Chapter 29: Looting the Dead

Chapter 29: Chapter 29: Looting the Dead

The cavern was finally silent, except for the crackling of the orange ore veins and the heavy, ragged breathing of the two Awakeners.

Donald knelt on the cold, wet stone, his hands hovering over Evelyn’s bleeding shoulder and calf. He pushed every ounce of his remaining mana into his [Soothing Hands] skill. The green light flared brilliantly, acting as a warm, heavy blanket over her injuries.

It wasn’t easy. The Lesser Vampire’s anti-heal magic lingered in her cuts like a stubborn, rotting infection, fighting against Donald’s pure mana. But with the assassin gone and the magical connection severed, the curse slowly began to break down.

Sweat dripped from Donald’s forehead as the last of the dark red energy dissolved. The jagged cuts finally stopped leaking and slowly knit themselves closed, leaving only pale pink scars behind.

Evelyn let out a long, shuddering sigh of relief. The color began to return to her pale face.

"You’re okay," Donald whispered, his voice hoarse. He sat back on his heels, his own muscles trembling from the massive adrenaline dump. "The bleeding stopped."

"Thank you," Evelyn breathed. She didn’t try to stand right away. She just leaned her head back against the cavern wall, staring at the ceiling. Her blue eyes were shadowed with a heavy, terrifying realization. "The Guild Master knows I survived the core fracture."

Donald felt a cold knot tighten in his stomach. "He said they would burn the sector down to find you."

"And he wasn’t exaggerating," Evelyn said softly. "The Wildfire Syndicate operates in the shadows, but when they are insulted—when a target escapes them—they send execution squads. Silas was just a hunting hound. The real monsters are coming next."

Donald looked at his hands. They were covered in monster ash and human blood. A few days ago, he would have panicked. He would have suggested running away, hiding in the Deadlands, or giving up.

But his mind didn’t spiral into fear. The SSS+ Investor class kept his thoughts cold, calculating, and focused entirely on survival and growth.

"Then we prepare," Donald said simply.

Evelyn turned her head, looking at him with genuine surprise. The timid, hollow-eyed boy she had met in the alley was completely gone, replaced by a hardened Awakener who had just gone toe-to-toe with a C-Rank Brawler and won.

"We need a secure location, heavy defenses, and better gear," Donald continued, standing up and brushing the dust off his torn trench coat. "And to get those, we need capital. Rest here for a minute. I’m going to collect our loot."

Donald walked across the ruined cavern gorge. He ignored the crushed bodies of the Iron Dog thugs under the collapsed stalagmite and headed straight for the massive, motionless body of Silas.

The gang boss was dead. The point-blank concussive blast from the Type-3 Pile Bunker had completely shattered his heavy chest plate, caving his ribcage inward.

Donald stood over the body. He didn’t feel sick or guilty. Silas had ruled the Slums with pure cruelty, and he had tried to kill Evelyn. In the brutal economy of the Genesis Ward, Silas’s account had simply been liquidated.

Donald activated his [Valuation Eye].

[Target: Silas (Deceased)]

[Scanning for High-Value Assets...]

The System immediately highlighted Silas’s arms. The massive, dark metal gauntlets were still completely intact, humming with a very faint, latent yellow light.

Donald unbuckled the heavy leather straps and pulled them free.

[Loot Acquired: Impact-Wave Gauntlets (C-Rank)]

[Condition: Excellent. Highly conductive kinetic channels.]

[Estimated Market Value: 12,000 Credits.]

Donald smiled grimly, slinging the heavy gauntlets over his shoulder. That alone was a fortune. But he knew a gang boss who controlled an entire sector didn’t walk around with empty pockets.

He searched Silas’s heavy leather belt and found exactly what he was looking for. Tucked into a concealed pouch was a thick, black metallic square—an encrypted, high-capacity Guild Cred-Drive.

Before Donald could even wonder how to hack it, his golden System interface flashed violently, recognizing the acquisition of a hostile asset.

[System Notice: Hostile Takeover Complete.]

[You have successfully eliminated a major threat to your (Target: Evelyn Vance).]

[Bypassing Encryption... Accessing Iron Dog Gang Funds.]

[Massive Credit Influx: 85,000 Credits Transferred to your secure System Ledger.]

