Global Awakening: Apocalypse Ender's Chronicle

The merchant really looked unhappy but after a moment of consideration, he nodded. ”Fine. You’ve got yourself a deal.”

Shane handed over the items and stored the book in his inventory. He had no idea if the book was truly valuable, but he had a feeling it might come in handy if it wasn’t dangerous.

He looked around for some more time but he no longer found anything interesting.

As he turned to leave, the merchant called after him, ”Come back anytime! You never know what might show up next!”

Shane smirked and walked away…

***

As Shane watched the thriving market, Edwin approached once more. ”It appears that trade will be quite profitable today, my Lord,” he said with a slight bow. ”We have also received word that a few people from Silver Mine Camp and Springriver Manor have requested permission to enter via the Portal.”

Shane smiled, pleased with how things were progressing.

”Right. I’m also planning to call them anyway. Grant their request.”

Shane then confirmed that they were planning to visit later this afternoon as they probably had other things to settle in the shelter before taking a break here.

For now, Shane noticed that Layla was also looking around one of the stalls of the Ember Syndicate.

As soon as she noticed Shane, she immediately approached him. She also seemed hesitating but she tried to smile as Shane noticed that she needed something.

”Ahem… It’s been a while Sir Shane. Right, this Eclipse Domain is growing fast… Just add a few more structures and it might become better than the Springriver Manor soon.” She said after she confirmed that there’s no Clan Hall, Temple, Learning Academy, Stable, and others within Eclipse Domain.

”That will happen pretty soon.” Shane replied as he waited for Layla to speak her mind.

”If it’s you… I’m sure it will happen… Have you thought about my request—clearing out a Zombie Lord’s Territory? I already found a Zombie Lord’s Territory and it’s located about 12 kilometers from the Spring River Manor. The Zombies outside were mostly Runner and Jumper Zombies...” Layla finally said.

”Oh, you’re right. You mentioned that. I can help you with that task… It’s not a bad warm-up before dealing with the Dreadnight Fortress. Is that related to your Ascension Quest?” Shane muttered.

”My Ascension Quest only listed two King Zombies. However, I’m hoping to get an item that improves my Talent if I manage to kill a Zombie Lord.” She replied.

Shane nodded as he knew about the Talent-Boosting items that the Zombie Lords could provide.

”Alright… I’ll arrange a team in the next three days.” He said after some thought.

”That’s great!” Layla happily said as she couldn’t help but hug his arm in excitement.

Shane then calmed her down before looking back at the lively market.

***

Later in the afternoon, Shane learned that the merchants actually needed to resupply their water and food as well. Because of that, he allowed Edwin to conduct transactions with their resources.

In any case, they have a well with clean water and they could also loot water from the Zombies. As a matter of fact, Shane had a lot of water in his inventory and even if they added more water tank, he would still have plenty of them.

Seeing that the people from the two other shelters hadn’t arrived yet, Shane opened his Chat Board.

With a few quick messages sent through his Chat, he extended an invitation once again to the members of Silver Mine Camp and Springriver Manor. Both shelters had skilled fighters and craftsmen, and they could trade for supplies, weapons, and magical artifacts that would strengthen their army.

Sure enough, it seemed that they were just waiting for his signal.

It didn’t take long for the responses to come. They would be arriving shortly.

Soon, the Portal Hall shimmered once again.

A faint wave of energy resonated before several figures emerged from the swirling black portal made of Gate Stones.

Diana was the first to step through. The blacksmith of Silver Mine Camp and also Shane’s sister.

Right behind her was Minerva, the battle-hardened warrior who had suffered the loss of her left arm long ago. Though once a disadvantage, it was no longer an issue thanks to Lysandra’s advanced prosthetics. Her new mechanical arm was quite an amazing product since even the fingers could move with perfect accuracy.

’So she’s actually a swordsman now.’ Shane thought as he saw a sword tied at her hip.

