family." My bro Big Tom responded simply, excited to venture from the safety of the undercity into the desolate wastes beyond to get into the thick of it and put his Heavy Trooper Armor and M56 Minigun through actual battles and tribulations.
That big lug sure has grown a shit ton in size these last few years. That fucker Tom stands at a height of 7 feet and weighs nearly as much as me now. If I didn't know any better, I would say he's part Brute.
Imagining those sickly green colored humanoid mutants that looked like they were something straight out of a comic book standing beside my buddy Big Tom, Bob spoke.
"I've already taken care of everything on my side, so I'm good to go whenever." The former little nerd, Bob, followed up lastly with his FBPMG-9 Plasma Machine Gun resting against his chest and the rest of his frame decked out in a suit of Heavy Trooper Armor, just like Tom and I were. Minus the spikes since he didn't quite like the brutal and visceral feeling of pounding metal spikes into flesh, that I had us all experience via my molemen guard test subjects that had long departed from this world for the afterlife.
Having heard the boys' response, I asked my newly wed wife Alice and my girlfriend Rei. "And you girls?"
"I'm ready when you are." Rei answered first, kitted out in a similar suit of armor to her brother's that accentuated her curvature. The only real difference between hers and his suit was that hers featured additional modular armor plating across it. But in addition to her unique up armored form fitting stealth suit, she had a X-50 Anti-Material Rifle slung on her back more than ready to provide over watch with spicy 50 caliber rounds.
"Me too." Alice answered with palpable excitement, wearing a female version of the Heavy Trooper Set that accommodated her full figure and armed with a FBLMG-9 Laser Machine Gun resting against her front, and a FBARC Rifle slung on her back. She also had a War Belt wrapped around her tight waist full of T-4 Plasma Grenades, a sidearm, and a combat knife like most of the group here.
"You kids done yet? I'm not getting any younger over here." Gramps half jokingly said from the driver's seat of the rear most Wolverine of the vanguard.
"Yeah, yeah, hold your horses old man, we're coming." I replied to my grandfather, who was probably the most pumped one amongst us to get out there.
Nearly ready to go, I withdrew my war belt that I had stocked with pouches of different grenade types, AP-6 Speedloaders, and one Commando Knife holstered on both sides of it and wore it. I then followed that up by holstering my AP-6 Hand Cannon on my right hip and my FBPMP-11 Plasma Machine Pistol on my left hip. After that I took out Mulcher, wore the 10,000 round armored backpack connected to it, threw the heavy weapon sling over my head, and rested the hefty multi-barreled weapon against my abdominal region.
Finished equipping my kit that was all enhanced a ton by my two new perks Armor Smith and Weapon Smith, I turned to my squad mates. "Let's go guys."
Whilst everyone loaded up into the rearmost Wolverine of the vanguard via the deployed armored ramp entrance of the combat vehicle, I went towards the optimal position and climbed inside of one of the Buffalos. The one that would allow me to cover the front of my convoy in my stealth field ability. Once we were all aboard, we waited several more minutes for the robots to finish filling up the little remaining space that was left.
The moment they completed their task, the ones that were coming with us, which again was nearly all of them, streamed over and got into formation. The well over a thousand robots formed one line after the next, and as soon as they were all in position, I plopped my ass down in the back of the big rig's cabin and had the convoy start leaving the facility.
We quickly exited the Genesis Foundry via the many big rolling industrial garage doors in the loading area and got on the road that was blocked off specially for us because Alice's dad wanted to turn our departure into a sort of parade that's supposed to be about reclaiming the continental United States. It was a slight inconvenience, but it was one I was willing to put up with since my father-in-law, the governor, said it would increase my favorability and reputation with the hundreds of thousands of undercity residents. The very ones that will become my own citizens one day in the hopefully not too distant future.
Continuing along the concrete road, we passed through the industrial area, got onto the main road that cut through the center of the undercity, and began entering commercial and urban residential districts. As we encroached on the towering metal and concrete ten-story buildings, I took a look around and saw that the sidewalks were covered with crowds of residents that all got the day off for this particular event.
Most of them looked on with curiosity, excitement, and many other emotions that I didn't really care to discern. So, needing to play my part, I got up, swung the driver side door open, climbed onto the roof of the vehicle, and took a seat up top waving to the crowds we passed by as we slowly made our way through the city.
...
