Chapter 31: The Rust Rain Descent
The transition to Server 09 was nothing like the lush, humid arrival in the Overgrowth. This time, the portal spat them out into a sky of churning, charcoal-grey clouds that bled streaks of toxic orange light.
As Joran and the vanguard of [THE EXCEPTIONS] breached the atmosphere, they weren't met with air, but with a thick, metallic haze. It was the [RUST_STORM].
[LOCATION: SERVER_09 - THE IRON PANDEMIC]
[ENVIRONMENTAL STATUS: ATMOSPHERIC_DECAY]
[WARNING: OXIDATION_DEBUFF IN EFFECT]
[DURABILITY OF ALL METAL GEAR WILL DECREASE BY 5% PER MINUTE]
"Deploy the [BIO-SHELLS]! Now!" Joran's voice boomed through the guild's shared neural link.
Behind him, twenty elite recruits activated the special gear Mina had crafted. Glowing green membranes of organic energy—derived from the Overgrowth—wrapped around their armor, acting as a buffer against the corrosive air.
"The visibility is zero!" Kaelen shouted, his sniper-lens clicking frantically as it tried to penetrate the orange smog. "Elara, we need a pathing-overlay! We're falling blind!"
"Processing..." Elara's voice resonated in their minds, steady and cold. Back in the Monolith of Server 01, her avatar was submerged in a sea of scrolling data, her mind acting as the central processor for the entire raid. "Syncing visuals now. I am mapping the terrain based on the server's remaining structural logic. Look 30 degrees to your left. That is the [GREAT_FORGE]—your primary objective."
As the haze cleared, the team saw it: a gargantuan city of iron, built into the side of a massive mountain. It was a marvel of gears, pistons, and steam-pipes, but it was being eaten alive. A swarm of billions of silver, needle-like particles—the [NANO-SWARM]—was flowing over the city like a shimmering, metallic river, turning solid steel into crumbling dust in seconds.
The Impact Zone
The team slammed into the lower docks of the city. The ground here was made of rusted plates that groaned under their weight.
[BATTLE INITIATED: THE FIRST BREACH]
[ENEMIES DETECTED: 15x SCRAP_DRONES (CORRUPTED)]
[LEVEL: 28]
"Drones incoming!" Silas yelled, raising his bio-steel reinforced shield.
The Scrap-Drones were terrifying. Once the city's maintenance units, they were now twisted masses of jagged metal, their sensors glowing with a chaotic red light. They moved with a jerky, unnatural speed, their limbs ending in circular saws and high-heat torches.
"Don't let them touch your bio-shields!" Mina warned, throwing a handful of [VACCINE-SHARDS]. "The virus in them is designed to 'Dissolve' connections!"
Joran led the charge. He was a shadow of violet destruction. He didn't just slash at the drones; he used [VOID_BREACH] to teleport behind them, his blade severing their central logic-cores before they could even register his presence.
[NOTICE: JORAN HAS DEFEATED 'SCRAP_DRONE' - EXP GAINED: 4,200]
"They're tougher than the Stalkers!" Joran grunted, parrying a saw-blade that sent sparks flying into the rusted air. "Their armor is reinforced with 'Hard-Code' layers!"
"Aim for the steam-vents!" Elara's voice commanded. "Server 09 runs on [THERMODYNAMIC_LOGIC]. If you rupture their cooling systems, the internal heat will trigger a [SYSTEM_MELTDOWN]."
Kaelen adjusted his aim. He saw the vents through Elara's thermal-overlay.
Snap. Snap. Snap.
Three drones exploded in a violent burst of superheated steam. The high temperature didn't just destroy the drones; it caused the surrounding Nano-Swarm to "Vaporize" into a harmless mist.
"Heat! That's their weakness!" Kaelen realized. "The nanites can't handle the thermal expansion!"
The Cry for Help
As they cleared the docks, a heavy iron door nearby hissed open. Out stepped a group of survivors. They looked like humans, but their bodies were heavily modified—gears replaced their joints, and small steam-valves protruded from their necks.
At their head was a woman with a mechanical eye and a massive hammer that leaked molten lead. Above her head, her tag read: [CAPTAIN_FERRA - LEVEL 32 - FORGE_MASTER].
"You... you aren't the Overseers," Ferra said, her voice sounding like grinding gears. She looked at Joran's violet aura and Kaelen's green-infused arm. "What kind of 'Errors' are you?"
"The kind that don't like to see good metal go to waste," Joran said, lowering his sword.
"You're too late," Ferra sighed, pointing toward the Great Forge at the top of the mountain. The Nano-Swarm was now congregating there, forming a massive, swirling tornado of silver needles. "The [CORE_DISSOLVER] has arrived. It's a Tier-2 Virus. In ten minutes, it will reach the furnace. If the Forge goes cold, Server 09 will be 'Formatted' forever."
[QUEST_ALARM: 09:59 REMAINING]
[OBJECTIVE: REACH THE FURNACE BEFORE THE DISSOLVER...]
"I can speed up your movement stats," Elara's voice boomed, sending a surge of silver energy through the entire raid team. "But I will have to redirect power from the Bio-Shields. You will be faster, but the rust will start eating your gear. It's a race against time, Exceptions."
Joran looked at Ferra. "Lead the way, Captain. We've got a world to patch."
As they began their sprint up the iron stairs, the rain turned from orange to blood-red. The mountain itself began to shake as the Forge's internal systems started to fail.
"Ready the heavy artillery," Joran yelled to the recruits. "We're going to the heart of the engine!"