Global Awakening: Apocalypse Ender's Chronicle

About half an hour ago, the refugee zone in one of the Overlord Clan’s shelters was quiet. The Red Night Event had barely ended, and there were still plenty of Zombie Pigs outside.

Kei sat near a cracked wall, his hood pulled low and his face smudged with ash and dried blood. Around him, dozens of survivors rested on mats or scavenged food from ration crates.

Most were real refugees... They were exhausted, displaced, and broken due to the Zombie Horde. But Kei wasn’t one of them.

He was an avatar. A clone of Travis, deployed here six days ago under the guise of a wandering survivor from the Eastern Wastes.

His identity was clean. His aura was suppressed, and he actually obtained a decent background from another Neutral Shelter... He had a perfect disguise...

Furthermore, he wasn’t alone.

Two other agents, real survivors recruited by Travis months ago, had successfully embedded themselves into the Overlord Clan.

One was a logistics officer. The other, a junior tactician. Both had access to troop movement data and internal communications.

Kei’s comms pinged.

[ Warren: Mobilization confirmed. Target: Shane’s Silver Mine Camp. Deployment in 3 hours. 14 squads. 3 heavy units. 2 siege crawlers. They know about the Spirit Stones. ]

Kei’s eyes narrowed. Warren was the logistics officer, and it was definitely real information. After all, they were already subtly aware of the Overlord Clan’s plan to monopolize more of the Spirit Stones.

They just didn’t expect that they would dare to attack Shane’s territory.

Indeed, Silver Mine Camp wasn’t just a mining outpost. It was Shane’s hidden reserve, one of the few places where raw Spirit Stones could be extracted and refined.

The location had been kept off maps, listed only as a minor silver vein. Even most of Shane’s own allies didn’t know its full value.

But someone had leaked it, or perhaps, there was someone in the Overlord Clan talented enough to deduce it.

[ Jason: They already have 2 Spirit Stone Veins... They are being greedy. This won’t end well for them. Shane’s defense is on a different level. ]

[ Travis: They must be thinking that the Silver Mine Camp suffered a lot of damage and wanted to take advantage of it. ]

Travis then glanced around the refugee zone.

A few Overlord soldiers passed by, checking everyone’s identities. For now, none paid him any attention. He was just another face in the crowd.

But the situation was escalating.

They were right, the Silver Mine Camp was lightly defended now.

It had survived the Red Night thanks to its terrain and a few automated turrets, but it wasn’t built for siege warfare.

Worse, Shane’s other shelters, Springriver Manor, New Genesis, and Eclipse Domain, were days away. Reinforcements wouldn’t arrive in time.

At the very least, that was what the Overlord Clan was aware of.

[ Jason: I just got another order from the higher-ups. Confirmed. Overlord Clan is moving on to Silver Mine with several Legendary Talent Holders... Similar to Warren’s information. Deployment in 3 hours. Heavy units included. Sir Shane needs to know this. ]

Travis didn’t reply immediately.

He was watching the soldiers disappear into the command building.

Then, the reply came.

[ Travis: Understood. I’ll contact him directly. Stay hidden. If they suspect you, abort. ]

He then closed the channel and leaned back against the wall.

The storm was coming.

Soon, he sent a private chat to Shane.

[ Travis: Shane! Careful! Lancelot is planning to attack your base! ]

[ Shane: ...What? Which base? ]

This was sudden news. His sleepiness was immediately replaced with alarm. It was harder to defend against fellow Survivors after all.

[ Travis: Silver Mine Camp. They know about the Spirit Vein that you have. I’m not sure how they traced it back in your camp. In any case, you have to prepare for them. They must be confident knowing that your other shelters were too far from it. ]

[ Shane: So it was like that... They’re not aware of our gate. That’s good. We will surprise them. But... Are they not tired? The Red Night Event just ended. Why are they so eager? ]

[ Travis: Who knows... Maybe they’re just getting greedy. They wanted to monopolize the Spirit Stone Productions and increase its price... Either way, they’re mobilizing. 14 squads. 3 heavy units. 2 siege crawlers. Deployment in 3 hours. Based on our calculations, they will reach the Silver Mine Camp within four hours. You have about seven hours. But if they have a faster mode of transportation we aren’t aware of, they might arrive early. ]

[ Shane: I will surprise them then.. Thanks for the information... Do you know about the location of their other shelters. Those near my other shelters. I want to try attacking them as well. ]

[ Travis: Oh? Sure, I will send you the coordinates. You can consider attacking them too. Let them pay the price for messing with your shelter. Anyway, you need to fortify Silver Mine immediately. I need your Spirit Stones supplies. ]

[ Shane: Don’t worry about it. The shelter will not fall. ]

[ Travis: Alright. You have to pay me with your finest Wine there. The ones with World Tree’s leaf or something. ]

[ Shane: Haha... You’re even aware of that. How many spies do you have in my shelters? ]

[ Travis: What spies? You’re selling them in your stores. Any refugees or visitors with a Temporary Resident Token can learn about that from any wine or alcohol shops you have there. Even some of your members were bragging about it in Regional Chat. ]

[ Shane: Oh, right... I’ll just send you one then... Still, did they forget about my Floating Fortress? They’re so brave. Do you think they have some special weapon I’m not aware of? I’m sure they’ll not be that reckless without something backing them up. ]

[ Travis: Not sure... I’ve got an avatar inside their shelter. Two agents embedded. There’s only so much I can get from them... I’ll keep feeding you updates. ]

[ Shane: I’ll prep for worst-case. Thanks, Travis. ]

[ Travis: Don’t thank me yet. Just survive. ]

Shane closed the chat window and sat up.

Sleep could wait.

Silver Mine Camp was about to become a battlefield.