Chapter 160

  Jake watched as the pickup truck screeched to a halt in front of the gates, which were slowly sliding open. A gangster manning the mae gun mounted iruck’s bed unleashed a barrage of bullets at the approag mutants. Low-level walkers dropped like flies uhe heavy fire, but a couple of shamblers tio charge after the now motioruck. Those massive ex-humans were nearly bulletproof, thanks to the anic yer that shielded most of their bodies.

  As soon as the two turrets atop the front watchtowers spotted the mutants, they zeroed in and opened fire. To Jake’s surprise, the turrets turned out to be incredibly powerful, shredding the two massive shamblers to pieces in mere seds. The person iruck’s bed finished off the remaining walkers. By the time the gates were fully open, all the ex-humans that had been pursuing the pickup truck were dealt with. The vehicle pulled into the base and rolled to a stop in front of the headquarters.

  The person iruck’s bed jumped down to the ground and was immediately approached by some of the bandits. From the way the newer carried himself and how the gangsters around him fawned over him, it was clear he was the leader. He might not be the supreme leader of Los Demonios, but he was undoubtedly in charge of this particur base. The bandits gathered around him appeared to be updating him on what had occurred ihe base while he was away.

  Watg the boss saunter around the base, Jake checked his stats. The gang leader’s name was Miller, and his level was 185. As Miller tio stroll through the base, iing various traptions produg different goods, three bandits—evidently his closest subordinates—hurried after him. Jake noticed that the regur workers struggled to keep from trembling as the gang leader passed by. It was clear he was extremely ruthless, and the workers were visibly terrified of him.

  Jake was still ging to the front of the building, pletely unnoticed by the residents of the base. He knew Los Demonios had ways to track him through a specific app on their PDAs. However, it appeared that only those engaged in the mission to find and kill him had access to the ser. While the gang leader, Skullface, had this mission, he could only assign it to one member at a time, not to all at once. And it seemed that none of the octs of this particur base currently had the mission, meaning they had no way of knowing Jake was nearby.

  Miller stopped o the stacks of pnks retly produced by the Sawmill. He turo one of the bandits trailing him and asked a question. The bandit shook his head and replied something, pointing toward the ste structures. Jake wasn’t sure what they were discussing. Had they run out of spa the ste units? Miller went silent for a moment. Theook out his PDA and spent a couple of minutes cheg something on the s. The three bandits nearby waited patiently.

  A moment ter, Miller looked up from his PDA. He briefly g the gray sky, where heavy clouds obscured the sun and the blue above, casting the city in a grim light. Shifting his attention back to his men, he said something. One of them nodded and looked around. Notig a couple of nearby bandits, he waved them over. When they approached, Miller gave them some instrus, first pointing at the pickup truck he had arrived in and then at the stacks of pnks.

  The two bandits nodded and then sprio the pickup truck parked in front of the HQ. It seemed that when Miller issued orders, his men were expected to obey quickly, without the slightest dey. Jake watched as the pair of bandits dismahe mae gun mounted iruck bed before driving the vehicle to the Sawmill. Ohere, they loaded the pnks into the truck’s bed, which wasn’t desigo haul long lumber. However, they securely strapped the pnks, making it safe to transport them in the vehicle.

  After the two bandits climbed into the cab, Miller approached the driver’s window, which was rolled down, and gave further instrus, pointing at the s of his PDA, which dispyed a map of the city. After that, the driver started to slowly weave his way around the base, carefully maneuvering past various structures in an effort to guide the rge vehicle loaded with long lumber back to the gates. The yout of the base was far from ideal for driving cars around.

  Miller and three other bandits approached the tent, near which sat a worker who had retly beeen after a malfun occurred with the Fabricator he was responsible for. The poor man quickly stood up, visibly trembling. Miller said something to him, causing the worker to shake even more. It was an incredibly tense moment. However, the gang leader then spoke again and took a step back. The w Miller, as if he couldn’t believe what he had just heard. He then nodded enthusiastically auro his duties, walking over to work on another traption. From their body nguage, Jake guessed the worker must have been fiven this time but warhat if he made another mistake, he would face severe punishment.

  The pickup truck had already reached the gates and was waiting for them to slide open. Jake really wao follow the truck to see where the resources were headed. However, as he prepared to crawl down the wall, he noticed something. A bandit burst out of the HQ, gnced around, and upon spotting Miller, ran toward him. Actively gesturing, he said something to the gang leader. From the gang leader’s body nguage, Jake could tell that Miller got excited by whatever information he had just received. They then strode to the HQ and disappeared inside. Curiosity g Jake as he wondered what was unfolding behind those walls.

  The gates fully opened, and the pickup truck began to roll out of the base. Jake felt torn: he wao follow the vehicle to see where the resources were being taken, but he was also curious about what was happening in the HQ. He shifted his gaze to the tral building.

  The HQ - Level 5 (Upgrade in Progress)

  Current Status: 1% plete

  Estimated Time Remaining: 23 hours 59 minutes 54 seds

  So this was what was happening. Some requirements must have just bee, and Miller had activated the upgrade process. Jake was really curious about what would occur when the HQ upgraded to Level 6. Clearly, all the other structures and traptions within the base would be eligible frades up to Level 6 as well. But what if that wasn’t all? What if ypes of structures would bee avaible for stru? Jake was itg to know what ges would unfold ihe base ohe HQ pleted its upgrade to Level 6. That’s why he decided not to create havoside the base just yet. Instead, he would wait until tomorrow, returning to the base iy-four hours to withe transformation after the upgrade. After all, he o uand how things worked fur survivors. Information owerful on.

  The pickup truck had already driven out of the base, took a left, and disappeared into the distance. However, Jake khat the route the truck took led through an area of the city riddled with enormous chasms. The vehicle would have to slow to a crawl to maneuver safely around those perilous cracks. If Jake hurried, he should be able to catch up to the truck before it made it past the chasms.

  He released his grip on the wall and dropped straight down to the street below, nding without taking any damage from the fall at all. After quickly turning in the dire the truck had gone, he broke into a sprint, eager to learhe freshly produced lumber was headed.