The next morning, the air felt different.
For the first time in what seemed like forever, the people of the shelter didn't wake up just to survive. They woke up with a purpose.
Max stood at the center of the main hall, a rough map spread out over a large table. Sara was beside him, looking more energized than ever.
Around them, about twenty survivors—men, women, even some teenagers—stood quietly, waiting. Some had scavenged weapons, others had nothing but determination burning in their eyes.
Max scanned the group, then spoke, voice calm but filled with undeniable strength.
"I'm not going to lie to you," he began. "We're weak compared to Ultron's army. If we go head-to-head now, we'll lose. But if we're smart, if we work together, we can beat him piece by piece."
He pointed to the map, marking several areas with glowing red dots.
"These are other shelters. Other survivors. They don't know about each other. They're isolated, scared... just like you were."
He tapped a blue dot—where they were now.
"We're going to change that. Starting today, we're going to unite them. Form a network. Help each other. Fight smarter."
A rough-looking man in his thirties raised his hand.
"But... how? The drones? Sentinels? They patrol everywhere. Move outside this area, you're dead meat."
Max grinned slightly.
"Leave that to me."
From his inventory, he summoned several small devices—stealth generators, cloaking drones, portable barrier projectors.
All rare items he had earned in past Gacha pulls but never had a use for... until now.
Gasps filled the room as he placed them down.
"With these," he said, "we can move without being seen. Set traps. Ambush Ultron patrols. Rescue survivors."
He looked around at all of them, his voice lowering into a growl of determination.
"This is our world. Not his. And today... we start taking it back."
The survivors straightened up, new fire in their hearts.
Sara smiled fiercely beside him.
"When do we start?"
Max cracked his knuckles, his dragon shadow flickering once again behind him.
"Right now."
Later that afternoon, under the faded light of a ruined sun, Max and Sara slipped through the broken remains of the city.
Only the sound of distant metallic screeches echoed across the dead streets—patrol drones hovering like vultures.
Max activated a stealth generator he had clipped to his belt. In an instant, both he and Sara vanished from sight, hidden behind an invisible cloak. Even their footsteps barely made a sound now.
Sara moved lightly beside him, a sharp contrast to the beaten-down girl from the day before.
Now she was focused, serious.
"Where are we heading?" she whispered.
Max pulled out a small holographic map.
"A shelter about five miles east. About thirty survivors, if the intel is right. Supplies running low. Drones circling the place day and night."
Sara nodded grimly.
"So it's a rescue and a supply run."
"Exactly," Max said, smirking. "But we're not just sneaking them out. I'm planting disruption nodes as we go. When the time comes, these drones will be blind and deaf—and we'll have the advantage."
They crossed through a collapsed freeway, slipping between shadows.
At one point, an Ultron Drone floated barely meters from them, its crimson eyes scanning hungrily.
Sara held her breath.
Max simply raised a hand, fingers twitching slightly—and the drone suddenly sputtered and veered away, its scanners jammed by a stealth signal he quietly deployed.
Sara stared at him, amazed.
"You really weren't joking about being different, huh."
Max chuckled under his breath.
"I'm many things... boring isn't one of them."
They continued moving.
Each step they took was a dance between death and survival, between technology and sheer willpower.
But every minute that passed, Max placed another disruption node, laying the groundwork for something bigger—something that could finally break Ultron's suffocating hold on the world.
And deep inside, Sara felt it too.
Hope.
For the first time in years, it wasn't just a dream.
It was real.
And it was walking right beside her.
After nearly an hour of weaving through ruins and abandoned streets, Max and Sara finally approached the outskirts of the next shelter.
From behind a crumbled wall, they peered ahead.
The shelter was an old underground metro station, fortified with scrap metal, broken vehicles, and whatever else survivors could find. A few faint lights flickered from deep below, signs of life clinging on stubbornly.
But the entrance?
Guarded.
Not by regular drones—but by a Titan-Class Ultron Sentinel.
A massive, heavily armored machine, easily three stories tall, its metallic body gleaming like a dark star under the ruined sky.
Red energy pulsed from its core. Twin cannons hung from its arms, crackling with suppressed plasma energy. Its head scanned side to side like a wolf sniffing for prey.
Sara's breath caught in her throat.
"...There's no way we're getting past that."
Max only smiled slightly.
"Good."
He cracked his knuckles, stepping forward slowly.
"I was getting bored."
Sara grabbed his sleeve.
"Max—this isn't some patrol bot. That thing's meant to crush entire battalions. You can't just walk up to it!"
Max gave her a wink.
"Who said anything about walking?"
With a thought, he summoned a black, swirling spear into his hand—a weapon formed from condensed Dark Force energy.
The air around him shimmered and twisted unnaturally.
At the same time, he tossed a small device toward the Titan's feet—a Hyper Disruptor.
It clanged once against the concrete… then exploded silently into a web of pure darkness, wrapping the area in a suppression field.
The Titan Sentinel twitched.
Its scanning eyes turned toward them.
Sara took a step back.
Max took a step forward.
The Sentinel charged, each footstep shaking the broken ground.
Max crouched low, the black spear spinning once in his hand—and then launched himself forward at superhuman speed.
He met the Titan head-on.
The impact sent a shockwave through the entire street.
Max's spear clashed with the Titan's massive arm, dark energy meeting hardened steel. Sparks and shadows flew everywhere. The Titan tried to bring its plasma cannon down, but Max was faster, ducking under the blast and driving his spear right into the Titan's joints.
Crack!!
The arm snapped backward with an awful metal screech.
Sara could only stare wide-eyed as Max danced around the giant machine like a storm—dodging, striking, overwhelming.
***
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