The fortress was a graveyard of silence. Smoke curled from the shattered remains of the quantum cannon, its once-gleaming frame now a twisted wreck. Survivors moved through the courtyard like ghosts, their faces hollow with exhaustion and grief. The Endless Maw was gone—for now—but the cost had been staggering.
Shen Mu stood amidst the wreckage, his hands trembling as he stared at the cannon's ruined core. The system's interface flickered, its warnings muted but persistent.
[Fortress Integrity: 34%.]
[Core Systems: Critical.]
"We lost the cannon," Zhao Ling said, her voice flat. She stood beside him, her rifle slung over her shoulder. Her face was streaked with soot, her eyes dark with fatigue. "And half the turrets are fried. If they come back…"
"They will," Shen Mu said, his voice low. "But not yet. The Maw's wounded. It'll need time to recover."
"And us?"
He turned to her, his gaze hard. "We rebuild."
---
The survivors worked through the night, their movements mechanical but determined. Granny Wen directed the repairs, her voice sharp as she barked orders.
"Reinforce the eastern wall first! And someone get me the damn plasma welder! This isn't a knitting circle!"
Luo Qi limped into the workshop, his gauntlet sparking. "We've cleared the debris, but the power grid's shot. Without the cannon's core, we're running on fumes."
Shen Mu nodded, his mind racing. The system's interface flickered, a new notification blinking insistently.
[New Quest: Rebuild the Nexus.]
Objective: Restore fortress core stability by retrieving a stabilizer module from the abandoned Tech-Spire.
Reward: Quantum Shield Blueprint, 1,500 Points.
"The Spire," Shen Mu said, his voice cutting through the din. "We need to go back."
Zhao Ling's eyes narrowed. "Back? To the place crawling with Fangs and shadows? Brilliant plan."
"We don't have a choice," Shen Mu said. "The cannon's gone, but the Spire's tech can save us. We need that stabilizer."
Luo Qi cracked his neck. "Then let's move. I'll take point."
---
The Tech-Spire loomed like a rusted dagger stabbing the sky. Its lower floors were a maze of collapsed walkways and flickering security drones, the air thick with the reek of decay.
"Stay sharp," Luo Qi hissed, leading the scav team through a shattered service entrance. "Fangs love ambushes in—"
A guttural snarl cut him off. Three Fang scouts lunged from the shadows, their machetes gleaming.
Luo Qi moved first.
His gauntlet whined as it charged. He sidestepped a blade, grabbed the attacker's wrist, and *squeezed*. Bones crunched. The Fang screamed.
"Wrong. Door."
The gauntlet's piston slammed into the man's chest, catapulting him into a wall. The other scouts froze, their bravado crumbling.
"Go!" Luo Qi barked at his team. "I'll handle this!"
As they scrambled deeper into the Spire, he turned to the remaining Fangs, his gauntlet dripping oil and blood.
"Who's next?"
---
Below, Shen Mu and Zhao Ling reached the anomaly's source: a fractured portal, its edges bleeding darkness. The system's warnings screamed:
[Localized Veil Instability: 92%.]
"It's a rift," Shen Mu said, his voice tight. "The Apostle's using the Spire as an anchor."
Zhao Ling raised her rifle. "So we blow the anchor."
"No." Shen Mu stepped closer, the core stabilizer on his belt pulsing in sync with the rift. "We use it."
He plunged the stabilizer into the portal's edge. The device flared, its energy clashing with the void. The rift shuddered—and for a heartbeat, Shen Mu saw the other side: a desolate plain where the Devourer horde marched, endless and ravenous.
"You dare?!" the Apostle's voice roared through the rift.
Shen Mu grinned, blood trickling from his nose. "This is just the welcome party."
He triggered the stabilizer's overload.
The explosion hurled him backward, the rift collapsing in a vortex of light and shadow. The system's voice cut through the chaos:
[Veil Stability Restored: 47%.]
[New Blueprint Acquired: Rift Shard Grenade.]
Zhao Ling hauled him to his feet. "You're insane."
"Worked, didn't it?" Shen Mu wiped blood from his lips. "Now let's get that stabilizer."
---
Luo Qi's gauntlet sparked, its piston jammed in the chest of the last Devourer scout. The possessed Fang lay crumpled nearby, his hollow eyes dim.
"Module's secure," a survivor called, the crystalline core cradled in her arms.
Luo Qi nodded, breathing hard. "Move out. This place is gonna—"
The Spire shuddered, dust raining from the ceiling. Somewhere deep below, the collapsed rift's aftershocks rippled upward.
"Run!"
The team sprinted for the exit, the Spire groaning around them. Luo Qi glanced back once, catching a glimpse of the vault's stasis field flickering—and the thing that stirred within it.
A second core. Twisted , Alive.
---
Back at the fortress, Granny Wen welded the quantum cannon's frame, her goggles reflecting the module's ethereal glow.
"It's beautiful," she murmured. "And terrifying."
Shen Mu studied the schematics, the system's warnings gnawing at his mind. [Integration Risk: 65%.] "How long?"
"Two days," Granny Wen said. "Assuming Luo Qi's team found the secondary power cells."
As if on cue, the gates clanged open. Luo Qi strode in, the core module held aloft like a trophy. Behind him, his team dragged a mangled crate—its interior buzzing with unstable energy.
"Found your cells," Luo Qi said, grinning. "Also found a present." He kicked the crate open, revealing the pulsating, corrupted core.
Granny Wen paled. "That's… not part of the schematic."
Shen Mu crouched, his hand hovering over the twisted crystal. It thrummed, echoing the Devourers' cadence.
"No," he said softly. "It's a message."
The Apostle's laughter slithered through the courtyard.
"You build your weapons. We build armies "
Far to the north, the horizon *cracked*.
---