Kai's eyes swept the field.
He knew the victory was temporary. According to the system, the mech siege lasted seventy‑two hours or three days, and this was only the first batch. More mechanical soldiers would arrive soon, so they had to move quickly.
"Resource team," Kai called out. "Start the salvage. We need every part we can get."
The Resource Gathering Team hesitated for a moment.
The process would be grim since there were human remains everywhere… Furthermore, none of them had much experience dismantling machines of this scale. These machines are too advanced for them.
They might also make mistakes and destroy important parts of them. However, realizing that Kai and the others would also assist, they immediately felt more confident.
"We… we're on it, Leader Kai!"
"Let's go!"
The team moved as they looked at the three Sentinels and two Hounds that were trapped in the collapsed part of the east tunnel. It was painted red since the blood and fleshly remains of human captives were still present.
However, the smell of the garbage field was stronger… At this point, they already had a strong stomach that could endure such stench, except for one.
"Ugh…" Claire turned away almost immediately. Her fists clenched as she couldn't bear to watch any longer. The sight of broken bodies tangled in chains and wires was too much.
"I'll… I'll help with the traps," she muttered, leaving the salvage to the others.
Kai understood. He didn't stop her, since he knew that not everyone could stomach this part of survival. Furthermore, creating more pit traps or flammable traps was also important.
Just like that, Russel and Augustine also endured the morbid scene as they helped sever the cables and chains that were tied around the Sentinels, previously used to trap their human captives.
For some time, they all worked together dismantling the Sentinels since they were just too heavy.
Dragging them back would also be tough, so they had to at least remove some of their parts. Then, they could easily transfer them to the warehouse, where they could be further studied.
Of course, there was one of them who would be very useful on this task.
Victor crouched beside a fallen Sentinel, his Adaptive Tinkering skill was already guiding his eyes. He pointed to a section near the chest cavity. "We can cut through here. This should be the Cognitive Processor Unit. It should be intact if the core didn't overheat. We'll need to cut through the armor."
Well, they had all received the system notifications about the high-value salvageable items within the Sentinels and Hounds.
[ Sentinel's Salvageable Loot: Cognitive Processor Unit, Targeting Optic Lens, Exo‑Frame Armor Shard, Energy Power Cell, Plasma Rifle ]
[ Hound's Salvageable Loot: Beastframe Neural Core, Beast Claw Component, Synthetic Muscle Fiber, Hydraulic Joint Cylinder ]
[ Note: Only high‑value salvageable components are listed. Common debris and low‑grade materials are excluded. ]
Just like that, the salvage began in earnest.
Wallace grunted as he lifted the hand of the Sentinel… "I'll hold it steady. You work and cut it off properly."
After a few minutes, the Sentinel finally turned to a size they could safely and easily carry back to the shelter…
"Hurry. We don't know how long before the next wave." Ralph reminded.
As soon as several parts were brought back to the storeroom of the shelter, Victor also returned and immediately got to work.
He used his various tools from the Repair Kit to pry open the chest plating. It was not easy, but soon, the dull glow of the Cognitive Processor Unit appeared.
"Got it," he said while carefully detaching the component.
Then, he got a notification from the system!
[ Item Obtained: Cognitive Processor Unit ]
[ Description: Central processor recovered from Sentinel core that stores combat data and tactical routines. ]
"Ohh… It's really important… But, where am I supposed to use these things?" Victor muttered.
***
In the meantime, the others were still working on the remaining Sentinels and Hounds.
But after almost 15 more minutes, they finally brought back all the Sentinels and Hounds except for the ones burnt in the fire pit. It was still hot, and no one wanted to touch them.
Nonetheless, they immediately worked on a thorough dismantling process.
While there were still no enemies above ground, Kai immediately worked on another Sentinel with his knife, digging into the head unit.
Soon, he pulled free a cracked but usable Targeting Optic Lens.
[ Item Obtained: Targeting Optic Lens ]
[ Description: Precision lens recovered from Sentinel head unit. ]
"Whoa… I got a notification for this thing. I guess it's really valuable, huh." Kai muttered after seeing a special notification for the lens. After all, the synthetic muscles and various parts of the Sentinels didn't give him any notifications.
It seemed that the previous note from the system was real. Those were indeed high-value loots.
Russel and Wallace also managed to pry loose what they believed was the Exo‑Frame Armor Shard…
[ Item Obtained: Exo‑Frame Armor Shard ]
[ Description: Armored plating from Sentinel exo‑frames. ]
Just like that, the group continued taking all the 'high-value' items and gathered them all together.
[ Beast Claw Component: Hardened claw fragment from Hound unit. ]
[ Synthetic Muscle Fiber: Artificial muscle strands recovered from Hound unit. ]
[ Hydraulic Joint Cylinder: Hydraulic joint removed from Hound limb. ]
For now, they were still unsure how to use them. They were even hoping that the system would teach them how to convert these things to usable goods.
Still, one of them was something they really wanted to use as quickly as possible.
[ Item Obtained: Plasma Rifle ]
[ Description: Standard‑issue rifle recovered from Sentinel unit. ]
"Victor… I'm begging you! Please make this thing work! We're going to be attacked by those things for three days!" Wallace begged as he looked at Victor, frowning at the high-tech rifle on the table.
Kai chuckled as he tapped Wallace's shoulder...
"Just trust him--" He was about to say more when Russel came rushing in.
"Leader Kai, both girls have regained consciousness," He reported.