Before he could finish, Zeke stabbed his sword through the traitor's chest, piercing the heart.
The fall of his comrade caught the attention of other nearby traitors.
By the time the other soldiers reacted and fired at Zeke, but he was already encasing himself behind a barricade of iron blocks.
Then Zeke began mining from the wall into the interior of the Leviathan, his eyes fixed on his minimap.
He filtered the minimap for locations that looked like a control room or power core.
Vibrations came from behind him; the traitors had switched to heavy weapons, attempting to blast through Zeke's iron blocks.
Zeke placed two more iron blocks behind him, sealing the gap tightly.
Each iron block was 9 iron ingots. Zeke's heart bled. Consuming resources like this... even if he had a mine at home, he couldn't sustain it.
When we win this battle, I have to make Sergeant Victor reimburse me for my iron blocks.
No, I should find that General Creed.
Zeke added another block behind him. Should I report 70 blocks, or 700?
Zeke glanced at the dense cluster of red dots on the map and decided to multiply it by 10 again.
I'll just say I used 7,000 iron blocks. No one knows anyway.
Turning his grief and indignation into motivation, he swung his iron pickaxe faster, the tunnel extending toward the heart of this steel beast.
Zeke saw a location on the map that met his requirements and dug toward it.
He chiseled through a metal plate, widened the hole, and peeked inside.
A large holographic display was below, projecting a 3D map of the area surrounding the Leviathan.
Not here. Zeke sealed the hole and continued forward.
He dug through a wooden wall, and dim, ambiguous lighting shone in.
This was a luxurious, extravagant room. In the center was a bed covered in wool and goose down, surrounded by mahogany furniture, all decorated very ornately.
On a table, a few red fruits were placed on a plate with ice cubes.
[Apple-Peach] x 3. A fruit only nobles could afford, requiring cold storage.
Zeke had developed a habit: if he saw food, he tasted it first.
He picked one up, popped it into his mouth, and crunched down.
Hmm, tastes like an apple.
Zeke turned back and continued forward. Finally, in the third room, he found the location he wanted.
Instruments flashed inside the room. There was a secondary console on the left and right, and in the center was a larger, more complex main console.
People were seated at all three consoles.
Next to the main console stood a man with a handlebar mustache, looking at a screen in front of him.
The screen displayed the image of a well-dressed man.
The mustachioed officer spoke to the screen, "Commander, we're about to lose."
"Shut up!" A roar erupted from the screen. "We haven't lost yet! We still have this Leviathan!"
The mustachioed man braced himself and reported, "The Cadian soldiers are very close to the Leviathan. Small units have even successfully boarded. Defeat is likely only a matter of time."
"The main cannon! We still have the main cannon! That's a macro-cannon weapon capable of shattering Titans! Fire the main cannon!"
"At this range, it will blow us up along with them! Even the Void Shields won't be able to withstand it!"
The mustachioed man tried to calm the lead officer down.
"Your duty is to obey orders! Fire! Even if we lose, I won't let Creed have an easy time, not even a little!"
The mustachioed man took out a white handkerchief and wiped his forehead. "Understood."
He walked to the main console and ordered, "Deflect the main cannon downward by 45 degrees. Prepare to fi—"
Suddenly an Anvil dropped on his head. In Zeke's eyes, he was crushed to death by the anvil and turned into experience.
But in the eyes of everyone else, the mustachioed man simply vanished into thin air.
The traitor at the main console witnessed this bizarre scene with his own eyes.
"Don't move," a voice said from behind him. "Or you'll be the next one to disappear."
Zeke pressed the tip of his sword against the back of the main control soldier's heart.
Zeke's gaze swept over the equally terrified traitors at the left and right secondary consoles.
"First, aim that cannon up. Point it at the sky." Zeke increased the pressure on his sword tip slightly. "Don't try anything funny."
The color drained from the main control soldier's face.
"I won't..."
His answer was a strike from Zeke's sword.
Zeke shoved the corpse off the seat and curled his finger at the traitor at the left secondary console. "You. Come here. You operate it."
"I'll do it. I'll do whatever you say." The traitor scrambled off his seat, crawled over to the main console, and took control.
Zeke stared at the image returning from the main screen, seeing that the main cannon was indeed starting to raise upward.
"Next, turn off those Void Shields for me," Zeke continued.
The traitor nodded hurriedly, his fingers working the controls.
"No! You can't do that!" The operator on the right secondary console couldn't sit still.
The traitor at the main console winked frantically at his talkative companion, signaling him to shut up.
Zeke raised his sword and walked toward the loose-lipped traitor. Halfway there, he switched to his shield and slammed it hard against the side of the traitor's head.
Zeke was afraid that killing another one would cause the last remaining one to break down, so he didn't strike to kill.
The traitor rolled his eyes back and collapsed to the floor without a sound.
"Hurry up." Zeke's sword tip urged again. "Turn it off."
The traitor dared not hesitate any longer.
On the external monitor, the energy barrier enveloping the Leviathan Command Vehicle dimmed, flickered a few times like a loose lightbulb, and then dissipated completely.
Zeke could already see plenty of artillery fire incoming toward the Leviathan, and several green dots had appeared on the edge of his minimap.
"Last request," Zeke's voice was close to the traitor's ear. "Where are the most valuable things kept in this iron turtle?"
"I don't know," the traitor said with a sobbing tone. "The Commander's room is on the upper level, behind the command room. It's the most luxurious cabin."
Zeke gave an ambiguous "Hmph."
The traitor crawled away from the seat, not forgetting to help up his companion whom Zeke had knocked out.
Their next actions, however, took Zeke completely by surprise.
The traitor drew a standard-issue dagger from the unconscious companion's waist and stabbed him through the throat.
Immediately after, he turned the blood-stained dagger around and aimed it at his own neck.
He looked up at Zeke, a bitter smile uglier than crying on his face.
"It's over. Cadian soldiers won't spare any traitors. Rather than be captured by them, it's better to end it ourselves. At least it's quick."
As his voice fell, he exerted force with his arm. The blade sliced through his carotid artery, and he fell together with his companion.
Zeke looked at the two lying in a pool of blood, then switched to his pickaxe and smashed all the operating equipment to prevent anyone from using it again.
--
Every 100 Powerstones = 1 Bonus Chapter.