Niki looked at the unconscious dwarf in front of him and crouched beside him. He rummaged through his pockets until he found the possessed item, a small watch. The spiritual power on its was several times stronger than the rest.


    “This must be the first item?” Niki guessed. If he were the Souls Mechanic, he would have the strongest item drop first.


    After putting the watch into his subspace, Niki stood up and left the pavilion. He entered his dark dimension and ran back toward the others.


    He heard the whistle of an arrow as his food stepped into the pavilion. The headless arrow flew across the pavilion and struck the stumbling dwarf while the other ran forward.


    As the dwarf reached Sergio and Yuxi, a long chain appeared between them and wrapped around the dwarf. The dwarf screamed in pain as the chains oozed darkness that tried to devour the poor man.


    “You don’t need this anymore.” Niki appeared beside him and took out the item from his pocket. After losing the item, the dwarf began convulsing before passing out.


    “As strong as ever, boss!” Sergio gave him a thumbs-up. Niki smiled and shook his head.


    “We’re fighting against craftsmen; they’re not trained for battle.” Niki knew that the dwarves were barely an F-rank. Until he gets his skill and reaches 100 Points in a single stat, then he will be an F-rank.


    Yuxi walked over toward the other dwarf struggling to stand after inhaling the potion and getting shot by her arrow. She took out a ck piece of fabric that Niki gave her and pocketed the item.


    Niki walked toward her and opened his palm. Yuxi looked at the screw silently before handing it to him. Squinting his eyes, Niki threw the screw into his pocket dimension as his mind wandered in thoughts.


    “Do you think Lex managed to fix the ship?” Sergio walked toward them with his mask covering his face. The mask was weird, as it looked like a hooked beak of a bird strapped with leather.


    “It won’t be as good as the dwarves themselves, but it will do,” Niki said as he looked at the unconscious dwarves. “We can’t convince the dwarves that their dream would possess them.”


    “They will hate Lex and dere her a traitor,” Sergio said with an ufortable expression.


    ‘I thought you hated her.’ Yuxi gestured with a mocking smile.


    “It’s just…” Sergio scratched his head as Niki looked at him silently.


    ‘He’s too empathetic.’ Of course, Niki knew this already, but he was beginning to notice that it might pose a problem. Furthermore, it might be pathological to be this kind. ‘Maybe I should take him to a doctor that would make him more selfish.’


    As Niki thought of things he found usible while others might question their logic, Lex ran into the pavilion. She came in with sweat rolling down her face and her pipe strapped to her forearm.


    “We need to run away, now!” She said, panting and trying to gather her breath. “They check the workshop every hour. If they see the ship ready tounch, we’ll be stopped. We have thirty minutes left!”


    ‘She fixed a core in less than thirty minutes?’ Niki was surprised. They wouldn’t have been able to know the guard’s schedule without Lex’s help.


    “Let’s go.” Niki nodded as he nced at Sergio. However, he took out a health potion and handed it to Lex without being told.


    The Gunmaster was surprised but had no time to question. She drank the potion, and her fatigue lessened enough for the four to go outside.


    The dwarves outside were nowhere to be seen, as Lex made up an excuse that the Master Dwarf wanted to see them a while ago. The four ran through the fort for a few minutes before they came across patrolling dwarves.


    The group slowed down their pace into walking as the dwarves looked at them warily. res brimming with tension were shot between the two groups until the dwarves sensed something was amiss.


    “Where are you going?” The dwarves blocked their paths. “The Master instructed that you remain in your pavilion. Please return.”


    “We took permission from the Master to overlook the ship’s progress.” Lex lied.


    “Very well.” The dwarf hesitated and nodded. “We’ll apany you then.”


    Sergio nced nervously at Niki, who was rtively calm. As they walked with the dwarves behind them, time began ticking. Since the workshop was on the deeper parts of the fort, they wouldn’t reach it in less than thirty minutes of walking.


    Niki slowed down his pace until he was thest person walking in front of the dwarves. Lex shot him with aplex gaze as if asking him not to hurt them.


    ‘We’re making them an enemy, to begin with. We might as well give them a reason to hate us.’ Niki sighed but didn’t n on killing the dwarves.


    His Darkmoon Longbow appeared, and he infused it immediately with the effect of Blinding Light before shooting it. His darkness exploded to shield them from the light as the dwarves shouted because of the light.


    “Run!”


    Niki shouted, and the group sprinted. Even though he was the fastest in the group, Niki remained in the back. After a while, a siren was set off in the whole fort.


    “Warning, Code Five. Warning, Code Five.”


    An announcement rang in their ears as the gates began to close. Whoever saw them ran after them, and by the time they made it to the workshop, there was a whole group of guards following after them.


    “That’s the gate!” Lex pointed at the locked gate in front of them. However, there was no way they could get in after the gates began to shut down.


    “Kaboom!” Sergio shouted as he waved his hand, and three vials made an arch in the air before they struck the metallic gate.


    “Wait, that’s too many…” Niki tried to stop him, but he was toote.


    BOOM!