The dead of night was anything but silent in the bandit camp. Tents and makeshift shelters dotted the clearing, their occupants bustling with activity.
Lanterns hung from tree branches, casting flickering shadows on the ground as the bandits prepared for their upcoming raid. The air was thick with the smell of sweat, gun oil, and the faint tang of fear.
At the center of the camp stood the bandit leader, a burly man with a jagged scar running down his cheek.
His voice boomed over the noise, sharp and commanding. “All right, you maggots, listen up! We hit them at nightfall. That Zenith device might be dangerous, but we’re not leaving without it. Understood?”
The bandits nodded, their faces a mix of excitement and apprehension. One of them, a wiry man with a crossbow slung over his shoulder, stepped forward.
“What about the undead? The scout that came back said they’ve got an army of monsters guarding the place.”
The leader smirked, his eyes glinting with malice. “Monsters or not, they’re still just kids. We’ve got numbers, firepower, and experience. They don’t stand a chance.”
He turned to a figure standing slightly apart from the rest—a man clad in mismatched armor, his face obscured by a mask and goggles.
On his chest was an insignia: a phoenix-like bird with the letters “UDF” beneath it. To the untrained eye, he might have looked like just another bandit, but Si Xin would have recognized him immediately as a metahuman. The leader’s confidence seemed to grow as he gestured to the man.
“After all,” the leader said, his voice dripping with smug assurance, “we’ve got the UDF on our side. If we hand over that Zenith device, they’ll get us out of this wretched place. The military’s abandoned Pangea, but the UDF hasn’t. This is our ticket out.”
The bandits erupted into cheers, their morale bolstered by their leader’s words. But not everyone was convinced. At the edge of the camp, a quiet figure stood apart, his arms crossed and his expression hidden beneath the brim of his hat.
He had seen the glowing device in the kid’s hands, and he knew it was more than just a item to hand over to the UDF. Whatever it was, it was dangerous. But he kept his thoughts to himself. The leader wasn’t the type to listen to doubts.
<> ? <>
It was morning and with a blur of frantic activity. The cabin, once a rickety shelter in the middle of the forest, was slowly transforming into a fortified stronghold. Si Xin, Jack, and Emma worked tirelessly, their small bodies pushed to the limit as they prepared for the inevitable bandit attack.
The undead, under Emma’s command, proved to be invaluable laborers, their tireless efforts speeding up the construction process.
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The first step was to create defensive mounds around the cabin. Using the monsters and whatever tools they could scavenge, Emma directed the undead to dig trenches and pile dirt into large mounds as a base for the wall.
“This should slow them down,” Si Xin said, wiping sweat from his brow as he surveyed the mounds. “If they try to charge, they’ll have to climb over these. It’ll buy us some time.”
Jack nodded, his grumpy expression softening slightly as he examined the mounds. He gestured to the dirt, then to the cabin, and made a series of quick hand motions that Si Xin interpreted as, We need to reinforce them with wood and stone.
“Right,” Si Xin said, nodding. “We’ll layer the dirt with wood and stone to make them sturdier. It won’t stop them completely, but it’ll make it harder for them to break through.”
Emma, who was sitting on a nearby stump and supervising the undead, groaned. “You do realize I’m not a construction worker, right? I’m a necromancer. A fashionable necromancer. This manual labor thing is really cramping my style.”
Si Xin rolled his eyes. “You’re the one with the undead workforce. If anyone’s going to do the heavy lifting, it’s them. So stop complaining and get back to work.”
Emma glared at him but didn’t argue. She snapped her fingers, and the undead shuffled over to the pile of wood and stone they’d gathered from the surrounding area. Under Jack’s direction, they began layering the dirt mounds with the materials, creating a sturdy outer barrier.
The work was slow and tedious, but progress was steady. By the end of the first day, the mounds were taking shape, their reinforced layers making them a somewhat formidable obstacle.
Jack’s engineering skills were on full display as he directed the undead to position the wood and stone in a way that maximized their defensive potential.
the second day, the focus shifted to building traps and fortifications. Jack had drawn up a detailed plan, his small hands sketching out diagrams of spike pits, tripwires, and barricades.
Si Xin marveled at the complexity of the designs, though he couldn’t help but feel a pang of frustration at their limited resources.
“We’re going to need more wood,” Si Xin said, studying the plans. “And sharp objects for the spike pits. Maybe we can scavenge some from the battlefield.”
Jack shook his head, his expression grim. He pointed to the Zenith device on the table, then to the map, and made a gesture that Si Xin interpreted as, Too dangerous. Bandits and monsters.
Si Xin sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. Going back there would be suicide, we should have could have gotten them when we were there earlier.
Sigh
"Mistakes are made. We’ll have to make do with what we have.”
They spent the day building traps, using whatever materials they could find. The undead proved to be surprisingly adept at digging spike pits and setting up tripwires, though Emma had to constantly remind them not to trigger the traps themselves.
“Honestly,” Emma muttered as she watched an undead Calamity Hound nearly fall into a spike pit, “you’d think they’d have more self-preservation instincts. Or, you know, any at all.”
Si Xin chuckled, though his laughter was cut short by a sharp pain in his back. He winced, stretching to relieve the tension. “I don’t know how much more of this I can take. My body’s not built for this kind of work.”
Emma smirked. “Welcome to my world. At least you’re not the one controlling an army of undead idiots.”
By the end of the day, the traps were in place, and the cabin was surrounded by a series of defensive barriers. Jack’s designs were ingenious, using the natural terrain to their advantage. The spike pits were hidden under layers of leaves and dirt, the tripwires were nearly invisible, and the barricades were positioned to funnel any attackers into kill zones.
As the sun set on the third day, Si Xin stood on the lookout tower, surveying their handiwork. The cabin was now a fortress, surrounded by defensive mounds, traps, and barricades. The undead patrolled the perimeter, their glowing eyes scanning the forest for any signs of movement.
Emma joined him on the tower, her expression uncharacteristically serious. “You know, for a bunch of toddlers, we’ve done a pretty good job.”
Si Xin nodded, though his mind was elsewhere. “Yeah. But it’s not going to be enough. The bandits have numbers on their side, and they’re not going to stop until they get what they want.”
Emma sighed, leaning against the railing. “Yeah. That glowing device of yours is a real problem. If they’re willing to go this far for it, it must be worth a fortune.”
Si Xin glanced at her, the edges of his lips curling upwards as he let out a soft chuckle. “It feels like we’re in a tower defense game, you know? Building walls, setting traps, waiting for the waves of enemies to come.”
Emma raised an eyebrow. “A tower defense game? Really? That’s what you’re comparing this to?”
Si Xin shrugged. “Hey, it’s either that or admit we’re completely screwed. I’m trying to stay positive here.”
Emma rolled her eyes but didn’t argue. She turned her gaze back to the horizon, her tail flicking restlessly. The forest was quiet, the only sound the rustling of leaves in the wind. But the calm was deceptive. Si Xin could feel it in the air—the tension, the anticipation. The storm was coming.
