Chapter 63: To Salt Lake City

Chapter 63: To Salt Lake City

Status

Level:

18

EXP:

30/1800

Musculoskeletal:

211

Neural Reflex:

65

Visuomotor Coordination:

87

Endurance:

59

Sensory Perception:

127

Upgrade Points:

0

Upgrades:

Stealth +7Hacking +3Cybernetic Engineering +10Stealth Technology +10Software Engineering +6Electrical Engineering +4

Enhancements:

SAID: Zenitech Sebastien v2

Optics: Mirage Tech Clear-Sights mk.12

Cyberarm (Left): Nova Tech Heracle Mk. 3

Cyberarm (Right): Nova Tech Heracle Mk. 3

Auditory: SocialCorp Echo IV

Cardiovascular: BioGen Lifepump 5

Miscellaneous: HSU Custom Shade

As I spent my points, a familiar feeling arose as knowledge directly flooded into my brain. Various principles, theories, and know-how flooded into me, and I had to press down the urge to immediately test out the new theories.

While four points in electrical engineering weren’t a lot, it armed me with enough understanding to start adding defenses against EMPs to my devices and customize the electric motors of our vehicles.

Once we had the new route to Salt Lake City stabilized, I could focus on leveling up and further enhancing it. Maybe I could hasten it by leveling up in the wasteland against the mutants.

“So, when are we going back to Elevate City?” Thorne asked.

He didn’t have any responsibilities in NLA, so he mainly assisted me or Vin when needed.

“I think after seeing through this new route. Might as well, in case we have to come back later if something pops up.”

“In the meantime, Claire is going to be pissed, since she has to shoulder all your work back home.”

“...Want to go shop for some nice souvenirs for her?”

“So we’re ready to make the first trip today, or do we need to delay it again?” I asked Vin, sitting across from me in my office.

“We’re ready this time. The vehicles are in good condition and our men are prepared to fight off the mutants we may encounter. We’ll need to work on faking the damages on our convoy and keeping the men quiet so that corps don’t catch wind of our relationship with the wastelanders, though.”

We returned to our camp and found our people still standing guard outside, scanning for any remaining threats.

“Vin, they’re learning to flank us. We blew up the only working stairwell, so they shouldn’t be able to surprise us anymore.”

“They should know better than to attack again today. They’ll probably still hang around to look for our opportunities, but we should be fine to rest up for the night before we get the hell out of here tomorrow.”

How nice of them to be hanging around. Seems like they have offered me the chance to earn some experience points!

“Sounds good. Let’s have our normal night shifts and give the chance for our employees to rest. Thorne, let’s go hunt ourselves some lizards.”

“...You two suit yourself,” Vin sighed.

The Sandcrawlers weren’t even visible in our heat vision, but normal night vision was enough for us as I had the help of my smart assistant.

Kiri, highlight all Sandcrawlers you find.

‘Affirmative.’

Thorne followed me on my climb up the next building over, where I could get the best view possible of our surroundings.

Once we got a trace of our targets, we descended and headed straight for their last-seen location with our active camouflage activated.

The lizards were clinging to the side of a building, completely still. It gave me ample time to take aim before firing my Suri at them. Their large frame meant that I needed several shots to put them down, but it was worth it to stay quiet so the rest of them wouldn’t run away.

+10 EXP

We continued our hunt well into the night. I almost couldn’t believe how many of these little crawlers had stalked us.

I only felt relieved when we set off the next morning, in the safety of the Vanguard.

Our tedious slow trek resumed, as we let our mapping equipment record the route. The only distractions were the occasional mutants that appeared. It seemed like when we traveled below certain speeds; we attracted them to investigate.

I wasn’t going to complain, though; they provided good experience points.

After ten whole days, we finally arrived at Salt Lake City.

Unlike in the other cities I’ve been to, the sandstorm of the wasteland visibly surrounded the entire metropolis. The air around the city was a little sandy too, or maybe it was just a psychological thing.

We had contacts with several companies in the city before, but the areas outside of corporate territory were completely new to us. As planned, we headed over to a hotel downtown. On our way over, I observed the city and its people.

On the outskirts, the people seemed a lot poorer than what I’ve seen in NLA. They dressed similarly, but had grimy hair and skin as if they hadn’t showered in weeks.

This only applied to the outskirts, though. The closer we got to downtown, the wealthier the area seemed to be. By the time we got to what was considered downtown, I could hardly differentiate it from the other metropolis, except for being surrounded by sandstorms in all four directions.

After we checked in, we immediately split up and made our way to various local establishments to gather information. Thorne and I went to what we were familiar with, the outer districts where mercenaries were plentiful.

The mercenary scene here seemed to be the most vibrant I’ve ever seen. There was an entire street of bars that all seemed to be a similar level to Haven, filled to the brim.

We picked one where there was a free table and listened in on the conversation around us after ordering something. This was where auditory implants truly shined, as mine helped me filter through the background noise.

“You guys still taking bodyguard gigs, even with all the wastelander activities recently?”

“Yeah, it’s actually been pretty peaceful. They haven’t attacked much, and the pay is better than before as everyone is scared something will happen.”

“You better call it quits while you guys are ahead. It’s much safer to hunt mutants or go out into the ruins like us.”

“Those aren’t corporate sponsored, though. The last thing I want is to pay those ridiculous fees for freshwater when I could get it for free working for corps.”

“Suit yourself. It’ll be you and your team’s funeral.”

We stayed for a whole hour before we retired for the night. The next morning, we had a quick meeting to summarize everything we found.

“We took a look at the real estate prices around. It’s all pretty cheap compared to NLA. The only catch is the utility prices are through the roof, especially for water,” Vin explained.

“We’ll only need a small pit stop here. I guess the prices balance it out, so let’s go ahead and search for places today. The rest of you can take some time off in shifts.”

As we adjourned the meeting, my SAID notified me of an incoming call from Claire.

“Rollo! Someone just destroyed our latest shipments from NLA, and it’s the second time already. I think we’re being targeted.”