<em>The next day…</em>


    “Hey, did you hear? The slum dwellers has got their hands on the weapons from the barracks!”


    “What?! Oh shit, my cousin’s in the garrison! I fucking told him… wait what about us?”


    “Don’t worry, they won’t evere here. As daring as they may be, there’s no chance in hell that they are going to attack us. The military is pinning them down in the slums for now.”


    Two guards chatted as they patrolled a series of grain bins andrge arctech refrigerated containers in a walled area, the town’s council storage of food. This was what the wealthy council members and other upper-ss citizens relied upon for their security of food.


    The walls were lined with barbwire, along with a few towers to spot anything suspicious lurking beyond and within the area. It looked more like a prison than anything else, if it weren’t for the multiple arctech wagons that continuously ferried food in and out, each wagon checked thoroughly by guards.


    “Are you sure? This entire fight started because of rationing – the first thing on their mind must be food! Wouldn’t theye here first? Maybe they’ll attack us like they attacked the barracks!”


    “Bah, we’re on thepletely opposite end of the town. Any slum dweller holding an arctech rifle would be spotted immediately and caught on the spot. Besides, we got nearly a hundred guards here armed to the teeth.”


    “What if they sneak in?”


    “Then what? How are they going to transport anything out? Can they carry the entire grain bin?”


    A loud bell chimed across the walled food storage area, signalling a shift change. “Guess it’s our turn to do the check-ins. Better stay vignt, else your slum dweller friends mighte for you.”


    “Stop it, you’re making me nervous now.”


    Taking on the new shift at the entrance check-in inspection point, the first arctech wagon began to rumble towards them. Despite the joking attitude they held, each of them were on high alert, a underlying tension deep in their bodies as the wagon pulled up to them.


    It wasn’t until they could see the driver through the ss panels of the cab that the first guard was relieved. “Wee back, Gusto. Long trip? How’s Tenar?”


    “Oh boy, don’t get me started.” The driver wiped the sweat of his forehead. “Tenar is in a hot mess now. I cant believe there are still people in the catbs despite the military raid, they are still trying to revolt against the government! If President Johan was still alive, this would never have happened…”


    “What about the war, any news?”


    “Bah, the military keeps saying the Yual Dominion forces are going to make a move, but as far as I can tell, it really does seem to be a military exercise. Sure, they shifted it ahead by a month, but still no signs of movement yet. I haven’t heard any rumours about attacks. In fact, I suspect the Yual Dominion funds the rebels in the catbs to destabilize us from within!”


    “What? Really?”


    “Yeah… hey, by the way, what’s going on in Desham? Ever since I drove into town, everyone has been looking really tense?”


    “I’ll exinter, you can meet me at the canteen. Just let me do the routine inspection and you’re clear to go.”


    “Not a problem.”


    The two guards opened the back of the arctech wagon, noticing tied-up sacks of grains and fresh vegetables direct from neighbouring towns. “Looks like you’ll be getting paid a ton today! How many towns did you visit?”


    “Oh, I traded maybe five or six towns nearby. Desham always holds a special ce in my heart.”


    “Har-har, nice try. Special because Eunice rejected you?”


    “Fuck off.”


    The arctech wagon was allowed through, giving the two guards a sigh of relief. “Whew, really thought there would be a slum dweller hiding in the back or something. Could have hitched a ride halfway through.”


    “You’re far too paranoid, just take a deep breath and rx for a while, it won’t be long until – “


    “Hey, is that one of ours?”


    In the distance, there was another arctech wagoning in fast from the end of the road leading towards them. “Weird.” They double-checked the list of expected deliveries. “This wagon is supposed toe half an hourter, ording to itsst check-in.”


    “Then why is it here now?”


    The two guards exchanged a knowing look, quickly calling up their boss. The entire area immediately went into alert, as two machine guns were aimed right at the wagon from the top of the walls, manned by two other guards.


    [Unidentified Wagon, stop all arctech operations right now or we will open fire!]


    The wagon speed did not change, barrelling towards the checkpoint withplete disregard for the warning. “Shit, he’s intending on ramming the checkpoint, get out of the way!”


    The two guards leapt as the wagon narrowly missed them, smashing through the barrier and tumbling out onto the ground, skidding to a halt as the wheels continuously spun, still powered by arcia energy.


    A senior guard immediately tookmand of the situation, ordering the guards to surround the arctech wagon at a safe distance, lest it was explosive. “Guard the main checkpoint too, make sure no one exploits the open barrier!”


    While all of themotion was happening, the guards in the various watchtowers were also attracted by therge explosion sound. One guard leaned over the railing, looking down at the smoking arctech wagon. “What is going on down there?”


    [Watchtower 1, Watchto-.] The senior guard’s voice crackled on the small portable arctech radio, before cutting out.


    “Watchtower 1 reporting in, all clear.” The guard spoke into the receiver. “Hello?” He tried tuning the radio, but could not get a response. <em>Weird.</em>


    The guard also tried to tune into other known radio channels, but was unable to hear anything. Not even the usual music station could be heard on the arctech radio. <em>What’s going on?</em>


    Suddenly, the guard heard a light thud, turning around only to see Kyle mbering over the railing, carrying a sack of what seemed to be metal balls. Before the guard could even scream, Kyle lunged and snapped his neck in an instant, killing him instantly.


    MG404: [System Message  Killed: [Desham Guard]  +10 EXP]


    <em>Even a mineral ant was worth more than him. Maybe I should go back to the dungeon someday. </em> Kyle quickly grabbed the guard’s body, making sure there wasn’t even a sound. He picked up the arctech radio, checking its functionality.