This parade we were obligated to take part in took around an hour and a half before we arrived at our destination, the undercity's only exit besides the ones I made. What came into view was a massive blast door that was literal stories in height, specially designed and built to protect the people of this last refuge of prewar human civilization from nukes and all manners of danger that lurk outside. Together with the gargantuan blast door, the surrounding area was covered in military fortifications, turrets, security personnel, all kinds of weaponry, and many other security measures and defenses.
Wowed by the setup, we closed in on the only thing standing between us and the wasteland and found our families not so surprisingly waiting there for us, ready to say one last goodbye before we leave. So we exited our vehicles and met up with our families to have this final goodbye.
...
"Make sure you come back alive, sweety. You have a lot of people that can't live without you." My mother Jane told me, beginning to tear up.
Smiling, I responded while keeping my own emotions from running amok. "I will, mom. I'll be back no matter what."
Sharing a few words with my grandparents, dad stepped up. "I'm sure you'll be back in no time. Stay safe out there, son."
"Will do, dad."
Sharing a few hugs with everyone while making sure not to injure them with my spiked armor, Bella, the now 12-year-old blonde twin tailed girl, made her way over to me, practically on the brink of tears.
Plopping my hand on the top of her head, I asked. "What's wrong, Bella? Sad to see me go?"
"Yes." She answered simply and directly with a couple of tears running down her cheeks.
"Awe, it's not like we'll be gone forever, right?"
"I know, but that still doesn't make me feel any better."
"Well, how about this, I'll be sure to come back and visit you as frequently as I can and when you reach 18, I'll take you out to come adventuring with me? How does that sound?"
"Really?"
"Of course, anything for you, Bella." I answered, ruffling the quickly growing rascal's hair.
Hearing my response, she extended her right hand and presented her pinky finger, and gazed at me intently.
Knowing what she was waiting for, I presented my own pinky finger and wrapped it around hers, sealing the deal and causing her to display a bright, toothy smile. Sharing a hug with her, we all wrapped up our goodbyes soon thereafter, so I put my Heavy Trooper Helmet on and loaded into our transports again along with my companions for the second time today.
Waving everyone goodbye one final time, the massive blast door began its opening procedure. And after several seconds had gone by, a number of slowly spinning yellow lights activated around the door along with a loud siren announcing to the general area that the door was either opening or closing. Waiting patiently, the metal door slowly began moving, producing a constant grinding and screeching metal sound as it opened. When it had slid and locked into place, the convoy that was made up of dozens of autonomous vehicles, a small army of robots, and several humans moved beyond the undercity's safety.
We collectively continued moving forward and the minute the last of our group was past the enormous opening, it slowly started to close behind us as we kept proceeding through large spacious mine tunnels. With nothing much to do for the time being, I passed the time by managing the less than a hundred robots I left at the Genesis Foundry with my many thought processes. As for what I did with my main one, I watched the surroundings as the convoy moved up one level after another, nearing ever closer to the surface and the actual wasteland.
...
The minutes ticked on by and before I knew it; I saw the sunlight entering the tunnel from up ahead. And As we closed the distance between us and the Adaven Mine entrance, I toggled on my stealth field. The instant I willed it to activate, it covered myself and a sizable portion of the convoy in a 139 meters sphere that bent light perfectly and made everything within its area of influence appear as if there was nothing there and out of the ordinary.
From there we swiftly departed from the mine and as soon as I was out, I took in the sights of the old Adaven mining town that was left to rot. Scanning the surrounding environment for any potential danger, I found nothing but a bunch of dilapidated ruins weathered by the passage of 200+ years and arid mountainous terrain dotted with all kinds of mutated plantlife with various small mutated creatures scurrying about in the distance, for the most part.
Even though I found nothing of any real concern, I stopped the fleet and got up from the back of the comfortable air-conditioned cabin of the Buffalo and climbed up on top of the tracked big rig to ensure I could react to any situation we encounter with immediate lethal firepower. Whilst I took my spot up top with my 7.62 minigun at the ready, the fleet of autonomous vehicles organized themselves into two lines to take proper advantage of the two-lane road that we will be taking to the Cyberdynamics Robotics Facility.
My robots, on the other hand, surrounded the vehicles and tried to fit as many of themselves as best they could into the stealth field's cover. Sadly, its area of effect wasn't large enough to cover them all, hence only 60% of them were able to hide within. Just about as prepared as we could be, I signaled for everyone to move forward. Thus, the convoy started to move at a speed of 15 miles per hour upon the broken and scarred sun bleached asphalt.
______
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