Then, there was Tieria who seemed to have trouble with that Portal’s effect…

”Ugh… That doesn’t feel good.” He muttered while adjusting the Hunter Prosthesis Eye embedded in his right socket.

”Maybe I should turn this off before using the Portal. It’s too sensitive.” Tieria muttered as he definitely felt uncomfortable during his transportation.

Shane, on the other hand, looked at him with interest.

There weren’t many in his shelter that had advanced prostheses after all. He used Cloud to analyze it for him and it seemed like a magical item instead of an item made of advanced technology.

There were truly so many secrets about this world that he wasn’t aware of.

”Ahh… Sir Shane!” Tieria greeted as soon as he realized who was waiting for them in the Portal.

”Welcome everyone… This is the Eclipse Domain and the merchant caravan of various merchant organizations has just arrived. You can look around the plaza.”

Soon, the group walked out of the hall and saw the lively atmosphere of the shelter.

Diana let out a low whistle as she scanned the market. ”You really went all out, huh, Shane? Didn’t expect to see something this grand outside the major neutral shelters.”

She said this because she had already visited three other Neutral Shelters that were relying on her Silver Mine Camp to supply silver and spirit stones.

Shane smirked. ”I didn’t invite them here. They said that they heard about my reputation and visited my place… Anyway, I know that all of you are quite rich… Don’t forget to bring some gifts to your friends back in your shelter.”

Diana chuckled at this and nodded. She indeed has a huge amount of wealth and the Survivor and Reputations Store weren’t enough to spend them. As for the Survivor Marketplace, the prices were simply too volatile and she would only buy there if there was already no other option…

In any case, Diana wasn’t looking for a weapon. After all, Borek had previously worked in her camp and she also had a connection with Herman the Legendary Blacksmith in case she needed a weapon.

Minerva, on the other hand, tapped the hilt of her sword against her artificial arm. ”And here I thought we were just coming to visit. Looks like there’s some good business to be made.”

It seemed that she wasn’t briefed by Diana before coming here.

As for Tieria, she simply turned his gaze toward the weapon stalls. His artificial eye immediately started to work and got some information about them. ”Let’s see if they have anything worth my Zombie Cores.”

After sending them to the plaza, Shane returned to the Portal Hall to wait for Raze and the others.

Well, he was actually planning to request some more of Roan’s blood, so he wanted to meet Raze again.

Moments later, the Portal shimmered once more, and another group stepped through.

”Welcome everyone.” Shane greeted.

Raze, the Dragon Knight, was the one in front of the group. She doesn’t seem bothered with the Portal’s transport at all.

Beside her was Roan, her young red dragon companion. Roan already had small wings and flapped them a few times before letting out a small growl of excitement. It seemed that Roan liked traveling through the Portal.

Behind Raze, a small figure walked out. It was Aya, the young shaman who wore dark blue and red robes.

Even without asking Shane knew that she was more interested in the magical artifacts being sold by the merchants than anything else.

Trailing just behind them was Anna, the doctor of Springriver Manor.

’Ahh… It’s really been a while.’ Shane thought as he saw Anna.

She was dressed in a long white coat while carrying a small bag with her.

Raze smirked as looked at Shane. ”The manor gets visited by two or three merchants from time to time… This new shelter was built just some time ago and you already have so many merchants coming here.”

She easily detected the presence of numerous merchants and various activities outside. She certainly felt impressed by how their Clan Leader seemed to be capable of doing almost anything.

Shane shook his head and replied. ”I just got lucky…”

Aya, on the other hand gently patted Roan’s head after seeing it very active by flapping its wings.

”He’s excited. Maybe he could sense something in the merchant stalls.” She softly said.

Anna, meanwhile, wasted no time.

”Shane… It’s been a while. I heard you don’t have any doctors here yet. If you already have a clinic built. I can work there. There are already three other doctors in the Springriver Manor anyway. I can work for you again.” She said with a smile.