Global Awakening: Infinite Gift Pack System-Chapter 73: The Secrets of the Base

"Hide!" Kai reminded everyone.

At once, everyone scattered, slipping into the cover of nearby buildings. They pressed themselves against walls, crouched behind rubble, and killed every light source. The compound fell into silence. There was only the sound of the drones above them...

The insect-like machines swept across the sky, and their sensor probably started scanning for movement.

Everyone held their breath.

Thankfully, the Swarmers did not descend for a thorough inspection.

Instead, they just passed overhead, moving between the buildings. The searchlights they’re using weren’t even that great, and because of that, they could barely get a better view of the surroundings.

Kai’s heart pounded. He knew what these machines meant.

Swarmers were scouts, and basically the ones who could call for a raid of Sentinels.

If they marked a target, the area would soon be swarmed by mechanical soldiers.

But tonight, the darkness was their ally. The survivors remained hidden, and after a few minutes, the drones moved on to search in another place...

During all this time, no one dared to speak.

Only after fifteen long minutes of inactivity, did they confirm that the Swarmers had truly left...

"We’re saved..."

The survivors exhaled in unison. They all felt revealed.

If the Swarmers had detected them, this base would have been overrun within the hour.

Kai straightened and looked at everyone. "We’re safe... for now."

With the threat gone, the survivors regrouped. This base would be their new home.

There was no electricity since the generator had been destroyed during Operation Blackout to ensure the Sentinels lost power. However, none of them were worried.

They even confirmed that every window was sealed, no light leaking outside. Only then did they remove their night‑vision goggles and begin exploring with the flashlight they had!

Indeed, each flashlight came from the Shelter Gift Packs Kai had opened.

Just like that, thirty-two beams of light cut through the darkness, illuminating the silent halls.

The sight was eerie. Dozens of unmoving Sentinels stood frozen with their frames locked in place... They were lifeless without power...

"I wonder... can we try to dismantle them or destroy their cores and still get experience points?" Wallace mused as he looked at the other Survivors.

Ralph nodded. "There are more than a hundred of them here. If the System recognizes it as a kill, we’d gain a fortune in points."

Kai frowned, uncertain by the answer as well... "Only one way to find out."

Some survivors gathered around a single Sentinel unit. Its mechanical body looked impressive, and it felt as if it would just move at any time...

Kai then looked around and confirmed that the others were just looking around the building with their flashlight on.

"Alright, the others can just continue exploring the place... But let’s take this one apart. Carefully."

"Nice!" Victor said as he rubbed his hands.

Soon, tools scraped against steel as he pried open the casing and sparks flashed as wires were severed.

"This one looks really old..." Victor said as he volunteered to work on this. With his experience, it didn’t take long before he reached the core, energy source, or perhaps its processing unit.

It seemed dull, empty shell.

But as Victor drove a blade into it, a faint pulse of energy rippled outward. There was definitely power in that core.

Then, the system responded instantly.

[ Enemy Unit Destroyed: Sentinel (E) ]

[ +90 Experience Points ]

There was no mention that it was a distributed experience point!

It means that the experience points were his alone, and he immediately informed the others about it.

Of course, they did it again, and this time, they all participated in the dismantling of the Sentinel.

But something unexpected happened! They didn’t even have to destroy the core, and they got the notification!

[ Enemy Unit Destroyed: Sentinel (E) ]

[ Experience Points distributed among all participants. ]

[ +30 Experience Points ]

The experience was very low since many of them joined in, and also because the Sentinel was only E-Grade...

Still, they all realized something important.

It seemed that even if they don’t destroy the core, as long as they dismantle more than 80% of the enemy soldiers to the point that they could no longer function, it would count as the enemy unit being destroyed!

Of course, this wasn’t completely proven yet. After all, they might’ve just destroyed some important wiring, the main circuit board, or some other crucial parts to make the unit unable to function anymore.

However, this was already an important piece of information, and with so many Sentinels lying around, they should have no problems experimenting on them until they could fully understand how the Sentinels work or how they could be destroyed easily.

"This is awesome!"

"I got experience points too! I just yanked off three of its fingers."

The survivors stared at the notification, happy with the experience points.

Although killing the mind-controlled humans gave experience points as well, destroying enemy units felt much better, and there was no guilt at all.

Wallace grinned. "It worked."

Ralph chuckled, shaking his head. "Then we’ve got ourselves a gold mine."

Kai gently nodded as he looked around the hall filled with frozen machines. "We’ll dismantle them all... However, in some units, we’ll just remove the cores on them and make sure that they won’t just suddenly work."

Victor chuckled after hearing this. Still, he didn’t blame Kai’s cautiousness.

He even thought about what was in Kai’s mind.

"Do you think we’ll have a chance of converting them someday?" He asked.

Kai paused at the question and shook his head. "I’m not sure... That’s why it’s better to keep some of them not too damaged. It might help us in the future."

The survivors nodded, and just like that, everyone started thoroughly exploring the compound.

***

Claire also wanted to look around, and she moved deeper into the main building with her flashlight on. Soon, she reached a heavy steel door at the far end of a corridor...

’What do we have here...’

Curious, she broke open the lock and opened the door... Then, the stale scent of rust greeted her.

Inside was a garage, and it was large enough to house vehicles.

As expected, dust was everywhere, but her light soon revealed something that made her freeze.

Three armored vehicles!

"Is this a jackpot?" Claire thought before she immediately shared the good news!