Global Awakening: Apocalypse Ender's Chronicle - Chapter 909

Chapter 909: Fragments

Lesley stood over the petrified remains of the Fire Zombies, her tactical lenses still dimmed to prevent accidental activation.

There was still some residual heat around, but it didn’t bother her… The stone corpses in front of her made her feel excited instead.

She held the small bell delicately between two fingers.

It wasn’t ornate. It only had a simple silver loop with a faint red glow inside the clapper. But its function was anything but simple.

Every time she rang it, the System prompt for the looting process would change.

[ Do you want to retrieve the loot? ]

[ Bell Modifier Active ]

[ Guaranteed Drop: Elemental Gem ]

“Yes…” Lesley smiled as she saw the message.

Soon, the first Zombie vanished as he completed the looting process. [ Loot Acquired: Ember Gem ]

She rang it again.

[ You have earned 80 Experience Points. ]

[ You have earned 1 Reputation Point. ]

[ Loots obtained: Radiant Emerald x1, 100mL Water, Bread x10, 10mL Fire Zombie Blood. ]

The loot was really bad. However, the fact that an emerald dropped made her feel excited.

Again.

[ Loots obtained: Dull Emerald x1, 500mL Water, Bread x10, Vitality Enhancement Bottle x1. ]

Again.

[ Loots obtained: Excellent Alexandrite x1, Sky Jasper x1, 500mL Water, Bread x10, 10mL Fire Zombie Blood. ]

She kept going, ringing the bell for each of the 63 petrified corpses.

The sound was soft, almost ceremonial, like a chime in a temple.

She didn’t get Zombie Cores or even Item Upgrade Crystals, but she didn’t mind it at all. She wanted gems more than anything.

The squads watched from a distance, some curious, others simply impressed by the efficiency.

By the end, her inventory had updated.

[ Radiant Emerald x5 ]

[ Dull Emerald x30 ]

[ Excellent Alexandrite x4 ]

[ Sky Jasper x24 ]

[ Black Diamond x22 ]

[ Radiant Peridot x5 ]

[ Great Ruby x20 ]

Lesley smiled after seeing the list of gems she had just obtained.

“They look beautiful…” she muttered, scrolling through the list. “Gems… lots of gems.”

She tapped one of the Radiant Emeralds to inspect it. Well, only those Radiant ones were actually truly precious, as they have special effects aside from being a decoration.

[ Radiant Emerald: It emits a soft glow and can be used as a luxury item or trade token.

It can be socketed into weapons or accessories and adds fire damage and a minor burn effect. ]

She smiled.

“Pretty and useful,” she whispered, holding the gem up to the light.

It was beautiful…

Then she giggled, it was just once. It was a soft, delighted sound that made Orlando glance over from his APC.

“You good?” he asked.

Lesley turned, her expression composed again. “Ahem… I’m fine. Just happy.”

Orlando raised an eyebrow. “You giggled.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“You did.”

Lesley turned away as she returned the gem to her inventory…

With the loot secured, the convoy resumed its march.

***

Kara activated her Super Stealth Talent again, and the entire formation faded from view. The trucks, APCs, and siege crawlers moved like shadows.

They were silent, undetectable, even to most high-level scans.

Only the dust trail remained, and even that was faint.

They passed through a narrow canyon that was still scorched from old battles…

The terrain was quiet and no zombies could be detected. However, that made them even more cautious.

Kara’s voice came through the comms.

“Hold formation. Something’s wrong.”

Lesley leaned forward. “What is it?”

“I’m detecting movement. But it’s not physical. It’s… spectral.”

Orlando frowned. “You mean ghosts?”

Kara confirmed. “Yes. At least a dozen. They’re phasing through the canyon walls.”

Orlando was stunned as he didn’t expect that they would really encounter ghosts! After all, this world shouldn’t have Ghosts and only Zombies…

“Wait… Are they—”

They swiftly realized that these ghosts were definitely summoned by another Survivor through their talent or skill.

Whoosh~

Soon, translucent figures began to emerge!

Seeing them, Lesley turned to Orlando. “Can your golems hit them?”

Well, her Petrification Gaze didn’t seem to work after all.

“Only if they’re bound to physical anchors,” he replied. “I can summon Earthbound types. They’ll slow them down… I think”

“Do it.”

Orlando activated his summoning cores. Three stone golems emerged from the ground, each one glowing faintly with enchantments…

They moved to intercept the ghosts, swinging wide arcs to disrupt their movement.

Kara’s voice came again. “I’m deploying sonic mines. Stay clear of the canyon walls.”

Small devices dropped from her scout truck, embedding into the rock. A moment later, they pulsed and waves of sound rippled through the canyon.

The ghosts shrieked.

Some dissipated instantly. Others recoiled just for a moment before haunting them again!

***

In the meantime, back at Silver Mine Camp, Shane was looking at his synthesizer panel.

As he was tapping against the interface, he realized the time…

“Asad should’ve intercepted them by now…” he muttered. “He could probably buy us two or three more hours.”

The camp was quiet, but everyone knew about the assault team coming at them…

At this time, the Survivors moved quickly between barricades, reinforcing walls, checking ammo, and preparing fallback positions.

For now, Shane’s eyes focused on the screen.

[ Synthesizer – Fragment Conversion Interface ]

[ Available Resources: ]

[ Epic Grade Item Fragments: 450

Legendary Grade Item Fragments: 320

Skill Fragments: 240 ]

It was the interface that had become available after the Red Night Event. Now, they could use the fragments they had collected during the event.

Thanks to the Zombie Pigs, they actually collected a lot of Fragments…

“Let’s begin…” Shane muttered as he tapped the first option.

[ Epic Grade Item – Requires 100 Fragments ]

[ Confirm synthesis? ]

He confirmed.

[ Synthesizing… ]

[ Item Acquired: Heroic Mantle (Epic) ]

[ Heroic Mantle (Epic): A lightweight cloak.

Effects:

Reduces noise generated by movement and gear by 80%.

Grants +10% evasion against ranged attacks.

Allows a brief sound-based pulse to detect hidden enemies within 50 meters (Cooldown: 30 seconds) ]

“Not bad… But I don’t think it will work well with my Bio-Armor…” Shane mused.

Since he had 450 Epic Grade Fragments, he continued doing this three more times and obtained [ Blunt Fire Gauntlets (Epic) ], [ Scouter Lens (Epic) ], and [ Pulse Boots (Epic) ].