The basement felt alive.Not in a warm, welcoming way—but in the quiet, focused hum of machines, processors, and the faint glow of holographic projections hanging in the air.
Kane stood over the workbench, sleeves rolled up, eyes moving between schematics and the piles of stolen goods stacked around him. The copper coils, precision gears, hardened alloys—everything was sorted by material type, ready for transformation.
His Resource Conversion Unit stood like a silent guardian in the corner.The stolen materials disappeared into its maw in measured intervals, replaced seconds later by the clean, modular components needed for drone assembly.
[System Notice: Resource Conversion — Batch 1 Completed]Components generated: 42 Lightweight Frames, 18 Micro-Turret Mounts, 15 High-Energy Capacitors, 23 Thermal Imaging Modules.
Kane allowed himself a short breath. "Good… now for the fun part."
The blueprint for the Scout Drone was straightforward—small, agile, quiet.
Purpose: Recon, stealth surveillance, early warning.
Armament: None. Only a compact sensor suite.
The Combat Drone designs, however, split into three distinct variants:
Missile Drone – Sleek profile with two launch tubes under the wings. Designed to strike fortified or high-value targets from afar.
Sniper Drone – Stabilized long-barrel coilgun fixed under the chassis for precision strikes from extreme range.
Gunner Drone – Quad-barrel rotary cannon, optimized for sustained suppressive fire and anti-personnel use.
Kane worked methodically. Each drone body took shape under his hands like a war machine being born in miniature.The first scout unit rolled off the assembly platform, its camera lens blinking awake. The second followed, then a missile model, its launch ports gleaming under the light.
By midnight, his workshop was a hangar of shadows—seven drones stood ready:
2 Scouts
1 Missile Drone
2 Snipers
2 Gunners
The field was quiet, moonlight spilling silver over the abandoned industrial park. Kane launched the drones one by one, their engines whispering into the night.
Scouts swept the area in concentric arcs, transmitting crisp thermal imagery to Kane's wrist console.
Sniper Drone perched atop a half-collapsed warehouse roof, locking onto a steel target plate 900 meters away. One pulse—one shot. The target exploded into sparks.
Missile Drone tested with an inert warhead, streaking toward an old delivery truck. The explosion of compressed air still rocked the ground.
Gunner Drone unleashed a storm of tungsten projectiles into a stack of barrels, shredding them into twisted scrap.
[System Notice: Drone Test — Success Rate: 100%]
Kane smiled. They weren't just working—they were perfect.
Back in the basement, Kane was already thinking ahead.If he wanted to truly survive the coming hell, the mountains alone wouldn't be enough. He'd need somewhere isolated, defensible… and out of sight from the chaos.
His mind landed on an option:An island, not too far from the mainland for supply runs, but distant enough that the undead would never reach it without extraordinary effort.
And if the island was to be his fortress, it would need a crown jewel of destruction—a weapon capable of leveling an entire swarm before it even reached the shore.
His gaze flicked to the schematics on the holoscreen. A long, slender silhouette of a weapon platform was taking shape. "The Leviathan Battery… someday soon."
Kane wiped the sweat from his brow and went upstairs, drone performance logs still running on his wrist console. He flicked on the TV for some background noise—and froze.
A news anchor spoke over grainy night footage:
"In an unexplained incident last night, multiple unidentified flying devices were sighted over the abandoned West Industrial Complex. Authorities are investigating the possible use of advanced military technology within civilian zones…"
The video replayed—black shapes darting through the sky, muzzle flashes in the dark.No IDs. No signals. Just shadows with teeth.
Kane's lips curled slightly. "Let them wonder."
Down in the basement, the drones rested in their racks—silent, waiting.The First Wing was ready.