Athanasia: My Hacker System-Chapter 230: Reaching the First Yellow Monsters Den

"So... That’s what he was doing with those cannons," Blakar muttered. He recalled the hours John had spent hunched over the cannons and generators, watching the cores melt into the metallic surfaces like they met lava. He had harboured doubts, but Reody’s explanation finally shed a cold, clear light on the wizardry they had witnessed.

"Regardless of how he does it, he’s not stopping," Lanmar interrupted, his voice turning serious.

"And we have to help them! These monsters... They’re different at night. They won’t send fresh waves from the dens until the daylight falls again. This is our window. It’s our time to push the line forward while the spawn rate is throttled and kill as many as we can before the dens reset. I bet this is his plan!"

Lanmar’s explanation was frantic, but as he detailed the nocturnal habits of the Wrathers and the yellow monsters, the Twelve began to understand. They realised the terrifying urgency driving John and his four friends’ every move. This wasn’t just a march; it was a race against the sunrise.

With newfound excitement and determination, the Bulltor group surged forward, following the trail of fire circles John had laid out.

"Can we make it to the three dens tonight?!"

As John reunited with his friends, the atmosphere of the battlefield shifted from a desperate holdout to a brutal, unstoppable charge. He led the vanguard, his blade carving through the monsters with a terrifying strength.

While they moved, he explained the technical breakthroughs he had achieved, detailing the physical merger of the generators, the Lightning Push of the advanced energy cells, and the enhanced lethality of the super cannons.

The four friends listened with a mixture of excitement and wide-eyed curiosity. They had seen John pull miracles out of thin air before, but the concept of items physically evolving and merging was a new level of his magic tricks.

However, the sheer density of the monsters prevented any of them from stopping to inspect the new items until John finally called a halt to lay down another outpost.

Luke stood atop the newly erected walls, his eyes tracking the distance between their current position and the three pulsating yellow dens that scattered at the horizon. Tens of thousands of monsters stood between them and their goal, their eyes glowing with a predatory light in the darkness.

"We have to reach them before the next day arrives," John said with a shrug, his gaze as cold as the night air. "I’ve lost count of how many waves have vomited out of those dens so far. But let’s assume we are well beyond the twentieth wave..."

"Dammit! Those good-for-nothing Hiveminds," Ricky cursed, slashing his sword into a lunging yellow monster. "We heard such scary stories about their tactical genius and ferocity back at the base from Lanmar and others, yet they proved to be nothing but useless pieces of scrap metal when the pressure was on!"

"Well..." Cissel couldn’t restrain a laugh, her daggers flashing as she spun through a group of Wrathers. "It’s not really their fault, is it? It’s just their terrible luck to end up in the same trial as John!"

Her words sparked a round of genuine laughter among the group. John couldn’t help but chuckle. He took a short, appreciative glance at them; they were walking, fighting, talking, and laughing all at the same time, a well-oiled machine of death that had grown far beyond the terrified survivors who had first entered this pocket.

They were finally strong enough to stop worrying about the scary monsters around them and start treating the apocalypse like a fun game.

"Can I get a few of these new items for myself?" Elena asked as John stopped for the fifth time to anchor a new perimeter. Her eyes were fixed on the humming artillery being mounted on the walls, the new generator and big energy cells. "I just want a few... To play with. You know, for personal projects."

"Priority is for our defences right now," John replied while patting on a cannon, knowing all too well how fond she was of anything that produced a massive, fire-filled explosion. "But later on, once we officially control the entire pocket trial and there are no more enemies to fight, you can each have whatever specialised gear you need!"

"That’s great," Luke said, wiping sweat from his forehead. "I can’t even imagine the scale of the loot we’re going to pull from this territory alone."

"We gained millions of cores from our home territory," Elena’s eyes sparkled at the reminder of the grand mountain of grenades waiting to be harvested from the dead monsters here. "This time, since the density is ten times higher, we should be looking at tens of millions, right?"

"I’ll take half!" Cissel jumped in immediately. And soon enough, as was their custom, the two women began a fierce, spirited debate about percentages and distribution rights.

"Priority is for our defences first!" John shouted over his shoulder as the two girls approached him to settle the argument. He used the distraction to pivot back toward the task at hand. "Don’t forget, we still have walls and towers to try upgrading next. We need to keep enough cores to upgrade these items, too."

"We’ll have more than enough from this battlefield to satisfy everyone," Cissel said, rolling her eyes playfully before putting on her most persuasive, attractive look. "But surely you’ll hand us the lion’s share of the remaining cores once the dust settles, right?"

"Equally!" Ricky shouted from the flank, trying to be the voice of reason. "We’ll divide the spoils equally among the five of us!"

"That’s not fair!" Both girls turned to shout back in unison. John took that split-second opportunity to slip away from the confrontation, feeling a pang of sympathy for Ricky for involving himself in such a dangerous situation.

"The first den is there!"

After seven hours of continuous advancement and laying down defences, John finally signalled a halt to the outpost construction operation.