    <em>Good, all the channels are jammed in Desham, just as expected. </em>Kyle had managed to get Hayden to design a device that would broadcast on all radio channels, drowning out any receiver with pure gibberish and static. <em>Communication ckout.</em>


    Kyle stripped the guard down, wearing his uniform and climbing down thedder with the sack, entering the walledpound easily. He nced around the area, before sprinting straight to a nearby arctech refrigerator container. <em>Aero Shoes!</em>


    Kyle kept an eye out for anyone watching him, but so far, everyone’s attention has been caught by the wagon that crashed, serving as the perfect distraction for him. As soon as he reached the arctech refrigerator container, he grabbed a metal ball from his sack and ced it near the main engravings, which were channelling heat outwards away from the interior.


    He repeated this action for all of the containers, before starting to head towards the grain bins. The moment he turned a corner behind a container, he ran straight into two patrolling guards, who eyed him warily.


    “Hey, I don’t recognise you. What the fuck were you doing, sneaking around here? Aren’t you supposed to be on the watchtower?” The patrol guard questioned Kyle, noticing his uniform was of a different type.


    Kyle immediately attacked them, throwing two straight punches that took them out in an instant. Dragging their bodies to a hidden location that could not be seen from the watchtowers, the portable arctech radios on their belts began to crackle, but no voice made it through the continuous static as a result of Kyle’s jamming device.


    Looking up at the watchtowers, he noticed a few guards trying to spot where the patrolling guards had disappeared to. He took out another metal te engraving from his pocket. channelling his arcia energy through it.


    Suddenly, another loud bang could be heard as the arctech wagon was blown up into pieces, the metal fragments sent spiralling high into the air and in all directions. Two guards who were already investigating the wagon were thrown out, the entire front of their body burnt from the searing heat.


    The wheels exploded as well, mming into the guards who were still lingering around. Other pieces and parts of the arctech wagon pierced the guards, injuring them as they lodged deep into their flesh, with an unlucky guard earning a shard of ss right into his left eye.


    Thepound immediately went into a frenzy, as stirred up as a beehive as they desperately tried to put out the fire, afraid that it might spread to the grain bins and start a chain reaction. “Get the water pumps and arctech coolers ASAP! Set up barricades to make sure the fire doesn’t grow in size!”


    <em>That should be enough for a follow-up distraction. </em>Kyle was nowpletely free to move, the watchtowers’ guards eyes locked on the billowing me and rising pir of soot that went to the sky.


    The pir was visible from most parts of the town as long as one looked to the sky, which the council most definitely noticed as they nced out of their boarded-up windows. The members began to panic, calling the senior guard at the walled food storage area. However, there was no response whatsoever, only hearing random loud bursts of static.


    “What’s going on there? Why is there a fire?”


    Any attack on the food storage area would be disastrous for the town council, resulting in the inability to feed the citizens and, more importantly, unable to ensure food security for the upper ss. The significance of the food storage area became much clearer to them.


    “Is a hundred guards enough? What if we suffer the same fate as the barracks?”


    “We should send more men over. Get Officer Gabriel to allocate some soldiers to guard the food storage area as well!”


    “I agree; it is far too critical! With the slum dwellers already possessing arms, it is paramount that we hold the food so as to starve them out!”


    “But we can’tmunicate on the arctech radios now, someone is jamming us!”


    “Then send a messenger quickly!”


    The town council had withheld dealing out rations, intending to flush out the slum dwellers who had originally been eating them. What they did not know was that the dwellers were no longer reliant on the rations, instead relying on Diya and her food supply chain from Kyle for now.


    “Just one more day, and they’ll capitte immediately!” The members all nodded in agreement.


    “Yes, they won’t be able to fight for long on an empty stomach. Once they start to falter, we’ll crush them all in one fell –“


    As soon as he said that, a sudden bout of strong vibrations shook the building as the furniture and tableware trembled, nking against the hard wooden floor. Waves of heat could suddenly be felt in the air, followed immediately by a loud resounding boom, the shockwave of air finally rushing through the boarded-up windows, sting apart the flimsy nails that kept the boards in ce.


    The moment the members recovered, they scrambled to the window, looking out in the distance as their worst fears had just materialised.


    The same view could be seen by the military as well, with Officer Gabriel’s heart plummeting. <em>Impossible! There were nearly a hundred guards there, and it was still attacked?!</em>


    The consistent sounds of arctech gunfire abated for a brief moment as both sides stared in shock at the ck soot cloud that was now spiralling out to the sky. Diya grinned as she saw it, knowing Kyle had done his part of the n. Now it was her turn to push the advantage.


    “Comrades, victory is at hand! They now will suffer just as we did!” Diya pointed to the sky, with the dwellers recognising that the upper ss no longer had food to eat as well. However, thanks to Diya’s food supply, they were more than secure in that regard, boosting their morale far above the soldiers that they were fighting.


    With the arctech radiowork out ofmission, Gabriel quickly lost control of his soldiers, some of them defecting to the slum dwellers’ side and turning against their ownrades. The fighting became more intense as the entire town was plunged into amunication ckout, unable to contact the outside world.


    The remaining guards who survived the devastating grain explosion slowly regroup, trying to figure out what has happened.


    “Who the fuck attacked us?”


    “Spread out and find him!”


    Just as the guards began to split up, they all froze in ce as they watched a human figure approach them, amidst the burning pile of grain and meat that enveloped an entire urban block. Kyle smiled at them as he approached, his face half covered in soot while dragging a dead guard in his left hand by the neck.


    “Time to clean up Desham.”