Donald gasped. Eighty-five thousand credits. An average slum worker made barely three thousand credits in an entire year. Silas had brought the gang’s entire extortion stockpile into the dungeon, likely intending to use it for an illegal arms deal later, and Donald had just seized it all.

But the System wasn’t finished. The golden text expanded, filling his vision with a blinding light.

[System Reward Generated.]

[Due to exceptional performance in a high-risk combat scenario, a new Class Feature has been unlocked.]

[Skill Acquired: ’Asset Liquidation’ (Active/Passive).]

[Description: The Investor may instantly convert raw monster materials, low-tier gear, or corrupted cores directly into pure Credits via the System Interface, bypassing the need for physical merchants.]

Donald’s eyes widened. This was incredible. Carrying heavy monster parts back to the surface to sell to crooked merchants like Old Man Jin was incredibly dangerous and inefficient. Now, he was his own market.

He immediately tested it. He walked over to the massive pile of dead D-Rank Iron-Scale Centipedes that Evelyn had slaughtered. He didn’t pull out his hunting knife. He simply placed his hand on the mountain of black, armored insect corpses and activated the skill.

Liquidate, Donald commanded.

A wave of golden light washed over the pile. The fifty dead centipedes rapidly dissolved into shimmering golden dust, completely vanishing from the cavern floor.

[Fifty D-Rank Centipede Carapaces Liquidated. Yield: 15,000 Credits.]

[Current Total Assets: 100,000 Credits.]

Donald stood up, his heart pounding with raw excitement. One hundred thousand credits. He was officially wealthy.

He walked over to the collapsed stalagmite trap he had triggered earlier. Beneath the massive boulders, the [Valuation Eye] picked up a massive, pulsing purple light.

Donald used his 39 Strength to heave a heavy rock aside. Underneath the rubble was a creature twice the size of the normal centipedes—a mutated, D+ Rank Centipede Queen that had been leading the swarm before being crushed by the ceiling.

Donald plunged his hand into the ruined carapace and pulled out a massive, perfectly smooth purple mana core. It felt incredibly dense, vibrating with toxic earth magic.

[Item Acquired: Iron-Vein Floor Boss Core (D+ Rank).]

[Estimated Value: 5,000 Credits. (Do you wish to Liquidate?)]

No, Donald thought, sliding the heavy core into his pocket. I can use this for crafting or trading later.

He walked back to where Evelyn was resting. She had managed to stand up, retrieving the Bloodhound’s Fang from the ground and sliding it into the leather loop on her belt.

"Did you find anything useful?" Evelyn asked, leaning slightly against the jagged cave wall.

"We are officially out of the poverty bracket," Donald said, offering her a confident, reassuring smile. "I will liquidate the gang funds and the monster parts. We would have a hundred thousand credits."

Evelyn stared at him, her blue eyes blinking in pure shock. "A hundred thousand? Donald... that’s enough to buy a fortified safehouse in the mid-wards. That’s enough to buy military-grade armour plating."

"I know," Donald said, walking over and gently wrapping her uninjured arm over his shoulder to support her weight. "Our time in the Slums is over. Let’s get out of this damned dungeon."

They walked back through the winding, orange-lit tunnels of the Iron-Vein. Without the constant threat of Silas’s thugs or the centipede swarm, the journey was eerily quiet.

When they finally stepped through the glowing spatial fracture, exiting the dungeon, the cold, heavy rain of Sector 4 hit their faces.

It was pitch black outside. The shantytown of scavengers around the entrance was completely silent. The Toll Collectors, who had mocked them on the way in, were nowhere to be found. Word had clearly spread that Silas and his entire elite hit squad had gone into the dungeon and never come out.

Donald and Evelyn walked through the muddy camp, completely unchallenged.

The rain washed the monster ash and dried blood from their clothes as they walked back into the narrow alleys of the Genesis Ward. The neon signs above the cheap stalls buzzed with a dull, depressing light.

Evelyn looked up at the dark, smog-filled sky. She pulled her torn coat tight against the cold wind.

"Silas’s death will create a massive power vacuum," Evelyn said quietly, her voice barely audible over the rain. "By tomorrow morning, every low-level gang in Sector 4 will be tearing each other apart trying to claim his territory. And while they fight, Wildfire will send their executioners."

"We won’t be here," Donald said firmly. He adjusted the heavy Pile Bunker on his arm and pulled up his golden System interface in his mind. "We have the capital now. Tomorrow, we start investing in a fortress. Let them come."