Zero percent felt weird.
It felt like silence after a loud concert. Ren was so used to the static in his peripheral vision and the low-grade migraine pulsing behind his eyes that the absence of pain made him dizzy.
He moved faster now. The water in the tunnel was still freezing, but his mind was sharp. He checked the mental map projected by the [Logic Drive].
Target: 200 meters. North.
The "Yellow Dot" he had seen on the admin terminal wasn't just a machine. In this world, machines meant refined metal. They meant power sources. They meant leverage.
Ren turned a corner and stopped.
The tunnel opened up into a massive, circular cistern. The water here was deep, black, and still. In the center of the room, rising out of the sludge like a rusted island, was the machine.
[Entity: Waste Disposal Unit (Model 4)] [Status: Jammed / Dormant] [Last Maintenance: 214 Years Ago]
It was a beast. A trash compactor the size of a bus, built from heavy industrial iron. Its maw was stuck open, choked with centuries of debris that had petrified into a solid mass.
"Beautiful," Ren whispered.
He didn't see junk. He saw the hydraulic rams holding the jaws open.
He waded toward the central island. The water rose to his waist, thick with grease. He climbed onto the rusted platform, his boots clanging on the metal grating.
He approached the hydraulics.
[Component: Hydraulic Piston (Industrial)] [Force Output: 20 Tons] [Integrity: 85%]
Ren ran his hand over the cold grease covering the piston. This cylinder alone could crush a tank. If he could detach it, he could build something terrifying.
He pulled out the [Logic Drive].
"Scan for release bolts."
The cube pulsed. A schematic overlaid the real world, highlighting four massive bolts securing the piston to the main chassis.
They were rusted solid. No wrench in the world would turn them.
Ren smiled. "Good thing I don't have a wrench."
He touched the first bolt.
[Material: High-Carbon Steel] [Property: Oxidized (Rust)]
"Edit," Ren commanded.
He grabbed the [Oxidized] property. He didn't delete it. He intensified it. He cranked the rust slider to maximum.
[Corruption: 0.8%]
The bolt didn't just stay rusty. It aged a thousand years in a second. The metal turned orange, then brown, then flaked away into dust. The structural integrity collapsed.
Ren kicked the bolt. It shattered like dried clay.
"Entropy is a feature," he noted.
He repeated the process for the other three bolts. Touch. Rust. Shatter.
The massive steel piston groaned. It slid free from its housing, dropping onto the platform with a heavy CLANG that echoed through the cavern.
Ren tried to lift it.
It was heavy. At least forty pounds. Too heavy to wield as a sword, but light enough to carry if he braced it.
He looked at the dead Shock Baton he still carried on his belt. The plastic handle was fried, but the grip was ergonomic.
He looked at the stolen steel dagger.
An idea formed. A blueprint snapped into existence in his mind.
He didn't need a sword. Swords required skill. Swords got stuck in bone. He needed a hole puncher.
Ren dragged the piston, the baton handle, and the dagger into a pile.
"System," Ren focused. "Fuse."
[Corruption: 1.5%]
The headache returned, a familiar, dull throb.
The metal flowed. The handle of the baton fused to the base of the hydraulic cylinder. The dagger sunk into the tip of the piston rod, becoming the penetrator.
But a piston needs pressure. It needs a trigger.
Ren placed the [Logic Drive] into a slot he molded on the side. The Cube would be the battery and the brain.
He picked it up.
It looked crude. A heavy steel tube with a grip on one end and a blade on the other. It looked like a jackhammer designed for murder.
[Weapon Created: Pneumatic Spike (Prototype)] [Damage: Kinetic (High)] [Reload Time: 3 Seconds]
"Let's test it."
Ren aimed at the armored casing of the trash compactor.
He pulled the trigger on the handle.
THOOM.
The sound was like a cannon shot. The piston fired forward with explosive speed. The dagger tip struck the inch-thick iron plate.
There was a screech of tearing metal.
The spike didn't just pierce the plate; it punched a clean, fist-sized hole straight through it. The recoil nearly dislocated Ren's shoulder, shoving him backward two steps.
The piston hissed, retracting the blade with a mechanical clunk-hiss.
Ren rubbed his aching shoulder, grinning wildly. "Recoil dampeners. Need to add those to the list."
Splash.
The sound came from behind him.
Ren spun around, leveling the heavy spike.
The water in the cistern was churning. Something big was surfacing.
It wasn't a wolf. It was a crocodile. But like everything else in this hellhole, it was wrong. Its scales were embedded with scrap metal. Its eyes were milky white bulbs. And it was huge, easily four meters long.
[Entity: Sewer Maw (Tier 1)] [Status: Territorial / Hungry] [Armor: Medium]
The beast roared, a gurgling, wet sound, and lunged onto the platform. Its claws scraped sparks against the metal grating. It moved terrifyingly fast for something that size.
Ren didn't run. He couldn't. The platform was an island.
"Come on," Ren taunted, bracing the heavy weapon against his hip to absorb the kick.
The croc charged. Its jaws opened, revealing rows of teeth that could snap a leg in half.
Ren waited.
Three meters. Two meters.
The beast leaped.
Ren didn't dodge. He stepped into the lunge. He thrust the tip of the Pneumatic Spike forward, aiming right down the monster's open throat.
"Open wide."
He pulled the trigger.
THOOM.
The impact was sickening.
The piston fired. The blade, backed by twenty tons of hydraulic force, didn't just stab the crocodile. It obliterated the back of its throat.
The force of the blow stopped the four-meter beast in mid-air. Its head snapped back with a wet crack. The momentum of the piston blast blew the back of the creature's skull out in a spray of bone and dark blood.
The monster crashed onto the platform, twitching violently.
Ren was knocked onto his back by the recoil, sliding across the grease. The weapon fell from his numb hands.
He lay there for a second, staring up at the dark ceiling of the sewer. His shoulder felt like it was on fire. His ears were ringing.
[Target Eliminated.] [Experience Gain: ERROR (System Locked)] [Loot: Scavenger Hide, Tier 1 Core]
Ren groaned and sat up. He looked at the dead crocodile. Its head was... mostly gone.
He looked at his weapon. It was smoking.
"Percussive maintenance," Ren wheezed, standing up on shaky legs.
He walked over to the carcass. He didn't care about the hide. He saw a faint glow in the mess of the skull.
He reached in and pulled out a small, jagged crystal the size of a walnut. It pulsed with a dull green light.
[Item: Beast Core (Tier 1)] [Energy Density: Low] [Use: Crafting / Fuel]
"Fuel," Ren corrected.
He slotted the green crystal into the side of his [Logic Drive]. The blue light of the cube brightened, turning a slight teal color as it digested the new energy source.
[Battery: 65%]
Ren picked up his Pneumatic Spike. It felt lighter now. Or maybe he just felt stronger.
He looked at the exit tunnel.
He had a weapon. He had a map. He had zero corruption.
"Time to go back to the surface," Ren said, the blue light of the cube reflecting in his eyes. "I have a gang to burn."