Inwardly Hank was shocked ‘What do you mean finding us in two days was fast We had a head start How did YOU set up a vacation cabin here in the woods so quickly ‘
The surrounding land was rocky but idyllic It did not look like the type of area to be in one of the most dangerous areas known to man At the other end of the rocky slope there was a cleft in the rock that was the start of a ravine Then entrance was smoking and ominous and Hank’s instincts were telling him that that path led into a danger zone Yet this group was bold enough to just set up shop here
“We got lucky ” Dinesh said to the kid “We encountered them in the wild If we had to go all the way into the other Zone it would have taken much longer Where is Randidly “
“Ah him and Neveah went back in there ” The kid said pointing towards the ominous opening “You know how pissed he was that the uh ‘ogre bastard’ had the immunity Skill He swore to finish it this time “
“Thank god that crazy bitch is gone ” Tykes whispered a flash of fear in his eyes as he continued to walk towards the cabin
From the cabin two people emerged a short Hispanic man and a large well endowed woman
“Guests ” The Hispanic man said his voice almost hysterical from excitement He instantly turned around and went back inside
Dinesh rolled his eye and turned back to Hank’s group The kid came and stood next to him regarding them with interest “Don’t mind them It is obvious that all of you share some common military training We are more haphazard in our training But I assure you that we are all strong in our own way “
“No offense taken ” Laurel said turning on the charm for this strange “It’s welcoming Nothing is as important as genuine goodwill I’m very curious however you are all wearing leathers “
The kid made a face “Do you jeans in my size I really miss jeans “
As one the group chuckled Dinesh said “Yes Our Zone had its advantages but having stores of pre System goods was not one of them We were forced to make most everything form scratch so we were technologically set back quite a ways But of course this meant that we learned very quickly to produce System style equipment to provide modest boosts to our stats It balanced out in the end I suspect “
Affina blinked “System style equipment “
Dinesh tilted his head to the side confused “Yes like you can buy from Village stores you can purchase for points
“Oh ” Affina said simply nodding No one was fooled Dinesh was now giving their group a very strange look Hank rubbed the back of his neck
” as I understand it our leaders made the decision to save all points and put them towards upgrading the Village We very rarely used points to create the buildings offered “
“Oh ” Now it was Dinesh who didn’t know what to say
“That’s dumb ” The kid announced
Chapter 496
The kid was so direct that the whole group couldn’t help but smile Afterall what would a 10 year old know of the decisions that adults needed to make
Hank grinned and squatted down next to the kid Whereas the orange haired teen was constantly badgering him Hank was much more pleased by this relatively reserved boy who stood by and watched the adults talked It reminded him of Jane
“Heya partner ” Hank extended his hand “It might be dumb but sometimes you need to sacrifice things if you are focused on a specific goal My name’s Hank by the way What’s yours “
“Nathan ” Nathan said shaking Hank’s hand Then he regarded him critically “Hank are you a cowboy You look like one “
Hank chuckled “Well I like to think so “
“What’s your Class ” Nathan pressed looking at Hank with serious eyes
Blinking Hank considered being quiet to hide his strength but it wasn’t like they were enemies He knew it was a decision that would make Ghost frown but there seemed no harm in saying it “Gunslinger “
“Oh interesting ” Nathan’s eyes went wide and Hank straightened pleased with how the conversation went But then Nathan spoke again and Hank was struck dumb “What were your starting Skills Your Stat gains per Level What are your primary stats “
“Uh “
“Can I just see your Class That will be easier ” Nathan announced
Hank just looked down at the serious child “You want to see my status screen “
“No I want to see ” Nathan began but he was interrupted
“This can wait until later ” Dinesh said his hand clapping on Nathan’s shoulder instantly shutting him up The Indian man smiled at Hank’s group “Anybody hungry “
Ghost considered the new information that was flowing through him
Ever since his creation Dr Karman had warned him that although their Zone 1 was the most well prepared and the Zone that the System had judged to have the most potential that the greatest advantage of humanity was their adaptability and creativity It was the same advantage that Ghost himself possessed as an AI Humans would struggle against any obstacle overcoming it in strange and unpredictable ways
As if proving that very point Dr Karman had told him that contrary to expectations their Zone was not the first to found a village that honor went to another location Although there were a thousand ways that whichever Zone that had accomplished that could fail there was also a much greater chance that this rival Zone would be able to survive the trials and meet them in the final portion of the System’s reorganization of the world
From the very first instance of viewing Dinesh and Tykes Ghost was sure that this very situation had come to pass
What Ghost couldn’t understand was what exactly was the advantage that this Zone possessed that it allowed them to come so far It was clear from Dinesh’s comments that it wasn’t a materials advantage Their rather primitive if intriguing armor demonstrated that they really started with very few advantages Ghost wasn’t exactly sure how many Zones were created on Earth but suspected that it couldn’t be much more than one hundred This was due to the size of the Zones as well as the size of the areas of land that had been frozen in time and added to their Zone The System rearranged land but it was at least limited by the area of Earth
Perhaps the true weight hanging over Ghost was the decision over what to DO about this new Zone The initial contact with these strangers seemed to indicate that the Zone they came from was strong but Ghost’s calculations indicated that they likely had a much smaller populous to draw from It wasn’t an ideal solution but should it come to war Ghost wasn’t above using a superior number of Tier 1 citizens to overwhelm the opposition with plasma pistols In addition to that perhaps it was time to move forward with some of Ghost’s other plans Ghost made a memo to jump start the drone initiative so that the Zone wouldn’t be too suspicious when he revealed his own secrets forces
Unfortunately for him those forces could only be considered upper class Tier 5 citizens based on his scale From that small conflict alone it was clear that the two individuals from Zone 32 were Tier 6 at the very least Ghost was glad that he had spent the time and effort to train those long distance sniper squads These close range specialists were dangerous but there were still methods of dealing with them
But Ghost still had a bad feeling which was extremely strange for him He was not an entity that typically relied on emotional or spiritual cues he was a machine and everything that was him was calculations But this was a calculation without any real basis Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the basis was there but as of yet Ghost had been unable to make any sense of it
What was the advantage that Zone 32 possessed so that they were able to become the second Zone that was part of New Earth Only three days after the arrival of their Zone 1
Dinesh held the plasma pistol in his hand considering it as a weapon Even without the requisite Skill that these others from Zone 1 talked about he could still feel the channel through the simple machine into which he could thrust his Mana He looked in askance at the leader the Gunslinger Hank Howard